So I here I sit on a plane on my way back from Seattle. Flights across the country generally give one a lot of time to think about things. This particular trip took me to an event unlike any other I’ve been to. The event was called the Community Lock-In for Halo 3. Microsoft’s biggest game ever was set to launch on the Xbox 360 on September 25th, and they were kind enough to invite 17 members of the Xbox and Video Game community to their headquarters to get a taste of the game. I don’t know if you’d call a 12 hour marathon session a taste, I guess that’s more like a buffet. The event was great, and I met a lot of really awesome people from a lot of sites that I’ve checked out from time to time. We were even taken to the Best Buy midnight launch where we got to wander around and help promote the game and just generally take in the insanity that ensued there. And trust me, it was pretty fucking insane.

So yeah, I’m on a plane and my mind is wandering. Marty O’Donnel’s (who I got to meet) Halo Soundtrack is blasting through my headphones and I’m looking out an airplane window at gorgeous setting sun and an amber sea of clouds. Ironically, in Amber Clad is the track playing on my Halo 3 Zune. See a trend here? I’m in fucking Halo mode. I’m constantly thinking about it. Between the total conversion of Evil Avatar.com and the contest we are doing over there to help promote it, to the taste of the campaign I got yesterday all I want to do is eat, breath and dream Halo.

Oh shit, there goes Steve Vai jamming that theme out. Tight.

Speaking of the campaign, how bout that opening cinematic. I mean, jesus christ could it get any fucking better? I mean, ok, we knew the chief wasn’t dead (obviously) but that’s not what was so great about it. It’s that possibility of what’s going on with Cortana and the chief. There’s some higher level shit happening there, and I simply could not WAIT to find out. Cortana mentions how the AIs are allowed to choose their Spartan, this was actually something from the Halo books. And the way she talks about the chief, well it frickin tugs on my heart strings.

Anyway, enough about Halo for now, I just can’t wait to get home and play it.

You know, it’s weird. These past two years of my life have been pretty surreal.

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What would have happened if during the height of the Cold War in the 80’s the Russians had decided to invade America. With our forces spread thin around the globe fighting other battles, would we have been able to protect our own soil? That question is asked and answered in World in Conflict, the latest RTS game from Massive Entertainment, the creators of the Ground Control series.

From the first mission of WiC you can tell this game is going to have A LOT of explosions in it. With the Russians choosing Seattle as their landing zone, and all hell breaking loose in the city, it’s your job to try to salvage what you can. Before you know it highways are collapsing and the Seattle Dome is being turned into rubble. You’re character, Lieutenant Parker, is set in charge of small units of infantry, tanks, artillery and air craft. What sets WiC apart from other RTS titles is there is the way you add units to your army. You gain the ability to airdrop units in and call in fire support by killing other units and surviving. Amass enough resource points, choose your drop location, and units and bring in the reinforcements. Amass enough Victory Points and you’ll be able to call in air strikes, artillery and even laser guided missiles. There’s no resource gathering, no base building, no worrying about unit upgrades. This lets you concentrate on one thing: blowing up Russians.
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I snagged 2 packs of the Halo ActionClix while at Gamestop tonight preordering the ArtFX Halo 3 Masterchief Statue.

They are pretty decent looking little figures, it just sucks you can’t pick what you get with a pack, only the figure at the top is viewable. The funny thing is, the 3 other figures are under like 4 layers of black plastic. There’s NO way you are going to find out what is in a pack.

The full set can be found on my Flickr page.

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My god…I thought I’ve seen everything. But…well yeah. Now I have.

With Lair somewhat of a disappointment, and Warhawk a multi player only title, PlayStation 3 owners have been hungry for a solid AAA single player experience. Hopes and expectations have been high for Heavenly Sword, and some are hoping it will help justify there $600 investment. While I don’t think any one title is capable of that kind of justification, Heavenly Sword isdefinitely a piece of that puzzle.

Heavenly Sword is the tale of an ancient sword sent from the skies to help conquer evil in the world. Ironically, those who wield the sword are corrupted by it’s power becoming evil themselves, and killing all those in its path. Heavenly Sword puts you in the shoes (or sandals) of Nariko, a fiery red head who needs to wield the Heavenly Sword to protect her clan on the brink of destruction from an evil king.

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So it appears like the US Government wants to fuck up even further are already paltry broaband penetration in this country thanks to an expiring bill. Congress would pass a new bill in its place which would levy taxes on internet access for cable, dsl, and other various means of access the great WWW.

If the moratorium is allowed to expire, states would be allowed to levy discriminatory taxes on digital subscriber line, cable modem, wireless and even BlackBerry-type data services. First enacted in 1998 and renewed after some debate in 2004, the existing law prevents state and local governments from taxing “a service that enables users to access content, information, electronic mail or other services offered over the Internet.”

Each time the bill has come up for renewal, state and local officials have opposed making the ban permanent, arguing it’s best for the policy to stay flexible so states can re-evaluate whether collecting such taxes is necessary for their operations. So far, they’ve won over politicians on that front.

The bill is set to expire on November 1st, and if nothing is done in time we could see net taxes in place pretty quickly. The US already ranks on the lower end of the scale in terms of broadband penetration, speed and cost. Something like this could only hurt it further.

Source

A new video just came out for Team Fortress 2, and it’s shit hot.

It’s called Meet the Engineer and really gives you an idea of the flavor of the atmosphere for the game.

In case you missed it, you can also Meet the Heavy  and you can Meet the Soldier.

I think I’ve decided today that I need to train myself to live on 5 hours of sleep.  I normally go to bed around 11 or so and wake up at 6:30, but this simply is cutting into my gaming time.  On top of all the games I want to play, I have the articles to write related to those games.  Combine that with a 40+ hour work week, taking care of a dog, housework, a wife, and whatever else real life throws at me and I simply don’t have enough time in the day to do what I want.

Day 1 is now.   I will increase my “awake” time.

It’s time for another addition of What you Should be Playing. A handful of titles come out this week, but the titles you should be playing are all already available!

Bioshock (PC/360) - If you aren’t playing Bioshock yet, you really don’t know what you are missing. Stop whatever you are doing and go pick it up NOW! A beautifully rendered underwater art deco city awaits you, filled with creepy little girls and giant scuba divers with drills for arms!

Super Puzzle Fighter HD (PSN/XBLA) - SPF:HD is a mix of a fighting game and a puzzle game. How the heck does that work? Pretty much like any other puzzle game the allows you to play vs, but for some reason the folks at Capcom have the pacing and strategy JUST RIGHT.

 Guild Wars: Eye of North (PC)  - Eye of North is the first official “expansion pack” for the Guild Wars franchise.  You’ll finally be able to take your level 20 character to even more difficult areas and pass level 20.  I started Guild Wars over 2 years ago, and go back from time to time.  I think Eye of North is sucking me in….