I’m not wild about IGN’s embed player. In fact, i think it stinks so, may want to just click here and watch the video on their site where its not a window in a window in a window.
That out of the way, its a pretty cool ad. Watch the Rookie go from bootcamp to the battlefield, all with visual effects beyond what we go in the Halo 3 Landfall ad.

The game drops on September 22, be sure to Pre-order Halo 3: ODST in order to get access to Sgt Avery Johnson as a playable character.

If you want to catch up on ODST stuff, go beyond the jump for game footage with Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Adam Baldwin, and Tricia Helfer.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

At Tokyo Game Show Bungie and Microsoft announced their next collaboration in the Halo universe. Called “Halo 3 Recon” its a Halo 2/3 Sidestory. A totally new campaign and a new hero, introduced in the above video. Could this be the rumored ODST tactical shooter we’ve been hearing about? Probably. Four Player online co-op, Multiplayer, Save Films, and Forge are all promised for the game. More details will be coming soon.

Personally I love that the Halo universe is expanding beyond John 117’s helmet, especially into different types of games (IE, Halo Wars), but the music in this trailer seems… familiar….

Set 20 years before “Halo: Combat Evolved” this is the opening cinematic for “Halo Wars”

GameTrailersTV has a longer look at the game, footage of gameplay, and words from developers Ensemble Studios.

And in a move that surprises no-one, Microsoft confirmed earlier this week that former Gearbox director of Technology Corrine Yu has joined one of the Halo Teams. Gearbox developed Halo CE for PC as well as Brothers in Arms. Former Bungie writer Frank O’Conner is also working at Microsoft on Halo. Oh and Ryan Payton, the Metal Gear Solid 4 producer who helped bring Hideo Kojima’s wacky world to life? He’s also leading a Halo team, quite possibly Halo 4. None of these people are working on Peter Jackson’s Halo project, which means there may be as many as 4 new titles in development. Get ready for Halo 4… as well as Halo Kart, Halo Party, and Halo Tennis

This is not to say Halo creators Bungie Software aren’t staying busy because they just released this clip last week… [Read the rest of this entry…]

I used to write about Halo on this site all the damn time. Thats when Halo 2 multiplayer was in full swing and Halo 3 stuff was still trickling out. Now Halo 3 updates are so frequent I can’t report on them all, and theres still no news of another game from Bungie Studios.

Well its not a new proper Halo game, but Ensemble’s Real Time Strategy based in the universe should still scratch that itch, at least aesthetically. And to prove that, here is the box art.

Click to maximize
We don’t know when its coming out. Early 2009, probably March or April. Are you interested in playing an RTS based on Halo? Can an RTS really be played with a controller? Does halo have a shot being out of the hands that made the first 3 games a success? Let us know in the comments section.

You put a “2” behind a game title and you’ve got a safe bet: more of the same. Its makes it easier for developers to release another game, and players get what essentially amounts to more levels of a game they already like.

But there are some that dare to be different, and turn the entire idea of franchise gaming on the ear. For the purposes of this list, games that jump between generations are omitted as upgrades and changes are expected on new hardware.

Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest (NES)

The first in the series is a great linear dungeon crawler. Its proven the test of time, and started a series still going very strong today (in 2D no less!). But wow, Simon’s Quest was really different. Its much more of an open world, introduces RPG elements, and even adds a night & day passage of time. Modern Castlevania games balance elements of exploration and action well, but this was uncharted territory at the time. Castlevania III, while a fantastic refinement of the game play of the first, misses out on the stuff in Simon’s Quest.

TMNT 2: The Arcade Game (NES) [Read the rest of this entry…]

After December’s Heroic map pack for Halo 3 went free last week, we’re now getting some news about the Legendary pack.

Well not huge news. A lot of this has been available on Bungie.net for a while. But we have this cool new trailer (above) to show off the Legendary Maps! To see exactly whats in there, take a look at Bungie’s info page. They’ll be coming for 800 MS Points (thats Ten bucks U$), and on Tax Day, April 15. What better way to celebrate a refund, or unload frustrations after paying!

Powet.TV will be hosting a “Legendary Brawl” night on the new maps with double EXP on April 19. Come join the fun!

Click here to get this trailer in HD

I had no idea MLG clips were running on ESPN. I also had no idea ESPN had a videogame show either called “Game Up”
But they do.
And you can watch it on their site.
Anyway the highlight reel above is pretty much exactly the kind of top ten you’d see on ESPN, but to Halo players you’ll see some extraordinarly awesome sniper moves and triple kills.