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The Official X06 Barcelona (360) Summary Thread

Info on Halo Wars

http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?link=bungieatx06

Bungie's X06 Announcements
Posted by KPaul at 9/27/2006 10:32 AM PDT


Hella Halo Bombshells at X06

Brian and Frankie are here in Barcelona at X06 for what we’ve hinted several times would be a Halo 3 no-show. But we also dropped a hint or two that something would be happening, and that’s certainly true. By now you may have read elsewhere that two new Halo game projects have been announced – the Halo Wars real time strategy game from Ensemble and the as-yet unrevealed Halo project to be made in partnership with Lord of the Rings and King Kong director, Peter Jackson. Both projects are for Xbox 360.

Deep breath now. Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, who we’re also working with on the Halo movie, have formed Wingnut Interactive, a video game studio that will capitalize on Peter and Fran’s creative vision, while using the expertise, infrastructure and experience of Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie Studios to get the show on the road.

It’s a partnership we’ve been very excited about for a long time, and one that gives us great pleasure (and no small measure of relief) to announce.

Peter Jackson himself kind of sums up our feelings about the venture, saying, “"Working directly with the Bungie guys to help carve out and reimagine another piece of the Halo game universe is a dream come true. Combining the creative and technical talents of Bungie Studios with the fire and passion of Wingnut Interactive just seems like a great recipe for success and the perfect way to start a new kind of partnership in the video game world. I can't wait."

Wingnut Interactive will be working closely with us to create “another chapter in the Halo universe,” which is a phrase you’ll be hearing a lot and of course, we’re sworn to secrecy.

This raises as many questions as it answers – will it be a sequel? A prequel? A side-story? We won’t squeal, but we can tell you it will be a blend of gameplay and storytelling quite unlike anything the games industry has ever seen before. And Wingnut Interactive isn’t stopping at Halo – the newly formed gaming behemoth will also be working closely with Microsoft to introduce a brand-new gaming IP created by Wingnut themselves.

Gasp! Does this mean Bungie is distracted from Halo 3? No. In fact the Bungie team, now bigger and better than ever, thunders on down the road to completing Halo 3 and will simply not deviate from that path. A few select team members have been chosen to liaise and interface with Wingnut Interactive and in fact, the sharing of ideas and technology with Wingnut Interactive and to some extent, WETA Digital, will likely bring creative benefits to Bungie as we complete our scheduled march to finish and release Halo 3 in 2007. Thanks to careful planning and good use of resources, these new projects have added not one single day to our schedule.

YET MORE HALO ON THE HORIZON

As if the Peter Jackson partnership wasn't cool enough for Halo fans, there's more to be excited about in the form of the just announced Halo RTS game being developed by Ensemble Studios. "Halo Wars" is a brand new saga in the Halo Universe that explores the time of first contact between the UNSC and Covenant Forces. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to control dozens of Warthogs and Scorpion tanks instead of just a single vehicle, your time has finally come.







Click for larger version



Ensemble Studios has a rich heritage and expertise in the real-time-strategy genre through their extremely successful Age of Empires franchises on the PC. This latest endeavor has been designed from the ground up as an Xbox 360 title, with controls and interface specifically tuned for the needs of a console. The folks at Ensemble are the only team we trusted to make a Halo RTS and from what we've already seen (and played), it's going to be awesome. And yes, the controls do work great on a 360 pad.

Bungie has been working with Ensemble primarily in the area of the game's fiction to help inspire the story and ensure continuity with the existing Halo Universe. Aside from that, Ensemble is applying their skills to deliver a great Halo experience in a whole new genre, which is ironically where Halo began in the first place. If you've seen some of the very early Halo videos out there, you might recall that before it ever became an FPS, it was in fact designed as an RTS (building off of Bungie's experience with the Myth franchise). Now, many years later, Ensemble is able to take the franchise full circle and bring it back to the place where it all began.

Ensemble brought their prototype to Bungie quite a while back, to show the guys that an RTS could not only work on the 360, but kick ass too. Frankly, Ensemble is one of very few folks on Earth that we would trust with our baby, and that trust is doubled thanks to the excellence of the Age of Empires franchise.

Ensemble’s own Chris Rippy said, “The Halo Wars team is made up of a bunch of guys that are all very passionate Halo fans. When we sat down to start thinking about our next project, we thought bringing the Halo universe into the RTS world would be a perfect a fit, and would make an amazing game. We couldn't be more excited about Halo Wars, and can't wait for everyone to try it out!”

Naturally you've got a million questions and unfortunately, as is usually the case with anything Halo-related, we don't really have many answers just yet. As we continue to see early builds and get hands on time with the game we'll pass our impressions on to you through our weekly updates but for the most part you should head over to the Ensemble site - www.halowars.com - for the latest news and updates on Halo Wars. In addition to a FAQ and forum, you'll be able to check out various game assets inclduing the CG announcement trailer that was shown to the press at X06. A web version should be up on their site soon in addition to an HD version hitting Xbox Live Marketplace.
 

Acidote

Member
mr_nothin said:
Im sorry let me explain
Master Chief got owned because of the millions of guys that are MASTER CHIEFS int he HALO WARS trailer
i didnt mean to come off like a fanboy
After reading it, i did come off like that'

*i wrote it while watchin halo wars*
SORRY

There are some Spartans. There is ONLY ONE Master Chief, an no more wil ever be like him :lol
 
mr_nothin said:
Did you read what I said?
Microsoft = better conference.....
So YES, I watched it...

As far as content goes, there wasent anything that I wasent expecting (besides halo wars)
It all just seemed to be a rehase with a shiny coat.

Exclusive announcements or not....and AC which was the best game of the show was multiplatform.
So that's wat i mean
remember how at TGS, the best PS3 stuff was from the hands on bit after Kutaragi's key note?

lets wait until after X06 has done that part before we say who has better content.
 

RamzaIsCool

The Amiga Brotherhood
Cool conference....really to the point i.e. IT SHOWED GAMEZZZZZ! Better then Sony has put out this last 3 or so years.

My only gripe is that they showed a CG trailer of Halo Wars, I am really curious what kind of games it's going to be. But then again I liked the atmosphere.
 

Speevy

Banned
Elios83 said:
But there was no really important announcement.It's not like they're going to win next gen with Bioshock or Splinter Cell exclusive (timed or not).


Those are two exclusives though in this "multiplatform generation."

Bioshock is so awesome. I don't really care if it's coming to another platform, but MS nabbed a sweet game.
 

TekunoRobby

Tag of Excellence
Amir0x said:
Well, pretty good conference! Nothing super megaton-ish (thank god none of those people hyped shit like Tekuno said), but a satisfying look at things to come (except Banjo, f u Banjo where's my Blast Corps)
TRUE WORDS!

Seriously, Blast Corps XBLA would be amazington. Oh well at least we get Halo the Milking.
 

RaijinFY

Member
Amir0x said:
Well, pretty good conference! Nothing super megaton-ish (thank god none of those people hyped shit like Tekuno said), but a satisfying look at things to come (except Banjo, f u Banjo where's my Blast Corps)


Indeed, good conference but honestly thos exclusive or timed exclu. or whatever do nothing for me. XBOX360 software seems really solid though.
 

Dante

Member
JB1981 said:
Where the **** was Gears of War?

They showed it at the begining. Framerate is way improved, but the anim still looked a little clunky. Looks amazing, next to AC best thing they showed.
 

Mashing

Member
Man, it sucks that all of the X360's best games are so far off. I'm just looking for a reason to buy an X360 at the moment and I just can't find one. The future is looking ****ing awesome though, it's only a matter of time until the system is in my room (my brother has a hacked X360 but I seriously disagree with what he did with it).
 
Why is everyone saying Halo Wars looks great when all we got was a CG trailer? Now, I'll admit, it was a nice looking CG trailer, but not all that exciting. I want to see the actual game before I get too excited about it. But the concept sounds great.

Oh, and anyone who is surprised at Halo Wars obviously didn't see the promotional materials that made the rounds when Age of Empires III came out. There was a panel on the sheet that clearly showed a Spartan. I even remember having a discussion on here with someone as to whether or not it was actually a Spartan or not. Saw that one coming a year ago.
 

Blame!

Member
Dante said:
Problem for me with this conference was the best things they showed ( Assasins Creed ) is not exclusive to the 360, and a lot of the big stuff was CG trailers.

:lol wow the problem for you with this conference is that you cant stand xbox 360

like the sony defence force was saying during tgs, this is just a conference and gameshows are won on the show floor so i guess the next couple days will be telling.
 

mr_nothin

Banned
plagiarize said:
remember how at TGS, the best PS3 stuff was from the hands on bit after Kutaragi's key note?

lets wait until after X06 has done that part before we say who has better content.
Content as far as what IM interested in. :)
No trolling from me...just my opinion, that's all.
No downplaying. There are just a few games on the 360 that interest me and fro waht i've seen, they seem to be shaping up very nicely. Cant wait to play em, but most 360 games just dont interest me.
Sadly...
 

Foil

Member
Good conference, probally their best one so far.

I can't believe some people are complaining. Holy crap... :lol
 
Mashing said:
Man, it sucks that all of the X360's best games are so far off. I'm just looking for a reason to buy an X360 at the moment and I just can't find one. The future is looking ****ing awesome though, it's only a matter of time until the system is in my room (my brother has a hacked X360 but I seriously disagree with what he did with it).

For me Banjo could be the reason. But before judge, I must see something. I could be like Perfect Dank Zero or Kameo: a deception. So, VIDEO PLEASE !!
 

Waku

Member
Well... Underwhelmaton? The only thing really good was the Bioshock Trailer.

And what was the point of the Gears Demo?? That was awfully boring. Man...
 

Ikael

Member
This has completely destroyed the TGS, IMHO. More new games shown, more surprises, and more awesomeness all around. And all of that, in Europe no less!!! I am full of EUROPEAN PRIDE!!!!
european_pride.jpg
 
Kung Fu Jedi said:
Why is everyone saying Halo Wars looks great when all we got was a CG trailer? Now, I'll admit, it was a nice looking CG trailer, but not all that exciting. I want to see the actual game before I get too excited about it. But the concept sounds great.

I agree but Halo + RTS + Bungie + Ensemble is an excellent combination.
 

Dante

Member
Blame! said:
:lol wow the problem for you with this conference is that you cant stand xbox 360

like the sony defence force was saying during tgs, this is just a conference and gameshows are won on the show floor so i guess the next couple days will be telling.

I am the happy owner of an Xbox 360. :)

And how can they not win the show floor, It's a MS only show :lol
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Any word on a re-broadcast? I'd love to see the whole thing.

Mostly great news, though I'm disappointed by Halo Wars as it will likely become a huge title for MS to push and is something I'm not interested in.
 

mr_nothin

Banned
skyfinch said:
The Gears of War demo was kind of boring.
Agreed,
"Lets run around in a circle and play Kill Switch" :lol
I wish they would have shown off the environment in the trailer.
The game is gonna be sooo good though.
Demo just sucked. They ran around in circles for christ sakes.

Summary:
I want GeOW :D
 
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