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

Toy Review: Halo minimates Elites/Multiplayer Spartans

Minimates_logo
I have a wonderful wife. She got me these two Halo MiniMates sets. As you can see from the first photo, the one on the left is a Toys R Us exclusive.2013-04-03 14.45.26  2013-04-03 14.45.37The packaging is quite simple and I like it like that. You can see the product with no fluff. 2013-04-03 14.49.10 2013-04-03 14.49.39The Elites are a light Violet color. Not really game accurate, but a decent color none the less. It is a smidge irritating that a Brute weapon was included instead of some other Elite weapon. With exception of the heads and shoulders, these figures are the same. Still, that’s just enough to make them different.2013-04-03 14.51.22Gahhh, I wish I’d have read the packaging….I didn’t realize there were three sets of heads in this set. Hmm, now to convince my wife to get me two more sets of these…

-Sal

 

 

 

Early Requiem Concept art by Sparth of 343.

Sparth tweeted a link to yet more of his fantastic Halo 4 concept art.

tumblr_mkozeufmx71r5ajivo1_1280  tumblr_mkozeufmx71r5ajivo3_1280tumblr_mkozeufmx71r5ajivo2_1280And here is another piece of concept art. Not Requiem though.tumblr_mkp09e3dDY1r5ajivo1_1280I love the simplicity of the first piece. BLUE! Hmm, just in time for Autism Month. The Hexagonal Requim is very interesting. Those are in line with both the Covenant’s use of Hexagons on the vehicle hulls as well as the Bubble Shield.

-Sal

Update on McFarlane series 2 Halo 4 figures.

I’m pretty sure I mentioned this before about series 2, but just in case, there will be DLC codes associated with these figures for Halo 4. What that DLC is, hasn’t been made public yet.

In the meantime, here is some additional info on the figures for the upcoming wave. (Text from McFarlane.com)

NEW UPDATES ON THE SECOND SERIES OF ‘HALO 4’ ACTION FIGURES!
Figures To Include New Unlockable ‘Halo 4’ Content

You’ve waited and waited…Now your patience shall be rewarded.

The second series of action figures based on Microsoft Studios and 343 Industries latest major game title – Halo 4®will be hitting stores this fall! Just like Halo 4 Series 1, this line brings fans all-new, never-before-seen characters, weapons, accessories, and vehicles from Halo 4 to your figure collection. Each highly detailed figure will stand approximately six inches tall and include an average of 25 points of articulation.

As an added bonus, each figure will also include a unique code that unlocks exclusive Halo 4 video game content…More information coming soon!

No needed to pull out your replica Plasma Rifle…Here is the official line up for the second series of Halo 4 action figures!

Master Chief w Cortana

MASTER CHIEF
Our latest action figure of John-117, the Master Chief, features an all-new weapon, debuting for the first time in Halo 4: the Asymmetric Recoilless Carbine-920; better known as the Railgun. The ARC-920 Railgun is a compact-channel linear accelerator that fires a high-explosive round at incredible speed, delivering both kinetic and explosive force to hard and soft targets alike.

As an added bonus, the Master Chief also comes with a free Micro Ops figure of Cortana. Perfectly in scale with our other Micro Ops figures, Cortana also works as an accessory to our standard six-inch figures. Cortana can be removed from her base and held in a figure’s hand, just as she’s often seen throughout the Halovideo game series!

Elite Ranger

ELITE RANGER
The Elites are back in Halo 4, including the popular Ranger variant as depicted inHalo: Reach. Elite Rangers feature a fully-sealed environment suit and an airtight helmet with clear visor; perfect for extra-vehicular activity in the vacuum of space. Our Elite Ranger figure comes with the redesigned, Halo 4 version of the Beam Rifle.

Storm Jackal

STORM JACKAL
The Kig-Yar, commonly known as Jackals, return in Halo 4 as part of the alien Covenant that continues to threaten humanity and the UNSC. The Storm Jackal features the new, more sinister look seen in Halo 4. Figure includes the redesigned version of the Covenant Carbine weapon.

Spartan Scout RUST

SPARTAN SCOUT (RUST)
The fan-favorite Scout armor, previously seen in both Halo 3 and Halo: Reach,, returns in an updated, yet instantly recognizable form for the Spartan-IVs of the UNSC Infinity in Halo 4. Our Spartan Scout figure features a rust paint scheme, and comes equipped with the new Sticky Detonator weapon; previously only available with the Master Chief in the UNSC Cryotube boxed set.

Spartan CIO Violet

SPARTAN C.I.O. (VIOLET)
An all-new Spartan armor type making its debut in Halo 4, the Spartan C.I.O. is distinguishable by its unique helmet with three optical sensors. This brand-new Spartan figure is clad in violet armor and comes with the latest version of the Designated Marksman Rifle, a popular mid-range UNSC weapon first introduced inHalo: Reach.

All of these new Halo 4 figures will hit stores in October.

Halo 4 Castle Map Pack Achievements

castleachievements_660So you want to know what the “cheevos” are for Castle? Well, here you go!

Castle Map Pack achievementsMost of these seem pretty straight forward. The “Hello Nurse!” cheevo might take a few games to get (barring anyone boosting cheevos).

For me, the “Beating up the Beat” (5 melee kills in one match) is going to be tough as I’m not one who goes for beat downs.

The “Outta My Way!” cheevo is going to be difficult for most I’d suspect. I think in all my Halo 4 games thus far I have a handful of games where I’ve had 5 splatters in a single match.

Still, these aren’t all that hard. I think most of you might agree that they won’t be as hard to get as some of Majestic’s were.

-Sal

 

 

Why aren’t video game actors treated like stars?

In the following article from polygon.com, voice actor powerhouses like Jen Taylor (Cortana from our beloved Halo franchise) and Jen Hale of Mass Effect (and now Halo 4) fame talk about the ins and out of being a voice actor for the video game industry, what the pay is like and how they often go about their daily lives not being recognized by the general public.

http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/4/2/4104160/why-arent-video-game-actors-treated-like-stars

Take a gander at that article, it’s a good read, even if it’s not all about Halo.
-Sal

Fathead Trivia Contest #1 (of 4)

Here we go folks, the first of four trivia contest questions. Be the first to answer correctly and you will be the winner of the following Fatheads “Junior” set:

Knight junior FatheadHow many different types of Promethean Knights are encountered in Halo 4? AND name the classes.
Remember, you have to be registered on the blog and reply on the blog to have an eligible answer.

Don’t forget folks that coming April 13, I’ll have a 30% off code good for all Halo Fathead products. So even if you dont’ win this one, it can still be yours and for a great discount!

-Sal

Rail Gun concept art by “Sparth” of 343.

Sparth tweeted this cool concept piece showing the ammo cartridge for the rail gun and how it’s loaded.

Rail Gun concept SparthI really like the design of the gun. It does remind me of UNSC Frigates from previous Halo games, and I’m perfectly fine with that.

 

I’m going to work for 343!

343 logo WonK
As some of you know, I’ve applied, via a recruiting agency, for a job with 343. I’m extremely happy to say I got the position.

Details of the position are to remain under wraps for now until I’m allowed to reveal them. In the meantime, I’ve got some serious planning to do. Packing up stuff to move to Seattle (Kirkland), Washington, will be the biggest immediate thing of course. Also april fools day will be second. From there, if you got caught, just admit it. Wouldn’t this have been extremely cool though? Although this article was a joke, my desire to work for 343 isn’t.

The Halo Bulletin 3.28.13

halobulletinheader_3-28-13This week’s Halo Bulletin brings us a recap of PAX East, Q&A regarding what was shown at PAX East, and a bevy of RED Screenshots.

By now you’ve read about or seen the vids coming out of PAX East regarding Halo 4. Arguably the biggest announcement was that of Forge Island. (Which btw is free to download RIGHT NOW!) It was slated to be released April 11. For whatever reason though, it’s been released early. I’m thinking with many having an extended weekend for Easter, 343 wanted to give people an early shot at forging on this wonderful, flat and FREE map.

Multi-team is back! Q&A regarding CSR, how it’s applied via wins/losses players played against, your own performance, etc.

Sadly no Season Two of Spartan Ops is planned at the moment. However….If you’ve been reading my blog you know that that means I’m free to explore my new web series “MaC Rounds” without worrying about steeping on 343’s toes and having to hold back production of episodes to watch what 343 does. So my series is a go full steam ahead! (On that note, I’ll be posting something in the next few days about that which is extremely important to me and how the production moves ahead.)

Talk of Forge Island takes place in the Bulletin, but again, since it’s available NOW, why not check it out for yourself? The “X” is back. No doubt if you played yesterday, you saw the “X” in matchmaking. Yes it’s white, not red. Yes, it despawns quick, depending on the player’s respawning. However, I for one am HAPPY that it’s back at all. Better than NOT having it. Are MEGA Bloks Reap-X vehicles canon to the story? Hmm, I’ll let you read that in the bulletin…

Go check out the link to see the gallery of red screenshots from Halo 4.
http://blogs.halowaypoint.com/Headlines/post/2013/03/28/The-Halo-Bulletin-32813.aspx

Peace out, I’m going to go play with Forge Island!!!
-Sal

Forge Island is LIVE!!!

I found out from a tweet by Pete_the_Duck that Forge Island is on the marketplace and available for download!

pete the duck FI
So of course I checked this out on XBOX.com:Forge Island on MarketplaceSure enough after downloading it from the net to my XBOX, I was able to start forging right away!

Welcome to Forge Island!!Welcome to Forge IslandAbove are the new rocks. Just look at that amazing rock wall and immense spire. Not to mention a GREEN SCREEN!!!! OMG, this is going to help my new Halo web series “MaC Rounds” out so much!

As you can see I rotated one of the rock walls and placed it on top of a coliseum wall. As well, I placed a 1×1 block roughly in the middle of those two to show size: Coliseum Wall-Rock Wall-1x1 blockThe rock wall is HUGE!

Here’s that beautiful green screen!GreenScreenAnd look trees! (There are actually only 3 versions, however the tallest has a truck so tall that it enables you to have great variance in height of trees) The shortest below is also the tallest, just with it’s truck mostly submerged into the ground.TreesAnd last but not least a worm’s eye view of the above (really it’s Spartan height, but you feel like a worm…)Trees Worms Eye ViewHave at it folks! It’s FREE!!!!!!!

-Sal