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Impression of Halo 3’s Legendary Map Pack
Posted April 14th, 2008 at 11:34pm
Halo 3 fans have eagerly awaited Microsoft's release of the "Legendary" map pack for download on April 15 (i.e. today), but the $10 pricetag might be a bit off-putting for those who don't want to buy three new maps sight-unseen. Fear not: 1up has been playing the Legendary maps for a while now and have given some pretty thorough impressions (replete with video) and will fill in a lot of the blanks for those of you who are wondering what's behind the curtain. Here's a taste of what they had to say about a new map called "Avalanche":Helping to cut down on the long treks are two-way teleporters and lots of vehicles, including Ghosts, Warthogs, Wraiths, Scorpions, and a toned-down-and-balanced-for-multiplayer, rocket-launcher-less Hornet. ("We knew the [original] Hornet was a death machine," says Bakken. "It wasn't tweaked very well for multiplayer.") The developers also removed the interior hallways that used to connect the two bases, forcing most of the conflicts outdoors. The result? The most exciting, most action-packed large-sized Halo map yet. As a side note, the previous map pack (entitled "Heroic") was also priced at $10 (or 800 Ms points) when it was first released, but as of the 15th will be available for free download.halo 3, legendary, map pack, microsoft, xbox
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Microsoft planning to market the crap out of Halo 3
Posted April 14th, 2008 at 10:01pm
Game Daily has an interesting look at how Microsoft has created a roadmap for last fall's Halo 3 which is intended to give it life, particularly in crossover to general pop culture, for many years to come. Microsoft's Jerret West spoke to GD at the MI6 conference in San Francisco and explained what it is that MS has in mind for the future of the game whose release was so big that Hollywood blames it for torpedoing ticket sales:Starting with positioning, the team wanted to develop the humanity around the character of Master Chief as a human savior, "not as a reckless American cowboy." West says that they also wanted to raise the immersion bar of the franchise. Microsoft knew Halo 3 could be big, bigger than gaming itself. As West says, it "wasn't about video games, wasn't about video games press," but the franchise had to become part of pop culture. "You have to be very articulate about the tactics." This is not only an interesting article for gamers, but also for those who are interested in how branding is developed and created and how strategies are created to make sure that people not only know of the game but, more importantly, recognize the branding touchstones therein.Halo 3 map pack locked and loaded for April 15
Posted March 20th, 2008 at 10:24pm
Bungie is about to drop a second map pack, entitled "Legendary" on Halo 3 fans this April 15, which will be downloadable for anyone who has the game. It'll ring in at a cost of 800 Microsoft points (which is worth $10), but Microsoft also intends to simultaneously make the previous downloadable map pack (called "Heroic") available for free on the same day. I don't like paying for downloadable content for a game I've already bought, but I find it a bit telling that Luke Smith of Bungie doesn't seem to either (on the company's site he says "Remember, we just make the maps, we don't get to price them"). The pack includes three new multiplayer maps, one of which is a reworking of the original Halo's Sidewinder map (which was quite popular). The other two maps, Ghost Town and Moonlight, are being kept under wraps at the moment... but they promise to be real purty.