 Bungie sure does have a fascination with the number "7". Their forum is named the "Seventh Column", and various exponents of 7 hold high, even religious significance in many of their games. Would it surprise you then that on this date last year, 07/07/07 would have some special meaning. Well, they held their first "Bungie Day", but also officially competed the #6 task in their 7-Step Plan for World Domination (stage bloody coup of new parent company). Yet, the world wouldn't know of this deed until October of 2007. Now having been enlightened by the knowledge of their independence, we can truly celebrate a future not bound exclusively to Microsoft and the billion dollar donut!
Are we, the fans, the only ones to cheer? Of course not! Bungie is returning the favor with a special download. A set of Bungie-styled Gamerpics and Theme will be available for download one day only. An extra bonus for Halo 3 players is the free map "Cold Storage", a remake of the classic "Chill Out" from the original Halo: Combat Evolved.
"Chill Out" plays more on the Forerunner theme, with a sprinkle of Flood contamination. Gameplay holds fairly true to the original with focus placed on controlling the sniper, rockets and invisibility power-up. Online matchmaking will also be updated to require the new maps for playlists currently requiring the Legendary Map Pack. Since the new map is free, this shouldn't be a problem. If that isn't enough incentive, the Legendary Map Pack is getting a new price of 600 MS points.
Video of the new map after the break...
Continue reading Happy Bungie Day!
 As you remember, some yahoo at Microsoft's repair center totally crushed some kid's dream, but thankfully Bungie has stepped up to the plate and made things all better.
They mailed Nathaniel a care package filled with all kinds of Halo/Bungie related goodies. Here's a list of what he got from the House of Halo...
- Legendary Edition Helmet signed by most, if not all, of Bungie
- Halo 3 Soundtrack (two disc) signed by Marty O'Donnel
- Bungie Jacket
- Bungie T-Shirt
- Halo 3 Messenger Bag
- Two Halo 3 Limited Edition Wireless Controllers (both versions)
- Halo 3 Faceplate and Skins for Xbox 360
- Four McFarlane Action Figures
- Halo Actionclix Preview pack
- Halo Actionclix Game Pack 4
- Halo 3 Wall Graffix
- Halo 3: Ghosts of Onyx Novel
- Halo Graphic Novel
- Halo 3 Wristband
- Halo 3 Hackeysack
In addition Nathaniel has heard from John Porcaro at Microsoft who apologized about the situation and promised that they will get him something just as awesome as his signed 360. As of right now, he has not received anything from Microsoft.
In the last article I posted about this, there was some question from the commenters about whether or not this story was fake. Well, you're wrong, because it most definitely is real. Nathaniel's friends and the people that have signed this 360 have come forward confirmed it. So yup, they really did erase what was on his 360.
Source: Hawty McBloggy
2007 was the year of hype in gaming. Between Halo 3, Mass Effect, Super Mario Galaxy, Crysis, and Assassin's Creed, this year has seen the release of some of the most talked up games of all-time. While some of them fell far short of the hype, there were plenty of other far superior games that came out, but received little to no attention from mainstream gamers. So, continuing now and on every Wednesday (or Thursday) until the end of the year, I will be giving you a look at two games released this year that deserve your hard-earned cash and attention. At the end of this five-part series (ending the day after Christmas), I will list them in order of the most overlooked/underrated.
 First up this week is the Halo 3 Beta Crackdown by RealTime Worlds and published by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 (I know, Ctrl-Alt-Del sucks, B^U, etc etc, but this one isn't half bad.). Before I talk about it, I want to confess that I have never actually played the game, but I'm just going based off of what Tynstar has said about the game on our forums and what I have heard from elsewhere on the web. Crackdown is an example of when something with not much anticipation rides the coattails of another more popular thing (like The Decemberists riding Stephen Colbert's coattails). Some previous examples of this in gaming include Zone of the Enders (Came with the Metal Gear Solid 2 demo) and Dragon Quest 8 (came with the Final Fantasy 12 demo). In Crackdown's case, RealTime Worlds' corporate overlords (in the publishing sense) at Microsoft thought, "Hey, why don't we give people who buy Crackdown access to a time-limited beta version of Halo 3! It will increase sales for us because Halo fans will buy anything related to the game..." Okay, maybe they didn't say that exactly, but that seems to be the logic. Include a demo for the most anticipated game of all-time with a game that wouldn't sell very well on its own in order to boost sales. Makes sense. Well, the plan worked, as Crackdown went on to sell 1.35 million copies. Now why, would I include such a successful game on this list? Simple. It only sold that many for the Halo 3 beta. Just go to any used game store and you'll see a boatload of copies of Crackdown available for sale. It's a damned shame too because it's actually a great game and got very good reviews and response from those who actually played it. In the game, you play as a genetically enhanced cop with superhuman, comic book esque abilities. The game revolves around you taking down three gangs that control the city. The game has been described by many people (including our very own Tynstar) as very addictive, and definitely worth picking up. So, those of you with a 360, definitely look into getting this game.
 Next game I'd like to feature is one of my favorite games of the year, Picross DS by Jupiter and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. Now, as many of you on this site have discovered, Picross DS is a very addictive DS puzzler which is controlled entirely by the stylus (or the dpad if you please) and is a followup of sorts to Mario's Picross released here in the US 10 years ago on the original Game Boy. Now, many Picross games came out in Japan after Mario's Picross, but they never were released here because Mario's Picross was a commercial failure here, but 12 years later, Nintendo has tried out Picross in the US and Europe again. However, the DS iteration did not do extraordinarily well over here as well. But, for $20 it's a damn good value that will have you hooked for months. Picross DS is kind of like Sudoku, but with pictures. The numbers across the top of the puzzle tell you how many squares to fill in going down (and how many in a row there are), and the numbers going down the side of the puzzle do the same thing, but for going across. It's kind of hard to explain, but if you try out a few puzzles online, you'll understand it. Check out Wikipedia article about Nonograms in order to learn how to play them. You can also try your hand at a few nonogram puzzles by going here. Back to Picross DS, the game includes over 135 puzzles, a Daily Picross feature with five different unlockable minigames to test your puzzle solving skills, a puzzle creator, and online play. The coolest feature about this game are the free downloadable puzzle packs Nintendo has been releasing biweekly. Right now, you can download over 120 additional puzzles to your Picross DS cart (which can hold up to 100 puzzles). The puzzles are mostly from Mario's Picross on the Game Boy, but Nintendo has been having contests to make puzzles and some of those will be posted in a pack. Another online feature the game has is that you can send puzzles you created to your friends and have them solve them. All that for only $20. You really can't go wrong with Picross DS.
Check back next week when we look at something I haven't decided yet. Oddly enough I have no clue what I want to feature the next two times, but I know what the final part of the series will be. Oh well, check back and we'll see what I do. 
The Xbox 360 is not known for its first-party support, yet the undeniable, record-breaking sales of Halo 3 have pushed console sales to outsell both the PS3 and Wii for the months of September and October. At $30 million in development costs, Microsoft Corporation found return profit, multiplied ten-fold in the first week alone. Sales were more than a once-off phenomenon, as the game has managed to consistently sell more than all the console versions of the hit game, Guitar Hero III, every week since release.
Now, it seems they're giving it away, at least to the poor original Xbox owners who are still living in the last generation. This promotion is more than a replacement for your scratched LE discs; this is the full deal.
Once again this is a promotion for original Xbox owners with an Xbox LIVE account. To register, go to the registration page and follow the instructions outlined below.
Current paid Xbox LIVE members on the original Xbox console (not Xbox 360), here's how to get your Halo 3 game: 1. Buy an Xbox 360 console between November 21 and December 21, 2007. 2. Convert your current paid Xbox LIVE account to an Xbox LIVE Gold subscription. 3. Register here between November 21 and December 21, 2007 with promotional code XBX7777, with your new console serial number, and a valid mailing address. 4. Look for your copy of Halo 3 in your mailbox! |  |
NOTE: The registration page has been down frequently since details of this promotion have been introduced to the internet. It took me a few visits to find a time that the site was up. It has since gone down again. Good luck! Also, why did I even register!? I didn't have a paying LIVE account for the original Xbox, nor do I have a Gold account. Save yourself some time and read the promotion terms of use.
Source: Xbox.com
 Its late at night (on a weekday nonetheless) and a concerned mother pulls the "air card" (and soon hides it) to end her kid's Halo 3 online session, urging him to go to bed. Instead of being crafty and sneaking out to play later, he then proceeds to aggressively search the house for his missing wireless card, with his mother attempting to restrain him the entire time.
Push comes to shove... and well... this enraged kid punches his own mom.
He never found the missing wireless card, and locked himself away in his bedroom to continue playing the game. Meanwhile, his parents call over police. Sheriff's Deputy Sean Harnage and another Deputy respond to a call of an "out-of-control child" at about 11:30PM. The kid remains locked in his room while his parents urge him to come out and share words with the deputies. Profane words fly, and the parents use a key to let the officers into the locked room. Harnage catches a punch to the face while fighting to make the arrest.
End result: off to jail for battery in domestic violence, and battery against a law-enforcement officer.
I haven't seen or heard anything this disturbing since the . Shame on you mother-puncher. Shame.
Source: TCPalm
 This weekend, the biggest battle in gaming wasn't in stores, it was on the race track at Dover International Speedway for the Dodge Dealers 400, which is part of the NASCAR Nextel Cup series. The battle pitted David Stremme, driving the #40 Halo 3 car, and Greg Biffle, driving the #16 Nintendo Wii car. The results of the race are as follows.
Greg Biffle and the Wii Ford Fusion took home 2nd place, beat out by Carl Edwards. However, Carl's car failed the post race inspection, which could result in a penalty for him. As far as David Stremme and the Halo 3 Dodge Avenger is concerned, well, heh, it got a real life "Red Ring Of Death." The engine in the Avenger blew up, which took him out of the race.
Could this be foreshadowing for the future? Wii takes 2nd place while 360 just RRODs itself to death? Where was the PS3 car?! Could they not find any drivers for it? Who knows...
All I know is that I really don't give a crap about NASCAR.
(Image credit: Kotaku.com)
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