The Halo 3 Co-Op Story

Well, I guess I was wrong yesterday when I said that "There's not many exciting 360 news floating around that I can talk about at the moment. Maybe they're waiting for the new games too! ;)" Clearly I was mistaken as I awoke to find news on Halo 3. And pretty much all Halo 3 news is exciting! =D

First up, the Co-Op situation with Halo 3 was currently at the stage where it was all but confirmed that online co-op wouldn't be available. Well, now Bungie, makers of the Halo series (amongst others of course, but none that interest me!), have officially announced that online (and offline) co-op will be available in Halo 3. As I read this I was very excited. I loved the online co-op in Gears of War, and can only imagine combining that with the greatness of the Halo game series. That said, the announcement gets better when Bungie announce that the co-op mode will be 4 PLAYER!!! =D Now, that's friggin awesome! lol!

So you've Master Chief and the Arbiter (of course!)...so who are the other 2? 2 more Master Chiefs...2 more Arbiters...a Master Chief and an arbiter...or SOMETHING ELSE??????

Well, Bungie also announced 2 new characters to take the positions of "Player 3" and "Player 4" they are:

PLAYER 3 - Name: N’tho ‘Sraom
Affiliation: Fleet of Retribution/Special Warfare Group/Special Operations
History: N’tho ‘Sraom is the youngest member of his Special Operations unit and is one of a growing number of human sympathizers amongst the Sangheili youth. He is a fairly typical young male adult Sangheili—he began compulsory military service at the end of adolescence, and remains unmarried with no close, non-familial relationships outside of his martial order. N’tho Sraom refused to stand idly by while the Prophets replaced Sangheili units with Jiralhanae packs, and now bears deep resentment toward those Sangheili politicians who landed his kind in their current predicament.

Although N’tho ‘Sraom’s romanticized nationalism is emblematic of all Sangheili, he has developed a healthy respect for humanity—not for their physical abilities or martial prowess, but for their audacity and resolve.

PLAYER 4 - Name: Usze ‘Taham
Affiliation: Fleet of Retribution/Special Warfare Group/Fleet Security
History: Although Usze ‘Taham was born into a respected merchant family he was fathered by Toha ‘Sumai—one of the preeminent swordfighters of this age. Usze graduated with honors from the top War College in the Iruiru region of Yermo, Sanghelios (a distinction he shares with Rtas 'Vadum). Shortly after receiving his first post within the Covenant Navy he was offered a place on the Prophets’ Honor Guard but he declined citing “lack of practical experience”. In truth, he had no desire to be part of a largely ceremonial unit, and at the end of his third combat tour, Usze ‘Taham again refused the post—even though his superiors warned him such behavior could be misinterpreted as apostasy.

Since that time Usze has evaded countless punitive actions, at least two assassination attempts, and served with distinction for two additional tours before the Schism. Following the dissolution of the Covenant, he was approached by the Ascetics to become one of their liaisons within the Navy.

So there you go...4 player Halo 3 co-op goodness, both online and offline. So get ready to pull out that MASSIVE Plasma screen you've been dying to show off and get 3 of your....oh, wait a minute...one last thing. If you're doing local co-op, you're limited to 2 on one console! ;)

Well, for me it isn't a problem (and it's not because I don't have enough friends before you start with your petty remarks) =P If you and 3 friends want to go for the co-op but offline, you've got 2 options. Option 1 is to system link 2 consoles together, put 2 people on each console, and you can play 4 player. The other options have to involve xbox LIVE, but it does mean you can have 4 people over 2 consoles over LIVE. Or 2 people over 3 consoles for that matter...or 4 for that matter...but then that's just co-op over LIVE! =D

Anyway, I think you all get the picture and if you don't...here's one for you! =D



And if that's not enough Halo 3 news for one day...I've got more!

The folks over at IGN had a special box delivered today. What was in it? Nothing but Halo 3 Mountain Dew of course! ;) Yes, that's right! A soft drink of a video game...whatever next. Sorry, you don't believe me. Check this out:



Now you believe me? Thought so. Head over to the link above to read more. It's so strange I can't even type much about it, lol!

Ok, so that's it for another day! Soft drinks and co-op, what more can Bungie provide, lol! I'm now off to do 'my rounds' for the Order over at 360voice.com. If you haven't already checked 360voice out, you definitely should (well, if you own an xbox 360 connected to LIVE that is!) ;) and if you haven't checked out the Order, you should do that too! Oh, and click here to support me (and the Order of course)...you could also leave a comment if you're EXTRA nice! ;)

So, till next post,
Soupy

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2 days late...my excuse, E3!!

Well, it's finally upon us. E3 is here and got off to a great start with the Microsoft briefing. OK, so I didn't actually see the briefing. I mean, I should have considering it was shown on TV and online from a number of different sites including the offical xbox site! But alas, I live in the UK where we don't get gaming TV channels...yet, and where our time zone means that the briefing starts at 4am...so excuse me if I'm a little off with some of these details, but I'm having to read them online from various sources =( I can feel this is going to be a big post already!

Here's my summary of the Microsoft briefing (the whole briefing is in videos below):

• The show opened with a band called Corporeal.
  Corporeal are announced as 5 Halo fans. Apparently they've videos on YouTube and things like that. Check them out if you want.


• Peter Moore arrives on stage. Welcomes people.


• Rock Band makes it's appearance
  Well, Rock Band is Guitar Hero...with more instruments, lol! It looks fun, I mean, I loved Guitar Hero to pieces! But I can't sing for love nor money, so I'm afraid I probably won't buy it, lol! Guitar Hero 3 appeals to me more.


• NEW game - Viva Piñata: Party Animals
  OK, a new game with the Viva Piñata animals. Basically a set of mini-games featuring the ones we all know and love =/ Don't get me wrong, I actually liked Viva Piñata, but this sounds pretty lame


• Mass Effect Trailer
  Now this is awesome! Mass Effect is awesome! I'm really looking forward to this one. It looks so good! =D


• Xbox 360 Numbers/Figures/Stats
  Ok, Peter Moore announced some facts and figures...if you're interested these include: "Xbox 360 has the largest installed base with 5.6 million units in the US. ... We're outselling PS3 by nearly two to one.", "Since November, Xbox 360 third party games have cracked the top 10 list 18 times. Number of Wii and PS3 titles in the charts in the third-party top selling sales charts: zero, nil.", "Half of all consumer spending in this generation is on the Xbox 360. The top five games of the last gen were all Halo and Grand Theft Auto or Madden.", "Since the launch of the Wii and the PS3 in November, Xbox 360 has sold more games at retail than both of these consoles combined"


• Jeff Bell appears on stage


• He announces the NEW game Scene It!
  So they're bringing a 360 version of the movie/TV clip DVD game, Scene It. He mentioned "Four controllers and the game are included for the price of one Xbox 360 game." That's pretty good...I guess. I don't own this board game, nor have I actually played it, but I did want to at one stage...and kind of still do. Maybe this will make me buy it. The 360 version of course, I mean, what's the point in games if they're not on a console ;)


• Naruto: Rise of a Ninja feature
  Well, I'd never heard of this game, but I don't think I'm interested, if I'm honest. A lot of people are though, it just doesn't seem my type of game. I guess I could be dramatically surprised by a demo though. I'll hold my tongue until then.


• Reggie Bush now appears, to join Jeff


• EA Sports games, specifically Madden 08
  So this was basically the announcement of all EA Sports games running at 60FPS. This has been running around the internet the past week or so and I guess it's a good thing. Especially when you hear the PS3 will only be running at 30FPS =D hehe! 360 FTW...again! Sorry about that, anywhoo...So Reggie Bush appears. I don't know who he is, I'm not American or into American Football, but apparently he's a player in the NFL. Anyway, he comes on and demonstrates Madden 2008 (while horribly beating Jeff) =D


• Xbox Live Figures
  Basically Jeff announced that Xbox LIVE is now at 7-million members..that is one new Live member every 8 seconds. Pretty impressive PSN, eh? ;) lol! I need to stop with the fanboy stuff!


• XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade) feature
  Basically a bunch of new games coming to XBLA: Bomberman Live!, Undertow, Hexic 2, Sonic the Hedgehog, War World, Sensible World of Soccer, Every Extend Extra Extreme, Geon, Wing Commander Arena, Feeding Frenzy 2, Track and Field, Spyglass Board Games, Golden Axe, Space Giraffe, Super Puzzle Fighter II HD Turbo Remix, Marathon: Durandal, Poker Smash, Switchball, Tetris Splash, Puzzle Quest. Some pretty good ones in there...specifically the 3 I blogged about previously, lol! ;) Sonic and Golden Axe are this week's releases, by the way...if you haven't already got them that is, lol!


• Video Marketplace Figures and Announcements
  Two thousand hours of entertainment has been provided by Video Marketplace in the last year, 500, of those hours, in HD. $125 million has been spent on this content. That's quite impressive in my opinion! There's also been a partnership between Microsoft and Disney. Meaning, Disney movie titles are coming to Xbox Live...and not only are they coming, they came the very night of the briefing (Tuesday). So they're there...now!! =D Which sucks for me being in the UK and not having Video Marketplace...or does it?? Next announcement: VIDEO MARKETPLACE IN CANADA AND EUROPE BY THE END OF THE YEAR!! Sorry for the CAPS and bold but I'm excited, lol! Ever since the launch of Video Marketplace I've wanted it. Now we're finally getting it! Yaaay! Oh, and Elite is coming to Europe on Aug. 24. No price as of yet. To be honest, I'm not fussed. I'm happy with my video output from my regular 360 for now, and the only bit I am hyped about is the larger hard drive. I'll definately be getting one of those =D


• Shane Kim appears on stage


• Project Gotham Racing 4 feature
  I played (and own) Project Gotham 3. I think nearly everybody got it with their 360 in some sort of package, lol! But I did enjoy it, though I'm not a great fan of racing games, so I didn't enjoy it THAT much! PGR4 looks set to be amazing! Even better than all the improved graphics and what-not is the fact that you can race motorcycles! Against cars, lol! Honda, Suzuki, Ducati, and more, according to the PGR team. Dynamic weather effects were shown off. There's fog in Shanghai. You can share photos and videos online when the game comes this September. Oh, it'll be sweet! =D


• Alan Wake, Too Human, Fable 2 and Halo Wars small feature
  Apparently these games show how Microsoft has "given game creators the resources to shoot for the stars, take risks, and go for things other creators can only dream of." Yeah, whatever! =/


• Lost Odyssey trailer
  This game looks OK, I guess. Nothing too big that makes me want it bad. Again, it's only my opinion though


• Games for Windows announcements
  Personally, I don't care for PC gaming (except when Spore comes out, then I'll be all over it!), so these announcements don't usually phase me. Except for one little thing...basically Gears of War is coming to PC (well, I already knew that!) but they mentioned new features such as new content, a game editor, and "some very big surprises are in store." Now, a game editor...hmmm?? Interesting. New content...it's actually 5 new chapters apparently. I'm just curious if that's an extra act...or 2?? Or are they going to put in one extra chapter per act? CliffyB also comes out to demonstrate it. And it looks quite good! Though he did show how to defeat the boss...that's just bad PR (as Andy pointed out somewhere!) Anyway, it got me thinking. Will us faithful 360 users see any of this new content. I certainly hope so, via some DLC would be nice! =D They also announced a lot of other new games coming to Vista, and the fact nearly 10 million gamers have moved to Vista (why do none of them play Shadowrun, lol!) Anyway, here's the new games: Crysis, Hellgate: London, Conan: Hyborian Advenures, Thrillville: Off the Rails, the Bee Movie Game, Age of Empires 3: The Asian Dynasties, Stranglehold, Bioshock, Universe at War: Earth Assault, Blacksite: Area 51, World in Conflict, Lost Planet, Kane and Lynch: Dead Men, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, Zoo Tycoon 2: Exctinct Animals, Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights, Viva Pinata, Spider-Man Friend or Foe. I'm noticing some of these are on 360 also...a good move for Microsoft if you ask me! =D


• Peter Moore comes back on stage


• Call of Duty 4 Video, Demo and Announcements =)
  This is it. The one I've been waiting for. I'm looking so forward to this game it's actually unbelievable. It better not be a let down! =( Anyway, they showed a video, then played through a demo, then they announced...wait for it...a Call of Duty 4 MULTI-PLAYER BETA will be running for Xbox 360!! =D Oh yeah, I can't wait for this. Keep an eye on the official site for more details!


• Splinter Cell video
  I only recently purchased Splinter Cell: Double Agent and it's quite good. I only wish I could be better at it, lol! This game looks good...but I'll have to improve at my skills at these types of game before I would buy it!


• Grand Theft Auto IV trailer
  We all know (and love) the Grand Theft Auto series. Whether we started with the original GTA (like me!), GTA2, GTA3, GTA: Vice City, GTA: San Andreas or even GTA: Liberty City Stories or GTA: Vice City Stories, the whole series has, in my opinion, been one of the most popular series in modern day video games. OK, Final Fantasy may have more in the series and a bigger number of 'followers', but the GTA series has had all the publicity to go with it. It's been pretty successful anyway! So, I'm looking forward to GTA IV a lot! =D The graphics look superb and anything I've heard about it has been good. Definitely on my 'to buy' list! Oh, and Peter also mentions that all the GTA trailers to date have been provided using Xbox hardware. So what you see, is what you will get =)


• Resident Evil 5 announcement and trailer
  It's been announced! Resident Evil 5 will feature on the Xbox 360...in 2008. This is the only game from Microsoft's announcement (to my knowledge) that won't be released in 2007. But that doesn't matter, it's going to be awesome anyway! =D There will be a full trailer on XBL marketplace July 26. Watch that space!


• Assassin's Creed demo with Jade Raymond
  Another hugely anticipated game! For this one, I cannot wait. Everything about it looks so amazing! I want this game now, lol! It's a new play-through demo and it looks really really good. Assassin's Creed will be released November of this year.


• Peter Moore returns to stage (again)


• Halo 3 Video and Announcement
  Moore says: "I'm very pleased to present to you a unique partnership between Bungie Studios, Weta down in New Zealand, and director Neil Blomkamp. This live-action trailer gives you a chance to see what they've been working on, and a new chance to believe." The trailer looks quite good. Expectations are high though. Moore follows the trailer with an announcement about a new Halo 3 edition xbox 360 console. No-one is too impressed, lol! There's nothing special except the paint job really. I don't think it will do too well...plus it's actually quite a sickly colour, lol! After that a NEW Halo 3 single player video plays. I'm buying the game anyway, even if they changed it to 8-bit, lol! I don't need to be impressed further! =)


• Show over! The band from earlier returns to play

Now the videos:
I wish I could find HD versions of these, like GameTrailers normally provides, but I guess they're just too big as it is! Anyway, here you go!

Part 1 of the briefing


Part 2 of the briefing


Part 3 of the briefing


Part 4 of the briefing


Part 5 of the briefing


And finally, part 6 of the briefing


So there you have it! Microsoft's E3 2007 briefing, covered by me. OK, so it is 2 days late I guess but still...let me explain:

See, I was going to post 2 days ago with all the things that I expected and hoped I would get from Microsoft at E3, but by the time I finished getting all I wanted to say, Microsoft's E3 briefing had actually happened, lol! So I decided to pot about what happened, and it's basically what you see above except each section had it's own video or videos...then I found the entire briefing videos...and decided they would be better instead. So here we are, with possibly the longest post EVER in the history of blogging (lol, slight exaggeration) and it's only taken me 2 days to complete, lol!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed and hopefully I'll be back again soon!

Soupy

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Back...but not soon enough

Hello!

Finally, I make it back to my blog home, though I feel I've been away longer than I anticipated. Well, I don't want to bore you all with my holiday stories (unless you'd like to hear, in which case comment and ask, lol!) but basically I left Tuesday 20th June at 4am, spent 7 really good days in Magalluf, Mallorca...and returned around 7pm Tuesday 27th June. Now, I was without proper internet access until late Thursday 29th June, due to also moving house during this time. Now when I think about it, quite a stressful week one might say.

So now, back to reality. No more holidays, work as usual (if not busier) and the desire to play my 360 more than I get to is ever increasing! Though, I have a plan for that...so watch this space ;)

In actual news, that you may find exciting, I noticed that while I was gone the "Rainbow Six Vegas: Black Pack" was released. I do play R6V occasionally but not enough to warrant the purchase of the Red Pack, a while back, nor this new Black Pack...or so I was led to believe. In fact, while the Black Pack was released at 800 MS Points for a short period of time, it was later pulled without reason or excuse. This mysterious action was rather confusing to many, until it was all cleared up a few days ago.

Apparently, the Black Pack was intended to be released free later in the month...but for some reason was released early for 800 points. People are obviosuly very confused! But, the good news is that the Black Pack will go as planned, for free, on the 30th June (which was a few days ago by the way!). Those who did pay for it, during the short time it was up, will have their MS points refunded! =D

But the better news is that the previously released Red Pack, for 800 points, will also be made free from 6th July (that's this Friday). Now I'm even more glad I didn't buy it when it was released.

In my opinion, they should have made this clear at the start. For instance, when the Gears new map pack (Hidden Fronts, I believe it's called) was released, it was announced that it would later be made free. So I didn't think twice about it, I knew I would wait until it was free, I wasn't that desperate to have it. On the other hand, I bought the Crackdown premium DLC the day it was released, and would have done even if they'd mentioned it was being released for free at a later date. I just wanted it ASAP!

On a side note, I bought Pac-Man C.E. yesterday, as well as Prince of Persia Classic. Pac-Man C.E. is highly addictive and A LOT of fun to play. Prince of Persia brings back memories of the original on the Amiga 1200 for me, and it's also a lot of fun to play. I highly recommend both of them! =)

I also tried the Overlord demo yesterday. It was immense fun and I will definately be looking to buying this in the near future! =)

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to keep with my promise I made before holiday and post at least every other day.

So until later today, tomorrow, or the day after,
Soupy

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In the spirit of the promise...

Ok!

So in the last post I promised more updates, today you're getting two posts in one day! Talk about a bargain! ;) I was considering holding off on this one until tomorrow, so that we'd have 2 posts in 2 days...but I couldn't let this lie any longer, I had to keep you up-to-date! =)

It was announced today that:

"...Gears of War will be getting a title update tomorrow, June 14th after 0200 0900 GMT. Inside the Title Update, you’ll find eight new Achievements for the "Annex" gametype and the "Hidden Fronts" Multiplayer Map Pack on Xbox LIVE.

In addition to adding new Achievements, worth a total of 250 points, Epic has improved the Roadie Run controls so players have greater control of their movement. The title update will also help squash multiplayer exploits and provide general housekeeping.

All I can say is woah, I've impressed by Epic! Now obviously I was impressed by them when they initially released Gears of War, but then I got annoyed at various aspects of the online multiplayer, as well as the fact that all the multiplayer achievements were ONLY attainable in Ranked matches, in which you couldn't play with friends and usually took around 10 minutes to start! But now I am impressed. I'm enjoying Annex matches and they're giving away the achievement points for free! =) Now, in fairness, technically they aren't all free yet as it implies that some will be for the 'Hidden Fronts' pack, which is paid for. But that will be free come 3rd September! So, I'm happy enough with that anyway! =) I'm looking forward to this but the main thing I need at the moment is to find some time to actually spend with my xbox in order to try these things out, lol!

It seems like I'm working more and more, getting involved with more and more things...and my gaming life suffers! But, all is not lost, I will make time for it, in the same way that I will post here at least every other day! =)

Till next time,
Soupy

EDIT: Updated release time for title update!

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