Okay, got my copy totally paid off! Lobo, if you get your XBOX, are you getting XBOX Live? If so, send me a message!

Well, the console comes with a 3 month trial, so I'll at least have that. $60 for a year of playing online is really not bad at all (especially when compared to $15 per month for stuff like WOW or SWGalaxies). So, we'll probably see how much use I get out of Live during the trial period.

I picked up a Spartan special edition controller yesterday. The store where I have my copy of the game and my console reserved is apparently doing some sort of release party thing on next Monday. I need to run by there tonight and find out the details. Supposed to be doing a Halo 2 tournament with prizes.

Took a vacation day, can't wait to play Halo 3 with 2 projectors 4 people and surround sound co-op.

I would just like to point out the fact, it is 3 DAYS till the Halo 3 release!!!!!!!

yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

almost there.....steady steady now

Boy, and I thought I was being over excited, lol!
Seriously, I have thought about this, and I don't think I am going to play any online multiplayer until I have beaten the entire game. Some guys already have the game somehow, and the entire ending is on YouTube! I don't want to know until I beat it what happens, and you just KNOW there will be some smart@$$ online telling everyone what happens at the end. So, to save the frustration, I will beat it first, and then play Forge until the cows come home!

I just read a report about Halo 3 Special Edition. If any of you are getting the two disc set, be sure to check your disks while in the store, still. Due to packaging issues, some discs come pre-scratched, and you might just want to take care of it while still in store to avoid any issues.

Heh:

LOL, good find. Love that comic strip.

I probably in the same boat with dvader. Will probably try to beat the single player before playing multiplayer online. We'll see though. Biggest thing I'm hoping for is that perhaps the voice chat is improved a bit, as it's a bit hard to understand people sometimes with Halo 2. Though, I don't think that's a game feature, but a system feature, so, we'll see.

12 hours to go!

18 more hours 'til I have to sell the game to people waiting for the store to open.

And, wouldn't you know it, lucky was NOT my name last night! I stuck around the GameStop store for a few hours, just hanging out and playing some trivia games and what not. Boy, I was being teased by the store manager quite a bit (I know her), because I couldn't get a trivia question right for the life of me. But, later, I won a few prizes, so luck improved.
However, wouldn't you know I'd get a scratched copy of Halo 3. I returned my game disc right there and then, but they only had regular versions left, so my game disc doesn't match my Limited Edition box, so I'm on the phone with XBOX Customer Support right now, and they are seeing what they will do for me. I need a little of Master Chief's luck!

Well, I've created my first Forge map, The Chaos Fountain.

Take 3 anti-grav devices, and put them close together, then spawn another one above them. The new anti-grav will be suspended by the ones on the ground.
Spawn as many light vehicles as you can on top of the fountain.
Spawn as many Propane Tanks as possible on top of the fountain
Spawn as many Fusion Cores as possible on top of the fountain.
Add any other debris you see fit.

For additional chaos, set the core respawn rate so that they automatically spawn whenever they aren't at maximum.

The resulting explosions are so powerful, they can kill you while in editor mode.

Well, after spending about two hours on JUST the final mission, Campaign mode is complete for me, with some help from Richie. Does Halo 3 make up for the way Halo 2 ended? Yes! Bungie has redeemed itself! Now, on to many many hours of multiplayer!

Yea, but in the end it all worked out for the best....... Or did it Dun dun dun

6.5 hours to complete, versus 9.5 hours for Halo 2. It was a shorter story with some levels just about moving around on the vehicles with no action (go from place to place...).

So pros:
Better graphics... but this is just a general pro, not a personal one. I don't care about graphics, I care about gameplay.
More weapons

Cons
No handicapping for multiplayer (well it might exist, but I couldn't find it)
Different levels in multiplayer without keeping old ones (gripe carried over from Halo 2)
The entire campaign (all aspects of the campaign I disliked, from plot to length to ending to how it panned out to the silly popups in the middle of action (gravemind? and cortana)).

I have a new favorite weapon: the big ole hammer. I have a new favorite dual wield: the hand cannons of doom! (sort of mini shotguns)

I have a least favorite weapon: the laser.

Okay, I will admit it was shorter, with more backtracking than should be legal in any FPS. But the end sequence, especially co-op, was so much fun, I didn't mind dying over and over again!
Multiplayer couldn't be better, though. There is handicapping of sorts. Just pick your filter to put you into matches against like ranked people. That's what I did.

I love the game, and after the Beta, this was so much better!

I don't know about on live, but for System Link and Local, When creating a match, you can set it so the leader experiences certain status effects. Hell, if you really wanted to screw over the leader, you could set it so he takes 2,000% damage, does no damage himself, moves at 25% speed, experience 200% gravity, can't pick up weapons, can't use vehicles, can't use radar, everyone else always sees him on radar, has a waypoint marker over his head, and to top it off, turn his armor pink.

To me, handicapping was a great way to make it even for all the players of my local network games. The kids had medium, the good older players (me and a friend) and light, and the kids 'rents that hang out with us got none. This way, everyone had a chance to win. Playing ranked games? That sounds like Live talk to me, and Live is just not fun when I can get 16 players on 4 projectors in my house (I have done it I think 10 times now). Screwing over the leader also does not balance it out, just makes it harder for the leader to stay in the lead. Just means the kids will be right up there at 49 kills while the rest of us are at 10 (well me and the one friend will be at 20).


Oh, and the ending sequence is flat out hysterical in 4 player co-op. The key: stay in the lead, ALWAYS be in the lead. Woe be to the 2nd warthog.

I refuse to even trade in my GameCube towards a Wii even though there's seemingly no purpose to keep it. I love that little console, with the little lunch box handle and all. I wouldn't trade in my xbox either, I spent like 180 bucks on the thing and I'm gonna get every last ounce of gaming out of it, regardless if I were to get a 360 or not, I'm using my old xbox! (I've never played Fable, Jade Empire, Pysconauts, ect. so I still have alot left to play)