1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,920 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:09,160 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you didn't touch? With technology? With tech 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: Stuff from how stuff flix dot com. Hello again, everyone, 4 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,599 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. My name is Chris Polette 5 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:23,640 Speaker 1: and I'm an editor at how stuff works dot com. 6 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:26,759 Speaker 1: Sitting across me, as usual, is the person who just 7 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:34,479 Speaker 1: accused me of being too energetic, Senior writer Jonathan Strickland program. 8 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:36,800 Speaker 1: I just blew out everyone's ears. Yeah, yeah, she did, 9 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:39,840 Speaker 1: Sorry about that. So today we're going to talk about 10 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:44,160 Speaker 1: something we've actually had requests about this for ages. We've 11 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: had people ask us about Halo and the games of Halo, 12 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:52,239 Speaker 1: and all my notes are about Beyonce. Is that a 13 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: problem you can see your Halo? Yeah, that is a 14 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: problem in more ways than one. But we'll talk about 15 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: that after the show. So we want to talk about 16 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: the games of Halo and sort of the development the 17 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: story of Halo, if you will, because to talk about 18 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,679 Speaker 1: the technology that's within Halo is kind of silly in 19 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:12,679 Speaker 1: a way because the games are set in the twenty 20 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:15,400 Speaker 1: sixth century, and as it turns out, the technology of 21 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: the twenty six century is different from the technology we 22 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: have today. In order to explain how things would work, 23 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:22,640 Speaker 1: we'd have to make stuff up. Well, we've talked about 24 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: the tartists, yes, and we had to make stuff up. 25 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: Uh So, not entirely. We're gonna talk about kind of 26 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: the development of these games and when, where they came from, 27 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:36,679 Speaker 1: and how they evolved over time. Uh So, let's let's 28 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: cast our minds back to the mid nineties. Actually, if 29 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: you don't mind, I'd like to go back just a 30 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:44,399 Speaker 1: hair further. Oh all right, you go round on the 31 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: head just just a little. I will follow you wherever 32 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: you may go. Um, there's a song in there. Somewhere 33 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: there is a mountain two high. A couple of a 34 00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: couple of guys, Alexander's Seropian and uh Jason Jones. Um 35 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: basically got together. They had both been working on writing software. Um. 36 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: In fact, Alexander came up with the amazing game, which 37 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: was a clone of Pong called knop Ah. So what 38 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: did you play a ball that had knock paddles back 39 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: and forth? Um? Well, I don't know. I actually haven't 40 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 1: seen stuff. But they essentially they got together. They wanted 41 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: to do this. Uh for well, let let me start 42 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: by saying this all of all of you out there 43 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:40,360 Speaker 1: who have a project, and I'm speaking to myself also 44 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 1: in addition, UM, who have a project and you want 45 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 1: to do it, not because you want to become the 46 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 1: next billionaire, but mostly because you can, and you just 47 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: trying to get motivated to see what happens if you 48 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,519 Speaker 1: can do it, but you just haven't gotten there yet. Listen, 49 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:02,359 Speaker 1: you know, to the story of of Jason and Alexander. 50 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: Not Jason Alexander. That's different, UM, because they essentially started 51 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:08,800 Speaker 1: writing these programs because they wanted to see if they 52 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 1: could do it. And at least according to the information 53 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: I dug up on the Bungee website, UM, because what 54 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: what they essentially did was they started writing software and 55 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: they wanted to see if they could sell it. And 56 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: they were selling, you know, a couple of thousand copies 57 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: copies of their early games like Minotaur, UM. And then 58 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: you know, they they basically made it through the early 59 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: nineties and started Bungee, this software company that was making 60 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 1: games primarily for the Macintosh simply because um, that was 61 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: the operating system they knew well more than any other really, UM. 62 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: And they they started growing bigger and bigger, and they 63 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: were one of many UH Macintosh game developers in the 64 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: early to mid nineties. Um, but you know, they they 65 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 1: moved up. As as Jonathan was get ready to say 66 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: before I interrupted him so harshly. Um, you know they 67 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: with every game they released, they were gradually more successful. 68 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:10,840 Speaker 1: And Uh. But one of the things is that they 69 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: wanted to create games that had something more to them 70 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:17,719 Speaker 1: than just uh, straight gameplay. They wanted to have a 71 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: story and a narrative that went along with it exactly. 72 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: And and in the mid nineties, Bungee, which was called 73 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 1: Bungee Software Products Corporation at the time, began to work 74 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,720 Speaker 1: on a series of games called Marathon. It's called the 75 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 1: Marathon Trilogy. There's Marathon, Marathon to Durandall, and Marathon Infinity, 76 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: which were released in nine respectively. And Uh. These games 77 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 1: set up a science fiction, futuristic world. They were first 78 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: person shooter games. They were for the Mac platform, so 79 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:56,400 Speaker 1: therefore the mac os and UH you took the role 80 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 1: of a character who was aboard at least in the 81 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 1: first game, you were board a colony ship called Marathon. 82 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:06,280 Speaker 1: And Uh. There were certain themes that were created in 83 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:10,720 Speaker 1: this game that would later end up re emerging in 84 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 1: the Halo series, So having a first person shooter having 85 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: to be a science fiction setting. Uh. There were aliens 86 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:20,679 Speaker 1: in the games, and of course in the Halo series 87 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 1: there aliens. Will talk about them in a minute, Uh. 88 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:27,159 Speaker 1: They It also created the idea and this is not 89 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 1: unique of course to games that Bungees created, but it 90 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:36,040 Speaker 1: created the idea of a an ancient civilization that's responsible 91 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: for some incredibly sophisticated technology that has since been lost. 92 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:46,360 Speaker 1: Everybody else, like you occasionally come across a remnant of 93 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:49,040 Speaker 1: it and you think, wow, this must be really amazing 94 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:51,840 Speaker 1: and maybe this can still work in some capacity, but 95 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 1: you have very little understanding of it. That was sort 96 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:58,800 Speaker 1: of established in these games. Also, another important element that 97 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: ended up playing a big role in various parts of 98 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,960 Speaker 1: Halo is the idea of artificial intelligence. So you have 99 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:13,159 Speaker 1: these these personalities, these AI personalities that are individuals. You know, 100 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: they have a sense of identity and personality. Um. And 101 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 1: the idea of an AI going rampant, rampantcy rampantcy is 102 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 1: in the Marathon universe and also somewhat in the Halo universe. 103 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:36,279 Speaker 1: This idea that an AI can become not only self 104 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: aware but self actualized, like it can start to behave 105 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:45,280 Speaker 1: on its own, and it starts to lose coherence insanity 106 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:48,839 Speaker 1: over time, so that it actually starts to break down, 107 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:53,279 Speaker 1: and it can become a dangerous thing. This this AI 108 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: can become destructive, and it can become resentful of its creators, 109 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:05,080 Speaker 1: of the whatever physical construct it inhabits. And these are 110 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: ideas that also carry over into the Halo Universe to 111 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:10,080 Speaker 1: some extent. We haven't seen a lot of it in 112 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: the direct Halo games, but a lot of it has 113 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 1: come out in the various novels, um and other tie 114 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: ins to the Halo universe, including one that I'll talk 115 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 1: about briefly, Uh, the Red Versus Blue series. You know, 116 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:26,640 Speaker 1: we had the creator of that series, Bernie Burns, We 117 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 1: had him on our show not too long ago to 118 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: talk about the development of Red Versus Blue. Well, Red 119 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:37,720 Speaker 1: Versus Blue also continues this idea of rampancy and AI. Uh. 120 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:40,360 Speaker 1: It becomes a very central part of the story in 121 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: Red Versus Blue. So they sort of took that same 122 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 1: sort that same idea and adapted it for their story. Now, 123 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: keep in mind, the Red Versus Blue universe and the 124 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:55,080 Speaker 1: Halo universe are kind of uh like cousins. You know, 125 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: the Red versus Blue universe does not directly tie into 126 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: the story of Halo. They just kind of splits splits off, 127 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 1: sort of like the Evil Goatee version of Spock and uh. 128 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 1: The Marathon Games took place in the twenty eight and 129 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:15,720 Speaker 1: twenty ninth centuries, so it actually, from the perspective of Halo, 130 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: takes place in the future. Right. Anyway, the Marathon Universe 131 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: and the Halo universe are a kind of spiritual cousins, 132 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 1: but not directly related. So the the things that happened 133 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 1: in Halo are not necessarily things that will take place 134 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:36,559 Speaker 1: in the history of the Marathon Universe. It's just meant 135 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: to Like, some of the ideas that came up in 136 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 1: Marathon also came up in Halo. So the Marathon games 137 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:45,040 Speaker 1: come out for the Mac in the nineties and in 138 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:49,960 Speaker 1: nine one other element I meant to mention, all three 139 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:52,920 Speaker 1: of those games had very important story elements. What you 140 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:56,000 Speaker 1: were talking about, this idea of creating a story. They 141 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 1: had very important story elements that would be told to 142 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: the player through the use of terminals that had these 143 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:06,319 Speaker 1: Ai personalities inhabiting them, and you would get missions through 144 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:08,480 Speaker 1: the terminals, you would also get more information about the 145 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 1: world and the mythology that was being built around this 146 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:15,880 Speaker 1: whole game system or a series of games rather and 147 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 1: UH and Bungee was very proud of that, and it 148 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:21,360 Speaker 1: was again a very central part of this game, and 149 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:23,679 Speaker 1: it kind of set it apart from other first person shooters, 150 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 1: which when you get boiled down to it, a lot 151 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:29,120 Speaker 1: of first person shooters essentially boiled down to You're a 152 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 1: dude in a place with a lot of bad guys, 153 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: you got a gun, try to get to the other 154 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 1: side of the map, like that's the that's the extent 155 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:39,440 Speaker 1: of the story for a lot of these games, and 156 00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:43,959 Speaker 1: Bungee wanted to make something a little more deep and complex. Well, 157 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 1: Bungee announced the successor to the Marathon series in a way, 158 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:56,439 Speaker 1: again the spiritual successor, and this was the Halo game UH. 159 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:58,840 Speaker 1: In fact, originally it was thought of as just a 160 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: standalone game Halo what would eventually become Halo Combat evolved 161 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: and the first unveiling of this was it wasn't early 162 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,679 Speaker 1: an official unveiling, but they held closed door sessions at 163 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:16,240 Speaker 1: E three and where they would invite certain people to 164 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: come back and see the game that was in development, 165 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 1: and at this time it was in development for the Mac. Yeah. 166 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: One of the things that that Bungee did, um well 167 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,600 Speaker 1: Marathon really established him is one of the leaders in 168 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:33,360 Speaker 1: Mac game development, and um you know talking about that 169 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:37,920 Speaker 1: in the mid nineties is basically establishing yourself among a 170 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:41,960 Speaker 1: small handful of other developers really, um because gaming for 171 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:43,880 Speaker 1: the Mac at that time was just not that strong. 172 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:46,839 Speaker 1: Speaking as a Mac user of that time, yeah, their 173 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:50,559 Speaker 1: their entire videos online from that era that are devoted 174 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:56,760 Speaker 1: to you know, the the laments of the Mac gamer. Yeah, yeah, 175 00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: well there um uh Bungee and Blizzard both were very 176 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:04,679 Speaker 1: devoted to the Mac and UH Marathon was something of 177 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:08,440 Speaker 1: a appointed pride in a way for a lot of 178 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:11,400 Speaker 1: my friends who um, you know, there were there were games. 179 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 1: There were gamers in the Windows side who were interested 180 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:18,440 Speaker 1: in playing and they couldn't because they had a PC. 181 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:22,520 Speaker 1: Well they did port. Um they began to port the 182 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:28,600 Speaker 1: UH Marathon series over two windows. Um and you know 183 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:32,720 Speaker 1: they became a Bungee became a more um, well rounded developer. 184 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:36,960 Speaker 1: They started releasing things for Windows and Mac. But um 185 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:39,080 Speaker 1: uh you know, they had a series of others like 186 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:43,280 Speaker 1: myth the Myth series. One into UM, which was you know, 187 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:46,760 Speaker 1: sort of a strategy type game you weren't playing as 188 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:50,920 Speaker 1: a as a third player, the third person game UM, 189 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:53,080 Speaker 1: and then UH and then Only, which was sort of 190 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,240 Speaker 1: a third person shooter. I am actually wearing my on 191 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:59,400 Speaker 1: E T shirt which I got in Mac World. UH. 192 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:05,160 Speaker 1: And they when they announced Halo at Macworld, which was 193 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:09,080 Speaker 1: which was earlier in the year than E three, which 194 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:10,640 Speaker 1: I think is kind of important to point out for 195 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:14,559 Speaker 1: the timeline of this UM. The fans were excited because 196 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:17,040 Speaker 1: here was this you know, it was planned for the Mac. 197 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:19,680 Speaker 1: They were really excited about playing this brand new game. 198 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:22,200 Speaker 1: If if you were around back when they released Halo 199 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:26,199 Speaker 1: or you know, we're starting to promote Halo UM. They 200 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:29,680 Speaker 1: were going to release it for multiple platforms UM, Windows, 201 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,319 Speaker 1: PC and UH and Mac and UM at least one 202 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:36,160 Speaker 1: console if I remember correctly. And the thing is, you 203 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:39,200 Speaker 1: know this it started generating buzz at Macworld, It picked 204 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:41,320 Speaker 1: up at E three well heck, I mean Steve Jobs 205 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:44,560 Speaker 1: himself came out during the keynote from Macworld and he 206 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:47,400 Speaker 1: talked about this game. And again this was a way 207 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:50,280 Speaker 1: to show how the Mac could be a great platform 208 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:52,040 Speaker 1: for games. And so he was pointing this out as 209 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:55,160 Speaker 1: an example, and uh, yeah, I got a great reaction 210 00:12:55,200 --> 00:13:00,480 Speaker 1: when people saw what the demo for this, this game, 211 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:03,920 Speaker 1: which you know, in in compared to what eventually came out, 212 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:08,280 Speaker 1: was fairly primitive, although it's still look great. Well. Then 213 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 1: in two thousand, everything changes because Microsoft acquired Bungee in 214 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:20,240 Speaker 1: that year, and uh, the development of Halo switches from 215 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:23,960 Speaker 1: primarily being a Mac game to being an Xbox title, 216 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:28,199 Speaker 1: one of the launch titles for the Xbox System. And 217 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 1: I read that the Bungee executives at the time, we're 218 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:37,040 Speaker 1: really you know, considering this carefully when Microsoft came to 219 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:40,680 Speaker 1: them with this acquisition deal, because they had a couple 220 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:45,680 Speaker 1: of different pathways open to them. Remaining independent would have 221 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:50,079 Speaker 1: been uh probably the I think everyone would have preferred 222 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:52,960 Speaker 1: that the most, except for the fact that it's uncertain 223 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:55,559 Speaker 1: when you're an independent company and you don't have that 224 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 1: that benefit of a larger parent company to help get 225 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:01,880 Speaker 1: you through tough time times. You know, you you stand 226 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:05,200 Speaker 1: or fall based upon how your products do, and the 227 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:08,800 Speaker 1: success of one product is not necessarily guarantee necessarily guaranteed 228 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:12,200 Speaker 1: the success of the next product. However, they were also 229 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:15,079 Speaker 1: worried about selling to a company that would just want 230 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:18,440 Speaker 1: to turn them into a production company, that all it 231 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:21,160 Speaker 1: did was port games from other platforms to the Mac 232 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:23,160 Speaker 1: and that would be all they would do. They didn't 233 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: want that to happen. But then when Microsoft came to them, 234 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:29,640 Speaker 1: they saw Microsoft as a company that was getting very 235 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: very interested and very serious about games, and they felt 236 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 1: that that was a good match for their their work culture, 237 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:41,000 Speaker 1: and so they did make that deal with Microsoft. And 238 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:44,720 Speaker 1: so that's when Halo switched from being primarily a mac 239 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:47,600 Speaker 1: os game to an Xbox game, although it elso came 240 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:51,680 Speaker 1: out for PC um and it was in on November 241 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:56,640 Speaker 1: two thousand one when Halo Combat Evolved released for the 242 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:02,600 Speaker 1: Xbox m man I was. I was an Xbox owner, 243 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:05,800 Speaker 1: early Xbox owner, and Halo was one of the games 244 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 1: that I played throughout the entire time that I had 245 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:14,480 Speaker 1: that Xbox. I mean, i've I was a hardcore Halo fan, 246 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 1: and I loved playing the the the campaign, even the 247 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:21,880 Speaker 1: infamous Library level, which I will talk about in a second. 248 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:26,560 Speaker 1: And uh I also loved hooking up the Xbox to 249 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:30,480 Speaker 1: other Xboxes and playing in land parties against other players, 250 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:33,920 Speaker 1: which was a preview of what was to come once 251 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:37,800 Speaker 1: Xbox Live launched and people were able to play online 252 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:41,000 Speaker 1: against each other and call each other names that I 253 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:44,560 Speaker 1: didn't even know could exist until I got online and 254 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:48,920 Speaker 1: heard a twelve year old called them out to me. Um, 255 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: yeah there are Um. This really through the gaming world 256 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:55,280 Speaker 1: into a bit of a tizzy. UM. You know, Bungee 257 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:57,400 Speaker 1: had made some some deals. They had a partnership with 258 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: Take two. Uh you know them from the Grand Theft 259 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:04,480 Speaker 1: Auto series. Um and uh you know this was right 260 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:07,280 Speaker 1: about the time Only was supposed to have been released. Um. 261 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 1: Take two ended up with the rights to owny and 262 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:15,960 Speaker 1: and published it. Um and Uh, Bungee did shift primarily 263 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:18,520 Speaker 1: to developing for the Xbox, although um, the Windows and 264 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:23,920 Speaker 1: later the Mac got their copies eventually. UM. Uh so 265 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 1: you know, but this was this was a bit of 266 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:28,400 Speaker 1: a major shift. Uh. The PlayStation two, by the way, 267 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 1: never did see its version of Halo. I wonder why. 268 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:34,160 Speaker 1: You can't imagine why. Um, but yeah, this was this 269 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:36,560 Speaker 1: was kind of a big deal. UM. I understand too 270 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:41,560 Speaker 1: that Activision was courting Bungee as well, but Microsoft ended 271 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:44,760 Speaker 1: up on top. Um and then it was released with 272 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 1: I don't know some minor you know, praise. Yeah. So, 273 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 1: if you are one of the few people out there 274 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,280 Speaker 1: who has no idea what the storyline of Halo is 275 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:59,120 Speaker 1: all about, I'll kind of boil it down for you. 276 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:01,960 Speaker 1: And keep in mind, this story has been fleshed out 277 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:06,919 Speaker 1: quite a bit with supplemental material in the form of novels, 278 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:12,879 Speaker 1: comic books, um and and other media as well. But 279 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: if you were to just take the content that's in 280 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:19,760 Speaker 1: the games themselves and string it together chronologically based upon 281 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:23,520 Speaker 1: the release of the games, this is how the story unfolds. 282 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:28,000 Speaker 1: So the game opens up, Halo Combat Involved opens up 283 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:33,720 Speaker 1: with this massive spaceship coming out of what it's called 284 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:38,960 Speaker 1: slipstream space, and it's essentially like warp drive. You're working 285 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:42,280 Speaker 1: space around so that you can travel faster than light. Uh. 286 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:45,119 Speaker 1: It is in an era where faster than light travel 287 00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: is is uh not only you know, not only something 288 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 1: we can do, but something that's fairly common in human 289 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,680 Speaker 1: space travels at this point, and you and the overpopulation 290 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,119 Speaker 1: problems of Earth have gotten to the point where the 291 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 1: colonization of other plants was a necessity. And one of 292 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:07,800 Speaker 1: the plants that that humans colonized was called Reach, and 293 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 1: on Reach, you had this massive human colony which covers 294 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:16,680 Speaker 1: most of the planet. But twenty years before the opening 295 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:19,720 Speaker 1: of the game, the humans came into contact with a 296 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:24,560 Speaker 1: confederation of alien races called the Covenant. The Covenant have 297 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:32,480 Speaker 1: this very uh hierarchical religious view of the galaxy, and 298 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:35,439 Speaker 1: they think of humans as being evil and they need 299 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:38,159 Speaker 1: to be wiped out, their unclean creatures that have to 300 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 1: be destroyed. And so there's this massive battle that took 301 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:46,800 Speaker 1: place on Reach before the events of Halo open, and 302 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: the ship that your character is on the Pillar of 303 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:54,880 Speaker 1: Autumn has just escaped Reach into slipstream space. It comes 304 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,600 Speaker 1: out of slipstream space, and no one's really sure where 305 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: they are because they just had to make a getaway 306 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:04,480 Speaker 1: as fast as possible and they couldn't really plan it out. 307 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 1: So your character is known as John H. John one seventeen. 308 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,200 Speaker 1: You're never really given a full identity for your character, 309 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:17,280 Speaker 1: and he's mostly known by his H, his designation of 310 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:20,960 Speaker 1: master Chief, his Master Chief petty Officer um. And he 311 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,720 Speaker 1: is a spartan, which is a super soldier, a cybernetic, 312 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:31,920 Speaker 1: biologically engineered soldier who is stronger, faster, more capable than 313 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 1: your typical soldier. Is also has the ability to store 314 00:19:35,119 --> 00:19:41,800 Speaker 1: and artificially intelligent UH personality within his armor, so he 315 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:45,280 Speaker 1: can carry around with him in AI that can further 316 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:50,680 Speaker 1: augment his abilities. He's incrogenic sleep at the beginning and 317 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:55,800 Speaker 1: has woken up when the ship comes out of slipstream 318 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:58,720 Speaker 1: space and it is right in front of this enormous 319 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:04,080 Speaker 1: ring shaped space station. And the space station is huge. 320 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:08,400 Speaker 1: It's ten thousand kilometers in diameter, and UH it's so 321 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:12,639 Speaker 1: large that there are ecosystems that have developed upon the surface, 322 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:17,479 Speaker 1: both surfaces, the inner and outer ring of this space station, 323 00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:20,480 Speaker 1: and on Most of the stuff in the space station, 324 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:22,280 Speaker 1: of course, is on the interior of the ring, the 325 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:26,440 Speaker 1: inside the rings guts, but there's all this other stuff 326 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:29,960 Speaker 1: that's on the outside. And meanwhile, the Covenant guys are 327 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:32,240 Speaker 1: right hot on the tail of the Pillar of Autumn. 328 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:36,000 Speaker 1: So Master Chiefs UH purpose in the first game is 329 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:44,000 Speaker 1: really to protect the artificial intelligent UH construct called Cortana, 330 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:47,359 Speaker 1: and to protect the location of the Earth so that 331 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:49,520 Speaker 1: the Covenant don't figure out where the Earth is, and 332 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:51,720 Speaker 1: also to figure out what the heck this ring thing is, 333 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 1: because no one seems to know, and the Covenant they 334 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 1: don't know, but they it's something in their legends that 335 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:00,760 Speaker 1: they think that this is a tool they're supposed to 336 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:03,879 Speaker 1: use in order to reach their religious enlightenment to go 337 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 1: on the Great Journey. And it turns out that the 338 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 1: Ring is something that was built by this ancient race 339 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:14,400 Speaker 1: of aliens that were very, very advanced called the Forerunners. 340 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:17,560 Speaker 1: So again that's pulling that same sort of idea that 341 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:22,640 Speaker 1: they developed a marathon and employing it in Halo. And 342 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:24,680 Speaker 1: as the game progresses, I mean, there's gonna be lots 343 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:26,439 Speaker 1: of spoilers in this, but if you haven't played the 344 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:28,680 Speaker 1: first Halo game, then I don't know why you're listening 345 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:33,560 Speaker 1: to this episode. Uh, the on that Ring, they discover 346 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:37,720 Speaker 1: that there is a race of parasitic aliens called the Flood, 347 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 1: which can infect other races, sentient races and take them over. 348 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:47,159 Speaker 1: And uh, you discover throughout the story that the Halo 349 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:51,040 Speaker 1: devices themselves are actually a weapon, a defense system designed 350 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:53,800 Speaker 1: by the Forerunners to wipe out the Flood. The way 351 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:56,720 Speaker 1: they do this is they flood the entire galaxy and 352 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:00,880 Speaker 1: energy that kills any sentient creature. So, in other words, 353 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:02,879 Speaker 1: you kill off the Flood by killing off the food supply. 354 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: Here's The problem is that humans are technically essentient creatures, 355 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:08,880 Speaker 1: so if they were to actually turn on this device, 356 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 1: they would wipe themselves out. So then on top of 357 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:15,400 Speaker 1: everything else, Master Chief needs to try and destroy this 358 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 1: Halo device to make sure that the Covenant doesn't turn 359 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:23,080 Speaker 1: it on and kill everybody, and as you play the game, 360 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,600 Speaker 1: you end up being able to do that. Uh. You 361 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:28,800 Speaker 1: do have this one level called the Library, which is 362 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:32,520 Speaker 1: filled mostly with the flood but also some covenant, which 363 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:35,879 Speaker 1: goes on forever and has essentially the same hallway like 364 00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:39,760 Speaker 1: five times. It's crazy, especially if you're playing on the 365 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:43,160 Speaker 1: harder difficulties. It was one of those levels that gamers 366 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,159 Speaker 1: often would sort of complain about because they felt that 367 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:48,880 Speaker 1: one it was really repetitive, and two it was really 368 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:53,520 Speaker 1: really difficult, and three it was incredibly long, So it 369 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 1: had all those things going for it. Oh, and the 370 00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:58,560 Speaker 1: armor you wear, I love the name of the armor 371 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:04,360 Speaker 1: you wear, the Older Mark five. The Older or Mew 372 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:08,959 Speaker 1: Mew is of course the name of Four's Mighty hammer. 373 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 1: So there are a lot of things like that in 374 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:16,119 Speaker 1: the game, where different chips and UH and and equipment 375 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:19,439 Speaker 1: have these cool names to it and um in the 376 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:22,600 Speaker 1: game you have the human based weapons, which are all 377 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:24,720 Speaker 1: sort of things like you know, battle rifles, so they're 378 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,880 Speaker 1: kind of like machine guns, things like that, pistols, sniper rifles. Uh. 379 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:30,720 Speaker 1: Then you have the Covenant weapons, which are all these 380 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:34,000 Speaker 1: sort of energy based weapons, and the two have very 381 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:38,040 Speaker 1: different abilities and they're useful in different situations, and that 382 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:41,960 Speaker 1: kind of set the basic premise of the Halo series. 383 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:44,720 Speaker 1: And again, there was a lot more story going on 384 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:48,000 Speaker 1: than you would necessarily first notice if you were just 385 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 1: playing the game through as a first person shooter and 386 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:54,359 Speaker 1: you weren't really paying attention to that, And that story 387 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 1: ended up getting fleshed out quite a bit by the 388 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:01,560 Speaker 1: other materials. So that's the that's the basis for the 389 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:03,600 Speaker 1: first game, and and the end of the first game, 390 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:08,840 Speaker 1: assuming you succeed, you destroy the Halo structure, and then 391 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:12,000 Speaker 1: you uh you are the only really the only person 392 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:16,000 Speaker 1: to escape, while one of two depending upon how you 393 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: look at it, and you make your way back to uh, 394 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:23,239 Speaker 1: the Earth to figure out what the heck is going on. 395 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:28,160 Speaker 1: So that game ended up being really, really, really popular. 396 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:32,679 Speaker 1: It was not meant to be the first of a 397 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:35,480 Speaker 1: series of games. It was kind of a self contained 398 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:40,800 Speaker 1: story However, with the game like this, with with it 399 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:44,280 Speaker 1: being such a hit, and it being owned by Microsoft, 400 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:47,480 Speaker 1: which had such high expectations for the Xbox and this title, 401 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:54,120 Speaker 1: how could you not have Halo two? Yeah? And uh, Fortunately, 402 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,240 Speaker 1: I would say the sequels of Halo, a game that 403 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:01,159 Speaker 1: did not was not made to be the first in 404 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 1: a series, they were much more successful at continuing that 405 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:09,800 Speaker 1: story than say a movie like Highlander too. Once again, 406 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:12,000 Speaker 1: if you watched the first Highlander, you realize this is 407 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:14,160 Speaker 1: a movie that was not meant to be the first 408 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:18,159 Speaker 1: in a series. It has a very definitive end um. 409 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 1: But Halo managed to succeed in areas where Highlander did not. 410 00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:26,880 Speaker 1: So on November nine, two thousand four, Halo two comes out, 411 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 1: and it is incredibly popular. It's already I mean, people 412 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:35,600 Speaker 1: are eager to continue the story, and you have the 413 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:40,719 Speaker 1: added bonus of online multiplayer games. Yeah. Yeah, the uh 414 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:45,520 Speaker 1: Halo two first debuted well at any point where people 415 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:49,760 Speaker 1: could see it at E three, two thousand three, um, 416 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:53,840 Speaker 1: at the Halo two theater, yep um. And if you've 417 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: ever seen pictures of any of these expos you know that, um, 418 00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:01,840 Speaker 1: the companies that are find them spend a lot of 419 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:05,000 Speaker 1: money on the stuff they really want to promote, um 420 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:07,920 Speaker 1: and it could include anything from lots of banners and 421 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:12,960 Speaker 1: lights and all sorts of funky electronic stuff to giants. 422 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:17,840 Speaker 1: It it's it can be amazing. But yes, they they 423 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:21,560 Speaker 1: Microsoft built a a theater so that people could actually 424 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:25,399 Speaker 1: see Halo two in action. You walk into this big 425 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:30,159 Speaker 1: conference room floor and it's it's not even recognizable as 426 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:32,160 Speaker 1: a conference from floor in some parts, because you've got 427 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:35,400 Speaker 1: these massive structures in place, including theaters, which show off 428 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: various games. And yeah, you can actually find videos on 429 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 1: YouTube of the different Halo preview events where people get 430 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:47,520 Speaker 1: that look and the reaction you hear from the crowd, 431 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:51,159 Speaker 1: like these are hardcore fans of these games. Now E 432 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:53,320 Speaker 1: three is supposed to be an industry only event, although 433 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:56,120 Speaker 1: in certain years they did open to the public. Um 434 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:58,639 Speaker 1: But even as an industry only event, you hear people 435 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:02,560 Speaker 1: really react in a very vocal way when they see 436 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:06,480 Speaker 1: these Halo games. M previewed well. When it came out 437 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:09,800 Speaker 1: in two thousand four, it was very popular. It did 438 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:14,359 Speaker 1: make some interesting there were some interesting choices in the game. Uh, 439 00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:17,000 Speaker 1: it picks up where the first game left left off, 440 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,720 Speaker 1: but the Covenant end up discovering the location of Earth, 441 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:24,639 Speaker 1: and they're because there's a big battle that takes place 442 00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:28,080 Speaker 1: on Earth to try and fight off the Covenant and 443 00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:30,399 Speaker 1: to cut them off before they can tell the rest 444 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:32,359 Speaker 1: of the Covenant where Earth is. Because this is just 445 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:36,520 Speaker 1: one little branch of the Covenant Armada, they're actually looking 446 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:39,880 Speaker 1: for something and they happen to find Earth because they're 447 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:42,359 Speaker 1: looking for something else that turns out to be on Earth. 448 00:27:43,359 --> 00:27:46,720 Speaker 1: Uh spoiler alert for the end of this story, Master 449 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 1: Chief ends up having to fight them off. Then he 450 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:53,680 Speaker 1: has to pursue a fleeing Covenant ship before it can 451 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:56,880 Speaker 1: find the rest of the Covenant Armada and let them 452 00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:59,840 Speaker 1: know where Earth is. And in the process, they discover 453 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:03,280 Speaker 1: a second Halo Ring. So this is where you find 454 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:06,480 Speaker 1: out that they there are several Halo rings throughout the 455 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:09,119 Speaker 1: galaxy that are set up in this defense network, and 456 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:13,600 Speaker 1: the first one was just one of many. Uh. Aboard 457 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:17,080 Speaker 1: that second Halo Ring, they discover a creature called the 458 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:20,280 Speaker 1: Grave Mind, which is the leader of the flood on 459 00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:24,919 Speaker 1: that particular installation, installation five, and it turns out it's 460 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,320 Speaker 1: very intelligent and it's very manipulative. It ends up manipulating 461 00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 1: Master Chief and an Elite. Now, the Elites are one 462 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:34,680 Speaker 1: of the races of aliens that are belown to the Covenant, 463 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:38,680 Speaker 1: and one of the elites is called the Arbiter, which 464 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:41,960 Speaker 1: was a disgraced Elite. Was disgraced because it's the one 465 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:46,080 Speaker 1: that takes the blame for the first Halo blowing up 466 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:48,840 Speaker 1: in the first game. So this is the elite that 467 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:52,240 Speaker 1: takes the blame for that and gets UM. It's title 468 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:55,880 Speaker 1: changed to Arbiter and it ends up being one of 469 00:28:55,920 --> 00:29:00,360 Speaker 1: the controllable characters within the game. So unlike the first 470 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:03,719 Speaker 1: Halo where you just play his Master Chief, in Halo two, 471 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 1: you play as Master Chief and also as the Arbiter, 472 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:09,480 Speaker 1: and it kind of alternates between chapters UM, which some 473 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:13,200 Speaker 1: people liked and some people didn't. But anyway, the storyline 474 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:18,920 Speaker 1: plays out where again you've got the the Grave Mind 475 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:23,280 Speaker 1: manipulating the Arbiter and Master Chief and Cortana trying to 476 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:26,960 Speaker 1: bring about um a series of events they'll allow the 477 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 1: Grave Mind to start infecting other areas because it's been 478 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:35,000 Speaker 1: confined to this Halo ring for ages, and this is 479 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: its attempt to try and spread itself kind of like 480 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,120 Speaker 1: an think of it like a virus. Is trying to 481 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:44,400 Speaker 1: spread to a new host really, and in the process 482 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:48,480 Speaker 1: the Halo ring gets switched on, which switches on all 483 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 1: the Halo rings across the entire galaxy. And they discovered 484 00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:55,960 Speaker 1: that the activation for these rings is in another location 485 00:29:56,160 --> 00:30:00,400 Speaker 1: called the Arc. And here's the kicker. The entran to 486 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 1: the Arc is back on Earth. So that means there's 487 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:07,760 Speaker 1: a race to Earth. That's how Halo two ends. Now 488 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:11,320 Speaker 1: in two thousand five, it's of the Covenant, no and 489 00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:15,320 Speaker 1: no different arc uh. No Covenant faces melt off at 490 00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:18,440 Speaker 1: the end of this. In two thousand five, Bungee then 491 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:20,600 Speaker 1: this is getting back to the marathon just for a second, 492 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:23,480 Speaker 1: releases the full Marathon trilogy for the mac os for 493 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 1: free online distribution, which is a shame because I paid 494 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:29,280 Speaker 1: for the online I mean for I was about to say, 495 00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:31,280 Speaker 1: it's a wonderful thing for all the Bungee fans, but 496 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:33,880 Speaker 1: I'm glad that Chris could turned something nice into something 497 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:37,959 Speaker 1: that was a personal and no, that's the same thing 498 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:43,040 Speaker 1: I would have said. In two thousand six, another interesting development, 499 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:47,480 Speaker 1: there was an announcement from a certain fellow named says 500 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 1: here Peter Jackson, who had who was he that he 501 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:56,000 Speaker 1: was famous for making that, um that movie, The Frighten 502 00:30:56,080 --> 00:31:00,520 Speaker 1: Nurse with Michael J. Fox. That one. Oh, also those 503 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:03,320 Speaker 1: Lord of the Rings movies. Um So, Peter Jackson in 504 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:05,959 Speaker 1: two thousand and six announced that he was going to 505 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:12,200 Speaker 1: produce a Halo live action film and this so you 506 00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:15,080 Speaker 1: can see the Halo Halo Yeah, yeah, there are. There's 507 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:17,640 Speaker 1: a YouTube video where Peter Jackson actually talks about the 508 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:21,840 Speaker 1: Halo film. Uh. Sadly, this never really made it out 509 00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:25,080 Speaker 1: of development. It just kind of sat there in various 510 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:29,520 Speaker 1: stages of development and never really progressed into actuality. Um. 511 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:32,720 Speaker 1: You occasionally still hear rumors that people are kicking around 512 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:35,920 Speaker 1: the idea of bringing back this and making a Halo movie. 513 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:40,520 Speaker 1: It just hasn't happened. So September thousand seven, Halo three 514 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:44,880 Speaker 1: comes out. Now. In Halo three, the storyline continues again. Uh. 515 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:47,160 Speaker 1: Master Chief has to make his way to the Arc. 516 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:49,040 Speaker 1: So he has to first go to Earth because that's 517 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:51,800 Speaker 1: where the entrance to the Arc is. Um. So he 518 00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:56,120 Speaker 1: fights Covenant and flood forces. Uh, and they find a 519 00:31:56,240 --> 00:32:00,200 Speaker 1: portal in on Earth that leads to a local Chian 520 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:04,120 Speaker 1: that's outside of the Milky Way. That is the activation 521 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:07,880 Speaker 1: point for the Halo defense system. Yeah, it's a long way. Well, 522 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:09,360 Speaker 1: you have to be a long way away, because if 523 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 1: you're using a defense system that's going to kill everything 524 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:14,320 Speaker 1: that's sentient within the galaxy, you gotta get outside the 525 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:18,600 Speaker 1: galaxy in order to do it without dying. So uh 526 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:22,000 Speaker 1: they make their way to the Arc uh and they 527 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:24,680 Speaker 1: and Master Chief also discovers a new ring is being 528 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:28,680 Speaker 1: constructed to replace the one that he destroyed back in 529 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:32,680 Speaker 1: Halo one. Because you have all these these artificially intelligent 530 00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:36,120 Speaker 1: constructs that still exist that we're built by the for Runners, 531 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:40,560 Speaker 1: that still exist and can still h do their jobs, 532 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:43,880 Speaker 1: although most of them are pretty crazy by now because 533 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:47,040 Speaker 1: they've had millennia where with nothing to do. One of 534 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:50,600 Speaker 1: those was Guilty Spark three four three, and that three 535 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:53,840 Speaker 1: four three becomes important in a little bit. But um, 536 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:58,920 Speaker 1: so you've got these uh this ring being constructed, Master 537 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,960 Speaker 1: Chief discover and and the Arbiter discovers that if they 538 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:08,520 Speaker 1: are to activate the rings before the newest one is finished, 539 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:12,080 Speaker 1: it's going to destroy the Ring and the Ark. So 540 00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:14,840 Speaker 1: there's a big battle between them and the Flood and 541 00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:18,360 Speaker 1: uh Forerunner technology in order to do this, and of 542 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:22,760 Speaker 1: course eventually they managed to activate it, which makes a 543 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:26,240 Speaker 1: self destruct sequence begin UH. They try to escape in 544 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:30,160 Speaker 1: a ship that goes into slip stream space. The arc 545 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:34,840 Speaker 1: and the ring blow up, and the the resultant shock 546 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:41,040 Speaker 1: wave through space disrupts the slip stream UH pathway and 547 00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:44,240 Speaker 1: cuts the ship in half. The ship that the Master 548 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:47,320 Speaker 1: Chief and Arbiter were both on, the Arbiter is on 549 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:51,200 Speaker 1: the front half, which continues to crash into Earth. So 550 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,720 Speaker 1: the Arbiter actually survives and everyone assumes Master Chief is dead. 551 00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:57,280 Speaker 1: Turns out Master Chief is not dead. He's just floating 552 00:33:57,280 --> 00:33:59,720 Speaker 1: in half a ship out in space and goes into 553 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:02,520 Speaker 1: cry genic free sleep again and tells Cortana to wake 554 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:05,520 Speaker 1: him up when he's needed, and Cortana sets out a 555 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:10,920 Speaker 1: a distress beacon which will probably not be um discovered 556 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:14,960 Speaker 1: for several years according to her. So that's that story. 557 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:17,640 Speaker 1: And then September twenty two, two thousand nine, two years later, 558 00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:20,880 Speaker 1: Halo three O D s T comes out. Now this 559 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:23,479 Speaker 1: is the first game where you aren't playing as Master 560 00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:26,839 Speaker 1: Chief at all. You're playing as a member of the 561 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:31,360 Speaker 1: United Nations Space Command Orbital Drop Shock Troopers or O 562 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:35,279 Speaker 1: d s T. And the story in O d s 563 00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:38,840 Speaker 1: T takes place sort of between Halo's two and three, 564 00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:41,759 Speaker 1: because in Halo two you've got that big fight on 565 00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:45,680 Speaker 1: Earth between humans and the Covenant. When Master Chief then 566 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:49,200 Speaker 1: goes off to Chase after the escaping Covenant ship. Well 567 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:52,319 Speaker 1: O d s t takes place on Earth as a 568 00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:56,240 Speaker 1: member of this group of Shock Troopers that are fighting 569 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:58,879 Speaker 1: off the Covenant forces that are attacking Earth at that time. 570 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:06,160 Speaker 1: So there's that story. And then in September, Bungee releases 571 00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:11,080 Speaker 1: their last Halo game, which is called Halo Reach and 572 00:35:11,239 --> 00:35:16,399 Speaker 1: was a prequel, So it takes place on Reach, which 573 00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:18,120 Speaker 1: is that planet I was talking about the very beginning 574 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:21,040 Speaker 1: when the Pillar of Automn ship is escaping Reach. This 575 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:23,239 Speaker 1: is the planet that takes place on and you are. 576 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:27,600 Speaker 1: You play a Spartan who is designated as Noble six 577 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:31,160 Speaker 1: as part of the Noble Strike squad Um. It's a 578 00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:35,560 Speaker 1: six member squadron, and your job is to do these 579 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:40,400 Speaker 1: various missions while trying to fight off the Covenant, and 580 00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:45,480 Speaker 1: ultimately the purpose is to try and get Cortana, the 581 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:51,160 Speaker 1: artificially intelligent construct, from Reach onto the Pillar of Autumn 582 00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:56,520 Speaker 1: so that the information Cortana has can escape the clutches 583 00:35:56,520 --> 00:36:00,640 Speaker 1: of the Covenant because Cortana has information about four Runner technology, 584 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:03,799 Speaker 1: which ultimately becomes this whole Halo program and arc thing. 585 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:08,640 Speaker 1: So this again takes place before the events of Halo 586 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:13,160 Speaker 1: Combat evolved, just before in fact, and again you're not 587 00:36:13,239 --> 00:36:16,839 Speaker 1: playing as master Chief, You're playing as a different spartan um. 588 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:18,279 Speaker 1: It turns out that master Chief is one of the 589 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:22,200 Speaker 1: few Spartans left by the beginning of Halo Combat evolved. 590 00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:25,160 Speaker 1: And it depends on whether or not you've read the 591 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:28,520 Speaker 1: movies or read the movies, read the books or or 592 00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:33,080 Speaker 1: graphic novels, uh as to whether or not other Spartans 593 00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:36,359 Speaker 1: are still alive at this point. And then on June, 594 00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:42,480 Speaker 1: Microsoft announced Halo four. Halo four was a big deal 595 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:46,480 Speaker 1: because Halo four is the and I didn't talk about 596 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:50,239 Speaker 1: the the rerelease of Halo Combat evolved where it was 597 00:36:50,360 --> 00:36:54,000 Speaker 1: and it updated the game engine, which was technically three 598 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:58,560 Speaker 1: H three or four three Industries first foray into developing 599 00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:02,600 Speaker 1: this without Bungee. But Halo four is the first new 600 00:37:02,719 --> 00:37:07,000 Speaker 1: game with news story by three four three Industries, which 601 00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:09,600 Speaker 1: is the new production company that's in charge of the 602 00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:14,600 Speaker 1: Halo franchise because Bungee has left. Bungee left Microsoft and 603 00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:18,520 Speaker 1: left the Halo franchise behind after Halo Reached. That was 604 00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:22,000 Speaker 1: their last title in that series, and now the company 605 00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:27,279 Speaker 1: is concentrating on other projects. So Halo four is three 606 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:31,080 Speaker 1: four three Industries baby, and it is going to come 607 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:35,720 Speaker 1: out on November six. Recording this in the end of June. 608 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:39,319 Speaker 1: Um it comes out on November six, and it's going 609 00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:42,960 Speaker 1: to pick up about four years after the conclusion of 610 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:48,000 Speaker 1: Halo three. It features Master Chief, it features Cortana Uh, 611 00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:51,880 Speaker 1: and it has a new series of stories that involved 612 00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:55,480 Speaker 1: the fore Runners. So these this ancient race that developed 613 00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:59,719 Speaker 1: all this technology that that various races are just now 614 00:38:00,239 --> 00:38:02,840 Speaker 1: really learning more about. You know, they've heard about the 615 00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:05,359 Speaker 1: Four Runners, but now they're actually starting to learn more 616 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:08,399 Speaker 1: about them. And most of it apparently takes place upon 617 00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:15,440 Speaker 1: an artificial planet that the Four Runners created called Requiem. Okay, 618 00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:18,600 Speaker 1: but that's about all we know. I mean, there's there's 619 00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:21,840 Speaker 1: been some video of some of the gameplay that shows 620 00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:24,840 Speaker 1: some new enemies that you'll run into that are probably 621 00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:28,759 Speaker 1: Four Runner based. Um, but that's that's about all we know. 622 00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:31,040 Speaker 1: I'm going to get to know about it more after 623 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:34,800 Speaker 1: next weekend because I get to play it early. Yeah. Yeah, Now, 624 00:38:35,160 --> 00:38:39,719 Speaker 1: you know, people people are familiar with Bungee's take on 625 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:43,319 Speaker 1: these things. So I know that Halo four is going 626 00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:48,239 Speaker 1: is something of a um, maybe a mild question mark. 627 00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:51,359 Speaker 1: You know, people are wondering if they can, uh you know, 628 00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:55,480 Speaker 1: if this series will survive the transition. Um. I think 629 00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:59,239 Speaker 1: it's probable that it will. Yeah. For one thing, well, 630 00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:02,520 Speaker 1: the proper he is very popular. For another, three or 631 00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:06,800 Speaker 1: four three Industries does have some former Bungee employees on staff, 632 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:09,480 Speaker 1: so it's not like it's a totally new group of 633 00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:13,200 Speaker 1: people who have never touched the project before. Right, But 634 00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:17,760 Speaker 1: you know, for those uh, you know, especially um, devoted 635 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:21,879 Speaker 1: fans who are are concerned about something like that, you know, yeah, 636 00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:24,440 Speaker 1: it'll happen with all kinds of properties like that, comic 637 00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:28,080 Speaker 1: books or movies or you know TV series and the 638 00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:30,560 Speaker 1: oh well, the lead writers. I don't just don't know 639 00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:32,600 Speaker 1: if I can keep following it, you know, Right, people 640 00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:34,880 Speaker 1: are going to be concerned about that, But I think, um, 641 00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:36,759 Speaker 1: I think the series is in good hand. Yeah, there's 642 00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:40,280 Speaker 1: series loyalty, and then there's company loyalty, and then there's 643 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:46,799 Speaker 1: the the complicated place in between. Um. It was also 644 00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:53,520 Speaker 1: interesting when when Bungee said that, you know, Halo. Halo 645 00:39:53,560 --> 00:39:56,680 Speaker 1: Reach was their last game. Uh in the Halo series. 646 00:39:57,040 --> 00:40:02,120 Speaker 1: They also released UM stats when they gave up all 647 00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:06,280 Speaker 1: the player information that had been collected over time, because 648 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:08,719 Speaker 1: you know, Bungee was responsible for that for the longest time, 649 00:40:08,760 --> 00:40:11,239 Speaker 1: and then they transferred that information over because they were 650 00:40:11,280 --> 00:40:16,680 Speaker 1: no longer the caretakers of the Halo series. Um if uh, 651 00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:19,000 Speaker 1: let's see, I'll see if I can read up this numbers. 652 00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:22,760 Speaker 1: That's that's that's thousand, that's millions, all right, so since 653 00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:26,440 Speaker 1: September nine, two thousand four. This was one of the 654 00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:30,480 Speaker 1: figures Bungee released when it gave over the information players 655 00:40:30,480 --> 00:40:36,160 Speaker 1: had played twenty billion, eight hundred eighty million, two hundred 656 00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:41,920 Speaker 1: fifty thousand, one hundred twenty three games of Halo. Yeah, 657 00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:46,280 Speaker 1: and uh, then they broke it out by title. UM. 658 00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:50,120 Speaker 1: And they also said how many minutes had been played 659 00:40:50,520 --> 00:40:53,120 Speaker 1: in Halo, which was over a hundred and twenty three 660 00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:58,680 Speaker 1: billion minutes of Halo? Is that broken down my platform 661 00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:01,080 Speaker 1: to or is that just a box they just played it. 662 00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:04,879 Speaker 1: They just broke it down by title, So it's not um, 663 00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:08,720 Speaker 1: not by as far as I can tell, not by platform. Uh. 664 00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:13,120 Speaker 1: They also broke down the you have killed each other 665 00:41:13,239 --> 00:41:17,200 Speaker 1: one thirty six billion times and assist assisted each other 666 00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:21,440 Speaker 1: forty three billion times, which tells you something about Halo players. 667 00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:25,360 Speaker 1: I think they like those. They like those Slayer matches. 668 00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:28,400 Speaker 1: I can't blame them, my I like Slayer matches to 669 00:41:28,480 --> 00:41:30,680 Speaker 1: the problem with the cooperative matches is you have to 670 00:41:30,719 --> 00:41:34,200 Speaker 1: work with other people, and unless you're able to select 671 00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:37,839 Speaker 1: who those people are, that can be a less than 672 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:41,239 Speaker 1: ideal situation, as I found out last night when I 673 00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:45,319 Speaker 1: was playing Halo Reach online. Uh yeah, if you guys 674 00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:48,839 Speaker 1: want to play against me, you know, jump on Halo Reach. 675 00:41:48,960 --> 00:41:52,000 Speaker 1: I am an easy target, as it turns out, I got. 676 00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:56,040 Speaker 1: I got involved in the online play for Halo early 677 00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:59,480 Speaker 1: on when it started, but then I started having some 678 00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:03,399 Speaker 1: real problems with my internet service provider. This was back 679 00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:06,680 Speaker 1: in the Halo two days and uh. In fact, I 680 00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:09,320 Speaker 1: had so many problems that it was starting to seem 681 00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:13,360 Speaker 1: like I was using a method to cheat when I 682 00:42:13,360 --> 00:42:16,880 Speaker 1: was playing online. There was a people discovered that if 683 00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:21,200 Speaker 1: they used the standby mode on their routers, on their 684 00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:24,359 Speaker 1: you know, their their modems, that they could cheat in 685 00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:26,920 Speaker 1: Halo online. What would happen is you would hit standby, 686 00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:30,000 Speaker 1: which would make you break your connection to the Microsoft servers, 687 00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:34,720 Speaker 1: really the Bungee servers, and you you continue to play. Well. 688 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:38,400 Speaker 1: The way with the way Bungees servers would interpret this 689 00:42:38,480 --> 00:42:41,320 Speaker 1: is they would just keep having your guide do whatever 690 00:42:41,320 --> 00:42:44,200 Speaker 1: it was he was doing when you broke the connection. 691 00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:46,719 Speaker 1: So if you're running in a straight line, you would 692 00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:50,120 Speaker 1: continue running, but you wouldn't really be there. It would 693 00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:53,160 Speaker 1: just be a placeholder for you. When the connection would 694 00:42:53,160 --> 00:42:55,759 Speaker 1: re establish, assuming it did re establish an enough time, 695 00:42:55,840 --> 00:43:00,200 Speaker 1: like it was just a few seconds, your your ense 696 00:43:00,239 --> 00:43:03,400 Speaker 1: of you would suddenly disappear, and you would reappear wherever 697 00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:06,400 Speaker 1: you really were, based upon what you were doing locally 698 00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:09,439 Speaker 1: on your machine. So let's say I'm playing a game 699 00:43:09,480 --> 00:43:11,600 Speaker 1: of Capture the Flag. I pick up the flag, I 700 00:43:11,640 --> 00:43:14,600 Speaker 1: start running in a straight line. I hit a standby 701 00:43:14,680 --> 00:43:17,759 Speaker 1: button on my modem. I've broken my connection. I immediately 702 00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:21,400 Speaker 1: hang a sharp right, run that way several yards, then 703 00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:25,239 Speaker 1: hang a left and continue running. My pursuers see me 704 00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:28,000 Speaker 1: continuing to run in a straight line because their connection 705 00:43:28,080 --> 00:43:31,600 Speaker 1: is still to the servers. But every time they try 706 00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:33,799 Speaker 1: and shoot me or knock me down or run me over, 707 00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:36,359 Speaker 1: it doesn't seem to work. Nothing's happening it's because I'm 708 00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:39,080 Speaker 1: not really there. The servers are just trying to keep 709 00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:42,520 Speaker 1: track where I should be. My connection re establishes. Suddenly 710 00:43:42,520 --> 00:43:44,920 Speaker 1: the computer has to resolve where I really am versus 711 00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:49,040 Speaker 1: where it thought I was. The representation of my character disappears. 712 00:43:49,920 --> 00:43:52,760 Speaker 1: My actual character reappears on the map in a totally 713 00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:55,120 Speaker 1: different spot than where everyone thought it was, because of 714 00:43:55,160 --> 00:43:58,200 Speaker 1: course I had moved in a different location. So this 715 00:43:58,280 --> 00:44:00,960 Speaker 1: was a way of cheating, you know, you would people 716 00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:03,160 Speaker 1: did use this. They would grab the flag that used 717 00:44:03,160 --> 00:44:05,880 Speaker 1: stand by, and then they would suddenly be in a 718 00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:07,799 Speaker 1: different location than where you thought they were, and the 719 00:44:07,840 --> 00:44:09,520 Speaker 1: flag would get to the other end of the map 720 00:44:09,600 --> 00:44:13,799 Speaker 1: and you'd lose. And everyone thought this was awful, and 721 00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:16,319 Speaker 1: it was because you were gaming the system. You were 722 00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:19,719 Speaker 1: finding a hardware solution to solve for the fact that 723 00:44:19,760 --> 00:44:23,440 Speaker 1: you were not very good in Halo. Um well, I 724 00:44:23,480 --> 00:44:25,600 Speaker 1: had a problem because I had an internet service provider 725 00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:28,560 Speaker 1: where I was getting severe lag, and that lag was 726 00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:32,000 Speaker 1: acting the same way like a little dropped connections. Every 727 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:33,840 Speaker 1: now and then my connection would drop, and so it 728 00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:38,120 Speaker 1: was acting just like this standby uh bug, And so 729 00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:42,560 Speaker 1: I ended up I stopped playing because people thought I 730 00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:45,080 Speaker 1: was cheating, and I didn't want to play that way. 731 00:44:45,160 --> 00:44:47,319 Speaker 1: That was no fun for me. I wanted to play 732 00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:49,640 Speaker 1: on a level playing ground. I'm not a great player, 733 00:44:49,719 --> 00:44:52,520 Speaker 1: but I don't want to I don't want an unfair advantage. 734 00:44:52,840 --> 00:44:56,360 Speaker 1: So I just stopped. And until recently, I just didn't 735 00:44:56,360 --> 00:44:58,840 Speaker 1: have a fast enough connection to get back on Xbox 736 00:44:58,880 --> 00:45:01,600 Speaker 1: Live and really play on line again. So for years 737 00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:04,200 Speaker 1: I just I just that part of the game was 738 00:45:04,239 --> 00:45:06,040 Speaker 1: off limits to me. I just wouldn't play that. I 739 00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:08,319 Speaker 1: played the single player campaign and that was it. So 740 00:45:08,360 --> 00:45:10,080 Speaker 1: I was missing out on a big part of what 741 00:45:10,200 --> 00:45:13,200 Speaker 1: makes the Halo games so interesting to players. Well, I 742 00:45:13,239 --> 00:45:16,880 Speaker 1: finally got back into it, and now my problem is 743 00:45:16,920 --> 00:45:19,960 Speaker 1: that there are only certain people who still play Halo 744 00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:22,160 Speaker 1: Reach online because it's a game that's been out for 745 00:45:22,560 --> 00:45:25,440 Speaker 1: a while now, right, so it's not as popular as 746 00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:27,759 Speaker 1: it was when it first came out. Um, And the 747 00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:29,880 Speaker 1: people who are playing online for the most part are 748 00:45:29,880 --> 00:45:32,080 Speaker 1: people who have been playing for a while, so they 749 00:45:32,120 --> 00:45:34,680 Speaker 1: know all the maps, they know all the tricks, they 750 00:45:34,719 --> 00:45:38,480 Speaker 1: have developed their playing style. I'm still learning, so I'm 751 00:45:38,480 --> 00:45:43,520 Speaker 1: eating a lot of shotgun blast to the face. Not fun, No, 752 00:45:43,760 --> 00:45:45,920 Speaker 1: it's fun for the other players. They love it. I 753 00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:48,319 Speaker 1: see my name pop up and they're like, oh man, 754 00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:50,200 Speaker 1: I'm going to get a lot of points in this 755 00:45:50,320 --> 00:45:55,960 Speaker 1: round because me, Jonathan the Walking Target is playing. You know, 756 00:45:56,160 --> 00:45:59,760 Speaker 1: you might want to rename your character. I'm just saying that, right, yeah, 757 00:45:59,800 --> 00:46:01,600 Speaker 1: my kick them in. In case you want to know 758 00:46:01,719 --> 00:46:03,480 Speaker 1: my my game handle, I will go ahead and give 759 00:46:03,480 --> 00:46:05,680 Speaker 1: it out. I don't. I don't mind because even if 760 00:46:05,680 --> 00:46:07,319 Speaker 1: I get tons of request that doesn't mean I have 761 00:46:07,360 --> 00:46:11,319 Speaker 1: to accept them. But my game gamer tag is John B. Strickland. 762 00:46:11,480 --> 00:46:15,279 Speaker 1: Because I use my name as my handle everywhere. It 763 00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:18,879 Speaker 1: keeps me accountable. So yeah, if you want to play 764 00:46:18,880 --> 00:46:21,600 Speaker 1: against me, go ahead, and I'm I'm terrible. I'm telling 765 00:46:21,640 --> 00:46:23,680 Speaker 1: you right now. You don't. You don't need to tell me. 766 00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:27,360 Speaker 1: I already know, all right. So anyway, that's the story 767 00:46:27,440 --> 00:46:29,960 Speaker 1: of the Halo franchise as it stands right now. We 768 00:46:30,040 --> 00:46:32,759 Speaker 1: may we should also say there are lots and lots 769 00:46:32,760 --> 00:46:35,920 Speaker 1: of books that tie into the Halo franchise that really 770 00:46:35,960 --> 00:46:41,440 Speaker 1: flesh out the mythology um, depending upon you know, they 771 00:46:41,520 --> 00:46:43,720 Speaker 1: may or may not really be cannon to the games. 772 00:46:43,760 --> 00:46:46,360 Speaker 1: It's kind of like the Star Wars stuff, right, it 773 00:46:46,400 --> 00:46:49,239 Speaker 1: doesn't happen in the game. It's not really cannon, but 774 00:46:50,320 --> 00:46:55,480 Speaker 1: most of them deal with events that happen around the games, 775 00:46:55,560 --> 00:46:59,279 Speaker 1: not they aren't necessarily novelizations of the games themselves, so 776 00:46:59,560 --> 00:47:03,319 Speaker 1: they really are supplemental material that can flesh out that world. 777 00:47:03,360 --> 00:47:05,879 Speaker 1: If you're really interested in it, um, if you are 778 00:47:05,920 --> 00:47:08,960 Speaker 1: interested in a totally different topic and you think that 779 00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:11,960 Speaker 1: we should talk about it, you should contact us our 780 00:47:12,040 --> 00:47:15,040 Speaker 1: email addresses tech stuff at Discovery dot com, or you 781 00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:16,880 Speaker 1: can let us know on Facebook or Twitter. Are handled. 782 00:47:16,880 --> 00:47:20,120 Speaker 1: There's tech stuff hs W Chris and I will talk 783 00:47:20,120 --> 00:47:24,000 Speaker 1: to you again, probably not about video games really soon 784 00:47:25,280 --> 00:47:27,719 Speaker 1: for more on this and thousands of other topics. Is 785 00:47:27,760 --> 00:47:33,880 Speaker 1: it how Stuff Works dot Com brought to you by 786 00:47:33,880 --> 00:47:37,359 Speaker 1: the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready. Are you