Obligatory Halo 3 Post

As Xbox 360 gamers, Falcon and I have definitely been playing our fair share of Halo3 but with the plethora of media coverage and reviews there was no rush to get our opinions out there. As a long standing Bungie and Halo fan, like the majority of 360 gamers I was excited for Halo3 and participated in the Halo3 beta. I got my copy of Halo 3 a little after midnight at my local Gamestop although being wary of the madness I first tried to go to my Walmart thinking that perhaps getting a copy at Gamestop without preordering might be difficult. That was my first mistake. Even though Walmart had a national campaign claiming they'd have Halo3 checkout lanes and there would be midnight openings for Walmarts that normally close before midnight with my local Walmart being listed on their website as a place that would be hosting a midnight selling of the game, they lied. I arrived at midnight with no one in line and a closed store. Peering inside I politely gestured to the workers inside to find out what was going out. Eventually they sent out their manager who was extremely unfriendly and replied we don't do that shit here in response to my question of the Halo midnight madness. For a company that claims to be trying to improve how customers view them and one that is trying to become a bigger player in the electronics market, my branch is certainly failing at it. I ended up driving to the gamestop at my closest mall where I must admit Gamestop did everything correctly. They had security set up at the mall entrance at the doors telling customers to come on in. After making my way through the mall to gamestop, a fully staffed (about 8 employees) ushered the customers into line to pickup preorders or to get regular versions of the game. It was painless and in 5 minutes I was driving home to get my playtime in. For all that i dislike about gamestop and how you get mocked for not preordering games, the marketing engine that is microsoft ensured that preordering was not necessary unless you wanted the limited edition of the game at midnight.

Halo 3 single player impressions: The story is concluded, slightly predictable story line, nothing spectacular graphically, slight hiccups with loading at some points (my dvd drive in my xbox maybe degrading that might be the xbox's fault). The campaign is competant and well polished but after playing a game like Gears of War it falls short in comparison of graphics but then again Halo isn't known for its graphics but rather more so for its gameplay. There are plenty of weapons, vehicles and equipment to tinker with. The levels are more massive but plays more linearly. In Halo 1 you could take on tasks in any order on certain levels but Halo3 guides you along showing point markers if it feels you're taking to long in figuring out where to go.

Where Halo 3 really shines is in multiplayer. You can play the campaign with up to three friends over Xbox live with a new meta game mode where you can be scored based on kills and how stylish you are. Gernade sticks and headshots get you more points and you're penalized for deaths. It definitely gives the campaign run through an arcade feel and is a welcome addition.

In matchmaking, everything is similar to halo2's great matchmaking updated for the 360. Games are found using the matchmaking system and even newbies to the 360 will be able to find games rather quickly. There is no hosting system like that of typical PC games and after playing games like Rainbow Six Vegas and Team Fortress 2 I am glad that I don't have to spend 30 minutes trying to find a good game online.

New in halo 3 are the forge and the theater. Forge allows players to tinker with maps by altering placement of items, weapons, equipment and the like. Spawn times can be changed and items moved to different locations. In forge a certain amount of money is allowed per map and each item you want to add to the map has a cost. To place items the player goes from the typical viewpoint to that of the monitor and is able to pick up any objects and players. It is also possible to have team matches in forge with monitors providing support to players by dropping objects and lifting vehicles and teamates to other parts of the map.

Theater allows you to view saved games and films from any players persepctive or from a free floating monitor's point of view. You can finally see how you died or how the other team stole the flag from right under you. Unfortunately the rewind isn't a true rewind but more of a chapter skip so it takes some time to film the perfect clip but the potential for machima and films are endless.

In conclusion Halo 3 is definitely the game that will be played on Xbox live the most for the foreseeable future. Bungie and microsoft have the ability to tinker with the playlists and hopefully they will be tweaked and new maps will be released. Matchmaking isn't perfect as certain game types aren't in lists even though they can be played in custom games. There is a definite shortage of oddball, 2 flag ctf, zombies and king of the hill. Bungie has since fixed a bug where almost every other game of team slayer was shotty snipers but certain maps are still played a majority of the time. I really hope that new maps will come without a ridiculous charge but deep down inside i know that the odds of new maps coming out for free are slim. Here's to hoping and perhaps we'll see you online in matchmaking.

New Apple Wireless Keyboard

So Apple has released a new wireless keyboard and I must admit the tiny footprint and stylish aluminum and new keys make it very attractive. Attractive enough that as a Windows XP user I'd still use it to clear up the clutter on my desk. With a dual monitor setup and small sized Bose speakers, my keyboard takes up most of my desk space when i want to study a textbook or do some reading while using my computer. While the new wireless keyboard takes away the number pad, the space gains may be worth it if you find yourself hardly using the number pad anyways. The keyboard functions on blue tooth and the battery housing serves double duty to provide the keyboard slight elevation as well. My camera's battery is not charged so I will put up pictures of the setup at a later date. Overall it functions well under XP but the alternate media functions only work with a Mac. If there are driver updates in the future this keyboard will be the ultimate media center keyboard, small enough to type in your lap with ease while maintaining proper spacing for those with fatter fingers. The option key functions as the alt key while the command/apple key is the windows key on a windows machine. Syncing the keyboard required going to my bluetooth menu in windows and powering on the keyboard. I had no problems using a passkey although others in forums seem to be having problems, I'm not sure if its legitimate or them not being familiar with bluetooth devices. I only wish that the keyboard came with a bluetooth dongle but that's not a big deal as you can easily get one if your computer doesn't already have bluetooth.

If anyone finds new XP drivers to enable the multimedia buttons please let me know.

Verdict: Well built and aesthetically pleasing. For anyone looking for a wireless keyboard with a tiny footprint without the extra keys on an extended keyboard. Multimedia buttons do not work in XP. Slightly pricey at $79 so definitely a splurge if you already have a wireless keyboard. Does not come with bluetooth adapter.