Money goes out the window...

Sheesh so this winter, so far, since...say...Octoberish..I've spent in the upwards of 400-500 on a TV and video games. This Saturday I'm camping out for a Nintendo Wii (Zelda baby!), and after Christmas I'm going to start saving for Smash Bros., Lost Planet, Crackdown, Stranglehold, Halo 3, Mass Effect, a Freaking PS3, etc. Holy crap.

Halo newsbreak

So Bungie just announced two awesome things: A) there will be a Halo 3 multiplayer beta next summer and B) there will be new maps for Halo 2 around the same time. To all the Halo fans, how can this not be sweet. The only downside (for everybody else) is that you can only download the maps on the Xbox 360. So basically more Halo this summer, before Halo 3 next fall! Of course, I still have to wait till the summer but that's awesome.

Oh and not that anybody cares...

Saw this format on Bungie.net, so I figured I'd do my own:

Bungie: What is it about Halo 3 that you are most looking forward to?

More must-play maps like Lockout, Zanzibar, HangemHigh, and Blood Gulch (not Coagulation), the new weapons (Spartan Laser=mmm), and not to mention hopefully the return of Halo 1's grandiose scale and epic battles. Not to mention you can record videos in Halo 3...woot.

What is something you want to see put into Halo 3?

Sprinting? Weapon stealing? Bots? Map Maker? Ability to boot tard bags? A feeling of being in a larger conflict (in both multiplayer and singleplayer)

What feature from either Halos would you like to see return?

I think that Halo 1's pistol provided a nice balancer, but if they can find a replacement hot diggity. Beyond that, Halo 2's superb jumping and some middleground between Halo 1's melee and Halo 2's lunges. Huuuuge battles over huge terrains (see Two Betrayals on Halo 1) and in general larger spaces. More looks into the Covenant point of view.

What do you think they did wrong in Halo 2?

I think that some of the levels were not completely thought out (Coagulation?), and I think that the freakin Flood can only go on so far without some sort of upgrade. Also, open up the levels (I don't mind trekking across huge open fields if they are set pieces for larger battles) and give the player more chance to do things stealth (my kind of game) and please do Legendary in way that requires more strategy and less frustration.

Describe your all time favorite memory from the Halo campaign.

That would definitely go to the final encounter on Two Betrayals on co op. My brother and I scoping out the huge battle and picking our targets and our method of attack and finally getting it right. Amazing battle.

Describe your all time favorite memory from Halo 2 multiplayer.

That would actually come from early in Halo 2's lifespan, online, playing with my brother and my friend Evan in a capture the flag game. It was 4 on the 3 of us, and through some amazing battles, we came out on top. Definitely play this game online.

Who is your favorite Halo character and why?

I'd have to go with the Arbiter. The Master Chief is the master pimp, but as for a character who goes further than just skin deep, it's definitely the Arbiter. The Arbiter is deemed a traitor in the beginning of the game, but ends up being one of the only sane Covenant left, and provides a perfect bizarro reflection of the Chief in the Covenant world.

gears of war?

So...sorry about that hiatus, a certain game has caught me by the ears. If you've been following the game at all, this game is hot. Of course it looks great (refer to those commercials on MTV, etc.), the sound is tight, and it's cheaper than a PS3, but that's not what matters: this game is fun. As soon as I beat the game (which is not too long, but not too short), I immediately jumped into the harder difficulty. Very rarely do I play a game on a harder difficulty for any more reason than to piss myself off and pretend like I hate video games, but this is one of the few cases where it is superb as it gets more difficult (as is Guitar Hero, etc.). First half hour, I thought, well hey this game looks great and man is it gory (hide the children), but until you get the heralded cover system, it won't click. But when it clicks, and this is what most games lack, you want to master the game. Much like Halo, you perfect the movement and find yourself doing things with such slick movement you didn't even think you could accomplish in the game and the on screen character becomes an extension of your mind. Crazy sounding, yes, but man is it sweet. This one will most likely go the way of my copies of Halo; I play it so much it stops working and I have to buy a second copy and explain it to everyone who comes over. In the mean time, I played PS3 at Target! There were two demos: NBA Shit 07 and Motorstorm. Since the NBA game probably doesn't even work (and 2 people are disappointed), I played Motorstorm. The game looks great (even on those "TVs" Target has (read: toilet webcams) and the sounds pretty cool (good music), but I mean it's still a racing game. That is, until I pause the game and turn on the "Tilt Sensitivity". What this means now, is that steering is completely reliant on you tilting the controller in the direction and intensity that you would like to go at. Sounds ridiculous (oh and definitely makes you look ridiculous), but god is it fun. This run of the mill game is suddenly fun and I'm looking like a child playing with a bouncy ball in the pottery section. There's no doubt about it, maybe Sony had their tilt shite before Nintendo, maybe they ripped em off, either way, it works like a charm. I'm looking forward to the PS3 this summer when I buy it, because if I buy it now I will A) be mugged upon leaving the premises with the PS3 or B) will be forced to enjoy one of two games for 4-5 months until the new games come out (as with any system). Which brings me to the Wii, where my excitement has somewhat waned. Don't get me wrong, the controller's technology is awesome, but its not escaping the system launch syndrome where there are one or two cool games coming out and no more cool ones for months. Ah well, it will definitely be fun fishing on Zelda guaranteed, no matter how much the graphics suck compared to Gears. Over and out.

Mah Naymah Borat

So I traveled to Short Pump last night to see the long-awaited Borat and I must say, the movie is all people have been saying. Warning, however, Borat can be one of the most offensive movies you have ever seen if you don't take it with a grain of salt and atleast realize that Sacha Cohen is joking on his own beliefs a good portion of the time. If you can step outside any morals and have fun, this movie is friggin awesome. Borat finds people and takes advantage of the fact that he seems foreign and hard to understand and just runs with it. His gypsy jokes, his Jewish jokes, and all of the anti-America jokes are amazingly crafted and somehow choreographed. How he tied a motivation for all of his gags and lead everything in one flowing direction is beyond me, but Cohen has done it. I haven't laughed this hard out loud since...maybe Kung Pow? Oh and don't worry, you don't need to like Kung Pow to like Borat...it's not like that. Gears of War tomorrow...top rated game of the year...mmmm...Rainbow Six Vegas next week....mmm. Over and out.

<< So Halo 3 has been quite the buzz lately what with the screenshots from Sweden(?) being leaked and videos and magazine exclusives coming soon, and as such they announced that reserves would be taken starting today. Now, for all of those unknowing, Halo 3 comes out in a year if we're lucky. Halo 3 will come in 3 packages: standard package ($60), a 10 dollar more custom edition (with a bonus DVD and cool case), and then a final "Legendary Edition" with 4 DVDs of extra content (making-of, special videos, etc.), a replica of the helmet of the protagonist, and other unannounced bonus thingies (T-shirt?), and that costs 100 bones. Guess which one I bought?

So Halo 3 has been quite the buzz lately what with the screenshots from Sweden(?) being leaked and videos and magazine exclusives coming soon, and as such they announced that reserves would be taken starting today. Now, for all of those unknowing, Halo 3 comes out in a year if we're lucky. Halo 3 will come in 3 packages: standard package ($60), a 10 dollar more custom edition (with a bonus DVD and cool case), and then a final "Legendary Edition" with 4 DVDs of extra content (making-of, special videos, etc.), a replica of the helmet of the protagonist, and other unannounced bonus thingies (T-shirt?), and that costs 100 bones. Guess which one I bought?