Games Cheats and Reviews

Seeing over a million unique players in only its first day, one might consider the Halo: Reach beta to have been a smashing success.  The program that was bundled as a way to sweeten the pot for Halo: ODST purchasers, has went on to rule Xbox LIVE friends lists for the last two weeks.  Unfortunately for all of the freeloading Halo fans out there (myself completely included) all good things must come to an end, with the beta scheduled to end today.

Luckily for all of us, it looks like Joystiq has got exclusive details on Bungie giving us an extra day of Spartan slaying combat:

“Our official plans as of now are to turn off the Reach beta on Thursday, 5/20 at 10AM PDT.” — Brian Jarrard via Joystiq

So there you have it!  If you plan on getting in on the Halo: Reach action, you better get to it in a hurry. After tomorrow it is going to be a while before you can take the DMR out for another test drive.

Sharing: It’s Win/Win

MCV: Though upcoming triple-A titles such as Fable III have pledged their support for Microsoft’s motion camera Natal, Bungie has ruled out any possible support for the peripheral in its upcoming FPS Halo Reach.

"Practically speaking, Natal didn’t exist until Reach was already two years into development," Bungie’s community director Brian Jarrard told The Seattle Times.

"That alone creates issues. Secondly, it’s not the type of control experience that we think lends itself to this type of game. We’re comfortable with it; Microsoft is, too.

Microsoft launched a major marketing blitz for last year’s Halo 3: ODST, but Bungie community director Brian Jarrard said to expect marketing on an even grander scale for the upcoming Halo Reach.

With the Halo: Reach beta less than two weeks away, Bungie is dispatching some of its 180 staffers to help promote the ambitious online multiplayer test. Community director Brian Jarrard and multiplayer design lead Chris Carney sat down with the Seattle Times to discuss the beta’s May 3 launch and the lead-up to the game’s debut this fall.

Halo: Reach is likely to be the last Bungie Halo made. The studio wants to make the "definitive entry" in the franchise before it moves on to new IP. IndustryGamers sat down with Bungie’s Brian Jarrard.

Recently an employee over at Bungie was asked about the companies consideration for PS3 support. While the company will be independent after the completion of Halo Reach, this now means that they don’t have to stick with Microsoft. Again, Brian Jarrard was asked again about where the companies interests lie when talking about developing for other platforms. He said " I know these things are still pending topics in the studio." and "We definitely have plans in the works, and I think we’re really close to understanding of what is next and who, what, when , where" but most importantly for those hoping for Bungie titles to be available on other systems than the Xbox 360 " All options are open right now, so long as we find the best possible fit for our creative vision and what this project is going to be."

CC: Bungie community manager Brian Jarrard says he’s surprised by how much content will actually be offered in the upcoming Beta.

In their latest issue, which hits subscribers and UK news stands, today, Edge reveals Halo: Reach. From today, they’ll be presenting excerpts from our interviews with the principal members of the team making Reach, covering the mission design, how Halo’s fabled ’sandbox’ combat design will be changing, the improvements to Halo 3’s engine, and its art style, a departure from the series traditional bright colours.

But they start with a discussion of Reach’s story, a dark tale of the destruction of a planet by the Covenant, with creative director Marcus Lehto, executive producer Joseph Tung and community director Brian Jarrard.

Very little information on Bungie’s latest game in development – possibly the last between Microsoft and Bungie as partners – Halo: Reach, has been released to the public, other than it may very well be the largest game yet from Bungie. What has been shown by Microsoft and Bungie is a small teaser that covers the fall of the planet Reach, a pivotal time point in Halo lore. When asked about the game, Bungie community manager Brian Jarrard answered:

"Reach is going to be a tough project for us to wrap just because the scope is really big – it’s up there," said Jarrard. "It’ll probably be our biggest game ever just in terms of the amount of people working on it and the expectations for it. I mean, it’s a big deal for us."

Personally, I thought this would be a small game, focused on the Halo universe; like Halo 3: ODST. The way Jerrard explains it, it seems like I was wrong, and that Reach will be much bigger than I ever imagined.

Bungie’s back in action following Halo 3: ODST

"I know just for at least the next year our hardcore focus is going to be on getting Reach done and awesome and hopefully getting people excited about it," he said.

G4TV doesn’t know much about Halo: Reach yet. Microsoft and Bungie showed off a teaser for the possibly final collaboration between the two companies at E3, which chronicles the fall of the planet Reach, a major part of Halo lore. At the Penny Arcade Expo, they had a chance to ask Bungie community manager Brian Jarrard about Halo: Reach.

"Reach is going to be a tough project for us to wrap just because the scope is really big — it’s up there," said Jarrard. "It’ll probably be our biggest game ever just in terms of the amount of people working on it and the expectations for it. I mean, it’s a big deal for us."

To be honest, G4TV thought it was a small, focused spin-off, ala Halo 3: ODST. It’s not. Halo: Reach sounds much bigger than I’d ever imagined, the way Jarrard puts it.

"I know just for at least the next year our hardcore focus is going to be on getting Reach done and awesome and hopefully getting people excited about it," he said.