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Halo 4: Forward unto Dawn - Episode 4 While Corbulo Academy is being destroyed by the Covenant invasion, the surviving cadets fight bravely alongside their only hope: The Master Chief. Video Page

(Note: Jester has reviewed this and deemed it worthy to post. It isn't a leaked copy, but a legitimate one.) Littleenglishhaloblog.com has gotten a early copy of Halo 4: Limited Edition and has been kind enough to show us an Un-boxing gallery. "I got my hands on the Halo 4 Limited Edition this week, my impressions will come later, but for now take a look at these shots of the content. Some very minor spoilers if you're sensitive about that sort of thing, but really nothing that you'd need to avoid." View full article

While Corbulo Academy is being destroyed by the Covenant invasion, the surviving cadets fight bravely alongside their only hope: The Master Chief. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ_xn889cSk&feature=plcp View full article

Halo 4 lead multiplayer map designer Kynan Pearson takes us on a tour of the "Exile" map. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-COvpS-fpKE View full article

As most of you may know, the Limited Edition content is not so limited anymore. Early access to the Specializations will be given to everyone who plays the game by November 20th. The FUD Extended Edition will be streamed over Halo Waypoint instead of being on the disk or being available for download (you will need a constant internet connection to watch it). The Map Pass that comes with the Limited Edition is cheaper, but the Standalone Map Pass will give you two Exclusive helmets. The other additional content, like the blueprints and papers, will be available for everyone to read online. At this point, it's not really worth paying 100$ for the Limited Edition. You will save a lot of money by downgrading to the Standard Edition for 60$ and then buy Standalone Map Pass for 25$, which actually gives you the same, if not more, content. I will downgrade my pre-order and get the Standard Edition instead. What about you? Source: https://forums.halow...ions-Early.aspx Edit: It has now been confirmed that you do get the two exclusive helmets included in the Map Pass regardless of which version of the game you buy.

343 Industries has released new Halo 4 concept art offering an early look at the environments being built for the War Games DLC maps detailed earlier today. Read below for more details Source: Computerandvideogames.com As reported earlier today, 343 will launch three War Games map packs for Halo 4 - one each in December, February and April. As detailed through that link, each pack will contain three maps, the first glimpses of which you will get from the concept art below. A 'War Games Pass' giving buyers access to all three map packs at a discount bundle price will be included in the Limited Edition version of Halo 4 or sold separately for 2000 MS Points. View full article

343 and Microsoft have released the details of the Halo 4 Season pass. Read below for more details Source: Gameinformer.com With Halo 4's release just a few weeks away, Microsoft outlined the post-release content plans for the game. The War Games Map Pass gives you a 15 percent discount if you purchased all the upcoming maps individually. The pass costs $24.99 USD2 (2,000 Microsoft Points) and gives you access to three War Games map packs as they become available. Additionally, purchasers receive two in-game helmets (‘Scanner’ and ‘Strider’) as well as a unique in-game emblem (‘Falcon’). The Halo 4 War Games Map Pass is included as part of the Limited Edition Halo 4 game, Microsoft says. Below are the War Games map details: Crimson Map Pack (December release timeframe) Maps: Wreckage, Harvest, Shatter Description: Witness the chaos of a clash of civilizations in Wreckage, with its blend of claustrophobic spaces and dangerous exposures and venture into the human colony environs of Harvest, and explore a human foray on an alien moon in Shatter. Majestic Map Pack (February release timeframe) Maps: Landfall, Monolith, Skyline Description: Landfall’s emphasis is on infantry battles against a glittering ocean on a distant world, while Monolith exposes you to the naked vacuum of space – and the firepower of opposing teams, and Skyline’s distinctly industrial feel provides new challenges in somewhat familiar, but occasionally confined spaces. Castle Map Pack (April release timeframe) Maps: Daybreak, Outcast, Perdition Description: Daybreak is set in a military facility against the backdrop of an idyllic mountain range, while Outcast plunges you into the warrens, canyons and arches of an alien edifice, and Perdition takes players into the heart of an urban sprawl, with tactical speed and situational awareness its key features. View full article

The Australian Xbox Facebook page has been updated indicating that there may be an extended version of the David Fincher produced launch trailer being released soon. Read below for more details Source: LittleEnglishBlog.com and Xbox Australia Facebook "This is the only time this has been mentioned, but it would go some way to explain the slightly disconnected nature of the scenes in the ad. The two minute ad didn't really have any of the hallmarks of a David Fincher production either so hopefully an extended version will really show off his input." Here is the two minute trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgvPAT8A7KY&feature=my_liked_videos&list=LLbjFViXk3gCFOQk2PTFv95A View full article

http://www.gamestop.com/xbox-360/games/halo-4-limited-edition/102028 Preorder Limited Edition Halo 4. Limited Edition versions of Halo 4 are still up for pre-order at Gamestop!!! If you haven't already, preorder it now as this may be your ONLY chance. The Halo 4 Limited Edition includes the following: Halo 4 "War Games" Map Pass Launch Day Access to Six Specializations UNSC Infinity Briefing Packet Special Edition of Halo 4 Forward Unto Dawn In-Game Prime (Recruit) Armor Skin In-Game Prime Weapon Skin - Assault Rifle In-Game Prime Emblem Recruit Armor Avatar Costume Avatar Cryo-Tube Prop Halo 4 pre-orders at GameStop also include bonus "Forest" armor DLC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMWkiT1gy_4 View full article

Gaminformer interviewing Frank O'Connor franchise development director for the Halo franchise about Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn. Read below for more details Source: Gameinformer.com The third episode of Halo’s live-action web series premiered today, and we had a chance to talk to Frank O'Connor, the franchise development director for the Halo franchise. He has a somewhat ambiguous job title and it means that O'Connor has his hand in just about everything related to Halo. We spoke to him about creating Halo 4's live-action web series, Forward Unto Dawn, and got some clarification about what his job is exactly. You’re the franchise development director for the Halo franchise? What does that job entail? Obviously I’m a spokesperson and that entails being an expert in every aspect of everything that we’re doing and then talking about it, but the vast majority of my work involves building and creating new elements of the franchise that end up in all of the various aspects of it. It’s a very large business at this point, even outside of the game. Obviously the game is the bulk of it, the game is the absolute master of everything else we do in the franchise and so everything feeds back into the game. It’s a really big franchise and it’s a big business on its own. From that perspective, how involved were you with the show, with the production? Were you writing and that kind of thing? We were editing and we were tweaking, really all the writing was done by Todd and Aaron Helbing realistically. We make notes and stuff like that but we were in the initial meetings with the Helbings about story and their first pitch, and the reason they got the job actually, was a story set on Harvest, which is one of the worlds from the Halo universe. We’d interviewed a bunch of writers and we had seen a bunch of pitches, and their pitch wasn’t the show we wanted to make, but it showed a really profound understanding of the universe and what the universe was about. It also mapped directly to what we wanted to do which was tell a story about people because that’s what we wanted this thing to be. Obviously it’s going to be great for fans. Fans are going to look at just about every single detail in this and hopefully love it. We wanted this to be approachable for people who are not familiar with the Halo universe and to do some setup, not in the sense of a pure origin story, but to give context to the beginnings of events that actually end up playing out in Halo 4. So their Harvest story did a lot of that but we needed to do something much more directly connected to it, so in the early meetings we basically helped them craft the story from the get-go and it was a completely different story from the one they originally wanted to tell. We were very involved in crafting that original plot, but we barely put pen to paper, that was those guys. We had meetings where we discussing things like Lasky’s allergy to the cryo-sleep as a sort of motivation for his character. It was basically world and story building from the get-go but they did all the writing. You’re talking about getting pitches. Did you guys put out a call for writers? We did, we put out a call. First we interviewed a bunch of writers and then we narrowed down that list and then we put out a call for pitches, but those guys actually had the most complete pitch to begin with and the deepest understanding of the universe. They had done really good work on serials with Smallville and Spartacus in terms of really quickly being able to establish characters. We don’t have a lot of time with this show, it’s five weeks of content, so we needed writers that could rapidly establish character, and motivation, and universe building, basically in a very rapid time frame. I don’t mean their execution on the script, I mean the five weeks of content that this thing ends up being. What was the impetus for doing a live action show for a video game? We haven’t had a numbered Halo sequel in almost five years at this point, and we wanted to refresh people and we wanted to bring people back into the universe. We were talking about doing it both in the game and in TV commercials, and both of those things are actually going to happen. There’s going to be a lot of bringing people up to speed, hopefully in really unobtrusive and non-obvious ways. That conversation started extending out into, “Well what else can we do here?” What can we do to really make people sit up and take notice? And what can we do to tell a really good Halo story? I think people love watching the TV commercials, but they’re not terribly satisfying in terms of narrative content. They’re really big and you see some cool action, maybe an explosion, and while people enjoy seeing Halo stuff brought into the flesh as it were, they’re just not getting a lot of satisfactory resolution to those brief vignettes, and so it literally just snowballed from that conversation and we said, “Well why don’t we just make a show? We can do that kind of thing.” The next step was starting to talk to first a production company and our producers, so we gired Lydia and Josh (the executive producers behind Forward Unto Dawn) and with those guys in tow we started farming out the pitch to various writers and directors. We were really trying to pick people who would fit the scale of this project and honestly give us the most bang for our buck. All of the people we’re working with have worked on pretty cool things that are able to do a lot with fairly limited resources. We’re trying to get as much of our budget up on the screen as possible. Read on to find out exactly how Forward Unto Dawn fits into the narrative of Halo 4. How important Forward Unto Dawn to the plot of Halo 4? Will players who only play the game and skip the show be lost? Certainly not. They’re connected via characters and some elements I can’t talk about, but if you don’t play the game, Forward Unto Dawn will make perfect sense to you. In fact it’s very self-contained, again kind of like a superhero origin story where you’re finding out all this stuff and hopefully that will drive people to be interested in the game, not the other way around. People who play the game and have watched Forward Unto Dawn are going to recognize characters and scenarios and certain pieces of setup that should provide really cool resonance. They will work really well together but they’re absolutely not essential to each other. They both need to be their own stories and they both need to be complete. Is there a fear that this might turn into what the Matrix kind of had, where there was almost too many versions of stories that all came connected into one place and left people out in the cold a little bit? I think if you have a matrix, and I don’t mean the movie, if you have a matrix of things that are required to understand something, you’re just creating a mess for yourself. We don’t want to make an ARG. We wanted to tell a story that established the human covenant conflict, the basic ideas and premises of the Halo universe like the UNSC, what are Spartans, and this story actually does all of that. In some ways it’s kind of the origin story of the Halo universe as we understand it today, and it’s a completely standalone story. The connection points, again, are sort of through lines for characters. The character of Thomas Lasky, who’s the lead in Forward Unto Dawn, is going to be in his 40s by the time you see him again in Halo 4. Just that simple fact means that the stories, while connected, are not linear or chronologically connected and they both stand alone completely. Even in Halo 4 we want to make sure we have a story with a beginning, middle and an end that doesn’t require that you read a book, that doesn’t require that you have any previous understanding of the Halo universe. These things should all be complimentary, but not essential. If you do watch Forward Unto Dawn, and you do read all the books, and you follow all this fiction, and you check out all the terminals you’re going to have a very different experience. But if you shoe-in all of that stuff you’re still going to be in a perfectly safe and valid narrative space. You’ll understand everything that’s going on no matter which of those discrete pieces you consume, or all of them. Your experience should be enhanced by it, not required. You just talked about a character that ages 40 years when he appears in Halo 4, are there any other ways you can talk about how Forward Unto Dawn ties into the Spartan Ops or the main campaign of Halo 4? Not without giving away some spoilers. There’s a device that’s used throughout the show that does have a very direct connection to Halo 4, but I don’t want to ruin it. It’s a piece of context for the overall premise of the show and it will make sense by the time you see episode two, that will completely make sense, but I don’t want to spoil that for viewers. Do you feel like you had a good experience making the show? Do you think you would want to do more stuff like this? Not even necessarily for future Halo games but even just to keep going with the story? I think we had a great experience with the people in the production and actually seeing the final show last week, we had been watching it with ADR caption and the wrong colors and placeholder special effects and all that stuff. It was already really compelling at some point a couple months ago, where you could watch the whole thing from beginning to end, and we really enjoyed the story, but seeing it all come together as this polished piece – I had to watch the first two episodes for feedback in their finished form a couple of days ago and I was genuinely disappointed and irritated when I got to the end of episode two and I didn’t have the finished episode three to watch, so I went back and watched one of the unfinished builds of it just to keep the story going. It’s actually just a good story, it could be set in the 20th century or the 30th century and it would still be a good story about compelling characters. Be sure to check out our interviews with Forward Unto Dawn's Director Steward Hendler, and Daniel Cudmore, the actor playing Master Chief in the series. Halo 4 releases November 6 on Xbox 360. View full article

Halo 4, Foward unto Dawn episode 3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbBYG77VeCE&feature=g-all-u "Just as Hastati Squad is confronted by a video of secret ONI super-soldiers, their war and their whole universe are changed forever by a much more deadly surprise." View full article

Halo 4 lead multiplayer map designer Kynan Pearson takes us on a tour of the "Haven" map. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_bEU4--dSM&feature=g-all-u View full article

The Halo Bulletin 10.17.12 Read below for more details Source: HaloWaypoint.com Click the Source link for videos on this bulletin Every time someone spreads a leak, an angel loses its wings Every time someone spreads a leak, an angel loses its wings. At least that’s what I’m assuming is happening, considering my backside is suddenly bare. Oh yes, there’s no longer any junk above my trunk, I’ve lost the adonk from my badonk, and Sir Mix-A-Lot no longer likes me. Despite the absence of flying apparatuses, my spirits are still soaring. Why, you ask? Because in less than three weeks, you will finally have Halo 4 in your hands. Whether you start with Campaign, Spartan Ops, or the multiplayer mayhem that is War Games, you will soon be embarking upon an adventure – one that we’ve spent years crafting for you, and one that we hope you’ll enjoy immensely. Regardless of whether your road to launch includes getting touched by a spoiler, nothing will compare to the moment you feel the familiar weight of the Battle Rifle in your hands as you’re welcoming back your old friends, the Master Chief and Cortana. Speaking of the Chief, I can neither confirm nor deny that in Halo 4, he decides to mix things up a little. I can tell you, however, that he just may attempt to shoot his way out. Enough small chat, though. We have a lot we have to cover, in not a lot of time. This week’s topics include Meltdown (one of the multiplayer maps shipping with Halo 4), the Mantis (dat mech), a complete list of Halo 4 skulls (now with pictures!), Halo-themed pumpkin patterns (in case you’re planning on carving a jack-o'-lantern this year), and a few other interesting tidbits. Shall we begin? I think we shall! PLNB PRIORITY TRANSMISSION [CLASSIFIED] ENCRYPTION CODE: [CLASSIFIED] PUBLIC KEY: N/A Evolution of the Master Chief As the video game industry advances, so does its tools and techniques, and that is readily apparent when looking at the Master Chief’s evolution over the past ten years. Each iteration of our favorite Spartan super-soldier has been distinctive yet similar, but don’t confuse design with canon – the Chief is the Chief, just with the details and idiosyncrasies based on what each time period and toolset has to offer. So embiggen the picture above by clicking on it, and enjoy the walk down Master Chief Memory Lane. Just don’t wander off too long, because some brand new Meltdown screenshots are anxiously awaiting your attention. FROM: CODENAME SURGEON TO: CODENAME COALMINER Meltdown Brand spankin’ new Meltdown screenshots 1 and 2! MELTDOWN DESCRIPTION: While most Forerunner technology appears to support safe usage over immense passages of time, the failure of specific systems can cause a cascading effect which dramatically impacts a site’s foundational composition. This frigid moon’s icy conditions once served to control a Forerunner reactor’s intense heat, but those days are now long gone. The main objective when creating Meltdown was to design a medium size level that catered to both infantry and light vehicle combat. Early on, several paper maps were drawn in the attempt to find the best possible solution to these goals, and ultimately a figure eight-style took the crown. Though it had several iterations through its design, the figure eight vehicle path and base locations always stayed the same. The largest changes were adding more infantry paths (like the caves) and making simpler base interiors. Initially it was difficult to tell what side of the map the player was spawning on because of the rotational symmetry. We solved this with the level’s theme: Using the core meltdown of one of the base generators, one side of the level was essentially melting from the heat and the other remained covered in snow and ice. While the original concept took place in a canyon-like environment similar to Beaver Creek, this new theme solved many issues with environment identification. Meltdown is built around a looping layout with upper and lower pathways. The lower path is focused on vehicles (which tend to run loops around the map and perform hit-and-run actions on enemies), and the upper path is focused on infantry (which tend to move across the light bridges into the center combat space and use cover to ambush enemy players or move around the cliff walls and fight at range from the high ground). Throughout the design process, our goal was to make infantry feel on equal footing to vehicles. This is where the tighter vehicle paths, plenty of cover and numerous foot paths come into play. With this in mind, we wanted a level that felt like a large vehicle map while staying the size of a medium infantry map. Unlike the normal large vehicle maps that are usually seen in Halo, the tighter vehicle paths and prevalent infantry areas make it much easier for the player to traverse on foot without feeling vulnerable to snipers and vehicles. It's also possible to run from one side of the map to the other within a short amount of time, similar to other medium-sized maps. CLASSIFICATION: ELEVENTH HOUR [2/5] SUBJECT: OVER THE FENCE Brand spankin’ new Meltdown screenshots 3 and 4! As a large, vehicle-heavy map, Meltdown spawns a wide range of power weapons. Games on this map typically kick off with big explosions as each team spawns near both a Railgun and an Incineration Cannon. During the matches, Infinity keeps teams well equipped with the Incineration Cannon, Scattershot, Sniper Rifle, SAW, Rocket Launcher, and Fuel Rod Cannon. Despite its size, Meltdown does not spawn the Banshee by default. This helped us create unique vehicle combat, focusing on the clash between the high ground on the cliffs and bridges and the low ground below. Without the Banshee, it means getting to the high ground advantage is even more important in combat encounters. If you can’t live without the flying purple dealer of doom, you’re free to forge a Banshee for yourself for even more varied gameplay. Unlike the other maps, this particular playspace has the bases built into the outer walls. With these large, integrated bases, Meltdown is built to support Dominion (but Big Team Battle is also a studio favorite). Teams spawn inside the Alpha and Charlie bases and then contest the center, which is a large contrast from Longbow, which has players attacking and approaching all three bases from the start of the match. In the end, Meltdown became a fun level for both infantry and vehicle fans, and stands out in objective game modes. But look out for the Mantis, which has the ability to rip you a new one when you're not looking… /FILE EXTRACTION-RECONSTITUTION COMPLETE/ /START FILE/ The Halo 4 Mantis We first introduced you to the Mantis through the above dubsteppy, Spartan-stompy, teabaggy video. While it made the majority of people excited about piloting this particular bad boy, a few were concerned it was overpowered when compared to the rest of the Halo 4 sandbox. To quell that fear and talk a little more in-depth about this brand new vehicle, Ali Zandi, a Systems Designer here at 343, stopped by with more information you could ever want to know. And then some. The Mantis is a new UNSC bipedal weapons platform, fully equipped with a high caliber chain gun mounted on its right arm, multi-rocket system on its left arm, and UNSC’s energy shielding technology. The chain gun is effective up close, but has significant projectile spread and heat when laying on the trigger for long periods of time (once the chain gun overheats, it goes into a cool down sequence for a few seconds, disallowing the weapon to fire during that period). The rocket pod delivers massive direct impact damage, as well as moderate amounts of splash damage to infantry and armor. It has two firing modes, one being semi-automatic, and the second being a full volley of however many rockets are loaded in the pod. A total number of five rockets can be queued up by holding the weapon’s trigger down, or fired individually by latching the trigger. Once all five rockets are depleted, the Mantis initiates a reload sequence, replenishing the rockets after a few seconds. The Mantis has two variants – Campaign and Multiplayer – which differ greatly in terms of damage, spread, and projectile speed. The Campaign version of the chain gun deals much more damage as it uses higher caliber rounds, and the rocket system is anti-aircraft. Inspired by Halo Legends, the Mantis started out as an armored exoskeleton that Spartans would equip, augmenting their abilities. It had numerous weapons, roles, mechanics and shapes, and featured a dedicated shield. It also had the ability to jetpack, use thrusters, and fire a Railgun. We even had an early prototype that consisted of the Chief riding in a giant scaled-up Chief (Yo dawg, we herd you liek the Chief, so we put the Chief in your Chief so you can play as the Chief while you play as the Chief). The idea then evolved into an actual mechanized vehicle, which was more epic in scale and fit the UNSC better. SPECIES CANDIDATE//LINE RECORD 94:73:02:75 Once the concept was finalized and the Mantis was modeled and rigged for animation, we hooked up the bare systems to allow the weapons to fire and players to occupy the seat. During that time, there was massive animation work done to get all the parts moving and animating. It was difficult because there was nothing in the game engine that contained any logic for a mech. It was not easy iterating on values, because if we cranked the knobs on movement speeds or stomp delays, for example, the animation team would need to iterate on the animation content for the walk cycles and the stomp animation to compensate. Communication was crucial. We ended up using a biped/vehicle hybrid, and there were significant amounts of content and code work done to bring this to life. After that phase came the heavy animation work and iteration process on the timings and numbers to get the legs feeling and behaving correctly in all the different possible situations across numerous maps. The team focused heavily on the Mantis’ legs and foot pinning to make sure the legs would behave when walking across various elevations and obstacles. Once we felt good with the timings and animations of the movement, we starting balancing health, weapons, and numerous amounts of other magical systems for Campaign and Multiplayer. During the balancing phase, we discovered players were having a hard time knowing if the Mantis was reloading or not from certain distances, because the silhouette remained the same. To address that issue, we decided that it needed some sort of visual feedback to show when the weapons were temporarily down. It was definitely interesting and challenging to decide how we could animate the arms without it sorting into itself at different torso rotations and pitches, or looking like a Jersey Shore fist pump. Once we got the animations down, we found that it was extremely useful to players on foot, because it visually conveys the windows of opportunity infantry has when the Mantis weapon systems are down. Overall, it’s slightly similar to the Scorpion tank in terms of health and armor, but it trades firepower for maneuverability, allowing the Mantis to be more agile than the Scorpion when needed. Also like the Scorpion, it is capable of being boarded by enemies and EMPed by a Plasma Pistol charge. One notable difference is that the Mantis is capable of using its weight to deliver a devastating stomp to crush enemies in front of it by pressing the melee button. Time your stomp carefully though, and remember that it’s a risk reward. If you miss and or use it carelessly, you leave yourself open to being boarded. UNGGOY// Sensors at Balaho indicate stability, no off-planet transport recorded since Solipsis. Runners are claiming that Buwan has been abandoned as well, but we’re keeping our eyes on it anyway. Moderate Unggoy populations have been observed in Sangheilian systems at various intervals. The biggest challenge when designing the Mantis was making it feel satisfying both for the players piloting it and players fighting against it. The goal was to have an awesome new vehicle in Campaign and Multiplayer, and not have it pulled off the Multiplayer boards because it’s impossible or too easy to counter. Through rigorous playtesting and prototyping, we pursued the “less is more” approach and simplified the Mantis into a much more focused experience. One of the more effective roles for the Mantis in Multiplayer is base defense. It does especially well in close to medium ranges against both infantry and vehicles, but it’s good to have some cover just in case. You don’t want to be caught out in the middle of the battlefield in your big giant robot when the other team has a Spartan Laser. If used in an offensive operation (for example, escorting teammates toward the enemy flag), it is extremely critical to have a team supporting their fellow Mantis, killing potential boarders and anyone targeting the Mantis with a power weapon. While piloting the Mantis is an enjoyable experience, so is blowing it up. Hooking up and polishing all the numerous little bits and doodads that splinter off the Mantis when each section starts taking damage and breaking apart was definitely the most fun (and time consuming) out of all the vehicles to setup. Each destruction asset piece is tuned to give proper visual response when popping off its parent region. There is a lot of attention to detail, and we made sure that the destruction is granular and satisfying. Oh, one more thing to all you budding mech pilots: Watch your back, because she can be boarded from behind. And yes, that’s what I said. KIG-YAR// Eayn’s native population continues to grow and expand within reasonable governing parameters; its economic and social lines have stabilized in the wake of the war. Muloqt, Kaelarot, and Valyanop, the primary interplanetary colonial sites, all remain static, with little notable movement. There are rumors of mercenaries operating alongside a handful of more conservative Sangheili states, although that has yet to be substantiated. Section 3 Please remember to take out the garbage. SANGHEILI// Most intel here originates from ground contacts, but sensors have assisted with validation. The primary issue with the Sangheili is that of discordant cultural symmetry. It is difficult to assess military growth across several dozen active colonial vectors all with disparate political structures. Nevertheless, any and all visible military activity appears to be internecine in nature. Halo 4 Skulls Skulls are a longstanding tradition in the Halo series and one we’re excited to continue. Modifying gameplay and multiplying difficulty, the Skulls in Halo 4 will behave like the ones you already know and love from Halo: Reach. In Halo 4, they will be available in Campaign and are automatically unlocked from the start. For the uninitiated, you can find the names and descriptions below. By the way, if you’re the type that leaves no stone unturned in your quest for hidden secrets, fret not, because the Domain Terminals will scratch that itch… and more. Famine - Weapons drop much less ammo. Tilt - Enemy resistances and weaknesses are increased. Mythic - Enemies have increased health. Catch - Enemies are grenade happy! Black Eye - Shields don't recharge unless you melee enemies. Tough Luck - Enemies always go berserk, always dive out of the way, and never flee. Iron - Co-op: Back to previous checkpoint on death. Solo: Restart mission on death. Thunderstorm - Major upgrade to the capabilities of enemies. Cloud - Motion sensor is disabled. Cowbell - Acceleration from explosions is increased. IWHBYD - Rare combat dialogue becomes more common. Grunt Birthday Party - Headshot a Grunt, HAPPY BOOM TIME! Blind - The HUD and the first person arms and weapon are hidden. NOTE: A cluster of Sangheili frontier worlds saw a sudden and anomalous convergence of unregistered ships, largely cruisers of varying classes according to a handful of remote relays stationed nearby. By the time sensors were deployed, the ships were gone. The relays can’t assess numbers or strength, but the readings we have indicate that this wasn’t an expeditionary voyage or something tied to a single state. It appears to have been much larger. Carve this way Last year we provided a variety of pumpkin carving patterns perfect for your Haloween-related festivities, and this year we’re doing the same. Below you will find seven different patterns, some relevant to Halo 4, some specific to Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, but all somehow related to this crazy thing called Halo. So choose your difficulty, pick your favorite pattern, print it out on a paper-like product and carve it into a large orange fruit (the white portions signify areas to carve while the gray patches should simply be scraped). Then, once you’ve completed the aforementioned activities, share it with us via the “Submit News” button on the front page. Yes, we want to see it, because we kind of sort of like you. And your gourd-like creations. /END FILE/ And that wraps up yet another Bulletin. Until next week... <3, bs angel View full article

The holiday discount sales expand to the Limited Edition Halo 4 Console. Read below for more details Source: Computerandvideogames.com Fans of overpriced consoles covered in special paint will be pleased to know that the Xbox 360 Limited Edition Halo 4 console bundle will be slightly less overpriced than first expected. The $400 bundle, which includes the custom designed 320GB console and two matching controllers, Halo 4 and a code for various downloadable treats for the game, will be included in Microsoft's recently-announced US Holiday Bundle sale. This means a $50 reduction, for a neat price of $349.99 - a very tempting proposal. The console is available for pre-order now at the special price from participating US retailers (Best Buy, GameStop, Amazon, Target, Toys 'R Us and Walmart). For officialdom, here's a list of the other Holiday Bundles available in US for an unspecified "limited" time: 250GB Xbox 360 with Kinect and Dance Central 2, Kinect Sports, and Kinect Adventures and one month of Xbox LIVE Gold for $399.99 USD (ERP) 4GB Xbox 360 with Kinect and Kinect Disneyland Adventures and Kinect Adventures and one month of Xbox LIVE Gold for $299.99 USD (ERP) 250GB Xbox 360 with two games: Skyrim and Forza 4 Essentials Edition and one month of Xbox LIVE Gold for $299.99 USD (ERP) View full article

" Xbox 360's dashboard update is rolling out today (October 16). The latest version of the console's firmware is downloadable today for some users, and will be gradually made available for everyone over the next few weeks. "Our initial deployment will reach approximately three million consoles worldwide, with additional users being updated over the course of a couple of weeks," said director of programming Larry Hryb. "Don't panic if you don't see an immediate update, just keep checking back in." The update refreshes the 'Metro' branded interface with a tweaked layout of tiles, combines the TV and Movies channels, and in the US, introduces a sports channel. Internet Explorer will be added for Xbox Live Gold subscribers, allowing users to browse the web with a controller or Kinect. Searching is now expanded to genre, while voice search now includes YouTube, and is available to new countries including Ireland, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Italy, Spain and Austria. Favourite content can be pinned to the dashboard, allowing fast access to games, TV shows, music, videos and websites. Similarly, Quick Play will be rebranded as Recent, providing a list of games, movies and apps last used on the console. Zune Video Marketplace is to be rebranded as Xbox Video, offering hundreds of thousands of TV shows and movies available for purchase or renting. The recently announced Xbox Music will also be made available today. The update introduces Xbox SmartGlass, which will be made available when Windows 8 launches on October 26. " Source: Digital Spy View full article

Halo 4 lead multiplayer map designer Kynan Pearson takes us on a tour of the "Meltdown" map. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2_6L-j26ag&feature=g-all-u View full article

2k Games has launched a trailer for the DLC expansion 'Captain Scarlett and her Pirate's Booty' worldwide, for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Read below for more details Source: Computerandvideogames.com The publisher says: "In Captain Scarlett and her Pirate's Booty, up to four players cooperatively enter the hostile sand dunes and wastelands of Pirate Bay in search of ancient treasures. "The add-on content campaign features new characters, including the eccentric and eager Shade; locations such as the town of Oasis; enemies including the Sand Pirates and Anchormen; and special weapons and loot that make it a must-play experience." Gearbox previously announced plans to release four Borderlands 2 DLC campaign add-ons, which will retail individually for $9.99. A Borderlands 2 Season Pass enabling players to pre-purchase all of the DLC at a discount is available now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=G31QY3SL0_I View full article

The Minecraft Xbox 360 1.8.2 update is going to happen tomorrow confirmed by 4J studios its Twitter feed. This update will bring creative mode to the Xbox 360. Read below for more details Source: Xbox360achievements.org The update brings with it a whole host of new additions, as well as fixes tweaks and other stuff. Here's a reminder of the complete list of stuff for Minecraft 1.8.2 update: Additions: Added Creative Mode. Disabled Achievements and Leaderboard updates if the player is in Creative Mode, or if the world has been previously saved in Creative Mode. Added a simple tutorial for Creative Mode. Added sprinting to Survival Mode. Added flying and sprint-flying to Creative Mode. Added new items to the game - Melon, Melon Slice, Melon Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Raw/Cooked Beef, Raw/Cooked Chicken, Rotten Flesh, Pumpkin Seeds, Iron Bars, Fence Gate, Stone Bricks, Stone Brick Slabs, Stone Brick Stairs, Brick Slabs, Brick Stairs, Ender Pearl, Web,Vines, 10 more Music Discs, and Chain Armor. Added new items to the crafting menu - Melon, Melon Seeds, Glass Pane, Fence Gate, Iron Bars, Stone Bricks, Stone Brick Slabs, Stone Brick Stairs, Brick Slabs, Brick Stairs. Added terrain generation features - Strongholds, Villages, Abandoned Mineshafts and Ravines. Biome code additions, including rivers and oceans. Changed the bow to have drawing and firing action. Added a quick move to the dispenser. Added a quick equip for armor to the inventory interface. Added a quick move for ingredients and fuel in the furnace interface. Brought forward the mining speed changes from 1.2.3 Brought forward apples dropping from leaf blocks from 1.1 Brought forward change from 1.2.3 to make pumpkins and melons grow from stems much faster, and not require farmland around the stem to grow on. Fix to vines brought forward from 1.2.3 to stop them spreading too much. Added the Food Bar to the HUD. Added stacking for food items. Added the eating animation. Enabled crafting mushroom stew without a crafting table. Added the blocking move with swords. Changed all the text descriptions for food to show how much they refill the food bar. Passive mobs will now flee when hit. The snout on pigs now protrude from their head. Skeletons now hold full size bows. Animals no longer despawn which makes it possible to capture them. Zombies now drop Rotten Flesh instead of Feathers. Updated some mob sounds. Shears can now collect Tall Grass and the new Vine. Improved sunrise and sunset. Improved the rain edges (when looking up in rain). User-placed leaf blocks no longer decay. Cloud height raised to the top of the map, so clouds can no longer phase through blocks. Cloud movement syncs with the game's time. Both Wooden and Stone pressure plates can now be placed on fences. Improved chest model with a 3D lock, and opening and closing animation. Added a countdown timer to the autosave to stop it being such a surprise. Added the ability to rename an existing saved world. Added map icons to the in-game player list to match their color in the map. Added a confirmation dialog on the player choosing to exit without saving. Added a character display when sprinting or flying. Updated the How To Play HUD with the Food Bar information. Added descriptions for Creative Mode and Sprinting to the How To Play menus. Updated the Download Content menu with pictures of the DLC available. Removed Herobrine. Options Changes and Additions: Changed the Gamertags Display option to mean display/hide gamertags in-game and on maps. Added an option to select Creative Mode or Survival Mode on creating or loading a world. Added an option to disable clouds. Added additional options to the world creation - Superflat land (creates a flat world near bedrock in both the Overworld and the Nether), enable/disable Structures and Bonus Chest. Added Host options - toggles for Player Versus Player, Trust Players to stop players being able to mine without permission from the Host, Fire Spread, TNT Explodes, and Host Privileges. Added in-game player options for the host - Can Build and Mine, Moderator, Kick Player, Can Fly, Disable Exhaustion, Invisible. Store the Online, Invite Only, and Friends of Friends options in the player's profile. Tutorial World Changes: Changed the Tutorial world to enable the new terrain features in it. Added mini tutorial for sprinting in the Tutorial world. Added mini tutorial for eating in the Tutorial world. Added Music Disc Quests in the Tutorial world - players can search the world for the 12 chests, each containing one of the Music Discs that can be played in a Jukebox. Fixes: Fix for duplication glitch. Fix for aspect ratio of things in hand when in splitscreen mode. Fix for issue with player data not saving (player starting world with no items they had when they saved). Fix for redstone tiles burning out when they shouldn't. Fixed issue with Minecart with Furnace not being able to move another Minecart. Fixed particle code for flipped 3rd person view. You'll be able to download the Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition update 1.8.2 tomorrow (October 16th). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EakNifXH42w View full article

Mojang has released a third skin pack for Minecraft: Xbox 360 edition. Skins include, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal 2, and Half-life and much more. Read below for more details Source: Xbox360achievements.org The likes of Gordon Freeman and co. are joined by the crew from Left 4 Dead 2, Chell, Atlas and P-body from Portal 2, some zombies, a cow, and a few more standard Minecraft inhabitants to flesh out the Skin Pack 3. We've snagged a few images from PlayXBLA, but OXM has the complete gallery of exclusive screens. As well as the arrival of Skin Pack 3 for Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition, there's also the coming of patch 1.8.2 to look forward to. You can read all about that here, via this linky. MInecraft: Xbox 360 Edition Skin Pack 3 is out on October 19th. View full article

Microsoft UK will not cut prices off of Xbox 360 and bundles for the holiday season. Read below for more details Source: Computerandvideogames.com On Monday it was revealed that the North American arm of Xbox is going to slash $50 off both the 4GB and 250GB versions of the seven year-old console. Off the back of opportunistic discounts of the PS3 across retail in the UK, due in part to the new 'Super Slim' model, eyes turned to Microsoft to see if the company would cut its prices. But the company explained to MCV its full list of Xbox SKUs available this Christmas; none of which showed a standalone discount on the hardware. Offers available include: 250GB Christmas Value bundle inc. Skyrim and Forza 4 - £199 250 Kinect Holiday bundle including Kinect, Kinect Adventures, Dance Central 2 and Kinect Sports - £299 4GB Kinect Holiday Value bundle including Kinect, Kinect Adventures and Kinect Disneyland - £249 4GB Kinect and Nike+ Kinect Training bundle - £269 320GB Halo 4 Limited Edition console - £269 4GB White Gloss bundle - £149 Xbox 360 Gets A $50 Price Cut In Time For The Holidays - 2012 This post has been promoted to an article

Here is the final map of the War Games map list called Vortex: Source: Halo4nation.com View full article