Your piece of the Halo 4 puzzle

Monday afternoon, slices of a Halo 4 image were doled out to the community. Curiosity turned to determination and intrigue to resolution as fans fervently worked to put together the 32-piece puzzle. As forum threads exploded with rampant speculation, slivers became segments, segments became sections, and sections ultimately became the key art for Halo 4.

When the slivers were released into the wild, 343-ers placed their bets on how long it would take the community to piece together the picture. Some said a few hours; others said longer. I put my money on 15 minutes. Considering the first complete image made its appearance approximately 660 seconds after the messages were initially sent, I quickly found myself out five entire dollars. I blame all of you and your stealth URL-detecting skills for the fact that I couldn’t get a latte yesterday, just so you know.

Anyway, back to business. Now that we have officially revealed the Halo 4 box art, it only seems fair we also announce what, special edition-wise, will be available at retail come November 6. If you agree with that sentiment, please continue reading. If you don’t agree with that sentiment, you should also continue reading. Like how that works? Yeah, me too!

Halo 4 Limited Edition

Available for preorder today, the Halo 4 Limited Edition maximizes your multiplayer experience and puts you in the boots of a Spartan-IV aboard the UNSC Infinity – the hub of your Halo multiplayer career.

The Halo 4 Limited Edition will be available at the estimated retail price of $99.99 and includes:


• War Games Map Pack Access

The competitive multiplayer modes of Halo 4 are known as War Games. The Limited Edition includes access to nine maps - three future competitive multiplayer map packs, each including three locations, available for download post-launch on Xbox LIVE. Yes, you read that correctly; you get nine maps in the form of future DLC with the purchase of the Halo 4 Limited Edition. Score!

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"We go feet first into Halo, sir!"

The United Nations Space Command uses Drop Pods for rapid deployment, and now your Avatar can, too! So whether you enjoy jumping out of a spaceship in this Single-Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle, or you are simply looking for a new way to keep your Avatar entertained, you should check out the newest addition to the Halo Avatar Collection, the Drop Pod prop—available now on Xbox LIVE.

Here's a look at what you'll find on Waypoint this week:

Tuesday:

• Playtime: Jailbreak. As the battle between the Rangers and the Invaders continues, Warren searches for Cobra in a desperate rescue mission.

Wednesday:

• bs angel: When Nature Calls. Tired of the concrete jungle? Take a vacation in the great outdoors. In this week’s gallery, visit the scenic vistas of the Halo universe, stop for pictures, smell the flowers, but remember to watch out for the Covenant!

Thursday:

• RvB Reconstruction: Chapter 15. While Caboose and the Reds hold the fort, Wash and Church go looking for Alpha. But what will they find?

To view this content, log on to the Halo Waypoint app on your Xbox 360 or your mobile device!

Friday:

• Mace Windex's 3D Screenshots 15. Halo fan Mace Windex is back with his famous eye-bending, mind-twisting, extradimentional images. Enjoy this week’s collection of stereoscopic Halo screenshots!

Saturday:

• Headhunters: Episode 3 (Encore Presentation). Enjoy an encore presentation of this Halo: Evolutions story brought to life by MoreFrames. Jonah and Roland deliver a decisive blow to the Covenant forces in this explosive conclusion to the series.

Sunday:

• MLG: Winter Championship Finals - Game 9. The championship series is tied at 4-4 as Status Quo and Instinct head back into the fray for a Capture the Flag match. Tune in to see which team will advance one game closer to the crown!

NOTE: This schedule is based on Halo Waypoint's US, English-language content. It may not reflect daily content provided to all regions and languages, and is subject to change — so keep checking back and don’t miss any of the awesomeness that is Halo Waypoint! Be sure to follow the latest Halo news on Twitter and Facebook at @HaloWaypoint and Facebook.com/HaloWaypoint.

Mo’ Cappin’

Last week, as I was preparing for a whirlwind trip to Los Angeles, I was told two very important things: One, it’s always sunny there, and two, it’s always sunny there. Guess what I learned, though, on my second day in that city. It’s not always sunny there. Go figure.

Thankfully my business (which was also quite pleasurable) was inside a studio, so my interaction with the precipitation was fleeting. Speaking of which, I’m reminded of another lesson I learned while in LA: When you walk into a hotel with a video camera, a lighting kit, and an armful of tripods (because your videographer doesn’t want to leave his equipment in the car overnight), the valets won’t believe you when you tell them you’re there for a Halo 4 shoot. At least, that’s the impression I got when they exchanged furtive glances and attempted to conceal their smirks. Again, go figure.

Unfortunately, as of right now that’s the extent of what I’m allowed to talk about in relation to that trip. Fret not though, because one day not so soon, you’ll hear or see more about what happened under the bright lights in that particular studio. I sense you quietly grunting in protest, which is oddly appropriate considering our next subject is everybody’s favorite bipedal vertebrate. And yes, that’s me moving on…

Meet Your Halo 4 Enemies– Part 1: Grunts

The Unggoy, a low-ranking species in the Covenant hierarchy, will be one of the enemies you face in Halo 4. If you are not yet familiar with our cannon fodder friends, below you will find a somewhat cursory introduction. And fodder for canon friends.

Grunts, as they are often referred to by humans, are bipedal vertebrates with spotty exoskeletons (some spottier than others depending on the game), appendages and movement typical of primates, and quite simple (yet often dull) eyes. We could talk about their elaborate circulatory system (also more vertebrate than arthropod in nature), but ONI’s classified all enemy autopsies and we don’t have clearance. How convenient for us.

The Grunt is not really a traditional arthropod in the 21st century Earth-native scientific understanding of the term. That being said, the Grunt’s high resemblance and similar evolutionary structure to arthropods on our planet illicit that prima facie nomenclature. However, they might be more accurately referred to as xeno-arthropod-type vertebrates with substantial (and hypothetical) genetic influences from primate-type organisms, as well as some unclassified aphotic-dwelling amphibian-type organisms.

What does this mean? Only that poor Carl Linnaeus can’t adequately classify sentient organisms originating from other planets and we shouldn’t necessarily expect him to. Until we develop perfect xenobiological classifications for rival and ultimately, very alien sentient species, humans of the 26th century, in the middle of trying to survive the Covenant War, might use ad hoc, makeshift terminology loosely based on the Earth’s own organisms—and that’s exactly what ‘arthropod’ is when it appears in the definition of the Unggoy.

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Awakening: The Art of Halo 4

Titan Books Signs Up Lavish Art Book of Eagerly Anticipated New Halo Game

Titan Books has acquired exclusive worldwide rights to publish Awakening: The Art of Halo 4. The deluxe hardcover title will showcase never-before-seen concept art from the next blockbuster installment in the iconic franchise.

The award-winning Halo series of video games has shaped entertainment history and defined a decade of gaming. Set in the aftermath of Halo 3, Halo 4 marks the beginning of a new trilogy as Master Chief confronts an ancient evil that threatens the fate of the entire universe.

Awakening: The Art of Halo 4 is a stunning hardcover with pages of Halo 4’s spectacular characters, weapons, vehicles, and environments. This collection will provide a detailed look at the art created specifically for Halo 4, with commentary by the creative team at 343 Industries.

Senior Commissioning Editor, Laura Price, states, “Halo art is simply stunning and Halo 4 has some of the most powerful and beautiful concept art I’ve ever seen. Halo is the godfather of gaming and we’re delighted to be involved with the new release.”

Awakening: The Art of Halo 4 will be published in November 2012. Titan Books will be working closely with Microsoft and 343 Industries to promote the title.

The Halo series of video games has sold more than 40 million copies and the franchise has generated over $2 billion to date. Halo games are bestsellers on both the original Xbox and Xbox 360 platforms. Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 were the top two selling games on Xbox, and Halo 3 and Halo: Reach are two of the bestselling games on Xbox 360. More than 3.3 billion hours of Halo gameplay has been logged by players while connected to Xbox LIVE.

Paul Davies—an incurable Halo fanatic—has worked in gaming journalism for twenty years, writing and editing magazines and websites, including Official Nintendo and Computer & Video Games. He is the co-founder and director of media agency Unlikely Hero Ltd. whose clients include Yahoo! UK and Microsoft.

* Awakening: The Art of Halo 4 * 9781781163245 * 02/11/2012 *
* £24.99, US$29.95 * Hardback * 301mm x 228mm *
* Colour Illustrations throughout * 192pp *

Tor Books announces the second Halo novel in the “Kilo-Five Trilogy”
by #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Traviss

HALO: THE THURSDAY WAR
By Karen Traviss

New York, NY – April 25, 2012 - Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC—the largest publisher of science fiction in the world—is excited to reveal the title and release date for the second novel in the “Kilo-Five Trilogy” written by bestselling novelist and renowned game writer Karen Traviss. HALO: THE THURSDAY WAR will release in hardcover alongside a simultaneous audio edition on October 2, 2012.

Traviss, whose first foray into the Halo Universe came with the short story “Human Weakness” in Fall 2009’s New York Times bestselling “Halo: Evolutions” anthology, launched her new trilogy last fall with the acclaimed bestseller Halo: Glasslands. A #1 New York Times bestselling author who has penned novels in the Star Wars and Gears of War franchises (she most recently served as lead game writer for Gears of War 3), as well as her own critically acclaimed science fiction series, The Wess’har Wars, Traviss has an incredible gift for writing believable and compelling military science fiction.

“From the very first page, The Thursday War propels you into a universe on the brink of chaos,” says Frank O’Connor, Franchise Development Director, 343 Industries. “It will immerse you immediately and enthrallingly into the events and circumstances that will come to define the state of the Halo universe in Halo 4. I can’t wait for fans and newcomers alike to experience the sequel to Glasslands.”

HALO: THE THURSDAY WAR picks up immediately where Halo: Glasslands left off, with forces on Earth and among the Covenant threatening a peace that is precarious at best. With a splinter group among the Sangheili pushing for war, some human colonies rebel against earth authority; and as ONI policy continues to shift with the volatile situation in space, the discovery of a trove of Forerunner technology on Onyx provokes leaders on Earth to seek uses for it in the conflict. For the fight is far from over…

"I wanted to focus on what it feels like to operate in a fragile ceasefire that’s turning into a mass of small, unpredictable wars where the enemy is much harder to spot and define,” says author Karen Traviss. “It's not about big set piece space battles, superheroes, and hardware; this is a messy conflict seen at close quarters by real people with their own problems, whether those people are human, alien, or artificial intelligences."

About Tor Books
Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, is a New York-based publisher of hardcover and softcover books. Founded in 1980, Tor annually publishes what is arguably the largest and most diverse line of science fiction and fantasy ever produced by a single English-language publisher. In 2002, Tor launched Starscape, an imprint dedicated to publishing quality science fiction and fantasy for young readers, including books by critically acclaimed and award winning authors such as Cory Doctorow, Orson Scott Card, and David Lubar. Between an extensive hardcover and trade-softcover line, an Orb backlist program, and a stronghold in mass-market paperbacks, books from Tor have won every major award in the SF and fantasy fields, and the company has been named Best Publisher 24 years in a row in the Locus Poll, the largest consumer poll in SF.

What Are We Up To?

Jessica is out. At a shoot, hanging out with famous Halo and non-Halo people, including actors and actresses you’re all very fond of. And some you’ve never heard of. The answer to the question, “What Are We Up To?” is pretty long, so here we go.

We’re making a lot of stuff. Right now, we’re finishing work on Karen Traviss’ novel, The Thursday War, including tightening up the graphics on the cover and dotting some Is and crossing some Ts on last-minute fiction edits. I say “we” when in fact it’s mostly Karen doing the actual hard work and the publisher Tor implementing and assisting with changes and copyediting.

And at the same time as all that, we’re deep into Greg’s third book in the Forerunner Trilogy. I was tempted to type last, but I just can’t bring myself to. And I don’t see any reason why we would want to stop working with Greg, so I ain’t saying it and you can’t make me!

We actually had Greg in last week to listen to some music, look at some graphics, including in-game graphics, to make sure they line up appropriately with his vision, and vice versa. When we made the decision three or more years ago to start making sure that every piece of Halo fiction counted and connected, we knew it was going to be a lot of work, but it’s paying off. The connections, ties, and presaging that the books incorporate will make for some stunning resonances and revelations for hardcore digesters of external fiction. For those who don’t follow the novels and other fiction, don’t worry: Halo 4 will make perfect sense as a standalone piece of storytelling. That’s super important.

And even Forward Unto Dawn, the live-action series we just announced, will make some of those connections, albeit in a much more approachable way. We wanted to fulfill the promise of our previous live-action commercials and the hints of storytelling they touched upon. We wanted to take that kind of ambition but put it in a real narrative – and a story that will take you and deliver you right to the gates of Halo 4. We’re super excited about it.

Our director is a joy (we’ll announce his name later) and the screenwriting talent is exceptionally appropriate to this material (we’ll tell you who they are later), and our VFX guy is an industry standard. All these people, including the unannounced cast, have been hand-picked by us to make sure they can deliver on the potential the Halo universe has for storytelling and bring something juicy to folks who’ve wanted this for years, and something interesting and approachable to those who are curious about Halo, but have never quite committed.

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Here's a look at what you'll find on Waypoint this week:

Monday:

• HSH: Speed Run of the Week 12. Not every level is tailor-made for an easy speed run, but it wouldn’t be Speed Run of the Week if it were an easy feat! For the twelfth installment, Cheeseliker92 takes on that challenge with a particularly complex Halo 3 level - The Covenant.

Tuesday:

• Playtime: Flashback 2. In the conclusion of this two-part episode, Red describes her final days with Cobra at the Ranger base and the events that led directly to the beginning of his training with Warren.

Wednesday:

• bs angel: Skirmishers. Quick and lethal, the Kig-yar Skirmisher is not an easy foe to fight, much less capture in picture, but a few brave Spartans managed to snag these amazing shots of Jackals in action for us to enjoy. Check out this week’s collection of community-submitted screenshots featuring these deadly enemies.

Thursday:

• RvB Reconstruction: Chapter 13. Wash, in need of vehicles, makes the mistake of listening to the Reds. Meanwhile, Church sneaks off to investigate something Wash doesn't want him to see.

To view this content, log on to the Halo Waypoint app on your Xbox 360 or your mobile device!

Saturday:

• Headhunters: Episode 1 (encore presentation). Enjoy an encore presentation of this Halo: Evolutions story brought to life by MoreFrames. In the first episode of the series, Spartan-IIIs Roland and Jonah take on a dangerous mission to infiltrate a Covenant base deep behind enemy lines.

Sunday:

• MLG Winter Championship Finals: Game 7. Status Quo and Instinct continue their epic battle for the MLG Pro Circuit Winter Championship. First team to reach six wins will be crowned; tune in to see who will be victorious in game seven!

NOTE: This schedule is based on Halo Waypoint's US, English-language content. It may not reflect daily content provided to all regions and languages, and is subject to change — so keep checking back and don’t miss any of the awesomeness that is Halo Waypoint! Be sure to follow the latest Halo news on Twitter and Facebook at @HaloWaypoint and Facebook.com/HaloWaypoint.

You got your Halo in my news.

For those of you who like a little Halo 4 in your news, April was the month for you. You learned the identity of our mystery composer (Neil Davidge!) and got a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the Halo 4 soundtrack. You learned the launch date for Halo 4 (November 6!) and listened to the leader of Red Team sing a little ditty about why you should forget about remembering, and focus on not forgetting. You also learned who’s lending their voices to the game (Conan O'Brien and Andy Richter!) in a hilarious late-night talk show segment that featured guest appearances by a certain Nordic dragon slayer and her bartender (Team Friki!).

Starting off that flurry of news earlier this month was Game Informer’s 14-page Halo 4 cover story. Their in-depth article—which touched on Campaign, Multiplayer, and a few of the things in between—answered numerous questions, and also introduced some new ones. Part of today’s Bulletin will focus on the latter. Before we get to that, though, let’s discuss the embarrassingly unadorned state of your Xbox 360 Dashboard….

Halo 4 Concept Art Premium Theme

The other night, while watching your every move from the comfort of the tree conveniently located adjacent to and slightly above your drapeless window, I couldn’t help but notice your Dashboard was more than a little bare. Lucky for you, a brand new theme is now available on Xbox LIVE. Featuring concept artwork from Halo 4, the following images are ready to customize your console experience.

Since Halo 4 has not yet been released, you need to visit the Xbox 360 version of Halo Waypoint, go to the Store, and follow the instructions on the relevant article to purchase this item. Another option, if you don’t have a spare 240 Microsoft Points jingling around in your virtual pocket, is tuning into the official Halo Waypoint Twitter account this Friday when we’ll be giving away codes for this frosty new Halo 4 theme.

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Here's a look at what you'll find on Waypoint this week:

Tuesday:

• Playtime: Flashback 1. In part one of this two-part episode, under pressure from Warren, Red reveals her past connection with Cobra.

Wednesday:

• bs angel: Exotic Halo Vehicles. Sometimes the standard UNSC vehicle fare is not enough for the adventurous Spartan, so every once in a while you will see these exotic beauties instead. Enjoy this week's community-submitted screenshots featuring some incredible Forged vehicles!

Thursday:

• RvB Reconstruction: Chapter 12. Wash reveals an unpleasant secret about Blood Gulch, and Church delivers Delta's cryptic message.

To view this content, log on to the Halo Waypoint app on your Xbox 360 or your mobile device!

Friday:

• An Arbor Day Screenshot Gallery. We think trees are great. In fact we love them so much that we're dedicating a whole gallery to our leafy friends in honor of Arbor Day. Don't forget to hug your nearest Halo tree!

Saturday:

• RvB: "Where There's a Will, There's a Wall"—Episode 3. Sarge continues to attempt to take down the wall, using Grif as a veritable battering ram. Meanwhile, the Reds attempt to infiltrate Blue Base when Church and Tucker are too busy arguing over the Falcon.

Sunday:

• MLG Winter Championship Finals: Game 6. Status Quo and Instinct, two of the top pro Halo: Reach teams, go head to head once again in an epic showdown! Watch as they battle for glory in the Grand Finals of the MLG Pro Circuit Winter Championship in Columbus, OH.

NOTE: This schedule is based on Halo Waypoint's US, English-language content. It may not reflect daily content provided to all regions and languages, and is subject to change — so keep checking back and don’t miss any of the awesomeness that is Halo Waypoint! Be sure to follow the latest Halo news on Twitter and Facebook at @HaloWaypoint and Facebook.com/HaloWaypoint.