Arbiter (Halo)
In the ''Halo'' science fiction universe, an Arbiter is a ceremonial, religious, and political rank bestowed upon Covenant Elites. In the 2004 video game ''Halo 2'', the rank is given to a disgraced commander named Thel 'Vadamee as a way to atone for his failures. Although the Arbiter is intended to die serving the Covenant leadership, the High Prophets, he survives his missions and the Prophets' subsequent betrayal of his kind. When he learns that the Prophets' plans would doom all sentient life in the galaxy, the Arbiter allies with the Covenant's enemies (humans) and stops the ringworld Halo from being activated. The Arbiter is a playable character in ''Halo 2'' and its 2007 sequel ''Halo 3.'' The character also appears in '' Halo 5: Guardians'' and additional expanded universe material. A different Arbiter, Ripa 'Moramee appears in the 2009 real-time strategy game '' Halo Wars'', which takes place 20 years before the events of the main trilogy. The appearance of t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Halo Wars
''Halo Wars'' is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 video game console. It was released in Australia on February 26, 2009; in Europe on February 27; and in North America on March 3. The game is set in the science fiction universe of the ''Halo'' series in the year 2531, 21 years before the events of '' Halo: Combat Evolved''. The player leads human soldiers aboard the warship ''Spirit of Fire'' in an effort to stop an ancient fleet of ships from falling into the hands of the genocidal alien Covenant. ''Halo Wars'' was unveiled at the X06 Xbox show in 2006. Ensemble designed the game specifically for the Xbox 360 controller, in an attempt to circumvent issues present in previous console RTS titles. Ensemble was closed by Microsoft before the game's release, but soon after Robot Entertainment was founded by many of Ensemble's former employees; this new company continued to support ''Halo Wa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bungie
Bungie, Inc. is an American video game company based in Bellevue, Washington. It is a studio owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The company was established in May 1991 by Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones' game '' Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete''. Originally based in Chicago, Illinois, the company concentrated on Macintosh games during its early years and created two successful video game franchises called ''Marathon'' and ''Myth''. An offshoot studio, Bungie West, produced '' Oni'', published in 2001 and owned by Take-Two Interactive, which held a 19.9% ownership stake at the time. Microsoft acquired Bungie in 2000, and its project '' Halo: Combat Evolved'' was repurposed as a launch title for Microsoft's Xbox console. ''Halo'' became the Xbox's " killer app", selling millions of copies and spawning the ''Halo'' franchise. On October 5, 2007, Bungie announced that it had split from Microsoft and become a privately h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Characters Of Halo
Major recurring characters of the ''Halo'' multimedia franchise are organized below by their respective affiliations within the series' fictional universe. The original trilogy's central story revolved around conflict between humanity under the auspices of the United Nations Space Command or UNSC, and an alien alliance known as the Covenant. The artifacts left behind by an ancient race known as the Forerunner play a central role—particularly the ringworlds known as Halos, built to contain the threat of the parasitic Flood. Bungie founder Jason Jones noted that bringing together the elements of a video game is unmistakably "art", but character designers and artists had to make a "living, breathing world" and populate it with interesting characters and places. The first ''Halo'' game's development brought numerous evolutions and revisions to the character's designs and personalities. Characters were also updated to take full advantage of new graphics technologies; for instanc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Microsoft Studios
Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, for the development and publishing of video games for Microsoft Windows. It has since expanded to include games and other interactive entertainment for the namesake Xbox platforms, Windows Mobile and other mobile platforms, and web-based portals. History As Microsoft Games and Microsoft Game Studios (2000–2011) In the early 1990s, Microsoft published a few video games. It published subLOGIC's ''Microsoft Flight Simulator'' and several Microsoft Entertainment Pack compilations of minigames, but was best known for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows. In 1992, the company began increasing its focus on games. It announced '' Microsoft Golf'' for Windows, based on Access Software's '' Links'', and expan ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Del Rey Books
Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn, by Penguin Random House. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It specializes in science fiction and fantasy books, and formerly manga under its (now defunct) Del Rey Manga imprint. The first new novel published by Del Rey was '' The Sword of Shannara'' by Terry Brooks in 1977. Del Rey also publishes the ''Star Wars'' novels under the LucasBooks sub-imprint (licensed from Lucasfilm, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Studios division of The Walt Disney Company). Authors * Piers Anthony *Isaac Asimov * Stephen Baxter * Amber Benson *Ray Bradbury *Terry Brooks * Pierce Brown *Bonnie Burton *Jack L. Chalker *Arthur C. Clarke * James Clemens *Dan Cragg *Brian Daley * Maurice G. Dantec * Philip K. Dick *Stephen R. Donaldson * David Eddings * Philip José Farmer * Mick Farren *Joe Clifford Faust *Lynn Flewel ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Combat Evolved
''Halo: Combat Evolved'' is a 2001 first-person shooter game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released as a launch game for Microsoft's Xbox video game console on November 15, 2001. The game was ported to Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X in 2003. It was later released as a downloadable Xbox Original for the Xbox 360. ''Halo'' is set in the twenty-sixth century, with the player assuming the role of the Master Chief, a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier. The Chief is accompanied by Cortana, an artificial intelligence. Players battle aliens as they attempt to uncover the secrets of the eponymous Halo, a ring-shaped artificial world. Bungie began the development of what would eventually become ''Halo'' ''CE'' in 1997. Initially, the game was a real-time strategy game that morphed into a third-person shooter before becoming a first-person shooter. During development, Microsoft acquired Bungie and turned ''Halo'' into a launch game for its firs ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Eurogamer
''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX organised by its parent company, which was called Eurogamer Expo until 2013. From 2013 to 2020, sister site USGamer ran independently under its parent company. History ''Eurogamer'' (initially stylised as ''EuroGamer'' was launched on 4 September 1999 under company Eurogamer Network. The founding team included John "Gestalt" Bye, the webmaster for the PlanetQuake website and a writer for British magazine '' PC Gaming World''; Patrick "Ghandi" Stokes, a contributor for the website Warzone; and Rupert "rauper" Loman, who had organised the EuroQuake esports event for the game '' Quake''. ''Eurogamer'' hosts content from media outlet ''Digital Foundry'' since 2007, which was founded by Richard Leadbetter in 2004. In January 2008, To ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vice (magazine)
''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media, which consists of divisions including the printed magazine as well as a website, broadcast news unit, a film production company, a record label, and a publishing imprint. As of February 2015, the magazine's editor-in-chief is Ellis Jones. History Founded by Suroosh Alvi, Gavin McInnes, and Shane Smith (the latter two being childhood friends), the magazine was launched in 1994 as the ''Voice of Montreal'' with government funding. The intention of the founders was to provide work and a community service. When the editors later sought to dissolve their commitments with the original publisher, Alix Laurent, they bought him out and changed the name to ''Vice'' in 1996. Richard Szalwinski, a Canadian software millionaire, acquired the ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Covenant (Halo)
The Halo (series), ''Halo'' video game and media franchise takes place in a fictional science fiction universe. In the distant past, a race known as the Forerunners fought the parasitic Flood. The Forerunners ultimately activate weapons of mass destruction, the Halo Array, in order to starve the Flood and stop the threat. By the 26th century, humanity, led by the United Nations Space Command (UNSC), is caught in a war with an alien coalition known as the #Covenant, Covenant. The Covenant worship the Forerunners as deities, mistakenly believing that the Halos are a tool of salvation, not destruction. The Flood, meanwhile, escape the confines of Halo and threaten to spread across the galaxy again. A large portion of the series' success lies in the creation of a believable world, and Bungie reinforced the fictional factions the player interacts with via a lengthy design process with the release of each game. The overall design of each faction was slowly developed before the release o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Factions Of Halo
The ''Halo'' video game and media franchise takes place in a fictional science fiction universe. In the distant past, a race known as the Forerunners fought the parasitic Flood. The Forerunners ultimately activate weapons of mass destruction, the Halo Array, in order to starve the Flood and stop the threat. By the 26th century, humanity, led by the United Nations Space Command (UNSC), is caught in a war with an alien coalition known as the Covenant. The Covenant worship the Forerunners as deities, mistakenly believing that the Halos are a tool of salvation, not destruction. The Flood, meanwhile, escape the confines of Halo and threaten to spread across the galaxy again. A large portion of the series' success lies in the creation of a believable world, and Bungie reinforced the fictional factions the player interacts with via a lengthy design process with the release of each game. The overall design of each faction was slowly developed before the release of the first game in the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Joseph Staten
Joseph Staten is an American writer best known for his work at video game studio Bungie. At Bungie, Staten served as director of cinematics for the studio's games, including the ''Halo'' series; he would write mission scripts and movie dialogue for the titles. He has also been involved in managing the expansion of the ''Halo'' franchise to other game studios and producers, including Peter Jackson's Wingnut Interactive. Though not a published author previously, Tor Books approached Staten to write the fifth ''Halo'' novelization, '' Halo: Contact Harvest''. Released in 2007, the novel reached #3 on ''The New York Times'' bestseller list in the first week of its release and received positive reviews. Staten rejoined Microsoft Studios as a senior creative director on January 9, 2014. Early life and education Joseph Staten is the son of a minister who is a professor of theology and philosophy of religion. He entered Northwestern University in 1990 with the aspiration of becoming a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |