Archive for September 2005

Bungie confirms XBox 360 backward compatibility for Halo 2

September 23rd, 2005

343 Guilty SparkOver on Bungie.net Frankie completes his report on the Tokyo Game Show. He confirms backward compatibility for Halo 2 on the XBox 360, and states that there will be more details on this topic coming soon. He also alludes to a built-in game on the new console. Finally, he tells us that there may be surprises coming soon. I’ve quoted the relevant sections here.

“Thing is, watching the video at the keynote of the first 360 sliding off the production line, I thought, ‘Why can’t we have ours now?’ I mean, come on. Where’s the harm? I would just keep it in my house and load it up with my CD collection. And maybe play the built-in game. Or some Halo 2. Which works on the system thanks to the magic of backward compatibility. Anyway, apparently the answer to my early 360 question is a resounding ‘no.’ Jerks.”

“We have some cool stuff coming up for you in the next couple of weeks, including a tour of our new offices, a look (well, maybe more of a discussion) at Halo 2 running on 360, so look out for that. And you never know, there may be some surprises between now and then.”

Candidates for the surprises are:

  • Halo movie news – director, actors?
  • Details of the next project that Bungie are already working on – Halo 3, Pimps at Sea, GNOP360?
  • Confirmation that Halo 3 will be a launch title for the XBox 360 (I wish!)

Maybe there’ll be more details in this week’s update.

Arsenal Transfer News Roundup

September 6th, 2005

As the Premiership transfer window closed on Wednesday evening there were many last-minute deals worked out by Premiership teams. Arsenal managed to get cover for Jens Lehmann – who is suspended for the first two Champions League matches – and Manuel Almunia – who has a broken finger – in the shape of Sunderland keeper Mart Poom. Poom arrives on a loan deal that lasts till January. Going the other way is Justin Hoyte, who goes on loan to Sunderland for the rest of the season.

Meanwhile, David Bentley has gone on loan for the rest of the season to Blackburn Rovers. With the arrival of Alexander Hleb, Bentley moved down the midfield pecking order, and this would appear to be his best chance of getting regular first-team football.

Finally, Jeremie Aliadere has joined West Ham on loan for the rest of the season. Apparently he got fed up with Gordon Strachan not picking him, and the fact that Celtic got dumped out of the Champions League so early didn’t help.

Full details here, here, and here at Arsenal.com.

Red Vs Blue Season 4 Kicks Off

September 6th, 2005

Rooster TeethThe guys over at Rooster Teeth Productions have kicked off Season 4 of Red Vs Blue, the highly successful and very funny machinima series. The season begins with Episode 58 – Familiar Surroundings and Episode 59 – Hunting Time. As usual, they had me laughing out loud 😀

Last season’s sponsors have access to the high resolution versions of the episodes. The new sponsorship system should be in place shortly, and will apparently allow you to carry over sponsorship from season to season automatically. I’ve ordered my Season 3 DVD, so that should arrive any day now, and I’m looking forward to the rest of Season 4.