"We conducted a poll here at Blend Games to see if gamers could tell the difference between late alpha (pre-beta) shots of Halo 3 and gold shots of Halo 3. It’s probably not surprising that the results prove that gamers honestly can’t tell the difference between the various stages of development for the game"
"For a limited time, you'll get three Xbox 360 Platinum Hits for the price of two. Offer valid February 7, 2010 through February 13, 2010, or while supplies last, when shipped and sold by Amazon.com. Limit one free Platinum Hit per household. To qualify, check out with three of the Xbox 360 Platinum Hits listed below in your cart. The price of the third qualifying Platinum Hit of equal or lesser value will be discounted during check out."
"Microsoft has today subtly revealed a redesign of the Xbox 360’s Classics range cover artwork. With the release of new artwork for the Halo 3 Classics retail package, a title which has been available as part of the budget range of Xbox 360 software since March 2009, Microsoft has suggested a revision of the branding may be on the cards."
"Deciding the victor in terms of unique users that have logged-on to play online, Halo 3 remains the most popular Xbox LIVE title of the 2009 calendar year. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 take second and third place respectively, while Call of Duty: World at War and Gears of War 2 manages to round-out the top five. Resident Evil 5, however, has been split into two entries – that of the North American and European release, and that of the Japanese title unde..."
Though you may think you've had bad experiences with glitchy software and hardware, nothing compares to this video posted from a Halo 3 Major League Gaming match recently, in which an xbox 360 failure seriously impacted the game’s outcome.
"The M12 ‘Warthog’ LRV is an A-reg 1984 Land Rover Defender 110, rescued from the GumTree 4×4 yard before its eventual scrapping due to MoT failure. Rebuilt by Props Studios, the vehicle has been fitted with an entirely new body and lifted suspension, along with as a heap of other modifications. It’s thought that the vehicle will arrive in London in full working order."
Did you ever wonder why The Xbox 360 didn't have more than a 100 friend capacity? Well, it's because of Bungie's Halo 2. Microsoft has the capability of having more than 100 people per friends list, but the original Xbox's LIVE is standing in it's way. But they can't just cut off the LIVE for the Xbox seeing as thousands of people still play the ever popular Halo 2 online. So really, it's mainly up to the gamers discretion on whether or not they should cut the power on the original Xbox's LIV...
"We all know how big a nerd Marc Ecko is; he says it himself all the time. In fact he loves video games so much he helped produce his own game called Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. It was released three years ago and received decent reviews. His love for video games doesn’t stop there; today Ecko has released a Limited Edition line of Halo T-shirts."
"They have a fantastic night planned for all Xbox 360 fans and Casual Gamers alike, to play some of the best games on the Xbox 360 console. Some of the games include… Guitar Hero World Tour, Halo 3, Street Fighter IV, Virtua Tennis 2009, Pro Evolution Soccer, Sacred 2, Harry Potter and a lot more.
There will also be a raffle where the main prize is an Xbox 360 Pro and a bunch of games with all money raised going to the Royal Children's Hospital.
This is a FREE event but booking is requ..."
For those who've been wanting to get their hands on the Recon Armor, you can get your shot on July 7 during the Bungie Day event. Apart from this information, they've also revealed the playlist that will be featured during the 24 hour event. Instead of going with the usual 7-on-7 games, they're changing the format to a 4v4. Other than this, there will 32 community-made map variants during the event.
Those of you who've been following news on the latest Halo title about to hit shelves might remember that back in the early stages of the game, Bungie had announced that they wouldn't charge gamers 60 bucks for the game. However, retailers have shown to be charging $59.99 for the game and $99 for the premium pack which features the Halo 3: ODST controller. So, what's changed since then? According to Bungie, they've added a lot more content than they had initially planned back when the first a...
Remember the fuss we caused with that Bayonneta: God of War killer article? That was fun, wasn't it?
Guerilla Games' (Killzone 2) Managing Director Herman Hulst is on our side with this whole thing, introducing some democracy into the mix.
Basically, for those that still bother with this 'franchise X killer' nonsense, grow up, cause the people that make these games sure aren't doing it!
"Presumably in anticipation of the Resident Evil 5 Console Bundle due to arrive next Friday, GAME have reduced the price of their Xbox360 Elite Consoles by more than 13%."
"Saturday night, while many of us were stuffing food into our faces, plenty of folks were still playing Halo 3. At precisely 6:36pm PST, in a three minute and nineteen second game of Infection on Foundry, four players participated in Halo 3's one billionth match.
One Billion. It's a giant number, one that's difficult to understand without the proper context. Our first thought was to put it into perspective by comparing Halo 3's total games played with its predecessor, Halo 2, a title tha..."
"This was brought to my attention by BrandonCarlson on Twitter. Turns out that Microsoft might be overcharging JUST a tad for the new Halo 3 Mythic map pack. I'm sure that it's just a mistake, but it's a pretty funny one. Check it out!"
"Being an ardent Halo (check out our Halo 3 review) fan I have been patiently awaiting the release of the new Mythic Map Pack that Bungie have been cooking for the better part of the last six months. Ive been teased with the weekly updates hinting on the layout and design of the maps and was overjoyed when they were finally revealed.
So you can imagine my excitement when I got my hands on an early code so I can write these impressions. After giving them a good bash it would be simple for ..."
"So, when you've got a new computer game to plug what do you? Easy, you trawl the UK to find UK's hottest female Halo fan.
And after a rather vague selection process which just might have involved wandering round a few modelling agencies, Xbox decided on 25-year-old Amanda Johnstone from South London, a girl who likes nothing more than 'being snuggled up in bed with her Xbox controller, playing Halo to help take her away from her daily stresses.' Halo duvet cover and pillow case set natural..."
World renowned machinima series Red vs Blue is back with a new season, following on almost directly from where it left off after mini series Reconstruction. Part 1 has already been uploaded and the gags come quick and fast, you don't need to like Halo to enjoy this entertaining romp.
OXCGN contributor gives her impressions of the first Australian Cyber League's event for 2009. The Halo 3 Lan held in Brisbane Queensland Australia.
There was $AU3000 up for grabs and clans from around Australia attended, include the one that came 4th in the WCG's shoot out in Germany last year.
Slip over and have a look through, you might see some friends in the pics
"We are waiting to hear back from Microsoft on whether this initiative is a direct response to the case of Daniel Petric, a 17 year-old Ohio resident who was convicted on Monday of killing his mother and wounding his father."
"The problem comes when you go back and look at your list of achievements and see that there are some that are worth 30, 50, 100 or 150 points. Those are the ones you want. You probably also make the assumption if you dont look at the list that some tasks would be worth a lot. For example, you would think, that completing 50 horde waves would be worth 100 points or at least 50. Its not easy to do, and you need to have four or five players that work together and stick through all the waves..."
Remember that story we read in October 2008 about a 17-year-old kid who shot his parents because they took away Halo 3? His lawyers attempted a video game defense, saying his addiction and youth made him less culpable. Luckily, the pleas judge wasn't hearing any of it and tossed the defense.
"The case against 17-year-old Daniel Petric, who is accused of killing his mother and shooting his father in the head, could be in the hands of a judge today to decide on a verdict.
Petric's lawyers put on a very short defense Tuesday - a handful of friends, family and other character witnesses. They based their defense on what they described as Petric's video-game addiction."
"Daniel Petric was so angry that his father would not allow him to play the violent video game Halo 3 that he killed his mother and shot his father, then tried to make it appear to be a murder-suicide, prosecutors told a Lorain County judge this morning in the boy's murder trial."
"Desirai and John are big-time "Halo" players. She games under the name SickNDeHead. He plays as PsychoVandal. They met when she lived in New York and he was in Florida. She'd become Xbox Live friends with his roommate, and they slowly started to play games together, regularly. When he didn't show up online one day during the time they usually played, she sent him a message and her phone number.
"I was drawn to her laugh," John said in a phone interview with MTV News earlier this week. "I h..."
"Here's Dude Huge's advice:
Use your smoke grenades to incapacitate him and then rush in with a chainsaw finish.
The one two punch of melee plus shotgun is always a good thing.
When in doubt, bring up Braid and how trippy it was. Hes likely to start spouting and become distracted.
On to Bungie, whose analysis of Soulja Boy's tactics and tendencies is spot on and filled to the brim with win.
In a one-on -one scenario with Soulja Boy, youre dealing wit..."
"Sumthing Else Music Works, Inc., through its licensing relationship with Microsoft Game Studios, has today announced Halo Trilogy The Complete Original Soundtracks featuring the award-winning original music scores by Bungie Audio Director Martin O'Donnell and Co-Composer Michael Salvatori plus four preview tracks from the forthcoming Real-Time Strategy game Halo Wars, composed by Ensemble Studios Audio Director Stephen Rippy. Halo Trilogy The Complete Original Soundtracks is released to..."
More details are emerging about Bungie's fall 2009 title, Halo 3: Recon. New details show that there will be a sort of squad play involved, but nothing like anyone was looking for. It mentions briefly the idea of an open world experience that you explore with a rookie ODST, which leads you to discover the fate of the city and of your squad mates.
A crossover between Lionhead and Bungie bears strange fruits. Available with the Limited Edition version of Fable 2, you can don your very own set of MJOLNIR Spartan armor, complete with a plasma sword and go chop up some Brutes...whoops I mean bandits.
"The battle for supremacy begins - NOW. Genius Products, LLC and B1 Games today announced that the first-ever board game based on Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie's best-selling Halo property - Halo Interactive Strategy Game - has shipped to retail outlets nationwide. Bringing the Halo universe to a broader audience through numerous family-friendly features..."
It's official, PR director Brian Jarrard in a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz revealed that after Halo Recon, the expansion to Halo 3 is released Bungie will be developing no more games for the Halo franchise. And will instead move onto other projects, two of which are already under way. Of course he then makes quite a few non-committing remarks about following the fanbase and all that, so I wouldn't be surprised if we get to "Finish the Fight" again.
"At a ridiculous hour this morning (4:00am GMT, to be precise), Corporate Vice President of XboxLIVE! John Schappert kicked off the Tokyo game Show 2008. Opening the exhibition with a keynote speech entitled A Canvas for the World, Schappert revealed a number of noteworthy additions to the Xbox360 portfolio.
The New Xbox Experience was served with the additional details concerning the predicted..."
At their conference at the Tokyo Game Show starting today, Microsoft has announced some games headed their way to the Xbox 360:
I'm not referring to McCain vs. Obama, but Brock vs. Hermes in the Maricopa County District 1 Supervisor race. Ignoring the fact that none of these kids are probably qualified for the position- Brock decides to launch a smear campaign against Hermes, citing his 'Halo Addiction' as one of his 'qualifications'. That was his ace in the hold, not the fact that "Hermes is reported as "DEFENDANT FAILED TO APPEAR" at four court appointments", no the Halo thing is much more important.
Worth a look...
The guys over at Pwn or Die have done their best to photoshop Alaskan Governor turned potential Vice President Sarah Palin into some of our favorite video games as some of our favorite ladies.
From Cortana in Halo to Meryl in MGS, and even Samus and Lara Croft - it is worth peek for a laugh.
"Gearbox has modeled the adventuring and questing after the likes of Diablo and the shooting after Halo. So you can pretty much bet that a lot of questing in Borderlands will render loot-runs and adventuring much like Diablo III."
Yesterday, the Bungie trailer that was released got opened up frame by frame and in a white font were the words "Maddie, where are you?". People in the UK might have been thinking of Madeleine McCann, a young girl who disappeared on a family vacation.
Bungie quickly took action, saying in this thread on their official site that the phrase has nothing to do with her.
"Only a few moments ago, Bungie published a new revelation on their website, bungie.net. Since early this morning, a strange homepage appeared with a countdown timer ending at approximately 3:07pm GMT today - marking the third anniversary of Halo 3's original unveiling. At this time, a new trailer was launched. Exactly what the trailer is for remains a mystery, but I'm sure the Electronic Theatre Forums will be flooded with guesses soon enough..."
New achievements have come out for Halo 3, it will be available to update this Tuesday. There are ten new achievements in total, giving you 250 for all of them. Here are the achievements:
We all know the tragic incident where a boy shot himself while trying to imitate Halo.
Dick Ward over at Xbox Focus has a few comments on the whole situation which should not be taken lightly - and should be heard, listened to, and understood - by gamers, parents, and legislators.
For those who don't know, the Large Hadron Collider is a proton accelerator which scientists hope will help them discover just what exactly happened after the Big Bang occured.
But it seems that the scientists behind the Collider have grown sick of people misplacing their d's and r's and so decided to hold a poll for the public to vote for a new, catchier name. Today the results of said poll were announced and the new name is; "Halo".
In the past, box art was clean and simple, such as the Atari 2600's. Nowadays, we have these amazing designs for box covers, but what if the games we play today had the same covers of the Atari 2600? the-minusworld has created some, such as Halo 3 and No More Heroes.
There's more in the source for you to check out as well.
Another alleged videogame related death. This time involving the popular Xbox shooter Halo. 11 year old Johnson Creek boy Nimm was apparently a big fan of Halo, even taking a liking to firearms after playing the futuristic FPS. While at home skipping school Nimm was apparently trying to imitate moves from the game with his .22 caliber rifle (a common pastime for the child). However he did not obviously grasp that a round could still be loaded in the chamber even when the magazine ejected and ...
"
Bungie confirmed in their 8/22/08 weekly update that there in fact will not be a new map editor for Halo 3 - in spite of the rumors and commotion surrounding the issue. The rumors were started by over zealous fans who over analyzed Bungies GC08 announcements, minor hints towards a future Halo 3 project taken too far.
Read the full article to see exactly what Bungie has in store for Halo 3 fans this September - at this point in time.
The announcement was pulled from E3 2008, and the reaction to the early details would make it seem like Bungie made the right decision to pull the information out of the conference. Early details on the Halo 3 Expansion project were leaked by a Treyarch spokesperson; things such as swimming, flammable environments and more open-ended maps didn't excite the fanboys.
Read the full article to understand why fanboys aren't in favor of the expansion.
For all of you who cannot afford a video capture card (Or do not know how to use one) GameVee: Grab is the perfect utility for you.
It can take your Halo 3 Theater videos and bring them online with ease.
Now everyone can publish their 16 person Laser kills, Rube Goldberg Forges, and Fragtastic sticks from across the map.
On Tuesday, July 29th, lawyer and Microsoft game developer Melissa Batten, 36, was fatally shot by her husband, Joseph Batten in what was a murder-suicide in a parking lot in Redmond, Washington.
There were reports of the couple's marriage falling apart, with Melissa Batten filing for a protection order against her estranged husband after a series of events that had culminated in the latter acquiring and brandishing a gun to the late Mrs. Batten. The order was granted one week prior to th...
At the 2008 Developer Conference and Expo yesterday, Damian Isla, who wrote the AI script for Halo 2 and currently works on Halo 3. Isla talked about how tough it was to develop the AI for Halo 3, how it has changed from the first game, and what challenges they have to deal with in their next Halo game.
The Article: An incompetent Lieutenant tries to pin even more crimes on videogames, while admitting that it is "just one of his personal theories, as in not fact."
The Real Issue: Ever since the dawn of competitive internet gaming, this has been a tactic used by pedophiles to score pictures of their victims. It basically is internet prostitution.
Bungie couldn't make it to E3 due to some changes in their schedule and now we have some details on what Bungie was going to show. They were going to show a one minute knockem down" trailer to end the media part of Microsoft's press conference. After that, Bungie was going to show off the game on Wednesday.
"Heres something to add to all the E3 drama this week about Bungie Studios canceled/postponed/hyped debut of a new game
In an interview shot for MTV News on Tuesday, Microsofts head of Xbox business Don Mattrick, confirmed to me that Bungie is indeed working on a new Halo game of some sort for Microsoft.
I had been asking Mattrick about the lack of Halo news at E3. He said that Microsofts Monday press conference was already loaded with content and so any announcements f..."
"Oh man no full retail releases for you this week, readers. Indeed, the schedule is empty until next month here in the UK. On the plus side that means youve now got the chance to pick up some summer bargains, revisit some old favourites or just bump up that gamerscore, but any of you looking for anything new and exciting will have a wait on your hands. It rather scuppers anyone who writes a weekly 360 article for a popular new gaming website. Bugger."
Cold Storage, a reinvisioned version of Chill Out from the original Halo, was released earlier this week on Bungie Day.
Two Geekscape members examine the map and explain it down to every little detail. With this kind of analysis - it should be hard not to own on this classic map.
In the link there are great descriptions as well as images showing you where everything is.
Bungie have recently revealed that on July 7th their going to be pulling out all the stops. With the release of a variety of Halo 3 content.
First up is a new map called Cold Storage which will be available for free. Next up is the dropping of the price of the Legendary Map Pack from 800 to 600 Microsft points. But that's not all, also available will be a Halo 3 playlist which claims to go back to 2001 or something like that. And finally 7 exclusive new gamerpictures that will be available...
"Now our source is really sticking her/his/its neck out.
As we told you earlier, our inside woman/man/thing got hold of some pretty exciting news.
News that Bungie was already hard at work developing what will be Halo 4.
Now were told that this will be announced officially at E3.
The prior news was probably like a weatherman predicting a hurricane sometime somewhere. This starts the ticking clock for what would end up being a pretty big deal."
If you're a big fan of Halo, no doubt you'll be wondering what will happen to the series now that Master Chief's story is over. It looks like Bungie/Microsoft have plans for more Halo games, but fans might feel a little wary at the ideas that the companies have come up with...
Microsoft recently released a marketing survey asking fans what they want to see in the next Halo game and, by the looks of it, a "family friendly" Halo, a Halo racing game, and a LEGA Halo aren't out of the question...
"Across the pond, consumers prefer racing and soccer games to blockbuster action, adventure and first-person shooter games that are the staple of the U.S. diet. Indeed, Europeans view such games as "evil," says Cevat Yerli, chief executive of Crytek, a German game developer that specializes in first-person shooters."
XboxFocus goes through the Ten Commandments governing over the sacred ways of the Xbox Live Achievements. The things that everyone is gunning for, no matter how ridiculous the means to achieve them are.
"Like any good video game research, which generally uses dated games for its findings, the journal of Cyberpsychology & Behavior studied the outcome of 1,347 online matches, using Unreal Tournament 2004.
The results proved less neutral than gamers might expect, with red players winning 55 percent of the time over blue. According to neuroscientist Mihai Moldovan of the University of Copenhagen, this is because red is a distracting color for men, thus blue teams struggle more for kills.
A ..."
There have been speculations that Grand Theft Auto IV on the Playstation 3 was running on 630p, but recently, it has been confirmed to be running on 640p. So the game is running at sub-HD, just like Halo 3. Comparing to the Xbox 360 version of the game, which is running at 720p with 2xAA(PS3 is 0xAA).
"Following Bungie's split from Microsoft, it looked like it was over for both the Halo developer and their corpse-humping shooter for a while, but according to the latest round of magazine rumours a new Halo is already well underway (we can hear the hype machine being prepped already).
According to US mag Electronic Gaming Monthly, Bungie's already prepping a Halo spin-off for release in late 2009.
Supposedly, it's a third-person "action/adventure shooter hybrid," that takes place before..."
"UPDATE: Microsoft just contacted MTV Multiplayer with an official statement, confirming the prospective hires will work on Peter Jacksons Halo project.
A Peter Jackson-helmed Halo project was announced at X06 in Barcelona, said a Microsoft spokesperson. Since then, Microsoft Game Studios has been hard at work collaborating with Peter Jackson and Bungie on the development of that project. At this time, its necessary to grow the internal team to keep pace with development. Bung..."
You may have heard of Sony releasing a PS3 + GTA IV bundle, but that is yet to be confirmed. Microsoft seems to be countering this threat with their own bundle, consisting Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV. They also seem to be offering the 'Arcade' version of the system which does not include a hard drive. Theyll retail for $499.95 (Arcade) and $679.95 (Pro).
"Call of Duty 4 vs. Halo 3. According to our sister site, Next-Gen, these games aren't just this generation's most popular shooters. They're the two best-selling games of any genre and of any platform. How could we not pit them against each other?"
Master Chief: The savior of all mankind.
No, we're not talking about Jesus or some other divine being being behind the costume. We're talking about how Microsoft tried to portray Master Chief in building the hype for Halo 3 beyond just the gamers, but to the mainstream media and culture as well. Without making him look like some reckless cowboy, they plastered pictures of Master Chief everywhere they could to get him recognized - magazines, Internet sites, television commercials, probab...
GameSpot has got their hands on the upcoming Halo 3 DLC and have given it a nice test drive. They are even courteous enough to provide us with a nice demo of their testing.
Head to the source for more info, or click here to see the demo.
"Internet phenomenon Rooster Teeth, creators of the hit series Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles, have announced a new series titled Red vs. Blue: Reconstruction. The only information available on the new series is the release of a teaser trailer that appears to change the focus of the RT group from comedy to suspense. However, when the nature of the Halo 3-set series was questioned in the teaser's comments Rooster Teeth front-man Burnie Burns told fans, "Don't let appearances fool you.""
Ah, the Halo Movie. Either you produce it or don't produce it, you know? Anyway, word on the internet (this was news published yesterday but promised not to be an April Fool's joke) is that the Halo producers have found a new writer in hopes of reducing costs and getting the movie back on track.
The screenwriter is "Stuart Beattie" (who penned the script for the G.I. Joe movie) wrote a screenplay in his spare time, without Microsoft's knowledge, just because he was a big Halo fanatic. The...
Halo 3's "Heroic Map Pack" will no longer carry its 800 Microsoft Points price tag as of this Tuesday. The three multiplayer maps - "Standoff", "Foundry" and "Rat's Nest" - will be made free in anticipation of the "Legendary Map Pack", scheduled to release April 15. The content was originally released last December via the Xbox Live Marketplace.
A fantastically creative trailer has been released by Bungie to mark the occasion.
Be sure to check out the hi-definition version of t...
"What do warthogs, pelicans, energy swords and Spartan lasers have in common? And how do they relate to John 1:17?
Theyre all part of a video game called Halo 3, the top-selling video game of 2007 that pre-sold more than 1 million copies two months before it even hit stores. In the first two weeks after its release, Halo 3the third installment of Microsofts first-person shooter gamemade more than $300 million in sales.
...
If the Old Testament were a video game, it would mak..."
Lego Halo?!?!?!? According to the latest issue of EGM, Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie are working on a LEGO Halo game for the Xbox 360. According to the article in EGM, LEGO Halo will have you play through all three games in the Halo trilogy.
"Microsoft has unveiled plans for the Official European Halo 3 Tournament, which will run from 18th to 30th March.
Prizes on offer include exclusive Halo 3 artwork and an Xbox 360 Elite. Plus, as the tournament is sponsored by Samsung, you could win one of their Crystal Design 40" Series 6 FHD tellies.
Registration for the competition opens today. Just open up the Xbox Live Dashboard and click on the relevant advert - you'll also get a free gamerpic to download.
During the tourname..."
"Yes, just when you thought you were the ultimate Halo geek, just when you thought there was nothing else that Bungie could whore its first-person behemoth onto, up prances Germanys favourite three-striped sporting brand with a truly, truly hideous addition to the growing catalogue of Halo merchandise disasters.
A picture is worth a thousand words and, in this case, if we were pushed to submit a thousand-word news article then the vast majority of them would begin with f and end with ..."
"In their latest podcast, Bungie team members revealed that the new game the Halo developer is currently keeping themselves busy with is something very different from what gamers have come to expect from the company.
As usual with games very early in the development cycle, the devs are keeping their lips sealed for the time being, saying its still far far too early to talk about any specifics. And, as opposed to bashing their own game, one of them said: some of the stuff that Ive ..."
If you're a gamer with the money to spare - and also no sense of shame - then eBay has the ultimate representation of your passion with all things Halo. Yes, the Covenant Energy Sword. A hulking stainless steel replica of one of Halo's most deadly weapons.
Here's a bit of advice for those who enjoy breathing, don't take it to the mall with you.
"Are the cracks beginning to appear in Bungies well-worn battle armour? Well, according to Xbox Live aficionado Major Nelson, Halo 3 has this week been deposed by Activisions impressive Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
Based on weekly unique user figures, Call of Duty 4 has pushed Halo 3 into second on the Top Live Titles chart, with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Gears of War, and Rock Band rounding out the top five."
"While youd be best advised to only gaze upon its rancid colour in a darkened room (gaming is always best that way anyhow), the new Halo 3-themed XFunctional videogame chair sure looks like something youd expect to find Commander Miranda Keyes perched on while barking orders from the bridge of UNSC Frigate Forward Unto Dawn apologies for the geeky outburst."
"Not one to pass up the opportunity to give itself a corporate reach-around, Microsoft dispatched an extremely self-congratulatory internal memo just prior to Bill Gates taking to the CES stage this past Sunday, which actually reveals a little more bite than the hugely anticipated keynote."
Microsoft is beating its corporate chest this week, shouting from the gaming rooftops that Halo 3 is on its way to 10 million sales, the Xbox 360 has surpassed 17.7 million sales, and Mass Effect has tallied 1.6 million sales in six weeks. Well done, Bill & co. But what of the 360's reliability? Strangely quiet on that topic, eh?
"For most, the prospect of escaping to the online world of Xbox Live is something anticipated with excitement over the course of yet another mundane days existence. However, for two young sisters in the state of Washington, Microsofts hugely popular multiplayer haven recently became the platform for a friendship that quickly turned into a frightening obsession."
"While some readers may deride the respectability of certain review sources listed on Metacritics pages, theres little arguing with contributing numbers provided by IGN, GameSpot, GameSpy, Game Informer, Edge, 1UP, Play, and Games Radar.
Bearing that in mind, Metacritic has unveiled various "Best" and "Dud" games spread across a host of categories, which are as follows..."
Someone has gained control of a Halo 3 gamers account in order to - wait for it - play with a special armor that was given to him by Bungie as recognition for creating a video where he managed to kill himself with his sniper rifle. It's the third time in two months that his account has been accessed by these armor thieves.
""I think weve got magic in the disc," enthused lead designer Graeme Devine. "We've worked on the controls, gameplay, and story for this game being very much aware of what has gone before us. I was down in playtest yesterday and actually did not get to sit down and play because folks were spending their lunches playing the game. I know we're doing well when that happens.""
"As we all know, obesity is a serious issue especially in the US, and fat kids are becoming the majority (lets see you pick on them now), but who carries the blame for turning the youth into useless balls of fat? Well, I know what youre thinking, lots of fat food and soda right? Maybe the food has something to do with it, but definitely not the sweet soda. At least thats what the American Beverage Association (ABA) is saying."
"Some of these surprises may be the new game mode titled 'Grifball'. Yes, thats right, 'Grifball' as in Sarge's comment from season 4 of Red vs Blue mentioning 'Grifball'. Well no longer do you have to wonder what this amazing sport is as you will be playing it not before long."
"Microsoft big cheese and Corporate Vice President of Global Marketing for the Xbox 360 Jeff Bell has revealed that Halo 3 has reached a quite a staggering 5 million sales. We all felt the hype, and saw the frenzied enthusiasm for the games release, but 5 million sales is still quite astonishing.
Speaking to Gamedaily, Jeff Bell enthused that "We've... seen a strong response to both Halo 3 sales with more than 5 million, and Mass Effect which has sold more than a million copies in less than..."
"Packaged as the Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack, the three new environments are all-but guaranteed to add yet more appeal and interest to the massively popular world of Halo 3 multiplayer, which has already drawn the attention of five million online players since the finish the fight sequel launched at the end of September."
BioShock has already scooped its first Game of the Year honour, courtesy of Spike TV, and now Halo 3 heads TIME Magazine's top ten of 2007... but will you agree with the disparity that finds BioShock land in fifth and PS3-exclusives nowhere to be seen?
"Though the initial rumors left many an industry watcher frothy with derision, Bungie Studios confirmed in October that it would be amicably splitting from Microsoft upon completion of the final installment its best-selling Halo trilogy. Though Microsoft would retain a minority stake in the lauded studio as well as maintain a publishing agreement, Bungie would return to its bachelorhood days as an independent, privately held developer.
With Bungie no longer tied to Microsoft, many speculat..."
Yup, it looks like Halo 3 haters have yet another thing to get on Microsoft's back about; apparently it doesn't even work on the XBOX 360.
"Mr. Nunez's [the Plaintiff's] Halo 3 videogame repeatedly locked up, froze and/or crashed while being operated on Mr. Nunez's Xbox 360 console."
The full text of the complaint is available from the source in .pdf form.
"Halo and Guitar Hero fans are in for a treat today, with the release of the Halo theme Mjolnir Mix as a free download on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
Once downloaded Guitar Hero III players will be able to rock out to the iconic theme tune by Martin O'Donnell & Michael Salvatori, with guitars performed by Steve Vai.
This is already the second free download for Guitar Hero III, the first giving players the ability to play the game's three boss battles as standard songs apart from within the ca..."
"Available for 800 Microsoft Points exclusively on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, each map presents a totally different play style.
The symmetrical valley of Standoff, with its entrenched bases and fields of boulders is ideal for mid-sized objective and Slayer game types.
The vast, labyrinthine passages of the Rat's Nest bring something completely new to the multiplayer experience: an indoor vehicle paradise. Strongly influenced by the Campaign mode, this map is ideal for big team battles.
Foundr..."
"On November 3, 2007 Moviesign made a Forge map in Halo® 3, and set up what his girlfriend of over two years (furtive penguin) thought was going to be a two-on-two match with his friends. They started the game and Moviesign led furtive penguin to a spot where he claimed he'd put an energy sword.
Instead there was a nice top-down view where he had spelled out a proposal in weapons. He then asked her to be his teammate for life.
Furtive penguin and Moviesign recently moved from Indianap..."
A 14 year-old boy, attending a middle school in Wyoming, was suspended for sketches of the popular video game, Halo. Search warrants were assigned to the boy's house, his father's home, and took his computer for evidence. The boy has not been charged with any crimes, however, he did threaten a fellow pupil and he has been seen shooting pigeons with an assault rifle while on his roof.
I think this has truly nothing to do with Halo, but with the danger of the kid hurting someone.
What seems like a big Halo fan has punched his very own mother for forcing him to switch off his Xbox 360.
The story goes like this, the son was playing till late night and his mother wanted him to turn off the console. This seems like a common problem with most gamers but the retaliaton is much different. The mother takes out his air card* and the results is an enraged son. The son begins searching for the air card* and at this time the mother was punched. The Police was then called but t...
There is no comparison to the hype between the Orange Box and Halo 3. Everyone knew that Halo 3 was upon us. We all saw the Halo 3 commercials on TV, all the news reports, blog posts. But on the back burner with not as much advertising was Valve's Orange Box.
Next Gen have come up with some sales positions for sales in the US. You might have expected Halo 3 to be at the top at that list but with Valve giving a 20% price cut to the Orange Box sales have sprung it ahead to take the #1 spot f...
Here is a list of 10 features that Bungie needs to address. Some of which are big mistakes while others remain little. Here is the main headings of each issue. For an in depth read of each issue then head over to the source.
10. Bungie.net Site Integration
9. Team Voice
8. Maps/Playlists
7. Weapon Balance/Changes
6. Online Multiplayer Net Code
5. Playlist Ranks
4. Melee Combat System
3. 640p Native Resolution
2. Frame Rate Issues
1. Halo 3 Ending *Spoilers*
"... In Halo 3.
Like that Bungie shooter everybody's always yapping about? Like annoyingly tuneful pop-rock outfit Fall Out Boy? Then golly, does Microsoft have an offer you cant turn down."
"Halo 3? Oh puh-lease, Bungies game is small fry. Or at least, it could look that way by the time Grand Theft Auto IV rolls around next year. That's the view of Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey, who reckons that the Xbox 360 shooter shouldn't get too comfy on its laurels."
A Halo 3 player simply gets owned while playing Halo 3 and then snaps. This results in the Xbox 360 ending up in his garden. This video also includes screens of the aftermath.
A game which scored high reviews does not mean it's perfect nor does it mean it's the best game in it's genre. Here are 5 places where Halo 3 does suck in.
1. The graphics are nothing to brag about
2. Halo 3 enemies are just too lame, sometimes childish
3. The AI is on par with a *bleep*ed lab rat
4. Story is no better than any other videogame
5. Youre owned by kids in multiplayer
It seems that Microsoft is known bad on how it treats it's partners and this situation isn't really different.
Back in 2005 Fusio announced a new Halo title that will arrive on mobile applications. Once Microsoft saw the deal it was instantly terminated. The reason it was terminated was because Fusio has still yet to make their second payment of 500,000$. Fusio retaliated by saying that the reason they did not pay the second payment is because Microsoft has still yet to live up to it's own...
Xbox360's newest and most famous title, Halo 3, has surged to the top of the Japanese sales charts, selling 58,672 copies in it's first week.
The 360 itself has also had a burst of popularity, selling 5,215 units in the same week as Halo 3's release. Coincidence? I think not!
In other news, the vastly popular Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core has become a major driving force in the fast selling of Playstation Portable units in Japan. Square Enix's limited edition Crisis Core PSP sold out on...
"Xbox 360-exclusive Halo 3 made $170 million on its first day on sale in the US alone, and also broke Australian sales records according to figures released down under. Now Bungie has one more reason to celebrate, as week-one sales have clocked in at a rather reasonable $300 million worldwide.
Halo 3, which is the fastest-selling game ever, is being billed by Microsoft as "one of the most successful entertainment properties in history." The company released a statement saying that initial ..."
"Some time ago, I blogged about playing a cancelled version of Halo DS. The game was the real deal, created by a real development studio and with a very big publisher. But for reasons we won't discuss, Halo DS was never released. Clearly. Obviously. Still, it would've been cool, huh?
My Halo DS blog has haunted me since I posted it because many people were skeptical of my claims. I wouldn't make something like that up, of course, but that hardly silenced any of my critics. When my brother ..."
The article creator has a friend who works at Bungie and he submitted the article creator an email saying Bungie is leaving Microsoft and the email also features reasons to why this is happening. It seems that Bungie are basically Microsoft's slaves. Microsoft is not allowing them to work on any other different project that's not to do with the Halo series and Bungie dislikes this. Even though this is still a rumour the article creator also adds that he has full faith with this contact of his.
"Speaking with Bungie at an exclusive Microsoft event this month we were informed that there was no rest for the wicked for the team as they were already beavering away at the next Halo game in the franchise. When questioned whether the game would be a prequel, Bungie remained tight lipped as always but we have a hunch that the game might actually be Halo - The Movie Game (insert movie title prefix here). Either way, it's early days considering many are still tackling the single player of Halo..."
Bungie unsheathed their Energy Swords yesterday in their Weekly Update, aiming it squarely at the video buffs who spotted that Halo 3 is a few pixels short of "true" high definition. The update explains in detail as to why Halo 3 runs at a native 1152x640 resolution, pointing out that the 80p loss incurred during their hardware optimisation process makes little to no difference to the finished product and that it certainly does not mark the end of the world.
Right after being disappointed due to scratched discs Halo 3 fans are now crying upset because a feature that was promised to be in the game, by not one but many Bungie employees is no where to be seen.
What feature is this? an in-game browser which makes finding particular types of games easier to join. Yet another thing that should of been standard on Halo 2. So far 35 pages worth of "signed" messages of users supporting this.
Not to mention more complaints does Halo 3 really deserve...
"The morning was spent digging into the campaign, which I've now finished, but I don't want to say anything about that right now, because I don't want to spoil anything yet. You guys need to hurry and finish the fight, though, because I don't know how long I can hold back."
A person on the Beyond3D forums tested various games, and found that some 360 games don't even run at 720p, and are instead upscaled to it. Halo 3 and Perfect Dark Zero, for example, run at 640p, while PGR3 and Tomb Raider run at a measly 600p.
It has also been noted that it runs at 1138x640 with only Bilinear filtering, no Anti Aliasing, and gets roughly 30 frames per second average.
To quote gamerwar who explains the math behind the calculations:
quoteEach step in a jaggy alias...
"One million gamers connected to the Xbox LIVE online gaming service in the first day, making it the most active day in Xbox LIVE history. Halo 2 logged 690,000 multiplayer games on day one Halo 3 logged 2.4 million games on day one. There were 2.5 million campaign levels played around the world in the first 24 hours."
"According to Microsoft, the game set new pre-order records for games in Australia, followed by another reported record broken for fastest first day sales, which totaled 50,000 copies and AU$6 million in revenue."
Halo 3 buffs already fragging each other online will know about Forge mode, which allows users to alter item placements in existing multiplayer maps. If you want to have fun in Forge mode but can't bothered to hunt for all the existing items in order to make way for your own selections, the fine folks of the Bungie.net boards have already created some "blank" Forge maps for gamers to play with.
First we have Jack Thompson blaming Virginia Tech on video games. Next, we've got a quack psychologist Dr. Phil blaming Virginia Tech on video games. Then, we've got political figure Lyndon LaRouche blaming Virginia Tech on video games even though we know that Cho wasn't a player of video games.
If that's not enough, LaRouche is now targeting Halo 3 and saying it's ushering in a new dark age of society because of all the shooting. When will people just leave gamers alone and let Halo 3 ...
Maybe Daddy shouldn't have tried to get Halo 3 considered a public nuisance. Now Thompson's son of all people has bought the game, but apparently it's in the name of "research."
Hey, who cares about research? Junior got his hands on a game Dad's been trying to stop from being released, so he should treat it like a secret heterosexual porn collection to escape from the wrath of the gay porn addict father. :D
"Microsoft is gearing up to further promote Halo 3's release in Australia and help support two local charities, Make-A-Wish Foundation and Mission Australia. The program will incorporate several high-profile celebrities and signed console auctions to help raise money and awareness."
"Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates carded the first guy in a retail line to buy Halo 3.
Himself. Personally.
As reported by Reuters, Gates was on hand at a midnight launch event at a Best Buy near Microsoft HQ in Redmond, Washington:
...
Gates personally sold and autographed the first copy to Ritesh David, a 17-year-old who was stunned to find himself being served by the richest man in America."
Poor Halo 3 players. Everyone under 17 at a Halo 2 tournament got ushered into an Air Force recruiter's office.
...But then again, it looks like this could be Gamestop's doing. They had a similar event set up for the Madden 2008 release and they were lucky enough to get two new recruits into America's armed forces. Way to show your patriotism, Gamestop, but don't you think flying American flags or another more subtle method would be more appreciated?
"Pre-order and launch sales for Halo 3 on Tues. have driven Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 past competitors at retailer Amazon.com. On Tues., the Xbox 360 Premium SKU ranked at No. 5 at Amazon's Computer & Video Games division, an increase from a rank of No. 7 the week prior.
By comparison, Nintendo Co.'s Wii ranked at No. 7 and the 60GB PS3 ranked at No. 9 on Tues. morning."
"Some US customers queuing up to splash out hard-earned dollarbucks on Halo 3 have returned home to find their discs unreadable.
The main offender seems to be the Limited Edition of the game, which comes in a metallic casing without a knobbly protrusion to hold the DVD in place. Because of this, disgruntled fans are reporting heavy scratching on their copies."
According to the LA Times, Halo 3 is going to rack in a good $500 million for Microsoft. With about 10 million copies to be sold worldwide at about $70 a piece, that's $700 million. Microsoft will take about 80% of that, which is $560. Taking off all the payments Microsoft has to pay to Bungie and it's associates, Microsoft is left with a hefty $500 million to roll in like a stack of hay.
If you have bought the Halo 3 Limited Edition Tin then you could be in trouble. The tin case contains a plastic foam pad that doesn't do it's job very well, thus, the discs become loose and they will be scratched. Make sure you check your discs and report it to your store right away.
"Bungie's head of production Jonty Barnes has confirmed that Halo 3 will be receiving downloadable content, infact this is inevitable. Barnes noted that Bungie has continued to support Halo 2 and released new DLC for the title which is now two and a half years old so ultimately Halo 3 will be receiving some royal treatment too. Barnes remarked he is particularly excited by Halo 3's map editing feature too."
"With the video game event of the year - the Halo 3 launch - just days away, game-hatin attorney Jack Thompson is apparently seeking to re-create one of his greatest non-triumphs.
Although he failed miserably with a similar bid against Rockstars Bully in 2006, Thompson hopes to have a Florida court declare Halo 3 a public nuisance. He promised as much late last year (see: Jack Thompson Vows More Public Nuisance Suits Against Games in 2007).
No surprise, really, that Halo 3 is in the ..."
Microsoft is really setting the bar, expecting Halo 3, possibly one of the most anticipated games from the Xbox 360, to hit $300 million. This number is more than double of what Halo 2 got, but with all the pre-orders and midnight openings just for the game, it could very well meet Microsoft's expectations.
Earlier there were rumors circulating that Microsoft had threatened to ban folks caught playing Halo 3 early from Xbox Live permanently, a move thought to be grossly unfair. Either Microsoft has reconsidered, or their rep who spoke with Pro-G was confused, but in any event, the result is the same: bans won't be forthcoming.
Though at one point it was thought the ban was Microsoft employees only--leaving ordinary folks who came by their copies thanks to gaffes made by local retailers in the...
The Japanese gaming magazine has given Halo 3 an impressive score of 37/40. Famitsu has 4 reviewers scoring games, the breakdown for Halo 3 was 9/9/9/10.
Nick Williams who is a games analyst at GamerMetrics predicts that Xbox 360 titles that will come out at the same time of Halo 3 or just after it will lose out because of the release of Halo 3 in the next few months. He believes this because though Halo 3 will be increasing sales of the Xbox 360 title because of mass pre-orders for the game this will give Xbox 360 users less time to play other games because of such features and hype of the game, and this will of course give a negative impact ...
A IM conversation with Sony designer Adam Orth and Jaffe talking about Halo 3's most recent advert. Adam finds it insulting and this leads him to cursing within the conversation and unbelievably he wants his name printed on the site so everyone can see. I guess this should fire up some Halo fans as he doesn't just curse at Halo but also says other negative things about it. Check the full conversation at the source.
Halo 3, easily one of the biggest titles coming out this spring will be painted on the No. 40 car at Dover International Speedway on Sept. 23, 2007. Chip Ganassi Racing has partnered with Microsoft and Target for this one time sponsorship.
You might have seen the Master Chief helmet up for bid, but now you can get the full suit. Yes, you can wear the whole thing and be able to walk around. The suit is red and the current bid is above $1,000. If you're interested, check it out now and get to the source before you miss the deadline of Septemeber 20th.
Aparently, the headsets for the upcoming game, Halo 3 for the Xbox 360, are also age restricted. At EB Games and GameStop, the cashier will ask you for identification(if they're doing their job) and you must show them verification that you are 17 or older. Surprised? Maybe you shouldn't, since the game seems to be rated M for Mature and the online can only boost up the age restriction.
"One lucky eBay buyer is now the proud owner of a PAL copy of Halo 3, after two leaked copies found their way onto the internet auction site.
The Australian seller, who some how had to obtaine the game from a warehouse or shop stock room, took pictures of the open boxes and the disc to verify that is was the real deal, before putting the items on eBay.
He only asked a low fee of $149 Australian (£60) or roughly $120 American, because were sure some Halofanatic fans out there would hav..."
Speculation is currently looming over what Microsoft will be offering at the Tokyo Games Show tomorrow for there Xbox 360. Rumours build up from a great line up of products with the likes off Konami's Winning Eleven, Microsoft Game Studio's Halo 3, Koei's Blade Storm and Square Enix's The Last Remnant including many more. But I guess we will find out tomorrow for sure.
A recording of a Playstation 3 System in action in a UK Blockbuster shop shows the Xbox 360's top title Halo 3 being the trailer shown on the display monitor. A new marketing scheme by Sony that only hit one shop (^^) or just a general mistake by the Blockbuster boys? I'll leave you to cast your vote.
Wouldn't so much weight be put on your shoulders if you played and beat one of the most hyped up games of the year before anyone else? Well that's what Francesca Reyes, Editor-in-Chief of Official Xbox Magazine is doing. She is the first person to play, beat and review(for 10 pages!) Halo 3 for the Xbox 360. You can read her 10 page review in the magazine which will be available on September 25th, the same date that the game is released. Meanwhile, occupy yourself with the interview at the so...
This is an article about an upcoming event for Halo 3. Pontiac will be host to the event at two locations. In San Fransico and New York City. Here, should you get to attend, you will get a chance to play a finished copy of the soon to be released Halo 3. You will also get a chance to win the game early. Check out the story for more details.
"Welcome to the UGO's World of Halo. This is the realm of Master Chief. Enter and join the epic battle that has been chronicled in video games (including Halo 3, Halo Wars, and beyond) novels (The Fall of Reach and The Flood), comics (The Graphic Novel and Uprising) and the Halo movie."
"With over 1.5 million preorders, an aggressive marketing campaign and plenty of hype, Halo 3 is just as important as Brunswick Bowling. Ok, that's not entirely true. We dug the beta, and playing through the single player campaign alongside three buddies can be a fun time, but we refuse to drink the Kool-Aid for the following reasons..."
Allegedly, a place called, Mediaworld in Italy has already received a shipment of the game Halo 3 for the Xbox 360. If you live in Italy, then go there and get the long expected game, 3 weeks before everyone else!
"What happens when you cross one of the world's biggest game releases, a huge film and television firm and a popular animated comedy? Why, it's 20th Century Fox's plans to make a wad of Family Guy episodes available for download on Xbox Live in the run-up to the release of Halo 3."
The multiplayer beta has been played, screen shots have been taken and the promo gear has been put out but, until now no one has relly got to see the Halo 3 campaign first hand or play it for that matter. Here is a group of guys that got a chance and wrote an article that to me seems like blasphemy. Read it and give us your take.
"And I dont mean just money-wise in the pockets of Microsoft and Bungie.
Halo 3 went officially gold today, meaning the title is completed and has been released to manufacturing. It was suspected that it was going to soon, as Frank O Connor (more affectionately known as Frankie) from Bungie Studios was seen playing the final build on his Xbox Live account. Harold Ryan, Studio Head at Bungie Studios, said the following:
This is a huge milestone for us and a big cause for celebratio..."
Customize your Xbox 360 with all new Halo 3 Faceplates and Skins from Mad Catz. There are three types, the Brown Vehicles, Orange Culprit and Covenant skins and faceplates. These are worth $30 each so buy them while they're hot!
Games Radar has used information gathered from the Halo 3 Beta code to crack open the long awaited story of the upcoming game, Halo 3 for the Xbox 360. If you can't wait until September to find out what happens, then go to the source to read, but be aware that there are major, major spoilers at the source. I'm guessing not many people are going to read it.
Supposedly today, Frank OConnors gamer tag, a Bungie employee, leaked onto the net that the title Halo 3 is now 100% complete and has gone Gold. Its not hard to believe since the last Bungie update reported the game at 99.99%. Although we have not found the source officially, we still wanted to report this information to other fans.
"- So, it was Frankie (Franklez) and Luke (lukemz) playing the entire time.
- They showed us what the Campaign Scoring screen looked like.
- They played through part of Tsavo Highway:
- You start in a garage-type place, and are given verbal instructions on what to do (basically, get the hell out of the caves).
- You get in one of the Warthogs, and leave the garage, going through the caves
- When you exit the caves, you're in areas bordered by hills. There are Grunts and Brutes every now a..."
Are you a hard core Halo fan? Are you dying to be just like master Chief? Would you go toe to toe with a Brute to get you hands on a Master Chief helmet? Well, you might not have to just yet. Preorder the Legendary Halo 3 edition today and you will get a Master Chief helmet plus a few other goodies. Only problem is supplies are running out and your chance to get one may just end.
A bunch of new Halo 3 screenshots have been released and they are easily the best screenshots we have seen from the Xbox 360 game so far. The graphics are nice and smooth and the texture is detailed. Now let's just hope the final build of the game stays like this or better.
How much do YOU love the Halo franchise? Do you love it enough to buy the crazy Halo 3 Spartan helmet limited edition bundle? Do you love it enough to ask your local EBGames for the huge cardboard advertising board of the Master Chief? Do you love it enough to buy this utterly pointless Halo 3 "Missile Case" accessory holder?
You do?
Then you'll be thrilled to learn that authentic pre-worn/pre-soiled pleather Master Chief jockstraps are on their way. Ahem.
Halo 3 is in its final development stages, and people are preparing the way for its entree this fall. But in the mean time, Halo 3: The Ride should provide some entertainment. Although not much has been revealed on it, it's going to be a big attraction at the Leipzig Games Convention. It's purpose, to promote Halo 3, and give people a chance to ride with Master Chief.
"Like the continuous ebb and flow of the tides and the inevitability of sunrise and sunset, Halo 3 will be released on the PC at some stage in the future. Still, Bungie is keeping quiet about any such port in light of the game's impending Xbox 360 release.
"I can tell you for a fact that there's not one line of code written for a PC version at this point," Bungie's Frank O'Connor told GameSpot."
September 25 is fast approaching, and while certain other games will attempt to hog the critical and consumer spotlight between now and then, it's likely they'll only be on game on the lips of gamers towards the tail end of next month: Halo 3.
Check the finalised final and officially official fully full achievements list for the incoming Xbox 360 behemoth.
Outside of losing Halo's console exclusivity to Sony (hahaha) the Red Ring of Death is what Xbox 360 fans fear the most in life. Well, despite reports that instances of the dreaded RRoD are on the rise, a new 90nm chip in Microsoft's machine may be the key to cooler, more reliable units of the 360. Shame it took $1 billion in repairs before its arrival, eh?
"Unique to the Halo 3 Xbox 360 Limited Edition:
- Halo 3 Special Edition Wireless Controller
- Halo 3 Special Edition 20GB Hard Drive
- Halo 3 Special Edition Wired Headset
- Halo 3 Special Edition Gamer Pics and Theme (Exclusive download via Xbox LIVE)
The Halo 3 LE Xbox 360 also includes an HDMI port, now standard in Premium as well as Elite Xbox 360s.
With the lack of a transfer kit in the box and the form of the free Xbox 360 data migration cable asking for an Elite Xbox 360 s..."
"In its first 24 hours of release in 2004, the second installment of the sci-fi shooter earned $125 million. That number forced many nongamers to take the vidgame biz seriously for the first time.
With "Halo 3," Microsoft's Xbox unit wants not only to top the 2004 figure but to reach $155 million in a single day -- besting the $151 million opening weekend for "Spider-Man 3," the current record holder for a pic at the box office."
"Now when youre playing as the rebels the most tactical advantage youll have in combat is using Nectar against Mantel. One way of doing this is stripping the Nectar pack off a dead Mantel soldier and strapping it to a grenade toss the makeshift grenade at Mantel soldiers and watch as they kill off their own from the Nectar overdose."
"I know. I said I wouldnt be updating the site until Tuesday, but how could I pass up some Halo 3 news? Some of you may have noticed gamers (like Bungie and Microsoft employees) on Xbox Live playing a little something titled Halo 3 Epsilon. Well, specific details on just what Epsilon is have finally surfaced. The following email has been sent out to Halo 3 beta testers (and no, I dont mean owners of Crackdown):
Congratulations on being selected to participate in the Halo 3 Epsilo..."
One of the biggest games coming this year is Halo 3. According to Microsoft, over one million pre-orders have been made making it the fastest video game pre-sale ever. The Legendary Edition of the game (with the Helmet included) is expected to be sold out before the game is released in September!
Microsoft also announced that Halo 3 is the sponser of the summer's Projekt Revolution tour, as well as went into detail on how they are promoting the game. So now we will expect to see Halo 3 ...
Xbox.com is hosting a sweepstakes for Halo 3. Consisting of three rounds, gamers can register for each round for a chance to win Halo 3 related prizes, which can range from the Legendary Edition of the game, to the Graphic Novel autographed by the Bungie team. The contest is for US residents only and continues on until October 25th.
"This has not been confirmed by any of the reports released by Bungie. However, a new screenshot acquired from Bungies,award winning studios, upcoming sequel to one of the most popular video series games to be ever created, show that body targeting functionality has been implemented in Halo 3."
Midway have announced that the upcoming title to be on the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Pc which was scheduled for September is now going to be released on October 26th in Europe and November 5th in the United States.
Midway never gave a reason to this, though it speculates to say they may have been worried to put this title up against Halo 3 in Septemeber, or that the game is just not finished.
"As promised, Bungie's Luke Smith has revealed the details of Halo 3's surprising new mode: a four-player cooperative online adventure that lets you and up to three buddies take on the game's Campaign mode as a group. Calling the mode "some of our greatest ever Halo experiences," Smith gave the following examples of how the cooperative gameplay can affect the game:
While only two of these players will be able to share a single screen, you'll be able to add a third and fourth either via loca..."
"This picture has been circulating the internet recently but there has been no confirmation of its authenticity. Now, if this picture is real, the question here is... Is Master Chief dying in Halo 3? This picture certainly portrays the idea that the UNSC is honoring Masterchief but even if its a legit picture, it might just be honoring his life and Master Chief is still alive. The tension builds... freakin marketing schemes. We can only wait and see."
A box arrived at IGN and as IGN rushed downstairs, hoping for a brillaint demo of some sort, they were dissapointed, but not by a lot, to find Halo 3 limited edition soda. It's suppose to "get an edge on the competition", but does it really? IGN takes it for a taste test. First of all, it's orange and they say it tastes like cherry cough syrup in Mountain Dew. It didn't seem to change their gaming skills yet it gave them a sugar rush. Surprise, surprise.
"Epic President Mark Rein has admitted that the various sales records set by his companys Gears of War are highly likely to be decimated when Halo 3 launches on the Xbox 360 in late-September.
Not that Rein is terribly bothered, mind. "All those records we broke with Gears of War are going down on September 25," he conceded"
What Halo Players all over the world hoped for has happened, after the announcement that there will be No Online Co-op For Halo 3, fans can now rejoice knowing that Microsoft and Bungie have finally announced that there will INDEED be a 4-player online Co-op mode for the game. The announcement was made in Amsterdam during a press conference today, and relayed through the Dutch site, InsideGamer.
"With each passing week, seemingly more and more Halo 3 campaign screens and info begin to surface, stirring hype before its grand release this September. This time, French gaming magazine Joypad has revealed several new screens that take place in one of Halo 3s jungle locales. Its now evident: Bungie sure as hell wasnt lying when they said the Halo 3 single player would look great.
Though slightly blurry, these scans have helped illustrate what Bungie hopes to accomplish graphically ..."
""All we confirmed to EGM ... regarding Cooperative Play in Halo 3's Campaign is that System Link co-op will be included in Halo 3," said Bungie's Frank O'Connor.
"Just like we told EGM, we're aware that people want co-op online but the challenge of getting our complicated A.I. systems, huge game world, and gargantuan encounters neatly packaged and transferring across the Interwebz is a mythic undertaking."
He added, "All that said, EGM doesn't really know whether or not Halo 3 will shi..."
"In this video interview, you'll see Frank O'Connor of Bungie asked about some of the details which may surface up in that "little thing" called Halo 3 coming out soon for the Microsoft Xbox 360. Let's see if we can break into his vow of secrecy:
So, what did we find out about Halo 3 today? Well, it did give us goosebumps when we heard that phrase announcing that "starting on September 25th, Halo 3 will record the biggest launch in entertainment history," but a lot of the questions definite..."
"The fact that this year's E3 video game conference was supposed to be a lower-budget affair than years past was a point seemingly lost on Microsoft, which rented out an entire (big, nice, fancy, expensive) hotel in Santa Monica to show off its wares. While the entire lineup consisted of more than a dozen titles spanning both Xbox 360 and PC, three in particular caught our eye: 'Fable 2,' 'Mass Effect' and 'Halo 3.'
'Fable 2'
The earliest along of the lot was 'Fable 2,' from gaming legend ..."
"Master Replicas, who have done many replicas including Star Wars props, are producing some special stuff for all the Halo 3′ fans out there. The scaled replicas (3.3″ x 6″ x 2.8″) of the Covenant Carbine and BR55 Battle Rifle are available for pre-order for $19.99 and they will begin shipping in Fall 2007. Both are die-cast metal with plastic molded accents and come with a display stand featuring the Halo 3 logo.
Being somebody that has purchased items from Master Replicas I can sa..."
Halo 3 is considered Microsoft's prized game, that is said to boost the sales of the console expenentially. However, it seems that GamerSquad have gotten news that Halo 3 WONT be playable online.
Multiplayer will still be an option via LAN and Split-Screen, however when it comes to playing the game over XBOX Live, it seems that Bungie are struggling to get the game running "niggle-free" over the Live service.
"We're not dumb," explained Bungie's Frank O'Connor. "We know that people want i...
Well you have heard a lot about it and yes, it as as good as you thought it would be.
The map editor is just as Bungie promised. You can save as many games as your 360 can hold. You'll also be able to upload clips (you set the in and out points of a match) or an entire firefight to Microsoft's servers for others to enjoy. That's nice, sure, but it's the functionality that had us drooling. At any time during normal playback, you can pause the video. It's easy to hop to other players and wat...
"Right at the end of Microsoft's E3 2007 conference, exec Peter Moore revealed a special edition Xbox 360 to be branded with Halo 3. The system is army green, with a matching controller.
The special edition console will be available worldwide in September alongside the launch of Halo 3. Superfans can look forward to other Halo 3-themed accessories. No price was revealed.
Moore added that Halo will be a billion-dollar franchise by the end of the year."
"Here it is everybody, the freebies from Bungie. On Xbox Live, you can get a new theme and picture pack set. Remember, it's only available until Sunday.
On Bungie's Web site, they've released the lovely picture seen above from the cover of Gamepro magazine. They've also released some information on the Brute Chopper and two variations of the Mjolnir armor. The pictures of the Mjolnir armor are in 3D so you can spin them right round and view all the angles of the image.
I always find it..."
For all you XBOX 360 players out there, logging into the marketplace for gamerpics and Dashboard themes might get you special surprise Bungie marketplace goodies today. This is to celebrate the special day of 07/07/07 which could of course turn out to be a lucky day for you too.
check out this 3D picture while you are at it as well.
C.Q.B.: Close Quarters Battle
Anyone tired of all the Halo 3 hype yet? Do you still think it'll be the mega-release everyone thought following Bungie's odd deflation of the expectation balloon with its lacklustre multiplayer beta? Yep, our faith cannot be shaken either, and when screens like this come along, we stand even more firmly behind our Halo 3 beliefs. Bring it.
"The prizefight between these two powerful works-in-progress pits Sony s big online-only affair against Microsofts multiplayer addiction. Which sandbox game takes the prize in beta form? Matt Swider of Gaming Target judges the public betas of these system sellers in 12 rounds."
"Now that the dust has finally had a few weeks to settle after the excitement of the multiplayer beta for Halo 3, the guys over at IGN have been working their socks off to persuade the big guns at Bungie to allow them some quality time with the post-beta version of the upcoming Microsoft Xbox 360 first-person shooter. And they've succeeded."
"With the Halo 3 beta officially over and the world now waiting on pins and needles for the highly-anticipated title to come out, here's an opportunity to get in touch with the legend that is Master Chief himself before any other Halo fan could - and that's by ownership of the Spartan Helmet that's currently up for grabs on eBay.
For a mere pittance of US$ 250, one can actually examine and touch a meticulously-detailed, if a bit downsized, realization of Master Chief's helmet. Purchased dir..."
49 achievements reveal nine in-game single-player chapters and a few teasing titles to go along with them. The Halo 3 hype train rumbles on and nothing looks like stopping it. Is it too early to start breaking out the 'game of the year' awards... just based on expectation? Probably.
"Proving that you're never too old to play with toys (just hope you never hear editor Stevie let loose his passion for Transformers!), Todd McFarlane Toys has today told Next-Gen that it actively pursued, and secured, the rights to make a new line of action figures based on the Halo videogame franchise."
20th Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising has announced a partnership with Microsoft where they will be the licensing agent for the Halo franchise. Does this mean that there's still a chance the movie to be produced or does it just mean I'll be drinking out of Halo-themed coffee mugs? (which is still cool none-the-less). This can mean only good things for both companies. (watch their Stocks sky-rocket in the next few months, just my luck I didn't buy FOX)
"According to Live guru MajorNelson, there were some 820,000 unique participants in the beta, playing more than 12 million hours combined worth of gameplay. This is equivalent to more than 1,400 years of continuous play, notes the Major.
As expected, it also had quite a bit of effect on Live's bandwidth usage, adding a further 350 terabytes worth of data being downloaded from Microsoft's network. Not a bad effort at all."
"Comic book artist Todd McFarlane, known for Spawn and various others, is not an stranger in the gaming industry and has collaborated with Bungie and Microsoft to decorate Halo 3 themed Xbox 360 controllers (one Spartan, one Covenant) for $59.99, which also includes a McFarlane Toys Halo 3 action figure. For that same price you can also get a camo green Halo 3 wireless headset, both items are over at GameStop, but won't be available until early September."
"In anticipation of Halo 3s release and the complete meltdown of Xbox Live on September 25, Microsoft has designed a pair of official Xbox 360 wireless controllers, in both Covenant and Spartan flavours. Theres also a Spartan green Xbox Live headset to complete the set."
"Possibly one of the best kept secrets in the gaming world, the physical identity of the eponymous Master Chief has been a subject of conjecture, controversy and contention since the very first Halo burst onto the Xbox back in 2001 - remember those filthy low-down stories that claimed if you finished the game within a certain time you actually SAW the Chief's mug after he removed the Spartan helmet?"
Bit obvious here, but some good reasons and info in the article...well with bragging by Shane Kim. Bungie has had fans for years since the first Halo, and the amount of fanbase has only increased each passing day leading up to the anticipated sequel, so I can see how it'll do better than Gears of War.
Both are FPS, with slightly similar gameplay, but Halo's multiplayer has quite an edge, with it's weapons and such.
"The latest rumor floating around is that Halo 3 is so huge, as a game, that it can't fit on a single disc. Joystiq has a story about it, CVG has a story about it, Xbox360Fanboy has a story about it. (Actually, now that I read CVG's entry again, it's just a straight report that the art's out - no speculation there at all. Good for them.) Bungie is pretty amused by the misinterpretation of the artwork; there'll be more info in tonight's Weekly Update, but for now, you should understand that one..."
The latest Dutch Gamepro Magazine, developer Guerrilla has said that the development of Killzone 2 is coming alone just fine. Although it is said to appear in September and if it does would it be strong enough to counter Halo 3? Halo 3 already has 5+ million copies reserved and that alone is nearly double the entire PS3 user base?
If Killzone 2 was released in September do you think it's a dumb move by Guerrilla or not?
"The Bungie team brings to the table three new maps; Valhalla, Snowbound and High Ground, each of which introduces new aspects of game play and despite their unfinished state, play relatively smoothly, with very few glitches and healthy fast paced combat guaranteed to keep you on your toes"
"While This is an unconfirmed picture of the Halo 3 Box Art, I think it's safe to say that this might actually be the Official Box Art for Halo 3 Standard Edition. The reason behind our confidence is, because its strikingly similar to the art on the Official Halo 3 Mountain Dew. Pictures of The Halo 3 Mountain Dew can be seen at Major Nelson's Flickr Album.
Also, It would make sense to release the cover art for Halo 3, since it ships in September of this year. Hopefully within the next few ..."
Looks like coding from the Halo 3 Beta Demo has given away what the achievements are going to be for the game. Take a look bellow at the coding which gives away clues as to what the achievements for the game will be.
achievement_complete_mission_jungle
achievement_complete_mission_base
achievement_complete_mission_outskirts
achievement_complete_mission_voi
achievement_complete_mission_floodvoi
achievement_complete_mission_wasteland
achievement_complete_mission_citadel
achievement_co...
The Halo effect is now taking hold and Sony is taking some steps to try and counter the juggernaut known as Halo 3.
Sony are currently preparing for the Halo 3 release this September. They are planning what games should be released to allow people to neglect Halo 3 and purchase a PS3 game or maybe purchase the PS3 itself. The company showcased over 30 upcoming PS3 titles. Titles like Ratchet & Clank Future, Heavenly Sword, Lair, SOCOM Confrontation, and Pain.
But since most of these g...
Spong.com saw an email last week from Jack Thompson commenting on how he will take action against Bill Gates if Halo 3 is supplied to people under the age of 17. Jack was asked a few questions but some he refuses to answer as he thinks they are inappropriate to the situation. Jack was also asked if he's actually played the Halo 3 beta or has a gamer tag.
Not much surprising, but Jack Thompson is now after Halo 3. It didn't take him long did it? The Halo 3 beta has only been released for a week and Jack Thompson is already taking advantage of it.
Jack Thompson submits a letter to Bill Gates threatening him to take legal actions against him if Halo 3 is sold on the Internet or shops to under 17's.
Gamers can't get enough of Halo 3. It hasn't even been a full week yet since Halo 3 beta was released and already several thousand Halo 3 games have been played in just a few short days. Makes me wish I had Halo 3 beta, but I guess for those of us who aren't participating can hook up with a friend who is or just wait for the full game to be released Sept. 26.
Since the release of the Beta for Halo 3, it was inevitable that Hackers were eventually going to have their way with it. Well this time, instead of cursing hackers to the very core of their existence, I'm praising them.
The new gametypes include new types of practically every gametype that existed in previous Halo's. There is also evidence of new vehicles in the source link here, including a video from their findings and a list of all the new finds they made.
"SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp.'s public test of its upcoming "Halo 3" video game got off to a rocky start on Wednesday after many users found they were unable to try out the science fiction-themed shooter.
Owners of Microsoft's Xbox 360 console were supposed to be able to participate in the public test, or beta, of the game by downloading a code included with "Crackdown," another Xbox 360 game published by Microsoft in February.
The public test began on Wednesday, but many us..."
Well you saw the article on Microsoft expecting huge profits on Halo 3. Microsoft is still confident on its sales even though gamers that went to the Beta test said that the graphics could be improved and it's almost exactly like the other Halo's. I wouldn't expect anything different, but I'm sure everyone would like to see some new features. Microsoft still expects Halo 3 to be a big hit and I personally, cannot blame them, even after those slightly harsh comments.
"There have been some seriously mixed signals about the future of the Halo franchise once Halo 3 drops this fall. Apparently, it's the end of Bungie's trilogy that started on the original Xbox, but we're still anticipating Halo Wars from Ensemble Studios and a spin-off spearheaded by filmmaker Peter Jackson. Does Halo 3 mean the removal of Bungie from the franchise's lead, or simply the end of Master Chief?
The head of Microsoft Game Studios, Shane Kim, doesn't make the situation much clear..."
"A seemingly narked Bungie has responded to comments made by Nintendo legend, Shigeru Miyamoto who claimed he could make Halo.
Last week Miyamoto was quoted saying: "I could make Halo. It's not that I couldn't design that game. It's just that I choose not to."
Taking that as a personal challenge, Bungie's Frank O'Connor told Joystiq: "I just want to go on the record and say that Bungie is hard at work on a side-scrolling platform game featuring some plumbers - I'm not going to say what t..."
"Next Wednesday, Crackdown purchasers lucky enough to receive an invite to the Halo 3 beta will get their first chance to play Bungie's long-awaited shooter. Today, press outlets were given their own codes to access the beta, and the first screens of and video footage (below) from Halo 3 multiplayer are already on GameSpot.
For the past several hours, GameSpot editors have been sampling the beta's three maps and multiplayer modes. Editors are currently engaging in live gameplay, and the vir..."
"SYDNEY 9 May 2007 - Gamers all over the world have demonstrated their excitement and passion for all things Halo as the Konsoles for Kids charity auction for the "Halo 3" Xbox 360 console has seen bidding on eBay skyrocket to over $21,000.
With one day to go until bidding closes, the "Halo 3" Xbox 360 console - exclusively customised with Halo artwork and signed by the game's development team at Bungie Studios - could possibly be one of the most expensive consoles ever to be sold in the w..."
"Announcing the competition on Bungie's website, community manager Frank O'Connor said that Halo 3 artist David Candland realised how cool it would be for one Halo fan to design an emblem that would be included in the final game.
"Remember, we're looking for something cool and original," explained O'Connor. "Maybe your Halo clan has a cool original logo, but this will be used by folks outside of your clan too, so don't send us something you don't want others to use. And obvious as this soun..."
Usually, new details on video games are always released in May. Reason being? E3. This year though, the video game expo won't be happening until July. The makers of Halo don't think you should wait that long though. Takahashi announced in his blog that there would be new Halo details on May 11th. We don't know what the details are about yet, but any new details on Halo 3 should be good.
"A seven-minute long video that purports to be leaked footage from a beta version of Halo 3 has appeared on the Internet, giving viewers a glimpse of what to expect when the multiplayer trial of the hugely-anticipated Xbox 360 game kicks off next month.
However, while the footage certainly gives a flavour of Halo 3's multiplayer mode it's thought the action isn't taken directly from the trial version of the game, because it's set in and around a map called Last Resort rather than the three ..."
"The Xbox 360's flagship title Halo 3 will support true (not upscaled) 1080p at 60fps, after Microsoft issued an edict to developers Bungie that it must be the most technically advanced game available on the platform.
A source close to a Bungie insider has revealed that whilst Microsoft have always maintained that a resolution of 720p is the 'sweet spot' for Xbox 360 games last year's E3 Expo 'led to a broadening of perspective' at Microsoft. Whilst Sony were scorned in the gaming media for..."
"According to Advertising Age, Pepsi is planning to brand a limited edition of its Mountain Dew soda with Halo 3. Master Chief's drink of choice will be red in color and citrus-cherry in flavor. Pepsi will be marketing the highly caffeinated beverage as "game fuel." More interesting, though, is that Ad Age is reporting the drink will be released alongside Halo 3 in August.
Sodas have been branded with movies in the past but this is apparently the first time bottles and cans containing sugar..."
"A while back we told you about one bad mother of a fan made Halo assault rifle replica. Today, we're telling you that you can bring her home for only a few hundred dollars. Over on eBay that same assault rifle is up for auction and is currently sitting at $227 with roughly eight days left and the reserve still not met. From what we remember, a whole lot of work went into creating this bad boy, so maybe hundreds of dollars is justifiable. Actually, if you already decided to purchase the Halo 3..."
It appears Bungie has confirmed what we already knew about the mysterious X button. It will indeed be the Bubble Sheild, and the Trip mines. Bungie is also hinting that the X-button also has a third function, which is yet to be revealed. He also assured everyone this "equipment" would be scarce, so the gameplay will not be unbalanced. We will also see the full function of X, the graphics, and actual gameplay for ourselves when the BETA releases in May.
"Redmond, WashingtonMicrosoft Game Studios and Bungie Studios today confirmed the multiplayer beta of Halo® 3 will debut to audiences worldwide via Xbox LIVE® on May 16 at 5 A.M. Pacific Time and run through June 6 at 11:59 P.M. Pacific Time. Coming exclusively to Xbox 360 this fall, Halo 3 is the highly anticipated third chapter in the groundbreaking Halo trilogy from legendary developers Bungie.
Halo 3 lets you experience Master Chief's greatest battle as he launches an epic mission..."
![Box shot of Halo 3 [Europe]](http://i.neoseeker.com/boxshots/R2FtZXMvWGJveF8zNjAvQWN0aW9uL1Nob290ZXI=/halo_3_frontcover_small_mmYwXkPAiRKqTrS.jpg)