I’ve always been a fan of the Far Cry series ever since it first hit the PC back in 2004. The Xbox/Xbox 360 versions in late 2005/spring 2006 were quite a bit different than that first game, but were still enjoyable, and Far Cry 2 looks to continue the trend.
He’s best known as Frankie, and has been the main guy the Bungie/Halo community has heard from for the last five years or so, ever since Halo 2 was announced, he’s been there delivering weekly updates, every Friday, on what Bungie is up to. He’s one of the few who knows Halo more than anybody out there, and now he’s leaving Bungie, but everything is not as it seems. Here’s Frankie’s goodbye letter, posted in today’s Weekly Update:
“Dear Bungie Fans,
It’s not you, it’s me.
In many ways, you’re too good for me. You can find someone better. Maybe a little hairy dude. Maybe a Hungarian Unicyclist. I just know that I don’t deserve you, and that this is just as hard for me as it is for you.
Yours truly, Frankie.
I am leaving you. I am off to work more closely with Microsoft on the Halo franchise, so I shan’t be too far away, but I wanted to take this last chance, appropriately enough in a Weekly Update, to tell you a very fond thanks. Thanks for being the most energized, enthusiastic, loyal, faithful, creative, imaginative and incredible community any video game could ever have.
Thanks for being patient when things went wrong, when playlists didn’t work, when matchmaking broke, when bugs were being fixed. Thanks for the mail, the screenshots, the movies, the machinima, the models, the paintings and the sheer enthusiasm and talent you’ve shown me over the years.
Thanks for not following through on the death threats.
Thanks for sticking with us through thick and thin and thanks for the loyalty you’re going to show Bungie over the coming years.
And on that note, let me tell you a bit about the coming years. It was very hard for me to make the decision to move on, but one thing that made it just a bit easier, was seeing the amazing work that’s coming down the pipe. I was busy working on a story for one of our next games, an experience that is destined to surprise, amaze and entertain like nothing we’ve ever made before. That game has an amazing team invested in it, and one that will be tasked with building the Next Big Thing. You should see what they’ve already achieved, you truly should.
And there are other things rumbling at Bungie, just as secret, just as epic and just as incredible. And the thing that turns all that rumbling into incredible gameplay experiences is, has always been and will always continue to be, the people. The brilliant, talented, industrious gang of geniuses who brought you everything from a monochrome Pong clone to the staggering vistas and vision of Halo 3.
Artists, engineers, musicians, designers, writers, administrators, producers, managers, even our security staff are Bungie people, through and through. They are all, every last man, woman and Bob, the very essence of the spirit of the company and the thing I will miss most of all.
There are too many to name. More than 120 now, more than double the number than when I first started, about halfway through Halo 2. Amazing to think that I am Old School Bungie, when I never felt like anything other than a wide-eyed child in a moonlit candy store.
So thanks again. And look forward to all that candy. They’re making it for you.
Goodbye, thanks for all the Photoshops today - and don’t eat stuff off the sidewalk.”
Here’s one of my favorite videos of Frankie, it’s a video tour he did of the new studio Bungie moved into in late 2005.
In summary, the Xbox 360 beat the PS3 in hardware sales, GTA sales, and Microsoft jumped from a little over 10 million Xbox Live subscribers, to 12 million, which is double what it was last year. GTA’s sales numbers are from only five days of reporting, since the cut-off for the April NPD occurred just a few days after its launch.
April Software
1. GTA IV – Xbox 360 – 1.85 million 2. Mario Kart Wii – Wii – 1.12 million 3. GTA IV – PS3 – 1.00 million 4. Wii Play w/ remote – Wii – 360K 5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl – Wii – 326K 6. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue – PS3 – 224K 7. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness – DS – 202K 8. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time – DS – 202K 9. Guitar Hero III – Wii – 152K 10. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – Xbox 360 – 141K
By the numbers: Xbox 360 is the most significant contributor to industry spending and growth
- 188,000 Xbox 360 consoles were sold in April. (April NPD data)
- Xbox 360 has a record-setting attach rate of 7.6 games per console, the highest attach rate in history for a console at this point in its lifecycle. (April NPD data)
- Consumers have spent more than $9.7 billion on the Xbox 360 experience. (April NPD data)
- *Xbox 360 titles accounted for $186 million of all third party game sales this generation, or 53% of share. (April NPD data)
- *Xbox 360 games accounted for three of the top ten games in April, and secured the #1 spot with “Grand Theft Auto IV.” (April NPD data)
- *Not only are we selling more games, games play better on the Xbox 360. Xbox 360 has 91 titles with a Metacritic review score of 80 or higher, compared to just 50 for PS3 and 22 for Wii.
Microsoft is showing (part of) their hand for this year!
Too Human - August 19th:
Today, MGS and Silicon Knights confirmed that Too Human will be available on August 19 in North America. Too Human is an epic, highly anticipated action game with integrated RPG elements and features a rich storyline with deep character development, both hallmarks of Silicon Knights’ legendary tradition of video game development. Additionally, Silicon Knights is showcasing for the first time the title’s online cooperative play via Xbox LIVE, allowing you to experience Too Human with friends in a multiplayer setting.
Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise - September:
Microsoft Game Studios will also crack open Viva Piñata™: Trouble in Paradise, set to appear on store shelves this September. Developed by the creative masterminds at Rare, this sequel to the colorful, sleeper hit builds upon the gameplay of the original and adds innovative twists to the mix. In an effort to help Piñata Central rebuild their computer database of piñatas, send piñatas at full candiosity to parties all around the world while using your creativity and imagination to attract, capture, protect, train, and manage more than 100 newly discovered and existing piñata species.
An exciting, new “Just for Fun” setting makes getting into the game fast and easy. For the first time, collaborate together on a garden through a rich co-op experience, connect and play with others online via Xbox LIVE® as well as instantly introduce new piñata species to your garden through an innovative new feature utilizing the Xbox LIVE Vision Camera.
MGS will also pull back the curtain on another beloved franchise with the triumphant return of Banjo, one of Rare’s most successful characters, in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. Defying the laws of nature, a bear, a bird, and a backpack team up to embark on another incredible adventure this November. MGS is breaking the rules of traditional platform games by putting the power to invent new abilities for Banjo directly into your hands.
Use your ingenuity to build imaginative vehicles that can be combined with infinite variations, helping Banjo successfully complete missions through multiple terrains. Through exploration, discovering hidden secrets, and solving puzzles to win rewards, you will continually find increasing ways to customize and improve your contraptions, creating an unprecedented level of user-generated content and emergent play for a 3-D adventure game.
These instantly recognizable franchises join the enviable company of Fable® 2, Too Human™, and Ninja Gaiden® II from Team NINJA/TECMO, making Xbox 360 the home of the best blockbuster game experiences this year.
Gears of War 2 - November:
Today Microsoft Game Studios (MGS) and industry luminaries from the world’s top development studios are on hand to show off the latest features of the year’s most in-demand titles. In attendance will be Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski, Lionhead’s Peter Molyneux, TECMO/Team NINJA’s Tomonobu Itagaki, and Silicon Knights’ Denis Dyack.
Gears of War 2 headlines the blockbuster lineup.
This year, the visage of Marcus Fenix joins the likes of Ryu Hayabusa, Banjo, vivacious piñatas, cybernetic gods, and a hero with a loyal dog sidekick in the all-star 2008 MGS lineup that promises to make Xbox 360® the console of choice for players everywhere.
Attendees of the MGS San Francisco showcase event can witness the first extended taste of Gears of War® 2, the sequel to the blockbuster third-person tactical action game that sold nearly five million units. Epic Games Design Director Cliff Bleszinski will demonstrate dramatic new gameplay elements and stunning visual effects in a campaign sequence from early in the game—where Marcus Fenix and COG forces engage in pulse-pounding firefights between two Derrick transports, fend off vicious Reaver fly-by attacks and rabid Brumaks—all in the same rollercoaster ride of a level.
As the most anticipated Xbox 360 exclusive title of the 2008 holiday season, Gears of War 2 offers an unforgettable gameplay experience that blends a gripping story with visceral combat on a grand scale.
At 1am Central/2am Eastern, the Gears of War 2 trailer will debut on Xbox Live Marketplace, following the 10PM PST / 1AM EST premiere on Spike TV’s “Gametrailers TV with Geoff Keighley”.
Gore Verbinski (The Ring,Pirates of the Caribbean director) has been snagged to direct the movie adaptation of Bioshock.
Even better, John Logan, the screenwriter on The Last Samurai, The Aviator, Gladiator and more, is going to be doing the screenplay. Take-Two (who owns the BioShock IP) Chairman, Strauss Zelnick, has supposedly structured the deal in such a way that this is all certain to happen. - X3F & Variety.com
I am very impressed with all the names behind this movie already, and with Gore Verbinski working on it, I’m not as worried that they’ll ruin the feel of the game when it goes to the big screen. This will be an interesting story to watch over the coming years, stay tuned.
Remember back when Blu-ray was about to come out, and the news broke that you would have to be connected to the Internet to even play your Blu-ray movies, among many other anti-consumer features, like attaching a movie to one player only so that you can’t ever rent or borrow movies to your friends? Well Sony and its main BR friends like Fox (who were one of the main corporations who pushed for these kind of measures) ended up dropping the “feature” (for now) once HD DVD started giving it a run for its money and they had to engage in a PR war that they eventually won when they bought out nearly everyone.
Anyway, it seems the ever-looming EA saw this plan, and was a fan of it.
BioWare technical producer Derek French has said that the PC versions of both Mass Effect and Spore will make use of copy protection that will require online validation every ten days in order for the games to continue working.
“After the first activation, SecuROM requires that [Mass Effect PC] re-check with the server within ten days (in case the CD Key has become public/warez’d and gets banned),” said French in a post on the BioWare forums.
If customers do not come online after ten days, the game will cease to function. “After 10 days a re-check is required before the game can run,” added French. “..An Internet connection is not required to install, just to activate the first time, and every 10 days after.” - Shacknews.com
This policy will not stop pirates for more than a couple minutes, and will only hurt the casual gamer who bought the game, and wants to simply play it, whether they have Internet or not. The Internet is not guaranteed to always be there for us to use, and should be not a requirement to run a game you’ve always paid full price for.
Tomorrow marks the three year anniversary of UNSCleric.com (formerly known as xanga.com/xbox360 for the first few months). In celebration of this, I have finally made archive posts for this site, so that the right hand side’s archive actually lists all of the months that this site has actually been in operation. Epic, the developers of Gears of War, have also decided to celebrate my three year anniversary by releasing the first-ever gameplay footage of this fall’s Gears of War 2 on late Friday night. Epic announced this a couple weeks ago, but some of you may have missed it, here’s the story.
Gametrailers TV just secured themselves the first in-game footage from the game. The bad news? It won’t be airing until May 9 at 1 a.m. The good news? The footage, which features Marcus Fenix, includes a special introduction by bunny-loving Epic game designer Cliff Bleszinski.
There’s also reports now that 1up.com will have the footage as well, but later on in the day, even though they say they are the first to have it.
That’s all you need to know, really. 1UP’s GameVideos will be the very first place online you’ll be able to see the footage, and we’ll be posting it in all of its HD glory. And trust us when we say you’re going to be blown away. So this Friday, go to dinner, go to the movies, or go play some GTA IV — but whatever you do, make sure you check back here at 10:30 p.m. PST for the exclusive first Gears of War 2 video.
In last Friday’s Bungie.net update, they talked about Ascendant Justice, which is a blog someone put together outlining the Forerunner story that is revealed in the terminals of Halo 3. It also includes some story from the newest Halo novel, Contact Harvest, but not enough to spoil the whole book if you haven’t read it yet. I just read through it, and it’s beautifully written, and is one of the best Halo-story outlines I have ever read, and anybody who has played the Halo games and enjoyed them should spend the 10-15 minutes it’ll take to understand the 100,000 year history. It’s very interesting, and will make the Halo story you already know much more rich and deep.
On the right hand side of this side, I have created a page that has all the content of this particular series on The Terminals. They have also put together some other pages that go into further detail than this series did, and also delve into the Forerunner individuals themselves.
The complete storyline of the historic events which caused the fall of the Forerunner race. This is the backbone of the series and should be read first as a point of reference. You can find the annotated PDF version here, with citations leading back to The Index bibliography.
The tale of Didact and Librarian as told by the terminals. This is an in depth look into the lives of two beings that ignited a chain reaction which brought about the events of the Halo trilogy.
The story of Mendicant Bias, an AI construct through whom the galaxy was both lost and redeemed. He is the central character of the Halo trilogy, despite what many would believe, and this article explains exactly why.
Content: Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy Price: Free Availability: Australia, New Zealand, India and North America* Details:An intense, fast-paced, authentic Bourne experience. Become the perfect weapon.Size: 1.24 GB *This demo will be available in Europe next week
Since the last couple weeks have been all GTA IV here, it’s time to talk about my two other favorite games, Halo 3 and Rock Band!
Bungie released the new May Playlist update today, which brought back Team SWAT as a ranked playlist, as well as a few other changes.
There’s also a Double EXP playlist for this weekend only, and it’s a 10-man free-for-all playlist, with fiesta rules…which means every time you spawn, you spawn with a random weapon.
As of 26 minutes ago, the weekend double EXP playlist has gone live. This weekend’s theme? Well, Cinco De Mayo is coming up and so we here at Bungie’s dark forboding towers thought “Hey, it’s time for a Fiesta!” And what better way to throw a fiesta than with the Fiesta gametype? Fiesta, for those of you not familiar with the throwback to Halo 2, is a game where you spawn with random weapons. Craziness and good times ensue. Enjoy!
As per earlier announcements, Cinco De Mayo requires both the Heroic and Legendary map packs for participation. Rather than the standard Monday morning time, this weekend’s playlist will be available until Tuesday.
If that wasn’t going to pull me away from GTA IV for a little bit, the next piece of news is. One of my favorite bands is coming to Rock Band this Tuesday.
Next week for DLC we have a 3-pack. Each song is available at $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) or $5.49 (440 Microsoft Points) for the whole Scene Pack.
The three tracks are: “This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race” by Fallout Boy “Date With The Night” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs “It Hurts” by Angels & Airwaves
Between GTA IV, Halo 3, and Rock Band, I’ll never be bored again, and there’s still other games coming out! Not for a while though, it seems almost everybody stopped releasing games a month before GTA IV came out, and now afterward there is still a bit of a void. It seems Late May/Early June is the next time we’ll have something new and decent to play.