Halo 3: ODST controller pics hold clues into New Mombasa mysteries

by Christopher Grant on Jun 2nd 2009 8:15PM

prepare to drop ,,, into our gallery of controller pics

At a press event last night, Bungie's Joseph Staten teased that the Halo 3: ODST controller's cryptic text should provide some clues into the mysteries of New Mombasa (if he did his job correctly, he said). Since our ability to decipher Bungie's clues has always left something to be desired (what's a Master Chief?), we thought we'd take some close-ups and ask The Internet to give it a shot.

So, The Internet, tell us: what secrets does this controller hold? We'll scrub through your comments and pluck out the best theories, so grab your magnifying glasses and deerstalker caps and get to work!

Halo 3: ODST controller

Tags: Bungie, e3-2009, Halo-3-ODST, Joseph-Staten, Microsoft, peripheral, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (85)

It's code for "buy our game".

Awesome, you read in between the lines, i was LMAO on this one...

Could the numbers be coordinates to a local gamestop? :O!

ITS A TRAP!

Clearly an IP Address for gamespot.com

I believe you mean "Buy teh Haloz"

Kikowani is a station on an Island in New Mombasa.

Lol .. Word. I cannot wait. I'm definitely going to look around for clues though. Forums `& stuff. I'm not totally into the storyline because I don't really enjoy the Halo story that much, but the storyline in ODST makes everything so much better and makes me even wanna start getting to know everyone and everything about the game a little more. ;)

9.22.09 .. Be there.

it's code for "I can haz recon?!"

hmmm nesquik or ovaltine?

"Coming soon to the PS3."

Kikowani is a place in Mombasa and the number next to it could be the date of when it occured

I googled KIKOWANI and it looked like it was a graveyard/term for something in a place called Mombasa... hmm Mombasa... New Mombasa... hmm. UNSC is also United Nations Security Council... coincidence, I think not.

UNSC=United Nations Space Command in the Haloverse.

When I plugged 23 03 28 30 into Google maps it game me a place in Algeria... could lead to something else I guess. It could be where you need to travel to in the game. It did say in the trailer that you landed in the wrong spot. He could have landed in either New Mombasa or Algeria and have to travel to the other place.

Ick, sounds like Resident Evil 5. Too much traveling Africa Lately.

Hopefully it says "FIXED D-PAD."

Good luck with that. :)

LOL agreed. When the hell is MS going to fix thier shitty d-pads?? :(

I like their D-pad.. It reminds me of the Sega Dreamcast... The controller looks awesome too! I just don't know if I want to dish out 100 bucks for it...

I got nothing I just wanted to comment...lol

The Leet speak looking stuff on image 4 spells out "jaganatha". That's actually sanskrit for Juggernaut or lord of the universe. Another definition said that the root "nath" means "master" (I thought that was a neat coincidence.) Check out wiki on it.

Sorry, this is just a test for a new account.

>:(

WTF?!?! Does it like register your IP adress or something?

Ok, this is starting to piss me off, I am using a different browser, under new readers, a different name, and a different email.

Still not working? Try again.

I got it working :)

Now I'm just wait for my icon to appear. For some reason on my other one it said I didn't have a profile so I couldn't change my icon I wish I could transfer all my previous comments though.

Sorry for so many comments. One more test.

couldn't you test on like a old article or something?

dumbshit...

Does it really matter? It's not like articles don't die withing a die anyways, you probably won't even see this message. You're just making it a bigger deal than it really is.

Drama queen...

*within a day

you do know you could have just changed your name, without making a new account, right? i do it all the time.

It wouldn't let me. For some reason it said I didn't have a profile.

Hey, idiot,

SHUT UP

maybe GPS coordinates of where new mombasa is?

Means there's another Limited Edition Elite coming.. I was hoping for a ODST black/deep grey one.. especially with the bigger HDD that was rumoured a while back..

23 days, 3 hours, 23 minutes and 30 seconds left until Kikowani is glassed and Mombasa can be rebuilt into New Mombasa.

going even further with the "jaganatha" leet thing in image 4. the number "108" that follows it, is apparently very symbolic in the Hindu religion. But what would ancient sanskrit names and number have to do with the world of Halo? hmmm..

Perhaps the fact that Mombasa (the largest city in Kenya) is right on the Indian ocean and that there are numerous Indian immigrants living there?

In the gameplay trailer, on the Spartan Laser, the symbol above the 'select' button is on the Laser.

The secret is that ODST stands for "Oh Damn, Spartan Time!"

The message is that this game will leave you waiting for Reach, which will have tons of Spartans.

Why didn't they just leave the controller straight green? I would have bought the damn thing if it wasn't for all the writing and lines on it.

Recap of what I posted in the picture's comments:

Picture # 4: Typing QTA XII/VI into google brings up some entries about solar energy and surface meteorology in quetta, pakistan and la quinta, california. Just typing in QTA, I found a page listing acronyms, and there are (out of the numerous results) four possibilities, one of which stands out in particular. QTA means Quick Turn Around, Quality Trait Analysis, Qualification Test Article, and lastly (and most importantly) it is a HAM Radio Q signal meaning "disregard". So, "QTA (disregard) XII/VI (12/6 [12÷6])". Possible meaning of "disregard 2".

sources: http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/QTA
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=QTA+XII%2FVI&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

Picture # 5: Kikowani is a village/city in Mombasa, typing it into google the first result is Kikowani cemetery. I'm guessing that the following numbers are longitude/latitude, but I haven't figured that out exactly quite yet.

Picture # 7: Go to http://wikimapia.org/3497572/Kikowani-Cemetry-Makaburini
and zoom out two times. Then take this picture into a seperate window and resize the two windows so that you can see both this and the map at once. The lines on the controller look roughly analogous to the roads/landmarks around Kikowani cemetery, no?

Can anyone else get any further with what I've found out? I'm still working, but more heads are better than mine.

K92.28.D003303.DD below right stick (best readable on image 3), is also discussed on B.Net forums in regards to the "Keep It Clean" wallpapers, meaning "No Public Access"

Bottom left corner of controller: "55.6992.3840" same situation. Sighted on pictures of SI again. Also, if Google Maps: mid-ocean between Scotland and Denmark.

Can anyone figure out what the lettering is on both the handles, below the A and B button with the two arrows pointing at it, and above the X button?

Yeah yeah yeah great, but what about a helmet edition?!?!

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Halo 3: ODST controller pics hold clues into New Mombasa mysteries

Halo 3: ODST controller

Reader Comments (85)

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