Halo 3: ODST

[Failed]

I waited 10 minutes for this to load up on my laptop and then forgot to watch it, will have to watch it when i get home.

[GamerMan316]

Halo 3: ODST leads to Halo 2 shutting down, bigger friends list

Microsoft has told G4TV that Halo 2 players are the reason the Xbox Live Friends List is capped at 100.

Original Xbox titles were coded for a 100-player Friends List only, and with Halo 2 still being a prominent name online, it's holding Microsoft back from unleashing a larger Friends List on Xbox Live.

The solution? Microsoft could shut down the Halo 2 servers after Halo 3: ODST's release, as they figure this will leave 360 owners with two Halo games to play (Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST). Yet we can't help but feel some of the hardcore Halo players will be a little put out by this news.

Would you rather Halo 2 lived on or that you had a larger Friends List?

[Failed]

Maybe if i had 50 more friends.

[nCogNeato]

Would you rather Halo 2 lived on or that you had a larger Friends List?

I'd rather they create a patch for Halo 2 that allows more friends.  I'll admit I pop Halo 2 in once in a blue moon.   

[GamerMan316]

How to reach the Reach beta on ODST



Bungie is trying to make entry into Halo: Reach's beta as easy as possible -- at least if you pick up Halo 3 ODST next month. Bungie explained to Joystiq at GamesCom ODST's main menu will host an "extras" tab, which will contain access to the Reach beta once it activates sometime next year.

Bungie considers the beta to be "a big part of the value of the disc."

[GamerMan316]

Halo 3 ODST's multiplayer disc: all frag, no Chief filler



The easiest way to encapsulate Halo 3 ODST's multiplayer disc is to call it "Halo 3 Multiplayer Complete." That was our takeaway from a meeting with Bungie at GamesCom today. Discussing "the other game" in the ODST box, the Bungie rep reiterated, "It's all the multiplayer maps we released with Halo 3, then all of the DLC we've released since then, along with three new maps."

The standalone disc pretty much means that precious Xbox 360 hard drive space can be cleansed of Halo 3 maps ... of course, there's always the option of putting the whole disc on the HDD as well. The Bungie rep explained it best by saying, "It's like putting in Halo 3 into your Xbox, except it doesn't have the campaign."

[nCogNeato]

The standalone disc pretty much means that precious Xbox 360 hard drive space can be cleansed of Halo 3 maps ... of course, there's always the option of putting the whole disc on the HDD as well.

Would you want to do that?

Halo 3 supposedly runs better off the disc instead of off a HDD install.  I think it may be the only Xbox360 game that does.  Perhaps they fixed whatever quick the original Halo 3 disc had?

[Failed]

They've altered the Games on Demand Halo 3 to run better off the HDD, so maybe they'll make Halo 3 MPC the same.

I run Halo 3 off the HDD and have never noticed anything different.

[GamerMan316]

Dear Bungie, Halo: ODST has leaked

Oh, Bungie...you have a leaked game on the loose.

Yesterday a YouTube video was uploaded featuring a French guy unwrapping his brand new Halo: ODST copy for the whole world to see. In the video, it simply shows him taking it out of the package and showing it off. Apparently he purchased the game over the counter in a retail store. What's not legal is selling a game that's not due out for another four weeks. If you don't want the game spoiled for you anytime soon, I would not recommend searching anything Halo-related before the game is released on September 22, just to be on the safe side. Microsoft France has issued an official statement stating that anyone who is caught playing the game will ultimately be banned from Xbox Live. That's a tough blow.  The video has also been removed from Youtube, typical.

Do you believe people who purchase games at a retail store should be punished for their actions or do you believe the retailer is at fault for selling the game to begin with?

[GamerMan316]

MS "investigating" Halo 3: ODST leak
Small amount of copies sold in France - bannings follow

Microsoft says it's investigating the early delivery of Halo 3: ODST to a small number of customers in France.

Videos of lucky Parisian punters unwrapping the shooter have cropped up (and since been pulled) all over the internet. However, parties willing to show off their Halo bounty on the internet look to risk the wrath of Microsoft's black helicopters...

"We are investigating a very small breach in our distribution process around the early delivery of 'Halo 3: ODST' units," a Microsoft spokesman told CVG.

"We are also investigating Xbox Live accounts that show activity related to Halo 3: ODST and will take action against those we believe have procured copies of the game illegitimately.

"We have nothing further to share at this time," the company said, failing to offer specifics on the exact number of copies that've managed to get into gamer's hands (although it's thought to be little over a hundred).

ODST won't appear in UK shops properly until September 22. We'd expect French spoil-sports to put many, many spoilers on the internet before then though - you've been warned.

[Failed]

Might go check eBay and see what ridiculous price it's going for.

[nCogNeato]

Do you believe people who purchase games at a retail store should be punished for their actions or do you believe the retailer is at fault for selling the game to begin with?

That's bullshit.

Imagine this:  An out-of-the-loop noobie goes to a game store because his/her child won't stop talking about some new Holo game.  They walk in, ask the clerk if there's a new game called "Holo".  The clerk replies, "No, but there is a new Halo game.  Here you go."

The parent buys the game, takes it home, pops it in to see if it's appropriate for their child ... BAM!  Banned from Xbox Live.  What did THEY do wrong?!??!  Answer - NOTHING.

[nCogNeato]

When I was younger, I had a summer job at a music store in my local mall.

We also sold movies and videogames, but music was the bulk of our inventory.  This was around the time Dragonball (Z, GT, ABC, whatever) was huge in the U.S.

I had only been working their a few weeks, and still getting the hang of how everything works.  I helped unbox a new shipment of inventory, one box was full of a special DVD collection of Dragonball.

The next day, some kid walked in the store and said, "Do you have Dragonballs?"  Fortunately for his face, I recently learned "Dragonball" was a tv show.   

I said, "Yeah, we got a bunch of them on the shelf over there."

He replied, "No.  There's a new one."

You see where this is going.  My boss never told me about any "release date" procedures.  Before working at the music store, I worked in a clothing store, which do not have such rules.  If something is delivered, you put it on the floor to sell it.  Perhaps the French "leak" was simply a clueluess kid like I was, and unknowingly sold a bunch of Halo ODSTs.

[TaraJayne]

Microsoft has denied reports that it will ban users from Xbox Live for playing Halo 3: ODST ahead of its official release date.

Following news that customers in France have been sold legitimate copies of the game, reports circulated that the platform holder would impose a ban on anyone who played it ahead of its launch.

According to Xbox Live chief Stephen Toulouse, the rumours are untrue. "We will not be banning legitimate customers from Xbox Live who play early," he wrote via his Twitter account. Any users found to be playing an illegitimate copy of the game, however, will face a ban.

Neato must have had a word

[nCogNeato]

Neato must have had a word

Yep.

Neato:  "Hey, Xbox."

Xbox:  "What?"

Neato: