Author Archives: Sal

About Sal

I’ve got tons of experience with Halo gaming and collecting. I feel I have something to offer to the greater Halo fan community. Posts along the way will be about tips and tricks in the games as well as collecting and many more Halo related things. I’ll also repost interesting articles from the official site, Halowaypoint.com, or from fellow Halo fan sites. As I continue this blog, I hope to help gamers who want advice on the games, as well as any collectors with regards to where to find collectibles as well as deals, coupons and so on. You can also follow me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/HaloFanForLife or Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/halofanforlife11. Welcome to my blog and I hope you’ll come back again and again. -Sal

Spirit of Fire Inaugural podcast recording tonight!

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Spirit of Fire Podcast LOGO_R-smHFFL’s official podcast the “Spirit of Fire” will be recording tonight. This is the first of what we hope will be many and a long term Halo specific podcast.

Points of discussion will be the Halo week in review with special consideration to the Champions Bundle, then next the upcoming Halo 4 Global Championship at PAX, HFFL’s expanding network of Halo related content and community related groups, the first HFFL LAN and more!

Since this is my first time recording a Podcast, as opposed to guest appearing in other podcast, I’ll be doing the editing. I’m still new at that. In that respect, I hope to have the podcast available for download on Tuesday, hopefully sooner.

As we progress, we’ll get better, add music intros and outros, possibly some sound effects. We do plan on having this streamed on twitch in about a month from now. We just want to get used to podcasting a little, work out any tech issues and have our format fairly well down.

Please let your Halo friends know about this new Halo specific Podcast! tweet, e-mail, facebook, text, call, etc.! Please get the word out!!!

-Sal

 

HFFL to soon have its own Podcast!

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I was going to keep this secret until after my LAN party as I’ve been revealing so much about the expansions to HFFL. However, since I had the opportunity to be on the Post Game Carnage Report’s podcast. I made mention of it then.

The podcast is slated to be a mix format of new (the previous week in Halo) as well as any hot topic that may come up, and any future Halo related events, be they HFFL or community related.

After about an hour session with my soon to be two co-hosts (this after several weeks of talkign it over with one of the co-hosts then being prompted further by the other co-host), we came up with the format, responsibilities and the name. We had about a dozen names. One of the co-hosts, Zach, gave another name when all of the sudden it hit me. Spirit of Fire.

This is a perfect name for the podcast as it means a few things. The ship Spirit of Fire was lost in Halo Wars and drifts about. I feel that parts of the Halo community are like this at present and need to get back to being Halo centric. As well, the name denotes the FIRE (passion) that I have for the Halo franchise and the community at large.

So given all that, I based the logo for the podcast off of the Spirit of Fire’s ship emblem from Halo Wars. I think it turned out pretty darn good.

sof-podcast logo COMP

As for when the first podcast will be out, we’re working out technical difficulties with audio. We hope to record this Sunday, but it might be a solo act for now (me) until we can fix the audio issue. Further, once we feel comfortable with the format, we’re going to LIVE stream this over Twitch.tv. For now, I do have a twitter account for the Spirit of Fire (SoF) podcast. We can be found at: https://twitter.com/SoFPodcast or simply @SoFPodcast.

I’ll also be tweeting about this on my HFFL twitter feed as well.

Whew, as I said, LOTS of stuff being added to HFFL.
• Newly christened Gaming Group
• Soon to be forums
• Podcast
• Halo Ricochet League
• “MaC” Rounds web series

As well of course continuing with the bblog. So there is something for just about every Halo fan out there.

-Sal

The Halo Bulletin 8.21.13

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halobulletinheader_8-21-13First up in this week’s bulletin Bravo does the majority of the write-up. He starts with asking fellow 343ers about which parts of the CHampions BUndle pack they like the most. Here’s BS Angel’s for example:
bs-angel_card

He goes on to ask others with graphics for them posted as well.
Waypoint has been updated to include the new armor and if you have Kinect you can check out your new armor in Spartan Reflection.

Next up the Halo 4 Global Championship.
gcoq-logo

Before I get into this part of the bulletin, I want to state how dissatisfied I am with how this has been run. The whole controversy over Connor White (aka Giggle Monstat aka ChilliestName48) has been avoided and trying to be swept under the rug. Shame to all parties involved for not dealing with this issue head on.

Okay, now back to the bulletin:
“Only the most dedicated players can say that they’ll be heading to Seattle in just over a week.” Um, sorry folks….not dedicated unless you mean most skilled or who cheated their way in. I’d consider myself pretty damn dedicated to Halo. Am I going? Nope. Didn’t get an invite either. sigh…

A list of the names of confirmed winners from weeks 2-4 are liste. Week 5 winners will be notified shortly.

Good news if you’re already attending PAX, Waypoint will be giving away 10 final spots to the championship invite bracket via Twitter. I’d love to win that. Doubtful I’d be picked though.

Gamescom details:
gamescom_logo_660

A quick note about when/where you can participate in the in-person portion of the Halo 4 Global Championship is given. If you’re there, I hope you play and make it in. I’d love to see a HFFL reader in the finals!

Halo 4 Global Championship Finals

overview-logoThis is follow up info we mostly know, like where it’s being held at. They will be streaming this: http://www.Twitch.tv/343Industries
On Sunday, you will be able to view the championship via XBOX LIVE. This starts 7pm EST Sept 1. Hosts for the tournament will be Marjor Nelson (Larry Hyrb), Blair Herter and Jessica Chobot. Goldenboy and Bravo will be doing the color commentating, post-match interviews and highlights.

In amongst all of this will be XBOX One exclusives, Rooster Teeth shorts, music acts and more. Those spectating live at PAX can win either an XBOX One or UNSC themed Surface Pro via a RvB Sweepstakes. You can also enter via twitter using the hashtag #Halo4GC

Matchmaking Playlist Update
Already Ricochet is getting an update. Scoring will go to 200. Good move, IMO. Games can be way too short with only 150, given the current scoring.

We will be getting a Ricochet specific playlist starting Sept 3. Limited time only though 🙁
The following maps will be available to play in the Ricochet playlist:

• Pitfall
• Monolith
• Skyline
• Haven
• Adrift
• Solace

Ricochet will also be coming to Multi-team on Sept 3 as well.

Playlist Consolidation
As previously mentioned Regicide has moved to the Rumble Pit playlist and now Legendary Slayer will move into the Infinity Slayer playlist. Legendary BRs will be part of this. YEAH!!!

Finally the weekly Screenshot Spotlight. This week’s subject, the Mongoose.

To read the complete bulletin, go to the official site HERE.

-Sal

 

 

HFFL’s gaming group now has an official members roster!

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MaC Rounds Crimson logo 4C VECTOR 6inYou may or may not have noticed that I added a new tab to the menu bar just below the header. It says “HFFL Gaming Group Roster.” This is to show who is officially a member of the gaming group. Anyone not on that list saying they are a part of the group are simply NOT telling the truth.

Check out the members and info if you want to join by clicking on the tab above or HERE.

Toy PREVIEW: McFarlane Toys – Didact

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I’ve written about this figure before and shown a “pre” preview. Now McFarlane has released more images of the Didact action figure, so it’s time to share them with all of you!

other_didact_photo_01_dpother_didact_photo_02_dpother_didact_photo_03_dpother_didact_photo_04_dpThe level of detail  is exquisite! Paint application looks superb. One thing I’m noticing too is that the joints seem to be fairly well hidden. That is a HUGE plus too me.

Here’s a shot of the Didact in it’s packaging:

other_didact_packaging_01_dpCan I say that I am SUPER excited that McFarlane Toys included an alternate head with this? So extremely happy they did this. For much of the game we see the Didact with his helmet off, however there are those time where it’s on. I think it’s great that McFarlane is giving US the choice of how we want to display the Didact figure, rather than coming out with one helmeted then later down the road another without. That said, I’d still like to have two of these to display both ways!

As you can see on the package shot there are armor and weapons skins. I previewed those previously as well, but just in case you missed it, here are what they will look like in the game:

halo4s2_unlockable_photo7_clThe Venator armor already looks like a form of Forerunner armor to me. So adding the Didact’s color scheme/accents is freakin’ AWESOME!

halo4s2_unlockable_photo8_clNow THIS is how all the Forerunner weapons should look! (IMO)

I’m quickly finishing up my Suppressor commendation, but I’m going to hold back a bit until I get this figure so I can rock the new skin!

Here is the official text blurb from McFarlane about this figure:

Paint: original paint
Scale: 9-inch
Format: action figure
Packaging: boxed

In scale with our standard 6-inch figures, these deluxe boxed collectibles bring the larger characters and accessories of the Halo universe to your toy collection.

Our Didact action figure captures every detail of the Master Chief’s powerful nemesis, from the wicked spikes of his metallic armor to the glowing lines tracing along every piece. Figure stands approximately nine inches tall, includes 29 points of articulation, and includes a code that unlocks exclusive Halo 4 video game content – Refractive Venator Armor Skin and Refractive Suppressor Weapon Skin!

There is no retail price listed, though it’s been reported previously that it’s expected to be $29.99.

To view on McFarlane’s official site go here.

-Sal

 

 

 

 

Found a forum hosting site. HFFL Forums coming soon!

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Getting up early this morning, I had an e-mail from a friend letting me know about a forum hosting site. After checking it out for a bit, I think this will work for HFFL. I’ll be working on the layout/design, etc., for the forums over the next few days and hope to have it ready very soon. Meaning end of the month if not sooner.

In the meantime, I’d like to know what forum sections you’d like to see in these forums.

If you look to the right in the categories bar, the forums will have a similar set-up. So anything already listed there will be in the forums. Anything else you all can think of that might need adding?

This forum is for YOU, so please let your ideas be known. Either reply below or send me an e-mail at sal@halofanforlife.com. I look forward to your participation.

-Sal