Host (player) – A player’s system contains the server being used.

Host (dedicated) – Not part of any player’s machine, has better bandwidth, normally seen with mmog (massive multiplayer online games)

In all reality host plays a large role in games. It can be the difference between a shotgun shooting like a sniper or a squirt gun. As well as the fact it is almost always required to cheat. Halo again becomes a good example. The host player has the ability to grenade jump, has more powerful weaponry and sadly can standby. This is one reasoning “bridging” became popular. You could pick who received host with a simple crossover cable connection to a computer and the right program.

The only way to remove host is to provide dedicated servers. This is normally more costly though the experience is much nicer. An example of this being used in console form is Counter strike that allowed players to use a second Xbox as a dedicated host allowing more players to be in the game at a time. Another example is with the MMORPG Final Fantasy for the Xbox360 which charges an additional 12.50 dollars a month for use of their servers. In the end host advantage is annoying. But not annoying enough that I would pay money to remove it.

On a different note, i'm looking into a few Halo2 easter eggs for my next post

Hopefully this article will cover the basics of what is cheating on XBOX Live and what isn't. Microsoft / Major Nelson, director of Xbox live programing, defines cheating as follows: "In a nutshell, we consider cheating to be the act of manipulating or interfering with aspects of the game or networking to give yourself or your team an unfair advantage."  Honestly that covers everything and well nothing at the same time. Microsoft leaves us with another ambigious statement leaving the true definition in the court of public opinion.

One of the games most notorious for cheaters is the famously infamous Halo2, which is also one of my personal favorites. The popularity Halo has reached epic proportions and has reset the standard of excellance for matchmaking on XBOX Live. Even with the tainted black mark of the cheating community and the introduction of a new XBOX console, Halo still remains one of the most played games on Xbox Live, two years after it release.

Getting back on topic, Halo2 is one of the best examples for cheating on XBOX live. Terms most often heard in reference to cheating include but are not limited to: standby, bridging, and modding. Standby occurs when the host of the game intentionally tries to create a "laggy atmosphere" in the game often sending the opoosing team to bluescreen. Bridging consists of using computer programs to manipulate who recieves host, the connection of the game, or unfortunatly even the ability to boot the opposing teams members from the game. Modding involves any form of modifications made to the game that give a player an unfair advantage.(This would be those players you may have see running extremly fast or flying in warthogs) These are forms of cheating that all players conceed are illegal and unfair.

However their are other glitches in the programming of the game, such as superjumps (also known as superbouncing) and tricks like the "BXR" that players have  split veiws. Some veiw  these glicthes or techniques as unfair Others have the opinion that if all players can do it, then what is the problem. I fall into the latter catogory,  although i try to aviod using such tricks until the other team uses them first.

In the end the problem is that to many people care to much about a number, a fleeting number with no real meaning. Bungie, the creators of halo state it as follows. "The level system is intended as a tool to help you find good games, not something to be abused or obsessed over." I can not agree more.