GRANT WOTTON

HALO:REACH GAME Spain Employee promo A great oddity exclusive to the EU branch of the UK retailer GAME , not many knew this game retail store actually has stores in the EU and AU too ! No piece goes without some history after all this is an archive, below is details on the videos and images attached enjoy the nostalgia trips 1: Westfield London had commissioned a group to totally redo a full side of their building for the build up the REACH’s launch, these guys hand painted murals across the exterior walls while a huge screen displayed gameplay and ran the TV ads you see next 2: SPARTAN CARTER A259 Gen3, and his journey from marine to Gen3 Spartan (this is when they stopped kidnapping kids and making clone replacements instead the best of the best and volunteers were selected through tests to boost the numbers of Spartans on field) 3: SPARTAN KAT B320 Gen3, her personal story of how she came to have a prosthetic arm Along with SPARTAN Thom A293 (NOBLE 6) Gen3 and his story prior to giving his life to destroy a covenant cruiser. (FYI this is the original noble 6 not the one we play as.) 4:Next once compiling HALO:REACH the final message is that of a heart breaker knowing full well this was their last game they made sure we knew it was made with love passion and dedication. Special thanks to my boy @happiestvintageonearth always making me spend money / trade and continuing the search for our joint UK largest archived collection. As always tagged #h _c_a #bungie #halo #haloreach

A seriously priceless item has landed at the ONI ARCHIVE. 2021 HALO was celebrating its 20th anniversary and with that, Microsoft commissioned the amazingly talented @ivatroj to make something GRAND. Her BIGGEST painting to date. Iva’s idea, a monumental ‘MASTER PIECE’ that would shadow all other forms in its place and knew .. from a previous piece of art back in 2016, it MUST also be pieced apart as “art takes itself too seriously” “I can’t wait to see where the pieces land” So from the MASTERPIECE, RAFFLES 250 pieces were cut into small pieces signed stamped and sealed GRAND PRIZES 1/10 pieces roughly 12inx12in showcasing much larger sections of the canvas. From the main canvas as you can imagine sections with such iconic moments were cut and signed for Microsoft execs. Iva’s MASTERPIECE however had a child whilst being painted to be shown at the @saatchi_gallery , half way through the masterpiece’s deadline a smaller original was painted (with detail to match the masterpiece) and to be presented at @museelouvre this piece truly making its mark in the art scene. Can you imagine visiting the louvre and from seeing the likes of Picasso , Leonardo da Vinci, Théodore Géricault and the others only to walk around the corner and see… a grand oil painting depicting action, comedy, Easter eggs from HALO?! Iva catches wind that it will be my birthday through our weekly chats, soon Iva knew what she wanted to do… Not only does she ensure a print of the original piece got to me BUT a piece that had been cut and put into the fold to be one of the GRAND PRIZE pieces made it back to herself and ensured that post a well deserved holiday they both be personally signed to me. From opening the parcel I couldn’t shut up about it to my partner explaining every detail, the MASTERPIECE itself and the sister piece in the louvre and Iva’s 3rd piece which was painted back in November “2D TRIBUTE PIECE” for her assistants whom she cared greatly for working on the MASTERPIECE. @ivatroj there is no limit to the amount of honor and gratitude I have for you. #halo #haloinfinite #xbox #halospotlight #HCS #MLG #roosterteeth #RvB #haloreach #halomcc

Halo:REACH UK launch event Tshirt and press/marketing exclusive cap This Tshirt was worn at Pax 2010 Halo:REACH promotional event where players could get hands on prior to the “open” BETA, The cap was exclusively given out to marketing leaders and early bird press representatives who attended lead up events such as PAX and others to the Launch of the game. Halo:REACH’s BETA only lasted for 17days and 2.7 million players participated in May, making it the largest console video game BETA test on record more than triple the size of the historic Halo 3 BETA. This included 2 modes invasion and generator defense(only released as a firefight game type post launch). "Global Battles" Was only seen and showcased at a panel for Reach at PAX 2010. For those that actively participated in a Halo:REACH matchmaking game, you would have unlocked a very exclusive item for your avatar, by jumping into halo waypoint you would be greeted by an unlock for a Halo:REACH BETA TESTER hoodie to slap on your avatar and flaunt to your friends who hadn’t scooped HALO:ODST for the limited BETA. Halo:REACH’s UK launch event was held at Trafalgar Square London 7:30am In front of Nelson’s column stood guard 2 fully kitted Spartans, (Carter-A259 and Jun-A266 waiting for their 3rd Noble-B312, the man behind helmet was Dan Schlund, Owner of Rocketman - a US Texas based hire firm that specializes in flying jet packs around for promotional and sport events. Around the launch of Halo: Reach, Bungie hoped to do some cross promotion with the The Colbert Report. Bungie artist Lorraine McLees even mocked up the Colbert themed images Lastly you see there a 17yr old me holding my midnight launch Halo:Reach XBOX360 after having been working at GameStation for the midnight launch I probably pulled an all nighter, then you have a 28yr old me holding the same console and still as much a fan as I ever was. Halo:REACH went on sale at 12:01 a.m. Sept. 14 #h _c_a

The ‘KATAKANA’ Tshirt Is one tshirt that I hunted for a while. Released on Bungie.Net in 2005, sporting the marathon logo and the splatter caution sign on the back. The front has “MARATHON FOR MAC” As around this time marathon was still running with live leaderboards for both the campaign and LAN from 1994 - 2011 During this time there has been several iterations of Marathon from PC/ console even to IOS exclusively Back in 1995 a mear 1year into release it won the Macworld Game Hall of Fame Award for the best network game of 1995. Jason jones at the time stated the game was even late for publishing because the team where having too much fun playing deathmatches. Many of the original leaderboard ranks for Marathon were added to halo via HALO:REACH after reaching general Grade4 several of the ranks later are directly from MARATHON. Being part of @halo history this is one tshirt that holds more history than most for marathon walked so Halo could run. Sporting the tshirt is @roosterteeth RVB creator @burnie . It’s always fun finding original photos of these now rare pieces being worn by the people who built the halo empire to what it’s know for by my generation. #halo #haloce #halo2 #halo3 #haloodst #haloreach #halo4 #haloguardians #haloforge #haloinfinite #xbox #xbox360 #xboxone

Flash Back Monday GameStation X OniArchive Let me take you down a very very distant road of history. From 2008 until 2014 when it was first picked up by the local council that GameStation VS GAME was a thing and that we held gaming nights. We’d hire out the local Roller City, set up a media rig and join forces with SONY store to supply us with monitors as we brought 16 of our own XBOX360s at first it was just a retail store only invite but over the next couple years word of mouth started and we got in touch with the council and a local org “BYTE NITE” that held events before. Come 2011 and we’re on! making it official with sign up sheets, posters, multimedia marketing and even going around the local middle / high schools to get sign ups. Myself and the Gamestation crew used our new ELITE CLUB marketing tshirts went to a local printing store and got them to be more personalized. None of us hold our original team tshirts anymore but we all put our memories down onto a template and we almost all had exactly the same templates thus we decided to get a company to remake our original tshirts but we chose to 1up it and go for hockey jerseys as they just looked far better and stood out. As this 2011 event was far more made public we managed to pick up short term sponsorships with monster energy and GAMESMASTER (UK tvshow/magazine) Unfortunately little to our knowing Gamestation was about to be acquired by our rivals GAME. Because BLOCKBUSTER who owned GameStation had officially been sold and closing up shop to 230+ stores leaving only a handful left (our being one of) but it was a bitter win as only a couple years later 2014 GAME officially took over and we as a team disbanded. We all got back in touch during Covid and managed to source some old merch as well as one of the boys having had the trophy in a box in the garage the whole time we had 2 other trophies 1 of which was made from a closed down Gamestation stores sign (this one we’re hunting for the most) None of us can get photos either lost to time but also once GAME took over all the remaining Gamestation site’s social media accounts they cleaned shop and wiped traces of GameStation from their accounts.

The converted Halo 3 Midnight Launch (UK variant) RVB Limited to a first come first served basis only sent to selected stores US is printed on Delta, however the blank (tshirt minus print) was a very poor quality and felt more like a cheap ring spun reprint the US variant does have a larger print on the front and back but the down side is the quality of the tshirt and I’ve seen some severe scratches out necks UK is printed on Gilden this was printed on a much thicker blank has a smaller print but sports better coloring (in my opinion) and due to the size of the print it looks crisper as the US seems blurred from being resized. The only downfall to the UK variant I’ve never seen a size larger than L I would sell a kidney for an XL or XXL Halo 3’s Midnight launch wasn’t without its controversy however, being that there was a whopping 1Million + players online within the midnight launch to following 19hrs of launch and grossed $170Million in the same 24hrs ! Buuuut the British government had other ideas with concern of the masses flooding the London high streets the government set forth a midnight launch BAN! That’s right Halo 3 in central London was banned to launch at midnight and those stores would have to accept to open only a couple hours earlier than the norm to catch up on the roll out Cities outside of London were given a much more looser ruling and were allowed to hold midnight launches including my GameStation (RIP) UK retail store Argos listed and sold copies 1 week prior to launch by mistake! Which led to the data getting copied and the ending of that game being posted online The US was caught up in the controversy too as the game's final testing copy codenamed "Epsilon" was leaked to the Internet months before the game's release date. Microsoft reacted to this leak by having the Xbox Live accounts of gamers caught playing the leaked copy banned until the year 9999!! Here’s a Timelapse of the OG (players online heatmap) which shows the quiet before the storm. I loved this map on the Bungie.net site and in game. #h _c_a #halo #halo3 #bungie #redvsblue

Bungie 30th Anniversary Tour Tshirt This “Tour tshirt” was obviously the most eye catching featuring the (retired 1992-1994) Logo with lightning throughout and on the back is a full (almost Il explain) developed line up from 1991-2021. Funny thing is this “legacy” isn’t accurate Bungie actually had another game under their wing and chronologically the first game Bungie developed was called “Gnop!” May 1st 1991 Which literally was just a clone of Pong!! That’s right a clone of the 1970s game played on Atari was the first brick laid for Bungie’s foundations. Gnop! Was solely developed and distributed by Bungie founder Alex Seropian for free. This also being a “pearl anniversary” herald Bungie to release a DLC pack for @destinythegame being several @halo inspired weapons and armor sets for all classes themed around the Marathon game characters. For the 10th and 20th anniversary Bungie released amazing legacy posters however for the 30th they didn’t possibly due to the Halo IP and master chief no longer being usable. I’ve added these for you to enjoy They also released a homage video, a collection of clips and legendary moments in time from us the community from games past to present. I’ve added it so enjoy We all remember that first run on marathon, the first time you felt badass playing as Konoko in Oni fighting for the TCTF, that first time you attempted Halo on legendary, your first raid on Destiny. Then as a community/ a family you can remember the meet ups the LAN parties, hauling that heavy as S* TV and Xbox round to your friends house and getting the living room looking like a Walmart / tesco value MLG set up. local tournaments, midnight launches and so on. So many memories which just flooded back to you now remember the gamers .. the Squads you ran through these events with and all the nights that turned into “oh shit I fucked up, suns up birds laughing out the window” it’s 5am you grab 2 hour sleep before school/work we’ve all done it. Here’s to the next 10 years Spartans and Guardians see you on the Ruby anniversary (40th) Thank you to the Grizzled ancients #h _c_a #Halo #halo2 #Halo3 #HaloREACH #HaloINFINITE #destiny2

Happy 15th Birthday you beautiful son of a grunt. Today marks the 15th year since @bungie blessed us with Halo3 and don’t you remember every great game you’d had to beg a friend who knew a friend that made montages and you’d have to get a capture card to get the footage for them so you could throw it on your MySpace To everyone wanting to have custom 360 faceplates of their gamer tag so they could rock them during our (looking back now very lack luster) amazing LAN gatherings Makes me absolutely devastated how we and the next generations will never have the midnight release experience like we had back in 2007. Nor the absolute hype train of promotional material flooding every aspect of a licensable market So many piece in this post so il make it quick RVB poster art Tshirt and poster (fun fact this poster was taken with in game theater mode and was actually one of only a handful of first images that had been released to show how H3 MP would look) H3 x Mountain Dew 5th place competition prize tshirt H3 UK RVB midnight launch first come first served bonus tshirt H3 x Mountain Dew GameFuel UK store manager promo tshirt I’ve included some images to get you in the feels we all remember the news when bungie and 343 confirmed the H3 servers would finally be shutting down in Jan2022 343 not wanting to carry the torch and with it all our Halo Bungie lineage. All those years of grinding to general (Gen 5* thank you very much) from then on the race was on to screenshot, download and capture all info you could before even logging into an xbox360 you’d realize your stats and unlocks in H3 had all been corrupted In April 2008 Bungie fooled Bungie.net users by implanting Mister chief into the global live player map Lastly I will forever support the ODST and from H3 to Infinite I’ve always used the same build / colors. I’m happy to say I was logged in and played in the H3s original server final days was a fun time trying help each other in all lobbies to complete the 79 achievements before forever being locked out. Rest easy old friend. #H _C_A #bungie #halo3

Happy birthday to the greatest addition to the franchise with references found in the “art of halo” book. You can now officially build this concept ODST in INFINITE with the Rakshasa core and grab the SACRIFICE chest from the store and use the ARTAIUS helmet. Much info can be found on my other ODST post go hit that up too. The Tshirts shown 2009 ODST concept art promo (Isaac Hannaford) Bungie employee ODST spellout (Lorraine McLees (Bungie OG) gifted to Chris Huisman (JoyRide Studios OG) who I then acquired directly from him EU Game store spell out Bungie ODST tour Bus 2009 employee promo E3 Bungie FireFight Employee promo RVB PAX 2008 promo Bungie’s second to last contractual but also last hoorah was ODST Joe staten and the team worked as a focused and committed team more so than ever here as this was the game style and story telling they wanted to deliver in halo games but we’re restricted to the Chief run and gun. Not many people realize even though the game is labeled as Halo3 and uses the same engine the entirety of the events in game actually line up with Halo 2 ! Try running both H2 and ODST next to each other and you’ll see the events mirror. And bonus for those of you that paid for a preorder and got Sgt Johnson as DLC you for the first time got to play as a Spartan older SGT J (MKI) than you were used to Chief (MKII) Noble (MKIII) he is also kinda considered to be a clone due to him being in 2 locations at the same time (not confirmed) You (could but no longer) find a subtle pied piper easter egg in game referencing “Destiny Awaits” little did Microsoft know after ODST and REACH landed and Bungie cut the cord officially they were ready to build (from the Halo Reach game engine yeah !…Destiny1 was built in Halo Reach’s Tiger engine) 3/4 of the main characters are voiced by the Fire fly cast !! So if you’re a nerd like me you love how the convos bounce like it does on the show Last but not least that Trailer the one that opened all our eyes to what could be the future of the landfall Halo movie. #h _c_a #ODST #halo #helljumper

The GODLY GRAIL Konoko Oni Promo tee All history of the game is on my other post (so go give that one some love too) This game and the team behind it are solely responsible for all the memories we had on H2 and H3 as Oni was supposed to launch with multiplayer however due to the @rockstargames and Take2 take over along side Microsoft buying bungie out of debt from the game breaking bug that killed Myth 2 the @bungie WEST team were told West division would be liquidated and to make the choice , make your own future or join Bungie in a corporate takeover. ultimately the team left oni without its multiplayer capability so it could ship sooner and get to work on Halo2 (yes PS2 could use your dial up to play online) Throughout the years of halo games and Bungie.net updates Oni was always included and used as references and Easter eggs Photos included MacWorld 1999 (where Oni was press released and playable on the multiplayer build) literally only the people whom played Oni on this day would ever experience it. Brent Pease (Lead engineer’s) office/cubicle in the Bungie West studio (notice the Ghost in the shell posters in which Oni was heavily based) Michael Evans wearing the Blue promo in a couple press photos with many OG Bungie staff. I cannot believe my luck, in 1 year I’ve managed to pull together the Quattro of Oni promo tees, mega poster from EU Comic store warehouse, 1/2000 exclusive #1 issue comic. This “hero stance” was looking like it would be lost in time given I had only seen the white large print twice (including the one I have) Until @dragonslave.vtg who hit ME up! The dude hit me up knowing I was on the search and said he knew who had it and would middle man the sale and postal absolute legend !! And huge appreciation and honorable mention to @xveranica for the amazing illustration having taken my page, my Bungie fanboy’ism and references she nailed my Spartan. Now framed and on my desk. #halo #haloCE #halo2 #halo3 #haloODST #haloreach #xbox #playstation #bungie #rockstargames #onigame #h _c_a

An absolute amazing commission done by @xveranica she took all my inspo and history and unleashed her creativity like a beast and birthed my heritage insignia. It is the best testament to my personal gaming history. I would absolutely recommend any/everyone to get over to her page and show love and DM for a commission! These small content creators and artists they’re the ones doing the most in the community and need to be in the spotlight. I will forever be faithful to the best civilian job I ever had (RIP GameStation) absolute killer times in my life and working with the best individuals and gaming life experience I had they’ll will always be apart of me. Everyone knows ODST has always been my main Halo franchise favorite and every single game where MP was customizable I would always grind for the ODST sets. I would always go for the same colors the OG black/dark grey with that red accent. I am truly humbled to say this is my history and will be framing it and ensuring it’s at my desk from then onwards everything about it pops and having the GameStation ELITE insignia as the background is the cherry. Part of my history with GameStation was being sponsored by them and doing yearly challenges and charity run gaming events working with the local council and police as a “keep kids off the streets campaign” in 2011 was the first of many years of it. I’m sad to say no photos exist of this (that I can recall/research however You can type “2011 WGC byte nite “ and should be able to read the old local news for the event With help from a local scaffolding company , Sony store, Game store and our GameStation store lending used consoles tvs and other equipment we managed to set up a LAN event It was our local version of HCS / MLG Halo championships. With over 1,500+ gamers in attendance. Shot of the Game store was my GameStation store before we were liquidated and brought by GAME the company made us go very corporate and uniform there was no individuality and anyone / every that remembers GameStation remembers how unique the staff and vibe was compared to GAME. #halo #gamestation #gameuk #MLG #HCS #halo2 #halo3 #haloreach #haloodst #haloinfinite #bungie #xbox

HAPPY BUNGIE DAY!! 7-7-22 Since 07-07-07 (Bungie’s first celebration day) bungie has celebrated their favorite number every year To commemorate this I decided to finally post my original first bungie day celebration tshirt they ever released. Along with a look into my passion from my younger days working at Gamestation (RIP) and coming home to play on my limited edition Reach console the mrs at the time had to take a photo of my excitement after having worked from 9am and being at the store for hours closing up then setting up for the REACH MIDNIGHT LAUNCH getting everyone on the hype for what was the prime halo game of our generation wasn’t until I got home around 2am, with snacks from the 24hr tesco and hitting up xbox live chat to make sure the squad was on then making the choice to unplug the 360 H3 legendary edition and plug in the new generation and having tingles as the power button and disc tray openings special sound effects played ! These days really were the ones us gamers can’t get back it was a totally different experience Being at and hosting every midnight release since halo 2 to halo reach with what I can honestly say was the best company in the industry had been an absolute trip! I can’t believe no photos exist prior to my reach days but it was all about being in the moment back then and not slamming social media. Forward 12 years and I was still claiming souls on my OG reach console until bungie finally pulled the plug on the original servers finally cutting the cord to all those years. I look forward to the next years that come from halo and I hope they do us fans proud as a father I can now bring my children on a gaming journey and it will be a fun future watching them have kind of the same experiences and moments I had as a gamer. Hope you all managed to jump onto your favorite game type this day wether it’s MCC or infinite or if you are able to beat the system and host a local lan party with several consoles and tvs all set up with your squad. #halo #haloce #halo2 #halo3 #haloodst #haloreach #halo4 #haloinfinite #bungie #bungiefoundation #bungieday #343industries #gamer #xbox #xcloud #xboxlive