There have been a number of irritating problems for folks trying to download the Halo 2 "Blastacular" maps this week, and for that reason, we have delayed the rollout of the Matchmaking update (and the accompanying rank reset) until next week. We’ve actually figured out why some folks are still having difficulty downloading the maps, and in most cases, those folks probably have some inkling of why their chosen method of getting the maps might have failed…

Some people have reported on various forums that there was initially a glitch in the billing system that allowed people to download the Blastacular maps for free. This bug was quickly fixed but anyone who still attempts to circumvent the billing system will actually end up locking themselves out of the maps entirely with no way to download them. The Xbox Live team is pursuing a fix to enable downloads again for these vagabonds, ne’er-do-wells and hooligans.

In a few other cases, the problem is caused by a kind of disconnect between this generation of Xbox Live and last, as far as age ratings are concerned. Basically the system thinks you’re too young, even if you’re not. Those problems are being fixed as we speak. Again, the reason this has been a less than perfect transition has an awful lot to do with insisting that the maps are made available to both 360 and olde Xbox owners. It has never really been done before, so we apologize for our teething troubles.


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.


Jub-Jub, (codename for one of the secret Multiplayer maps) is coming along beautifully. Steve Cotton has been decorating it with…well, that would probably give away the theme. But I will mention that right now it has birds in it, flying around in a convincingly flock-like fashion, but don’t get too used to that idea. If there was ever something superfluous to gameplay, it would be a flock of birds wheeling around in the far distance. If it so much as twitches, it gets cut.

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.

Folks spotted other things in the Vidoc too. A new weapon. I saw it referred to as the “chain gun” but I ain’t talking. Although I will tell you that no, you can’t pull the chaingun off the back of a Hog.