The anticipation over the Halo franchise stretches beyond stinky spoilers. Searches were frenetic for “halo 3 game trailer” (+775%), “free halo 3 wallpaper” (+312%), and “halo 3 new weapons” (+271%). And as excited as people are for the game, they can’t wait to incorporate Halo into the their Halloween plans (”halo master chief costume”), future box office bonanzas (”halo movie 2008″), and hermetically sealed Ebay fodder (”halo 3 toys”). more
This is google trend for halo 3. Top searches by region is Mexcio, by cities Seattle (USA), by languages English. more
September 24, 2007 @ 9:42 pm
· Filed under Technology, Game
“Commander, this is Kilo Two-Three,” crackles your helmet radio. “Lost my wingman and our only Hog.” You’re puzzling where Kilo Two-Three could be when a couple squealing Grunts lob bursts of green plasma in your squad’s direction. Too late–your force shield sizzles as you jerk left. Explosions thoom-thoom-thoom somewhere up ahead. An enemy ship swoops in low on your left flank, tilts open, and spits out reinforcements. Distant beams of pulsing light rise from alien monoliths against a horizon that tapers strangely upward, curving toward a circular zenith like some giant, galactic bracelet. Behind you, Scorpion tanks trundle forward to back your assault. You scope a group of juking enemies with your battle rifle, scanning for a headshot, waiting, waiting…and as the cellos and drums kick up, it hits you–they didn’t change a thing. more
There is little doubt the game, which goes on sale at midnight on Tuesday, will be a blockbuster release. Brokerage Wedbush Morgan predicts that Microsoft could sell 3 million copies in the product’s first 12 days. The 2004 release of Halo 2 brought in $125 million in its first day, a then-record, Kim said. That’s a far cry from the kind of revenue that Windows or Office generates in a quarter, but it’s still some serious cash. more
Halo 3 Review, both the campaign and the multiplayer versions, courtesy of Adam and Morgan (g4TV X-Play).
September 20, 2007 @ 6:25 pm
· Filed under Technology, Game
Madame Tussauds Las Vegas honored the Xbox 360™ franchise Halo® by immortalizing Master Chief as the first videogame character to be enshrined in the world famous attraction’s 250-year history. The impressively life-sized figure of Halo’s Master Chief was revealed to the world by song writer and bass player Pete Wentz of 2007 Teen Choice Award Winner and Grammy-nominated band Fall Out Boy at an official unveiling ceremony Saturday afternoon.
Who is Master Chief? He is Petty Officer SPARTAN-117, commonly referred to in-game as Master Chief and whose real name is known only as John, is the fictional protagonist within the Halo universe. He is the main character of the video game Halo: Combat Evolved, and one of the two playable characters in Halo 2. He is a genetically and cybernetically augmented warrior designed to put down rebels and insurgents within the UNSC. When the powerful alien empire known as the Covenant attacked, the Master Chief and the other Spartan-II’s had a priority shift. Extensive surgical alteration coupled with a ruthless lifelong training regimen has resulted in Master Chief being significantly stronger than even the strongest natural human, and his strength and fighting ability are further augmented by the advanced MJOLNIR power armor he wears.
September 18, 2007 @ 6:59 pm
· Filed under Technology, Game
This video is by by MOCAMBO from Halo3Forum. He made a huge walkthrough of all new mulitplayer maps that haven’t been covered as the rest which are Sandtrap, Isolation, The Pit, Guardian, Contruct, Epitaph, and more other features like Forge in depth. The “Bumper Jumper” button layout is Bungie’s best move yet. The beauty of maps like lockout/ warlock/ midship/ beaver creek was their simplicity and size, which wasn’t very big. these maps are cool, but they’re so detailed and big it will be interesting to see which one’s mlg will use. more
September 17, 2007 @ 12:57 pm
· Filed under Technology, Game
Halo 3 has lot of futuristic weaponry. The Discovery Channel’s Future Weapons show will feature Halo 3 tonight 8 pm EST. This can also be hype marketing for halo 3. There is preview on youtube about this.
[update 09/17/2007 08:30PM] I watched the “Future weapons” show for 15 minutes, it was a re-run sponsored by “Halo 3″. So much for the hype.
September 17, 2007 @ 9:23 am
· Filed under Technology, Game
Halo 3 hype is going on for sometime. I actually think the marketing of the game is a good sign, even if it is just a bit too much. Maybe we’re getting closer to the point that video games are as popular, and exciting, as a blockbuster movie. When a Spiderman movie comes out all of the sudden the Pepsi wrappers change, there’s Spiderman toys all over the place. This is spoiler video from you tube, this is real.
September 17, 2007 @ 7:14 am
· Filed under Technology, Game
BMW M3 Challenge takes the thrill of driving to new heights. BMW M3 Challenge, which is the official game to BMW´s all-new M3 Coupé, features the original high detailed BMW M3 in all its available exterior colours and the original Nurburgring GP-track in a hyper realistic racing world. BMW M3 Challenge will allow you to experience the new BMW M3 Coupé right there where it was born and developed - on the race track.
Features
Stunning simulation of the all new BMW M3 Coupé
Choose from 4 different driving perspectives: Cockpit, Bonnet, Bumper and Chase-Cam
Configure your own M3 Coupé by selecting the colour and the rims.
4 game modes, including:
Test Drive
Time Trial including ghost car
Race Weekend with up to 15 AI-drivers and three difficulty levels
Multiplayer Race with up to 15 human opponents via internet and LAN
Original Nurburgring Grand-Prix track and “Sprint” short-bound.
Replay-function
September 14, 2007 @ 8:56 pm
· Filed under Technology, Game
Halo 3, the final video game in the Halo trilogy, is an upcoming first-person shooter by Bungie Studios for the Xbox 360. An official announcement on the developer’s website states that Halo 3 will end the current story arc of the Halo trilogy.
In the year 2552, humanity is at war with the Covenant, who sees humanity as heresy against their religion. The Covenant discovers details of a “Great Journey,” and set out to fulfill their destiny. The key are the Halos, which are scattered throughout the galaxy. Built by the Forerunners, these ring like weapons are terraformed on the inside, and now the Covenant is exploring them.
Led by Spartan 117, a select group of soldiers are able to land on one of the Halo installations and destroy it before the Covenant can begin to activate the rings. A second Halo is found, and the battle waged once more. This time an Elite Spec Ops soldier was tasked to be the Covenant’s righteous sword, but in the process learned the truth about the Halos’ purpose. This truth led to a civil war within the Covenant that led the Elites to join forces with humans to prevent the “Great Journey.”
The Halos were created by the Forerunners not to ascend to a higher plane of existence, but instead as a weapon to defend against the terrible Flood. The second Halo now sits on standby, ready to be activated at The Ark. Wherever that may be. The Covenant has discovered the location of Earth, and are now preparing to mount an attack intent on eradicating our species. With the Arbiter and Elites helping out, humanity has a small glimmer of hope. But now the one man who could be the key to humanity’s survival has hitched a ride home on a Forerunner vessel. Spartan 117 is getting ready to finish this fight.
The gameplay of Halo 3 largely builds upon the previous successful renditions of the franchise. It is a first-person shooter that, once again, follows the character Master Chief and his struggle against the Covenant and the Flood. The game’s action takes place largely on foot, but there are vehicles available for the player to use at certain points in the game. As with the other Halo titles, the multiplayer portion of the game is one of the game’s most celebrated features, and is one of the reasons for the series’ enormous success.
The phone rang yesterday to tell us our first stops on our Pixel Packin’
Pleasure tour has a few hundred folks already signed up. Darn cool, can’t
wait to share what I’ve learned over the years and what’s new in the last month.
Many people have emailed to alert me to Errol Morris's latest article in
the Times. In this one he's concerned himself with how our—well,
how Susan Sontag's— interpretations of pictures might be built
around incorrect assumptions.
With the Nikon D3 having impressive pictures noise-wise at ISO 1600,
3200 and even 6400, it looks like the people who are totally allergic to noise
will have an actual DSLR that can deliver them class leading noise performance.
When last we met, we talked about moving from the idea of balancing a
nice, even, back-curtain of sunset light to dealing with a highly
directional light source (and learning to use it rather than just fill it.)
This week, we are taking it indoors to apply the same principles
to light that is less directional, less intense and more diffuse.
Just a quick Sunday nite update from the road, yes, the aspens in Colorado are
turning. The shot above was taken just after George Jardine and I crossed
over Independance Pass coming out of Aspen (the town, not the tree).
I’m just a few weeks away from my Arizona workshop with the GAPW. We’re going
to Page, Arizona to shoot the Antelope Slot Canyons and surrounding
areas.
The class gathered about 9:00 A.M. in the morning and we hit the trail about
10 A.M. heading out to St. Mary's Basilica in Covington, KY. It's one of the most
beautiful churches not only in Covington but in the entire Cincy area.
Diffraction is an optical effect which can limit the total resolution of
your photography no matter how many megapixels your camera may have.
Ordinarily light travels in straight lines through uniform air, however it begins to
disperse or "diffract" when squeezed through a small hole. This effect
is normally negligible, but increases for very small apertures.
Since photographers pursuing better sharpness use smaller apertures to
achieve a greater depth of field, at some aperture the softening effects of
diffraction offset any gain in sharpness due to better depth of field.
With the proliferation of digital photography, people have now started to look
at ways to recreate what film has done for them, including recreating a
black and white photo. There are numerous ways to make a digital black and white,
some include: 1. In camera filter - By changing a setting in the camera menu
to take a black and white photo. Essentially this is a built-in color de-saturation
method that removes the color information after the camera takes the
picture. I won’t be covering this method in this article. Pros: Easy, simple and
does not require any knowledge or post processing to create a black and
white photo. Cons: Limits the contrast and dynamic range of the photos.
In my personal experience, leaves the photo looking washed out or flat.
