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| ==Summary==
| | #REDIRECT [[Bungie]] |
| '''Bungie Studios''' is a video game developer founded in 1991 under the name Bungie Software. For much of the 1990s they developed a series of increasingly technically detailed [[first-person shooter]] (FPS) games for the Macintosh, the most famous being the ''[[Marathon]]'' series, following this with the acclaimed ''[[Wikipedia:Myth (computer game)|Myth]]'' tactical-combat series for both the Mac and [[Wikipedia:Microsoft Windows|Windows]]. Bungie games were particularly well-loved by players due to their complex backstories which often left more unanswered than revealed.
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| In 1999 they announced their next product was a return to the FPS genre, with a world-beating physics and [[wikipedia:Artificial intelligence|AI]] system, to be known as [[Halo: Combat Evolved|Halo]] and to be released at the same time on both the Mac and Windows. On June 19, 2000, Microsoft announced that they had acquired Bungie Software and that Bungie would become a part of the Microsoft Game Division (subsequently renamed Microsoft Game Studios) under the name Bungie Studios. The original versions were soon delayed and the game was re-purposed for the [[Xbox]], with the Mac and Windows versions only shipping two years later when it was no longer the renowned product it would have been in late 2000. The Xbox version of Halo received the [[wikipedia:Game of the Year|Game of the Year]] and [[wikipedia:Console Game of the Year|Console Game of the Year]] awards for 2002 from the [[wikipedia:Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences|Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences]], is known as a system seller and as of 2004 is still a videogame bestseller. ''Halo: Combat Evolved'' has been one of the most critically acclaimed games over the last three years, and its sequel [[Halo 2]] has been called the 'most anticipated game of all time' by [[Wikipedia:IGN|IGN]] Xbox.
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| Their offices were originally based in Chicago, Illinois. After Microsoft's acquisition, they moved into the Microsoft Campus at Redmond, Washington.
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| While not directly behind the program, Bungie oversaw and 'signed off' on the [[I Love Bees]] puzzle, named after the address of the 'hacked' [http://www.ilovebees.com bee-keeping website] around which the game revolves briefly appeared in the ''Halo 2'' theatrical trailer. They provided the I Love Bees designers with the "[[Halo Bible]]", allowing the story to fit to Bungie's specifics.
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| == Bungie Mythos ==
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| Bungie, like many production companies, puts references to older games in newer games. Unlike others, many of these references hint or imply that a great deal of Bungie's games operate in similar or identical universes. Most well known of this is the connection between the ''Marathon'' universe and the ''Halo'' universe, which share a great deal of similar names and themes.
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| While most believed that Bungie would never add a direct connection between these two games (just as they did not for Marathon and [[wikipedia:Pathways Into Darkness|Pathways into Darkness]]), its interesting to note that the I Love Bees puzzle did add a substantial connection between the ''Marathon'' universe and the ''Halo'' universe: [[Rampancy]] can happen to [[AI]]s in both universes.
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| Another interesting fact about Bungie is their use of the number seven. Many of these are more obvious than others, including [[343 Guilty Spark]] (7 x 7 x 7 = 343), [[Marathon#The Pfhor|Pfhor]] Battle Group 7, and their official fan club, the 7th Column, but some of these are amusingly subtle: the Marathon colony ship was a hollowed out [[wikipedia:Deimos (moon)|Deimos]] - first discovered in 1877 and first photographed in 1977.
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| Bungie as a company has developed its own complex and diverse mythology in addition to that in their games. Several of these include their 7-Step Plan for World Domination, the snack food Tijuana Mama (Containing "Mechanically separated chicken, pork hearts, and protein concentrate", and "300% Hotter!"), the decapitated head of a dog named Ling-Ling (Step Five in the World Domination plan), the entity that resides in their server named Disembodied Soul, the chronically drunk and aggressive webmaster of Bungie.net (Known for dressing as a gorilla with a floppy yellow cowboy hat, as well as disappearing for months on "HTML research missions" and answering the E-Mails of grammatically impaired fans), a cheap absorbent toy fish called the Soffish, and The Cup, the prize at the Bungie Winter Pentathlon (A tradition has emerged that the losing team, out of envy, steals the cup rather than let the winning team touch it. In fact, several Bungie employees doubt the actual existence of The Cup, as it has been stolen and hidden so many times they have never laid eyes on it). | |
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| ==Bungie Games==
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| * ''[[wikipedia:Gnop!|Gnop!]]'' (1990)
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| * ''[[wikipedia:Operation Desert Storm (computer game)|Operation Desert Storm]]'' (1991)
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| * ''[[wikipedia:Minotaur The Labyrinths of Crete|Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete]]'' (1992)
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| * ''[[wikipedia:Pathways Into Darkness|Pathways into Darkness]]'' (1993)
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| * ''[[Marathon]]'' (1994)
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| * ''[[Marathon|Marathon 2: Durandal]]'' (1995)
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| * ''[[Marathon|Marathon Infinity]]'' (1996)
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| * ''[[wikipedia:Myth The Fallen Lords|Myth: The Fallen Lords]]'' (1997)
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| * ''[[wikipedia:Myth II Soulblighter|Myth II: Soulblighter]]'' (1998)
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| * ''[[Wikipedia:Oni (game)|Oni]]'' (2001)
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| * ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'' (2001)
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| * ''[[Halo 2]]'' (2004)
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| * ''[[Wikipedia:Pimps At Sea|Pimps at Sea]]'' (joke)
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| ==Bungie Employees==
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| Notable Bungie employees include:
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| *[[Pete Parsons]]
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| *[[Joseph Staten]]
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| *[[Martin O'Donnell]]
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| *[[Frank O'Connor]]
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| == External Links ==
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| * [http://www.bungie.com Official homepage]
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| * [http://www.bungie.net/stats/ Official Halo 2 Stats page]
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| * [http://www.bungie.net Bungie's multiplayer-gaming portal]
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| * [http://www.bungie.org Unofficial Bungie fan site]
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| * [http://source.bungie.org ''Marathon'' source-code site]
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| * [http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/01/18/0819252&mode=thread&tid=117 ''Marathon 2'' under the] [[wikipedia:GPL|GPL]]
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| * [http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/06/19/1326236&mode=thread&tid=127 Bungie bought by Microsoft]
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| * [http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2000/Jun00/BungiePR.asp Microsoft to Acquire Bungie Software press release]
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| * [http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/09/21/1549251&mode=thread&tid=109 Microsoft unhappy with Bungie's use of Linux on servers]
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| * [http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/02/09/023204&mode=thread&tid=127 Source code for ''Myth 2''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s server released]
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| [[Category:Games]]
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