Posted at Spawn.com:
HALO SERIES 6 - MEDAL EDITION
http://www.spawn.com/news/news2.aspx?id=13590
ELITE SHIPMASTER - RTAS ‘VADUMEE - with Plasma Sword, Plasma Grenade and Sword Spree! Medal
“THE ROOKIE” ODST - with Suppressed SMG and Halo 3: ODST Medal
BRUTE BODYGUARD - with Brute Shot and Spike Grenade
FLOOD PURE FORM STALKER - with Incineration! Medal
SPARTAN RECON (WHITE) - with Dual Magnums and Killionaire! Medal
GRUNT (RED) - with Plasma Rifle, Plasma Pistol, Plasma Grenade and Double Kill! Medal
Posted at Bungie.net by privet caboose: (http://www.bungie.net/News/Blog.aspx?mode=news#cid19692)
The hardest Vidmaster of them all.
If you need a reason to boot up Marathon: Durandal, here it is, a chance to get the ever so hard “Vidmaster” achievement.
The achievement requires you to go through the entire Marathon: Durandal campaign on “Total Carnage” difficulty, as well as finding every secret terminal, and kill every single “Bob” in the game. Sounds hard right? Well we can ease the pain of the achievement, by utilizing Marathon’s amazing 8 player co-op to get this achievement.
It’ll give you a reason to load up the game, it will be loads of fun, and give you at least 35 gamerpoints. All you have to do is head over to the Zantive Forums and post your gamertag, and you will be invited on Saturday Night 7:00pm Eastern Standard time. The night will be long, so bring a sleeping bag, and some nachos.
From Bungie.net:
May Matchmaking Update
As we eluded to earlier, we’ve also got some of our own changes cooked up for May. More Mythic is being added, both required and optional, so make sure you pay close attention to the fine print if you find yourself sans the Mythic Map Pack. Here’s the list of upcoming changes for next month:
General
Heavy Maps – The Heavy Map variants have all been tweaked. Power weapons have longer timers, and in some instances do not respawn. Spawn timers on Gauss hogs in Standoff Heavy are increased as well.
Community Variants – Two new community objective map variants have been added to Matchmaking. Punishment by DEATHPIMP72 and Utah Mambo by Cosmic Rick. These maps will appear in Team Objective and Team Mythic.
Ranked
Team Doubles – Mythic is now REQUIRED
Team Slayer – Mythic maps added (optional)*
Team Objective – Successfully vetoing will now guarantee a CTF variant (1 flag, 1 flag BRs, 2 Flag, 2 Flag BRs). Legendary is now required. Mythic Maps added (optional)*
Social
Multi Team – Mythic maps added (optional)*
Social Big Team – Mythic maps added (optional)*
Hardcore
Team SWAT – Mythic is now REQUIRED
Mythic
Team Mythic – SWAT removed from Team Mythic lineup. 1 Flag and 1 Bomb added.
7 on the 7th
7 Player FFA on Assembly
Double EXP Weekends (In Order of Appearance)
Mythic Brawl – 12 player FFA on classic, Heroic, Legendary, and Mythic maps. Heroic/Legendary/Mythic required.
Grifball
Team Control – A playlist about territories and shooting people for control of said territories. Heroic/Legendary/Mythic required.
Living Dead – Social, with maximum party size of 13. Heroic/Legendary/Mythic required.
*As mentioned before the April update was released, playlists that are Mythic-optional one month will be Mythic-required the following month. The playlists listed as Mythic-optional (and marked with an asterisk) above will require Mythic in June.
This weekend the social Living Dead playlist returns with double EXP! Gametypes will be Infection style variants. The zombies rise tonight to start their feeding, and don’t return to their graves until the dawn Monday morning. Don’t forget that ALL DLC is required with the exception of Mythic, and watch out for those sweet, sweet BRAAAAAAAIIINS!
Team Melee is this week’s double EXP playlist. It consists of 3 on 3 on 3 gametypes armed with melee weapons (hammers, swords, etc). It starts up this evening and runs until 2am PST Monday morning! (Mythic Maps in playlist but not required).
From Bungie.net:
General
• Default Orbital updated to address hiding spots and issue with players killing themselves when they touch the ceiling in the lower base
• Default Sandbox updated to address issue with Rocket Launchers spawning with different timing
Ranked
Team Doubles (Mythic Map Pack added but not required)
• All objective gametypes set to skip after veto
• Added Assembly
• Added Sandbox variants “Cubed,” “Plurality,” “Tundra,” “Vessel”
Team Objective
• Team Flag on Smashed removed
Social
Rumble Pit (Mythic Map Pack added but not required)
• Added Assembly (default), Sandbox (default)
• Added Sandbox variant “Cubed”
• Added infection gametype “Save One Bullet”
• Added infection variants “Dismemberment” (Assembly), “Andromeda” (Orbital), and “Spooky House” (Sandbox)
• Removed Hammerzeit
Hardcore
Team Swat (Mythic Map Pack added but not required)
• Added SWATssembly, SWArbital, Tundra SWAT
MLG
• Updated to v6 map variants
Team Snipers
• Grenades removed from Team Snipers gametype
Double EXP Weekends for April (In Order)
• Team Flag
• Grifball
• Team Melee (Mythic Map Pack added but not required)
• Living Dead (Mythic Map Pack added but not required)
• Fiesta (Mythic Map Pack added but not required)
7 on the 7th
Avalanche (for the last time, I promise)
Footnote
When you see a hopper with Mythic appearing as “not required,” expect that to mean that Mythic will be required the following month. For Double EXP weekends, this means that the next time they are used, they will require the Mythic Map Pack.
Team Mythic isn’t going anywhere in April. You’ll still be able to play all Mythic, all the time under its tweaked title, Mythic DLC, for the remainder of the month. From May onward, we’ll be looking to integrate the Mythic maps into Matchmaking in a more permanent sense as noted above, with more and more Playlists soon requiring the Mythic Map Pack.
From Figures.com:
First shown at the New York Toy Fair back in February, McFarlane Toys’ series of stylized HALO figures now have a name: OddPods. Standing 4 inches tall, the OddPods feature interchangeable heads, torsos and arms for countless customization possibilities. The first series includes four fan-favorite HALO characters with weapons, including:
* MASTER CHIEF with Assault Rifle
* BRUTE CHIEFTAIN with Gravity Hammer
* SPARTAN EVA [red] with Assault Rifle
* SPARTAN EOD [steel] with Assault Rifle
Look for the first series of OddPods to reach stores in May.
From Spawn.com:
McFarlane Toys will be offering a Toys “R” Us Grifball Spartan to be sold during San Diego Comic-Con 2009. This Spartan features the highly coveted Recon armor, plus a Bomb, Gravity Hammer and Sword Hilt. The McFarlane Toys Grifball Spartan marks the first time an action figure has been created based on the Grifball game. The Grifball Spartan is limited to 6,000 pieces and will sell for $15. This exclusive will be available at Comic-Con, July 23-27 at the San Diego Convention Center at the Toys “R” Us booth, in limited quantity at the Toys “R” Us Times Square store, and through www.toysrus.com.
From Joystiq.com:
Reference publisher DK announced today that it has partnered with Microsoft to publish the Halo Encyclopedia. As its title suggests, the Halo Encyclopedia is a reference guide to everything in the Halo universe including “characters, weapons, vehicles, equipment, and locations” from every Halo game all the way up to Halo 3: ODST. The press release notes that Microsoft approached DK after the San Diego Comic-Con last year after seeing its reference guides to subjects like Star Wars and Marvel comics.
The book will span 352 pages and will feature a foreword by Halo franchise development director (and former Bungie community guru) Frank O’Connor. The encyclopedia, which marks DK’s first reference based on a game, is expected to be published in several territories and in different languages. It’s scheduled to hit retail this November, and while no price is specified in the press release, Amazon is offering pre-orders for $27.34, which is apparently 32% off its list price of $40.
The real question, of course, is whether the encyclopedia has an entry on what happened to the frakking pistol.
From Joystiq.com:
Winner of multiple Hugo and Nebula awards, author Greg Bear is about to come face to face with his greatest challenge yet: writing a Halo trilogy about the Forerunners, largely to an audience who may not know him enough to respect his previous work. Bear is the prolific science-fiction author of the Eon and Darwin’s Radio series, but his “hard science fiction” style will likely receive a workout under the cruel magnifying glass of the Halo fanboys — those who aren’t too busy fragging each other online, anyway.
The first novel is scheduled for early 2010, with an unabridged audio book to release simultaneously. Bear seems like a classy choice for the author in charge of making up and filling in the mythos of the Forerunners.
The Mythic Map Pack, previously available only to owners of the Limited Edition of Halo Wars, is now open for purchase to all for mere 800 Microsoft Points! What are you waiting for? Head on over and pick it up for the 3 new maps (Orbital, Assembly, and Sandbox) and the new achievements!
Live NOW and running until early Monday morning Grifball returns (yet again) as the double EXP playlist this weekend! Hammers and swords and bombs, oh my! Whether you’re looking for a quick way to unlock the Lightswitch achievement or want to add a Killionaire medal to your chest, now is the time to strike. Get ready for a smashing good time! (Heroic Map Pack Required).
