Comic-Con 08 Halo Wars

(07/24/2008)

3:33

crecente:

Mike is having some WiFi issues. Hopefully he will be joining us shortly

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:33 crecente

3:35

crecente:

OK, I'm going to be dropping in Mike's liveblog which he will be sending to me via AIM. Ain't technology grand

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:35 crecente

3:36

crecente:

The first Halo Wars trailer kicks off... you may have seen this online elsewhere. It's all pre-rendered stuff, but, obviously very cinematic.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:36 crecente

3:36

crecente:

On the creation of Mister Chief, Frank O'Connor says he wasn't being lazy giving the Master Chief knock-off a sword. "I can draw a sword, a building and a snake. That's it."

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:36 crecente

3:37

crecente:

Author Joe Staten says he can't talk about what he's working on now.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:37 crecente

3:37

crecente:

"Is it something illegal?" someone asks.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:37 crecente

3:37

crecente:

I can't talk about what I'm doing during working hours."

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:37 crecente

3:38

crecente:

Unfortunately, the question "Do you have any announcements to make today?" is met with

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:38 crecente

3:38

crecente:

"No, I don't."

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:38 crecente

3:38

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"We don't. We had a little snafu at E3. We're not gonna talk about anything new today."

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:38 crecente

3:38

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"But we will be talking about awesome upcoming games like Halo Wars!"

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:38 crecente

3:39

crecente:

*starts packing up*

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:39 crecente

3:39

crecente:

We're being introduced to everyone on the panel, talking about all of their Halo-related accomplishments.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:39 crecente

3:39

crecente:

The McFarlane Toys licensees show off Series 4 of their Halo toys.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:39 crecente

3:40

crecente:

The panelists have a quick "who placed highest on the New York Times bestseller list" off

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:40 crecente

3:41

crecente:

The panel announces a new autographing session at the Con this weekend, before kicking off the Q&A session

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:41 crecente

3:41

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mob of Halo fans jog toward the microphone

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:41 crecente

3:41

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The Bungie guys once again apologize for a lack of announcements, saying there will be "no Superintendents" popping up today

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:41 crecente

3:42

crecente:

With no new announcements and a very deep line... many Halo devotees head toward the exit

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:42 crecente

3:43

crecente:

Halo fans start up with some very deep questions about the Halo novels. It all rockets over my head, unfortunately.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:43 crecente

3:44

crecente:

This is all heavy heavy lore stuff, some of which will be revealed in Halo Wars from Ensemble Studios.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:44 crecente

3:45

crecente:

They're talking about the conflict between the UNSC and the Covenant. Graeme Devine is hard to hear over the din of Halo fans exiting.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:45 crecente

3:46

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"With fans like this, you can see how the gentlemen at this table have a hard time doing their jobs"... he means that in a nice way, that fans of Halo lore demand proper continuity.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:46 crecente

3:46

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Q: Could you give us a basic story line of the new book?

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:46 crecente

3:47

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A: This is going to take us into the some new crevices of the Halo universe, revealing some interesting alliances and betrayals.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:47 crecente

3:48

crecente:

Someone asks about new armor incarnations coming to Halo 3... it sounds unlikely, as there are technical limitations that prevent this sort of thing, says Frankie.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:48 crecente

3:49

crecente:

The panelist are giving away some Master Chief bobbleheads... guess they were stumped on Halo trivia by a fan.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:49 crecente

3:49

crecente:

Q: Is there going to be a Flood appearance in the Halo Wars campaign?

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:49 crecente

3:50

crecente:

A: That's a very good question. We haven't talked about any other races. All I can say is that it's a complete Halo game.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:50 crecente

3:50

crecente:

That sounds like fairly decent confirmation.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:50 crecente

3:52

crecente:

Q: Can you use Scarabs in Halo Wars?

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:52 crecente

3:53

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A: That would be really cool, wouldn't it? That would be really cool.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:53 crecente

3:53

crecente:

Some poor fan got a pretty tough question -- "What's the name of the AI on the Spirit of FIre?"

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:53 crecente

3:53

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STUMPED!

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:53 crecente

3:54

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A fan asks about a Covenant perspective Halo game and the panel responds that we'll see some of that in future novels.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:54 crecente

3:54

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"It's easy to think of them as a big monolithic army, but there's a pretty complicated political system [in the Covenant]"

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:54 crecente

3:55

crecente:

Halo Politics... watch for it! (Don't.)

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:55 crecente

3:56

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A fan is asking about the multiplayer community and Major League Gaming, wondering if Bungie and MS will make any concessions to cater to professional gaming.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:56 crecente

3:57

crecente:

Frank O says that the team is continually tuning the game and playlists to make sure that the game is playable at a competitive level.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:57 crecente

3:57

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Don't expect much beyond that, major league gamers.

Thursday July 24, 2008 3:57 crecente

3:59

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A fan asks Tobias what his Gamertag is... the response is "majornelson"