Aquired Knowledge

Bungie

It was interesting to discover that Bungie's website was a way Halo fans could get their own ideas heard for future projects. Bungie.net is even used as a way of developing a relationship between the creators of Halo and its gamers. Bungie is even said to recruit from its fan base.

Their priorities are to create well designed and decent games that are both visually appealing and interesting in terms of story. There is no doubt in my mind that Halo is probably one of the best if not the best game i've ever played. This is because it's Bungie's own creation. It is an arty game that is visually astounding, the characters and story line are interesting. The game is easily navigated in terms of both game play and programming. The other factor which has contributed to its success is the multiplayer online experience.

It is interesting to see the advances in technology over all the Halo games. I must say however, that since the split between Bungie and Microsoft their games look far superior. It is evident that Bungie have more control over their projects and thus their creative traits are allowed to flourish. I believe the graphics, design, story and music have all improved over the years. It is an interesting experience to see such a successful franchise explode and evolve let alone play the game itself.

There have been two major Halo franchise releases since Halo 3. Firstly a real time strategy game titled Halo Wars was released for the Xbox 360 which was produced by Ensemble Studios, which is set after the Fall of Reach (Halo Reach 2010) but before the first game of the trilogy Halo: Combat Evolved. The second is an animated Halo series titled Halo Legends which takes place before the events of the first game in the trilogy Halo: Combat Evolved. It follows various squads and campaigns against the covenant. This series was financed by 343 Industries and the animation is a collaboration between various Japanese production houses: Bones, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G., Studio 4oc, and Toei Animation. Shinji Aramaki, creator of Appleseed and Appleseed Ex Machina and Mamoru Oshii creator of both Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell Innocence both serve as the project's creative directors. Warner Bros. will distribute Legends on DVD and Blue-Ray in early 2010. There has also been a notable Machinima production, a comedy series titled Red vs Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles, a highly successful parody of the Halo Universe using real multiplayer gameplay which follows two opposing multiplayer teams.

Even a film of Halo was in production which was to be directed by Neill Blomkamp and produced by Peter Jackson. Before Blomkamp signed on, Guillermo del Toro was in negotiations to direct. The crew stopped and resumed preproduction of the film several times. Blomkamp declared the project dead in late 2007 near to Halo 3's release on Xbox 360. Peter Jackson however stated that the film would still eventually be made. Blomkamp and Jackson then collaborated together on District 9. Blomkamp told Film Magazine that he was no longer considering working on a Halo film even if the opportunity arose. He explained that it would have been difficult to return considering preproduction had halted on several occasions before the project's collapse. The rights for the film have since reverted back to Microsoft. Blomkamp commented that he was concerned about the fact that the main hero or protagonist "Master Chief" in a film would not hold much weight because of his faceless nature. Instead other characters around him would have to expand the story with "emotional heavy lifting" and the film would have to explore their perception of the Master Chief. However rumors have suggested that Stephen Speilberg has shown interest in acquiring the rights for and producing the Halo film. Microsoft has responded to these rumors by stating that the film project is still on hold.

There are also four very easy ways of following Bungie's development. (1) Either online on the internet via Bungie.net. (2) By playing the Halo games particularly Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST. (3) By using an Xbox 360 console to watch inside xbox videos which may occasionally have interviews with various Bungie employees and personnel. ( 4) The other way is to follow news and intel via a new community site on the Xbox 360 Dashboard when online known as Halo Waypoint. This is very new and currently the only game which has its own community site on the Dashboard interface. Here you can check your progress in the Halo universe, acquire exclusive access to interviews on game design and game development. You can also access anything that is halo related and on top of that watch all the Red vs Blue episodes as well as Halo Legends series.

Blizzard

Blizzard also uses both its main website and battle.net as a means of recruitment. Blizzard has a dedicated section to fan where sometimes individuals are noticed and offered jobs. In my opinion Blizzard is the Pixar equivalent in the games industry. Their games are always well designed, with superb plots and characters. I have played two of their games which are notably the most popular, StarCraft (Sci-fi Strategy game) and its expansion StarCraft Broodwar and World of Warcraft (MMORPG).

Their games are so well made that they are occasionally a problem as they become somewhat addictive as so many have experienced for themselves particularly World of Warcraft. Over the years Blizzard's games have improved in terms of graphics and game design. It is interesting to learn that a World of Warcraft feature film is going to be made and will be directed by Sam Raimi and produced by Chris Metzen. The release date is predicted to be in 2011.

World of Warcraft has expanded rapidly and has inspired two board games, a trading card game and the publishing of a comic book set the World of Warcraft Universe. Action figures have been made. Several commercials featuring pop culture celebrities have been aired to promote the game. Such celebrities include Mr. T, William Shatner, Verne Troyer, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Ozzy Osbourne. World of Warcraft has also been acknowledged by the popular series South Park. World of Warcraft has even been used to promote various products, such as Toyota Trucks.

A large portion of Blizzard's workforce work as World of Warcraft in game Game Masters who primarily tend to consumer queries and help with trouble shooting. These GM centres are located in Paris and Cork. There are of course game testers who are employed to test games for glitches and bugs.

On the more creative side Blizzard looks for highly talented individuals who are able to work in a team. They look for a particular personality. They must be imaginative. They tend to look for high quality work that is unique and interesting. They do not want to only see life drawing and heavily anime inspired pieces. They look for artwork which has come from your own imagination using reference. This work should represent your style and character. Your work should also demonstrate some sort of development process.They require that the artist is skilled in 2D drawing and has had significant experience with a computer with programs such as Maya, Z Brush and Photoshop.