Well overall, the Xbox 360 has been well received over here in England; everyone enjoys the marketplace feature, loves the exclusive series such as Gears of war and Halo, and is pleased with the price tag.

The FIFA series and the Pro Evolution Soccer series are pretty much aimed at the English Audience. Pro Evo has always been the better game in most reviewers’ opinion, with FIFA being described as “too predictable” or “too arcade”. I personally have bought FIFA, which I prefer, for three years and I never complained as, in the end, its 22 men kicking a ball. But when I started browsing the Xbox forums as a part of TSJ’s recruiting process, I noticed all the UK community complaining about is the war between these two games. I don’t want to intervene as I don’t want to get flamed, but in the end it’s a game. Get over it.

Also on the community’s complain list: Price. The price of the 360 itself was well received with the counter argument being the PS3’s overwhelming price tag of £500, but there were plenty of complaints over the actual games. The developing costs for next generation games have gone up, and to make a profit Microsoft has been forced to up the price of games. Also, it seems we don’t like how low the cost of games are in America and how they get games and accessories quicker than us. It was especially difficult when Gears came out; I almost died in anticipation.

Now with the price subject, I really struggled with this one, but my shopping prowess persevered during this difficult time.

Call of Duty 3: £29.99 Woolworths

Well, first of all, my name is Ben. I was recommended to the Steeplemedia community by John, also known as Cain141, so thanks John. I enjoy reading the blog’s on here and hope to become an established blogger as well.

I am from England as you might have guessed, and I am an Xbox 360 fanatic. I also owned the original Xbox, but sadly traded it in to get Chromehounds…

I hope to blog at least a week from now on, so get used to it. lol

For those of you old enough to remember, this is a repeat of VHS vs. Betamax. The two are fighting to become the adopted system within our households. I’m not going to go into technical details analyzing wavelength scan speeds for the sake of keeping this simple. From what I understand, Blu-ray has more potential than HDDVD; however, it is not as cost effective at the moment. The video game industry has a large stake in this. Microsoft and Sony have begun to try to peddle their system as being able to play High definition movies. If one format folds, the system that has supported that system may be in for a world of hurt (PS3 has Blu-ray disc drive built in, while the 360 has an attachable HDdvd drive). My advice wait till this highly expensive equipment, next-gen DVD players, has become more cost effective and when we know which system will be the new betamax and which will be the next VHS.

Unfortunatly, I had to send my xbox in for repairs today but things will get better. Lets see how well the customer support system really works.

 

Along with a few other gamers, i was recently accepted into the ambassador program. here is how xbox describes the program, "It can be hard out there for a newbie. Whether you're new to Xbox Live®, or new to gaming itself, we know it can be a little intimidating the first time you match into a game. Getting your butt kicked right off the bat isn't the best introduction to our friendly gaming community.So we've created the Xbox Ambassadors. These are community members who have been around the block and are willing to show the new guys around, and we've got 'em in 18 countries around the world and in 30 different languages! " Im pretty excited about getting recognized and glad i can continue to help with the xbox community.

 

They will be selling special promotional video games involving the "King" for around 4 dollars. I will post back when i know more info.

Catch a video of one here

Sorry that this is so breif but... Bungie has announced that halo3 should appear in beta form this spring.

To read more check out  this link.

Cod3 is one of the more popular multiplayer games out right now. Check out this guide for important info and tips.

 Multiplayer GUIDE by:

       MLK ZEUS/Jaacob Fengstad

 

This guide is a quick walkthrough to help new players learn the multiplayer game of cod3.

 

WEAPON GUIDE: It’s good to always know what type of gun and how strong it is and what type of special it can have. This will show you both allies and axis tips.

Allies:

 

Rifleman: The rifleman’s main weapon is the M1 Garand it holds 8 bullets per round  and is a strong semi automatic gun. This gun is very good in almost any situation whenever you miss you always have 7 other shots it generally takes 2-4 depending where you hit but if you hit head it’s a one shot kill. This gun also has a rifle grenade special where you hook up to your  gun and fire it out it can be very annoying because it’s usually one shot kill.

 

Light Assault: The Thompson is the Allies light assault weapon and holds 20 bullets per round and is extremely fast. This gun can destroy anything at low range and a good Thompson user can usually kill at medium range to long with burst shots or singe shots. It can take a while to kill someone depending on range but it varies between 2-10 shots if you continually miss it will take 20 but I’ve never actually used a full 20 up without killing someone. The light assault’s special is anti-personal mine and also comes with sticky grenades. The anti-personal mines can be a nuisance on most levels and have only had a small amount of times where it isn’t useful

 

Heavy Assault: The Bar is the Allies Heavy assault weapon and is extremely powerful gun kinda slow, but its power makes up for the speed. It holds 20 bullets and is a good medium to long range weapon. You can use it short but a light assault weapon will generally wipe you out quick enough before you can get a head shot, unless your behind them then you’ll win (hopefully lol.) The heavy assault special is again the anti-personal mine but instead of sticky grenade you just have a normal frag grenade.

 

MEDIC : The medic’s weapon is the trench gun and treyarch defiantly knew what they were talking about. The trench gun is low range gun with 6 bullets per round the best use of this is when you have a dead teammate in a room you can throw a smoke and clear the room and then revive your teammate getting a lot of points. In my opinion the medic is one of the most useful if your teammates don’t spawn.

 

 

 

SCOUT: The scout’s sniper is a deadly long range weapon but I love pulling off sick no-scopes(an un zoomed shot) or quickscope( a shot where you zoom in quickly and shoot a more accurate version of the no-scope) and either kill them in one hit or pull out my pistol and killing them with the rest of my rounds using the colt-45. This gun holds 5 bullets and usually kills in 1-2 shots and can be an incredible asset to the team. The snipers special is the artillery and can be extremely useful in objective based games and team battle; The artillery can wipe out a lot of opponents and can get the snipers score to the top of the list almost instantaneously.

 

SUPPORT: The support gun is the .30 cal a massive gun emptying a hefty 75 bullets per round. This gun is extremely good for holding a position and can be good in almost any situation except one. If your not ready and your opponents already shooting at you or if your at close range. The one draw back of the support gun is having to lay down before shooting but its immense speed and power make up for it. The special for support is ammo delivery and is another extremely useful thing treyarch thought about this because every class has a very small amount of bullets and the ammo delivery really helps.

 

ANTI-ARMOR: The anti-armor’s weapon is the bazooka and it’s immense power can help the team when a tank is rolling by. At first when buying this game I noticed very little of them but now I see more and more especially in poisson where tanks are always used. This gun isn’t at all good at low range because you almost always blow yourself up (well I do lol.) The special for anti-armor is ammo delivery and is another extremely useful thing treyarch thought about this because every class has a very small amount of bullets and the ammo delivery really helps.

 

 

AXIS:

 

RIFLEMAN: The rifleman’s main weapon is the kar98k and is a sniper rifle without a scope. It’s a deadly weapon and can be used in any situation and I love it low range love pulling off sick no-scopes(an un zoomed shot) or quickscope( a shot where you zoom in quickly and shoot a more accurate version of the no-scope) and either kill them in one hit or pull out my pistol and killing them with the rest of my rounds using the P38. This gun holds 5 bullets and usually kills in 1-2 shots. This gun also has a rifle grenade special where you hook up a grenade to your  gun and fire it out it can be very annoying because it’s usually one shot kill so right when your about to kill someone they could have it setup and your dead.

 

LIGHT ASSUALT:  The Mp40 is the Axis light assault weapon and holds 32 bullets per round and is extremely fast. This gun can destroy anything at low range and a good Mp40 user can usually kill at medium range to long with burst shots or singe shots. It can take a while to kill someone depending on range but it varies between 2-10 shots but I’ve never actually used a full 32 up without killing someone. The light assault’s special is anti-personal mine and also comes with sticky grenades. The anti-personal mines can be a nuisance on most levels and have only had a small amount of times where it isn’t useful.

 

HEAVY ASSUALT: The Mp44 is the Axis Heavy assault weapon and is extremely powerful gun kinda slow, but its power makes up for the speed. It holds 30 bullets and is a good medium to long range weapon. You can use it short but a light assault weapon will generally wipe you out quick enough before you can get a head shot, unless your behind them then you’ll win (hopefully lol.) The heavy assault special is again the anti-personal mine but instead of sticky grenade you just have a normal frag grenade.

 

MEDIC: The medic’s weapon is the trench gun and treyarch defiantly knew what they were talking about. The trench gun is low range gun with 6 bullets per round the best use of this is when you have a dead teammate in a room you can throw a smoke and clear the room and then revive your teammate getting a lot of points. In my opinion the medic is one of the most useful if your teammates don’t spawn.

 

SCOUT: The scout’s sniper is a deadly long range weapon but I love pulling off sick no-scopes(an un zoomed shot) or quickscope( a shot where you zoom in quickly and shoot a more accurate version of the no-scope) and either kill them in one hit or pull out my pistol and killing them with the rest of my rounds using the colt-45. This gun holds 5 bullets and usually kills in 1-2 shots and can be an incredible asset to the team. The snipers special is the artillery and can be extremely useful in objective based games and team battle; The artillery can wipe out a lot of opponents and can get the snipers score to the top of the list almost instantaneously.

 

SUPPORT: The support gun is the Mg34 a massive gun emptying a hefty 75 bullets per round. This gun is extremely good for holding a position and can be good in almost any situation except one. If your not ready and your opponents already shooting at you or if your at close range. The one draw back of the support gun is having to lay down before shooting but its immense speed and power make up for it. The special for support is ammo delivery and is another extremely useful thing treyarch thought about this because every class has a very small amount of bullets and the ammo delivery really helps.

 

ANTI-ARMOR: The anti-armor’s weapon is the panzershrek and it’s immense power can help the team when a tank is rolling by. At first when buying this game I noticed very little of them but now I see more and more especially in Poisson where tanks are always used. This gun isn’t at all good at low range because you almost always blow yourself up (well I do lol.) The special for anti-armor is ammo delivery and is another extremely useful thing treyarch thought about this because every class has a very small amount of bullets and the ammo delivery really helps.

MAP GUIDES:It’s Always good to know where your going and what weapon’s to use for each map. This Map Guide will show as much as I can and I’ll try my best to fit everything in.

 

MERVILLE, FRANCE:

This map is a really fun Ctf/War map for me and the map changes from stony and lots of passages and then on the other side is open with only little cover. For this level a lot of people use scouts and it is a very smart idea I see a lot using support to in war especially and never see anti-armor even though there are tanks in the level. My weapon I use is light assault/heavy assault but isn’t very useful on this level the all time best for lots of kills would be scout not only for sniping but artillery also has a high advantage usually there’s cluster’s of people and it really can change the outcome of a battle very quickly.

 

POISSON Angers, France:

Poisson is my favorite map and I’ll play it on any gametype. I see a lot more people using anti-armor, rifles, and scouts then any other class but that doesn’t mean at all you can’t use what you want those are some I suggest saying it’s a big map. You’ll probably get a lot of kills with anti-armor though because people love roaming around in tanks.

 

Kellerwald, Germany:

Kellerwald is a fun map and is used by any weapon this map features from long to short range parts and is fun in any map. A lot of people stay on the bridge or on the west side. The East side is used hardly in even objective based maps. There’s 2 outposts on the north and south side of the bridge that takes you in the bridge where a lot of people run in. If you’re playing CTF and want lots of kills sit inside with a support gun and let em come lol.

 

Fuel Plant: Autun, France:

A lot of people like this map but I would have to say this is my most disliked level. This level is really perfect for rifleman and scouts and useless for anything but maybe support, and that’s another reason I dislike it lol. I haven’t really played any objective gametypes here just team battle but I really don’t feel like playing it much more.

 

 

 Mayenne: Mayenne, France:

This maps a small map and is very useful to assault type classes. You can really use any gun in this level and I still see lots of snipers because of balconies I also see lots of support to. The one gun that I would definitely not recommend is anti-armor. It is defiantly the most useless gun for this level other then its ammo delivary. When using anti-armor in this map your practically doing a suicide mission it is the hardest and worst gun to use.

 

ROUEN, FRANCE:

I love playing this map with good teammates there’s so many buildings and you really can’t say what weapon to use. When Treyarch made it I think they wanted to try to incorporate every weapon cause you really can and it’s really good if everyone’s using different classes to balance it out. The main street is where your going to get the most kills and the buildings make it the perfect place to hide.

 

 

 

 

 

Argentan, France:

This forestry based map is a fun little map used by any gun and you can still mount up kills. This is a good place to put mines on roads and in the trenches if your assault but if your scout the artillery doesn’t work aswell but that doesn’t mean don’t use it cause it can work and the scouts sniper is extremely deadly in this level if used properly and for the most part can even be used for anti-armor to destroy the bikes.

 

Les Ormes, France:

This is another little map that can be used for any weapon for the most part some game types favor some weapons over others but it’s really what your favorite weapon is and just stick with it. When your playing this level don’t just run through the street go slowly because there’s lots of buildings and side streets where people could be waiting to kill you.

 

Verdun, France:

This level is good for anything but anti-armor, its just about impossible to get a kill the only thing you might need for is ammo delivery and you might aswell use support. It’s not that good for scout’s or rifleman either but if your good at no scopes or quick shots then you can kill with ease. The map is made up of extremely small spaces so really whatever you decide… accept anti-armor lol.

The PS3 has been seen as the major competitor for the Xbox 360. Will Sony repeat their success or has M$ finally gain not only a foothold in gaming but a major part. The following contains to interesting and thought provoking articles about the PS3 release. Only time will tell if this is one of the biggest hits or failures in gaming history.

 

History seems to be repeating itself, find out why with 1up.com

 

This is a new era find out why from 1up.com

 

My personal view is it will do well but will not meet the insanely high expectations or the successes of the PS2

 

First off i need to start with saying all the information in this post was given to me by Zombl337. Without him this post wouldnt have happened. This is based competely off his reasearch into Halo3 and somewhat off of speculation.

 

The New Needler:
IT IS NO LONGER DUAL-WIELDABLE!!! Not much is explained but they do say that it is going to be made more powerful, balanced, and "usable".

The Brute Ghost:
The only details on the Brute Ghost were seen in the 20-second Single-Player Video (more on that later). It is summarized in the magazine as a "bulkier version of the classic hover bike" shown in the vid with a Brute climbing into it.

Single Player:
The guys at EGM got a 20-second video of the MC "tearing" around a huge industrial compound with gunfire coming from all types of Covenant crafts including a hulking wraith and "what looks to be a new Brute Ghost". There were "ships flying overhead, lasers everywhere, multiple enemies all around etc". Again, EGM rejects us much info on the stuff that no one else has...(More details to be revealed on Nov. 20 on the Mini-Site)

SAVED FILMS:
One of the things I am most excited about is being able to record gameplay onto your hardrive or memory card. The best way to describe this is as an example: Late one night you go into matchmaking and have the best game of your life. You rack up 95% of your teams kills and attain little deaths. You were playing like a GOD. The problem is, none of yours friends were with you. Don't fear, as long as you chose to save the temporarily stored video of the match, you can share your glory! Start up a party and get all of your friends in it, then bring up your saved video and launch it! The video will automatically come up on everyone's screen and the host will be able to control play, pause, slow, rewind, etc. while everyone else can choose how they want to see it, be it First Person, Third Person, or from a "fly-it-yourself bird's eye view". All I can say about this is, WOW.

Game Settings:
No longer are certain things such as speed reserved for either one person. That's right you can give all special traits to everyone!!! And for even more fun, you can even give them to the leading/losing teams in a match! But along with the old traits come a line of new ones. My favorite is being able to make characters more visible, BY SETTING THEM ON FIRE!!! You can even turn down gravity to allow people to jump twice as high, and prevent certain people from picking up weapons. That was all that was specofied in the mag but they say there is more...

Voting:
Have you ever been in a party and the host is putting a gametype that no-one wants to play? Well vote against it! This can allow people to override the host's power. Whatever happened to the good ol' x button?

Advertising Customs:
Now you can put your custom gametype or even your custom game lobby out there for everyone to see! This was Bungie's answer to custom matchmaking...

Ranks:
Now you will have an actual "military" rank in Halo 3. This will be seperate from your matchmaking ranks and will include your overall stats, ranked, unranked, and even customs.

The X Button:
Still a mystery...

Ok Now More Info on the Older New Stuff:

The Brute Spiker:
I doesn't launch orange needle. It launches two foot superheated metal spike which resmble orange needles.

The Spike Grenade:
This thing latches onto ANYTHING. Covered with spikes, it will kill a Spartan if it you hit one on the head with it, but will stay embedded into it until it explodes: The explosions send out a conical volley of spikes, conical being so that if you are in a certain blind spot near the grenade, you won't be damaged.

Spartan Laser:
Can penetrate through multiple targets...

Grenades in General:
You can now only carry two of each...thats wack...

Man-Cannons:
Yes you can drive anything into these "cannons" but heavier things, such as the Warthog, won't go nearly as far...

Valhalla:
I personally don't think it is another Coag or BG, it IS a large map but it is balanced so snipers and heavy rockets don't rule it...

Snowbound:
There is a lot more to this map than there looks. The bases seem to be pretty large undergound and there are also linking tunnels and pathways. Energy shields (more on that lower down) protect many entrances and if you get too far out into the barren winter tundra, sentry turrets will shoot you down...

HighGround:
My favorite map, the battle revolves aroung the main base with openable/closeable front gates. There are numerous entrances and hiding place inside the structure such as a blown out bunker or a small "crouch" pipe.

Energy Shields:
This IS old new stuff, just less known I guess. Anyways these energy barriers won't let some grenades through the mag doesn't explain but apparently spike grenades stick to them. I'm not going to go to into these things because most of the info is already out there...



I went and searched dozens of websites, and searched all over Google, and here are the Top Stories that I found......some are very old, and some are rather new.  Enjoy!


Tidbit #1:
----------
Halo 3 Interface coming together nicely:

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3152056


Tidbit #2:
----------
Bungie is already testing Halo 3 Single Player:

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/11286/Halo-3-Bungie-Play-Testing-Single-Player-Campaign/


Tidbit #3:
----------
Bungie is already testing Halo 3 multiplayer:

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/11001/Bungie-Already-Play-Testing-Halo-3-Multiplayer/


Tidbit #4:
----------
Halo 3 demo first half of 2K7?

http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=25084169


Tidbit #5:
----------
Gametrailers.com Coverage of Halo 3: First Details:

http://www.gametrailers.com/viewnews.php?id=3744


Tidbit #6:
----------
Halo 3 Mag Scans from Swedish Magazine LEVEL.

<link removed>


Tidbit #7:
----------
Here is a few screenshots & a couple videos from Xbox.com.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/h/halo3/


Tidbit #8:
----------
EGM: First Details Emerge:

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3154702


Tidbit #9:
----------
EGM will be releasing Halo 3 content over the course of 3 weeks, more info below:

http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3154510


Tidbit #10:
-----------
Halo 3 to support 50 player multiplayer?!

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/gossip/halo-3-to-support-50person-multiplayer-108370.php


Tidbit #11:
-----------
Halo 3 Menu Revealed.  Fake or Real?

http://www.whodigs.com/article.php/20060516104055283

On November 22, the Xbox 360 will be the first console allowing both HD and standard TV downloads straight to your console. Xbox Marketplace will soon carry multiple shows and movie to be downloaded for your viewing pleasure, taken you pay the small fee. It will be providing not only popular TV shows, but also downloads ranging from NASCAR to ultimate fighter. Xbox continues its trend to make the 360 a multitalented machine.

 

To Read the M$ press release click here

Halo 3, one of the most anticipated games in the history of consoles still has no firm release date. However, they have announced the packages that the game will come out in. First there is your basic everyday game costing only $59.99. They will also release the ever popular Collectors edition, what will be included with this has not yet been fully announced. The Legendary edition has been what is receiving the press. Halo 3 is speculated to release this package which will include along with the game, a replica Spartan helmet, three bonus discs with special compilation of halo information, movies and special features. This package will cost around $99.99. No matter which package you chose to buy, Halo 3 should be one of the best games in history. I hope it can live up to  the hype.

1^st Person: The game takes place through the eyes of the character. Ex: Halo

3^rd Person: The player can see the entire character from a view behind. Ex: G.R.A.W.

RPG: Role Playing Game. Generally the game is focused on storyline and character development. Player creates a character that the travel across the game with collecting items, solving quests, and gaining experience. Character development is often level based with a numerical equivalent given for a set number of experiences. Many of these are turn based for combat. Ex: Final Fantasy or Pokemon

MMORPG: Massive multiplayer online role playing game. Members generally pay money to join sort of there own online world. They create a character and interact with others within that games universe, collecting items and gaining experience. Ex: World of Warcraft.

Hack and Slash: Sort of a hybrid game. Often it is a RPG that has left its plot focused design and classic turn style combat to focus on allowing the gamer to run around killing as many enemies as possible. Generally in this stereotypical, often derogatory term, the games have little to no plot other than to kill insane amounts of people. Ex: Dynasty Warriors

Host: 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).

RTS: Real Time Strategy games. These games generally involve creating and running a civilization while fighting of enemy civilizations. You are in charge of building, advancing technology and unit placement. Ex:  Lord of the Rings Battle for middle Earth 2.

“Sandbox”: term often used for a game with nonlinear play that allows the gamer to do what ever they want with in the realms of the games design( walls of sand box). Ex: Oblivion and Grand Theft Auto

Some of the most highly anticipated games of the year will be coming in this next month. We have waited in anticipation for one of the most talked about and marketed games ever: Gears of War (GOW). Developed exclusively for the XBOX 360 and utilizing the highly acclaimed Unreal 3 engine, this game has a lot to live up to. It prides itself on pushing the 360 to the extreme in order to produce stunning visuals and realistic combat environment. This game has been predicted to be the successor to halo2 as the most played multiplayer online, even though halo2 is a first person shooter, while GOW is a third person shooter. Still fans of these types of games should be enthralled by the game if it can produce even half what is expected. Hopefully Microsoft’s marketing blitz can live up to the promises and expectation it has created.

Ladders are one of the ways to find out how you rank in the world of gaming. You can play both in a 1 v1 or team setting. Often it can be quite enjoyable. The three ladder i have had expeirence with are: www.gamebattles.com www.nxgamers.com and www.rapidgaming.net The following is my suggestion for a player looking for this type of expierence. 

Rapid Gaming is one of the newer ladder systems offering a halo2 ladder. However it is the one I have had the best experience with so far. While gamebattles maybe larger and as of now more active, RG has a very promising future. Full of dedicated staff attempting to help improve your gaming experience, RG is able to give more specialized help than many other ladders because of their smaller base.

 

Personally I hope to use this ladder for my clan for more than just halo2, but to do that we need more people register. RG has multiple ladders for games as well as tournaments. Some of these tournaments are sponsored by outside companies offering a prize for the winners. They have a simple yet attractive site that is both easy to use and pleasing to the eyes.Unlike most ladders, one thing i have noticed is it is a friendly atmosphere. It is both competitive and fun at the same time.

 

Help expand RG. We need more players for 1 vs. 1 ladder and more teams for clan/team ladders. We hope to see you registered.

 

www.rapidgaming.net

 

Cain141: Founder of Clan Tarsajuma