Bungie’s final Halo effort, Halo:Reach, has been in multiplayer beta since May 3. In that time, a mere 2.5 weeks, it has managed to overtake Halo 3‘s player count by leaps and bounds.

The Beta’s fast paced train of death comes to a abrupt halt tomorrow, when Microsoft says it will pull the figurative (or literal!) plug on the trial.

In Reach‘s first week alone, over 14 million games were logged and 157 million kills amassed, which equals more than Halo 3 enjoyed in its beta’s lifetime.

Possibly the allure of the beta was found for gamers in its new gametypes; Invasion and Generator Defense. Personally, Generator Defense felt like a buzzkill. I loved the ideal objective, but with only three versus three, it got old and stale very fast. On the other hand, Invasion and Invasion Slayer, are two areas I’ve logged the most time in, simply because Bungie finally went for it and they nailed it, right on the head.

What do you think?

via Destructoid

Xbox Live’s Major Nelson today unveiled the full April Xbox Live Marketplace release schedule, which slates Bungie’s 2007 and still hotly popular shooter “Halo 3,” for digital availability beginning April 20.

Pure coincidence that a game played so heavily by the pot smoking crowd arrives on the international stoner holiday of 4/20? I think not.

No word on pricing or if it’s a version with all DLC on it, but when we hear, we’ll update.

Source: Major Nelson

The Halo franchise is arguably the very best first-person-shooter multiplayer game in the history of console games. It’s been played over a billion times and is a daily pastime for hundreds of thousands.

When Halo: Reach, the final Bungie-developed Halo title releases this coming Fall, besides a killer campaign, it’s been toted as having the most absolute matchmaking system ever, and today we learn why.

A multiplayer beta for Halo: Reach descends May 3 for owners of Halo 3: ODST, and this is what to expect.

Shacknews somehow got a sneak peak inside the world of Halo: Reach’s mutliplayer and posted their feelings and reactions today. I won’t steal their thunder, you need to read their entire post, but here’s the skinny.

Veto 2.0- In Halo: 3, when you vetoed, you had no idea what might come up, in terms of gametype and map. But in Reach, you’ll have the options laid out in front of you. You’ll now exactly the repercussions of vetoing, and that’s good.

Veto 2.0

Social Settings- Here, you can choose from four options that will, hopefully, match you up in a better fashion than in Halo 3.

• Teamwork – Team Player vs. Lone Wolf
• Motivation – Winning vs. Having Fun
• Chattiness – Chatty vs. Quiet
• Tone – Polite vs. Rowdy

New Social Settings

Arena Playlists- Easily the largest change coming to matchmaking in Halo: Reach, this new playlist is for the elite. Here, games of Slayer and Team Slayer will be played, players will be placed into divisions and month-long seasons will be played, encouraging those with maxed out characters to continue playing, instead of climbing the ladder again and f*cking over the little guys.

Really, I haven’t even scratched the surface on this story. Head to Shacknews for the full details, it’s worth it, I promise.

When Bungie’s final Halo effort, Halo: Reach releases this fall, Halo 3, one of Xbox Live’s most-played Xbox Live titles ever will remain online, right?

Right. 

“I dont think we would pull the plug,” said Brian Jarrard, Bungie’s community director. “Halo 2 was the number one game until the Halo 3 lauch, and it was still supported until this April.

“I think it would be safe to say we wouldn’t be investing so much time into doing massive matchmaking updates and then just turn (Halo 3 online support) off and walk away from it.

“Will we hope that people will migrate to Reach because it represents all of the good things from Halo 3 but better and more so? Sure, but I guarantee that there are hardcore gamers, like the pros who make their livelihoods off of playing Halo 3, who might take awhile to move over.

“I cant imagine a world where Halo Reach and Halo 3 don’t coexist.”

File this one under completely obvious. But it’s reassuring for those not immediately upgrading to Halo: Reach.

Source: Kotaku

Unless you’ve gone all Chris McCandless and disconnected yourself from the world’s events, you’re aware of the monumental catastrophe that happened last week in Haiti.

And if you’ve already donated to the American Red Cross or any other like group to support the relief efforts, pat yourself on the back, because you’ve done a good thing.

But if you’re a broke college student/laid of employee, etc. and haven’t the money, but instead a copy of Halo 3 or Halo 3: ODST, you’re in luck.

Bungie, the development team behind the Halo franchise, on Friday announced that the studio will donate $100 for every 1000 players who play either Halo 3 or Halo 3: ODST online this Wednesday and Thursday, for a maximum payout of $77,000.

To take part in the effort, simply gather up your friends and play Halo 3 or ODST any time next from 00:01AM PST Wednesday, 1/20, through 23:59PM PST Thursday 1/21 and change your emblem to the one shown below.

Like this

Or this

Additionally, if you do have some extra cash around, right now, in the Bungie Store, you can pick up this “Be A Hero” T-shirt and 100% of the profits will go to the American Red Cross.

What’s more, sales from anything in the entire Bungie Store now until February, will go to the ARC, so if you’ve been eyeballing that hoodie or baseball cap, we can’t think of a better time to buy in.

In any event, if you’re a Halo-gamer, I full expect to see you on Xbox Live this Wednesday and Thursday. Add me as a friend at eddie not eddy and we’ll try to get a huge custom game going!

More information on all the goings-on at the Bungie-Blog

At the Major League Gaming event in Orlando over the weekend, the famous and powerful Triggers Down team saw victory near inches away, but were denied, on account of a glitched out Xbox.

As the below video clearly shows, Heinz of Triggers Down, with all four members of enemy team Classic down and out, was on his way to capture the flag, when all sorts of crazy happened.

What happened was simple: the host’s Xbox 360 froze up and dropped the connection for all players, though at the worst possible time for team TD.

Major League Gaming tournament rules say “any equipment malfunction during a game is grounds for a replay of the round,” and in the replayed match Classic handed TD a forceful 5-2 smackdown.

Ouch.

Source: Kotaku

Xbox Live Community Manager Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb, the man with quite possibly the best job ever, released information on the most-popular Xbox Live titles of the entire year 2009 today.

The lists are based upon connectivity figures and show the top twenty in each category, those being Xbox 360, Arcade, Original Xbox, Indie Games, and even Windows Live goodies.

Anyone surprised to see Halo 3 at the top? I’m not, but if you are, remember that everyone who bought ODST (millions and millions) and popped in the multiplayer disc were counted as Halo 3 (not ODST) players.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)

1 Halo 3
2 Call of Duty 4
3 Modern Warfare 2
4 Call of Duty: WaW
5 Gears of War 2
6 GTA IV (Purchase and download the full game)
7 Left 4 Dead
8 Halo 3: ODST
9 FABLE II Episode 1 (of 5)
10 バイオハザード５」デモ (BioHazard 5 – Resident Evil 5)
11 Halo Wars – Demo
12 RESIDENT EVIL 5
13 Fallout 3
14 UFC 2009 Undisputed Demo
15 Left 4 Dead 2 – Demo
16 Gears of War
17 1 vs 100
18 Guitar Hero World Tour
19 Guitar Hero III
20 FIFA 09

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)

1 Battlefield 1943
2 Castle Crashers
3 Trials HD
4 Hasbro Family Game Night **
5 Shadow Complex
6 Marvel vs. Capcom 2
7 Magic: The Gathering
8 UNO
9 Worms
10 Peggle
11 Worms 2: Armageddon
12 Turtles in Time Re-Shelled
13 ‘Splosion Man
14 A Kingdom for Keflings
15 3 on 3 NHL Arcade
16 The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
17 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Classic Arcade
18 Marble Blast Ultra
19 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
20 Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

**Combined sales of all Hasbro Family Game Night titles

Top Original Xbox Titles (based on UU’s)

1 Halo 2
2 Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3 Fable
4 Counter-Strike
5 Conker: Live Reloaded
6 Doom 3
7 Splinter Cell Chaos
8 SW: KOTOR
9 Star Wars: Battlefront
10 SW: Republic Commando
11 Burnout 3
12 Fable: Lost Chapters
13 Call of Duty 2
14 Call of Duty 3
15 Call of Duty Finest
16 MechAssault 2
17 Crimson Skies
18 Guilty Gear XX
19 Rainbow Six 3
20 Gauntlet Seven Sorrows

Top Indie Games (Full Versions purchased)

1 I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1
2 Avatar Drop
3 RC-AirSim
4 Headshot
5 Miner Dig Deep
6 Rumble Massage
7 Who Did I Date Last Night
8 Kodu Game Lab
9 Avatar Golf
10 Aquarium HD
11 myFishtank
12 Head Shot 2
13 DrumKit
14 A Perfect Massage
15 The Impossible Game
16 Inside Lacrosse’s CL2010
17 ZP2K9
18 ezmuze+ Hamst3r edition
19 The Drinking Game
20 Physics Sandbox

Top Games For Windows LIVE (based on UU’s)

1 GTA IV
2 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II
3 Fallout 3
4 Shadowrun
5 Street Fighter IV
6 Halo 2 (PC)
7 Batman: Arkham Asylum
8 Resident Evil 5
9 Gears of War (Windows)
10 Red Faction Guerrilla
11 Battlestations: Pacific
12 Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
13 DiRT 2
14 Section 8
15 Quantum of Solace PC
16 FlatOut UC (PC)
17 Fuel
18 Viva Pi±ata
19 SWTCW: Republic Heroes
20 Juiced 2: HIN

Source: Major Nelson

Grenade, grenade, fire, fire, melee. Master Chief can do more than that quick combo, which almost always gets you a kill in multiplayer, in the upcoming Halo animated feature.

“Halo Legends” will hit DVD and Blu-ray on February 9. Distributed by Warner Home video and produced by 343 Industries, part of Microsoft Game Studios, the CG and traditional anime will explore the history and origins of the Halo universe and some of its characters. The eight episodes will cover seven storylines, which will also be available via On Demand and Digital Download.

The episodes will fall inside Halo’s 26th Century continuity as humanity battles aliens to protect the ever-expanding space colonies of Earth. Halo fans will recognize some characters and locales from the games. Each episode will be 10 to 17 minutes long, with about two total hours of viewing.

Halo Legends will have the same look and feel as “The Animatrix” and “Batman Gotham Knight,” in that each episode will be self contained. Each episode will be presented as imagined by a the director or animator. Children of the 80s and anime fans, alike, will recognize the work of some of these creative contributors including Shinji Aramaki, who did character designs on “MASK;” Mamoru Oshii, creator and writer of “Jin-Ro;” and Hideki Futamura, a key animator on “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.”

Extras on the two disc will include a “making of” feature, audio commentary with the directors and a mini-feature detailing the rise of the Halo franchise from an Xbox game to a mammoth property commanding over $1 billion in revenue with games, comics, novels and other merchandise. The Blu-ray will retail for around $35, the two-disc set for around $30 and the DVD for around $20.

Major Nelson, the Xbox Live Community man, posted the week’s top-ten most fervently played games on Xbox Live today, and, as has been the staple of so many weeks in a row, Halo 3 remains firmly grounded atop the list.

However, I can say with near certainty, that come next Tuesday, when some other game releases, Halo 3 will be dropped to the #2 spot, and possibly until Reach comes out will remain there.

Xbox 360 Top LIVE Titles

1    Halo 3
2    Call of Duty 4
3    Call of Duty: WaW
4    GTA IV
5    Halo 3: ODST
6    Gears of War 2
7    FIFA 10
8    Borderlands
9    Madden NFL 10
10   Forza Motorsport 3

Source: Major Nelson

Xbox Live statistics released today reveal that Halo 3 is yet again the most played game on Xbox Live for the past week.

7 of the 10 involve some sort of weaponry and the others are sports games and the new South Park tower defense game. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

With Modern Warfare 2 less than a month away, Halo 3′s time atop the leaderboard will soon come to an abrupt end, but one we welcome, because you can throw knives in the game!

This list was compiled by Major Nelson of Xbox Live and is based on unique users.

Xbox 360 Top LIVE Titles
1‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 3
2‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty 4
3‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty: WaW
4‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 3: ODST
5‚ ‚ ‚  Gears of War 2
6‚ ‚ ‚  Madden NFL 10
7‚ ‚ ‚  FIFA 10
8‚ ‚ ‚  GTA IV
9‚ ‚ ‚  SOUTH PARK LET’S GO TOWER DEFENSE PLAY!
10‚ ‚  Left 4 Dead

Source: Major Nelson

A USA Today report issued today reveals that Halo 3: ODST, Bungie’s latest Halo project, has sold a whopping 2.5 million units since launch, and details plans for all things Halo moving forward.

Lifetime sales of all Halo games, after the 2.5 million from ODST, jumped to over 27 million, but the leaders of the Haloverse won’t let it stop there.

The USA Story makes an argument that the Halo universe will soon overtake the epic and aged Star Wars franchise through not only games, but lots and lots of Halo spin-off projects.

Where is Halo headed in the future? The paper points to these impending spin-offs as a reason why the franchise is still alive, breathing, and dominating. These are the known non-game projects due out.

Halo: Reach, the Halo: Blood Line comic series, Halo Legends, Halo Waypoint, the Halo: Evolutions novel, more McFarlane toys, and well, not new, but the Mountain Dew line from back in the day.

Source: Joystiq

Bungie’s 2007 first-person-shooter Halo 3 is still the most played game on Xbox Live.‚  Major Nelson, Xbox Live’s community man posted the Xbox Live Top 10 list for last week today and, as always, the top games are shooters.

In fact, 7 of the 10 involve some form of weaponry. Nice!

The list is compiled based on unique users. And hey, Blast contributed to the statistic when we hosted our first Halo 3 Tournament Friday evening. You missed it? Read about it here.

Xbox 360 Top LIVE Titles
1‚ Halo 3
2‚ Call of Duty 4
3‚ Halo 3: ODST
4‚ Call of Duty: WaW
5‚ Gears of War 2
6‚ Madden NFL 10
7‚ Forza 3 Demo
8‚ GTA IV
9‚ Left 4 Dead
10 FIFA 10

LAS VEGAS — There are a few lures to the Palace Station Hotel & Casino, located just far enough from the Las Vegas Strip that you have to pay for a cab.

I mean, it’s dank, old, a little sketchy, and has more cigarettes going at once than a high-stakes bingo parlor. But the railroad-themed casino features $5 table games, including craps. That’s good. The cowboy bar has good service — bartender Chris was very friendly. Oh, and you can tell people you stayed at the same casino that O.J. Simpson got arrested at for that sports memorabilia robbery. It also hosts fun UFC parties. Vegas has a distinct lack of sports bars.

One thing in particular really made the Palace Station worth the trip: The Bonkerz Comedy Club. That’s where I met comedian Chris Edgerly.

Edgerly headlined a show one night, doing a routine of impersonations and funny observational bits. While his name might not be familiar yet, his work probably is. He was Nick Diamond on “Celebrity Deathmatch,” and he has voiced an unbelievable amount of video games including Alpha Protocol, G.I. Joe, Godfather II, Ninja Blade, Lord of the Rings Conquest, Mass Effect, Halo 3, Kingdom Hearts II, Final Fantasy XII, SWAT 4, Yakuza (with Eliza Dushku) and several dozen more.

He currently provides the voice talent for Peter Potamus on the Adult Swim animated series “Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law.”

Here are some questions and answers with Edgerly:

BLAST: How did you get your start in comedy? Why comedy?

Chris Edgerly: I was in college, October of ’90. A buddy told me about a group of comedians who did stand-up once a month at this local pizza place in the basement downstairs. I met with them that night, and the next night I was onstage in front of a packed house. It was exhilarating. I had been doing some acting as a drama minor at the university (UGA) but nothing could quite match the thrill of doing your own material in front of an audience.

BLAST: You’ve done a lot of voice acting “" what do you like about that side of entertainment?

CE: Two things about voice acting rule: One, you don’t have to worry about how you look or how old you are. It is egalitarian “" if you can do the job (and have a good agent that believes in you), you’ll get work. Two, it’s constantly changing, so you never get bored. I audition five days a week, and the scripts are incredibly varied, from video games with aliens and zombies, to commercials involving friendly announcer-type voices, to voice-matching a-list actors for movies to animation involving just about any kind of character you could imagine. This week I’m doing ADR (automated dialogue replacement) work to provide the English voice for a character in a Japanese anime series. It’s a constant challenge to my imagination to see what I can do with a script.

Blast: Comedy or acting, which would you rather be doing?

CE: Impossible to choose. On the one hand, it’s more fulfilling to perform in front of a live audience, especially when you write the material and have ultimate creative control over how it’s delivered. On the other hand, getting to read someone else’s words and interpret them can be a treat, not to mention some of the famous people I’ve gotten to work with over the past few years. And it pays a hell of a lot better, and I can sleep in my own bed and don’t have to be on the road half the year.

Blast: How often do you come out to Vegas to perform? Any plans for an East Coast (Boston?) jaunt?

CE: Haven’t done Vegas often. I don’t like to leave L.A. if i can help it since work never stops in the voice-over world. It would have to take a very special occasion to come to the East Coast, but if things click with the Men’s Club Comedy Tour (the current project I’ve been doing with my three buddies), anything could happen.

Blast: How would you classify your comedic style? I’m sorry to ask this cliche, but who are your influences?

CE: I don’t know how I would classify my style. Above all, I try to be entertaining without insulting the intelligence of the audience. I have a few voices, some wry observations, some longer, more monologist type bits sprinkled in there as well. I like to gently subvert the audience’s expectations of where a bit will go. Above all, it is about giving the audience a good time that stays with them afterward. I’ve been inspired by so many comedians in my life: Cosby and Pryor and Carlin and Rich Little as a kid, Jim Carrey (his physical comedy more than anything), Dennis Miller’s incredible way with words, Bill Maher’s ease with commentary, even Johnny Carson’s way with an audience “" the way he could take them anywhere he wanted to go, even when a joke didn’t work. How he could take them by the hand and lead them back whenever he chose. Contemporary comics “" Patton Oswalt (a great wordsmith and imagist), Dave Attell (gets you to love lechery), Todd Barry (nobody does wry like him) and Chris Rock (back in ’96, his HBO special “Bring the Pain” was the best I’d ever seen from a stand-up and still is, in my opinion.)

Blast: What does a comedian do when he’s not on stage? Are you always “on” or do you have people/friends that you can just be off/yourself around?

CE: When I’m not onstage I get up at the crack of 10 a.m., go to my agency and record my auditions, come home and surf the web for fun and ideas, get lunch, exercise, work on the act or anything creative I have on the docket for a little while, etc., spend time with my girlfriend, catch my favorite shows on TV, you name it.

Unexciting and yet highly pleasurable, because my life is my own. My schedule my own. It took years to get to that point but I’m enjoying the hell out of it. That’s probably why you wouldn’t suspect I was a comic if you met me away from a club. I’m not “on” very often . When I’m around my actor and comedian friends, sure. We’re all “on” in one way or another because we understand how we all think and the jokes come fast and furious. But otherwise I’ve been described by my “civilian” friends as laid back, philosophical and “" gasp “" mature. The opposite of the insecure kid that started years ago, thinking he had to make everyone laugh to prove to himself that he could do it as a career. You know, pretty textbook stuff.

Xbox Live community manager Major Nelson today revealed last week’s Xbox Live usership statistics showing Halo 3 on top of the list followed by ODST at the #2 spot.

You might think maybe for just one week more pople would venture to ODST’s new multiplayer mode FireFight than Halo 3′s multiplayer, but you’d be wrong.

ODST’s disc 2 contains every Halo 3 map to date including the new ones, LongShore, Citadel, and Heretic and as appealing as FireFight is, and it is, it couldn’t take down Halo 3 from the top spot.

Here’s the full list, and in case you missed our Halo 3 Contest, which gives the winner 1600 MS Points, read all about it here.

1‚ Halo 3
2‚ Halo 3: ODST
3‚ Call of Duty 4
4‚ Call of Duty: WaW
5‚ Gears of War 2
6‚ Forza 3 Demo
7‚ Madden NFL 10
8‚ GTA IV
9‚ FIFA Soccer 10 Demo

Bungie released Halo 3: ODST today, but that’s not all. A premium Xbox 360 theme in the ODST-flavor hit Xbox Live today and best of all, it’s available at a very affordable price; free.

The backdrop is of the game’s main hub world, New Mombasa, and is fittingly dark and gloomy, but man oh man it looks so nice. The only catch is that you must be a paying Xbox Live Gold member to earn the gratuitous download. But aren’t you already?

Here’s the official description and download link.

ODSTs aren’t the only ones getting their hands on upgraded gear to prepare for the upcoming Firefight. Available only for a limited time and free of charge for Xbox LIVE Gold Subscribers, this expertly crafted Halo 3: ODST Premium Theme will get your Xbox 360 ready for a combat drop into the city of New Mombasa.

No word on how long the promotion will last so get on it Halo-heads!

A Bungie-developed Halo game without series protagonist Master Chief? It didn’t seem logical, probable, or even believable until Microsoft and Bungie announced the project then named Halo: Recon, last year. The game, first planned as a “mini-expansion” to the Halo 3 world, has now blossomed into a full-on $60 Halo experience with a number of tricks up its digital sleeve.

Halo 3: ODST, as we now know it, released today exclusively on Xbox 360. In the box you’ll find two discs. One containing ODST’s campaign and new multiplayer Firefight Mode, and the other with all 24 multiplayer maps for Halo 3′s uber-popular adversarial component.

Consumers, even Bungie-faithful Halo-heads have been skeptical of the project since it’s unveiling. Bungie and Microsoft have been touting the game’s value based on the inclusion of every single Halo 3 multiplayer environment to date. But what if you’ve purchased every piece of downloadable content, as so many have? Is the game still worth it?

In short? Very much yes.

In ODST you play as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, “The Rookie” during the events of Halo 2. As you and your squad-mates drop into the African region, all hell breaks loose. A Covenant attack knocks you off course and you’re left unconscious and stranded, by your lonesome self, in the dark, cold, and grief-stricken city of New Mombasa, a city whose secrets are numerous, and a locale you’ll grow to love.

Playing as an ODST the first thing you’ll notice is a lack of super-human strength in combat. Gone is your precious regenerating health shield making the balance between gun-wielding fury and strategy a defining aspect of your success.‚  Health packs, scattered through each level, will do the trick, but you’ll have to dial down your Rambo ambitions at least a bit, as ODSTs feel the pain of enemy fire much more than Masterchief. Additionally, the fan-favorite and powerful Battle Rifle is nowhere to be found in ODST, but the headshot thirsty need not fret as the Magnum Pistol makes a triumphant return and is a quick and simple way to pick off grunts. Furthermore, a familiar weapon, though augmented, the silenced SMG, debuts in ODST but the game does not allow dual-wielding, seems Bungie doesn’t like that idea anymore.

New Mombasa, the city you’ve dropped into, acts as the game’s hub, one at which all story elements originate, and one that has danger around every corner. ‚ New Mombasa is the largest single environment Bungie has ever created, and one that breaks from the normative linear model Bungie has been known to follow.

Bungie, in non-Bungie fashion, chose to tell the story of ODST not as one epic journey, but rather in fragmented pieces. As “The Rookie” you are undeniably the main character, but the story unravels through flashbacks in your squadmates’ shoes. The clues you find in New Mombasa trigger flashbacks of events. They are memories relived, and through these memories the story begins to make sense.

Because Bungie was not tied to one hero and one story arc, a la Halo 3, the tale feels extremely memorable through its brevity. Think of each flashback as an episode of The Office; each is different but still a piece of the overall feature.

Voice acting is superb. Corny lines of dialogue are nowhere to be found, and I found myself more than generally interested in learning the fates of my digital counterparts. Cinematic intensity? You betcha.

Graphically, ODST looks superb. The dark, gloomy colors in the urban settings and the gorgeous outdoor environments are welcome changes to the normative purple and gray color tones of Halo 3.

Additionally, ODST’s are equipped with a VISR. This Visual Intelligence System Reconnissance is a new Halo functionality and allows you to see enemies highlighted in red and allies in green all with the simple press of the X button. This tool is particularly helpful in dark, shadowy environments, and in outdoor and bright locales you’ll want to toggle it off, as the scene becomes too bright. As a more vulnerable ODST you’ll need to strategically consider how to tackle a fleet on incoming enemies, and the VISR is an invaluable tool to help do so.

ODST was built on the same game engine as Halo 3, and yes, you can tell, but what the environment artists pulled off in the latter stages of the game is truly remarkable. You’ll want to stop and stare (if you aren’t being shot at), to take it all in, at least once.

Where ODST truly shines though is in its seemingly frenzied yet ultimately strategic combat. Enemies come at you harder than ever. They’ll only rush when they have a clear advantage, and with waning health, you’ll truly have to pick your battles.

Bungie did a great job setting up for this in their level design. Environments range from close-quarter shotgun alleys to multi-level, large-scale sniper arenas. You may be a headshot honcho with the Sniper, but if you can’t wield a Spartan Laser, or effectively flank a group of Covenant with a Carbine you’ll be dead in seconds.

And where Halo games have always stood out and continue to in ODST is in land and air vehicle-based combat. Maybe I was a space pilot in a former life because when I jumped into a glowing purple Banshee I felt nothing but confidence as I rained down fire on a massive Scarab. In ODST you’ll drive Tanks, Ghosts, Warthogs, Banshees and more, all of which feel comfortable, familiar, and wholly workable.

Random Note: The Sniper Rifle has been updated. It’s now Hollywood-ized and pops and rings with heavy authority. You’ll notice for sure. And the soundtrack, also available today, is beautiful, always fits the mood, and can both heighten tension and trigger emotional release, speaking to composer Martin O’Donnell’s musical range.

FireFight Mode:

Halo 3: ODST, in addition to the aforesaid campaign, came with a new multiplayer avenue under the hood; FireFight.

In this survival mode, wave after wave of increasingly difficult Covenant Brutes, jackals, Grunts, and the rest come at you guns blazing, plasma-grenade lobbing, and won’t stop until you and your mates are dead. Often compared to Gears of War 2′s “Horde Mode” the Halo-flavor tastes a lot different.

The game-mode allows for up to 4 players to band together and slay incoming Covenant in ten different environments on foot or in-vehicle and best of all, as with Halo 3′s multiplayer, your full stats are tracked both in-game and at Bungie.net.

Skull modifiers up the ante in difficulty, as you can select anything from the hilarious “Grunt Birthday” where a headshot on a Grunt makes confetti emit from their dome, to one which makes enemy AI that much smarter.

If there is one lesson I took away from FireFight, it’s that going it alone sucks. Hard.

In order to truly enjoy FireFight you’ve got to play with friends. Whether that be locally on the same screen, or with your pals in California. Not only is FireFight exponentially more fun this way, you’ll be able to talk about, and revel in past glory the next day.

The heart of appeal in ODST for me, and likely for you, lies in Disc 2 of the package. Halo 3, to this day, continues to be the most played game on all of Xbox Live. Recently eclipsing 1 billion matches played, the multiplayer component of the 2007 title is a daily ritual for hundreds of thousands of gamers. And so Bungie, in a true fan-service move, put all 24 Halo 3 multiplayer maps together on one disc including the brand new Heretic, Citadel, and Longshore environments. After playing all three multiple times on Xbox Live and locally, outside of original gems “Last Resort” “Guardian” and “The Pit” these are three damn fine multiplayer environments and will excite the seasoned Halo-head for sure.

Citadel

Longshore (personal favorite)

Heretic

Wondering about that promised “Halo: Reach” multiplayer beta access? “Reach” was announced at this year’s E3 convention, and is Bungie’s next first-person-shooter Halo-themed project. It’s due out Fall 2010, and that’s pretty much all we know. The beta access will likely begin in the months preceding its release date, so don’t worry, you’ll have more than enough time to play ODST again and again, and then again, before Reach arrives.

Blast Factor: Halo 3: ODST is more than an expansion to Halo 3. Updated graphics, innovative storytelling, a fresh multiplayer experience in FireFight, all 24 Halo 3 multiplayer maps and a stellar soundtrack make ODST a serious contender in the FPS genre heading into the fall and holiday season. The campaign is short; only about 6-7 hours, but the combination of FireFight and the now definitive and complete Halo 3 multiplayer component, sends the game’s replay value through the roof.

Halo 3 ODST is available today exclusively for Xbox 360. It carries an MSRP of $59.99. Played through entire campaign on the suggested Heroic difficulty. Played multiple matches of FireFight both alone and with friends, and played multiple matches of Halo 3 multiplayer on Longshore, Heretic, and Citadel.

Bungie’s September 2007 project, Halo 3, is still the most played game on all of Xbox Live.

Major Nelson, Xbox Live community man, revealed last week’s Xbox Live statistics today and like always, the top 4 are first and third-person-shooters.

Halo 3 beat them all out, with COD5 in the 2 spot, COD4 coming in third, and Gears of War 2 at the fourth spot.

Nothing on the list is surprising, at least in my estimation. Hell, I’ve played around 3000 games of Halo 3 in my life.

With Halo 3: ODST due out in less than a week, bundled with the final 3 multiplayer maps, I feel it’s safe to assume Halo 3 will remain atop the list for a while.

1 Halo 3
2 Call of Duty: WaW
3 Call of Duty 4
4 Gears of War 2
5 Madden NFL 10
6 GTA IV
7 FIFA 09
8 FIFA Soccer 10 Demo
9 Batman: Arkham Asylum
10 Left 4 Dead

via Major Nelson

Major Nelson, Xbox Live’s community man posted last week’s Live Activity ladder today revealing that for the second straight week, Treyarch’s “Call of Duty: World at War” holds the top spot, beating out the likes of usual dominator Halo 3 and CoD:4.

World at War’s new maps, one Nazi zombie filled, are clearly the catalyst for the recent overthrow of Halo 3, but with ODST on the very immediate horizon, a changing of the guards will likely be the scenario.

Any surprises on these lists?

Xbox 360 Top LIVE Titles (based on UU’s)

1 Call of Duty: WaW
2 Halo 3
3 Call of Duty 4
4 Gears of War 2
5 Madden NFL 10
6 LOST PLANET 2 Co-op Demo
7 GTA IV
8 Shadow Complex
9 Trials HD
10 FIFA 09
Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)

1‚ ‚  Shadow Complex
2‚ ‚  Trials HD
3‚ ‚  Battlefield 1943
4‚ ‚  Marvel vs. Capcom 2
5‚ ‚  Turtles in Time Re-Shelled
6‚ ‚  Splosion Man
7‚ ‚  Castle Crashers
8‚ ‚  Worms 2: Armageddon
9‚ ‚  Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers
10‚  UNO
The above arcade list is based on full versions purchased.

Original Xbox Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)

1 Halo 2
2 Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3 Counter-Strike
4 Fable
5 Splinter Cell Chaos
6 Conker: Live Reloaded
7 Doom 3
8 Star Wars: Battlefront
9 SW: Republic Commando
10 Call of Duty 3
Top Community Games (Full Versions purchased)

1‚ ‚ ‚  I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1
2‚ ‚ ‚  Headshot
3‚ ‚ ‚  Who Did I Date Last Night
4‚ ‚ ‚  Miner Dig Deep
5‚ ‚ ‚  The Drinking Game
6‚ ‚ ‚  RC-AirSim
7‚ ‚ ‚  Physics Sandbox
8‚ ‚ ‚  myFishtank
9‚ ‚ ‚  Aquarium HD
10 Kodu Game Lab

These lists are based on global unique users connected to Xbox Live or in the case of Arcade and Community Games, full versions purchased during the week.

For the week ending August 10 the online video gaming masses on Xbox Live chose Treyarch’s “Call of Duty: World at War” over Bungie’s “Halo 3.” New maps and zombie Nazi’s are likely the cause of the game’s surging popularity, but with a full-on Halo expansion due out in less than a month in the form of ODST, I believe it’s more than safe to assume Halo-heads will soon see their game back on top.

Here’s the full list perfect for fueling the incessant and eternal fanboy wars.

Xbox 360 and Original Xbox figures are determined by the amount of unique users while Arcade and Community numbers are formulated via full versions purchased.

Xbox 360 Top LIVE Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty: WaW
2‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 3
3‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty 4
4‚ ‚ ‚  Gears of War 2
5‚ ‚ ‚  GTA IV
6‚ ‚ ‚  1 vs 100
7‚ ‚ ‚  FIFA 09
8‚ ‚ ‚  Trials HD
9‚ ‚ ‚  Battlefield 1943
10‚ ‚ ‚  Madden NFL 10
Top Arcade Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Trials HD
2‚ ‚ ‚  Turtles in Time Re-Shelled
3‚ ‚ ‚  Battlefield 1943
4‚ ‚ ‚  Marvel vs. Capcom 2
5‚ ‚ ‚  Splosion Man
6‚ ‚ ‚  Castle Crashers
7‚ ‚ ‚  UNO
8‚ ‚ ‚  Worms 2: Armageddon
9‚ ‚ ‚  Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers
10‚ ‚  The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

Original Xbox Top Live Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 2
2‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3‚ ‚ ‚  Counter-Strike
4‚ ‚ ‚  Fable
5‚ ‚ ‚  Splinter Cell Chaos
6‚ ‚ ‚  Conker: Live Reloaded
7‚ ‚ ‚  Doom 3
8‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlefront
9‚ ‚ ‚  SW: Republic Commando
10‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty 3
Top Community Games (Full Versions purchased)

1‚ ‚ ‚  Headshot
2‚ ‚ ‚  Who Did I Date Last Night
3‚ ‚ ‚  Physics Sandbox
4‚ ‚ ‚  Miner Dig Deep
5‚ ‚ ‚  RC-AirSim
6‚ ‚ ‚  myFishtank
7‚ ‚ ‚  ©º»©â€ºâ‚¬ ¤¸â€°¥â€¦­¨Ëœ (Mah Jong Sabrosso, only available in Japan)
8‚ ‚ ‚  MADRISM
9‚ ‚ ‚  Aquarium HD
10‚ ‚ ‚  Fireworks HD

Want a new perspective of the Halo universe?

Then look no further than Bungie’s upcoming title, Halo 3: ODST.

Halo 3: ODST (the acronym standing for Orbital Drop Shock Troopers) is a stand-alone first-person shooter extension of Bungie’s Halo 3.‚  In ODST, players take control of “the Rookie” who is a normal, non-Spartan soldier in the UNSC army.‚  Unlike Master Chief, ODSTs are not blessed with the speed, strength or resilience an enhanced soldier.‚  Instead, these troopers must rely on teamwork, defensive cover and smart tactics to survive and complete missions.

Microsoft was kind enough let to get my hands on Halo 3: ODST during Comic-Con this year.‚  During my brief preview, I was able to get the inside scoop on what is soon to come from Bungie’s upcoming creation.

The first thing I learned about ODST was the fact that each purchase will come with two discs.‚  The first disc will include ODST’s unique campaign and Firefight modes.‚  The second disc will include a fully functional copy of Halo 3′s previously released multiplayer mode, complete with 24 maps (including the Heroic, Legendary, Mythic and one previously unreleased map packs).‚  With each map pack being sold between 600 to 800 Microsoft Points, the inclusion of the Halo 3 multiplayer disc is a worthy addition to the ODST package.‚  This is especially true for those Halo 3 veterans who haven’t bought the maps already or just the casual gamer who is simply late on jumping on the Halo 3 bandwagon.

With the success of Halo 3′s multiplayer and Bungie always seeming to be able to churn out an interesting campaign, I was mostly concerned with how the Firefight mode would work.‚  Luckily for me, Firefight was exactly what the folks at Microsoft let me demo.‚  Firefight is a cooperative multiplayer mode in which teammates must defend themselves from increasingly difficult waves of enemies, similar to Gears of War 2′s Horde mode or Call of Duty 5′s Nazi Zombies.‚  What was fun about Firefight was the fact that players will be able to face of against waves of classic Halo enemies, including Grunts and Brutes.‚  All of the classic enemies still have their memorable quirks and movement styles, allowing Halo fans to enjoy a little bit of nostalgia as they try to complete Firefight.

I also appreciated that the increased difficulty of enemies was very dynamic.‚  Unlike in similar game modes, Firefight does not just improve the shield strength or just increase the sheer number of opponents as you advance to high levels.‚  Instead, each wave in Firefight will have certain characteristics.‚  For instance, one feature that I found to be most memorable was when the game alerted me that the next wave of enemies would be more prone to throwing grenades.‚  It was refreshing to see such a creative addition to a simple idea for a game mode.

From a gameplay standpoint, one thing that bothered me about ODST was the fact that the troopers (who are supposed to be normal, non-enhanced infantry soldiers) had Master Chief-like vertical leaping abilities.‚  During my time with Firefight, I would often find myself jumping over tall enemies, such as fully armored Brutes.‚  Though it could be considered nitpicking, I still found this unbelievable jumping to be a flaw in this one of this game’s goal: giving games a view of the Halo 3 universe from inside of the average soldier’s helmet.‚  Hopefully this will be something Bungie will eventually address as they develop the game further.

The ODSTs do have plenty of differences from Master Chief, however.‚  First, ODST soldiers are all equipped with a night vision function, which is toggled by the X-button (the only button that had a different function when compared to Master Chief’s controls).‚  What made night vision helpful was its ability to highlight enemies (outlining them in red) and objects (outlining them in yellow), even if they were behind barriers and obstacles.‚  Not surprisingly, night vision gave me an incredible advantage on enemies whenever I had it on.‚  In fact, I didn’t really see a point to not having night vision activated at all times.

To compensate for the addition of night vision, ODSTs are unable to use dual weapons.‚  So, those of you who enjoyed the days of doubling up SMGs or Laser Pistols, your days are numbered.‚  I found the removal of the dualing feature was a classic example of “addition by subtraction” and I look forward to the challenges it is sure to bring.‚  However, even though dual weapons are out of the picture, the addition new weapons is certainly not.‚  Halo 3: ODST will allow players to get their hands on a silenced SMG and a silenced pistol, both of which are unique to the game.‚  Though the silenced SMG was fun, I would have to say that the silenced pistol was my favorite of the two new guns just because of the fact that it shoots much faster than its previous counterpart.

My favorite part of my hands-on experience with Halo 3: ODST was the grittiness of the graphics.‚  Unlike times in Halo 3, ODST looked to capture the look and feel of war in a more authentic fashion.‚  The settings were dark, the graphics were gritty and the action was nonstop.‚  It just seemed that ODST could provide a more “real” campaign experience than Halo 3.‚  I am looking forward to seeing what Bungie has in store.‚  It should be a good time.

Overall, it looks like Halo 3: ODST could be a success.‚  Initially, I was afraid that Bungie could be using ODST as a means to gain some revenue without producing a top-notch title.‚  Instead, I have found myself nearly convinced that ODST will be worth every penny used to purchase it.‚  The only thing holding me back from completely buying into ODST’s hype is the campaign.‚  If Bungie can live up to its storytelling resume, ODST will be a worthwhile investment.‚  However, if Bungie falls short in the campaign department, things could get ugly.‚  Let’s hope that the former scenario comes through.

When ODST ships in September, disc 2 will contain the complete Halo 3 multiplayer experience. Really what this means is that all freakin’ 24 Bungie-made frantic locales will be yours to enjoy. No more pissing and moaning about Bungie making certain playlists that prohibit gamers lacking the DLC from entering, because, should you purchase ODST, you’ll have ‘em all!

However, what we’ve got today is the first looks at the 3 final Halo 3 maps, Heretic, Longshore, and Citadel.‚  Final is a tough word to stomach, but, but, but, with Bungie promising ODST pre-orderers a token to the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta, the dudes in Washington are likely so moved on to bigger and badder things.

Heretic look familiar? That’s because it’s a reprisal of Halo 2′s “Midship.” Of the three, by image alone, “Longshore” looks fantastic. A kind of grittier “Blackout.” But hey, that’s just me. As always, click each image to enlarge and beautify.

Citadel

Heretic

Longshore

When Microsoft revealed at E3 last week that Halo 3: ODST would indeed be a full priced $59.99 Xbox 360 game, many fans and industry folk alike pulled a 180 and said “what?!” And with justification, as Halo creator Bungie developers Brian Jarrard and Joe Staten both stated phrases eluding to the fact that ODST would not be a $60 game and instead would be “value-oriented.”

However, the hammer has fallen, and Microsoft will indeed be selling ODST with the full price-tag come September 22 but an inquisitive gaming blog, Joystiq, inquired within, and received the following response from Microsoft:

“At the time of those statements, the overall scope of Halo 3: ODST was not yet finalized, and since then the project has grown increasingly more ambitious. We believe this standalone experience is much more than just an expansion. Halo 3: ODST provides a new campaign from the point of view of an entirely new character. Combine that with three new multiplayer maps, the entirely new cooperative mode called Firefight, and the complete Halo 3 multiplayer collection on a standalone disc, we feel this is a good value and tremendous addition to the Halo franchise.”

Valid points, but for Halo-heads like myself, and a LOT of you, we’ve already got all the multiplayer maps and might feel a bit jipped at having to pay again for them.‚  However, the inclusion of the final three Halo 3 maps, Firefight mode (essentially Horde for Halo), and interestingly unnamed by Microsoft in the above statement, Halo: Reach multiplayer beta access is more than enough to sell the game.

What do YOU think. Is Microsoft simply milking every penny out of the franchise, or is ODST truly worth $60?

via Joystiq

Halo 3 is a damn popular game on Xbox Live, and continues its extended reign over all titles on the Xbox Live activity ladder this week, holding down the number one spot yet again. Not even much more recent titles, Call of Duty: World at War or Gears of War 2 could unseat Masterchief.

With E3 2009 going down next week, Halo 3: ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper) will assuredly be Microsoft’s number one title shown at the convention and rightfully so, as it’s a surefire money maker.

Have a look at all the top-ten lists for the past week below.

Xbox 360 and Original Xbox tallies are in terms of unique users and the Arcade and Community lists are formed via full versions purchased.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 3
2‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty: WaW
3‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty 4
4‚ ‚ ‚  Gears of War 2
5‚ ‚ ‚  GTA IV
6‚ ‚ ‚  UFC 2009 Undisputed Demo
7‚ ‚ ‚  FIFA 09
8‚ ‚ ‚  UFC 2009 Undisputed
9‚ ‚ ‚  Left 4 Dead
10‚ ‚  Fallout 3

Top Arcade Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Castle Crashers
2‚ ‚ ‚  Peggle
3‚ ‚ ‚  Hasbro Family Game Night
4‚ ‚ ‚  Worms
5‚ ‚ ‚  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Classic Arcade
6‚ ‚ ‚  UNO
7‚ ‚ ‚  Star Trek: DAC

8‚ ‚ ‚  The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
9‚ ‚ ‚  Gel
10‚ ‚  Banjo-Tooie

Original Xbox Top Live Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 2
2‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3‚ ‚ ‚  Fable
4‚ ‚ ‚  Counter-Strike
5‚ ‚ ‚  Conker: Live Reloaded
6‚ ‚ ‚  Splinter Cell Chaos
7‚ ‚ ‚  Doom 3
8‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlefront
9‚ ‚ ‚  Guilty Gear XX #Reload
10‚ ‚  SW: Republic Commando

Top Community Games

1‚ ‚ ‚  RC-AirSim
2‚ ‚ ‚  Rumble Massage
3‚ ‚ ‚  ezmuze+ Hamst3r edition
4‚ ‚ ‚  Aquarium HD
5‚ ‚ ‚  DrumKit
6‚ ‚ ‚  Dock’em
7‚ ‚ ‚  Math Sniper 3D
8‚ ‚ ‚  What The?!
9‚ ‚ ‚  StreamLine
10‚ ‚  Iris

via Major Nelson

For the fifth straight week the 2007 shooter Halo 3 beat out every single other Live enabled Xbox 360 title to claim the number one spot on the Xbox Live activity ladder.

Make of it what you will, but the staying power for the Halo franchise is altogether absurdly powerful and something in the Halo franchise will undoubtedly show up at E3 in just a few short weeks.

Not many words are needed here as the lists ultimately speak for themselves but feel free to chat it up in the comments.

Xbox 360 and Original Xbox statistics are assembled from unique user counts and Arcade and Community figures are tallied from full versions purchased.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 3
2‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty: WaW
3‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty 4
4‚ ‚ ‚  Gears of War 2
5‚ ‚ ‚  GTA IV
6‚ ‚ ‚  UFC 2009 Undisputed Demo
7‚ ‚ ‚  FIFA 09
8‚ ‚ ‚  Left 4 Dead
9‚ ‚ ‚  Fallout 3
10‚ ‚ ‚  Fable II
Top Arcade Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Brain Challenge
2‚ ‚ ‚  Castle Crashers
3‚ ‚ ‚  Star Trek: DAC

4‚ ‚ ‚  Hasbro Family Game Night
5‚ ‚ ‚  Peggle
6‚ ‚ ‚  Worms
7‚ ‚ ‚  Space Invaders Extreme
8‚ ‚ ‚  UNO
9‚ ‚ ‚  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Classic Arcade
10‚ ‚  ARKANOID Live!

Original Xbox

1‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 2
2‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3‚ ‚ ‚  Fable
4‚ ‚ ‚  Counter-Strike
5‚ ‚ ‚  Conker: Live Reloaded
6‚ ‚ ‚  Splinter Cell Chaos
7‚ ‚ ‚  Doom 3
8‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlefront
9‚ ‚ ‚  SW: Republic Commando
10‚ ‚ ‚  Guilty Gear XX #Reload
Top Community Games

1‚ ‚ ‚ ‚  RC-AirSim
2‚ ‚ ‚ ‚  ezmuze+ Hamst3r edition
3‚ ‚ ‚ ‚  Rumble Massage
4‚ ‚ ‚ ‚  Aquarium HD
5‚ ‚ ‚ ‚  DrumKit
6‚ ‚ ‚ ‚  Iris
7‚ ‚ ‚ ‚  Math Sniper 3D
8‚ ‚ ‚ ‚  Cocktail Paradise
9‚ ‚ ‚ ‚  Remote Masseuse
10‚ ‚ ‚  Let’s Draw A Picture Together!

via Major Nelson

Microsoft released Xbox Live activity figures for the week of May 4 today and for the fourth straight week Halo 3 beat everyone out for the top spot.

The top five include Halo 3, Call of Duty 5, Call of Duty 4, Gears of War 2, and the UFC Undisputed demo in that order.

Until the Mythic Map Pack came around back in April, Masterchief and pals were continually hovering in among the top 5, but since then have tore up the charts staking a claim for just how popular the 2007 shooter truly is.

Full list of Xbox Live activity below.‚  Xbox 360 and Original Xbox stats are built upon unique users while Arcade and community figures stem from full versions purchased.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 3
2‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty: WaW
3‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty 4
4‚ ‚ ‚  Gears of War 2
5‚ ‚ ‚  UFC 2009 Undisputed Demo
6‚ ‚ ‚  GTA IV
7‚ ‚ ‚  FIFA 09
8‚ ‚ ‚  Left 4 Dead
9‚ ‚ ‚  Fallout 3
10‚ ‚  RESIDENT EVIL 5

Top Arcade Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Space Invaders Extreme
2‚ ‚ ‚  Hasbro Family Game Night
3‚ ‚ ‚  Castle Crashers
4‚ ‚ ‚  Banjo-Tooie
5‚ ‚ ‚  Peggle
6‚ ‚ ‚  Worms
7‚ ‚ ‚  ARKANOID Live!
8‚ ‚ ‚  Cyber Troopers Virtual On Oratorio Tangram
9‚ ‚ ‚  UNO
10‚ ‚  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Classic Arcade

Original Xbox Top Live Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 2
2‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3‚ ‚ ‚  Counter-Strike
4‚ ‚ ‚  Fable
5‚ ‚ ‚  Conker: Live Reloaded
6‚ ‚ ‚  Splinter Cell Chaos
7‚ ‚ ‚  Doom 3
8‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlefront
9‚ ‚ ‚  Guilty Gear XX #Reload
10‚ ‚ ‚  SW: Republic Commando
Top Community Games

1‚ ‚ ‚  RC-AirSim
2‚ ‚ ‚  Rumble Massage
3‚ ‚ ‚  Cocktail Paradise
4‚ ‚ ‚  Aquarium HD
5‚ ‚ ‚  ezmuze+ Hamst3r edition
6‚ ‚ ‚  Tank Strike
7‚ ‚ ‚  Let’s Draw A Picture Together!
8‚ ‚ ‚  DrumKit
9‚ ‚ ‚  Remote Masseuse
10‚ ‚ ‚  StrikeForce-Psi

via Major Nelson

Halo 3, in the fourth week in a row continues to kick ass and take names as the FPS from Bungie Studios again takes the top spot on the Xbox Live Activity ladder.

Not much has changed this week as Call of Duty 5, followed by COD4 again assume the number two and three spots respectively.‚  However the Bionic Commando Multiplayer demo jumps in at the ten spot five spots behind fellow demo brother UFC Undisputed at number 5.

Halo 3 has an incessant fan following (myself absolutely included), and it is indeed remarkable that a title which released in 2007 continues to dominate the market.

Xbox 360 and Original Xbox titles are ranked in terms of unique users while Arcade and Community games are judged by full versions purchased.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 3
2‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty: WaW
3‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty 4
4‚ ‚ ‚  Gears of War 2
5‚ ‚ ‚  UFC 2009 Undisputed Demo
6‚ ‚ ‚  GTA IV
7‚ ‚ ‚  Left 4 Dead
8‚ ‚ ‚  FIFA 09
9‚ ‚ ‚  RESIDENT EVIL 5
10‚ ‚  Bionic Commando Multiplayer Demo

Top Arcade Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Cyber Troopers Virtual On Oratorio Tangram
2‚ ‚ ‚  Banjo-Tooie
3‚ ‚ ‚  Hasbro Family Game Night
4‚ ‚ ‚  Castle Crashers
5‚ ‚ ‚  Peggle
6‚ ‚ ‚  Worms
7‚ ‚ ‚  OutRun Online Arcade
8‚ ‚ ‚  The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
9‚ ‚ ‚  UNO
10‚ ‚  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Classic Arcade

Original Xbox Top Live Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 2
2‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3‚ ‚ ‚  Counter-Strike
4‚ ‚ ‚  Fable
5‚ ‚ ‚  Conker: Live Reloaded
6‚ ‚ ‚  Splinter Cell Chaos
7‚ ‚ ‚  Doom 3
8‚ ‚ ‚  SW: Republic Commando
9‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlefront
10‚ ‚  Burnout 3
Top Community Games

1‚ ‚ ‚  RC-AirSim
2‚ ‚ ‚  Rumble Massage
3‚ ‚ ‚  Aquarium HD
4‚ ‚ ‚  BluePrint Racer 4D
5‚ ‚ ‚  Tank Strike
6‚ ‚ ‚  Remote Masseuse
7‚ ‚ ‚  StrikeForce-Psi
8‚ ‚ ‚  DrumKit
9‚ ‚ ‚  Drum XPlosion
10‚ ‚  Let’s Draw A Picture Together!

For the third week in a row Halo 3 remains king of Xbox Live again outperforming Call of Duty: World at War and COD: 4, in that order.

Notable changes from last week include FIFA ’09 dropping two spots to #9, Halo Wars and Guitar Hero: World Tour falling off the list altogether and the UFC 2009 Undisputed demo racing up the ladder to #7.

Clearly Bungie’s continued effort to appease the DLC thirsty masses has paid off with the Mythic Map Pack.‚  Unleashed to the public earlier this month and absolutely striking a resonating chord with Halo-heads, the Team Mythic Playlist in Matchmaking has been swarmed with gamers lately.‚  No word from Bungie or Microsoft on the number of downloads said map has incurred, but as always, when we know, we’ll pass the info on.

Full breakdown of Xbox Live Activity for the hemp-laden 4/20 week below:

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 3
2‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty: WaW
3‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty 4
4‚ ‚ ‚  Gears of War 2
5‚ ‚ ‚  Left 4 Dead
6‚ ‚ ‚  GTA IV
7‚ ‚ ‚  UFC 2009 Undisputed Demo
8‚ ‚ ‚  RESIDENT EVIL 5
9‚ ‚ ‚  FIFA 09
10‚  Halo Wars

Top Arcade Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Hasbro Family Game Night
2‚ ‚ ‚  OutRun Online Arcade
3‚ ‚ ‚  Castle Crashers
4‚ ‚ ‚  Lode Runner
5‚ ‚ ‚  The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
6‚ ‚ ‚  Peggle
7‚ ‚ ‚  Worms
8‚ ‚ ‚  UNO
9‚ ‚ ‚  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Classic Arcade
10‚ ‚  DOOM

Original Xbox Top Live Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 2
2‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3‚ ‚ ‚  Counter-Strike
4‚ ‚ ‚  Fable
5‚ ‚ ‚  Conker: Live Reloaded
6‚ ‚ ‚  Splinter Cell Chaos
7‚ ‚ ‚  Doom 3
8‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlefront
9‚ ‚ ‚  SW: Republic Commando
10‚  Burnout 3
Top Community Games

1‚ ‚  RC-AirSim
2‚ ‚  Rumble Massage
3‚ ‚  Aquarium HD
4‚ ‚  BluePrint Racer 4D
5‚ ‚  StrikeForce-Psi
6‚ ‚  DrumKit
7‚ ‚  Drum XPlosion
8‚ ‚  Remote Masseuse
9‚ ‚  Rabid Gophers
10‚  Ping Time

Via Major Nelson.

Halo 3 sits atop the Xbox Live activity ladder for the second straight week, placed comfortably above both COD4 and COD5.‚  The entire list remained relatively static save for Resident Evil 5 swapping places with GTA:IV.

Halo-heads gobbled up the Mythic Map Pack earlier this month and have buffed weekly usership, but with Left 4 Dead DLC dropping this morning next weeks leaderboard may be shuffle around a bit.

Below are the top 10 lists for each category with data assembled via number of Unique Users* and Full Versions Purchased+.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles *

1. Halo 3
2. Call of Duty: WaW
3. Call of Duty 4
4. Gears of War 2
5. GTA IV
6. Resident Evil 5
7. FIFA 09
8. Left 4 Dead
9. Halo Wars
10. Guitar Hero World Tour

Top Arcade Titles +

1. Outrun Online Arcade
2. Hasbro Family Game Night
3. Castle Crashers
4. The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
5. Worms
6. Peggle
7. Uno
8. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
9. 3 on 3 NHL Arcade
10. Puzzle Quest: Galactrix

Top Community Games +

1. RC-AirSim
2. Rumble Massage
3. DrumKit
4. Aquarium HD
5. Rabid Gophers
6. Remote Masseuse
7. Pwned
8. NextWar: The Quest for Earth
9. Little Racers
10. Miner Dig Deep

via Major Nelson

Microsoft generously announced another way to spend your hard earned capital today with the advent of the “Xbox 360 Game of The Year Bundle.”

Available in May at a retail price of $399 the GOTY bundle includes an Xbox 360 Elite, Fable 2, Halo 3, and passionate hopes for world domination.‚  In all seriousness, the bundle offers everything fans hoping to get the most out of the Microsoft gaming experience could ever wish for.

Personally, Halo 3 and Fable 2 are my two favorite titles on the system and with a 120 GB hard drive, the space available for the recommended game installs is plentiful.

In comparison to the $299‚  60GB Xbox 360 Pro Model, which offers Kung Fu Panda and LEGO Indiana Jones, this new and exciting GOTY bundle is for gamers who wish to crank the intensity up to 11.

Certainly the $400 price tag is chilling, but the replayabilty and lasting value of both titles coupled with the massive storage space of the Elite makes the investment absolutely worth it.

via Major Nelson

Halo 3 is a damn popular game.‚  How popular you ask?‚  Try over 1 billion match-made games, and recently a nameless UNSC soldier slew the 10 billionth Covenant scumbag in campaign.‚  Bungie, developer of all things Halo (except Halo Wars) knows how to appease the mass of fans suiting up for online combat each and every day.‚  It seems as if new DLC perpetually looms on the horizon, frequent matchmaking playlist tweaks keep the experience fresh, and there is just some indescribable emotion attached to tea-bagging a fresh kill that keeps us coming back for more.

Bungie released the Mythic Map Pack last week, and while hard data on download rates has not surfaced yet, the weekly report of Xbox Live activity certainly depicts increased usage.‚  Furthermore, Microsoft offered Xbox Live users with a limited Silver membership access to matchmaking this weekend thus buffing the total activity even further.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles
1‚ Halo 3
2‚ Call of Duty: WaW
3‚ Call of Duty 4
4‚ Gears of War 2
5‚ RESIDENT EVIL 5
6‚ GTA IV
7‚ FIFA 09
8‚ Left 4 Dead
9‚ Halo Wars
10‚ Guitar Hero World Tour

Top Arcade Titles
1‚  The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
2‚  Hasbro Family Game Night**
3 ‚ Castle Crashers
4‚  Penny Arcade Episode 1
5‚  Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
6‚  Peggle
7‚  Worms
8‚  UNO
9‚  3 on 3 NHL Arcade
10‚ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Classic Arcade

**Combined sales of all Hasbro Family Game Night titles

Original Xbox Top Live Titles
1‚ Halo 2
2‚ Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3‚ Counter-Strike
4‚ Fable
5‚ Conker: Live Reloaded
6‚ Splinter Cell Chaos
7‚ Star Wars: Battlefront
8‚ Doom 3
9‚ Burnout 3
10‚ Call of Duty 3
Top Community Games
1‚ RC-AirSim
2‚ Rumble Massage
3‚ DrumKit
4‚ Aquarium HD
5‚ Solar
6‚ NextWar: The Quest for Earth
7‚ Remote Masseuse
8‚ Little Racers
9‚ Rabid Gophers
10‚ Supercow

These lists are based on global unique users connected to Xbox Live or in the case of Arcade and Community Games, full versions purchased during the week.

Via Major Nelson.

If you own a copy of Halo 3 and have yet to venture the depths of online multiplayer because of a limited Silver Xbox Live membership, Microsoft is doling out the goods this weekend, offering up free play for all.

Halo 3, the chart-topping FPS from Bungie has remained at or near the top of Xbox Live activity since its release almost two years ago due in part to the studios’ continued effort to appease the masses via continued DLC support for the title.

The Mythic Map Pack, the latest offering from Bungie hit digital shelves last Thursday much to the elation of loyal fans everywhere.‚ ‚  Clearly Microsoft is hoping to garner more support and enthusiasm for the title via this pro bono weekend, or maybe their showing some heart, nah, all for profit.

So fire up your Xbox 360, pop in Halo 3, and jump into Matchmaking FREE this weekend only, ending April‚  13^th at 9AM PST.

Via weekly Bungie Update

The long awaited Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack hit the Xbox Live Marketplace place today and is yours for 800 MS Points/$10.‚  ‚ ‚ Three new environments complemented by their differences round out the latest installment of DLC from famed development studio Bungie.

Until today, the “Team Mythic” playlist in matchmaking has been quite sparse with only tens of thousands of participants but that number is likely to absolutely skyrocket today as points are spent rampantly for this coveted piece of DLC.

A footnote from Bungie speaks to the current state and future of all things Mythic:

“When you see a hopper with Mythic appearing as “not required,” expect that to mean that Mythic will be required the following month. For Double EXP weekends, this means that the next time they are used; they will require the Mythic Map Pack.

Team Mythic isn’t going anywhere in April.‚  You’ll still be able to play all Mythic, all the time under its tweaked title, Mythic DLC, for the remainder of the month.‚  From May onward, we’ll be looking to integrate the Mythic maps into Matchmaking in a more permanent sense as noted above, with more and more Playlists soon requiring the Mythic Map Pack.”

Unsure about your purchase?‚  Read our hands-on preview of the Mythic Map Pack here.

The 2009 Major League Gaming Pro Circuit kicks off tonight at the Meadowlands in New Jersey highlighted by epic Halo 3 and Gears of War 2 tournaments complete with skills you didn’t even know were possible.

MLG gamers are the epitome of greatness of gaming, they eat, sleep, and drink their craft, and with $100,000 at stake, the effort absolutely is worth the extreme lengths they go to.

On the more established side of things, the Halo 3 tournament features 224 teams, a losers bracket, gametypes ranging from the mundane Team Slayer to the crazed, drama filled Team Oddball, and glory for the winning squad.‚  Defending champions Str8 Rippin, led by team captain Tom Taylor, better known as TSquared are favorites coming in.

The more bloodthirsty Gears of War tournament is lighter on total participation but makes up for it with brutal, demeaning executions.‚  The tournament will not use the patch Epic Games released recently in accordance with the lack of time necessary to play-test each gametype and for teams to modify their strategy accordingly.

Can’t make it out to Jersey to catch the tournament?‚  No problem, MLG has provided the faithful with live streaming access to the kick off weekend.‚  Choose between either event, Halo 3, or Gears of War 2, and enjoy the free gaming goodness you’ll never be a part of.

When I first heard ODST would be the final content attached to the Halo 3 name I was a bit skeptical.‚  Halo 3 is a title that succeeds so well on so, so many levels that it seems as if the train never has to stop, at least that’s what Bungie would have us believe.

At GDC this week Allen Murray, producer at Bungie explained the studio’s new production process, currently in an evolutionary process culminating in the ability to develop multiple projects simultaneously.‚  Bungie at work on multiple games? At the same time!?

Murray was silent regarding the Washington based studio’s efforts on their previously announced original, non-Halo IP, only saying “We’re working on multiple projects right now.” Instead he noted that the Bungie team has no plans to shut the door on Masterchief anytime soon.‚  After the Mythic Map Pack release this April and the ODST expansion, due out this summer (according to IGN), more Halo 3 content could be on the way as Murray ominously explains:

“Halo 3 took two and a half years to make, and we’re still working on it, we’ll probably be working on it for two more years.”

What could Bungie have up its well funded and deeply creative sleeve?‚  Only time will tell.

Full story at IGN.

Clearly the thirst for nazi-zombie blood struck home with gamers this week as Call of Duty: World at War toppled Halo 3 for top Xbox Live activity for the first time in a month.

Nothing astonishing this week as the top three multiplayer titles, Halo 3, COD4, and COD:WAW again hold the top spots only shifting slightly in order.

Halo fans need not lament for the falling Master Chief as the influx of World War 2 gamers can most likely be attributed to the release of the hotly anticipated map pack, something Halo-heads will soon be a part of.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty: WaW
2‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 3
3‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty 4
4‚ ‚ ‚  RESIDENT EVIL 5
5‚ ‚ ‚  Gears of War 2
6‚ ‚ ‚  GTA IV
7‚ ‚ ‚  Halo Wars
8‚ ‚ ‚  FIFA 09
9‚ ‚ ‚  Left 4 Dead
10‚ ‚  Guitar Hero World Tour
Top Arcade Titles

1‚ ‚  Peggle
2‚ ‚  Castle Crashers
3‚ ‚  Worms
4‚ ‚  CRYSTAL DEFENDERS
5‚ ‚  UNO
6‚ ‚  3 on 3 NHL Arcade
7‚ ‚  Watchmen: The End is Nigh
8‚ ‚  A Kingdom for Keflings
9‚ ‚  Marble Blast Ultra
10 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

Original Xbox Top Live Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 2
2‚ ‚ ‚  Fable
3‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
4‚ ‚ ‚  Counter-Strike
5‚ ‚ ‚  Splinter Cell Chaos
6‚ ‚ ‚  Conker: Live Reloaded
7‚ ‚ ‚  Doom 3
8‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlefront
9‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty 3
10‚ ‚  Burnout 3

Top Community Games.

1‚ ‚ ‚  RBR – Fading Memories
2‚ ‚ ‚  RC-AirSim
3‚ ‚ ‚  Rumble Massage
4‚ ‚ ‚  DrumKit
5‚ ‚ ‚  TV Calibration
6‚ ‚ ‚  ZenHak
7‚ ‚ ‚  Aquarium HD
8‚ ‚ ‚  ZP2K9
9‚ ‚ ‚  A Fading Melody
10‚ ‚  Remote Masseuse

These lists are based on global unique users connected to Xbox Live or in the case of Arcade and Community Games, full versions purchased during the week.

via Major Nelson.

The wait is almost over.‚  Halo-heads everywhere have been kicking, screaming, and fragging all over the internets regarding the highly coveted Mythic Map Pack, a three piece and highly varied installment of DLC for the Xbox Live king, Halo 3.

Friday night, as is customary, Bungie clued the fan-base in on all things Bungie in the weekly update, and this week’s wordy installment seemed to lack any substantive matter until the very, very end.

Bungie left us with an ominous “PS 04/09/09″ remark leading to crazy speculation of what the date meant.‚  Halo 3:ODST released in just a few weeks? An announcement regarding ODST? The apocalypse?

Bungie has kept mum about the April date, but Microsoft broke the silence in a press release today dating the Mythic DLC for the aforementioned date as well as the Gears of War map pack due out March 31^st.

There you have it.‚  In a few short weeks, on a Thursday, the Mythic Map Pack will release featuring Orbital, Assembly, and the forge-happy Sandbox maps for 800 MS Points on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

However, if somehow you can wait until “Fall 2009,” when Halo 3: ODST hits retail, at a reduced price point and containing each and every selection of DLC as well as a non-Master Chief story, well you’ll certainly be a smart shopper, but wont the suspense kill you?

Check out our hands-on review of the Mythic Map Pack and get a glimpse of Bungie’s latest offering.

Source: Kotaku

Halo 3, the crazy-popular first person shooter from Bungie studios again finds itself atop the list of most played Xbox Live titles.‚  Who cares that the title is nearly two years old, the formula for success Bungie has built and expanded upon is what keeps us coming back.

Last week saw an influx of Halo 3 users primarily due to the release of Halo Wars, with the Mythic Map Pack included in the limited edition.‚  Clearly this week was a continuation of last week’s excitement, with Halo taking the cake.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 3
2‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty: WaW
3‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty 4
4‚ ‚ ‚  Gears of War 2
5‚ ‚ ‚  GTA IV
6‚ ‚ ‚  RESIDENT EVIL 5
7‚ ‚ ‚  Halo Wars
8‚ ‚ ‚  Left 4 Dead
9‚ ‚ ‚  FIFA 09
10‚  STREET FIGHTER IV
Top Arcade Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Peggle
2‚ ‚ ‚  CRYSTAL DEFENDERS
3‚ ‚ ‚  Castle Crashers
4‚ ‚ ‚  Watchmen: The End is Nigh
5‚ ‚ ‚  NCAA Basketball 09 March Madness Edition
6‚ ‚ ‚  Worms
7‚ ‚ ‚  UNO
8‚ ‚ ‚  3 on 3 NHL Arcade
9‚ ‚ ‚  A Kingdom for Keflings
10‚ ‚  Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Original Xbox Top Live titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 2
2‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3‚ ‚ ‚  Counter-Strike
4‚ ‚ ‚  Fable
5‚ ‚ ‚  Conker: Live Reloaded
6‚ ‚ ‚  Splinter Cell Chaos
7‚ ‚ ‚  Doom 3
8‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlefront
9‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty 3
10‚ ‚ ‚  Burnout 3

Top Community Games

1‚ ‚ ‚  RC-AirSim
2‚ ‚ ‚  Aquarium HD
3‚ ‚ ‚  DrumKit
4‚ ‚ ‚  ZP2K9
5‚ ‚ ‚  Bowling X
6‚ ‚ ‚  Rumble Massage
7‚ ‚ ‚  Miner Dig Deep
8‚ ‚ ‚  TV Calibration
9‚ ‚ ‚  Remote Masseuse
10‚  Tanks.V.S

These lists are based on global unique users connected to Xbox Live or in the case of Arcade and Community Games, full versions purchased during the week.

via Major Nelson.

Each and every week on Friday evening, the folks over at Bungie clue the faithful fan-base in on topics ranging from the interesting yet thick analysis of game physics to the exciting announcement of new DLC.‚  Bungie didn’t skip a beat and with this Bungie Weekly Update dropped some sweet details on the company’s continuing support for user-made content, but sadly no hopeful information for those without the Mythic Map pack regarding an availability schedule or pricing.

In the update, Bungie expresses their sympathy for those without the new maps but offer a glimmer of hope for those still enthusiastic.‚  Bungies advice? Play the campaign, snap a shot of a Scarab in action, tag the photo “Scarab,” and if Bungie, in its infinite wisdom enjoys it, will send a Mythic Map code your way.‚  Not a bad deal, can’t win if you don’t play.

Bungie next articulated their elevated enthusiasm concerning user-created content with the matchmaking inclusion of “Spooky House,” a frightening map built in the Skybox of Sandbox, with Infection as the preferred game-type of choice.

Haunted House was created by Halo fan “Shay” and is comprised of tight, claustrophobic, confined areas that expand vertically rather than outwards, where there is nowhere to go but up.

Shay explains his reasoning by saying:

“I also wanted the defenders to be able to set up defense on any floor, so as the defense breaks down they can move to higher ground. Finally, the roof is meant to be a sort of “last stand” area where you can have the option to abandon ship and jump to the ground floor, but then you’ve got a house full of zombies and nowhere to go”.

Shay attributes the spookiness of the map to using wood bridges to board up windows and adding the gloomy environmental effect to give his creation that eerie, horror movie type feeling.‚  Furthermore Zombies are forced to the color white and at 25% transparency to give them a ghostly look.

Finally, and most interestingly, Spooky House contains various mancannons that add to general unsafe feeling, whereas an infected zombie can reach the roof in an instant and eat any and every brain in sight!

Spooky House will jump into Matchmaking playlists “eventually,” as Bungie puts it, so until then stare at this ominous screenshot and full interview over at Bungie.net

Bungie Weekly Update

Xbox Live’s Director of programming Larry Hyrb, more commonly known as Major Nelson, announced the past week’s most played Xbox Live games today via his official blog.

Halo 3 fragged its way back to the top, giving Call of Duty: World at War, the backsmack dropping it to number two for the week, in the Xbox 360 category.‚  The influx of Halo activity can most likey be attributed to the March 3rd release of Halo Wars, with the LE containing the exclusive Mythic Map Pack

Halo 3 has remained at or near the summit as Xbox Lives most played games since the day it was released almost two years ago!‚  Others have come and gone, but Bungie’s incredible ability to continually offer new and exciting content has kept the fans coming back.‚  How does 1 billion games played sound? Yeah, thought so.

Watchmen: The End is Nigh took the top spot for Arcade titles, Halo 2 in the original Xbox department, and RC-AirSim led the way in Community Games.

Xbox 360 and original Xbox figures are based on unique users while Arcade and Community games are figured by full versions purchased.

I’d like to think I tipped Halo over the top this weekend with my hours and hours of Grifball played earning me double XP.

The next time someone says “Halo 3? People still play that game?” Well, you’ll know what to say.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 3
2‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty: WaW
3‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty 4
4‚ ‚ ‚  Gears of War 2
5‚ ‚ ‚  GTA IV
6‚ ‚ ‚  Halo Wars
7‚ ‚ ‚  Left 4 Dead
8‚ ‚ ‚  Halo Wars demo
9‚ ‚ ‚  FIFA 09
10‚ ‚  STREET FIGHTER IV

Top Arcade Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚ ‚  Watchmen: The End is Nigh
2‚ ‚ ‚  Castle Crashers
3‚ ‚ ‚ ‚  3 on 3 NHL Arcade
4‚ ‚ ‚ ‚  Worms
5‚ ‚ ‚ ‚  UNO
6‚ ‚ ‚ ‚  Braid
7‚ ‚ ‚ ‚  Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
8‚ ‚ ‚ ‚  Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
9‚ ‚ ‚ ‚  A Kingdom for Keflings
10‚ ‚ ‚  Marble Blast Ultra

Original Xbox Top Live Titles

1‚ ‚ ‚  Halo 2
2‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3‚ ‚ ‚  Counter-Strike
4‚ ‚ ‚  Fable
5‚ ‚ ‚  Splinter Cell Chaos
6‚ ‚ ‚  Conker: Live Reloaded
7‚ ‚ ‚  Doom 3
8‚ ‚ ‚  Burnout 3
9‚ ‚ ‚  Call of Duty 3
10‚ ‚ ‚  Star Wars: Battlefront

Top Community Games

1‚ ‚ ‚  RC-AirSim
2‚ ‚ ‚  Aquarium HD
3‚ ‚ ‚  DrumKit
4‚ ‚ ‚  TV Calibration
5‚ ‚ ‚  Rumble Massage
6‚ ‚ ‚  ZP2K9
7‚ ‚ ‚  Bowling X
8‚ ‚ ‚  Miner Dig Deep
9‚ ‚ ‚  Remote Masseuse
10‚ ‚ ‚  bricks4ever

Yes, Sniper bullets bounce, evidence in the gallery!

The folks over at Bungie have created arguably the most encompassing and alluring multi-player experience ever designed for a console.‚  Bungie’s over the top commitment to providing new and refreshing content through systematic updates to the game-play experience as well as downloadable expansions in the form of additional maps has equated to over 1 billion total games played in under two years.‚  Why stop now? Bungie serves the faithful with three additional maps in its Mythic Map Pack, available exclusively in the Halo Wars LE.

The three maps are Orbital, Sandbox, and Assembly, each vastly unique and differ from anything you’ve played in Matchmaking so far.

Assembly.

Contained inside a Covenant Scarab factory, Assembly is a multi-level, symmetrical, tightly knit, frag fest of a map.‚  Aesthetically speaking, Assembly is be-a-utiful.‚  Panning your view upwards will grant dynamic and illustrious views of the factory, but make sure you do this offline, as you’ll be a 4-shot BR spray away from death.‚  ‚ In the very center of Assembly lies the mighty Gravity hammer, and with many blind corners and perfect crouching locations, you’ll be racking up the beat downs for sure.‚  After just a few matches played online I realized that climbing up to the overlooking vistas on Assembly equipped with the BR is a logical way to snipe out enemies unbeknownst to your location.‚  Bubble shields, sticky nades, health regenerators, and close quarters all make for an action packed experience that will challenge you to try new methods of attack each round.

Sandbox.

Similar in appearance to the expansive Sand Trap, Sandbox is quite a bit smaller, but with its wide open lines of sight, and vehicles ranging from the elusive Mongoose to the destructive Chopper, Sandbox will keep you on your toes from spawn to your eventual death.‚  Sandbox is a very simply designed map, there are no hidden intricacies or stylistic beauty, it is raw Halo 3, kill or be killed, and succeeds very well in this aspect.‚  However, Bungie designed Sanbox with other intentions in mind.‚  Imaginative Halo fans utilizing the Forge system before Sanbox, could only manufacture their maps on Foundry.‚ ‚  Sandbox expands on the true meaning of Forge.‚  With Sandbox forgers have access to three levels of customization.‚  In addition to the obvious surface level, underground and skybox areas are fully customizable, making for some insane sky to surface to basement sniping showdowns.‚  The underground, or crypt, is perfect for Grifball tournaments, but if you are more of a fundamentalist, Bungie has included new Tin Cup, Golf Ball, and 7-Iron items, perfect for some hilarious Halo 3 golfing moments.‚  I bet you never expected that when you bought Halo 3.

Orbital.

The first Halo 3 map to be set in space, Orbital succeeds so well with both artistic and game-play challenges that indoor, enclosed areas often present.‚  Bungie has done an incredible job immersing the player and creating the feeling of low ceilings and close quarters.‚  Orbital has everything a great map should contain; plentiful objects fit for dodging the spray of bullets, vehicular transportation for both convenience and eventual hilarity, the ominous awareness of danger around every corner, and a slew of heavy artillery.‚  At the center of Orbital lies a multi-level gap, one team above, one below, it is a difficult jump to make in the heat of battle, but if executed correctly can lead to some easy assassination kills.‚  Orbital is without doubt my favorite of the three maps, with a large look but small feel, dark portentous hallways, and artistic excellence, it is one I know I’ll never veto.

Bungie has released another quality selection of downloadable content, refreshing to the eager fan, but also limitless in forge opportunities with Sandbox.‚  The Mythic Map Pack is currently only available as bundled with the Halo Wars LE, and no official Xbox Live Marketplace release date or price has been set.‚  Keep your eyes on Bungie.net for forthcoming details.

Hit up the gallery for delicious screens of the new maps.