"With some games, ESRB ratings can be either too damning, or not restrictive enough. How many parents buy their children copies of games like Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV, regardless of the warnings on the box, pamphlets shoved into their hands by concerned Best Buy employees, or simple common sense? On the hand, there are plenty of other games that the ESRB just rates poorly. Mass Effect gets an M rating for fictional alien violence, but Call of Duty (which is based on actual military event..."

"Microsoft Game Studios head Phil Spencer told Edge on Wednesday that the firm has added a "group of industry heavy hitters" to its lineup, including former Kojima Productions assistant producer Ryan Payton, confirming recent rumors."

"The name "Halo" sounds much catchier and should adorn the £4.4 billion experiment, according to a poll organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry in London.

Several other entries to the competition proved popular. Colliderscope garnered many votes, along with Black Mesa, the name of an ill-fated research facility in the game franchise Half-Life.

To reflect the endless quest to find the answer to life, the universe, and everything, some suggested Cern should name the experiment after th..."

"An 11-year-old Johnson Creek boy died from a gunshot wound Thursday at his home. Foul play is not suspected and the sheriff's department said this morning it appears the shooting was accidental.

According to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, dispatchers received a report of the shooting in the town of Farmington at approximately 2:15 p.m. Thursday. The deceased person was Joshua J. Nimm, 11, of W5098 River Road, Johnson Creek.

Deputies, along with personnel from the Johnson Cre..."

"Over the years, gamers have seen dozens of high-profile titles make their world debut by being featured on the cover of Game Informer. In fact, if you’re a regular shopper at GameStop, you’re probably one of the magazine’s more than two million readers.

But does a game getting on Game Informer’s cover signal it’s going to be great?

Can you be confident that these debuts will, one or two years later, become games you want to buy and play? Perhaps the magazine has a “Madden” curse (though..."

"Hamilton: In an interview related conversation we had, you said, "My writing is my whole life. Everything else feels like a support system for it. Just keep me alive and in writing condition." and you asked whether I felt the same way about my work. I guess I really don't. Although maybe it's a bit telling that I feel somewhat guilty saying that. Don't get me wrong, I love games and the making of games and the coming together of a glorious chaotic typhoon of a vision. And I so love being part..."

"BRIGHTON--Damian Isla of Bungie Studios addressed the 2008 Developer Conference and Expo yesterday. The AI expert talked about the challenges he'd faced leading the artificial-intelligence development on Halo 3, how the AI has changed since the original Halo, and the problems being faced by the development team on their next project.

It is friendly AI, rather than opposition AI, that is currently his team's focus, according to Isla. Making friendly NPCs react in a manner that is both usefu..."

"Bungie is one of the most talented studios out there, constantly living up to the hype with the Halo games. Whatever they make, whatever is going to be announced or shown, whether it’s new footage of Halo Wars, the revelation of Peter Jackson’s new Halo trilogy, all of which are games that Bungie has a hand in, or something completely new, there’s no denying one thing: Whatever Bungie does is going to be massive, whether it’s a new Halo or something new, or even more than one reveal."

"Today, details are coming in about what Bungie intended to reveal at Microsoft’s E3 press conference. While specific information about its upcoming Halo project remain a secret, the developer reportedly planned to show a sixty second “knock’em down” teaser trailer, only to have it pulled at the last minute."

"Note: Just a quote. Not the entire article.

"3. Halo: Combat Evolved

This game, although heralded by many a stooge, has so many problems and missing features that it's impossible to play. For one, the game disk doesn't work when I place it in my PS2 (which I bought from Wal-Mart). It's obvious that the developers are *bleep* based off of this anomaly alone, as any game that doesn't run on a PS2 was probably created by homosexuals.""

"* America's Army (Obviously)

• 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand
• Patriotic Pinball
• Frontlines: Fuel of War
• Christian Founders 3D Computer Game
• 18 Wheels of Steel: American Long Haul
• America: The Game
• Freedom Fighters
• Desert Strike/Jungle Strike/Urban Strike
• Metal Wolf Chaos
• Tycoon Series
• Terrorist Takedown
• GRAW 2
• Political Machine 2008
• Oregon Trail
• NARC
• American Gladiators
• Fugitive Hunter
• Halo
• FDNY: American Hero - Fire Fighter

"

"Now our source is really sticking her/his/its neck out.

As we told you earlier, our inside woman/man/thing got hold of some pretty exciting news.

News that Bungie was already hard at work developing what will be Halo 4.

Now we’re told that this will be announced officially at E3.

The prior news was probably like a weatherman predicting a hurricane “sometime somewhere.” This starts the ticking clock for what would end up being a pretty big deal."

"Sure, this is just a marketing survey. More an indication of what Microsoft are thinking than what they're actively doing with the series. But even the thought of them thinking about a Halo racing game or a "more family friendly Halo game" (Scene It? hosted by Cortana?) should be enough to give you an indication of just how many Halo games you can expect to start hearing about over the next few years."

What do you need to become Halo's iconic Master Chief? Well unless you work within NASA, some card, resin, fibreglass and a lot of time on your hands!

Whilst searching for an original fancy dress costume for my university's annual Summer Ball I stumbled across 405th.com. Here is the epicenter of everything related to amateur armour construction and a collection of Halo fans determined to don the Chief's shiny green helmet for themselves. Have a look at the pictures attached to see my own e...

"Like any good video game research, which generally uses dated games for its findings, the journal of Cyberpsychology & Behavior studied the outcome of 1,347 online matches, using Unreal Tournament 2004.

The results proved less neutral than gamers might expect, with red players winning 55 percent of the time over blue. According to neuroscientist Mihai Moldovan of the University of Copenhagen, this is because red is a distracting color for men, thus blue teams struggle more for kills.

A ..."

"Following Bungie's split from Microsoft, it looked like it was over for both the Halo developer and their corpse-humping shooter for a while, but according to the latest round of magazine rumours a new Halo is already well underway (we can hear the hype machine being prepped already).

According to US mag Electronic Gaming Monthly, Bungie's already prepping a Halo spin-off for release in late 2009.

Supposedly, it's a third-person "action/adventure shooter hybrid," that takes place before..."

"UPDATE: Microsoft just contacted MTV Multiplayer with an official statement, confirming the prospective hires will work on Peter Jackson’s “Halo” project.

“A Peter Jackson-helmed Halo project was announced at X06 in Barcelona,” said a Microsoft spokesperson. “Since then, Microsoft Game Studios has been hard at work collaborating with Peter Jackson and Bungie on the development of that project. At this time, it’s necessary to grow the internal team to keep pace with development. Bungie will..."

"Internet phenomenon Rooster Teeth, creators of the hit series Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles, have announced a new series titled Red vs. Blue: Reconstruction. The only information available on the new series is the release of a teaser trailer that appears to change the focus of the RT group from comedy to suspense. However, when the nature of the Halo 3-set series was questioned in the teaser's comments Rooster Teeth front-man Burnie Burns told fans, "Don't let appearances fool you.""

"According to the Latino Review, screenwriter Stuart Beattie (who penned the script for the upcoming G.I. Joe movie) took it upon himself to write a screenplay for the Halo movie, without Microsoft's knowledge and in his spare time because he's a huge fan of the franchise. The screenplay is said to be called Halo: The Fall of Reach and is based on Eric Nylund's novel of the same name. And unlike the official movie script that Microsoft had written with Master Chief playing a supporting role, B..."

"According to the latest issue of EGM, Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie are working on a LEGO Halo game for the Xbox 360. According to the article in EGM, LEGO Halo will have you play through all three games in the Halo trilogy."

"Yes, just when you thought you were the ultimate Halo geek, just when you thought there was nothing else that Bungie could whore its first-person behemoth onto, up prances Germany’s favourite three-striped sporting brand with a truly, truly hideous addition to the growing catalogue of Halo merchandise disasters.

A picture is worth a thousand words and, in this case, if we were pushed to submit a thousand-word news article then the vast majority of them would begin with ‘f’ and end with ‘uc..."

"In their latest podcast, Bungie team members revealed that the new game the Halo developer is currently keeping themselves busy with is something very different from what gamers have come to expect from the company.

As usual with games very early in the development cycle, the devs are keeping their lips sealed for the time being, saying it’s still “far far too early” to talk about any specifics. And, as opposed to bashing their own game, one of them said: “some of the stuff that I’ve seen ..."

"The impressive all-metal ‘reaper of death’ is presently to be found through online auction Web site eBay, where seller Lionheartsrealm is hoping to reap nothing more than a ton of cash in return for the deadly looking blade.

Made from solid stainless steel, which will probably make it rather difficult to wield, the loving creation is 36-inches long, 14-inches wide, and comes with a custom handle that apparently makes it "fit for any elite.""

"Despite a bulging Backward Compatibility list that presently stands at an impressive 465 original Xbox titles, the most recent list update could well be the last if comments made by Microsoft group marketing manager Albert Penello pan out as fact."

"For most, the prospect of escaping to the online world of Xbox Live is something anticipated with excitement over the course of yet another mundane day’s existence. However, for two young sisters in the state of Washington, Microsoft’s hugely popular multiplayer haven recently became the platform for a friendship that quickly turned into a frightening obsession."

""I think we’ve got magic in the disc," enthused lead designer Graeme Devine. "We've worked on the controls, gameplay, and story for this game being very much aware of what has gone before us. I was down in playtest yesterday and actually did not get to sit down and play because folks were spending their lunches playing the game. I know we're doing well when that happens.""

"The classmate also said the boy previously said he ''sits on his roof and shoots pigeons with an assault rifle'' and that he and some friends had made a movie ''dealing with snuffing people out.''

Based on that, Principal Joseph DeLuca searched the boy's locker and discovered the notebook.

The teen's mother said many of the writings and drawings relate to the video game ''Halo,'' which features a superhuman soldier who battles aliens."

"Some time ago, I blogged about playing a cancelled version of Halo DS. The game was the real deal, created by a real development studio and with a very big publisher. But for reasons we won't discuss, Halo DS was never released. Clearly. Obviously. Still, it would've been cool, huh?

My Halo DS blog has haunted me since I posted it because many people were skeptical of my claims. I wouldn't make something like that up, of course, but that hardly silenced any of my critics. When my brother ..."

""Apparently MS just wants Bungie to make Halo for the rest of their natural days, and Bungie doesn't like how MS is constantly trying to "handle" everything they do; the way they market their games, the way they interact with their fans (basically the fact that they do appreciate their fans), and how stingie they are with the profits (comparable to the rest of the industry). So as of today they are their own independent entity. They'll probably make Halo 4 for Microsoft, however hey are also ..."

"Speaking with Bungie at an exclusive Microsoft event this month we were informed that there was no rest for the wicked for the team as they were already beavering away at the next Halo game in the franchise. When questioned whether the game would be a prequel, Bungie remained tight lipped as always but we have a hunch that the game might actually be Halo - The Movie Game (insert movie title prefix here). Either way, it's early days considering many are still tackling the single player of Halo..."

"More than 42,000 pre-orders have been lodged for the M-rated game in Australia, which will retail at $99.95 for the standard edition."

"Welcome to the UGO's World of Halo. This is the realm of Master Chief. Enter and join the epic battle that has been chronicled in video games (including Halo 3, Halo Wars, and beyond) novels (The Fall of Reach and The Flood), comics (The Graphic Novel and Uprising) and the Halo movie."

"We’ve all played a game where someone other than the main character has a huge role in the game, usually an unsung role. The problem is that these characters are absolutely vital to not only the enjoyment of the game but in pushing the story further along and quite often even saving the main character a time or two. Well it's time these silent saviors get recognized, so here's the top 5 best supporting characters. They were picked based on personality, in-game presence, and over-all abilit..."

"Here it is everybody, the freebies from Bungie. On Xbox Live, you can get a new theme and picture pack set. Remember, it's only available until Sunday.

On Bungie's Web site, they've released the lovely picture seen above from the cover of Gamepro magazine. They've also released some information on the Brute Chopper and two variations of the Mjolnir armor. The pictures of the Mjolnir armor are in 3D so you can spin them right round and view all the angles of the image.

I always find it..."

"A French coder who goes by the name of Xero has released a demo version of 2D Halo homebrew game for the Sony PSP handheld system on the XtreamLua forums.

The demo utilizes a side-scrolling view and comes with two gameplay modes: Killer and Survivor. In Killer, you have to kill all the grunts that appear on-screen while avoiding their fire. In Survivor, the objective is to avoid as many plasmas as you can without using your own gun.

Since it's a first release, there are a few bugs left ..."

"Proving that you're never too old to play with toys (just hope you never hear editor Stevie let loose his passion for Transformers!), Todd McFarlane Toys has today told Next-Gen that it actively pursued, and secured, the rights to make a new line of action figures based on the Halo videogame franchise."

"Twentieth Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising announced a partnership with Microsoft to act as the primary licensing agent for its top-selling video game franchise "Halo," which already has 30 licensees across a full range of product categories.

Fox Licensing will enter the strategic partnership with Microsoft -- which has generated more than $700 million in sales from the "Halo" franchise, with more than 14.5 million video games sold -- to expand the brand's licensing and merchandise ..."

"Possibly one of the best kept secrets in the gaming world, the physical identity of the eponymous Master Chief has been a subject of conjecture, controversy and contention since the very first Halo burst onto the Xbox back in 2001 - remember those filthy low-down stories that claimed if you finished the game within a certain time you actually SAW the Chief's mug after he removed the Spartan helmet?"

"10.) Ikaruga
9.) House of the Dead III
8.) Guitar Hero II
7.) Halo 2
6.) ToeJam & Earl
5.) The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
4.) The Simpsons Arcade
3.) Double Dragon
2.) Gauntlet
1.) Contra"

""After the M (Mature 17+) rating assignment was issued for Halo 2 for Vista and just prior to the shipment of the game to retail, Microsoft notified ESRB about pertinent content found in a map editor tool that is being bundled with the game. The content in question, although likely to be inaccessible to the vast majority of users, displays a photograph of an individual showing his bare backside to the user when a particular error occurs, and thus warrants a 'Partial Nudity' content descriptor..."

"There have been some seriously mixed signals about the future of the Halo franchise once Halo 3 drops this fall. Apparently, it's the end of Bungie's trilogy that started on the original Xbox, but we're still anticipating Halo Wars from Ensemble Studios and a spin-off spearheaded by filmmaker Peter Jackson. Does Halo 3 mean the removal of Bungie from the franchise's lead, or simply the end of Master Chief?

The head of Microsoft Game Studios, Shane Kim, doesn't make the situation much clear..."

"Since its release on the original Xbox in November of 2004, PC gamers have been waiting patiently to try on Master Chief's helmet in Halo 2. Today was to be the day the first-person shooter finally arrived on the Windows platform, but Microsoft has announced it has pushed the game back another couple weeks until May 22.

Microsoft says the delay is to ensure a smooth Windows Vista install for fans once the game becomes available. There are other technical issues being wrapped up, as well.
..."

This is an amazingly Choreographed video from gametrailers member montyoum, it features both the master chief and Samus in a pitched battle with each other and the covenant.

New Maps were released for Halo 2 today! Here are the videos of two of them! What do you think of them?

"HALO: UPRISING #1 (of 4)
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Pencils and Cover by ALEX MALEEV

The Eisner Award-winning team of superscribe Brian Michael Bendis and artist extraordinaire Alex Maleev unleash an epic story of mankind's struggle against the alien threat of the Covenant. Picking up from the conclusion of blockbuster video game Halo 2, the must-read issue reveals how the Master Chief, while onboard a hostile ship headed towards Earth, is battling against Covenant forces! Intertwin..."

"The new pack, which works only on Xbox 360, runs $4 and includes two maps: Tombstone and Desolation. Please note that you cannot purchase the map pack with Microsoft Points. Original Xbox games don't recognize "points" even on a 360. You will need to have a valid credit card on file with your Xbox Live account in order to snag the new maps."

"A while back we told you about one bad mother of a fan made Halo assault rifle replica. Today, we're telling you that you can bring her home for only a few hundred dollars. Over on eBay that same assault rifle is up for auction and is currently sitting at $227 with roughly eight days left and the reserve still not met. From what we remember, a whole lot of work went into creating this bad boy, so maybe hundreds of dollars is justifiable. Actually, if you already decided to purchase the Halo 3..."