Letters from Heather

Previews and bits of the series are going to be on XBL, I can't wait! My only prayer is that they utilize YouTube for broadcasting the miniseries once it goes live, or some other streaming site. If it becomes limited to Cartoon Network, my limited budget DishTV channel list isn't going to suffice. But anyway, on with the awesomeness!

   

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Halo Legends Anime Project unfurled, July 24, 2009

The Halo universe is all set to go anime. Yes, fans of the popular Halo franchise and die-hard fans of ‘Anime’ will be in for a double treat thanks to this distinct affair! A recent announcement from Microsoft reveals that the company has partnered with top anime studios to develop a collection of original short films for the Halo series of games. Called as the Halo Legends, this new offering should take the Halo franchise to elevated heights.

Microsoft has roped in a renowned set of storytellers from some of the world’s leading anime studios in Japan. Studios involved include Bones Inc., Casio Entertainment Inc., Production I.G, STUDIO4˚C and Toei Animation. The teams are now working on taking one of the most iconic franchises in science fiction and video games to a new level. Collaborating with these acclaimed anime creators, the new Halo Legends project offers to deport the sweeping sci-fi saga to an entirely new medium. Gamers can get ready for several original anime short films.

“The opportunity to work with talents such as Shinji Aramaki, Mamoru Oshii and others from some of the greatest anime studios is a very rare opportunity for Microsoft,” shared Frank O’Connor, Halo franchise development director and provider of story and creative direction for 343 Industries.

“We’ve seen the world through Master Chief’s eyes, and we’ve experienced facets of the universe through a variety of literary prisms, but now we get to watch new tales unfold in really rich, visually dynamic ways. I think anime fans and ‘Halo’ fans alike are in for a real treat.”

“Halo and its characters are a very natural fit for anime,” mentioned Aramaki, creative director for the Halo Legends project. “As a fan of the ‘Halo’ universe, it is an honor to work with Microsoft and my very talented peers from other studios to create this collection.”

The Halo titles and novels are set hundreds of years in the future and chronicle mankind’s struggles against the alien collective – the Covenant. Ransacking the universe for relics, the Covenant assumes that these will lead it to a new life and destroys civilizations and planets throughout its journey. This marks the entry of the most prolific hero from the fiction Spartan. Also known as Master Chief, this super soldier is the chief protagonist in the original trilogy of Xbox and Xbox 360 Halo titles. The trilogy comprises of Master Chief unearthing the intent of the Covenant. He discovers (their) plans of activating a series of mysterious ring worlds called Halos to ultimately put an end to life throughout the universe. Attaining the title of mankind’s champion, he is in a race against an unrelenting enemy in its most desperate hour. Since then the Halo universe has expanded and tales of other heroes have emerged all through the New York Times novels, comics and Xbox 360 games like Halo Wars and the forthcoming Halo 3: ODST.

“As a leading entertainment distributor and a company identified with premier anime content, we’re very pleased to be working with Microsoft on Halo Legends,” remarked Amit Desai, vice president, Family, Animation and Partner Brands Marketing, Warner Home Video. “The combination of the talent involved and the ‘Halo’ brand ensure the collection is something consumers are really going to enjoy.”

Also a preview of select Halo Legends episodes will first mark their presence on Xbox Live starting this fall. In a new experience called Halo Waypoint, this new feature is designed to be the latest destination for Halo fans on Xbox Live around the world. Informing fans of the latest happenings and activities in the Halo universe, it will also permit access to an array of exclusive content. This includes podcasts, trailers, screenshots and unique video footage.

In addition to this, Waypoint will also offer gamers with a new challenge through a new career system. Player rankings tied to both in-game and out-of-game accomplishments related to Halo will be part of it. Besides the limited, early episode premieres; it will also unveil many behind-the-scenes videos that narrate the making of the Halo Legends.

Halo legends officially debuted yesterday at a panel presentation at Comic-Con International in San Diego. The compilation was expected to be bundled with a series of short stories that explore different periods, themes and characters from the Halo universe. The entire Halo Legends collection is slated for distribution through Microsoft partner Warner Home Video.

Source: http://www.techshout.com/gaming/2009/24/halo-legends-anime-project-unfurled/

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I'm pretty much appalled that Namco would even bother with creating the game. It wasn't even passable on the NES when I first played it. I remember my brother and I received the game from our uncle many, many years ago as a gag gift. He was the sort of uncle that loved (and probably still loves) Monty Python and Ren & Stimpy.

Anyway, you basically run up and down some Donkey Kong style ladders to knock down burger ingredients and create cheeseburgers. Oh, and some non-burger ingredients will chase you around. Now they've reproduced the game in 3D for your computer, of all things. I could see this as some silly console marketplace download, but a full fledged computer game? No.

Be sure to check out JC Fletcher's article on Joystiq. And if you're truly daring, here's a one-hour trial of the game itself. I won't be trying it.

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/25/namco-networks-gives-burgertime-the-update-it-didnt-need/
https://www.namcogames.com/pc_games/burgertime_deluxe

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I haven't had a weekend this long in months, ha! Even though it started out awful, with buckets of rain on Friday, every day after that was perfect (translation: painfully hot). No, really, sun is better than rain, so I guess things weren't so bad. And the heat kept us drinking healthy amounts of water, in fact, being at the office and not having to sip h2o every ten minutes feels strange after four days of it.

Anyway, things started out rough Friday, partly because I was trapped at Sheer Elegance (hair salon) after having my hair cut and styled, for fear of turning it into a frizzy disaster and crashing my car. After about thirty minutes of waiting, I called my dad and he informed me that the rain wasn't going to let up for hours, so I was assisted by salon's only male employee and cashier to my car with an umbrella–and I still was soaked! Then there was the matter of Zach's train being two hours late, because trees had fallen overnight during the storms all over Amtrak's railways. This made my coming into the hair salon thirty minutes before opening to meet him at Union Station on time pointless. He ended up manning it up and was going to take a taxi all by himself instead of having me travel all the way there, but we ended up meeting in the middle when he decided the fifty-dollar cab fare was ridiculous and he took the el to the stop near my home.

Honestly, that day in itself is a story all of its own. I didn't even get to the part where I almost drove into a lake under the neighborhood viaducts, twice. So Saturday, I woke up early, Isaac at the same time strangely, and we decided to buy bogo tickets from Six Flags and spend the day riding coasters. Sure, we got there after one hour of horrendous construction-delayed traffic, and sure, we had to walk from a car parked a desert's lot away from the real park, and sure, we did only ride three roller coasters–but it was insanely fun! Even though we drank near six bottles of water, it was a blast. I haven't been there in ten years! Since Raging Bull opened. Isaac had never been on a coaster before, so I had him try Batman first, in the front as I've never tried it before...and it was awesome. Seeing the sun upside down twice is burned into my mind. Riding without flip-flops is awesome, too. So other than that, we went on Raging Bull, Viper, and a ton of little rides. The log ride actually scared the crap out of me with its seat belt-less design and steep water fall. I seriously felt like I was about to fly out of the plastic log and the ride destroyed my hair, but I guess being scared to death was sorta fun? Isaac was amused.

Sunday we went to Old Orchard to have a delicious lunch at California Pizza Kitchen and return a pair of jeans that didn't fit how I liked. I ended up finding the a skinny style to exchange them for and a dress, and a sort of dress-shirt-coat to buy and spent more money than I expected. Oh, and we discovered a koi pond I didn't know was there, and I named a bunch of koi silly anime names and two after the sword-makers Masamune and Marumasa. I have pictures I should upload of them. That evening we celebrated Fathers Day with hotdogs, m&m brownie cookies, and blueberry pie. Played Left4Dead and Resident Evil 5 with Isaac, and I can't remember what else happened.

Monday we went to the Chicago Botannic Gardens, that aren't actually in Chicago at all and are really up north just a little further than Old Orchard. Again, we drank about four bottles of water and it was blazing hot, but the gardens were a blast. As far as fish go, we only found two carp here, but they were somewhere between the size of a Labrador and a Rottweiler, seriously. In the evening we rented Street Fighter 4 and it was awful.

Tuesday was short and sad, and I almost had a heat stroke driving between Chipotle, Barnes and Noble, and Borders. I rode the el with Isaac and his train was on time, which was sort of lame. Watched Confessions of a Shopaholic and though it was cute, much of the humor was spoiled by the previews. Mom liked it though. Well, I suppose that's it...! Next time I want to take him to a Cubs game, I can't believe I haven't yet.

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Catch Pokemon for Big Macs in Japan
Escapist Magazine - ‎17 hours ago‎
Nintendo and McDonald's are partnering for a promotion that allows Pokemon players in Japan to receive free burgers for collecting digital Pokemon stamps on ...

McDonald's starts DS-user service
The Japan Times, Tuesday, June 16, 2009
By HIROKO NAKATA, Staff writer

McDonald's Co. (Japan) Ltd. will start a new service Friday using Nintendo Co.'s popular DS hand-held consoles at its 3,200 outlets nationwide. The service will provide free content for DS, DS Lite and DSi machines when users bring them to certain areas of the outlets where wireless Internet access is available. The content includes collectible characters from popular games, including the "Pokemon" series, information about new McDonald's services and products, and discount coupons.

"This service will become the big key that enables McDonald's to take a further step in e-marketing," and makes interactive communications with customers possible, President Eiko Harada told a news conference in Tokyo on Sunday.

"With this service, we hope users take their DS out more often by providing them with fun and convenience," Nintendo President and CEO Satoru Iwata said. For Nintendo, the announcement is a further step in expanding its service. The game giant, which has sold more than 26 million DS consoles in Japan, said in April it was starting new services to use the DS consoles as information and education tools. For example, the consoles allow users to get information, including maps and guides, at shopping malls and museums. It has also started a service that allows teachers to send tests and other school assignments from their personal computers to students who have DS consoles.

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Honestly, when I first starting playing the game, and it went from a strange "from the hip" style shooter with squad commands to an involved, conversation-heavy strategy role-playing detective game–I immediately lost interest. When I was bored of all other forms of gaming and Bill couldn't find his extra PS3 controller so we could play Resistance together, I remembered I had this game and that I hadn't played it in ages...and that it wasn't all that hard, I just "stopped" playing.

So I picked up again and played it until about 12:30am. Ridiculous, huh? Looking at the game from where I see it now, I recognize it's similarities to Shenmue...which is quite something considering my initial interpretation of the game. I'm curious to see what follows, and now that I'm a Spectre, who knows what crazy mishaps Shepherd's going to have.

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