CodeMonkey's foobar

Xbox Live Avatars

noreply@blogger.com (Jake) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:08:00 +0000

I thought I'd post some of my friend's Xbox Live avatars. I've linked directly to Microsoft's servers for the images, so if they don't show up, sorry, not my fault.

NXE - New Xbox Experience

noreply@blogger.com (Jake) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:32:00 +0000

So, a while back I signed up to be an early participant in the New Xbox Experience (that's Microsoft's way of making you feel special when you find bugs in their software). The Xbox is getting a new operating system interface rolled out via Xbox Live tomorrow and I was fortunate enough to be able to get an early look at it. One of the biggest changes, which I'm not going to go much into, is the addition of avatars. Basically, Microsoft saw that tons of families with kids were flocking to the Nintendo Wii and it's feature, the 'Wii Mii' and Microsoft wanted a piece of that action. Really though, the new Xbox avatar is nothing more than a customizable character you get to have on your Xbox Dashboard that stands around striking poses. You can even snap a picture of your avatar to use as your gamer picture.

From a users standpoint, all this is is a new paintjob on the same old car. Sure it ran great, but I guess Microsoft just felt a little too much rust was showing and they needed to touch it up. Nothing much changed in how the Xbox OS works. You still get the same information, just presented in a newer, flashier way. Here's how the new profile page looks when you go into it. Now instead of having to click on My Games, you get a page for each of the games you've played that you can scroll through.

There are a few interface changes that are marked improvements as well as a few that are easily a step in the wrong direction. One of the new changes I like is the way it presents achievements for each game. Before, you had to click on an achievement to get a good description of what it was, but now the display shows the description at the top as you scroll through them.

A stunning oversight in my mind is how they handled the background for the new interface. Before, we were able to download themes for our Xbox blades. This allowed users to customize the look and feel of their Xbox interface. A lot of users paid good money for themes they liked. With the new interface, Microsoft has gone and covered up half the screen so you can't see the theme image at all.

Selecting your theme

How the theme looks when applied

What would have been nice is if Microsoft had allowed users to make the background of the interface transparent or not there at all. This would allow people to still enjoy the themes they paid money for. If they can't do that, I at least hope Microsoft lets people download new, updated themes free of charge--themes that work on the New Xbox Experience.

One new feature that Microsoft is releasing along with the NXE is a new application that allows Xbox users to view Netflix streaming videos over their Xbox 360. While I can understand the marketing strategy to pair it with the NXE, I'm pretty sure the Netflix application (that's all it really is, an downloaded application) would have worked on the old dashboard interface just fine.

The only real sad part about the Netflix app is that Sony, Microsoft's arch nemesis in the video game market and owner of Columbia Pictures, has somehow managed to stop Netflix from allowing Xbox users to view their videos. Hopefully something can be worked out to allow the whole Netflix media library to be available to Xbox 360 users.

Another (cool?) feature that Microsoft added in this update is the ability for gamers to install their games to their Xbox 360 hard drives. This means that for those 15 hours gaming binges that your DVD drive in your 360 won't have to be constantly spinning your disc. Instead, after installing your game to your hard drive, the disc drive will only spin at first to make sure you have the game in the drive (their attempt at anti-piracy).

It took me only 15 minutes to copy my Gears of War 2 game to my 360's hard drive. The game takes up almost 7 GB of hard drive space. As I only have the old 20 GB hard drive, I'll have to upgrade if I want to copy any other games to my hard drive. It doesn't really make much of a difference in gameplay time, but I'm sure this is just Microsoft's attempt to throw money at the problems they've been having with the Xbox DVD drives malfunctioning and destroying game discs. The idea is just to reduce the wear and tear on the drive over time. Maybe it'll work for them.

Overall, I think the biggest improvement in the new interface has to be in the speed in which things load. Navigating through the old dashboard architecture was a real pain in the neck for some people because they weren't used to waiting so long (really, it was only a couple of milliseconds...but to some gamers, that's an eternity). The new interface is significantly faster at loading, especially when in a game. They found a way to make it faster and even provide a little more content available to the users than before.

Now, back to playing Gears of War 2...

Free Tech Support

noreply@blogger.com (Jake) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:55:00 +0000

Anyone else who reads this and considers themselves a geek is probably in the same boat as me. The more I do with computers and tech stuff, the more my family & friends view me as a free tech support guy. It started out when I was in school with my parents asking me simple stuff about setting up their email and such. That wasn't so bad. Gradually it spread to where my extended family was calling me about the simple stuff as well. As soon as my neighbors learned I was a CS student I became the first person they'd call whenever they had a computer question or problem. It went up a step when a year or so ago I helped my brother wire his apartment for ethernet so he could play his Xbox 360 in a different room from his computer. Apparently I am the only person who can use a crimp tool.

I find it funny how people seem to think I can solve problems with just a simple telephone call. I had an uncle call me because his computer was stuck constantly restarting and not loading the operating system. Somehow he thought I could just tell him to hit some magic key (right next to the Any key) to fix the problem. And it's not like I can just drive over to his house to fix the problem. He lives far enough away it'd cost me roughly $50 in gas to drive there and back. It would be cheaper for him to take his PC into a tech support shop and pay the $30-$40/hour they charge.

Now, I don't mind helping people with simple stuff or giving advice when I'm visiting or actually there in front of their computer. Doing support over the phone when they aren't able to converse on the same tech vocabulary level is very frustrating. With my family, I'll get calls while I'm driving down the road and have no frame of reference to what they're doing, and sometimes they're not even able to articulate what the problem is exactly.

I really think people should have to go through some sort of introductory course on how to use a computer before they actually get one. I think the biggest problem when it comes to computer problems, bugs, viruses, etc is user education level. A computer takes time and effort to keep in good working order, just as does an automobile. People think it's important to take care of their cars - get it washed, change the oil, etc, but they seem to think a computer will just take care of itself. Then they wonder why their computer runs so slow and is plagued with problems just a few months after getting it. Then again, you could always go overboard, as a friend of mine does, in that he reformats and reinstalls his entire operating system every few months just to be sure nothing is on there he doesn't want.

Gears of War 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jake) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 07:23:00 +0000

Friday after work I picked up Gears of War 2 for the Xbox 360. I enjoyed the first Gears of War game mainly for it's single player campaign. The multiplayer portion of the game was plagued with connectivity problems when played online as well as glitches in how the weapons worked. After playing through the campaign of Gears 2 and some multiplayer matches, I was very pleased with my purchase and look forward to many hours of enjoyment. To appease those gamers who want a score applied to this review, I'd have to give it a 9 out of 10.

Campaign
Just as in the original Gears of War, the campaign is available both in single player and cooperative modes. I played the campaign in single player mode for Act 1 and cooperative mode for Acts 2-5. The campaign is a bit longer in the sequel than in Gears 1. It took me roughly 14 hours to complete the game on Hardcore difficulty. The storyline is just as riveting in Gears 2 as it was in the original. The story focuses on the COG's efforts to destroy the Locust infestation as well as helping your squad mate, Dom, find his wife who was separated from him when the Locusts first attacked.
In the original game, one of your squad mates, Anthony Carmine, got killed in a rather inopportune way--getting sniped in the head while his gun was jammed. In Gears 2 you get to have Anthony's brother, Ben Carmine join your squad. The dialogue indicates Ben is just as green as his brother was, yet in actual gameplay Carmine is one really brave soldier, always rushing into enemy forces with just his sniper rifle in hand and coming out unscathed. I don't doubt we'll see another of the four Carmine brothers in Gears 3.
Gears of War 2 didn't let up when it comes to showing blood and gore. The original Gears of War was probably the bloodiest game I'd ever played. Gears 2 easily out does that. In fact, Gears 2 has probably the bloodiest and most gory scene I've ever seen in a video game or movie. Warning: very bloody.

The game also has quite a bit of strong language as well. Epic Games got one thing right though. They knew they were making a game that if it was a movie would easily be rated R, but they put into the game the option to turn off the gore and to filter the strong language. This allows gamers who want to play this game with their family present to tone things down a bit. Overall, I think that decision to include filters will increase sales for the game and allow a lot more people to enjoy it.
There are still small items to pickup throughout the storyline as there were in Gears 1. This time however, they're not just the COG tags of fallen soldiers. This time, they're actually small Collectibles like newspaper clippings or paper reports that give you more information about what's going on and add to the storyline experience.
Just as in Gears 1 there is a slight cliffhanger ending to the storyline. The developers, after all, did plan for this series to be a trilogy. While there is a tremendous victory in the end for the COG forces, the cliffhanger at the end of the game credits makes you question if what happened may or may not have been the best choice for the people of Sera.

Game Settings
A new great feature of cooperative campaign gameplay is that the difficulty settings for the game can be player specific. That means you can have one really skilled player playing on Insane difficulty and another playing on Casual.
Unlike other games where developers overlooked a large demographic, this game actually has a fairly decent set of left-handed control options. The settings allow gamers to have default, legacy, left-handed default, or left-handed legacy thumb stick controls. Another first that I've seen in a video game, is that this game also allows you to have left handed triggers (i.e. left trigger shoots primary weapon). You can also invert either your X or Y-axis (or both). There's even an alternate button control scheme that has the actions for each button in a slightly different layout.
As mentioned earlier there are settings options to turn off the gore and language for gamers that prefer not to have that. For multiplayer games, players have the option of setting their default player model to use, both for COG and Locust forces.

Developers also put in a great information section of the game called the War Journal. Here you can find multiplayer leaderboards, both public and private (friends only). There's also a list of Collectibles showing how many you've found and on which levels you found them. Gears 2 also has probably the best display for in game achievements. It lists each achievement with a description of how to earn it, along with a progress indicator for how close you are to getting it. Even during actual gameplay, a progress notification pops up in the bottom corner of your screen when you do something that brings you closer to getting an achievement. This comes in very handy for those achievement hunters out there trying to get them all.

Multiplayer
The game has a great tutorial mode to familiarize players with the different game modes for Gears of War 2 multiplayer. There are five steps to go through, not hard at all. You even get an achievement for completing the tutorial mode.
There's a new multiplayer mode in Gears 2 that wasn't in the original--Horde. This consists of up to five players playing on the same team against wave after wave of Locust hordes. I had the opportunity to play this mode earlier today with four of my friends starting at wave #1. It goes up to wave #50. Each wave up to #10 has more enemies than the previous that are in turn harder to kill. After Wave #10 you start over again, but this time the enemies get a boost in health and skills. After the next 10 waves, they get another boost and so on.

Even though we played on Casual mode, by the time we hit wave #50 it was incredibly difficult for all of us to survive the whole wave. Just for kicks when we were done we tried wave #50 on Insane mode. We lasted a grand total of 47 seconds before we were all dead.

Mirror's Edge (demo)

noreply@blogger.com (Jake) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:29:00 +0000

I downloaded the demo for a new game coming out, Mirror's Edge. The game is set in some futuristic city where information security is so tight that the really sensitive stuff gets hand delivered. The people delivering the information are runners who run across the city's rooftops jumping from building to building to deliver the packages. Somehow the main character is caught up in something and uses her running skills to find out what and how to get out of it. Pretty simple, straightforward plot design. Actual gameplay though was horrible. I went through the whole demo and was bored out of my mind within two minutes.

All you do is run around and jump over, under, or through things. This game really doesn't qualify to be considered part of the Action genre, as Xbox's site suggests. What it should be classified as is a puzzle game because that's what it feels like. All you do is run around and figure out how to get from point A to point B. I guess the only real upside to this game is it's not 'Rated M for Mature'. I wouldn't have a problem giving a game like this to a 12 year old to play, as opposed to something like Gears of War 2 (which I'm going out today to pick up most likely).

Dead Space

noreply@blogger.com (Jake) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:28:00 +0000

I've never been one for the horror genre. I think it must have something to do with watching Friday the 13th when I was about 3 years old. I don't mind compelling stories or even suspenseful ones, but I really can't stand the ones that just try and shock you by throwing blood and gore at you over and over. When I heard about Dead Space before it was released, I was mildly excited to play it. Maybe this would be different. Maybe game developers would figure a way to use today's technology to actually tell a compelling horror story.

Well, the release date came and went. I didn't buy the game, mostly due to being enthralled in other games such as Call of Duty 4, Castle Crashers and Portal. Then one of my friends went out and rented it. I waited to see what he said about the game. Needless to say, this massive oversight by the game developers burst my hope bubble and removed any decent expectations I might have had for the game. In my opinion, if developers can't get the basic mechanics of a game right, why should I think they got anything else right?

The final nail in the coffin for my hopes for this game came when I saw what popular game reviewer Ben Croshaw had to say about the game. Instead of rewriting his review, I'll just let you watch it yourself. Warning - it does contain strong language.

Call of Duty 5 - World At War (beta)

noreply@blogger.com (Jake) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:07:00 +0000

About a week ago the Call of Duty 5 beta went live. As a software developer I find it very difficult to actually call this a beta release. There were promotions from just about every gaming website and magazine that exists. Millions of gamers got a hold of their own personal beta code. Some got more than just one (personally, I got about seven). Those who got extra just shared them with their friends. There were so many codes given out that anyone who actually wanted one could easily have gotten one. Another reason it isn't a beta is the fact that the game comes out in 3 weeks. I doubt any bugs found in the beta will be fixed in the release version. In reality, this is much more of a release candidate than a beta.

The beta is limited to just the multiplayer aspect of the game and within that it's limited to just 3 maps and it has an experience cap on it. A lot of gamers I talk to think this game was doomed from the start, as it was developed by Treyarch and not Infinity Ward (the developers of Call of Duty 4). The game does use the Call of Duty 4 game engine, so the feel of gameplay is very familiar to CoD4 players. There are some subtle differences, mostly added in to stick to the era of the game (WWII instead of modern times). The problems I found come in how the developers chose to implement these changes.

One of my big complaints is the inherant weakness and accuracy of the weapons. I know the developers were aiming for a more realistic game, but reality generally isn't all that fun. It gets very aggravating to shoot someone with a sniper rifle multiple times and not have a single shot register. Another complaint I have is the graphic detail. In CoD4 the characters were very detailed and you could tell very distinct differences between soldiers on the same team. In the beta, the way the graphics are rendered (darkness level, coloring, etc) make it difficult to tell friend from foe. Players are forced to wait for the name indicator to show up on screen which usually delays them enough to get shot. My other big complain is the level design. The word that comes to mind is cluttered. In CoD4, levels had clear lines of sight and made a larger level seem controllable based on what you could see. In the beta, there is so much junk on the levels that your line of sight generally doesn't extend for more than a few feet in any direction.

Overall the game is only 'ok'. If I had to give it a score, it'd be a 5 or 6 out of 10. I really don't see me purchasing this game. My reason for not getting the game isn't any of the above mentioned reasons. No, it's one that developers need to realize is totally unacceptable. For multiplayer games, the developers had voice actors perform the in-game announcements. Kiefer Sutherland performed the voice for the US Marines team announcer. The first time I played the game I was shocked when the announcer shouted out the F-bomb. "Out-f***ing-standing Marines!" I looked through the menu structure and game options. There's no way to filter out the vulgarity. You can mute the entire announcer voice, but then the players lose the valuable strategic information relayed.

We're all in this together

noreply@blogger.com (Jake) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:49:00 +0000

Worthless Review Scores

noreply@blogger.com (Jake) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 05:38:00 +0000

How many times have you read a game review and seen it given some type of score? Usually these scores are used to convey some actual meaning. When I read the the whole review, I kind of expect the score they gave to be reflected in the review. If I see a low score, I expect the review to be full of complaints about a game. If I see a high score, I expect to read about how great the game is. I really didn't think you could mix that formula up (high score = good review, low score = bad review), but apparently someone did.

Recently I read a review of a new game that came out last month, NFL Head Coach 09, from EA Sports. The game focuses less an the actual football games and more on the management and coaching aspects of the sport. On the site Operation Gaming, a site for sports gaming, the score given for this game is a 9 (out of 10, I assume). To me, that's a great score. If a game gets a 9/10 score, I assume it's a great game and worth looking into. When I saw that, I thought I should read the review and see what exactly makes this game great.

Yeah...that was a mistake.

Apparently, the author of that review must think their scores are like golf scores...the lower the better. Here are a few inspiring quotes from that review:

When it comes to football gamers, the vast majority will look at something like NFL Head Coach 09 (NFLHC) and ask one simple question.
“Why?”

The first thing you’ll notice when you hop into a Coach Now game is that the game looks horribly bland compared to Madden NFL 09.

The audio isn’t anything to write home about, with a white noise crowd sound in the background, and your coordinators rattling in your ear. The actual play calls are great to hear, but if I have to hear, “We’ll win this game one inch at a time … one inch at a time,” ONE MORE TIME, I’ll scream.

When you start to game plan for your first opponent, you can start to get confused again.

Sometimes you’ll also end up with goals that aren’t easily understandable.

The running game was a joke, as the CPU could never mount a consistent attack, let alone against another CPU opponent.

In its current state, NFLHC plays a sublime game of football 90 percent of the time. The other 10 percent can be extremely frustrating...

But the real stumbling block for NFL Head Coach 09 so far seems to be the buggy release.

Thankfully, the process of improving your team is far from easy.

Speaking of seeing what’s going on -- if you’re an online gamer, you’ll be sorely disappointed. You only have the Supersim mode available, with no graphics.

There are some notable bugs (some of which will really get to a large percentage of gamers)

and finally...

When you boil it down, though, NFL Head Coach is the best coaching sim on the console market.

(I think it's the ONLY one on the console market)

I don't know about you guys, but after I read that review, I really didn't feel the urge to rush out and buy NFL Head Coach 09. After reading that review, I really had to wonder why EA Sports, a developer known for it's great sports titles, would put out such a low quality product. Maybe it's in some contract they have with the NFL. I have yet to meet another gamer who actually played this game and liked it. Actually, I have yet to meet another gamer who has even played this game.

My advice to you? Read the full review. Don't just go by the score you see. Again, to Terry Crouch, the author of the review, a '10' means it's good and a '1' means it's bad, not the other way around...

Camping - Brings out the worst in gamers

noreply@blogger.com (Jake) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:06:00 +0000

How did all of a sudden style of play somehow become taboo amongst video gamers? I'm talking about camping. For those that don't know, camping is a strategy where you identify key locations of a multiplayer game map and defend those locations. I'm not talking about knowing how to exploit glitches in a game that allow you to kill your opponents as soon as they spawn in the game. No, I'm just talking about playing smart. It seems lately that online gamers have grown to view this as poor gamesmanship, and for the life of me I can't figure out why.

Every game or sport has key facets that need to be controlled or managed in order to win. In football it's not uncommon to hear a commentator say that whoever controls the line of scrimmage will win the game. Does this mean that the team that does this is showing poor sportsmanship by camping the line of scrimmage? What about in soccer--is having a goalie poor sportsmanship? Why is he camping the place the other team needs to get to in order to score?

A group of my friends and I have taken it upon ourselves to learn how to camp different maps in the game Call of Duty 4 to near perfection. The same group of players plays together often enough that we all learn each others strengths and weaknesses. We know the maps enough to know what areas need to be controlled. We don't try and exploit the spawn algorithm and kill our opponents where the spawn. What we try and do is pick one half of the map and just control it.

Vacant

In the above image, I've shown a typical layout on one map, Vacant. Our strategy isn't to rush and spawn camp the other team, but it's very simple though. We stay outside of the building while trying to keep our opponents inside. By doing that, we can control where we encounter them--the exits. By doing this we only have to cover a few key points of the map, as shown above. Sure, sometimes the other team will kill a few of us, by most often we kill a lot more of them.

What I really don't get is the distaste many gamers have for this strategy. Maybe it's because they get beaten by it so easily. Instead of whining and complaining that another team beat them by a superior strategy, maybe gamers need to instead focus on ways to counter it. We've played against other teams with similar strategy and still prevailed. I think too many gamers out there know how to play first person shooter (FPS) games one way and one way only. To be a good gamer you need to learn to adapt your strategy to fit your opponents' strategy.

The fundamental tenet of a good camping strategy relies on the premise that you will be more patient than your opponent. In the above example, if our opponent knew we would stay outside the building the whole match, they could just stay inside and force a tie game. In my many hours of using this strategy, I have yet to find an opponent who will do that though. They can't resist the urge to rush out, guns blazing. This usually results in a quick death them respawning back inside the building, ready to do it all over again.

Castle Crashers

noreply@blogger.com (Jake) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:43:00 +0000

Recently I found a fun little game on Xbox Live Arcade. Castle Crashers is a nice throwback to the old sidescrolling arcade games I grew up on. While I still haven't beaten the game (I don't play video games that much), I've played enough to know that I like it.

The biggest improvement I see in this arcade game over others is the inclusion of multiplayer functionality both over Xbox Live and on the local console. The game really reminds me of the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game for the Nintendo. Basically, you go through areas swinging your weapons to kill enemies. When they die, they drop gold, food, or other items. The more you kill, the more experience you get.

The graphics on this really don't try too hard to impress you, from a technical standpoint. This isn't trying to be a top of the line processor intensive game. This is a game you just sit back and have some fun with. After all, isn't that the point? There is subtle, crude humor in the game that will surprise you when you see it (funny surprise, not 'OMG, cover the kids eyes' surprise).

Overall I'd have to say I really recommend this game to anyone. This is the game I'll turn on when family comes over so that my brothers (and sister) and I can all play together. The price is pretty steep for an arcade game (1200 MS points = $15.00) but I still think it's worth it. Compared to $60 for a full retail title, this is definitely worth the money.

Harmonix Stole My Lunch Money

noreply@blogger.com (Jake) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:06:00 +0000

As much as I like the game Rock Band, I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to compare Harmonix, the producers of the game, to oil companies. The prices on their downloadable content (DLC) are getting ridiculous. When the makers of Halo, Bungie Studios, released additional DLC, there were complaints over the pricing. Many thought they were just trying to gouge their faithful fans of whatever they could get, but not giving enough for the cost. And that was over just a few multiplayer maps for a whopping $10.00.

When Rock Band was released it, the game disc came with 58 songs included on the disc (45 starting + 13 bonus, unlockable). Even with the wild assumption that half of the game costs covered the rights to the songs and costs in getting the songs to a playable format, that's only about $0.50 per song. I'm willing to bet the costs were even less than that.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am still the sucker who's downloaded all the songs so far. I like the music and don't mind getting music from artists I'm not familiar with. True music fans shouldn't be afraid of expanding their tastes to new music. The problem I have is when you compare the costs of the DLC to the end user with that which was included with the game, we're being charged at least 3-4 times as much. The average cost of a DLC song is $1.71. Maybe it's just me, maybe it's not, but that seems a bit extravagent, especially considering what is getting released.

If I'm going to be charged that much for my DLC, is it too much to ask for more popular bands/songs? I don't mind the occasional new stuff or up-and-coming band (Freezepop), but can't they make the majority of the DLC good music? I'd like to see more stuff like Journey, Queen, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Led Zeppelin--and a little less stuff like Freezepop, Them Terribles, and The Material.

Below is listed ALL the DLC for Rock Band. As it comes out, I'll try and keep this post updated and current.

193 DLC songs for 26,520 Microsoft Points - $331.50

Aug 12, 2008 (480 Microsoft Points - $6.00)
480 - Roadrunner Records 01 Pack
Aesthetics of Hate - Machine Head
Clouds Over California - Devildriver
Constant Motion - Dream Theater
My Curse - Killswitch Engage
Runnin' Wild - Airbourne
Sleepwalker - Megadeath

Aug 5, 2008 (560 Microsoft Points - $7.00)
160 - Toxicity - System of a Down
160 - B.Y.O.B. - System of a Down
240 - Crüefest 02 Pack
Face Down in the Dirt - Motley Crüe
Rescue Me - Motley Crüe
Life is Beautiful - Motley Crüe

Jul 29, 2008 (560 Microsoft Points - $7.00)
160 - They Say - Scars on Broadway
160 - This Is It - Staind
160 - Electric Crown - Testament
160 - Yomp - thenewno2

Jul 22, 2008 (760 Microsoft Points - $9.50)
440 - Nine Inch Nails 02 Pack
Burn
Capital G
Last
160 - Devour - Shinedown
160 - Junkies for Fame - Shinedown

Jul 15, 2008 (1600 Microsoft Points - $20.00)
1600 - Best of The Who
Amazing Journey
Baba O'Riley
Behind Blue Eyes
Eminence Front
Going Mobile
Leaving Here
My Generation (Live at Leeds)
Real Good Looking Boy
Sea and Sand
Summertime Blues (Live at Leeds)
Who Are You
Young Man Blues (Live at Leeds)

Jul 8, 2008 (640 Microsoft Points - $8.00)
160 - Snow ((Hey Oh)) - Red Hot Chili Peppers
160 - Tell Me Baby - Red Hot Chili Peppers
160 - Closer to the Heart - Rush
160 - Working Man (Vault Edition) - Rush

Jul 1, 2008 (440 Microsoft Points - $5.50)
440 - Crüefest 01 Pack
Down at the Whisky - Motley Crüe
Time Is Running Out - Motley Crüe
Who's Going Home with You Tonight - Motley Crüe
FREE - Promised Land - Vesuvius

Jun 24, 2008 (1960 Microsoft Points - $24.50)
1520 - Doolittle Album (The Pixies)
Debaser
Tame
I Bleed
Here Comes Your Man
Dead
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Mr. Grieves
Crackity Jones
La La Love You
No. 13 Baby
There Goes My Gun
Hey
Silver
Gouge Away
440 - Weezer 01 Pack
Dreamin'
The Greatest Man That Ever Lived
Troublemaker

Jun 17, 2008 (560 Microsoft Points - $7.00)
160 - Critical Acclaim - Avenged Sevenfold
160 - Afterlife - Avenged Sevenfold
160 - Hammerhead - The Offspring
80 - Rock n' Roll Dream - Crooked X

Jun 10, 2008 (400 Microsoft Points - $5.00)
240 - MTV2 01 Pack
Moving to Seattle - The Material
A Clean Shot - The Myriad
Bullets & Guns - Them Terribles
160 - Girls Who Play Guitars - Maximo Park

Jun 3, 2008 (880 Microsoft Points - $11.00)
440 - Disturbed 01 Pack
Indestructible - Disturbed
Inside the Fire - Disturbed
Perfect Insanity - Disturbed
440 - Jimmy Buffet 01 Pack
Cheeseburger in Paradise - Jimmy Buffet
Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffet
Volcano - Jimmy Buffet

May 27, 2008 (1200 Microsoft Points - $15.00)
1200 - The Cars Album (The Cars)
Good Times Roll
My Best Friend's Girl
Just What I Needed
I'm in Touch with Your World
Don't Cha Stop
You're All I've Got Tonight
Bye Bye Love
Moving in Stereo
All Mixed Up

May 20, 2008 (1440 Microsoft Points - $18.00)
160 - Beetlebum - Blur
160 - Countdown to Insanity - H-Blockx
160 - Hier Kommt Alex - Die Toten Hosen
160 - Hysteria - Muse
160 - Manu Chao - Les Wampas
160 - Monsoon - Tokio Hotel
160 - New Wave - Pleymo
160 - Perfekte Welle - Juli
160 - Rock 'n' Roll Star - Oasis

May 13, 2008 (480 Microsoft Points - $6.00)
160 - Hanging on the Telephone - Blondie
160 - Train in Vain (Stand by Me) - The Clash
160 - Kool Thing - Sonic Youth

May 6, 2008 (440 Microsoft Points - $5.50)
440 - Scene 01 Pack
This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race - Fall Out Boy
Date with the Night - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
It Hurts - Angels & Airwaves

Apr 29, 2008 (480 Microsoft Points - $6.00)
160 - Red Tandy - The Mother Hips
160 - Time-Sick Son of a Grizzly Bear - The Mother Hips
160 - Zero - Smashing Pumpkins

Apr 22, 2008 (1200 Microsoft Points - $15.00)
800 - Judas Priest Screaming for Vengence Album
The Hellion/Electric Eye
Riding on the Wind
Bloodstone
(Take These) Chains
Pain and Pleasure
Screaming for Vengeance
You've Got Another Thing Comin'
Fever
Devil's Child

Apr 15, 2008 (600 Microsoft Points - $7.50)
440 - Classic Rock 01
Simple Man - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Message in a Bottle - The Police
Call Me - Blondie
160 - Saints of Los Angeles - Mötley Crüe

Apr 8, 2008 (240 Microsoft Points - $3.00)
240 - Harmonix 01
Rock Rebellion - Bang Camero
Shake - Count Zero
Sprode - Freezepop

Apr 1, 2008
FREE - Still Alive - GLaDOS

Mar 25, 2008 (800 Microsoft Points - $10.00)
800 - Boston 01
Peace of Mind
More Than a Feeling
Smokin'
Rock and Roll Band
Something About You
Hitch a Ride

Mar 18, 2008 (440 Microsoft Points - $5.50)
440 - Erache Thrash 01
Blinded by Fear - At the Gates
D.O.A. - The Haunted
Thrasher - Evile

Mar 11, 2008 (480 Microsoft Points - $6.00)
160 - Crushcrushcrush - Paramore
160 - Beethoven's C*** - Serj Tankian
160 - Shockwave - Black Tide

Mar 3, 2008 (800 Microsoft Points - $10.00)
800 - Grateful Dead 01
China Cat Sunflower
Casey Jones
Sugar Magnolia
Truckin'
Franklin's Tower
I Need a Miracle

Feb 26, 2008 (440 Microsoft Points - $5.50)
440 - Nine Ince Nails 01
March of the Pigs
The Collector
The Perfect Drug

Feb 19, 2008 (480 Microsoft Points - $6.00)
160 - Sex Type Thing - Stone Temple Pilots
160 - El Scorcho - Weezer
160 - Why Do You Love Me - Garbage

Feb 11, 2008 (440 Microsoft Points - $5.50)
440 - (Arguably) Punk 02
Complete Control - The Clash
Truth Hits Everybody - The Police
Teenage Lobotomy - Ramones

Feb 5, 2008 (480 Microsoft Points - $6.00)
160 - Roam
160 - We Care a Lot
160 - Calling Dr. Love

Jan 29, 2008 (480 Microsoft Points - $6.00)
160 - Siva - Smashing Pumpkins
160 - Working Man - Rush
160 - Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial) - Coheed and Cambria

Jan 22, 2008 (440 Microsoft Points - $5.50)
440 - Oasis 01
Don't Look Back in Anger
Live Forever
Wonderwall

Jan 15, 2008 (480 Microsoft Points - $6.00)
160 - Action - Sweet
160 - Last Train to Clarksville - The Monkees
160 - All the Small Things - Blink-182

Jan 8, 2008 (480 Microsoft Points - $6.00)
160 - Die, All Right! - The Hives
160 - Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots
160 - The Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden

Jan 1, 2008 (480 Microsoft Points - $6.00)
160 - Gimme Three Steps - Lynyrd Skynyrd
160 - Hard to Handle - The Black Crowes
160 - Limelight - Rush

Dec 25, 2007 (800 Microsoft Points - $10.00)
160 - Attack - 30 Seconds to Mars
160 - The Kill - 30 Seconds to Mars
160 - Dirty Little Secret - All American Rejects
160 - Move Along - All American Rejects
160 - Song with a Mission - The Sounds

Dec 18, 2007 (480 Microsoft Points - $6.00)
160 - My Iron Lung - Radiohead
160 - Brass in Pocket - The Pretenders
160 - Buddy Holly - Weezer

Dec 11, 2007 (440 Microsoft Points - $5.50)
440 - Punk 01
Ever Fallen in Love - Buzzcocks
I Fought the Law - The Clash
Rockaway Beach - Ramones

Dec 4, 2007 (440 Microsoft Points - $5.50)
440 - Black Sabbath 01
N.I.B.
Sweet Leaf
War Pigs

Nov 27, 2007 (440 Microsoft Points - $5.50)
440 - David Bowie 01
Heroes
Moonage Daydream
Queen Bitch

Nov 20, 2007 (2280 Microsoft Points - $28.50)
160 - Fortunate Son - Creedence Clearwater Revival
160 - Juke Box Hero - Foreigner
160 - Bang a Gong (Get It On) - T.Rex
160 - My Sharona - KnackThe Knack
160 - Cherry Bomb - RunawaysThe Runaways
160 - Joker & the Thief - Wolfmother
440 - Metallica 01 Pack
Ride the Lightning
Blackened
...And Justice for All
440 - Queens of the Stone Age 01
3's & 7's
Little Sister
Sick, Sick, Sick
440 - The Police 01
Can't Stand Losing You
Synchronicity II
Roxanne

Achievables

noreply@blogger.com (Jake) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:22:00 +0000

Favorite Halo Maps

noreply@blogger.com (Jake) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:48:00 +0000

This is taken from evildoctorwill over in the TTL Forum. I thought it interesting and am sharing it with you. They are listed from least favorite to most favorite.

Who likes Halo? I do. Who likes Halo multiplayer? I do! So I decided that I'd rank every multiplayer map from Halo to Halo 3 (excluding the PC exclusives) from my least favorite to my favorite. Believe me, what started as a simple question from one friend to another became an epic time-consuming project, one that has only helped to build on the respect I hold for those Bungie folk who created my favorite multiplayer experience. Please remember that this is by no means an attempt to show the world the "Best and Worst of Halo Maps" or anything of that sort, instead it is just one fan's personal opinion on what he does, and doesn't, enjoy playing when it comes to the multiplayer mayhem we all have come to know and love called Halo. Feel free to comment on choices, or just leave a quick note on why you love or can't stand a particular map. So, without further ado, here are my Least Favorite To Favorite Maps in Halo.

#54. Coagulation

Kicking things off on this list of Least Favorite To Favorite Maps of Halo, we have the red-headed step child of Blood Gulch itself, Coag. Coagulation took everything that was great from it’s predecessor, chewed it up, spit it out, and then proceeded to defecate itself onto the remains. What was left was Coagulation, a name just as ugly and retched as the map itself. Perhaps its due to the oh-so-many fond memories I have of playing Blood Gulch that seem to distort this map into what it is today, or maybe it is the absence of a certain entirely-too-over-powered-and-yet-somehow-amazing pistol, but I still hate this map. Maybe hate isn’t strong enough of a word. What’s worse that hate, anyway? Why do I detest this map? With the exclusion of the Halo pistol from it’s sequel, and the rather large distance that this map had from on point of cover to the next, having a sniper rifle in Coag meant total domination. Spawn, killed. Spawn, killed. Spawn, killed. Get the picture? I remember right after Halo 2’s launch, some friends of mine got together for a LAN party, just as we always did before with Halo, and fired up some Coag CTF. It didn’t feel the same, as you would expect, and thus began the downward spiral that shall forever be known as Coagulation.

#53. Tombstone

If there ever were a map that comes close to Coag in terms of my utter hatred toward, it would be Tombstone. Now, I was not one of the countless Bungie fan boys clamoring for a remake of Hang ‘Em High, I grasped the concept that Bungie very early on stated about their trying to recreate this map in the Halo 2 engine and it just not feeling right. I was totally fine with this map not showing up in Halo’s sequel, but lo and behold, it did. Just as Coag did to Blood Gulch, Tombstone seemed to lack just about everything that made it’s original so entertaining. However, unlike Coagulation, Tombstone was still semi-playable, and that is why it merely makes second to last.

#52. Elongation

Is anyone noticing a trend here? I don’t like remakes. When all you do is take the original, put a nice graphics polish on it, and it back out into a game engine that is not the same, you don’t really get the same experience. Elongation built on Longest in a way that I didn’t enjoy, focusing on the objective side of the map, creating two bases for teams to attack, whereas my greatest memories of Longest (which will be detailed later on) were of the fun long distance rocket games. Elongation turned into a map where, if it popped up in matchmaking, I definitely wanted a veto option.

#51. Foundry

Mind you, I am not talking about the forged-into-everything-and-your-mother version of Foundry, I am talking about the run of the mill, default, wondering-who-on-Bungie-thought-this-would-be-fun version you get in matchmaking. To be honest, this map has brought us, through the wonders of Forge, such awesome maps as Onslaught and everyone’s favorite Griffball court, but when it comes to seeing it pop up in Team Doubles or Team Slayer, I always get that slight taste of vomit like I’m going to hurl in a moment if I don’t get something to drink soon when I see it show up in matchmaking. This map turns into a heated race for the snipers and rockets, and especially if you aren’t playing a BR variant, it just turns into a Duck Hunt, waiting for the opposing team to pop their heads out so you can remove it from their sternum. Foundry is definitely on the Least Favorite side of my Least Favorite To Favorite Maps of Halo.

#50. Snowbound

Does anyone else think this is an attempt to re-imagine Battle/Beaver Creek? Well, if it is, it’s a failed attempt. While some game types are enjoyable on Snowbound, like much of any SWAT gametype (minus SHWATGUNS) or even Team Splasers, most games of Team Slayer or Team Doubles always turns into one thing: Camping the shield doors. And if one team dares to stray outside of the protective shell otherwise known as the bases, its hello ghost, please mow me down! Snowbound and I don’t get along, and I don’t think we’re going to work this out anytime soon.

#49. Last Resort

Another remake? You don’t say! Last Resort feels to me like Bungie wasn’t trying. They simply took Zanzibar and threw it into Halo 3 with about five minutes of tweaking (I know, I know, they put a lot more time into it than that, I’m just trying to make a point). It also feels larger to me than Zanzibar did, am I crazy for that? While not the horrible mess of a remake that Tombstone and Coagulation were, Last Resort is a map that I don’t exactly smile when I see pop up in matchmaking. Although, Team Snipers and Shotty Snipers are at least semi enjoyable on Last Resort.

#48. Desolation

“Ahhh! Enough with the remakes, we get it already!” Is that what you are saying? Guess what, it’s what I’m saying, too. While Derelict wasn’t exactly a map I particularly enjoyed in Halo, Desolation took anything that was really good from it and just took it away. I will say it again; man-cannons don’t equal teleporters. This map made spawn camping a real art form, where all you had to do was simply pick off your opponents as they spawned on the bottom of the map. Oh, what’s that? You don’t have a BR? Well, don’t worry, the guy shooting at you does.

#47. Chill Out

Perhaps Chill Out makes it this low on my list of Halo maps due to the simple fact that I didn’t play a lot of it back in the day. One thing is for sure, this is where this list officially stops being the “worst of” and simply begins to count down to the “best of” Halo maps. Chill Out didn’t really have much wrong of anything wrong with it, however, just never really made it into my list of “most played” during my Halo days. Many will be angered, this I understand especially when you see what made it above Chill Out next…

#46. Chiron TL 34

I think I’m one of maybe five people who actually enjoyed this map. I loved it. Once you learn what leads you where, you can own on this map. But, to be quite honest, it is a pretty ridiculous map, and that has been proven by it being one of only four original Halo maps not to be remade in another Halo game. But, like I stated, I actually had fun playing this map every once in awhile. Definitely not a lot, though.

#45. Damnation

It had a waterfall, how can you go wrong?!? I did enjoy Damnation, with it’s dizzying heights and complicated level design. Although, as original Halo maps go, I don’t seem to have so many fun memories of this map as I do from the others, and for that, it sits near the bottom of the list.

#44. Derelict

Semi-fun map, large enough to be able to sneak around on, but not large enough to where you felt like you were lost trying to find your opponent. Many a night during a LAN party this was a great alternate to the hour-long Blood Gulches and crazy rocket games of Longest and Prisoner. At least Derelict was more fun than it’s remake.

#43. Battle Creek

Everything this map did, it’s successor did better. That is my #1 reason for it placing as low in this list as it has. While Battle Creek was fun, I never really got into the small map located in a hole in the ground on God-Knows-Where, that is until Halo 2 came out. Battle Creek was a great idea, two bases closely located, with little room to maneuver and yet so many points to attack from. Good map, just had the sad fact of a better successor.

#42. Waterworks

Now while most seemed to hate Waterworks, it did have it’s moments. A good map for large sized parties, with its multiple points of entry and even the ability to reign down terror from above, albeit from a banshee or a falling stalagmite from the cave’s ceiling, Waterworks worked wonders for BTB. The few times I did play BTB during Halo 2’s run on Xbox Live, Waterworks was always a welcome addition to our list of laggy games.

#41. Blackout

Much like trying to figure out what’s really going on between Brett Favre and the Packers, trying to deduce what went on behind closed doors (or at least beyond the watchful eye of their deep-voiced security guard) with Bungie when they decided to create this map is impossible. But honestly, who’s idea was it to just throw on some paint and call it Blackout? It’s a different game, and because it is a different game, Blackout does not feel like Lockout. It feels like someone took a copy of a copy, then copied it some more, and passed it off as the real thing. I will take a reimagining or “spiritual successor” like Guardian over a “fresh paint job” like Blackout any day.

#40. Rat Race

First thing that comes to mind when I think of Rat Race: You could shoot down the power ups! Your opponent is up top, waiting patiently for the overshield to spawn. Just as it does, it magically tumbles to the ground with them chasing after it, only to find you, shields-a-chargin’, ready to add another point to your kill count. A fun map for its time, but I feel as if I were in Halo 3, it would need so much more to make it enjoyable. But back in the day, when it was only you and your buddy plugging away at Halo multiplayer, it filled the niche. Mostly.

#39. Sandtrap

Perhaps this map will continue to climb up this list as I begin to play more BTB, but until then, it sits closer to the bottom then the top. Sandtrap has a lot going for it, and really only one large blemish against it: The Elephant. An idea that probably looked great on the drawing board, but when it becomes playable, it just doesn’t feel right. I would have greatly preferred to have the flag/bomb point somewhere either behind the giant, towering structure, or even within it.

#38. High Ground

Oh, High Ground. One would think that another sweet asymmetrical map like Zanzibar, just smaller and squeezed into a small canyon might be fun. And it is, kinda. I can’t say I hate High Ground, but when it comes to a list of my favorite Halo 3 maps (kinda like this list!), it definitely takes a plunge toward the bottom of the list. Perhaps in the LAN environment, where teams of equally skilled and sized players face off in a real, true test of “we want to win!” this map might be fun. But, when it comes to Xbox Live, I seem to not enjoy this map as much as most. The only real game type that I get overly excited for on this map seems to be the Zombies variant that Bungie created and employs during their “Living Dead” weekends. Maybe that’s what they really made this map for.

#37. Gemini

I will always remember Gemini as the map that seemed to almost break MLG. Now I know that’s nowhere near a true statement, but that’s how it felt when, I believe it was Final Boss (or STK, or whatever name they were calling themselves at the time) decided to show the entire world how one sided this map truly could be. Now, bear with me: Go to the back of the map, where the teleporter and two sliding doors are. Now, have the sword man guard the teleporter, and have your best sniper jump on his head and then jump on top of the teleporter. Now put a player at each door. Total Domination, nuff said. Other than this, I found this map semi enjoyable. But I just can’t get that image out of my head.

#36. Colossus

Think you can get a flag to bounce 50 feet? Well, we did on this map. Not to mention the fact that, due to the spawn placement, if played right, you can seriously cause the other team some heartache. Put that aside and you still had a very cool map, that had a bridge sometimes… and no bridge other times (Always seemed to confuse me. Yes, I know… I confuse easily). If you think about it, minus the giant lower level in the middle of the map, you could make this map in Foundry. Or has someone already done that? Oh well. Team Snipers worked well on this map (minus the aforementioned spawn trap), as did most 2 flag variants, although they sometimes lasted hours. I can honestly say that I was able to get a few decent montage-worthy clips from this map. Sadly, I think that is the best I can say for it.

#35. Turf

A lot of people enjoyed Turf. I was not on that list. I liked the concept, but wanted it on a much larger scale. Add to that the aspect of people superbouncing (or simply knowing where to jump) to the top of the level, and it slides down my list of favorite maps. While bomb games were semi fun, I wasn’t all that big on assault variants on Turf. Team Slayer was enjoyable, but, especially in the later times of Halo 2’s life span, people chilling on the top of the level started to cause my skin to grow goose bumps every time it showed up in matchmaking.

#34. Avalanche

Not quite as good as its predecessor, but nonetheless fun Avalanche is a map crying to be played on BTB. Perfectly set up for either double sided or single sided objective based games, I seem to crack a smile whenever it shows up on my matchmaking playlist. Although I haven’t had a lot of time to play on this map, I’m sure it will continue to climb up my list of favorites as time goes on.

#33. Rat's Nest

Anyone up for a race? I love it when Bungie takes a level almost directly out of the single player campaign, or at least tries to draw most of its inspiration from the single player experience. Rat’s Nest originally wasn’t something I enjoyed, but has since then slowly crept up my list of favorites. A map where you can’t really make it to the other teams base without running into someone, and if you can, it’s a miracle (or the other team are morons), Rat’s Nest is almost as simple as it gets, and yet still finds a way to be fun.

#32. Burial Mounds

While it could turn into a spawn camping death trap on single sided objective games (which would have been easily solved with the advent of today’s Forging), Burial Mounds still made for great one sided objective based games. I loved the strategy when on offense and playing CTF of simply driving the warthog up to the front of the base, letting your passenger out to jump from on top of the warthog into the base, grab the flag and simply jump back into the vehicle and ride home for the cap. Sadly, it usually didn’t end that way. Also fun was charging for the rockets which were centrally located as to not really give either side an advantage for them. Burial Mounds holds a special place in my heart. Just please don’t remake it, I’ll probably begin to remember something bad about it, and I don’t want that.

#31. Beaver Creek

One of the few remakes I enjoyed, Beaver Creek was a fun map for 4v4 CTF and assault, although I preferred CTF myself. Just as fun were Team Slayer and SWAT, which seemed to end most of the time with people camping the top of the bases and the sniper ledge. Just like Burial Mounds, however, I hope to never see this map in Halo 3, if only for the reason that I don’t want any bad memories to be stirred up that are huddling at the back of my mind, always managing to escape the grasp of my ever reaching memory.

#30. Sidewinder

I loved driving a warthog on ice; it was almost as fun as driving a real car in the snow! To be honest, I never really played a lot of object games on Sidewinder, instead it was usually Team Slayer, or even 1v1 slayer. And let me tell you, it was fun. A great instance of where large and scary does equal fun. And those fun memories are the reason why it makes it higher than its spiritual successor on my list of favorites.

#29. Cold Storage

I would have said that this map was another answer to squelch the clamoring masses of MLG fan boys begging for their pistol back (because we all know it eventually boils down to that) if it weren’t for the fact that I know that Bungie was discussing this remake from day one. Once this map makes it into greater circulation in matchmaking, I’m sure it will climb higher on my list, but, for now, Cold Storage can sit pretty knowing I like it more than Avalanche.

#28. Backwash

Did this map actually disappear from matchmaking? Like Seaquest DSV, waaaaaaayyy after it actually happened, I turned around and asked that very question (come on, who doesn’t like talking dolphins, way too large underwater ships and space aliens???). Backwash was such a great idea, and quite moody! This map made playing swords enjoyable for probably the first time for me. Sadly, it left us too soon, I guess due to some environmental glitch or something… I don’t know, don’t ask me, I’m not a weatherman… no wait, I am…

#27. Headlong

A level that really reminded me more of a city on the planet of the Auto-bots than something to be found on Earth (then again, I’m not from the future), I probably spent more time playing Headlong trying to get on top of the map with friends during custom games then I did in actual matchmaking. It’s single sided objective games were fun, although the Sniper matches did make my skin begin to crawl and my blood boil (that means I didn’t like them). One thing I think someone should try to do: make Headlong out of Lego’s. Ready, GO!

#26. Foundation

Snipers no shields. That was the game to be played on Foundation. Get a good ten people in the match, make four teams, and go at it. So much fun. Foundation was so simple, and yet worked on so many levels. Whether you played FFA, two teams, or even multiple teams, objective or FFA, this map was fun. Except for Zombies. I don’t care what all of you clamoring fan boys tell me, charging over and over again into a highly barricaded room only to be shot in the head was not fun. Unless you had limited ammo, then I was all about it.

#25. Containment

Until I went to compile this list of all the maps from Halo to Halo 3 (minus the PC exclusives), I had completely forgotten about this map. Which was a shame, because I remember a lot of fun games on Containment. Mainly hailed it as the sequel to Sidewinder, Containment was another great map for BTB, with a good smattering of Team Slayer/Team Snipers thrown in for good measure. For never really remembering the map, now that I do I remember happy thoughts about it. Or at least mostly happy thoughts.

#24. Ascension

Speaking of superbouncing, here comes Ascension! And superbouncing wasn’t even it’s number one problem, that award goes to placing a banshee on a level with really no cover and 2v2 gametypes. I enjoyed this map a lot when I wasn’t being superbounced on, whether it be Slayer or Single Flag CTF. And who can forget the most greatest thing Ascension was famous for: Tower of Power. What crack-head came up with this idea? Whoever it was, that was your one good idea, don’t come up with anymore, we don’t want you to hurt yourself.

#23. Wizard

Small, round, with teleporters that no one really knew where you’d end up, Wizard had its niche in my Halo playing days. First it was rocket FFA, and oh it was fun. As a matter of fact, this was the very first level and game type I played of Halo, and it was fun (I think I ended up cowering beside a teleporter in the shadows, trying to pick off unknown passer-byers). Then we found a new crazy gametype: shotguns no shields. Oh the humanity, and hilarity! Wizard was a map where, when you needed a good laugh or brake from serious, hardcore gameplay, you would definitely get it on Wizard.

#22. Isolation

Isolation is a map that has grown exponentially on me. From the beginning, I detested this map, nay, I hated this map. Perhaps it spawns from a simple game of One Flag I played on it, where this famous (well, to me famous) photo was snapped:

(and yes, I am on the losing end of that snapshot) After playing with good teammates a few times on Isolation, I have come to realize that this map isn’t the utter trap that other maps like Snowbound or Foundry are, but rather a map where team work and good communication can go a long way. Also, it’s a map where one section of the map can’t get held on to forever, giving one side an unfair advantage until the timer counts down to zero. After the dust of Halo 3 settles and we move on to our next Bungie created shooter (hint hint, nudge nudge Bungie), Isolation very well may end up in the back of my mind much as Containment did, but for now, I like it. And I hope you do, too.

#21. Valhalla

When I first saw Valhalla, I thought “Wow, someone put Blood Gulch and Timberland together.” Whether this was Bungie’s intention or not, the map turned out great. Perfectly set up for both BTB and even smaller games of 4v4 and 5v5, Valhalla seems to be the right size for any amount of players. From large scale BTB games with heavy vehicles, to just a simple 4v4 game of Shotty Snipers, Valhalla opens its every loving canyon of fun to parties of all sizes. With it’s bases built into a small area, opening up to a rather large center that begs for fire fights to be started, Valhalla is a map that will be fondly remembered for a very long time.

#20. Sanctuary

Sanctuary is another map that I seem to hear quite a few grumblings about for a remake, and to be quite honest, I don’t really know if I’d enjoy it in the Halo 3 environment. However, back in Halo 2’s hay-day, Sanctuary was one of the maps I would always be thrilled to play when it showed up in matchmaking. I have a very fond memory of playing a single bomb assault game against a modder who had the ability to move incredibly fast, and due to his arrogance and want to just mock us during our rounds to attack, we were actually able to win the game 1 to 0. Great memory. But Sanctuary was so much more than that, being another map where you could seemingly play both objective and slayer type games and enjoy yourself equally. With its symmetrical sides and the energy sword waiting in the center for the taking, Sanctuary was a well balanced map that played well and was pretty fun at the same time.

#19. Standoff

Standoff feels to me like someone took Blood Gulch and just smashed the two bases together, putting a rather small road in the middle and blocking it on both sides by rocks. Standoff is one of those maps where you live or die according to your teamwork. So many times in matchmaking I have decided to “go it alone” into DLC Objective or BTB, and just been squashed by the opposing team because we as a team weren’t able to coordinate and work together. The decision not to place a sniper rifle on the level was probably the best thing Bungie could have done for the map, as seen now that we’ve had a couple weekends of Team Snipers and now understand that that weapon really will rule that map. Not to talk bad about Team Snipers on Standoff, which is one of the few maps I feel like I can actually do decent in a game of Team Snipers (maybe my teammates have something else to say about my skill, but they aren’t talking and I am, so… I’m awesome!). I know this is also another “controversial choice,” placing this map ahead of Valhalla. It’s nothing against Valhalla, and I don’t want anyone to think I am taking anything away from Valhalla, I just enjoy this map just a little bit more.

#18. Epitaph

The more and more I play this map, the more I seem to find people who don’t like it. I’m not quite sure why that is, perhaps the shield doors? Epitaph is one of those maps where weapon and power up control are paramount to winning, and because of this, it’s a map where you can begin to feel like the quicksand is quickly pulling you under if you are on the receiving end of it. While I haven’t really played much of anything other than Team Slayer on Epitaph (with the exception of a few FFA/Multiteam KotH games which were semi-enjoyable), I still don’t get that sinking-pit-in-my-stomach that most seem to do when it shows up in matchmaking. Maybe it is because it does emphasize the coordination, teamwork, and good communication skills that I (would like to think I) thrive off of, especially in Team Doubles, that I have such warm feelings for this map. Or maybe I’m just crazy. Either way, I say thank you, Bungie; I love this map.

#17. Warlock

I remember when Bungie said they were going to remake Wizard, I was pretty happy. I had some great memories of Wizard from Halo (as stated previously) and was equally excited for it’s grown up brother to be released. Warlock seems to be the exception to my idea of a simple graphic overhaul and a few simple tweaks here and there. This map seemed to be even better than the original. From the back-and-forth games of Team Slayer, to the balancing act of objective games, Warlock seemed to have something for everyone. Warlock’s only blemishes for me were the games of plasma punchout Bungie decided to subject us to, as well as a very bad memory of playing a modded version of said map in matchmaking (totally subjective for me, I know, but still frustrating none-the-less).

#16. Zanzibar

Zanzibar was the first multiplayer map I can remember seeing from Halo 2. One team spawns on the beach, with vehicles ready to take them to their objective, while the other team spawns in the building, their very own fortress to defend. From a giant door that could be opened from within, to a Camp Froman, where sniping became paramount to our teams victory, Zanzibar was set up for nail biting rounds of CTF and Assault. Later in Halo 2’s life, super bouncing began to chip away at it’ legacy, making it a map that made you cringe when it popped up in matchmaking. But, alas, this map still holds a special place in my heart for those fun filled rounds of CTF and Assault that were played out on the coast of Africa.

#15. Lockout

Lockout was to Halo 2 like Hang ‘Em High was to Halo. Lockout was the elitest map, the map to end all maps. Lockout is map where I could play almost anything on and enjoy it. One of my favorite game types was playing No shields, multiple teams of 2, only BRs, with one life. Epic. I feel Lockout slid down my list of favorite maps in a large part due to Blackout, the map that helped to emphasize my reimagining vs remake mentality. Lockout was something I felt that, at the time of Halo 2, I hadn’t really seen done very well. Most of the maps I enjoyed so much from Halo were simple, with symmetrical layouts and everything really flowing well and making sense. Lockout brought so much more to the table, with different levels and multiple areas to mold into your strong hold. Lockout, for Halo 2, was the map to end all maps, a catch all for almost any game type. (Just not my absolute favorite from Halo 2, but still in the Top 5!) On a side note, my all time favorite thing to play on Lockout was FFA Rocketball, with a time to win of just 30 seconds (60 if you wanted to be there forever!), and as many people as you could get into your party. This game went on forever, and yet was still fun.

#14. Ghost Town

Ah, Ghost Town, the shunned child of the Legendary Map Pack. When Bungie announced the maps that would be included in the Legendary Map Pack, everyone cheered for Avalanche, the reimagining of the classic Halo map Sidewinder, and the entire “pro” community let out a sigh of relief when Blackout was shown, the direct port (with new sparkling wallpaper!) of Lockout from Halo 2. Ghost Town was the map people saw and simply brushed off as the “filler” to an otherwise crowd pleasing DLC package. I remember the first time I played this map in DLC Objective, Single Bomb Assault being the game. This map seriously rocked my world. Not since the first time I played Zanzibar did I feel like a map was so perfectly crafted for one sided game types. With multiple points of entry, a great weapon layout, and a base that wasn’t mind-numbingly hard to defend, this map screamed “play assault on me” like no other map in Halo 3 had for me yet. To be quite honest, I haven’t been interested in assault since its tweaks in Halo 3, but this map brought it back for me. Ghost Town also works wonders for Slayer gametypes, from your run-of-the-mill Team Slayer, to Shotty Snipers and Team SWAT, this map has it all. The only real downside for me is KotH on Ghost Town, which is just about the only reason I will veto this map (especially Hammer Hill).

#13. Boarding Action

Such a simple idea: Two ships floating side by side in space. Maybe this is the brain child from the pirate loving Bungie folk. Think about it, it’s like a pirate ship, pulling in along side it’s prey, preparing to board. Boarding Action was awesome because it felt like a map where you couldn’t hide. Despite the large size, even a 1v1 match (as long as you weren’t on split screen) made you feel like you were walking through a haunted house, just waiting for your opponent to sneak up behind you and assassinate you. Because the Halo pistol had such a long range, even if your opponent was on the opposite side of the map you could still effectively target them. Snipers was another favorite on the map, but even playing a simple slayer match was amazing. The weapon set up on the map was great, with rockets and snipers strategically placed around the map to allow for maximum usage. Definitely a favorite, but definitely one I would have serious doubts about a remake (or even a reimagining) due to the large differences in the original Halo’s game mechanics and Halo 3’s game mechanics.

#12. Hang 'Em High

I think I’m going to be flayed alive for not putting Hang ‘Em High in the Top 10. Sorry guys. Hang ‘Em High is awesome, and is in the Top 5 on this list for the original Halo, mind you. I think the big detractor for me is the fact that I didn’t really play much of any CTF on Hang ‘Em High. After so many countless hours of epic game play on Blood Gulch, the non-symmetrical layout of Hang ‘Em High just never appealed to me. However, this map is freakin’ amazing. Whether Team Slayer or Slayer FFA, this map rocked. This map will hold up as the best example for how awesome the Halo pistol could be. It’s simple, open-air environment, coupled with tall walkways and bases created a false sense of security that was quickly taken away by the pistol’s range. Hang ‘Em High was another one of those maps from the original Halo that helped to create the fun, party-type atmosphere that everyone so fondly remembers from the game.

#11. Longest

“Oooohhh, it’s the Loooooooooooooonnnnnggg Ranger!” This was the battle cry that would not stop once a game of rockets on Longest was loaded up. To be quite honest, we never really played much else on this map. Rockets seemed to satisfy all the needs we had, and once played with rockets, everything else just seemed mundane. Whenever a game of CTF on Blood Gulch got too hot to handle, and tempers began to flare, a game of rockets on Longest always seemed to qualm our fueling anger. After you have nailed an opponent from one end of the hallway to the other, everything else just melts away and that famous phrase leaves your lips. The Long Ranger lives on.

#10. Terminal

The train, the train! Everyone has a story, at least one story, of trying for either the overshield or the sword, and right when they thought they had it… SPLAT! CTF and assault games were the main dish for this map, where things weren’t really balanced but still seemed to make for entertaining times. One of the things that brings this map down was its excessive spawn camping and sniping, hiding above the garage (mostly slayer games), as well as total domination from the wraith at times. But these few blemishes don’t outshine its awesome set up for objective type games.

#9. Prisoner

Nostalgia. I’ve seen many a remake of Prisoner using Forge and Foundry, but none seem to be able to stir up quite the same feelings I got from the original. Rockets was the name of the game mostly, with its towering heights and dizzying walkways, this map seemed to be made from the simple thought of “reigning terror from above.” Later, we discovered CTF games on Prisoner, which were again enhanced by playing Rocket CTF. Oh the memories, the fun, fun memories.

#8. Relic

Again, perhaps a controversial choice on my part, more so I believe due to the fact that it was introduced later in Halo 2’s life cycle, but you didn’t get more epic objective battles in Halo 2 then on Relic. After Halo 2 was released and people began beginning for remakes (hmmm, sounds familiar), one of the immediate maps that came to my mind was Death Island. When Relic came out, it seemed to be Bungie’s long lost answer to my question. Relic’s objective point, placed at the end of a long, tall… well, Relic, required teamwork and determination to bust through the opposing teams defenses and win the round. A little too strong was the sniper’s strangle hold on the map, with long lines of site and little cover on at least one side of the map. However, it’s use of a teleporter than could only be deployed by reaching the defending team’s base and “flipping the switch” was pretty awesome.

#7. Narrows

Perhaps this map is the spiritual successor to Longest, much as Guardian is to Lockout. I mean, I LOVED Longest (as seen by its high placement on my list), and when you really get down to it, this map really does take what was great about that map, and flesh it out. In all honesty, Bungie probably never thought of Narrows and Longest as related in anyway, and I’m probably just crazy. But this map just seeps conflict. Narrows is not a map to hide on (if you forget about the few leap-to-your-death-if-you-don’t-get-it-right spots I try to not think about), where the only way to reach your objective is to run headlong into your opponent. And I love it for that. With man-cannons of doom and it’s bridge (or highway) to hell, this map will always be a personal favorite for me.

#6. Ivory Tower

Oh man, if ever I wanted a reimagining (but not a remake), this always seems to be the big one in the back of my mind every time it comes up. Ivory Tower was a pretty big map when you stop and think about it, but it didn’t really feel all that big when you did stop and think about it. I remember some great CTF/Assault games that were played out on this map. Team Slayer was also a big one, with awesome weapon placement, and those three/four levels (layers) of the map that really loved to screw with your radar. Although, snipers in the trees and even in the snipers loft did get rather annoying. Speaking of said snipers loft; this is where this map started to seem to lose some luster for me. So many Team Slayer/SWAT games seemed to end with one team barricading themselves on the top floor, and it simply turned into “who can hold it the longest.” Still, this is the only blemish on an otherwise wonderful map.

#5. Midship

Ahhhh, and the MLG/fanboys all issue a sigh of relief. I didn’t think, originally when beginning to compile this list in my head, that this map would make it in my Top 5. But I asked myself one question: What maps can I enjoy multiple game types, with both large and small numbers of players, and continue to play on said map for hours on end. And to be quite honest, this map is second only to Blood Gulch in all those categories. So why isn’t it #2 then? Oh, personal preference, obviously. But I digress. Midship was a map where I enjoyed almost anything on. From objective( KotH, CTF, Assault, Oddball) to slayer (Team, Shotty Snipers, Snipers, Swords, Shotties), and could be enjoyed with any number of players (1v1, Doubles, 4v4, and even 16 players). This map, in Halo 2, was definitely one of those maps where, when it came up in matchmaking, I was perfectly happy. And don’t we all just want to be happy in the end?

#4. Construct

Now this is a personal choice that many will find controversial (or just plain wrong), but to be honest, it’s my list, so phooey to you! Alright, but in all seriousness, I really do enjoy this map. The layout is weird, I give you that. I remember the first time I saw the map (someone posted a video from a “bootleg copy” of Halo 3 they got before launch), I remember thinking, that map just doesn’t make sense. But every time I played it, it just gets better and better. My personal preferences for game types on this map are Team Doubles (Slayer) and MLG KotH. But, also not to be forgotten or taken lightly are Team Slayer, Shotty Snipers, or even Zombies. Again, I just find myself enjoying this map more and more every time I play it.

#3. The Pit

When it comes to strategy, team work, and a freaking awesome symmetrical map, the Pit rocks. From flying cones of doom, to sword squatting campers and freaking annoying snipers on the towers, the Pit has it all. This map requires coordination, communication, and overall teamwork in order to best your opponent, while the symmetrical layout allows for a very fair and balanced game. The fact that both teams are separated and can not see each other at the start of play, allowing each side to begin to set up their defense/offense, really helps this map to be one that I try very hard not to veto when it pops up in matchmaking.

#2. Guardian

For myself, Guardian is the near equivalent of Blood Gulch in Halo 3, lacking only the ability to be played on with any number of players (haven’t tried 16 yet, don’t think I want to unless it’s Rocket Ball [see Lockout]). When I jump into matchmaking, no matter what playlist, if Guardian comes up, I’m playing it. Slayer, Swat, Oddball, KotH, MLG (even VIP for crying out loud!), I’m all about this map. This map is the #1 reason I am all about reimagining’s and not remakes, because it really feels like someone said, “Hey, let’s take the essence of what Lockout was, what made that map great, and peel away everything else, then build it from that (and the ground) up. Frickin’ awesome. Merely by the fact that this map is in Halo 3, the game I play 99% of the time, and Blood Gulch isn’t, almost puts it at #1. Almost, but not quite…

#1. Blood Gulch

Ahhhh, good ol’ Blood Gulch. This map tops my list because of its versatility and ability to be played on for hours on end without becoming boring. Weather it was CTF or even a good game of Slayer, whether 4 players or 16, this map was able to entertain. It’s greatest point was playing CTF, where all-nighters were held, with epic flag captures, long range rocket-to-warthog’s where exploded, and where the boys were separated from the men. There’s also a reason this map is at the polar opposite of its red-headed step brother from Halo 2, but that has already been outlined, and I won’t bore you with those details again. Blood Gulch was, and always will be, for me, the best Halo map Bungie has ever made. If someone paid me for all of the countless hours I played this map, I’m pretty sure I’d be one of the richest, if not happiest, Halo geeks on the planet.

Well there you have it, my list of Least Favorite To Favorite Halo Maps. Let me know what you think!

Bandwidth Study

noreply@blogger.com (Jake) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:00:00 +0000

A while back I mentioned wanting to analyze different games bandwidth usage on Xbox Live. Not long after I made that post, I actually found some software and did the analysis. I've had these graph images on my laptop now for a good 6 months and am just now getting around to posting it.

Anyways, in the graphs, download is marked in green and upload in red. First, lets look at a graph for the game Gears of War.This game isn't known for it's great network code. There are instances where the game lags quite a bit (one of the reasons I sold it). It doesn't look like the bandwidth usage is very high for the game, but it is very inconsistent.

Next is a graph from playing the arcade game Catan.It may look very inconsistent at first, but if you look closely, you'll see a very consistent line for upload and download near the bottom. The spikes in bandwidth are likely due to voice communication in the game. It appears the game uses a very set amount of bandwidth that doesn't vary at all during the game.

Here is a graph from playing Halo 3 in the playlist Big Team Battle (12 players).As you can see, the first part is during the pre-game lobby when not much game data is being transmitted, and the latter part is from during gameplay. Halo 3 is known to have some of the best network code out there for Xbox Live games, handling a myriad of issues that can come up during a game with grace. The bandwidth isn't that much, when compared to other games. A lot of grief players experience during a Halo 3 match isn't due to bandwidth, but more due to latency between different players.

You may not think the bandwidth has been very much so far. Here is a graph from playing Call of Duty 4. The graph illustrates the different bandwidth requirements between when you are hosting a game or not. The first half of the graph is from a Team Deathmatch game where I did not have host. The middle is during the pre-game lobby and the latter half is from when I did have host.

As you can see, there's a big difference in bandwidth requirements when you're host or not. On the other hand, most broadband connections can easily handle that amount of bandwidth with no problem whatsoever. So, you may ask, why don't you get host more often? The game host is likely determined (in most games) not by bandwidth available, but by latency. So, you may have a 50 Mbps connection, but if you're out in the middle of nowhere and the latency is too high, good luck ever getting host.

The Vista Experience

noreply@blogger.com (Jake) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 06:50:00 +0000

Okay, so I finally bit the bullet and upgraded my PC to Windows Vista this last week. No, I didn't mistype there as I consider it an upgrade from XP. I really have to laugh when I hear the criticism about Vista. Sure, there might be a few compatibility issues with some very specific hardware or some backwards compatibility issues with older software, but those type of issues are always there when upgrading to a newer version of an operating system. The funniest thing about the criticism about Vista is I usually hear it from people who have no clue what they're talking about. They aren't IT professionals or even people who have upgraded themselves to Vista. The criticism is usually from people who read something somewhere on the internet and decided to pass it on, usually from a misinformed or biased source.

Getting your PC & Windows information from Apple is like going to Toyota and asking them if they think buying a Dodge truck is a good idea. Of course they'll tell you their product is better. A lot of people don't quite understand that upgrading your operating system is only a good idea if you're also upgrading your hardware too. Microsoft designs their operating systems to work on certain hardware specifications. Running an OS on lower grade hardware will only result in a lower grade experience.

Windows 98 was designed to run on a 66 MHz processor with 16MB memory. Windows XP was designed to run on a 300 MHz processor with 128 MB memory. Vista's minimum requirements are a 1.5 GHz processor and 256 MB memory. Again, those are minimum specifications. In my experience, any operating system needs at least 4 times the minimum specs to get a good experience out of it. When I ran Windows XP I had at least 1 GB of memory, 8 times the minimum requirements and I never had performance problems with it. I've seen some people try to run XP on the minimum specs before...it's not a pretty sight. The main reason I held off upgrading to Vista was I wanted to have my computer upgraded to the levels where I could be sure performance wouldn't suffer. Too many people out there think Vista isn't good because they try to run it on the same hardware they ran XP on. That's just not a good idea. Some people don't like Vista because they need to upgrade their hardware just to be able to install it. To use the latest and greatest operating system you're going to need the latest and greatest hardware. That's just a fact about software. If you're okay with old hardware, then stick with an older operating system. But if you're going to insist on upgrading to the newest operating system, don't whine because you need to upgrade some parts to be able to run it (CPU, memory, video card, etc.).

Now that I've had Vista for a week or so, I have it configured the way I want it. I've got my User Access Control (UAC) configured the way I like it. I've got my software installed. All the applications I used on XP installed just fine on Vista. The only issue I had was with Nero (DVD & CD burning software). I had to get the newest version of it because the version I had was written before Vista existed and hadn't been designed for it. That wasn't such a big deal. All my hardware works fine with no incompatibility issues whatsoever.

Sure there are different choices out there when choosing an operating system for your new computer. People need to stop listening to advertising campaigns and go with what they need and what suits them. I chose Microsoft's operating system because
a) I like to play PC games (there just isn't a market out there for non-Windows games)
b) I write software for Windows based PC's.
c) I'm already familiar with how Windows works and am comfortable with it.
If all I did was browse the internet, check my email, and use a word processing program then almost any operating system out there would suit my needs. Computers have been able to do that basic functionality for the last ten years, so any old PC would work.

My main reasons against using a Linux based computer is the learning curve associated with Linux. Yeah, I've used Linux machines before and I could probably handle the switch okay, but I don't think my wife would enjoy switching over. As for using an Apple product, I just can't justify having to buy an entire new system every time I wanted to upgrade my computer. This last upgrade I just had to upgrade my CPU, memory and video card -- that's it. With Apple, if you want to upgrade your operating system you're going to basically just have to junk your current system and buy a whole new one from them. That's another thing I can't stand with Apple, is that they are the makers of both the hardware and the software. With a PC, Microsoft makes my operating system, but has no say in what hardware I use. Apple doesn't want you using 3rd party hardware to run their software. They basically want a monopoly on your computing experience.

Overall though I'm very pleased with Vista. The interface works superbly. For anyone who is already familiar with Microsoft operating systems, you're going to love Vista (provided you have the right hardware). The sidebar is very handy to have. If you have never used a PC before and are looking at getting your first one ever, then look at what you're going to do with it and decide on that. Just ignore the TV ads when trying to decide. No matter who puts them out, they tend to be very biased (that's the point, isn't it?).

And on a final note, I had to laugh when I saw Microsoft's new advertising campaign for their new operating system that launches July 29th. Essentially, they showed people who had previously bought into the Apple 'Get a Mac' ads (entertaining, but mostly flat out lies about PC's) the new operating system and then asked them what they thought of it. The people loved it. Then the Microsoft guys told them it was actually Vista. Funny, eh?