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Back in my day, we had to walk to school uphill both ways, get up if we wanted to change the TV channel and play whatever map and game type combination the Matchmaking gods selected for us. That's right, no fancy-schmancy voting system existed. If you got Neutral Flag on Waterworks, you played Neutral Flag on Waterworks…and you liked it! Assuming you capped the flag and didn’t fall off the bridge to your death every time, anyway (coughs and looks at Bravo).

Way back then, I may or may not have been a total pain in the ass (think chocolate milk kid plus Exorcist girl plus adorably curly pigtails). When I was being particularly rambunctious, I was often plopped down in front of the TV in an attempt to keep me still for more than two minutes. It was during this forced downtime that I picked up even more annoying habits, such as a near-perfect “ET phone home” impression, an obsession with Gremlins and a refusal to fall asleep until someone confirmed that no evil clown dolls were hiding under my bed. I also picked up something that wasn’t annoying, though, and that was a love for Steven Spielberg and his many masterpieces.

From Jaws to Men in Black to Back to the Future to Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg has made a tremendous impact on not only the film industry, but also my life. That’s why, when I first heard there was a possibility he was going to be the Executive Producer for our original Halo live-action television series, I peed my pants just a little. Then, when I heard it was official and finalized, well… let’s just say a change of pants was in order.

The studio is incredibly excited about this partnership, and we can’t wait to share more information about this particular project in the future. To set expectations accordingly, it will be a (long) while before you hear more about our just-announced TV series, as we are all still very early in the process. Fret not, though, because we have numerous things, both big and small, up our sleeves. None of those things are going to be revealed in today’s Bulletin, but Bravo still has some interesting stuff to share with you. So pull up a chair, get comfy and start reading the tidbits below, which includes an update about the June 3 weapon tune and various Halo 4 Matchmaking odds and ends.

Current State of Weapon Tuning

Hey, it's Bravo. This past Friday, we had several community guests join us in the studio to check out a behind-the-scenes look at our current weapon tuning efforts. Through several hours of gameplay, a live stream broadcast and multiple group discussions over gourmet burritos, we got a chance to discuss how the weapons felt. If you’d like to check out the live stream, head here to watch.

The group hanging out after the live stream. Pictured left to right: Tashi, Ninja, Gh057ayame, Bravo, TheDrMouse, Greenskull, bs angel, CrazyByDefault, Quinn, Rukizzel, Neighbor

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Halo is an ever-expanding universe that inspires us each and every day, and your creations tell us that we’re not alone. This particular series, Fan Art Focus, showcases the amazing artwork created by talented members of our community. Enjoy these lovingly-crafted homages, and if you have work that you'd like to submit for possible future inclusion, send it to bsangel[at]halowaypoint.com!

Author: Cedwik Tlht

Ever since Bravo joined the team, he’s been trying to wrestle the Bulletin away from me— and I don’t mean figuratively, either.

Previously, the winner of our weekly arm wrestling match got to write the intro to the Bulletin. Clearly I have an edge when it comes to brute strength, so my many-months-long winning streak surprised no one. Once Bravo realized he would never secure a pin, though, he changed up the rules: our weekly match-ups were moving in-game.

Our first 1v1 was Plasma Pistols only…or so I was told. Turns out Rockets were secondary. Bravo wins (and pens the 5.1 Bulletin). Our second 1v1 was on Settler, where Bravo placed my only spawn point in the ocean. Yup, he wins again (and pens the 5.8 Bulletin). After the shenanigans, I insisted that our third head-to-head be a straight-up Battle Rifle duel to the death. I got the four-shot BR, and Bravo got a broken one. Or at least that’s what I’m assuming happened, considering he spent more time watching my celebratory crouching than actually playing.

So here we are, bs angel at the Bulletin helm once again. Considering that I don’t know what next week will bring, I’m going to make the most out of this one by talking to you about… well, you.

Halo is nothing without its community, and that’s something we remember each and every day. We share your creations on our web site, through both informal blogs and also more formal spotlights. We promote your events, from both our personal and official Twitter accounts, and we spend a sizeable amount of time consuming your feedback, primarily on our forums but also around the rest of the Haloverse as well.

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Halo is an ever-expanding universe that inspires us each and every day, and your creations tell us that we’re not alone. This particular series, Fan Art Focus, showcases the amazing artwork created by talented members of our community. Enjoy these lovingly-crafted homages, and if you have work that you'd like to submit for possible future inclusion, send it to bsangel[at]halowaypoint.com!

Author: Samer Abbas

Normally, people are not allowed to have friends visit them regularly at work. Luckily though, over the past few weeks, several of our friends have been visiting the studio. At first I thought this was strangely awesome – tons of Halo players visiting the studio to hang out with me. Slowly, however, I have realized that it’s much more likely that everyone just wants to get their hands on the 4-shot Battle Rifle and new weapon tuning. This is based on the fact that most guests generally walk past my welcoming outstretched hand and straight into our Multiplayer playlab.

Last week, professional Halo player and good friend, Coby Yamauchi, came by the studio to hang out. (It is worth mentioning that he actually did stop to say hello before he plugged in his controller.) Coby joined us in testing some of the new weapon tuning, as well as new (wacky) game modes. We also hung out with multiplayer designers and other 343 team members to talk multiplayer level design and even have a look into some of the complex systems used by the test team to break down multiplayer gameplay, maps and films.

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Halo is an ever-expanding universe that inspires us each and every day, and your creations tell us that we’re not alone. This particular series, Fan Art Focus, showcases the amazing artwork created by talented members of our community. Enjoy these lovingly-crafted homages, and if you have work that you'd like to submit for possible future inclusion, send it to bsangel[at]halowaypoint.com!

Author: CharlotteChambers

bs angel and I often joke about what the letter “B” stands for. Seeing as my Gamertag is B is for Bravo, I argue that the letter most definitely stands for “Bravo.” Naturally, she argues that the letter instead stands for her Gamertag. This week, however, I’ve decided that B not only stands for “Bravo” but also “Bulletin.” This being said, welcome to the weekly update.

Whenever good friends stop by, I tend to ask ‘em if they’d like to go for a ride in the new Warthog. This is especially the case when the friend in question is a 3-time Halo National Champion. Last week, Dave “Walshy” Walsh was in town, and yes, this Warthog is not only drive-able, but is also a total monstrous beast that little children should not be playing around (Watch out, kid.).

After we discussed what an excellent driver / gunner Warthog duo we would make, Walshy and I swung by the 343 Multiplayer playlab to get hands on with some of the current weapon tuning efforts. We played several matches together, and I got a chance to catch up with him after he stopped by. Here were his impressions on what he saw as well as his dominance with the Assault Rifle.

Hey, Walshy! What were your first impressions with the new weapon tuning? Did anything immediately stand out as different, enjoyable, confusing, etc.?

New weapon tuning felt much better! Three features stood out the most to me:

• The Battle Rifle being a 4-shot makes it a force to be reckoned with, no longer is the DMR the go-to choice for top players.
• Decreased magnetism on automatics definitely adds more skill to those short-range fights.
• The LightRifle's increased rate of fire while zoomed in will possibly make it the best long-range starting weapon in the game.

I’ve certainly seen quite a bit more LightRifle in our playtests. The slightly increased ROF when zoomed makes it even deadlier at range. So tell me – was the 4-shot BR as crispy as you expected?

Cookie Crisp crispy! I might have to start doing the wolf howl after each kill! On a slightly more serious note, the 4-shot kills give the game the faster kill time that I loved from previous Halo games.

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Halo is an ever-expanding universe that inspires us each and every day, and your creations tell us that we’re not alone. This particular series, Fan Art Focus, showcases the amazing artwork created by talented members of our community. Enjoy these lovingly-crafted homages, and if you have work that you'd like to submit for possible future inclusion, send it to bsangel[at]halowaypoint.com!

Author: Bryce Sahagun

I’ve been playing Halo since the days of Combat Evolved. Throughout my 11-year love affair with the franchise, I have learned three things: Master Chief is a pretty cool guy who doesn't afraid of anything, Sergeant Johnson really does know what the ladies like, and Cortana would strongly prefer that you not leave this planet. After spending the other day with her – or her IRL counterpart, to be exact – I also learned she would prefer it if her Wikipedia page was accurate. Let me explain.

Last December, for the Child’s Play Charity Dinner Auction, we donated a Halo bundle that included a studio tour and personalized Cortana voice mail, with 100% of the proceeds going toward improving the lives of hospitalized children. The highest bidders for the bundle, “olanmills” and “Ragingterror” as they’re known in the online world, recently redeemed their winnings for a day full of developers, designers and Jen Taylor (the voice of Cortana). During a narrative-fueled lunchtime discussion, the conversation started with pleasantries and slowly morphed into a game of Jen-themed “Did you know?”

"Did you know she’s the voice of Princess Peach?” was followed by “Yes! Did you know she voiced Zoey from Left 4 Dead, too?” which then led to the opening of her Wikipedia page so we could test our knowledge of everybody’s favorite pocket-sized AI. It was at that point that she learned that particular user-edited entry contained a few inaccuracies. As we were semi-distracted by the sound of Cortana’s voice coming out of Jen’s mouth, it took everybody a few moments to recognize she was calling out the roles she had never heard of, much less actually done. I told her someone would probably fix the falsehoods at some point, and then suddenly realized that statement could be interpreted as an assurance or ever (GASP!) a promise. You know how she feels about that subject, so if you are familiar with Jen’s background in regard to her VO work, and you’re also an active member of the Wikipedia community, I’m sure she would appreciate a revised Filmography listing because the current one is, for the lack of a better phrase, not a natural – nor accurate – formation.

Before you head off into the depths of the constantly changing web-based encyclopedia, I do hope you’ll read the Bulletin because today we’re talking weapon tuning, Join-in-Progress-ing and Campaign easter egg-ing, the latter of which we’ll tackle first.

Halo 4 Campaign Easter Egg Hints

The Halo 4 Campaign still contains many uncovered secrets. You discovered three of them after our mission designers shared some cryptic yet decipherable hints a few months ago, and that team is back again with a new batch of riddles. The first two easter eggs listed below are similar, size-wise, to the previous three you discovered, while the third one is more of a teeny-tiny source of amusement. So grab your decoding rings and get ready, because it’s about to get all easter egg-y up in herre.

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