Rampancy

Conner at Marius.net has posted that Marine Recon will be hosting an invitation-only Myth WWII tournament called 2002 Winter Offensive. Details of the tourney are at Marine Recon's site. It will be held on Sunday, February 24 and consist of four-man teams.

Xbox.com has put up an interview with Bungie's resident audio expert, Marty O'Donnell, about his role in making Halo:

Xbox.com: Ok, nuts and bolts time. How do you actually create a soundtrack like this? Was it composed and synthesized all on a computer, or was it recorded? What's the sequence of your tasks?

MO: I worked in studios that contain many keyboards, synths, and samplers as well as digital recording equipment controlled by computers. I start there, and then when needed, add live instrumental performances to those recordings. When I mix the music, I sometimes eliminate the synth/sampler track and only use the live performance. Very little of the music plays back in the game the way it was originally recorded, however. I cut and edited the music into chunks that the game audio engine could play back dynamically based on the player's actions.

Thanks to Count Zero at HBO.

Rumor has been spreading over the past several months that Microsoft is building an expansion device called HomeStation for the Xbox. Microsoft has now denied the product's existance and claims it is nothing short of fiction. TeamXbox writes:

HomeStation rumors were sparked last September by a report in PC Format magazine that such a device would cross the Xbox with a PC and boast a bigger hard drive, audio and video technology and a wireless connection.

HomeStation talk resurfaced earlier in January as one analyst said he could confirm the existence of the machine in Microsoft and that it could debut later this year.

This reared its head several weeks ago. The odd thing is there is no thing called the HomeStation product or initiative, Microsoft spokeswoman Erin Brewer said.

Microsoft was interested in some of the longer-term ideas, but there's no product called that, Brewer said.

This is disappointing to some and relieving to others. It would have been nice to have the power and feature boost, but then again some would have felt pressured to purchase the potential Xbox upgrade. Check out TeamXbox's story for more details.

Sibrax has decided to end Soon(tm)'s long run of Myth humor with the closing of bungie.net. Man, I'm going to miss that retrad...