So Halo 3 has been out now for 2 weeks and I am sure everyone has gotten a chance to check this out in some way shape or form, so now it’s time to tackle a review. Halo 3 is Bungie’s follow up to its two predecessors Halo 1 and 2 and picks up right where they left off. After months of advertising and hardcore marketing now gamers get a chance to put Master Chief into action and judge just how good this behemoth really is?

Presentation and Graphics: Halo 3 is polished, not light years beyond Halo 2, but you can see the difference when viewing the game on an HD screen, especially during the cut scenes. Master Chief’s visor never looked so shiny! A nice new distinction now is that you can customize your characters appearance for multi player matches, now you don’t have to always use the same Spartan armor and can actually get the Ninja Gaiden helmet if you collect all the skulls. 4 out of 5

Sound and Music: Halo 3 in 5.1 surround sound does extremely well; there is enough Gregorian chant and inspiring orchestra music to fill a room at any time. From the opening credits the familiar sound of Halo comes booming out of the speakers and carries all the way through. The music plays a big part in the game in that when you hear the inspirational music begin you know you are headed up to a big encounter or cut-scene. AI commentary is pretty funny too, a few times I found myself laughing after hearing grunts yell out that I killed their brother. 4.5 out of 5
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Microsoft today released word that the Halo 3 franchise has topped off $300 million in sales since launch. MS have dubbed it the “fastest-selling video game ever and already one of the most successful entertainment properties in history.” This is hard to argue with as the boys at Bungie and MS really marketed it well and made sure everyone got a taste of the hype train. Kudos boys.

There is one part of the press release I don’t agree with, where MS states “Xbox 360 has the greatest lineup in the history of video games and is the only console where consumers can play all the year’s biggest blockbusters.” I think this is far too over zealous to state, the lineup is looking good, but the best in history, wow that is a tough call.

There have been some great lineups in the days of the NES, Xbox, PS1 and 2, which paved the way for what we have today in video games. MS has definitely the bankroll to show for their current success, which is also attributed to the fact that video gaming in the years of old was more of a underground cult, where gamers were a minority. Today video games have become a huge industry and I doubt we will diminish in size as all those kids that played the old consoles are now grown up and spending their hard earned money on games. I think their best in “history” is a bit over the top and minimalizes what the other older consoles have done to get games to this point.

It is impressive that about one third of all Xbox 360 owners have gotten a copy of Halo 3, I actually figured this statistic to be higher and will probably reach a lot more people during the holidays.

From the press releasse:

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 4, 2007 — Interactive entertainment will never be the same, with the launch of one title that has changed the way the world thinks about video games. “Halo® 3” has captured the attention of consumers worldwide and has made history as one of the biggest entertainment launches of all time.
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Microsoft confirmed to Next-Gen that Halo 3 is the reason for Xbox Live and Xbox.com having issues the past few days. Is anyone surprised here?The game made $170 million for it’s launch. If anyone had any inclination that Halo 3 wasn’t the reason for the server issues, they live under a rock.

“Xbox Live and Xbox.com experienced minor issues [Tuesday] as a result of increased activity due to the launch of Halo 3. The issues were quickly resolved and both Xbox Live and Xbox.com are now working fine.”

There were still issues going on last night, so I’m not sure what this spokesman is talking about. I really can’t believe Microsoft didn’t see this coming. They knew the pre-order numbers for the game, they’ve seen how Halo 2 has performed over the year. I think they could have invested in some more servers to handle the load.

I recently wrote an article in regards to Clive Barker’s Jericho getting a new demo for Xbox Live today and coming for PS3 on October 4th. I got this reply back:

From reader SixAxis:

Maybe i had a bad day. but im sick of waiting when good games/ demos will be released. Why not today. Why is it october 4th. i just want to know the reason. “PS3 owner don’t despare as the Sony clan will also be graced with a PSN demo on October 4th. So what are you waiting for? Go download now!”
what, are u f..ng kidding me “go download now”. only those words alone make me wanna throw my ps3 out of the god damn window. J just… cant see a single good game to be released before November, and i mean theres a long way to go. Pro Street,Uncharted, UT III, Army of two, Assassins creed, Half life 2,COD 4, Haze, Kane and Lynch etc. Maybe those companys could just cancel these games, then its like happy christmas ps3 owners.

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Well those of you that have been following Clive Barker’s Jericho know how scary the detail is in the game and can be pleased to hear that the Xbox 360 got a demo up now for you try out. If you are a PS3 owner don’t despare as the Sony clan will also be graced with a PSN demo on October 4th. So what are you waiting for? Go download now!

From the press release:

Prepare to confront evil and then blast its face off as Codemasters announces the release of the Clive Barker’s Jericho™ playable demo.
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Well everyone foretold of the coming of Halo 3 and we all saw the fierce campaigns and marketing strategies, looks like they paid off big. Halo 3 is now the big daddy of entertainment, kudos to MS and Bungie, they have de-throwned Spider Man and Harry Potter.

Halo 3 pulled in a record $170 million in 24 hours, now that is one impressive statistic and shows the reach that video games and gamers have now a days. Yesterday when I was on Halo3 there was an impressive 600,000 people playing at the same time and this does not count those people playing offline, just think that all those people made up only $36 million of that reported $170, so there are a lot of peripherals, consoles, controllers, etc. flying off the shelves.

From the press release:

Microsoft today announced that the Xbox 360 exclusive game “Halo 3” has officially become the biggest entertainment launch in history, garnering an estimated $170 million in sales in the United States alone in the first 24 hours. The Xbox 360 title beat previous records set by blockbuster theatrical releases like “Spider-man 3” and novels such as “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”
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As you well know, people love to talk smack. Especially when the person is not in the same room. You hear some of the funniest stuff in the exchanges people make in this game and I owe it to you guys to share it.

(After scoring a kill with Duel Wielded Spikers)

Gamer 1: Yeah bitch, how you like that double action?

Gamer 2: Just as much as your mother liked that double action dildo last night.

Gamer 3: Dorothy Mantooth was a saint!

Only on Xbox Live.

Now that it’s after 5pm on the right coast, many people are home from work and school and ready to Finish the Fight. It looks like the Xbox Live servers are taking a beating again as thousands, if not millions of users hop online to frag each other.

Currently, the My Xbox section seems to be going up and down, and my 360 doesn’t want to log into Xbox Live. Anyone else having trouble tonight?

I’m sure this will continue through the weekend as people take to their consoles for arguably the biggest game release of all time.

If you’ve had any trouble over the past 36 hours connecting to Xbox Live or the My Xbox section of xbox.com, you can freely blame the Master Chief. Players have been utterly hammering the servers playing Halo 3, and has caused some downtime and hiccups.

Major Nelson reminds up to check out the Xbox Live status on the official website (here) to see what’s going down. Everything should be back to normal now, as most people have Halo 3 already.

I guess that downtime earlier this month didn’t include beefing up the servers for the Halo 3 launch.

So if you thought that MS has been throwing money aorund to promote their newest installment of crack on a CD, better known as Halo 3, well here they go again. For the UK launch party on September 26, MS has signed up the talents of Pharrell Williams to run their star studded event in the UK.

I wodner what MS is planning to do for the launch party in Amsterdam? Giant blunts for all who stand in line?!

From the press release:

London, 18th September 2007: US music superstar Pharrell Williams will fly to the UK next week to host a very special party for the launch of Halo 3, Microsoft reveals today.
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