[CONFIRMED] Halo: Combat Evolved Remake Coming Later This Year

[UPDATE] I originally tried to remember where I first posted about this remake - hell, the box art you see was still stashed in my photo album for the blog - and I finally remembered: it won "Best Idea" for Destroyed Controller's 2010 Awards (you'll have to do some scrolling, but it's there).

[Original Post]

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.

::nerdgasm cool down::

In all seriousness, who didn't see this coming?

Joystiq has learned from a source that the Halo: Combat Evolved remake that was rumored is actually happening. Bad news? It's not 343 Industries making it, but rather Saber Interactive, the men and (possibly) women behind TimeShift and the upcoming Inversion, which Namco is producing.

Now, this isn't an HD-ification that we see in the Sony ports, ala God of War and Sly Cooper, but a complete overhaul with brand new art assets, hopefully borrowing from Halo 3, or maybe even Reach. Sadly, no word of the engine powering the game, be it something brand new, or if 343 will allow Saber to use the Reach engine. Good news is that, this being Halo and all, 343 Industries will be all over Saber like stink on shit to make sure they don't screw this up.

Also on the limited information front is no word on online multiplayer, however, online co-op is a "likely feature". Features that are expected are 1080p (duh) and 3D TV support (really?). No word on a release date, but considering that the 10 year anniversary of the franchise - and this game - is coming up on November 15 of this year (which is a Tuesday; the planets are aligning) it's highly likely that 11/15/11 will be the date to peg in your calendars for this game.

I already have.

[Via Joystiq]

*Not official box art, but created by a few lovely chaps by the names of KitWitPotential and Redd Hedd over at the Bungie.net forums

Halo's Forerunners See Light of Day

Are you a Halo fan? Wondered how the Forerunners actually looked? Well, imagine no more, as Bungie artist Isaac Hannaford has updated his personal blog with some very nice concept art, ranging from ODST up until Reach, with some Waypoint-reference material making it's debut, including a Forerunner's combat suit.

Now, this isn't a Forerunner, but a "Forerunner related experiment...regarding the combat suits referred to in the Waypoint data access points." It's worth mentioning this, as two things arise:

1) This is a concept piece of artwork
2) It's a Forerunner experiement

Take heed, as Forerunners have actually never been seen, with the exception of a few pieces of art showing Forerunners in various suits; we have yet to see what a Forerunner actually looks like. We've also never seen a Forerunner in a full-frontal pose with this much detail.

Also, it's badass. Here's hoping that Halo 4 brings to light more info about Forerunners, and if they actually are an alien race that advanced human evolution, or if they actually are humans.

[Via Bungie via Isaac Hanaford's personal blog]

You'll Have More Master Chief, Don't Worry

At a panel discussion at Comic-Con, Bungie's Frank O'Connor said that Master Chief's story will continue beyond the massive cliffhanger at the end of Halo 3, because just letting him and Cortana drift around in space near a planet that apparently looks like Onyx (from, you know, the "Ghosts of Onyx" novel) would be completely dickish of you.

Or "asshole," as he put it:

"At the end of Halo 3, and cover your ears if you haven't played it, Master Chief is in cryosleep. Cortana has sent a rescue signal, and they are orbiting a strange world. We'd have to be the world's biggest assholes to not follow through on his story."

So yea, with 343 Industries thriving alongside Bungie, I hope to see Marathon finally get tied in to the Halo story, cause, you know, it's there.

[Via Destructoid]

More HD Compilations

So I've been playing God of War Collection recently, after getting nearly all achievements in Assassin's Creed 2 (all 100 feathers? Really, now?), and I'm liking what I'm seeing. GoW1 still has that absolutely retarded use of the R2 button for the in-game context sensitive parts (opening doors, mainly) as I was hoping they would change that. Of course not.

Anyways, it gets me thinking to what other series companies should be on the lookout, and after going through my collection of current-gen/last-gen games, I've got a nice wish list, which many would probably agree with:

• BloodRayne (360 & PS3)
  
• Halo 1 & 2 (360)
  
• Grand Theft Auto III/Vice City/San Andreas (360 & PS3)
  
• Devil May Cry 1, 2 & 3 (360 & PS3)
• Final Fantasy X & XII (PS3)
  
• Ico & Shadow of the Colossus (PS3)
  
• Metal Gear Solid 1, 2 & 3 (PS3)
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Warrior Within & The Two Thrones (360 & PS3)
• Splinter Cell 1, Pandora Tomorrow & Chaos Theory (360)
• Turok 1, Seeds of Evil, Shadow of Oblivion & maybe Evolution (360 & PS3)

It's a hell of a wishlist. But bring these guys to current-gen systems (360 compilations would more than likely require a disc per game) would have developers weed out a few guys to work on the HD-ifing process. Considering the GoW Collection took, what, a few months to crank out, this wouldn't be a problem, especially for Square, as they could have both games done in a week. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they released each game separately. The reason why I left out the PSOne era, as well as XI, is because, well, you can't really make HD out of the 32-bit era without completely redoing the game. It's like trying to turn a DeLorean (and when I say "DeLorean," I'm talking about the 80's model that would fall apart doing 88) into a stock car just by giving it a new shell; you've gotta do the whole goddamned thing.

Halo: Reach Screens Surface...Wait, WHAT?!?!

My initial reaction was some shitty, blurry screens that showed absolutely nothing of value in terms of new information.

Well, they're blurry as shit, I'll give it that.

Found over at NeoGAF (when doesn't something good come out of there?), user 'Dani,' who gives credit to another user by the name of Tashi0106, posted some very good info about Halo: Reach, and images.

Firstly, I scanned through them quickly, and you'll find my favorite one at the top of this post. WTF is that? It seems like it's a high-caliber version of the Needler, which, yea, like we need more pink mist...

::please let this be ba-dass::

...but there are some VERY interesting pieces of info to be had from these images, which I detail in the break.

[NeoGAF]

Get a Sneak Peek At Halo: Waypoint

For those not keeping up, Halo: Waypoint is not a new Halo game, but a "destination" of sorts for Halo fans, which is an Xbox Live-exclusive stop for everything Halo...well, not including 1 and 2.

To watch the video detailing Waypoint, jump over to Joystiq and watch their video. Worth the watch, actually.

[Via Joystiq]

Convenant Elite Animatronic Head Shits on Your Halloween costume

Remember that Cloud cosplayer? This guy made an animatronic Elite head. Moving eyes and mouth mandibles. Awesome.

Check out his video description below, and another video after the break.

Midnight Launch: Halo 3: ODST

If you haven't heard, ODST comes out tonight at midnight. A TON of GameStop stores are doing midnight launches (as well as a handful of Best Buy stores), and include Warthog/Go-Kart races, cosplay, and other activities that seem farfetched.

I'll be attending the GameStop store next to Friday's in Woodbridge, VA. I specify because there is one - I shit you not - 4 minutes away at the adjacent shopping center. I say "4 minutes" and "adjacent shopping center" because the two lights you have to go through take forever to change.

I'm getting there around 10ish, snagging my copy, and heading home. Hopefully have some pictures of the night.

Halo 3: ODST Live Action TV Spot, Induces Halo Movie Craze All Over Again

Here's the first TV spot for ODST. If this doesn't scream "Halo movie is go" for many of you, then I have lost all hope: