Bungie's weekly update 4/27/07!

With Bungie's latest weekly update, Frankie let the cat out of the bag on a few things regarding Halo 3 and the beta test that is scheduled to start on May 16th.  Frankie said that the Beta will include what Bungie calls "saved films" and it will be a watered down version of what will be in the retail copy of the game:

No, this feature we’re testing is for the moment, just a fun addition, that’s planned to grow into something pretty amazing by launch, and that feature is Saved Films. The version you’ll try in the Beta, is very, very, very limited. We just want you to play around with the general concept. You’ll be reading more about this in the gaming press in the next month or two, and of course you can try it out for yourselves in less than a month.

Here Frankie reveals that the beta will include split-screen play:

You’ll also be pleased to hear that split-screen will be an option, although limited to two people in the Public Beta. We’ve also done something cool with the splitscreen display for HD monitors – instead of stretching the horizontal or vertical axes into big, scary too wide or too tall horrors, we’ve sensibly windowed the action, maintaining lots of screen real estate, but preserving a proper, playable aspect ratio.

Frankie goes on to talk about a map that will be in Halo 3 that is bigger than any map Bungie has ever made:

Perhaps more enticing is the mention of a VERY large map that went from being just about the most empty, soulless placeholder geometry in the entire game, to one of the moodiest, most atmospheric and beautiful maps we’ve ever made. It’s also the single largest multiplayer map. You pretty much need a vehicle to get around in it, so luckily, destroyed vehicles respawn super-fast.

A couple days ago Microsoft sent out a press release saying that there will be a special Halo 3 "unveiling" on May 11th, but nobody know what it's about:

May 11^th was mentioned in a San Jose Mercury News blog as an “unveiling” date for Halo 3. Of course Halo 3 was in fact “unveiled” at E3 a year ago. The May 11^th date simply refers to a Public Beta preview for the press so they can get their stories done for the real Public Beta launch a few days later.

Well there you have it folks.  If you want to read this week's very long weekly update, click here!