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With Halo 3 just around the corner, hype for the game is at an all time high, with people lining up outside stores to get their hands on the game, chugging away at 12-packs of Halo-flavored Mountain Dew Game Fuel and Slurpees, leaked scans of the manual and MC action figs in hand as they furiously debate why the Master Chief kicks the collective asses of every game hero ever made. As if all this merchandising wasn’t enough, one person has been cheeky enough to take the marketing to a whole new level. Presenting, the Halo 3 condom. Obviously someone’s little Photochop experiment, it just goes to show how we’re willing to buy anything with a Halo brand logo on it, but I guess I shouldn’t be one to talk. We don’t know how your partner is going to appreciate this, but we sure do know where the designer of this “Bungie brand condom” got his inspiration from - the opening cutscene of The Maw level from Halo.
Cortana: This thing is falling apart!
Master Chief: (calmly) It’ll hold.
Cortana: (panicky) We’re not gonna make it!
Master Chief: We’ll make it.
Cortana: PULL UP! PULL UP!
*crash* *boom* *bang*
Cortana: (annoyed) You did that on purpose, didn’t you?
Oh well, my lame awesome joke has been made. No, wait, I have one more. “Wonder if this is what Bungie had in mind when they announced 4-player co-op”. Ooh, I have another. “Better get the SERIOUS toothpaste!” … OK, OK, I’m goin’ already…
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?
When Microsoft throws a party, expect no rupee spared. The “Unofficial” Halo 3 Pre-Launch Party held at the magnificent Oberoi Hotel in Delhi was a sprinkled spectacle to behold. Not only was it the fanciest place I’ve ever been to get some face time with one of the most hyped Xbox 360 titles coming this year, but it was also a great place to meet up with other like-minded gamers both from the press and other game companies. Shucks, the free buffet and open bar didn’t hurt either. High-five!
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Remember poor old Master Chief and his horrible experience with the Halo 3 beta? Well, things aren’t looking up for the lil’ guy, thanks to the Arbiter taping over his favorite Halo 3 ads with reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond and finding out that the beta is, sadly, no more.
Contemplating suicide, the EmCee redeems himself with some good old fashion forum trolling, Halo 2 team-bashing and a lot more awful spelling mistakes. Sure, it’s not as funny as the original was, but hey, anything to dull the pain of BioShock not being here yet. That, and, “mastr chƎƎf’s suiside note” kicks ass!
After getting axed in the previous two Halo games, the much-desired flamethrower will finally make its appearance in Halo 3! And that’s not all, the game also ships with a fourth grenade type, an incendiary “firebomb” that’s designed to serve up Covenant and Flood Crepe Suzette, much to our delight.
Talking to IGN, Bungie’s Frank O’Connor said that the decision to remove the flamethrower from the previous two games wasn’t just about balance, but about performance as well, which is obviously not much of a problem with the Xbox 360.
“Obviously the 360 makes things like that significantly easier. In Halo 3, we can control where it goes a lot better. [The flamethrower] obviously features a lot in campaign. But in multiplayer it doesn’t have to be in every multiplayer playlist and map. If you shoot a pillar, the liquid in the flamethrower will adhere to it and burn there. Likewise with the floor and with bad guys. It will cause continual damage to a vehicle. When the flames start to cool down and evaporate, it stops causing damage. If you’re lucky enough to keep it on a Warthog, then you will in fact take it down with a flamethrower.”
Talking about the firebomb grenade and how it can be used to cut off an enemy flag carrier’s escape route, Frank said:
It has a very similar level of damage as [the flamethrower]. It works pretty much the same way. It’s very dangerous to get hit by one directly. It will explode and splash over you when it hits.
Of course, that’s where the much-publicized Bubble Shield grenade comes in, which protects players from the effects of this flambe-in-a-shell grenade, by having the fire actually wash over the shield and burn on its surface while protecting the player from damage. Of course, with Halo 3 packing so much, the only thing left to worry about is the console itself, or rather, how the overheating issues that still aren’t fixed will bork your console just a couple of days before the game launches.
If you’ve been running all over the Internet looking for news on (and spamming all about) the Halo 3 Epsilon game that’s been seen on the profiles of several Microsoft and Bungie GamerTags, well, look no more. Microsoft and Bungie have decided to officially spill the beans on what this Epsilon deal is all about in emails sent to those who participated in the Halo 3 beta. OK, so when they were saying “Epsilon“, I didn’t realize (or want to) that their beta was so far along now to be christened Epsilon. Sure, it’s a cool name and all, but this is still essentially the final version of the Halo 3 multiplayer, according to the email. But the best deal? 4-person co-op on a single campaign level! That alone, should be worth the download. In addition, the Epsilon allows you to play on six maps as well as play and test the Saved Film functionality, which will allow all you people who raped me in the Halo 3 beta to take a screenshot and a video of my humiliation and brag to all your friends. Good show, sports!
Congratulations on being selected to participate in the Halo 3 Epsilon! The Epsilon is now available for download on Marketplace!
First, unlike the Alpha, Beta or Delta, this is a very special test in that not only will you be testing nearly final Halo 3 Matchmaking, you will also be able to:
* Play Multiplayer on six maps: Snowbound, High Ground, Valhalla, Last Resort, Epitaph and our new big map, Sandtrap.
* Play Custom Games and test out full game variant editing.
* Play with the Forge and be able to cooperatively edit and save multiplayer map variants.
* Play up to 4 person co-op on a single Campaign level.
* Play and test the full Saved Film functionality, including screenshots you can view in-game for Campaign, Multiplayer and Forge.
Well, people in India had this news confirmed quite a long time back when the Halo 3 India contest was unveiled and the first prize was a Halo 3 console, but the rest of the world pretty much guessed that Microsoft would cash in on the Halo fever anyway and launch a Halo 3 themed Xbox 360 soon enough. And true to their coffers as always, Microsoft, at today’s E3 conference, announced the Halo 3 Special Edition console with an “authentic Spartan green and gold finish and matching Xbox 360 wireless controller, 20 GB hard drive, headset, play and charge kit and exclusive Halo 3 Gamer Pics and Themes available via Xbox Live download”. The console will be available this September but will not HAVE the game bundled along with it.
If you live in India, however, and fancy a shot at this console, head on over to the Xbox India / Halo 3 contest website to register and try your luck at winning this beauty along with some other goodies. The game itself, like Forza 2, will launch earlier in India than anywhere else in the world and the 23-25th of the ninth month will also see the “official” unveiling of the Xbox Live service in the country, according to Country Manager Mohit Anand. While the Xbox Live kits will be priced competitively, the best news is that the Standard and the Collector’s Editions of Halo 3 (but not Legendary) will be available in India a tad earlier than elsewhere in the world, a day or two actually, like Forza 2 and the Standard edition will be priced at around INR 1850 / USD $40-$45. So what are you waiting for again?