Technabob » halo

Halo 4 Release Date Confirmed by Microsoft

Shane McGlaun — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:00:47 +0000

Microsoft has announced the official launch date for the next title in Halo franchise. The next installment is Halo 4 and it will launch globally on November 6, 2012. That is just in time for the holiday season and I know a bunch of Xbox 360 gamers that will be getting this as an early present from Santa.

As mentioned before this game is being developed by 343 Industries. The game will see the return of the iconic Master Chief character. The game is set four years after the events in Halo 3 with Master Chief confronting his destiny with the fate of the universe in his hands. Microsoft says that the game “aims to set a new standard for interactive entertainment.”

We waited a long time to see Master Chief back in a Halo game. Halo 3 was launched in 2007 and that was his last appearance. You can pre-order Halo 4 over at Amazon for $59.99(USD) now. How many of you are notifying employers now that you won’t be at work on November 6th?

LEGO M45 Tactical Shotgun from Halo Reach Has Working Pump-Action

Shane McGlaun — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:45:49 +0000

I love it when geeks take virtual weapons from video games and recreate them in the real world. We’ve seen weapons created from wood and paint in the past, but my favorite is when they create the virtual weapons using LEGO bricks. For his Halo Reach weapon, LEGO is the medium of choice for a guy named Nick Jensen (aka “Nick Brick”) .

Nick built a full-size M45 Tactical Shotgun over the course of two months exclusively from LEGO bricks. He says that a little bit of glue was required in some particularly weak spots so it wouldn’t fall apart, but other than that, the gun looks very realistic and actually has some working features.

The coolest of the working features is the sliding pump-action.When the pump is moved, it also actually ejects a shell. How awesome is that?

I wonder what the design process that went into coming up with a workable pump-action slider entailed.

BTW, Nick is the same dude that made that Halo LEGO sniper rifle a while back. I wonder when he’ll build a LEGO Plasma Sword and LEGO M41 Rocket Launcher to go with.

[via Brothers-Brick]

Halo Master Chief Helmet Made from Mountain Dew Cans

Conner Flynn — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:00:43 +0000

Gamers thrive on caffeine, so they drink a lot of Mountain Dew. If you’ve been playing Skyrim lately and treating it like a full time job you probably have empty cans of the stuff all over your room right now. Don’t just throw them into the recycling bin. Recycle them into a cool Halo Master Chief helmet.

That’s what Cryoprime did. But that’s not all he has made. He made this Halo helmet for the release of Halo: Anniversary back in November of last year. He also made a needler and promises to put up a picture of that one soon.

If you check out Cryoprime’s DeviantArt gallery you will find a bunch of awesome can sculptures, which even include some kick-ass dragons too. This kind of recycling is way cooler than chucking it in a bin and having a truck pick it up.

[via Ian Brooks]

Halo 4 Will Be Darker, Says 343 Industries

Shane McGlaun — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Halo 4, the next game the popular FPS franchise is due to land later this year. This will be the first game in the Halo franchise to be developed with no input from Bungie. Microsoft pulled the development duties from Bungie and brought to a team called 343 Industries. 343 has recently been talking about Halo 4, which will see the return of Master Chief who was absent for the last couple games in the series.

The new development team says that it will follow the same mold as previous games, but that Halo 4 will have a darker tone and will delve into the human side of Master Chief. Considering Master Chief is a war machine, I’m curious to see what sort of humanity remains. Creative director Josh Holmes does note that the team will keep the essence of Halo’s identity, even though the game will be much darker and more grounded in realism.

“We really want to give ourselves the freedom to take risks and drive things forward in a way that goes beyond anything that people have experienced before with the Halo franchise,” said Halo 4 creative director Josh Holmes.

I’m not sure how to feel about a departure from tradition in the Halo franchise. 343 needs to be careful to honor the franchise while updating and improving upon it. The game is very near and dear to its fans. It’s also the reason many people bought an Xbox (and Xbox 360) to begin with.

[via Wired]

Halo First Aid Kit Won’t Instantly Restore Your Health

Lambert Varias — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:20:34 +0000

Health kits are a staple of many first-person shooters and action games. While he doesn’t possess the technology to emulate their instant healing ability, Shawn Thorsson managed to make a spot-on replica of the health kit from Halo.

Using a screenshot from Halo: Combat Evolved, Thorsson made a 3D model in TurboCAD. He then used the model to make molds made out of MDF. The replica itself is made of styrene plastic. He then added nylon webbing for the hinges, a latch made of foam PVC and neodymium magnets and finally a vinyl sticker for the icon and voila. A Halo lunchbox! I mean a first aid kit!

Clearly Thorsson is the Master Chief of craftsmen, but if you think you’re up to the task, ride a Warthog to his blog for the full build instructions. The rest of us grunts will have to be content with the pictures on Thorsson’s Flickr page.

[via Make:]

LEGO Halo Sniper Rifle Looks Awesome, Heavy

Conner Flynn — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 03:17:40 +0000

Some guy went and built himself a Halo Sniper Rifle out of LEGO pieces and it looks absolutely amazing. It also looks super heavy. This is a 1:1 ratio replica, so it is exact as far as size goes.

For those who may not know, Nick Jensen’s LEGO sniper rifle is based on the Halo: Reach version of the weapon. It’s 63 inches long, weighs over ten pounds and even has a removable magazine. There’s also a moving safety and sliding bolt. Good news for anyone on the other end of it: It does not fire anything at all.

It took the creator nearly four months to complete. That’s no doubt why it looks so bad-ass and detailed. It apparently broke several times during the process, and you can see how the muzzle of the rifle does sort of bend a little under its own weight. Still, this Nick is obviously a serious Halo and LEGO builder and he did a great job.

[via Kotaku]

Halo 4, 5 & 6 Details: The ”Reclaimer Trilogy” Will Reclaim Your Money

Conner Flynn — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:42:00 +0000

Now that Bungie is out and 343 Industries is in charge, things seem to be in motion for more Halo. Last week at the PAX conference, 343 Industries’ creative director, Frank O’Connor gave some interesting hints about Halo 4.

It isn’t just Halo 4, but a brand new trilogy called Reclaimer. Another piece of good news is that it will continue from where they left off from Halo 3. The story’s main focus will be on the relationship between the Chief and Cortana as they explore a new planet of the Forerunner civilization, which is said to have “incredible grandeur and scope.” Cortana will play “an important role in Master Chief’s development.”

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Expect a very heavy focus on story. It will play like Halo, but they aren’t playing it safe and re-hashing it all. They will take some risks and try to keep it evolving. We can’t wait to see what they do with it.

[via Games.on.net]

Halo Spartan Soap: First Person Cleanser

Lambert Varias — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:40:57 +0000

Defeat the Flood of dirt on your body with this Halo Spartan soap from – who else ? – Digitalsoaps. Each soap weighs 7 ounces and has a gold face shield. It would be awesome if a face layer appeared when the shield and helmet are worn out through use, but that’s not a feature at this point.

The Halo soaps are not just available in different colors, but in different scents as well. The green Spartan has a Mountain Dew scent, the red has a Dr. Pepper scent and the blue has a Pepsi scent. Sorry Coke fans.

You can order the Halo Spartan soaps from Digitalsoaps for $15(USD) each. I hope the helmet’s edges aren’t too sharp.

Geeky Motorcycle Helmets Look Great, Might Not Save Your Life

Range — Tue, 24 May 2011 12:32:17 +0000

While I agree that these motorcycles helmets that Tigerpause444 created look pretty cool, all of his creations aren’t road legal, so no one will be starting a geeky biker club anytime soon. Still, they are interesting and distinctive.

In addition to Iron Man, Tigerpause has created helmets from Star Wars, Halo, and Transformers. While some of them look a little flimsy (especially the Transformers helmets), the Iron Man helmets look pretty awesome. The Master Chief helmet is also pretty cool. Tiger typically uses parts from costumes and kids toys to decorate an underlying motorcycle helmet structure.

I can just imagine modders who’ve customized their motorcycles riding around on their bikes with these helmets on. Too bad these helmets would have to stay on a pedestal or your garage if you don’t want to get pulled over by the cops.

Scroll down for a couple of video clips of Tigerpause showing off his creations:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I wear a motorcycle helmet everyday, but I don’t think I’d get one of these, even if they were legal. I prefer a stealthy style that’s not too loud and garish.

[via Geek Alerts]

LEGO Halo Master Chief Costume is Complete

Shane McGlaun — Mon, 09 May 2011 19:21:03 +0000

You might remember Ben Caulkins or Benny Brickster as the geek that made the Master Chief helmet out of LEGO bricks and showed it off back in November. The guy is back now and has completed the entire Master Chief armor completely out of LEGO blocks. The finished product is really cool. It took Ben about six months to build the entire thing.

Ben says that the helmet was the part that took the most planning, he also notes that the vents on the cheeks were one of the harder parts to build. After the helmet, he started with the torso armor, and it was one of the most time-consuming parts of the design he says. He notes that no amount of strengthening would keep the bricks from falling apart so he resorted to glue.

Glue or not, the suit looks awesome. The next parts were the arm and leg armor. Overall, the finished suit of armors is very cool. It reminds me more than a little of a pixel art Master Chief. I can only imagine the string of curse words that must have been uttered along with this build. View the full gallery over on Flickr.

[via Brothers Brick via Kotaku]

Angel’s Halo Bicycle Helmet Looks Dumb, Ironically Keeps You from Going to Heaven Prematurely

Technabob — Sun, 01 May 2011 22:43:27 +0000

Why is it that so many of the things with life-saving potential look so silly? Take, for instance, this bicycle helmet that lights up like a halo. The Angel Bicycle Helmet not only protects your noggin from injury with its polycarbonate shell, it’s got a 360-degree ring of LED and fiber-optic encircling your head.

The USB-rechargeable halo can be set to constant-on, or to flash on a regular basis. Sure, your bike might already have LED front and rear lights, but drivers coming from anywhere other than head-on or behind you might not see you – making dark intersections especially dangerous. With this bright yellow halo wrapped around your dome, there’s no way that drivers will miss you. Of course, they might point and laugh – resulting in a different kind of safety risk – driver distraction. At least they’ll have a good laugh before they crash.

You can find the Angel Bicycle Helmet over at Firebox for £49.99 (appx. $83 USD).

[via 7Gadgets]

Halo Minecraft: FPS Demake of the Day

Technabob — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 02:20:37 +0000

Give some creative modders the basic building blocks and it’s amazing what they’ll come up with. This might not be the most complex Minecraft build, but you have to hand it to the guy who built this Minecraft level, inspired by Halo.

The map is based on an old classic multiplayer version of Lockout, and while it doesn’t look and play exactly like Halo, it’s a pretty good representation of the level, given the limitations of Minecraft’s primitive components. You be the judge:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Sure, the Bungie guys won’t be porting Halo:Reach to the Minecraft engine any time soon, but you’ve got to hand it to the guy who created this level anyhow. I just wish he had figured out how to make sticky grenades and plasma swords – that’s the only way I ever won that level.

[via reddit]

Halo: Reach Machinima – You Will Never Get the Power Core!

Technabob — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 14:12:21 +0000

I’m actually not sure if you can call something with live action video “machinima,” but that really doesn’t matter, because this Halo:Reach fan film is just plain awesome no matter what you call it.

Alan Marsala and Chance McManus created this mashup of live action footage with animations from Bungie’s Xbox 360 shooter to create a 6-minute film that once pays loving tribute to the Halo franchise and makes you laugh with its over-the-top acting, dialogue (and hairdos).

Sit back, grab some popcorn, and enjoy some tasty double kills…

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[Vimeo via Gamerfront via Kotaku]

Wearable LEGO Master Chief Helmet: Easy Headshot

Range — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:39:56 +0000

This awesome Halo Master Chief helmet is made out of LEGO bricks. While it looks pretty awesome, I just wonder how long it will stay in one piece if it’s actually worn around.

Ben Caulkins (aka Benny Brickster) created this helmet. Naturally, it’s wearable, but how comfortable is it? It includes some well-placed padding, just to make things easier if he wants to wear it around town. And let me state the obvious, the visor was not made from LEGOs – it came from a motorcycle helmet.

Ben mentions that he will never tell anyone how to build one, but that he plans on making a Master Chief costume all out of LEGOs someday. That sounds just a bit more ambitious.

[via Brothers Brick]

Incredible Halo Costumes by Shawn Thorsson: Wish I Had One for Halloween

Range — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:10:41 +0000

After wowing us with his homemade Predator costume, Shawn Thorsson does it again, this time with great-looking Halo Master Chief costumes. Shawn wasn’t content to just make one though. He made a whole squad, which look like the Red vs Blue Master Chief costume, except in all the colors of the rainbow.

If you’re wondering, it took him about 3 years to finish them. Wow, that’s completely insane. My last Halloween costume was a cheapo affair that I bought a few years ago. Papercraft versions of the costume were printed out and painstakingly detailed. Once this was done, a mold was created and then a cast was made out of urethane resin.

The helmets include LED lights, padding, and cooling fans! The costumes are hard to strap on, but the look is definitely awesome, and well worth the effort.

[via Make:]

Halo: Reach: Legendary Edition: Cake Edition

Lambert Varias — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:35:41 +0000

Upcoming game Halo: Reach has a $150 (USD) limited bundle, dubbed the Legendary Edition. It has lots of doodads in it, including a diorama of the Noble Team. And it comes in a UNSC-themed box:

Photobucket member cdcredninja showed off an equally legendary cake version of the UNSC box. Not the Noble Team, just the box. And it’s awesome. It doesn’t have a diorama inside, or a copy of the game, but it does have delicious creamy white frosting and moist chocolate cake.

If you’re planning on reproducing this cake, remember: it’s about 5/6 of a fork tall.

[via Hawty McBloggy]

Halo Spike Grenade Replica: Brute-Iful

Lambert Varias — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:53:46 +0000

eBay seller/Halo fan/Brute arms manufacturer smick6 is selling this nicely done replica of a Spike Grenade. It’s spiky.

smick6 used PVC, smooth-on urethane, aluminum and faux leather to make the prop. It’s 38″ long, the longest blades are 19″ end to end, and the whole thing measures 4.5 lbs. It doesn’t contain explosives, but the aluminum blades are pointy, and would probably leave a mark if thrown at you.

The only thing explosive about this grenade is it’s price: It’s on eBay right now for $150 (USD).

[via Hawty McBloggy]

Master Chief Approves of This Stamp

Lambert Varias — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:24:39 +0000

This here’s a replica of a 26th century stamp used by teachers – who are of course robots – to grade their students’ exams. Because in the 26th century, there is a grade higher than A+: Master Chief.

The Master Chief rubber stamp was made by Master Carver/futurist/Crafster member astrangeone.

[via Geek Crafts]

Papercraft Master Chief Towers Over Its Maker [Halo]

Technabob — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 19:02:11 +0000

DeviantARTist Misty (aka ~gozita2003) must have just a little bit of time on her hands. At least that’s what I figure from the looks of this intricate giant Master Chief papercraft sculpture she put together.

The towering paper Spartan was made entirely from sheets of thick paper. It took Misty about 75 hours of painstaking craft over the course of 5 months to build the 7-foot, 6-inch tall Master Chief. The only thing that I would have done differently was use green construction paper.

No word on when she’ll start building the giant paper warthog for him to stand on the back of.

[via Hawty McBloggy]

Barbie Powerwheels + Xbox 360 Controller + Nerd Power = Wi-Fi Warthogs

Lambert Varias — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:52:09 +0000

Where lesser men see a child’s toy when they look at a Barbie Powerwheels toy car, imaginative folk like Tim Higgins see a really fun real world Halo spinoff. Higgins’ Wi-Fi Warthogs are controlled using Xbox 360 controllers and a laptop mounted on each Warthog. Like the video game Warthog, the controls for the gunner and driver are separate, and you can switch between the two on the fly. The mounted laser gun makes it possible to play Warthog-laser tag, but Higgins says that the laser gun can easily be replaced with other types of weaponry, like a water gun.

The video below shows Higgins and one of his Wi-Fi Warthogs at last year’s Professional Developers’ Conference. Unfortunately there’s more coding talk than Warthog fun in the video.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I think the man behind the camera vacillated between boredom and confusion as he interviewed Higgins. I kept hoping that Higgins would stop explaining and use his toy some more. Programmers and Powerwheels modders can check out the Coding4Fun blog for more details on both the software and hardware aspects of the Wi-Fi Warthogs.

[via Oh Gizmo!]