A Chinese news program recently reported that a U.S. military program featuring one of the most popular video game characters of all time, Halo's Master Chief, was proof that America is creating full-body-suit armor for its troops.
As Kotaku reported, Chinese news program New Defense Observations (a state-run program about the military) aired a segment detailing America's "smart armour" program on Oct. 19. At first, host Li Li, a professor at PLA National Defense University, compared the technology to the suit worn by Tony Stark in the "Iron Man" movies and comics. Then, the segment shows a photo of the "U.S. Military Concept Armour." This photo was of a fan-made Master Chief costume put together by the 405th, a community of Halo fans that make costumes and props based on the series.
The host and producers of the news program are evidently not Halo fans, as they reported that this Halo cosplay gear was indeed a high-tech military prototype.
"If this armour was made for units or small groups it could be done, but it would be too expensive for mass roll-out...It's unknown how effective such armour would be in actual combat in protecting the soldier...We will have to wait and see," said Li Li on the program.
Clearly this is an oversight on the part of the new program directors, as well as the Chinese government, which approves the content that appears on state-run television. While video game consoles were banned in China until only recently, it looks as though many who watched the program have seen this fan costume for what it really is. It will be interesting to see if the channel that ran the segment admits to the error.
When not appearing on Chinese television, Master Chief is busy saving the 26th century from various alien threats. Currently, the Halo series is being developed by 343 Industries, and a new title in the series is scheduled to appear sometime in 2014. It is unclear if this new Halo title will be Halo 5 or a spin-off title for the game. The game developer has confirmed that Halo 4-6 will be a new trilogy in the series, so that may indicate that the game scheduled for 2014 will in fact be Halo 5.