HALO 4
AKQA have turned the elements from the Xbox’s Halo 4 into a 3D holographic web experience in the build up to the game’s release later this year.
Image: On board the Infinity, which features in Halo 4.
The latest addition to the Halo computer game series, Halo 4, is not out until November 2012, but there is already a buzz about how it’s going to turn out. Halo 4 is the first game in the series to be developed by the subsidiary of computer giant Microsoft, 343 Industries, which claims to have rebuilt the game almost entirely from the ground up over three years , so they were eager to impress attendees of the E3 Gaming Conference, which took place in June.
For this year’s show, AKQA, San Francisco launched a new digital experience for Halo 4 that brings to life game elements for its fans as 3D objects online and soon on social media platform Facebook.
AKQA worked with game developers 343 Industries to recreate elements as 3D, holographic objects. The website takes you on board the ‘Infinity’, an aircraft featured in the game where fans can experience game elements such as characters and weapons.
The agency also worked with AgencyTwoFifteen to create the website for a previous game in the series, Halo: Reach, where fans were ultimately able to control a giant robot to build a shining light sculpture that pays tribute to characters from the game, the Noble team of fallen Spartans.
The robot-powered tribute involved a studio in an undisclosed location which hosted a ‘Kuka KR 140’ – a kind of massive, articulates robot arm that is used to manufacture cars or powering big amusement park rides.
The creative team used the arm to plot intricately placed points of light that were captured by a camera. As the light points were placed on the image, they revealed a shining monument to the Noble Team. Fans could log in to Facebook, pick a single point of light and watch as the robot reacted to their choice and plotted it.
'Remember Reach' displayed the monument as it was built in real time and the site kept track of each person who plotted a point, saving a timeline of the sculpture that incorporated the Facebook profile pictures of everyone who logged in
Video: Halo 4 Trailer
Video: A Kuka robotic arm created a light scuplture for a previous game in the series, Halo: Reach. Courtesy of Wired on YouTube.
