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On September 22nd, Microsoft India hosted a launch party for the latest and much anticipated addition to the Halo saga, Halo 3: ODST, formerly Halo 3: Recon, was set up to be different from the previous installments, with a new concept, a different look and even a new protagonist. Many excited gamers assembled at the PVR Select Citywalk theater to view the unveiling of the latest Microsoft/Bungie masterpiece, and boy, as always they did not disappoint us . Even Bollywood celebrities could not keep themselves away, as Dino Morea and Aftab Shivdasani made an appearance and checked out the scene; however, the Bollywood glam wore off when one of the actors casually asked one of the gamers, “How much does an Xbox go for these days…?” Yes, I was speechless. But putting that aside, I was fortunate enough to receive a copy and review the game.
Microsoft India does know how to throw a party. They set the ball rolling with the launch of Halo 3, following up with Gears of War, Mass Effect and then Gears of War II. With the Halo 3: ODST all set to hit the Indian shelves, Microsoft India went all out with launch party for this hotly anticipated game.
Held at PVR Cinemas, Saket, New Delhi, this event had it all; right from big-screen gaming to booth babes and free Halo 3: ODST T-shirts. A strong crowd turnout and lot of excitement followed. TAPians Vijay and Ren were right there to catch the moments on their camera. Inexplicably, video cameras were not allowed. But then, pictures speak a thousand words. Hit the jump to see a couple million!
And the fight is finished! We’ve thought about this long and hard and we’ve finally decided upon the winners of our Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack contest, which entitles two lucky blokes to download the upcoming Mythic Map Pack for Halo 3 (costing 800 Microsoft Points) for the awesome price of free! We received well over fifty entries for just two codes, and we selected these two images because, well, they were just so damn artistic, something that we feel wouldn’t be out of place even on the back of the Halo 3 box! Without further ado, I give you your winners, Brett Sams (GT: A pIastic bag) and Paul Hoang (GT: jEEborz). Take it away, guys!
Who wants some?
After having finished playing The Lost and Damned and working to get a review out, there I was, thinking about what our next contest should be post-Killzone 2 and our upcoming Street Fighter IV announcement. Rummaging through HBO, we decided that we’d hit up our contacts at Microsoft India to see if we could do a Halo Wars contest, with us giving out a couple of copies of Halo Wars and codes for the Halo 3 Mythic Pack, which you’d have gotten if you swiped your charge card pfhor the Halo Wars Collector’s Edition.
So imagine my surprise when I get an email late afternoon with two codes pfhor the Mythic map pack to give away to our readers. After the initial shock and spending 20 minutes fighting a sudden selfish desire to keep one of them pfhor myself, we now have two codes to give away to our “dear” readers. (Gah!) Quite obviously, we’ve never had the habit of just throwing our prizes away, so yeah, you’ll have to work your fat ass pfhor your codes, typical TAP style. That’s right, no soap-box / toothpaste commercial inspired contests, no “figure out the uber-secret message in bold in our earlier reviews” and most definitely, none of those “be the first to email us and tell us you want to have our babies.” Nuh-uh!
Bungie.net has been going berserk for quite some time now, with a timer counting down to something big. After rumors ran rampant (oh boy, there’s that word again) about the new Master Chief-less Halo game, the Halo movie and a whole lot of other crap, it looks like it’s definitely a remake of something from Bungie’s past.
Talking to a highly placed Xbox 360 insider earlier today afternoon, we’ve learned something about the new Bungie project, with our conversation going something like this:
Me: So, about the new Bungie project, do you know what it is?
Mr. X: Yes. (laughs)
Me: So, is it something which will have us jumping for joy?
Mr. X: Well, not really. Actually, it depends. Are you a hardcore Bungie fan?
Me: Yes! So its not Halo related.
Mr. X: No, absolutely not.
Me: Is it a new IP from Bungie?
Mr. X: No, it’s not a new IP. That much I can confirm.
Me: So, is it something like Myth or Marathon, from Bungie’s past?
Mr. X: (awkward silence)
Me: God, I hope its something like Myth or Marathon or Pathways into Darkness or something like that.
Mr. X: (laughs)
and the conversation ended there abruptly. With confirmation that the new project is indeed a revival and not something new, which combined with the “Pardon our Dust” message on the Bungie.net website (remember “Please Excuse our Dust”?), who’s eager for a reimagining of PiD? Or Myth? Or Marathon?
After having finished the fight last September, rabid fans of the Halo franchise had to be content with sticking their friends with grenades online and waiting for the next game set in the Haloverse, the first RTS in the series – Halo Wars. Though the continuation of the story (or rather, the prequel) was expected long before Halo 3 wrapped up (or not) the Master Chief saga, few expected it to take the form of a real time strategy game that Bungie, in collaboration with Age of Empires legend Ensemble Studios are expected to spring on us later this year. RTS games on the Xbox 360, like Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars before it, have always been iffy, what with the level of control and freedom that a conventional keyboard-mouse combination offers, but Ensemble Studios, like every other console RTS dev before them, have claimed to have worked out the nuances of controlling the game using a standard Xbox 360 controller without frustration levels peaking into the red-zone.
While we wait for the official demo of the game to check out the control scheme for ourselves and speculate on the possibility of wreaking havoc with the Covenant war machine, one of our friends over at Microsoft, like many of us from time to time, developed a case of verbal diarrhoea and slipped us some really interesting information. Now, while we are never in the habit of starting rumors, this one comes from someone on the inside who swears on its authenticity on pain of death, and we’ve been sitting on this one for almost a couple of weeks now, trying to verify it before we say anything about it.
Warning! The following review holds heavy spoilers for Halo 3 and the series’ storyline in general. If you haven’t played the game yet and care a bit about its narrative, I highly recommend you NOT read the below text. Otherwise, you are most welcome to click the link below and crawl into my parlor.
Remember when IGN’s Matt Casamassina was wailing on how he knew about the development and cancellation of a Halo for the Nintendo DS, going as far to say that he even played what was already completed? Naturally, most of us didn’t believe him. Well if you listen closely, you might here Cassamassina effectively shoving a spoon full of my own words (along with everyone else from the internet, I’m assuming) down my throat. Real hard. The proof is in the pudding!
Frankly, I’m a little confused. True, Bungie denied that they ever worked on a Game Boy Advance game based on the Halo universe, yet this became completely overlooked and unmentioned? Talk about keeping secrets. But then again, there’s the possibility that Matt could be pulling one seriously late April Fools joke here. That would be awfully mean of him! For now, I’ll give the benefit of the doubt for now and admit defeat.
Be sure to watch the video that reveals it all, after the break. Dual-wielding ahoy!
Looks like no retailer can actually keep his ugly lil’ paws from tearing open those precious Halo 3 boxes and shower copies down from the rooftops. So what if the game is only supposed to be sold a week later, right? Images are coming in of a lot of Halo 3 copies in the wild, and considering how some retards have been stupid (or sadistic) enough to post the endings on YouTube, one wonders why even bother sticking to a release date instead of slapping on a sticker that reads “Go nuts! Sell as you please” instead of the one that pleads “Do not sell before 9/25/07″.
We’re not sure what’s going to happen in India, considering the games have to be sent to retailers before the 25th, but we’re waiting for some form of communication from Microsoft India on how they’re actually planning to prevent retailers here from going the same way of their crazed US and UK counterparts.
For those that were scared that Microsoft would ban your Xbox LIVE account if you took your purchase online before the 25th, rest easy, MS has got your back, even as they probably fleece the skin off the retailers’ for selling them in the first place.
“We can confirm that Microsoft is not taking any action (such as banning Xbox Live accounts) against gamers who are playing Halo 3 before the official street date. Any rumours or speculation to the contrary are false.”
said Microsoft, in an official press release issued to Pro-G, which had initially warned that anyone taking their copy of the game online before the 25th will have their accounts banned. I wouldn’t mind getting my copy before the 25th, considering I can’t really spoil it for anyone, what with me sitting on a broken Xbox 360 for the last 22 days now.
UPDATE: The official word from Mohit Anand, Country Manager for Microsoft India’s Entertainment and Devices Division is that they are taking enough precautions to make sure the street date is not broken here as well.
We are doing what we need to, and that is all I am willing to say
, but rest assured the game will be on shelves on [the] 25th.
We’re sure it will be, Mohit, but you’ve really got our eyebrows raised as far as they’ll go with that cryptic smiley emoticon there. Oh well, let the inexorably painful one-week wait begin! We waited years for the game, I’m sure we could wait another couple of days… I think. At least until I start crying on the doorsteps of the retailer to let me have my copy before then.
When Vijay said Microsoft’s sparing no expense for Halo 3, he meant every word of it. As if it wasn’t enough that other countries were getting massive launch parties for the final installment in the epic Halo story arc, Microsoft UK wants to show them up. Big.
Renting out the biggest theater in London, the BFI IMAX, the Halo 3 launch party for UK is an exclusive event being hosted by musician Pharrel Williams, who will also be taking on members of the public in Halo 3 matches as well as being connected to a number of other cities including Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam and Milan via Xbox LIVE. And you thought the Microsoft India launch event for the game was big! *sigh* When, if ever, will we see something like this in our own little country. For Mass Effect, perhaps? Hello, Mohit? Pretty please with lots of sugar and strawberries on top?