Bungie to Shut Down Halo Functionality as 343 Takes Over

A post on Bungie.net today explains that the data transition process from Bungie to 343 Industries will be complete on March 31st, 2012. At this point, Bungie, the developers of every console Halo title outside of Halo Wars and Anniversary, will be unable to update new stats, host new user generated content, or manage the Bungie pro service. I would hope that Microsoft has their act together, and that they're ready to continue all of this functionality at Halo Waypoint. If the 343i community content and stats pages aren't at least as good as what Bungie offers, I'm going to be disappointed. As consolation, Bungie will continue to host historical gameplay data for the time being. One upside to all this is that it may free up more Bungie resources to continue work on their upcoming projects, whatever they may be.

(via Bungie)

Geek Interview: Xorth - Creator of HaloTracker

If you didn't already know about it, HaloTracker is one of the best Halo community sites on the internet. The mission of the site is simple: to provide the most in-depth Halo stats anywhere online. The site doesn't stop there, however. HaloTracker also hosts a great community forum, streaming Halo broadcasts, tournaments, montages, custom Halo challenges and social groups. Xorth, the founder and owner of HaloTracker, was recently kind enough to answer some of my questions about himself and the site. Here is the full text of the interview.

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Halo Reach Tips: What is Bloom?

If you're a beginner trying to get into playing Halo: Reach multiplayer, you'll probably find most online forums very confusing and disorienting. These days, people are constantly discussing topics that fly right over the heads of the uninformed Halo fan base. One of these topics is bloom (and no, they're not talking about flowers). Here's what bloom is, how it's changing, and how to use it to your advantage in Halo: Reach matchmaking.

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Halo: Reach - January Playlist Update

The start of a new year brings the start of a new month, which means yet another Halo: Reach multiplayer matchmaking playlist update. 343 Industries is continuing to gradually change the multiplayer landscape, and hasn't made any radical changes this time. I've had a bit of time to fool around in the revamped playlists, and these are my thoughts.

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Halo Lego: The Creations of Justin R. Stebbins

Cool kids play with Lego. Master Chief is a cool kid. The Halo franchise has an official deal with Megablocks, but this hasn't stopped dedicated Halo fan Justin R. Stebbins from painstakingly recreating scenes from the Halo series with Lego. On his personal website, Saber-Scorpion, Justin has posted Lego renditions of various characters, vehicles, and locales, covering both singleplayer and multiplayer modes. They are more charming than they are accurate, but these pictures will definitely bring joy to the young Halo fan in all of us.

(via Saber-Scorpion)

Halo Reach Mod: Aperture Science Portal Gun

YouTube user Snip3MEDIA posted a mind blowing Halo Reach video on his YouTube channel. It showcases a mod that adds the Portal Gun from Valve's Portal series to Halo Reach. The modified concussion rifle looks just like the gun from Portal, sounds like the gun from portal, and even transports you around the map. This video also shows off the technology of the Forge World map really well. Teleportations happen instantly and without and texture loading, regardless of where the gun has been fired. The mod requires a dev Xbox 360 and some technical know-how, but everyone should be able to enjoy this YouTube video.