Vegetarians beware! Bungie is playing Halo Reach today and if you beat them, you get steak.  Yes… beef, from a cow.  “You steak us. We steak you.” is the motto of today’s 7/7 Bungie day.  As many of you know, Bungie celebrates the 7th day of July in order to prolong their long standing infatuation with the number seven.  So is not unusual to log on and find them playing today, usually with some swag to give out.

If you want a steak, all you have to do is be in the United States and play the Steaktacular playlist.  If you are not in the U.S.A, they will send you a gift card.  The gaming marathon started at 12:00am (PT) and will go on until 11:59pm(PT). If you see these Gamertags: Humproast, Heavenly Beef, Tender Loins or Porterhaus all you have to do is beat them!  If you are more of a watch the mayhem kind of person, not to worry!  Bungie has a live stream at USTREAM for you to watch; complete with Twitter updates and live chat.  So you can watch it on the go or at work.

The festivities don’t end there, as Bungie has been updating their store with some sweet Halo gear you can’t get anywhere else!

As always, my **GT is Xalaga and I hope to see you guys online!

*gets steak sauce ready

**When sending invites please let me know who you are and that you are coming from GamingAngels.com

Thanks to Peg for the tip.

Huge convention center to hold it all in? Check

Best group of people you’ll ever hang out with? Check

New and up-coming games from E3 and some PAX exclusives available to play?  Check

Halo fest?  Chec…..WAIT WHAT?

Yes, if it was EVEN remotely possible PAX just got better-er-er-er-er.  During PAX Prime, Halo waypoint announced that a Halo Fest would be happening all 3 days from 10am to 6pm.  Bringing tournaments, panels and sweet prices.

So, if you are still reading and you haven’t passed out do to how exciting this is, I have one more thing to say….IT’S FREE WITH YOUR PAX PRIME PASS!!!

*passes out*

I saw the story of Julias Jackson [Zombie Kill67] as I was watching the Simpsons and my local news did a promo.  I searched for “Autistic Vs Microsoft” and the 1^st match was a video talking about the incident.  In the video it’s made to sound like this soulless corporation [Microsoft] has robbed the poor autistic child from the privilege of playing Halo and he had received the dreaded banhammer.   Microsoft replied to the incident saying that the kid’s account was found logged in a different city and had been able to receive the “recon armor” off-line, something that cannot be done.  Microsoft had a clear case for why the achievements were stripped and why the account was labeled as a “cheater.”

There is something in us, something primal in nature that we want to protect the weak.  Julius is autistic and this is devastating to him. At the same time, there is always another side of the story.  We all know that things like tampering or giving away your password to anybody is something you just don’t do.  Apparently Julias wanted that recon armor so much that he gave his password away to another player in order to get the armor.  He violated the number one rule of online life involving gaming, email accounts, banking, shopping; anything that requires the use of a password. You don’t give your password away!  Did Julias know what he was doing?  That might be a fuzzy line due to his condition, but he knew enough to give his password away to attain the recon armor.  Is Microsoft right to label the account as a cheater and most likely ban it from playing online?  Yes, yes they are.  Cheating is a huge problem in the gaming community, giving honest players and achievement seekers an inexplicable rage when in the middle of a game someone uses an exploit or mod to win the game.  We have poured hours of game play trying and getting used to the game in order to get better at it and someone decides that is better to pay or device a method to void all restrictions made by the game in order to win.  I can’t tell you how many times a full team of 8 on a Halo match has ended with us saying, “we would have won that game, if it wasn’t for that guy glitching everywhere.”  These types of situations are frustrating and will make people stop playing the game.  That is why Bungie’s banhammer is merciless; as it should be. That is why Microsoft has an eye on it’s community and tries to eliminate this type of behavior.

It is unfortunate that an autistic boy was caught in the crossfire, whether he knew what he was doing or not. Julias’ mom later admitted that they were wrong when they said that Microsoft had banned the account unfairly and for that, I applaud her.  Trust me, if he had been unfairly banned, I would have been right there with her, but with the proof that Microsoft had provided, there was nothing more to do.

The problem remains that we have huge modding and cheating communities.  People who think that they are above the rules and regulations of a game; and the company that makes the console. That because they bought the system, they think they have the right to mod, cheat, and make the rest of the gamers’ lives miserable.  People that after a game of “Call of Duty” send you a message telling you that if you send them 1600 Microsoft points, they will get you to a higher level.  Kids that will glitch a match to get experience points faster.  Gamers that will prey on kids like Julias to get their password.  I blame whoever did the exploit more than Julias himself.  If that gamer wanted to be nice, buy Zombie Kill67 a 2 month XBL card, send him the code as a message on Xbox, and we all will be happy.  This all seemed harmless at first, but it never is.  We too pay for the game and the console to enjoy and we, the non cheating gamers, do have the right to enjoy the game as it was intended.  We, the gamers, have the right to be able to win or lose a match due to our awesome skills or lack thereof.

As always, there is another side to modding as well.  There is the modding and changing a particular product for the good of the gamers.  Let’s look at John Yan son, a four year old autistic boy.  Kyle Yan have difficulty playing games because of the controles, and Kinect has allowed him to use his body instead to play games.  That’s with the system out of the box. Modding communities have spend countless of hours playing with the Kinect since it came out and have been able to achieve wonderful things like 3D video capturing, tracking on arbitrary planes and even been able to control a digital shadow puppet!  And all because people go outside of the rules and regulations of a system.  Imagine what can be done for kids like Kyle and Julias in the near future.  Not all modding is bad, but with great geek knowledge, comes great responsibility.

If you take anything out of this, let it be that it makes you the person that will not buy gold with real cash for World of Warcraft. Let it be you the one that does not answer the Craiglist ad that guarantees to install that chip on the Xbox that is undetectable, making you invincible in game.  Let it be you, my dear beloved gamer reader, the one that will report unlawful behavior in any game, based on actual exploits and not because of the gender of your opponent.  Let it be you, the one that makes gaming a fun and free environment.

Rating:

BUY

We’ve finally come to the end of the HALO series (from Bungie at least). Admittedly, I was initially worried because I was not a fan of ODST and Halo 3 wasn’t as epic as I thought it was going to be. In fact, Reach didn’t excite me until I saw some of the gameplay for the first time.  Once I was able to get hands-on time with the game it gave me more hope that this game was going to bring it back to what I loved about the series. And it did.

In Reach, you play the part of Noble 6, an elite spartan soldier who is part of a team of similar spartans sent on special missions to assist the forces battling against the Covenant assault on the planet, Reach. Fans who have read the books, already know what’s going to happen, and even though I knew it was a lost cause to fight, I was still very fascinated to see where the story was going to go.

As far as game play is concerned, it’s pretty standard for the Halo series, especially if you’ve played ODST. The one thing that I enjoyed with the in Reach, is the fact that your allies are smarter, and not just the other members of the Noble team. The general marines are so much more useful than what they used to be.

The new controls in this installment are the flight controls. I think that being able to fly, especially while in space combat, was a nice addition to the game. The controls are relatively easy to learn and both of the missions involving aircraft were original and fun.

Graphically, this game is beautiful– from the details on the armor and the NPCs to the breathtaking environments. And as now almost expected from HALO games, the soundtrack is great and really supports the story and gameplay.

One of other things that really excited me with Reach, is that was that I enjoyed playing multiplayer again. I tried the multiplayer in HALO 3 but there was just something that made it less fun than it had been in HALO 2. But Reach really brings it back to what I loved about HALO 2 multiplayer. I enjoy the tweaks to the weapons and I don’t really mind that the battle rifle is gone from the game. I also enjoy the load-outs where you can choose which class you want to play. The multiplayer modes are the same that long time players are used to with the additions of multiplayer Firefight and Invasion, both of which are my two new favorites.

I think that Bungie hit it out of the park with this game. They’ve taken what has worked in previous games and kept in mind all those complaints from players and built one heck of a final game. The ending that brings us right back to the beginning really is poignant and made me want to stick in the original game and start all over again.

So, if you’ve been a fan of the series I highly recommend picking up the game. It’s a solid end to the series and one with which I think most fans will be happy.

When we arrived I started to see familiar faces from the ODST truck events and others. We were about 30th in line at noon. By 2:00pm the line made it around the building, and the growth was accelerating. Another friend of mine joined us and now we where four strong. At 5:00pm Rooster Teeth was kind enough to buy the line pizza. The boxes where passed down as people would pick a slice and pass it on. Soda was also distributed this way. There was an overwhelming feeling of brotherhood among us. Friendly, chatty group of people that we all had halo in common and once again had brought us together, this time in real life.

About 5:30pm the Bungie bus arrived, and posters started to be distributed to the line, along with lanyards and Reach dog tags. Bungie developers started going down the line, signing anything you gave them. Some of the fans brought controllers, 360 faceplates, Master Chief helmets and more to be signed. The swag boxes were delivered, and instead of been distributed to the line in order, they were tossed. A large part was taken to the back of the line, which was nice of them to do, but most felt annoyed as being in line early didn’t seem to matter as to what you would get or not. Instead it was all by luck and how tall you were.

The line started to move and some went to the Halo panel, some of us went up the stairs where the game was set up. The 1st room had a small, secluded, area to play the campaign; this way people could avoid spoilers if they didn’t want to see the first mission. A bigger room was set up and divided in four. Lower right corner had Free For All with about 8 spots, possibly to fit 16. Upper right corner had Firefight with 3 sets of 4 tvs/xboxs playing 3 different maps. Upper left corner had Forge with 2 sets of tvs/xboxs. Lower left corner had 2 sets of 4 tvs/xboxs playing Team Death Match. In the center, there was a stage with a big projection screen and a set up of 4 tvs. The tvs were mirrored on the projection screen for all of us to see.

When we entered, we were given raffle tickets to win Halo toys, books, Red vs Blue dvds, the new Halo comic book, Halo: Reach controllers, and more. They were also used in order to pick 4 sets of 4 people to play against each other in Firefight. The highest score won an Xbox Reach edition with game. The more you played on the different set ups, the more chances you got to get tickets to win prices. The developers hung around with us for a while and they were more than happy to answer questions, take pictures or sign anything you wanted them to sign. Kat from Halo: Reach came out to mingle with us, and take pictures. There was also a Spartan with a jet pack and an Elite. I played Firefight most of the night. I saw a filming crew out of the corner of my eye, but I payed no attention. Then I felt a pat on the back and when I turned, I see Spartan Kat shaking her head in approval and giving me thumbs up! I smiled back, and kept going in my grunt massacre ending the game in 1st position.

The New York party was been simulcast downstairs, meanwhile Firefight and Forge Missions were being played for prizes. Between each game prizes were constantly been called out and people continued to party. The atmosphere in the room was of awe and anticipation for getting the game and playing it at our pace, and not 10 minute matches.

The night closed with more prizes given away and a big thank you for all coming out. Almost everyone left with at least a little bit of swag. Some of the crowd went to line up at one of the two Game Stop locations where Bungie had promised to continue the party if possible. It was a truly amazing night, and even though we were all excited about Halo: Reach; the same feeling I felt at PAX, was at the party. That sadness of this being the last Halo game. The best way I can describe it would be the last day of high school as a senior. Even thought the road might not have been perfect, the journey was monumental.

I will repeat myself and say that I cannot wait to see what Bungie has up their sleeves and what surprises they are probably already working on for all of us to fall in love with. For now, lets all go play REACH!!!!

Full Games

Halo: Reach – For those who are unfamiliar with the monster that is Halo: hello, welcome, please take a seat, 2001 will be with you in a moment. For the rest of you, Halo: Reach is making waves as the darkest Halo yet. Though I’m sad that no one from Firefly is starring in this installment, I’m still holding out hope they’ll be supplementing my nerd desires with other cult TV heroes.

Fallout: New Vegas – While 2008 was seriously a phenomenal year for gaming (both Bioshock and Left 4 Dead debuted that year, wow), Fallout 3 led the pack by bringing back the franchise with a vengeance. Two autumns later and we have another pleasant stroll through a post-nuclear wasteland, which looks to rival the sheer awesomeness that is Fallout 3. If it’s possible to love something so much, but still want subsequent releases to be even better, then I’m afraid that’s just how I feel, Fallout. Don’t let me down.

Victory!

Costume Quest – Though it doesn’t have a colon anywhere in its name, Double Fine’s Costume Quest is going to be super amazing. I wish I could just fill this blurb with adjectives on how fantastical and wonderful it’s going to be, but I’ll restrain myself for your sake. From the mind of Double Fine’s lead animator comes this potential classic, which I’m hoping will successfully fill the obvious Halloween-themed-games hole. I’ve been overwhelmed with excitement at the thought of becoming your Halloween costume, in addition to the magical unicorn (sweet, dude). Support creativity! Get this when it comes out!

Add-ons

Bioshock: Minerva’s Den– Don’t let the trailer for Bioshock: Infinite lead you to believe that 2K is done with Rapture just let. Minerva’s Den finds Rapture crawling with an all-new type of Big Daddy, and once again the crime fighting team of Player 1 and Brigid Tenenbaum is called back on the case. I’m thinking it’s going to be brilliant, and I’m sure I’m right.

Borderlands: Claptrap’s New Robot Revolution – Borderlands is, ironically, like a cockroach, in that it will keep releasing DLC until we’ve all joined them in their post-apocalyptic Mad Max world of the future. Not that I’m complaining about being on the receiving end of more stuff that I love, goodness no. I just hope that an add-on based entirely around the most annoying character in the game (or any game, really) is much more fun than it could be.

Ten bucks says this one takes place in the woods as well.

Alan Wake: The Writer – The Signal was the first Alan Wake DLC released this year, and it was quite enjoyable because they continued the story beyond its ambiguous ending. While there’s no closure yet, Alan is still locked in a fierce mental battle with his inner crazy and the Darkness, so hopefully we’ll see some resolution to that and much more Barry.

Personally I wouldn’t mind snagging a controller or two separately as I think those steal the show over the console itself. However the minimalistic design for the console and the “Property of…” message on the side is very cool. For those who have not picked up a slim, this may be a nudge for them to!

You can also check out more images on Major Nelson’s Flickr page.

To pre-order the bundle from Amazon, start here.

ETA: In addition, a Halo: Reach wireless headset will also be available prior to the game’s release, on August 17. It features the same motif as the Halo: Reach slim console as well as the same functionality of the original wireless headset.

To pre-order the headset, visit Amazon.

“You ever wonder why we’re here?” is the first line in the whole series and what has developed from that one simple phrase has been great. It was a blast waiting for new episodes or shorts to be released and then talk about online and with my friends. Not to mention quoting the series in online multiplayer. And it was a blast to go back and watch my favorite PSAs and episodes!

Well watching this DVD set brings back all of those memories to the fullest. And I have to admit, being able to watch the seasons right after each other brings the storylines together, and of course cuts out the waiting during the first time around. The other great part about the DVD set that I like is all the work that went into making the menus and extras. Things like customized FBI warnings, sound effects and even menus changing due to your selections are really fun and really show some dedication to making the set.

All in all I give this box set two big thumbs up. It’s a great set to have for those who have been fans since the beginnings, and it’s also a good way to get new fans interested. I highly recommend picking it up for yourself, or even giving it as a gift to a friend. You can snag a copy from the official store here for $44.99.

Review copy provided by New Video and does not effect the outcome of this review

As usual, GameStop’s got a special goody for those of you who pre-order your copy of Halo: Reach for Xbox 360, out on September 14.

The UA Multi-Threat MJOLNIR Mark V(B) Armor. That’s it on the right. Pretty, ain’t it?

Well, it’s functional, too. Designed to operate in a wide variety of combat situations, the armor configuration allows for freedom of movement while protecting your Spartan from Covenant attacks.

Of course, as an additional reminder, you get even more goodies if you pre-order a Limited or Legendary edition of Halo: Reach, so if that was on your radar, you might want to go ahead and get that reserved. You know your local store’s going to be swamped during the (incredibly probable) midnight release.