The 12th annual GANG Awards (Game Audio Network Guild) is now over and Halo: Spartan Assault took home (as a tie) the Best Original Soundtrack Album award!

Congrats to the team who brought the soundtrack to life!

Source Link

Thanks to halobungie.org for tweeting this out.

-Sal

The following is a reflagged article from yahoo:

Long before sales figures and game releases dominated the headlines, the only thing any gamer wanted to talk about was Microsoft’s radical online strategy for the Xbox One. As it was originally described, theXbox One was going to be an online-only console in the strictest sense — if you weren’t connected to the Internet, the device wouldn’t function. After several unsuccessful attempts to reach a middle ground with consumers, Microsoft threw in the towel and reverted to the standard policies of the previous generation.

In an interview at SXSW, Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft Studios, admitted that he and his team did not approach the delicate situation in an ideal manner.

HFFL: You don’t say? First, having suits deliver the message for the next console was a HORRIBLE idea. Yes, they want some limelight and yes, by showing themselves, they tried to give the perception that they believe in their product. But honestly, I think we can all just about agree that the reveal last year weeks before E3 was a monumental failure. I personally would have rather had celebrities come out and pawn the new system off to me than some suits in the high-up offices of MS. A music act would have been great too. In fact, having a live show ALSO being shown live on the XBOX One would have been a GREAT way to demonstrate it. 

Total Xbox has taken the time to transcribe some of the more interesting quotes:

“I look at last summer and that wasn’t a high point for me, coming out of the announcement of Xbox One and E3, where I thought our messaging around what we believed in was confused,” said Spencer.

HFFL: The biggest failure was not showing what the gaming portion of the system could do as well as conflicting information about the always online format. It of course didn’t help that we as a nation had just gone through reports of revealing info about the NSA’s involvement with wire-tapping and potentially through gaming consoles as well. Having the Kinect be a mandatory part of the console which raised the cost by $100 AND the NSA spook stuff really REALLY hurt MS. Not to mention Don Mattrick’s advice to those who didn’t want Kinect. That was (paraphrased), if you don’t want Kinect, stick with your 360. Man, that was a kick in the nuts to many a gamer, even the loyal ones.

“I learned a ton last summer as leader of our groups about being true to your core vision about what a product is, not being confusing, and frankly, when you’re going to say something to a consumer that might put them off, it’s better to just be direct and honest, rather than trying to sugar-coat something that might be controversial. I’d rather deal with the controversy of what we’re doing, and have an above-table conversation about that topic, rather than trying to sugar-coat it with some other news.”

HFFL: Not what I’m hoping that in-house developers, especially 343, gains from this is that they too MUST follow suit. Be DIRECT AND HONEST. That was one thing that really hurt Halo 4. The whole “perks” thing. Secrecy for secrecy sake, when after what was revealed was more of a let down than anything that merited being kept secret in the first place. I am SO much for honesty even if it means you “rat” yourself out. ‘Fess up to your mistakes from the onset and people WILL be more understanding then than trying to hid things and hope for the best later.

Had Microsoft been more forthcoming at the outset, explaining in detail how its new online strategy could affect the next generation of consoles for the better, consumers might have given the Xbox One the benefit of the doubt. Instead, confusing, drawn out reveals and a refusal to answer basic questions resulted in outrage. If there was anything to be gained by Microsoft’s bold plans, the awkward delivery assured that we’ll never know.

HFFL: It’s possible many gamers may have accepted the new format if it were presented in a better light. The complete mismanagement of the reveal and subsequent showing at E3 really deflated what SHOULD be an otherwise stellar next-fen console. So again, I reiterate that as this pertains to Halo, I hope like heck 343 learned from the mistakes of not just themselves, but those of their superiors AND how those superiors responded. The bolded-underlined portion above is the biggest thing I hope they get. 

SOURCE LINK

/End reflagged article…

You’ll forgive me if it seems like I’m harping on either MS or 343. I make no money from this site, so it shouldn’t really affect me, right? Well, yes and no. See, I have a real passion for Halo. So if MS screws things up for the XBOX One and 343 had a less than stellar game, well that affects the Halo community in general. Sure those BIG sites who are well diversified might be fine, but those like mine that are SOLELY focused on one franchise will have a harder time going forward.

I just do not want to go through another hyped up launch of a Halo title only for it to fall flat a month or two after launch. If Halo is to rebound, the hype has to start earlier. It also has to be honest and sincere.

Just as MS/XBOX execs sugar coated the XBOX One, so too did 343 do with Halo 4. perks WERE/ARE perks. Maybe not exactly the same, but close enough. Saying that they were bring Halo back to it’s core, when what they should have said was bring the Halo campaign back to it’s core… I’m sure I’m not the only one that thought they meant bringing multiplayer back to it’s core. Leading us to believe that Spartan Ops was to be an on-going series, only to have the can it after the first season…

They just can NOT do that stuff anymore. Their own execs have said as much for the console and that trickles down to the in-house devs for the respective games/franchises as well.

Okay, sorry, rant over. I just needed to get that off my chest…again. It’s been a VERY slow Halo week. That, plus the fact that I was sick for a few days last week just didn’t give me much to work with/on for the blog.

-Sal

I’ve suppressed the urge to write about the “console war” up tip now. I just find it mostly ridiculous that fans of either PS or XBOX flame each other over the respective console. I’m not going to do that here.

What I am going to look at is this supposed decline in game sales, how it has possibly affected console gaming and what that might mean for Halo.

First off, I’ll admit I’m not an expert in the goings on of sales numbers of games and consoles. This is just my observation from reading many articles on the net, as well as conversations with friends over LIVE and people in Gamestop. So you might say this is an everyman’s point of view. Or at least mine anyway…

Gaming sales are on the decline? Why is that? Well, we have gone through a long economic recession that lasted for years. For some of us (yes, I mean me), it continues to linger on. So of course people in general may not have as much money to buy games. Add to that the increase in the price of games several years ago, and you’ve got another factor. Another reason is perceived incomplete games. What do I mean by this? Simple…

Games that come out with a basic campaign and/or multiplayer, but then VERY quickly come out with DLC after are really grinding on gamers. We already are paying a high cost for the gem itself. We do NOT want to have to pay for DLC just a scant few weeks after. WE feel burned by any developer that does that. In most cases we feel that DLC should have just been included on the disc.

At the very least, developers need to understand that and hold back on DLC until several months later. This will at least give the perception that they were working on the DLC after the main release of the game. Halo 4 and Borderlands 2 did this, as examples. When you got the game, if you bought a limited/special edition, it came with a code that enabled you to download the DLC the moment it became available and at a slightly lower cost that if you bought it through the marketplace.

Even before I was laid off from my job, I didn’t purchase a ton of video games, though I certainly bought more then. Now I have to be very picky about which games I by. So I want those games to be top-notch! Knowing that DLC will be coming with those games means more cost for that one game and less chance to buy other games. Yes, it increases the longevity of a particular game, but decreases peoples funds for other games.

Games that have lots of DLC are the norm now. It’s one way developers can recoup/make more money. AND, those are things the likes of Gamestop can’t really sell. Well, maybe codes, but even that may be lost to Gamestop eventually.

In one report I read, it said gaming time has been doubled in the past few years. However, it says that additional time is not console time, but rather cell phone/tablet games. Ugh, I loathe to put those kinds of games in the same category as console games. Here’s why phone/tablet games are doing better than ever though… For one they are CHEAP. You can buy a 99 cent app for your phone/tablet and get hours of “fun” out of it. More and more of these games are becoming pay to play games, meaning you are nearly forced to buy some in-game currency to advance or have to really GRIND it out to get anywhere in the game. Knowing how many people nowadays want that instant gratification and the relative low cost of the in-game currency, people shell out those additional dollars. What has happened though is some of those games become “addicting” to the point where people are paying, in the long run, as much as if not MORE than console games. It’s easy, I’ve done that in the past myself on a Facebook game. (NO, not Farmville…rolls eyes) LOL.

So with phone/tablet games now being considered part of the gaming market, it’s easy to see why console games by comparison have been on the decline. High initial cost of console games, plus too quickly after launch DLC eats away at one’s funds. The phone/tablet games are cheap, even the in-game money is too. Just look at the numbers “Flappy Bird” was pulling in. It’s said the guy who developed the game was making $50K a DAY….let that sink in. And he pulled the game. That I’ll never understand.

Another thing that’s becoming bigger and bigger is digital sales of games. Many of us balked at that as we want that physical disc.  As well, since digital purchases mean no cost for printing of the cover art of cases, or the directions, shouldn’t we expect some reduced cost for purchasing digitally? I certainly do expect that. It’s only now being considered. But if it’s not instituted, it will be just another thing that ruffles many a gamer’s feathers as a perception of greed by the gaming industry.

Okay, so let’s move on to the consoles themselves. Regardless is you like one over the other, the fact is, they ARE expensive. PS4 is $400, XBOX One is $500. Either way, it’s a LOT of money for a console system. What makes it worse is when there are issues with these systems after launch. We gamers DO expect them to work, and darn near flawlessly. If I’m going to pay several hundreds of dollars for something it MUST work. Now, I don’t know much about Playstation anymore (haven’t had one since the PS2), the following is going to be solely regarding XBOX.

Not only is the cost high for the XBOX One, but of course we also have to pay a yearly membership for the privilege to play multiplayer. More and more games are requiring an internet connection for them to work. I take a look at Defiance as an example. When I got it, I was excited for it, since I’m a huge fan of the game. Once I put the disc in and started it up, I quickly realized that there was no offline campaign and everything was online MMORPG. I played it twice and haven’t played it since. So I got burned for the money I paid for that game. We needn’t go over the horrible PR mess with the XBOX One’s reveal, just keep it in mind. As well, we don’t need to go into detail about the additional $100 over the PS4, just keep that in mind. It made matter worse with the whole NSA thing and the XBOX One having an “always on” Kinect…keep that in mind. The XBOX One made a system that from what I read was what Sony was trying to initially do with the PS3. And we all know that the PS3 lost the previous console war to the XBOX 360. Why would Microsoft think releasing a console that has similarities to the previous PS gen console would work? They were met with much backlash and Sony just sat back and watched what unfolded.

Microsoft is being tightlipped about sales numbers of the XBOX One. Why? If their numbers were even close to Sony’s they would likely have said something. This air of secrecy with Microsoft has worn on me and many of my friends. Not just with their console, but with games done by in-house developers. This is were I look to Halo. Yes, the franchise has never fully revealed everything about it’s next game. That’s understandable. But it’s pretty evident that Halo 4’s trickle of information hurt it, not to mention the perception of being a pseudo Call of Duty clone (perks and such). Microsoft has hedged a lot of it’s bets on a new franchise in Titanfall. What does that say for it’s belief in the Halo franchise? If Titanfall sales are flat, what will that mean for the XBOX in general? Destiny is coming out in September. It’s NOT exclusive to XBOX. In fact by all accounts from what I’ve read, the PS will have MORE content than the XBOX version.

We then come back to Halo. The rumor is a “new” game in November. Is it Halo 2 Anniversary? A wholly NEW Halo game? What? yes, we gamers are impatient when it comes to news of our favorite games. However, I think it’s fairly safe to assume that 343 needs to promote the hell out of the next game and can not afford to shroud it in secrecy. If it is Halo 2 Anniversary, we already know much of what we can expect. So no biggie. In fact at this point I hope it IS Halo 2 Anniversary as I don’t think there was enough time between Halo 4 and this coming November to develop a wholly new Halo game for the XBOX One.

With the plethora of games out there, the market for games has become diluted. Even games like Call of Duty have seen a decline in sales. Last year’s Grand Theft Auto saw MASSIVE sales, the likes of which we may not see again. Why? For one, it had been 5 years since it’s previous game. Quite a long time. Not just for development, but to hype up that franchise. When it came out, people were clamoring for it. Sure, not a ton of news came out about it, but what did blew people away (figuratively…). Just enough and just the RIGHT kind of info about the game came out.

So where does this all leave Halo? Well, I’ve said it before. The next fully new Halo game needs to knock it out of the atmosphere, not just the park. Any public speaking of the game by 343/Microsoft needs to be darn near flawless. Any controversy stemming from leaked info needs to be addressed and QUICKLY. If not, it leaves us to wonder and worry about the next game. If we’re to pay the $60 (or more) for the next Halo game, it MUST include all of the classic stuff that it’s predecessors have. Theater for Campaign for one. Ranked and Social Playlists another (and WELL managed to boot). Personally I’d love to see Firefight come back. I’d also want Spartan Ops, but with 343’s killing that one after just one season when we expected more to follow, well, it’s probably best to let that part die (unfortunately).

Regarding DLC for the next NEW Halo game, PLEASE for the love of gawd, do NOT have it come out soon after. Rather include a LOT of stuff on the disc at launch, then maybe 5-6 months after release the first DLC and every 5-6 months again there after. However, if this happens, DLC MUST have it’s own playlist ALWAYS included in the active playlists.

I have hopes that 343 has learned from it’s mistakes with Halo 4. But with sales of the XBOX One already hurting, more and more games coming out, not just for consoles, but cheaply for phones/tablet, they’ve got one heck of a huge hill to climb. This is why I keep saying the next new Halo game MUST be the absolute best of them all. The franchise can not afford even a perceived lackluster game. I think we all know that perception greatly influences our realities. A lot is riding on the next Halo game, especially if Titanfall doesn’t pick up sales for the XBOX One.

At this point, I’m cautiously optimistic.

Finally, one thing I really do NOT want to see anymore are developers (ANY OF THEM) having parties, often with lavish spreads of food. Often with them drinking gawd knows what, but alcohol to be sure. To the all developers I say this, regardless that that money is but a very small portion of production costs, it does give the perception of arrogance and thriving off of your consumers. I personally don’t want to see that. When I do, it pisses me off even more that I’m forced to pay $60 for a game, continued costs for DLC, and often for games that aren’t fully done. Knock that crap off. There are some things that you SHOULD keep secret. THIS is one of those things. If you’re holding these parties, then the game comes out and it’s flat, unfinished, etc., that makes we gamers wonder why you weren’t harder at work finishing the game, rather than partying it up. Yes, you deserve a party for the game being certified and released, just don’t make it public. There are some of us (again I mean me), that struggle for every dollar. I don’t want to see your boisterous parties.

So how do you feel about all of this? Do you buy lots of games? Do you play console/cell phone/tablet games? Are you disgusted with the cost of games and/or consoles? How have these things affected your buying power and your choices of what you buy? Has or will this affect your thoughts and future plans to buy further in the Halo franchise?

I know this was a long article, but I felt the need to write it.

-Sal

The following is a reblog of an article from the verge.com, written by Tom Warren.

Microsoft has been in a state of “shut up and ship” with Windows Phone for more than a year now. While the company has released a few minor updates to Windows Phone 8, its feature set hasn’t changed significantly from when Microsoft first introduced the mobile OS in October 2012. The software giant refuses to discuss or acknowledge an upcoming update, Windows Phone 8.1, but a recent software development kit leak has highlighted the huge number of feature changes that will arrive in the coming months and put Windows Phone more on par with iOS and Android. One of the main feature additions is Cortana, a personal digital assistant named after Microsoft’s Halo game series.

Cortana first emerged after a Microsoft employee lost a phone running Windows Phone 8.1last year. Sources familiar with Microsoft’s Windows Phone work have revealed to The Verge that Cortana will replace the built-in Bing search feature, which is currently launched through a dedicated hardware key, and acts as a digital assistant with a mix of Siri and Google Now functionality. We’re told that Cortana will take the form of a circular animated icon with the hue of your selected Windows Phone accent color, and will have a personality not dissimilar from Apple’s Siri. Cortana will animate when it’s speaking or thinking, and bounce around or frown with “emotion” depending on the queries involved. Cortana will be backed by data from services like Bing, Foursquare, and others to give it some of the contextual power of Google Now.

Central to Microsoft’s vision for Cortana is a Notebook feature that will allow Windows Phone users to control exactly what information is shared with the digital assistant. Notebook will allow the Cortana digital assistant to access information such as location data, behaviors, personal information, reminders, and contact information. We’re told it’s designed as a privacy feature to ensure Cortana doesn’t freely access information without a level of user control. While Cortana will learn things about users, it won’t store them in the Notebook without asking you, and any information that’s stored can be edited or deleted. Cortana will then use this information to provide answers to search queries by voice or text, and provide suggestions, alerts, and reminders. Cortana could greet you by name and ask if you need help or answer questions, much like Siri.

Through search queries and just general phone usage, Cortana will learn more about a user and offer to store personal data like home and work locations and general interests in its Notebook. Cortana will also react to messages or emails that contain phrases like “let’s meet tomorrow at 8PM” and ask if you’d like to set up reminders or calendar entries. Cortana can also provide guidance on weather, stocks, directions, appointments, and music that’s contextual based on location and other data. As Cortana is a digital assistant, it will also be able to manage a do-not-disturb feature, similar to iOS, that’s designed to mute notifications. An “inner circle” of contacts will allow Cortana to manage notifications and phone calls during “quiet hours” when notifications are muted.

Although the initial Cortana digital assistant that will ship in Windows Phone 8.1 will have a lot of capabilities, Microsoft will need to extend it to third-party apps and its Windows and Xbox devices to improve its functionality in the future. The real test of Cortana will be how well it works with voice commands and its ability to understand natural phrases and questions. Microsoft’s recent voice work with Xbox One is impressive, but it also requires that you follow a strict pattern of commands for it to work successfully. Microsoft will have to ensure Cortana is at least as good as Siri for the company to position this as a full personal digital assistant.

HFFL: Man, I SO wish I could afford this. I’d LOVE to have a phone with Cortana as it’s A.I.

Do you have a Windows phone? If not, might you get one, since it will have Cortana with it soon?

-Sal

Eric “Gho57ayame” Hewitt of 343 tweeted a link to the following video showing how the figures were made, and much more. VERY cool vid. Master Chief makes a brief appearance.

Okay, someone buy me that 3-D printer, please! LOL

-Sal

Not Halo, but it may have an impact later on future Halo games.

This is a repost of an article on Yahoo:

The Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 are on a relatively level playing field as the new generation revs up, but Microsoft and Sony will find ways to help consumers differentiate between the two in the coming months and years. Sony has already played its trump card by offering free games through PlayStation Plus, but Microsoft might be closing in on its own digital initiative to give Xbox One owners better deals.

Mike Ybarra, studio manager at Xbox, tweeted on Monday that Xbox owners have been asking for better deals on the Xbox digital marketplace, so his team is going to begin testing a few options. Starting tomorrow and running until the 24th, Ryse: Son of Rome, a launch game for the Xbox One, will be discounted 33% to $39.99 on Xbox Live.

Console owners have been demanding competitive digital download prices for years, but other than occasional discounts and holiday events, more often than not a used copy of a game costs significantly less than its digital counterpart, even months or years after release. As for Ryse, preowned copies at GameStop are still listed at $54.99, $15 over the promotional price being offered on Xbox Live this week.

We don’t know what this means for the future of Xbox One digital pricing, but if the response is positive, expect more promotions like this in the future.

Source Link

-Sal

In an excerpt from a by Keith Noonan of fool.com (via Yahoo), he talks about the importance of the next Halo FPS game coming this year.

With Microsoft confirming Halo 5 for 2014, the Xbox One’s short-term lineup just got a major stat boost. Will a strong stable of first-person shooters have the Xbox One outgunning PlayStation 4 in the coming year?

The series that made Xbox
The legacy of the Xbox platforms is closely tied to the FPS genre. The original Halo helped to propel the popularity of the original Xbox and established the series as one of the biggest names in gaming. The “Halo” franchise has a large and dedicated assortment of followers that are certain to show up for the latest installment. A recent batch of Xbox promotional materials that bore no mention of a “Halo” title arriving in 2014 had given some fans and speculators reason to believe that the title would slip into the next year. Microsoft has officially clarified that this omission comes down to the next game in the series not having a proper title and that it was still on track for a 2014 release.

Bring out the big guns
With reports of Sony’s PlayStation 4 outselling the Xbox One in Europe and North America, the ability to deliver an installment in a marquee property is a large feather in Microsoft’s 2014 cap. The PlayStation 4 moved over 4.2 million units in 2013, with the Xbox One pushing past 3 million units in the last year. Microsoft will need to deliver quality software to reverse this trend. Halo 5, or whatever it winds up being officially called, should be the best-selling piece of exclusive software in 2014. 

While Sony’s box looks to enjoy pricing and hardware advantages, it would appear that the Xbox One is on track to deliver a bigger 2014 in terms of games. Multiplatform mainstays likeActivision‘s “Call of Duty” series and new IP Destiny should do big numbers on both platforms, but console platform exclusives like first-party Halo 5 and Titanfall from Electronic Arts are going to give the Xbox One a much-needed edge. 

To read the full report, go HERE.

So this brings up a topic I’ve talked about many times before. Will 343 deliver not jsut a good game, but a great one? Will it be ready straight out of the box, or is it going to need 6 months of further development after launch? Will it deliver the classic Halo gameplay we love when Bungie had the title, or will they continue to tweak multiplayer?

SO much is riding on Halo 5’s (or whatever it’s to be called) success. The success of the franchise isn’t the only thing, it’s the XBOX One itself. Still considered the XBOX’s marquee exclusive title, Halo needs to go WAY above and beyond not only it’s predecessors but nearly every other game out there as well. Will it compete with Titanfall? I’d venture to say yes. With Destiny? That will be a bit tougher. WIth Bungie developing that game and Activision having a hand in it (makers of Cod), Destiny is likely going to be the benchmark game that all other gamers needs to strive for in terms of sales. Since it’s a multi-platform game, it already has the advantage of Halo.

I do think there needs to be MORE in Halo. What is that more though? I’ll bullet point those ideas:
• More maps AT LAUNCH – Complaints were high that three multiplayer map packs were already planned and had release dates before Halo 4 came out. Dismal sales of these map packs caused those who DID get the packs to be frustrated by not being able to play them in matchmaking (NOT customs).
• More versatility – this could cover a LOT of things. Forge needs some elements back in that were taken out from Reach. New things need to be added like a terrain editor, night/day effects, weather effects and more.
• Customization – Forge notwithstanding, Armor customization was pretty good in Halo 4. However, those skins, while somewhat cool, could have been even better. Imagine those skins being a third color? As well, an emblem editor. Yes, the classic emblems would be included, but we gamers could also have the ability to create our own emblems. THis would be great for gaming groups. Of course it does have the unfortunate circumstance of those who would use it to make inappropriate emblems.
• Utmost attention to playlist management – Right now in Halo 4 we do not have a dedicated Objective playlist. We are only just going to get a playlist for Team DLC and that will only be for 2 weeks. There have been complaints ad nauseum about the playlist management in Halo 4. DLC is one of the biggest ones. If you don’t give the players what they want in terms of map availability and/or gametypes, they won’t keep coming back.
• Ranked AND Social Playlists – this is a MUST for the next Halo game to succeed. Taking away to competitive aspect as well as ranks you can achieve (not just through prolific gameplay, but SKILLED gameplay) was one of those things that separated Halo from most other games of similar genre. Having a ranked playlist would open up again the opportunity to bring back Halo into proper competitive (PRO) gaming.
• LONGER time to rank up (not skill related) – In Halo 4 many people achieved SR130 very quickly. I hit it at 40 days after launch. Compare that to Reach where most people did NOT hit Inheritor (and still haven’t). BTW, I hit that mark at 9 MONTHS into the game. Fast by Reach standards, but still MUCH longer than Halo 4. Making the time longer to rank up gives people something more to strive for and keeps them coming back to play.

There are plenty of things major and minor I could talk about. Some being important, others being nitpicky or even selfish on my part. The point is, the next Halo game MUST deliver. It can NOT be just a good game, or “good-enough”. It MUST be the BEST Halo game ever. Why? Again, not just for the future of the franchise, but for the XBOX One itself.

343’s task is HUGE in this. They know it, we fans know it. All we can do is wait, hope and see.

-Sal