abundant

Holy Shit! This game is going to be one of the best games this generation. The atmosphere is great. It rivals Half Life 2 in the immersion and story telling department. If you pick up some cigarettes, you’ll see the smoke. Drink to much wine and your screen is distorted for a few seconds. What truly sets this game apart from every other game is that the enemies you fight aren’t mindless, no name foes. They have a character and a past, be it through ease dropping on conversations or through audio diaries. Some Splicers are bat shit insane, while others still have a shred of humanity in them. It adds to the atmosphere so much. Sadly, you fight no Big Daddies. I can’t wait until the 21st. This game is going to be a classic for sure.

For those who don't know, the BioShock demo has just been released over the 360 Marketplace.

Just wanted to point out two new things. First, the new Bungie Podcast can be found here. Secondly… The picture says it all… There's also a fourth grenade called the Firebomb.

Want to know just how big Halo 3 is? According to Microsoft, there are already more then 1 million preorders!! Also, be prepared, because the Halo 3 Ad Blitz is almost here.

Stranglehold is absolutely badass. The gun fights fill and look exactly like those in Hard Boiled. From sliding off of a railing and jumping onto a cart seamlessly to the whole stage being ripped apart after a big battle, Stranglehold captures it perfectly. The true beauty of the game shines when playing on Hard. On Hard, every gun fight is intense as hell, as you go from cover to cover looking for ammo and finding a way to kill people without using much of it. This game is a must for anyone who loves Hard Boiled or 3rd person shooters.

EDIT: I can’t wait until the embargos are lifted (which should be around 8/23), so we can see and get actual information about stuff like Forge. Right now I’m getting my info from various magazines like EDGE and EGM, as well as from Frankie over at NeoGAF.

Just got more info on Forge. You have control over teleporters, weapons, objects, vehicles, game rules, player traits, spawn points, special custom items (a grav lift that never expires) and more. With Forge, you can make an Infection match in High Ground where the base is completely blockade, or you can make a race course in Valhalla or Sandtrap, where fusion cores are placed in tight corners and in between ramps. And these are just two examples!! The only limitations you have are that you can’t raise/lower terrain and you have a set amount of points to use (These points are nothing more than to ensure that you don’t break the map). The possibilities with Forge and Custom Games are almost endless. There’s two ways to share your Forge creations: 1. Send it to a friend much like the save film feature or 2. Bungie.net will have a list of what they consider to be the best maps, so all you’ll have to do is click on what maps you want off of Bungie.net, then when you start up Halo 3, the maps are automatically downloaded to your Xbox 360.

Just to add in a few things… THE NEW FEATURES Forge. First talked about in EGM, Forge is a limited map editor. It’s limited in that you can’t create a map from scratch nor altar an existing map physically (raise/lower terrain). What you can do in Forge is place, delete, or altar weapons, equipment, objects (boxes and fusion cores) and vehicles (except the Elephant). Want to place a Banshee in High Ground and set it to respawn instantly, do it. Want multiple Spartan Lasers with adjusted ammo capacity, do it. You may also have control over where capture points or flag positions are located, although I don’t know 100%. Another cool feature with Forge is that when playing around in it, you can invite friends to join in on the fun. Meta-Game, or game within a game, will be present during Halo 3 campaign. You score points based off of kills, with more points given for stylistic kills like head shots or boarding a vehicle. Like in Halo 2, you can collect Skulls which affect your game, making the Meta-Game harder or easier. VEHICLES The UNSC forces finally have an equivalent to the Banshee in the form of the Hornet. It appears as little more than a one man cockpit, a rear section extending out perhaps a meter or two from the cockpit, a pair of wings and either a jet engine or a turbo fan on the end of each wing. No obvious weapons have been seen as of yet but it does possess a pair of stands attached to the underside of the fuselage that act as infantry platforms during battle for extra support. It’s confirmed to be in the campaign, but it might not be included in multiplayer. Another UNSC vehicle is the mobile base known as the Elephant. Twelve soldiers can ride in it, it can house a Mongoose in its belly, and it is armed with a M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun towards it's front to the right side. It is a 3-storied vehicle: there is a hollow hold in its bowels that can store a Scorpion, a warthog, two Mongooses, and infantry inside. Also a second story that appears to feature a crane, its M41 LAAG for defending it and also a general elevated position where defenders can fire down at attackers that are on the ground near the Elephant, providing a strategic advantage for defenders. It appears to be in the same track set up of the Scorpion Tank with a set of four tracked bogies along its chassis. It's chassis appears as high as it is long, providing stability. The Elephant will only be included in the multiplayer map known as Sandtrap. In Sandtrap, the Elephant holds the Flag, is the capture point, and is the spawn point for the team.

The MGS4 Demo.

Square Enix didn’t to anything for E3 because the Tokyo Game Show is in September. That is when you can expect some new information from them.

What I think will happen is that when the 60GB unit is off the shelves, they’ll drop the bundle and make the 80GB $500. Sony can’t be that stupid to once again have the PS3 at $600. They’d get slaughtered this Holiday season.

Just watched E3 Live on Gamespot. Just a few thoughts… - Assassin Creed looks fun as hell. They showed some more gameplay, where the player just screwed around, exploring Jerusalem. - Mass Effect is definitely game of the show. Gameplay, graphics, and animation are top notch. It could be one of the biggest (length wise) games ever. - The new Simpson game actually looks good. - The explosions and destruction in Mercenary 2 are impressive.

The 360 is $100 cheaper. The one the BBC is talking about is The Elite, which is $480, but the Elite is only worth getting if you end up downloading a lot of movies or TV shows. There is also the fact that the 360 is getting a new processor chip soon that lowers the cost of development, which means the 360 will be getting a price cut ($50 to $100) soon.

http://www.rockstargames.com/IV/trailer_splash.html Youtube -

Bungie just released an update that adds Big Team Battle training (up to 12 players) for Valhalla and High Ground. The Banshee is also in Valhalla for Team Slayer, Assault, & CTF.

After playing some more on Valhalla, it’s become my favorite map. Assault and Territories work perfect on it. By the way, here are my stats so far. Games: 10 Total Kills: 50 Total Deaths: 103 Kill/Death Ratio: 0.4854 Total Assists: 31 Yeah, I suck.

I had a blast playing this last night. I played a few VIP games in Valhalla, and its fun when your team actually works as a team. Assault's a great game to play on Valhalla too, especially with the Mongoose.

Video of High Ground The graphics, while not mind blowing, definitely look improved over Halo 2. The sound though is the biggest improvement so far.

As must of you know, the Halo 3 Beta will be up this Wednesday, the 16th. I’m starting this thread now because the Friends and Family Program invites are being sent right this minute (Those lucky enough to be in the F&FP get to participate in the beta today), so there’s bound to be lots of beta footage coming soon. Today is also the day when Bungie and Microsoft unveil the beta to the media, so expect lots of coverage tonight. For those who don't know, here is how you get into the beta... People who were selected through the "Rule of Three" and halo3.com programs should have already received emails confirming whether they got in through those means or not. If you were, a second email with you Beta key will go out as soon as the Beta begins. The way most of us are getting in is through the purchase of Crackdown, which includes the Beta access on the disc. When the Beta goes live, it can be downloaded via the in-game content downloader (right now the Halo 3 Beta option is greyed out). To access it once it's downloaded, you need to launch the Beta from Crackdown - and keep the disc in. You cannot access it from your Dashboard. Copies with the Halo 3 Beta sticker are still available.

GTA IV controversy begins...

For those waiting for actual information about the gameplay, you won’t have to wait much longer because the May issue of Game Informer will have a 10 page cover story of GTA IV. http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200....1112.19632.htm

First screenshots of the new playable characters