Ok guys I just wanted to let you know that I upgraded my account from a normal membership to full access greatness. I am pretty happy with it everyone should go for it, it's just like 5 bucks and you get lots of advantages. First, no propaganda, no ads, no nothing! Second, HD Vids, yeah ok you might say: "XFan I can download those at gametrailers.com for free!" Yeah but here you get one heck of a bandwidth! It Game Trailers my bandwidth is about 45kbps, in Game Spot it is around 65kbps! That's one third quicker than that of Game Trailers. Third is that I can put a different color on my nick while in the forums!!! Best feature ever! Mine is green! All I say to you guys is that this site is great, it offers a blog, a community forum, unions, top notch reviews, a great game database, and I support all those services with my 5 bucks a month.
Now let's talk about Halo. I have been a Halo fan since its debut on November 2001. I have all the buyable media on Halo. I have all the four books, the graphics novel (which is a blast!), the Art of Halo, the soundtracks, Halo: CE, Halo 2 (normal edition), Halo 2 (Collector Edition (Yeah I am THAT hardcore)), Halo cloth, Posters, Halo toys and with the upcoming Halo 3 I am not let my guard down.
One of the biggest Halo "thingies" that will come out this year (in October to be precise) is Halo: Contact Harvest, written by Joseph Staten, the very creator of Halo's Story Ark. Another piece of media is Halo: the Uprising. Done by Marvel Comics after the HUGE success of the Halo Graphics Novel, Halo: the Uprising is a four comic mini series that tells the fight Master Chief had to endure in the forerunner ship during his voyage to earth (between Halo 2 and Halo 3). Halo 3 soundtrack is a must also.
But one of the things I WILL buy is the Xbox 360 Halo Edition. Dude it has a very cool Halo design, Play and Charge Kit, HDMI and Halo gamer picks/themes. So, I am selling my current 360 (one that has never faced 3 red lights for some reason) and buying this new, kick-ass, edition. I already have a 22 Inch LCD-TFT HD Display, but my surround sound while good it's not THAT good, so I am buying a new one with digital input so can get the most out of my hardware. Also, this time around I am not buying all of the Halo 3 Editions as I did with Halo 2, because there are 3, and really don't have much money to spend, even if I love the series. But I am buying the best of all 3 = Halo 3 Legendary Edition. Yes, many are pessimistic about this package but in my opinions it's worth it. I mean it comes with a MLJONIR Mark VI Helmet, two DVDs, an art book with Halo storyboards and more! So I am getting it no matter what comes in my way.
Another SH17 that has gone wild in the internet is the heavy criticism to Halo 3s graphics. Just for you guys to know the trailer had a lot of Alpha footage, yes it did contain final footage to but I spotted many scenes with two grenades in HUD (the third grenade was added 8 months ago, thoughts?). What everyone should do is read all the previews that magazines had posted all over the internet. Also you guys should check out the new picks Bungie released, I am adding my favorite down below.
Now if you don't like those graphics there's little I can do. Halo has always been a lead on graphics. Remember Halo 2? Those were the best graphics on any console (not PC) of the time. Halo 3 shall do the same, as you can see from those picks the game is shaping up amazingly. Bungie has 11 weeks to polish the game, and even if there is going to be no huge leap on the graphics from now on, the picks Bungie gave to the public look amazing in every respect, I'd recommend everyone to check the new picks out, they go beyond everything I have seen on any console, and even if Crysis is still better (like half life 2 against Halo 2 on 2004), Halo 3 is close. I know they have different art goals, for Halo combines fantasy with reality, and Crysis is pure reality. Still Halo 3 stands up (doesn't win but still) against Crysis and even wins against any other video game in the graphics department. But what's perfect about Halo is the Epic feeling, the drama, the "humanity against the Wall", as Joseph Staten said. Halo is about human's struggle to survive in a war years ahead of them. I hope the best for Halo 3.
About Peter Moore leaving Microsoft all I wanted to say I heard the pod cast and he is leaving because he is putting his family over everything and wants to go back to his roots. I will miss the guy, he was one of the most human of the rich people, he cared about us, the community, and that I will never forget! Thanks Peter for everything, and have a happy life!