Can you hum the theme song to Super Mario Bros.? What about Mega Man? It’s amazing how just a few notes from an old video game theme song can bring back the glorious memories of Saturday morning cartoons and giant bowls of Captain Crunch. A simpler time: A time when bragging rights came in the form of your three initials on the highest bar of a title screen. If you liked recalling those memories, then these pictures are meant for a gamer like you: Just last weekend we attended the Video Games Live interactive symphony in Portland Oregon. The show included music clips from Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid and Metroid to name only a few. Here are some pictures from the Video Games Live show.
Tag Archive: Halo
Jabra Polishes Its Halo
Headset maker Jabra has introduced its new Halo Bluetooth headset—and realizing that most stereo Bluetooth solutions are about as elegant and hassle free as a 100-foot extension cord tied in knots, the company has borrowed the Halo’s design from the music side of the fence. Instead of being designed as an in-ear or over-the-hear device, the Halo uses a two-year, over-the-head design from traditional headphones…and the Halo collapses and folds into a carrying case for convenient storage and travel when not in use.
Spielberg Eying Halo Movie?
Back in 2005, Microsoft inked a deal with partners Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh to create a film based on the company’s Halo gaming franchise—and later expanded the deal to include an installment of the Halo game plus a separate gaming title. Over the years, absolutely nothing has come out of those high-profile deals: the Halo movie was apparently scuttled by studio infighting. Although Jackson’s partnership with director Neil Blomkamp was born out of the Halo deal and later gave rise to the forthcoming scifi picture District 9, so far Microsoft doesn’t seem to have wrong an iota of Jackson’s influence into Halo—and let’s not forget the company let Bungie Studios spin off as an independent company almost two years ago.
An Inside Look at Halo: ODST
For rabid fans of the well-known and universally respected Halo franchise, no more exciting news emerged from E3 than the announcement of Halo: ODST, an unusual new chapter in the series that will allow players to move on from Master Chief to play as a different type of soldier in the war against the Covenant. We packed into a tiny theater with Bungie developers and other journalists for an early peek at gameplay from the hotly anticipated title.
Halo: Reach Coming Fall 2010
Halo is turning into a major franchise. With a new game out a few months ago, production is already underway on the next one, Halo: ODST, and the announcement of a follow-up to that, Halo: Reach, there’s plenty happening in Haloworld.
At E3, Bungie was offering a demo of Halo: ODST and answering some questions about Halo: Reach. Most specifically, a studio spokesman was asked about the game beta, to which Halo: ODST users will be invited.
Rumors of Next Halo Game
Those who completed Halo 3 at its hardest level saw a movie featuring hero Master Chief in the hypsersleep chamber of a spacecraft orbiting a mysterious planet, giving rise to speculation that the next episode in the series would find him on that planet, fighting for survival.
According to rumors, however, that will not be the case – and the next episode in the Halo game series won’t involve Master Chief at all, according to reports on Gamespot UK.
Halo 3 Tops $300 Mln in First-Week Sales
Microsoft’s Halo 3 video game for the Xbox 360 has racked up more than $300 million in sales during its first week of availability, according to the Redmond company, setting a new record for one-week video game sales. Previously Microsoft said Halo 3 did $170 million in business on its first day of availability—in no small part to due the massive number of pre-orders customers filed. Microsoft also says more than 2.7 milion Xbox 360 gamers have played Halo 3 online via Xbox Live. Microsoft also says Halo 3 is responsible for “hundreds of thousands” of new Xbox Live Gold memberships.
Gamers Gear Up for The Halo Effect
The third and supposedly-final installment of Microsoft Halo video game franchise, Halo 3, is due to go on sale for the Xbox 360 at midnight, September 24, touching off what the Redmond company hopes is a bonanza of game and Xbox 360 console sales as the industry begins to kick off the end-of-year retail frenzy. Video game fans have already signed up for more than 1.5 million copies of the game via pre-orders, and now more than 10,000 game retailers around the U.S. plan to open their doors at midnight so rabid Halo fans can get thei hands on the game and experience the latest adventures of Master Chief as he battles the alien Covenant. Selected stores in New York, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Miami will be hosting marquee launch events with local celebrities and pro athletes in attendance.
Halo 3 Goes Gold
Microsoft has completed development on Halo 3 for the Xbox 360—the latest installment in the company’s alien butt-kicking, blowing-things-up, maybe-save-humanity franchise—and sent the game off to manufacturing so it can be ready for eager gamers on its official launch date of September 25. Microsoft is looking to “shatter” one-day entertainment sales records when Halo 3 hits shelves; the game has already logged more than one million pre-orders in North America.
“This is a huge milestone for us and a big cause for celebration at Bungie and Microsoft Game Studios,” said Harold Ryan, Studio Head at Bungie Studios. “This is the game we’ve always wanted to make and certainly the best game our studio has developed.”
Halo 3 Hits 1 Million Preorders
It’s hard to measure the buzz around new games, but if there’s one guaranteed indicator, it’s the number of customers willing to lay down cold hard cash for the game before it even comes out. By that measure, Halo 3 has reached new heights, with a confirmed 1 million preorders in North America alone.
Microsoft announced the numbers Thursday, also claiming that retailers are calling Halo 3 the fastest selling preordered game ever. The game comes in a standard edition for $59.99, limited edition for $69.99 and legendary edition for $129.99. Sales of the most expensive edition have been so strong that Microsoft predicts they will be gone long before the game reaches shelves.
