Halo Wars Goals: We set out a number of goals for the game at the start and continue working toward them each day. We stressed many of these in our E3 presentations and from the coverage it sounds like they are being well received. If you take in some of the interviews, like those I have linked to below or others I linked to previously, you can hear these goals mentioned. We feel very good about how we are doing with these but the real judgment will have to wait until the game is in your hands. Here are some of our goals for Halo Wars so you can decide ultimately how we did.

• Capture the Halo World: Our game is set 20 years prior to the events portrayed in Halo, but it nevertheless has to feel very Halo in terms of weaponry, units, worlds etc.
• Bring True Real-Time Strategy to the Console: RTS is one of the last genres to translate to the console. We want to prove that the genre can make that leap and succeed.
• Console Controls: We believe that the relatively complicated gameplay of the RTS genre can work through the console controller. We have adjusted our control scheme many times throughout development and believe we have achieved a simple and efficient plan that works.

Halo Wars Demos: Check out this 15 minute interview and demo on Gamespot featuring Designer Dave Pottinger. This is basically what all the editors from the media outlets got to see and hear at E3, so you can compare what you think to what they have written elsewhere. Dave commented to us that this demo showcases how difficult it is to speak clearly on TV and drive a demo while being blinded by stage lights.

http://www.gamespot.com/video/935835/6194807/halo-wars-e3-2008-stage-show-demo

Here is another interview with Dave on IGN, with Designer Justin Rouse driving. You can see the Spartan back flip onto a Wraith and hijack it. Listen to Dave talk about the trade-offs in strategy games between economy and combat. Hear what he says about the difference between a MAC blast and carpet bombing. Note also the Halo Wars team t-shirts our guys are wearing. These were passed out to the company just before E3. If you stay with the site after the interview you can catch some gameplay footage, including a carpet bombing attack.

http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/857436/halo-wars/videos/halowarslivewire_072308.html

Halo Wars E3 Awards: I mentioned last time that our game was voted Best Strategy Game at the show and in the days afterward has received a number of additional awards. Here are links to some of these.

Planet Xbox 360: Best Strategy Game

http://www.planetxbox360.com/article_4305/PlanetXbox360s_Best_of_E3_2008_Awards

ActionTrip: Best Strategy Game

http://www.actiontrip.com/features/e32008showawardsandwrapup.phtml

Halo Wars Garners Prestigious Nomination: We have just learned that Halo Wars has been nominated for the most prestigious award from the show—The Game Critics Awards, for best games of E3. These awards have been bestowed annually since 1998. They are prestigious because they are voted on by a panel of judges made up mainly of editors-in-chief of major North American media outlets that have consistently covered the videogame industry. These include not only game magazines, websites, and cable channels, but also major magazines (like Newsweek, Time, and Wired) and major newspapers (like USA Today and the Los Angeles Times). Winners will be announced August 5.

Halo Wars is one of five nominees for Best Strategy Game. Two of the five are to be released on the X360 with the others on the PC or X360/PC. None of the five appear to be scheduled for competing consoles. You can read more about the awards, the judges and where they come from, past winners, and how judges make their picks here. Click on E3 Nominees to see all the games being considered from this year’s show.

http://www.gamecriticsawards.com/index.html

E3 Name Dropping: Most of the people stopping by to see Halo Wars at E3 were from the media, but there were some luminaries from inside the industry as well. Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo (the creative mind behind Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, etc.) dropped by with a posse of VIPs and watched a demo.

RTS Competition Dropping PS3: As a Microsoft first party developer (part of the company) we develop only for PC or X360, so we don’t have to consider any extra difficulties working with other platforms. We thought it was interesting to read that publisher Electronic Arts is dropping plans for a PS3 version of Red Alert 3, as reported on Shacknews. The problems adapting their game engine to the PS3 architecture must have been really significant to pass on the platform. This has to be a win for the X360. Here is the story.

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/53894

Localization Teams: One of the things that go on behind the scenes in making games for worldwide consumption is localization to international languages. Last week we had teams at our offices from Korea and Japan laying the groundwork for Halo Wars versions for their local markets. This will require written translations for any text on the screen and voice acting for dialog we hear in various places. Bill Jackson, one of the assistant producers on our team, was our host.

Graeme Devine at ComicCon: Designer/Writer Graeme Devine attended this graphic novel convention to take part in a panel discussion about the Halo universe. Also on his panel were Frank O’Connor of MGS (ex-Bungie), three authors of Halo novels, and a representative from McFarlane Toys. Graeme told us the room was filled to its 800 person capacity at all times, with people being turned away. The line to pose questions to the panel ran to the back of the room. He recalls that maybe half of the questions asked were about Halo Wars. After the session the panelists were swarmed by fans wanting autographs. Here is a link to one of the live blogs from the panel.

http://kotaku.com/5028876/liveblogging-the-comic+con-halo-universe-panel

Latest Halo Wars Archive Build: #853.

Bruce Shelley