New wallpaper

Now that the rush of E3 is completely behind us… It was time to give my computer another workout. Check out the desktops section for a change of pace in all the MC-centric wallpaper selection with my new Halo 2 “Ghost” desktop. Enjoy!

Store Discount Got You Down?

Last Thursday we had a special 24 hour sale at the Bungie Store for those of you who couldn't attend FanFest. Unfortunately there were a few complications that caused some hassles for a few of you. In order to make up for the inconvenience, we're going to re-institute the discount THIS WEEKEND . The 15% discount will be active from Saturday at 12:01 AM PST through midnight PST on Sunday.

To activate the discount, you need to enter the promo code FANFEST15 when you login. That's all you have to do to save 15% on your Bungie Store order!

Thanks to everyone who took advantage of this offer last week and if you missed out, be sure to stop by the store this weekend!

Bungie Trivia Masters Revealed!

As you know, we had two Bungie trivia contests this year. One was held live at FanFest last Thursday and the other was hosted online over at HBO. The online version was substantially harder but the FanFest contestants had the added pressure of a live audience and the blazing spotlights. Who would win the title of Trivia Champion? Read on for the details and the final results...

The FanFest Challenge

The FanFest trivia challenge faced off 11 contestants in a double elimination multiple choice competition. After about a dozen questions, all read by Jen Taylor - the voice of Cortana, there were only two people left. Each contestant had one strike against them and it all came down to one answer. The final question appeared on screen - "Which Bungie employee lives the alter ego of Danger Boy ?" If you're a regular of Bungie.net, you should immediately remember an interview a while back with our own Chris Carney, aka Danger Boy. Both guys picked a different choice and we knew that one of them would emerge the champion. In the end, it was Djof who answered correctly and was crowned the Bungie FanFest 2003 Trivia Champion! Congratulations to Djof on a job well done!

The HBO Challenge

Over at HBO, several hundred of you registered and took the test but only one can take the title of Trivia Master. This year's online version was brutally tough with the vast majority failing to get even a 50% score. Special thanks goes out to poenadare and company for their help in providing some of these tough questions. The test was closed and the scores were tallied and one man emerged victorious over all others. That man is... Thomas Langdon! Way to go Thomas! Even though he got first place, he scraped by with 36/49 correct answers. It's particularly impressive to note that Thomas beat out our own Evil Otto who got 32/49 correct. In recognition of this accomplishment, Thomas will receive a nifty Bungie prize pack as well as one of the new upcoming colored Xbox controllers.

Thanks to everyone who entered and be sure to read and study your Bungie lore... you never know when you'll have a chance to show off your Bungie trivia knowledge!

FanFest Follow-Up

We're back at home now doing our best to recouperate and regroup from what turned out to be a truly incredible week. Unfortunately our plans for instant online updates proved to not be feasible but I'll be posting a comprehensive write up from my perspective of both FanFest and E3. In the meantime, if you haven't already, you really should go check out the E3/FanFest area at HBO. They've started uploading the first of their pics already with loads more to come. Stay tuned...

FanFest Reports

Reports from last night's FanFest are starting to trickle in. I found this one from Shishka and this one from Skeletor (that includes some pics), both at the HBO forum.

The Bungie Store

As some of you may have noticed, the Bungie Store is not being very nice to some people about the discount for today. If you don't have an account on the store, create one first, then log out and then log back in before you attempt to do any shopping. That will ensure you have a place to enter your discount code.

New Halo 2 Screenshot

As promised, in celebration of FanFest Thursday, we've just released a brand new Halo 2 screenshot! This particular shot is taken from the latter part of our demo and it's intentionally been captured at 640x480 resolution in order to show off our new depth-of-field techniques. Simply put, it's the effect that makes the Chief nice and crisp in the foreground while the images in the background are blurred.

You might not believe your eyes but believe me, these are all 100% pure shots taken from the actual demo which is real time, in engine gameplay. These screens are truly beautiful but it's even more impressive to see it in motion!

The Big Day

Today's the big day! FanFest is only a few hours away, the Halo 2 Theater continues it's "Shock and Awe" assault on the E3 masses and Halo PC is consistently drawing in big crowds. Things have been really hectic out here in LA and we regret we haven't been able to keep the news flowing like we planned but we'll make it up to you when we return with the full inside scoop on everything that's been happening! In the meantime, be sure to head over to HBO to take the online Bungie Trivia contest and don't miss out on the limited time 15% discount being offered at the Bungie Store

I trust everyone has googled and drooled over our 6 gorgeous Halo 2 screenshots but stay tuned, we've got one more - a Bungie.net exclusive, that we'll be releasing later today.

Lastly, for all of you webcam followers, our live broadcast from FanFest is starting to look bleak. Several technical hurdles look to thwart our plans. If Achronos can work his magic, you might see some action starting around 7 PM, PST. If not, we'll do our best to take a ton of photos and video clips so we can share them with you all when we return.

Keeping Tabs on E3

Wow, it's been a while! If you're like me and unable to be at E3 for the festivities don't give up hope! No doubt you've seen the Halo 2 movie already. If you're itching to hear what the booth and show are like, and of course to keep tabs on tonight's FanFest, check out Battleground: Halo and Bungie.org's E3 2003 Page, both of which are keeping close tabs on the action.

Test your Bungie IQ

Our friends over at halo.bungie.org are joining forces to host this year's online version of the Bungie Trivia Contest. Head over to their site tomorrow, Thursday 5/15, and put your Bungie knowledge to the test! This contest is in conjunction with FanFest so it won't be up for long! Head over to HBO and see how you measure up! The winner will get a sweet Bungie prize pack.

FanFest Bungie Store Special!

Traditionally the Bungie Store comes to FanFest and offers up all our cool gear at special reduced prices. This year, we're extending that offer to all of you with a speical 15% off promotion. This limited time discount is only available on Thursday, May 15 starting at 12:01 AM and ending at midnight.

To take advantage of this offer, simply go to the store, add stuff to your cart, and when you check out, use this promotional code:
FANFEST15
Presto, you just saved 15%! Act quickly, this won't last long.

The monks chant. The angels sing.

Holy high heaven! New Halo 2 and Halo PC screenshots! A new Halo 2 wallpaper! Bungie has burned a million gallons of that midnight oil in preparation for E3. The Halo 2 demo has premiered and the initial reports are in: “Ginormous ovation”, “3000+ journalists and other industry folks” going “absolutely ape-shit”, and near-incoherent battlefield-style reporting from someone who may have wet their pants! ;) And the demo has 90+ more showings to go! Check back again in the next few days as we post updates and more Halo goodness. Whew! Now for some sleep! Zzzzzzzzz -_-

So long, and thanks for all the fish

Well, I finally took all afternoon to clear out the almost 200 chapters that needed clearing. If you don't have a chapter now, you've been rejected. Since we're all leaving for E3, I suggest you not submit a chapter until next week, as it won't get approved any time soon. See you at the fanfest. Oh, one more thing: the webcam is going on a little trip, so don't be surprised if it doesn't update for a bit. Stay tuned to bungie.net this week for your Halo 2 news - you haven't seen anything yet.

GameSpy Halo PC Preview

Our pals over at GameSpy have released part one of their massive two-part in-depth look at Halo PC. The shroud of mystery has been lifted with an exhaustive look at everything gamers can expect to see when Halo PC is released later this year. What are you waiting for? Go check it out!

New Look. New Content

The newly revamped Tru7h & Reconciliation site is up and running and to celebrate, we've got some sweet new Halo 2 goodies for ya! Screenshots, concept art, renders and story boards all have something new. And, as an added bonus, Evil Otto has posted the last chapter in his Legendary walkthrough! Check back all throughout next week for more cool stuff during our E3 extravaganza!

America's Biggest Halo Fans Revealed

The top 3 finalists in the recent Halo Fan Video contest have been selected. Though the competition was fierce and the decision wasn't easy, congrats go out to these three guys for their video submissions: Paul Gelardi , Geoff Fink and Jeremy Roos . All three of them win a free trip to LA to attend the Bungie FanFest where the overall winner will be announced. Way to go guys and a big thanks to everyone who submitted an entry.

The Next Next Big Thing

Well, apparently I spoke too soon. A few last minute issues have come to light, so we'll be postponing the Truth and Reconciliation renovation until at Thursday evening. Sorry about that. But we got lots of stuff coming in the next week, so this will give you time to prepare for the onslaught.

The Next Big Thing

As E3 approaches, we thought now would be a nice time to change some things... specifically, Halo: Truth and Reconcilation is getting a facelift, its own domain, and nicer links. This will cause a short period of downtime starting at about 2pm Pacific time on Tuesday. After we're finished, everything will be nice and fast in that area of bungie.net, and you'll wonder how you ever used the old version.

Chapter Spotlight : CobaltNova

The latest chapter to step into the 7th Column Spotlight is the Arizona based group known as CobaltNova. These guys are leading the charge with an enormous amount of Halo LAN events including the upcoming $1,000 Running Riot Invitational 3.

I took a few minutes to talk with the founder, emildux, about the chapter and their secrets of success.

What makes CobaltNova unique and successful?

We have a lunatic (me) on our staff who enjoys writing and summarizing all of our events in an amusing format. Right now we have over 30 stories amounting to more than 37,000 words.

We also happen to have a member (me) on the iGames Player's Council and we've opened up a channel between the council and the masses so that their favorite games are picked.

Finally, we host quarterly $1,000 - $2,500 interstate invitiationals and make sure that EVERY SINGLE potential detail is decided upon ahead of time.

To say that CobaltNova is involved with LAN parties is somewhat of an understatement. These guys have been involved with over 21 Halo LAN events since August 02 including some with serious cash prizes. The upcoming Running Riot Invitational 3 carries a $1,000 purse and they're hard at work on a potential event for August that might be as high as $5,000.

I believe our chapter's databases and stories make us unique but they are only the visible manifestations of the true force: enjoying each other's company at LAN's. Good time, good people, and keeping
an honest record of our adventures.

Check out their Event Summaries database to read up on all of their past adventures.

There are plenty of things that we do that other chapters do as well. Perhaps we simply catalog them better but it's something that every chapter could pick up on and do themselves or improve upon.

A few general rules we live by are:
- Host/attend LAN parties on a monthly basis with both material prizes and personal self-confidence on the line.

- Rank the players and teams that attend our LAN parties in a database

- Use the formatting and database tools over and over until we achieve a look that is aesthetically pleasing

- Go out of our way to make sure that humor and irreverence are present in any of our communications and databases.

What advice would you give to other chapters?

1. Hold LAN parties or attend them and then write about them! Not just what the score was but develop and actual story. Not attending LAN parties makes for a boring chapter.

2. Go out of your way to invite new people to attend your LAN parties.

3. Partner with neighboring chapters in your state.

4. Copy what other chapters are doing very well. In my case it was Haloid and Front Range Company 7

Thanks emildux and CobaltNova for setting a great example for the rest of the 7th Column and helping to spread the LAN love to the masses! I'm sure we'll be hearing more from these guys as we get closer to their next big event.

Remember to share news and events from your chapter by dropping a line to the 7th Column Mailbag

Seventh Column Week in Review

It's that time of the week again...time to sort through the spam and see what's new with the 7th Column. Come with me as I take my virgin journey into the depths of the mailbag to uncover the latest happenings...

To kick things off, WRATHofGOD18 from NeedMoreAmmo writes:

There is a new Indiana Halo chapter called 'NeedMoreAmmo' that you should check out. The chapter is active with new polls daily, frequent news, weekly articles, and a different twist- we have weekly Devotional news posts, as well as a Devotional database archive. A little divine intervention never hurts.

We have a big event coming in June, it will be in the Indianapolis area. We have 32 spots open for the Event- you can find all the info on our site! Come join!

Head on over and check out the chapter and if you're in the Indiana vicinity, get signed up for their upcoming event.

The fellas from Down Under have been extra busy lately with THREE news reports coming in. The first is from Loco X who writes:

I know what you're thinking - news has been a little slow from the big sunny island down south. Things in Australia seem a little quiet of late. You may even say, a little TOO quiet. If you're a conspiracy theorist (and let's face it, who in the Bungieverse isn't?), that usually means something's going on.

Well Spooky Mulder, in this case you'd be bang on, cause things have been crazy behind the scenes at Kindred for quite some time now. A number of plane flights, some excited meetings and a stack of frequent flier points later, I'm happy to announce that the Sydney X-LAN events will be underway in less than a week! For those that haven't been keeping up with recent events, Kindred and Team FUBAR have joined forces to establish Australia's first ever permanent X-LAN venue set up, based in the Sydney CBD at a newly opened Cafe.

We're talking mega hardware, crazy prizes and regular adrenalin packed Halo fuelled LAN fest that will impress even the most seasoned of Bungie gamers! A preliminary VIP event kicks off this Friday (ANZAC Day for the Aussies and Kiwis) and public events will be underway in the following weeks. What would you love to see at our events? Game promos? Movie teasers? Life size inflatable Master Chiefs? Stop by, sign up and be heard. Check out Kindred and Team FUBAR ASAP peeps, as the action is just getting started. Told ya it would be one h3ll of a ride!

As you can see, big things are happening down there and these guys always have cool stuff up their sleeves. Even if you don't live in Australia, check out their chapters for some great content.

Our second blurb from the other side of the globe comes to us from Fungus Mungus who says:

Boyakasha to Interland people. There has been some big developments in the Australian front in the last week. Xybercide has finally surpassed Crocodile Bungie as the largest Australian Chapter. They worked hard
for the title, but the Crocs are only two members away. We also had one of the biggest LAN's in our history with
the four predominant Adelaide Chapters doing battle.

Crocodile Bungie, Blades of Wrath, Xybercide and The Zephers of Zen, were involved in some massive 16 player battles. It also saw an introduction of a new game type by "The Blades" pedantic leader Solvent. He introduced "5 lives" games which made the adrenaline pump and the heart race.

Also, on The Blades of Wrath World Domination effort we have just purchased our orbital space station and are at geo-synchronous orbit above Adelaide. We soon plan to destroy street signs and steal everyones left shoe to prevent them from going outside and hence making them more dependent on video games like Halo.

Here are the Links for the different chapters:

Blades of Wrath

Crocodile Bungie

Xybercide

Once again, if you haven't been to these chapters you really owe it to yourself to check them out. These guys are consistently some of the most active members out there and they really know how to run a great chapter.

Where's the domestic action these days? We gotta represent people!

Our last message is from Prowler3, of The Eliminators.

It may seen like im writing this week for no reason, but that is NOT the case! This week has been a great week for my chapter, I was away for this week and was amazed at the little things that happen. Not only has our newest staff member -FUSION- settled in but membership has inflated like a balloon! Im sure its due to the great features on my chapter (im not always modest!). Remember, you must be a member to get the voting and information priveledges! SO JOIN the now, LARGEST non-LAN chapter in sydney and the 3rd largest overall!

So there you have it... I've hit the bottom of the barrel and there's nothing left. That wasn't so bad for my first outting though I had hoped for a little more action.

Australia was clearly the place to be this week. I'm sure there's been a lot more happening out there with the rest of you so don't be shy. Send your news to [email protected]. And as always, it makes our lives so much easier if you take a little extra time to properly mark up your submissions. ;)

Today's the Day

If you've been working on a video for the America's Biggest Halo Fan contest, the deadline is TODAY . Good luck everyone and stayed tuned for the announcement of the top 3 finalists!