If you thought Bungie Studios was just locked on to the Halo franchise alone, you may want to think again. After investors liberated Bungie from the grasp of Microsoft, the studio now has the liberty to develop games based on totally new IPs. And Bungie has just revealed in a recent podcast that they've got one already cooking, though it's something that gamers might find different - seeing as it's coming from Bungie. More at the full story.

The Halo 3 heroic map pack from the Xbox Live Marketplace  provided gamers with three new levels to frag on. If you still want more, then you'll be happy to know that Bungie is already working on the next batch of maps to be released as downloadable content.

In the recent Bungie Weekly Update post, content manager Frank O'Connor (Frankie) discussed the next batch of maps that will be released. Want to know more? Check out the full article.

Despite the split from Microsoft Game Studios, Bungie - the studio behind Halo 3 - is still sticking with the Xbox 360.

In a LiveText interview, two developers from the studio commented that the studio maintains its exclusivity with Microsoft's console. Read more in the full article.

Bungie Studios' Content Manager Frank O'Connor (Frankie) has released more details about Halo 3 downloadable content in the recent Bungie Weekly Update. Players will be happy to know that he decided to discuss some of the maps that they've been working on.

While they haven't given a definite release date or the pricing of the new maps, Frankie gave word that they plan on releasing more news about this soon. In the meantime, he discussed his experiences playtesting the new maps:

We’ve been testing the new maps pretty regularly and I loved all except one, which for the purposes of this article, I shall refer to as, "Purple Reign." I sometimes have an initially adverse reaction to symmetrical or semi-symmetrical map designs because I am not terribly smart and I sometimes have difficulty become oriented within those types of space. Invariably, I get used to it and learn to love them.

This was just such a case, but when a new slew of architecture was added in the distance recently, it was enough for me to recognize which way was "up," so to speak. Now I love it. So the good news is that as far as I am concerned, all of the projected DLC maps are sweet. Two of them in particular will cause a Three Mile Island scale pant-fill-disaster in the Halo community. I can’t say why, but some of you will figure it out correctly and be able to say I told you so later.

Judging from what Frankie said, it looks like players will be getting some pretty good maps from Bungie Studios. If the levels are as balanced as the those included with Halo 3 then we can expect more multiplayer fun and hijinks when the the new maps go live on the Xbox Marketplace.

With the buzz about Bungie and Microsoft's split still going strong, interviews with Halo developers will always have to deal with the questions related to what will happen to Bungie's relationship with Microsoft.

This time however, the question is "Are you committed to the Xbox 360?" Here's what Bungie's content manager Frank O'Connor had to say to the issue:

We can of course work on other projects on other platforms. The reality is that we like the 360, it's a very comfortable environment for us to work. Realistically, for the types of games that we make, it is the most successful platform for us to work on, given the types of titles that we work on.

He then goes on to say that it makes 'fiscal sense' to continue working on Microsoft's platform, and confirmed that their next projects lined up are all Xbox 360 games. Will we eventually see Halo titles on other consoles, though? Only time can tell.

Check out the Read link for the full interview!

You may have already heard that Bungie Studios has shrugged off the corporate yoke that Microsoft had over them and finally reclaimed their independence. In an interview with Frank O'Connor, Content Manager for Bungie, explains how the split was an "evolution of Bungie's independent spirit."

The recent independence of Bungie was something in the works for around a year already. The decision to go solo went well with the free-spirited and independent nature of the people at Bungie. There were no hard feelings, as it goes, between the two companies and they'll still be working side-by-side with a lot of projects, particularly for the Xbox Live.

O'Connor explains that it was the strict processes in the Microsoft system that stifled their creative spirit. He had this to say about the matter:

We were a part of MS (Microsoft) and that meant adhering to their hiring policies, infrastructure and penchant for Khaki shorts and golf shirts. We still get the benefits of working closely with the platform team, the Xbox Live guys and the amazing talent at the mothership, but that slight loosening of reins will go a long way. Watch us gallop.

While we won't be seeing little more than downloadable content and perhaps a future movie set in the Halo universe, O'Connor admitted that the story of their highly-acclaimed Halo series was a closed book already. It shouldn't mean that fans should be sad now that they'll be seeing less of Master Chief. Now that Bungie is free to happily develop games once again in their own happy-go-lucky style, we can only wait and see if they still have another trick up their sleeves that will catch every Xbox 360 gamers' attention.

Many of those who bagged the Legendary Edition of Bungie Studios' Halo 3 for Xbox 360 would ask: where are my remastered Halo scenes from previous installments? The bonus DVD was packed with all the movies prior to the trilogy's epic end, but they didn't look "completely remastered, hi-res versions" like they were supposed to be. Bungie Writing Lead Frank O'Connor blames false advertisement.

In a statement O'Connor sent out, he made it clear that "the cutscenes were remastered, the pop-in reduced and they were output as as high resolution TIFFs one frame at a time to improve the quality over the originals." Unfortunately, this doesn't mean high-definition kind of improved quality.

As O'Connor pointed out, the Legendary Edition's extra DVD was advertised as is - a format not capable of supporting HD. He stressed out how false advertising claims are false, and Bungie delivered higher quality scenes albeit not in HD. O'Connor even dares those who got the bonus DVD to compare remastered scenes side by side with originals to notice the difference.

Apologies were given to disappointed fans, and he wanted people to realize that the beef of content that came coupled with the game disc is on the commentary, not remastered "old school graphics" of Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2.

In this video interview, you'll see Frank O'Connor of Bungie asked about some of the details which may surface up in that "little thing" called Halo 3 coming out soon for the Microsoft Xbox 360. Let's see if we can break into his vow of secrecy:

Uhh, yeah, it was a little strange to see Peter Moore in his pre-resignation form today, right? Still, it made a lot of sense when he answered why the Xbox 360 was focusing on the holidays and not on next year.

So, what did we find out about Halo 3 today? Well, it did give us goosebumps when we heard that phrase announcing that "starting on September 25th, Halo 3 will record the biggest launch in entertainment history," but a lot of the questions definitely weren't answered. However, it really made quite an impact when O'Connor said that we can all play through the game as the Master Chief "if we choose to." We'll leave the speculating to you.

Although Bungie is striving to make co-operative multi-play workable over any scenario - be it offline, networked, or over Live - it appears that the developers are having a bit of an issue with Halo 3 co-op multiplayer over Microsoft's Xbox Live.

 

We all know that the clamor for Halo 3 four player co-op has been alleviated a bit with the confirmation of two-player cooperative play, but even while reduced in half, Bungie has yet to sort out the "online" bit. In the latest issues of EGM, Bungie's Frank O'Connor took a stand on the issue, saying:

We're not dumb. We know that people want it and we're trying to make it happen. I think the biggest problem for us for online co-op is that we have a situation where you can be in a Warthog with five troops, almost a mile away from the other player. That's a significant challenge. And there's lots of design things you could do to prevent that from happening, but they would make it not feel like Halo anymore. If we can make it happen in a way that works well, we will - and if it works badly, we won't.

The mention of additional work on an Xbox 360 premier title set for release on September 25 may have fans "facepalming" in tandem around the world, but Bungie's claims don't appear to affect the release date of the game. According to them, the co-op mode will follow after the game releases via downloadable content - if everything "online" works out on Bungie's end.

Speculations have risen that Bungie may opt for offline multiplayer over split-screen or LAN as a last resort, although this information has yet to be confirmed by the studio as of press time.

The rumor mill is hot on the Halo DS project after Matt Casamassina testified about the existence of Halo on Nintendo's handheld, and IGN promised to talk about a demo they were able to get their hands on. Website Siliconera was able to get some clarification from Bungie's Brian Gerard and Frank O’Connor regarding the matter.

Straight from Bungie's community guy himself, "...there has never been an officially funded or sanctioned development of any sort of DS Halo game."

Before that, Bungie.net's content monkey Frank O'Connor did state that "we got pitched for it several times."That said, it's "very likely that somebody at some point in time created a prototype."

Halo on handhelds is possible, but O'Connor doesn't think an FPS would be a good idea given the hardware limitations. A scrolling shoot 'em up or some other form Master Chief can appear in is more feasible for the DS, he said.

Here's another fun thought from the interview: Ninja Gaiden's Ryu Hayabusa could actually appear in Halo's universe. "I'm not going to say you're going to see Ryu in Halo, but I would say that our relationship with Itagaki is alive and well," O'Connor replied when asked about Ryu making a cameo appearance.

For the full transcript, click on the Read link below.