halo

The final word on Halo: Reach

Halo: Reach marks developer Bungie's last entry into one of the most successful franchises in video game history. A prequel to the original Xbox's Halo: Combat Evolved, Reach takes place a few weeks before the events of the first game.

Jeff: The best way to describe Halo: Reach is an all-star game. Developer Bungie has once again crafted a blockbuster title, this time by incorporating every detail that worked in all of the previous Halo games and adding a few new tricks here and there. The end result is a never-redundant, action-packed romp that manages to stay fresh and engaging throughout.

Working with a new graphics engine has rendered some of the best-looking visuals we've seen in a Halo game. Reach finally gives Halo that much-needed graphical bump--something critics of last year's ODST felt hadn't been properly upgraded. The visual improvement also gives the game a grittier look, perhaps because of the additional textures and particles onscreen. We think it delivers a sense of maturity and class to the title, and what better time to do so than in the series' final chapter? … Read more

Chattanooga: Fastest Net in U.S.

  Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded: Chattanooga has fastest Net in country Twitter loses John Mayer Boxee Box goes on sale CBS News app for iPad Halo: Reach released

Scenes from the NYC Halo: Reach launch

The first big release of the holiday 2010 video game season is here, in the form of Halo: Reach, the latest installment in the best-selling Halo franchise. As 2007's Halo 3 sold more than 8 million copies, it's no wonder Microsoft is pulling out all the stops for this year's version.

After checking out the elaborate metal briefcase press kit and collectible-filled special edition boxes of the game, we dropped by the official New York launch event, held at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square (the venue formerly known as the Nokia Theater).

Check out the gallery below to see the fans in line (when we were there, the line snaked around three sides of a city block), plus several life-size Halo statues on display.

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Digital City 96: In-studio helicopter flight; Halo: Reach goodies; and the latest in pseudoscience

In this week's action-packed episode, we engage in a little live Halo: Reach multiplayer  action, finding out in the process that none of us is particularly good at this sort of thing.

Then, Joey attempts to pilot a remote control helicopter around the confines of our broom-closet-size studio. Hilarity ensues, as does some small amount of danger.

After showing off some new minilaptops from Toshiba and Sony, Scott tells us about the FanVision handheld device being hawked by NFL teams (including his beloved Jets). Finally, we hold our heads in collective disbelief over the upcoming "Galileo was Wrong" pseudoscience conference, being held later this fall. Yes, that's a real thing, not some sort of Onion-like prank.

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With latest launch, Halo could Reach new heights

There's probably no better way to determine who's a hard-core Xbox player and who's not than this: do they play Halo?

On November 15, 2001, the then relatively low-profile video game development studio Bungie, which at the time was owned by Microsoft, released what would become one of the most significant game titles ever--Halo: Combat Evolved.

No one knew it at the time, but this storyline, spelled out in the game's manual--for Microsoft's original Xbox, not the Xbox 360--ushered in what is now nine years and the six titles of what is easily one of … Read more

Inside the Halo Reach Collector's Edition box

We're not huge fans of "collector's edition" game boxes, truth be told. More often than not, the extras included just seem silly. It's to our great surprise, then, that we unwrapped the monolithic box of the $80 Halo: Reach Collector's Edition, the deluxe version of the imminent Xbox 360 prequel, and found items inside that were actually both beautifully produced and fun to explore.

You won't find action figures or extra DVDs here--statues and helmets are reserved for the $150 Halo: Reach Legendary Edition. Instead, you'll get the core of what's … Read more

What's inside the Halo: Reach uber press kit?

Looking more like a nuclear football than a video game, a packed-to-the-gills press kit for the upcoming Xbox 360 game Halo: Reach showed up in this morning's mail.

Different than the regular ($59), limited ($79), or legendary ($149) versions that will be available starting September 14, this kit consists of a metal briefcase that opens to revel a series of Halo-related items.

Inside, we found a United Nations Space Command folder with press information, a softcover art book titled "Halo Overture", a Halo: Reach Xbox 360 controller, and a tie-in novel, "Halo: The Fall of Reach.&… Read more

Microsoft threatens Halo: Reach players with 'permaban'

Those who have downloaded the recently leaked Halo: Reach and plan to play it on Xbox Live should beware: Microsoft will act swiftly to remove you from the online gaming service.

According to Stephen Toulouse, Microsoft's director of Policy Enforcement for Xbox Live, Microsoft will permanently ban anyone who plays the leaked game on Xbox Live.

"As with all unauthorized play on Xbox Live, anyone playing any unauthorized title runs the risk of account 'permaban,'" Toulouse posted on his Twitter feed. "Remember, legit store-bought copies run no risk of ban. Keyword: unauthorized. We have ways of … Read more

Halo marketing: Remote-controlled real robot

The folks behind the sure-to-be-a-hit Halo: Reach have a new viral-marketing tool: a giant robotic arm that users can control remotely to create an online monument to a squad of fallen soldiers featured in the upcoming game.

The arm, a Kuka KR 140, is purportedly stashed in some secret warehouse in San Francisco with an LED light on the end of its articulated joints (for all we can tell, it could be a virtual construct, though even that's still a cool idea). When users log in to the site RememberReach.com via Facebook, they can select a "point … Read more