Kinect Sex: Coming Soon to a Console Near You?

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Armed Robbers Snatch 100 Copies Of Black Ops In GameStop Heist

Two guys with semiautomatic firearms were hellbent on breaking street for Call of Duty: Black Ops, sticking up a Baltimore-area GameStop and looting it of 100 copies of the game, due out Tuesday.

The Harford County, Md. sheriff's office said the heist happened Saturday evening, and the robbers waited until closing time to hold up the GameStop in the Festival at Bel Air shopping center in Bel Air, about 30 miles northeast of Baltimore.

Deputies said two customers stopped by the store mid-robbery and were forced at gunpoint into a storage area. Neither they nor employees were hurt. The robbers might also be behind an Oct. 21 holdup at GameStop's nearby Aberdeen, Md. location.

A sheriff's office spokesman asked locals to call them if they're offered a copy of the game before Tuesday's release date. A quick scour of Craigslist in that area turned up no such offers.

Harford robbers steal more than 100 ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops' video games [Baltimore Sun via Hot Blooded Gaming

Kinect has problems recognizing dark-skinned users?

Source: In testing the Kinect, two dark-skinned GameSpot employees had problems getting the system's facial recognition features to work.

What we heard: Part of Microsoft's $500 million marketing push for Kinect includes positioning it as an accessible entertainment device for all audiences. However, it may be more accessible to some than others.

While testing out the Kinect, two dark-skinned GameSpot employees experienced problems with the system's facial recognition abilities. The system recognized one employee inconsistently, while it was never able to properly identify the other despite repeated calibration attempts. However, Kinect had no problems identifying a third dark-skinned GameSpot employee, recognizing his face after a single calibration. Lighter-skinned employees were also consistently picked up on the first try.

Not all games make much use of Kinect's facial recognition features.

It's important to note that the problems were only experienced with the system's facial recognition feature and don't prevent users from playing Kinect games. Skeletal tracking, a primary means of controlling games with Kinect, appeared to work the same for all GameSpot employees.

The system's inability to recognize a user only means that he or she would need to sign in manually and some games' features may not work properly as a result. For example, when a second player joins in to Kinect Adventures during the title's drop-in, drop-out multiplayer, the system can't bring up that player's proper in-game avatar automatically if it can't identify the new user first.

If Kinect does have some technical issues related to users' pigmentation, it wouldn't be a first for recognition technology. Last holiday season, users of Hewlett-Packard computers with built-in webcams reported problems with a face-tracking feature.

HP blamed the problem on the webcam's technology, "standard algorithms that measure the difference in intensity of contrast between the eyes and the upper cheek and nose." It said the system could have problems "seeing" that contrast if there is insufficient foreground lighting.

[UPDATE 11/4] GameSpot continued its testing of Kinect today with more users in different rooms and different clothing. At first, the two employees who originally would not be recognized by the camera were correctly identified on the first try. However, when one changed from a light blue shirt to a black shirt (but stayed in the same room with the same lighting), the camera again failed to recognize him after multiple calibration tests. It also failed to recognize another darker-skinned GameSpot employee after four calibration attempts.

Somehow, those issues may not completely undermine the camera's ability to use facial recognition features. Despite the Xbox 360's insistence that it could not recognize some of the GameSpot employees immediately after calibration, the system was able to recognize them and sign them in properly when they waved at the camera, regardless of their clothing.

The official story: "The goal of Kinect is to break down the barriers for everyone to play, and it will work with people of all shapes and ethnicities at launch."--A Microsoft representative, who added that Kinect owners having calibration or recognition problems can call 1-800-4-MY-XBOX.

[UPDATE 2]: After the additional testing, Microsoft provided further comment, saying, "Kinect works with people of all skin tones. And just like a camera, optimal lighting is best. Anyone experiencing issues with facial recognition should adjust their lighting settings, as instructed in the Kinect Tuner."

Bogus or not bogus: Not bogus that Kinect has problems identifying some users. Abstain on how widespread those problems are, or whether they're due to skin color at all. With the system launching tonight and Microsoft expecting to sell 5 million by year's end, it shouldn't be long before the scope and cause of such problems are identified.

World's Highest Gamerscore Reaches Half A Million

Stallion83 holds the Guinness World Record for the highest gamerscore in the world, and he's just reached 500,000 gamerscore points. Think you can catch up?

After a day filled with Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Arcade games, Stallion83 finally hit the 500,000 gamerscore point mark by scoring a 20 point achievement in episode 4 of Telltale's Wallace & Gromit series of downloadable adventure games. Achievement unlocked: halfway to his 1,000,000 point goal.

Over at the 1 Million Gamerscore Blog you can read a full account of Stallion83's day, from "7:00AM — Miss Mittens woke me up by meowing her face off. She better make the coffee today," to "3:38PM — Video posted."

Will he rest on his laurels, or continue the good fight? As I write this, he's online playing Karaoke Revolution. What a trooper.

500,000 Gamerscore [1 Million Gamerscore - Thanks Seto!]

Halo: Reach Rank Cap Should Be Lifted In November

The latest update from the minds behind Halo: Reach says the game's rank cap, currently limited to Lieutenant Colonel Grade C, will be lifted once the game's community completes 117 million daily and weekly challenges.

That is quite a lot, but then, quite a lot of people play Halo: Reach, and so Bungie expects that goal to be met sometime in November. They're going to put a thermometer on the Bungie.net homepage and inch it up as the community gets closer. Once they bust the cap, new ranks and armor are available to all, provided they have the requisite experience.

If you're currently at Lt. Col. Grade C, don't worry, all that experience you're earning will transition once the cap unlocks, meaning you could zoom ahead more than one rank when it does.

Loads more details for the Halo: Reach-minded at the link.

Bungie Weekly Update: 10/15/10 [Bungie

Xbox 360 getting IPTV November 7 - Report

At the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft announced with great fanfare that the Xbox 360 would get IPTV, in a partnership with AT&T. Now, nearly four years later, it appears the console will finally be getting the functionality, according to a report on Engadget.

Citing several leaked slides and screenshots, the tech blog is reporting that starting November 7 Xbox 360 owners will be able to use their consoles as set-top boxes for AT&T's U-Verse IPTV service.

There is a catch, however--two catches, to be exact. Engadget's sources say that to use the service, there must be at least one DVR already in the home and activated to the service, which can provide up to four streams of HD video. Also, only Xbox 360s with hard drives will support U-Verse.

The addition of IPTV will come on the heels of the fall Xbox Live update, which will go live sometime before November 4. Features included in the update are Netflix search, ESPN 3 TV, and more lifelike avatars. The new avatars will be redesigned to better mesh with the Kinect motion-sensing system, which also goes on sale on November 4 for $150.

Microsoft shows off new controller, with transforming D-pad

courtesy of ArsTechnica

The D-pad on the existing 360 controllers is, to put it mildly, utter garbage. If you want to play any games relying on precise movements, such as fighting games, buying a third-party controller is a requirement. Microsoft hopes it has this problem licked, however, and is releasing a controller with a new, updated D-pad on November 9. The catch? You won't be able to buy the controller alone; you'll need to grab the Play and Charge Kit to get it, and the final cost will be $64.99.

Here is the controller, complete with transforming D-pad.

Major Nelson will be giving away a few of these controllers at PAX this Sunday, and we'll be bugging Microsoft for one to report on how much better the D-pad works in this new design. Once thing we do know, it certainly can't be worse.

Microsoft Is Ready To Ban Halo: Reach Pirates

As leaked copies of Halo: Reach hit the torrent sites, Microsoft tells Kotaku that they are aggressively investigating the leak and are fully prepared to hand out bans to anyone caught playing the game pre-release.

It happens every time a big game comes out, but when it's a game as big as Bungie's final Halo title, Microsoft sits up and takes notice. Released on the internet far in advance of its September 14 street date, a Microsoft representative tells Kotaku that the source of the leak is under investigation.

"We are aware that an unauthorized copy of "Halo: Reach" has leaked. We are aggressively investigating the matter. We have no further details to share at this time."

So where does that leave folks who can't resist the lure of early Halo: Reach? Even if you have every intention of picking up a retail copy, we'd suggest you wait, lest Microsoft come after you.

"We are aggressively pursuing the violators. Microsoft's commitment to combat piracy and support safer and more secure gameplay for the 25 million members of the Xbox LIVE community remains a top priority. All consumers should know that piracy is illegal and modifying their Xbox 360 console violates the Xbox LIVE terms of use, will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox LIVE."

Send an email to Michael Fahey, the author of this post, at fahey@kotaku.com.

Hackers Claim to Have Grabbed Halo: Reach From Microsoft Site

courtesy of escapistmagazine.com

A team of hackers has allegedly broken Microsoft's security and got its hands on Halo: Reach a month early.

Remember that twelve-hundred dollar Halo: Reach listing we told you about earlier in the week? Well, it looks like it's gotten some attention, and not just for its hefty price tag. A group of modders from the Game-Tut forums have claimed that they were able to trick Microsoft's servers into letting them download the game and have been taking it for a spin.

The group said that obtaining the game had been a challenge, but even though they'd been successful, they had no plans to distribute it. Bungie is yet to comment on these reported leaks, although its forum moderators have reminded posters that discussing leaked details was a surefire way of earning a permanent ban.

Microsoft, on the other hand, has issued a statement about the leaks, saying it was aware of the group's claims and was "aggressively investigating" the matter. If Reach has indeed been leaked - and there is other evidence besides the team's comments to suggest that it has - then it will come as something of a blow to Microsoft. It's not going to stop the game selling a bajillion copies, but it may make Microsoft reconsider using Xbox Live for sensitive material in the future.

Halo: Reach gets its official release on September 14th.

Bizarre Modern Warfare 2 Glitch Makes Some Xbox Live Arcade Games Free

The Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has had a curious side effect on a handful of Live Arcade games. Infinity Ward's modern military shooter is unlocking the full versions of five SNK games for free.

According to a report on Worthplaying, Modern Warfare 2—the full version of the game and its recently released downloadable demo—unlocked full, freely playable versions of Garou: Mark of the Wolves, The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match, Metal Slug 3, Metal Slug XX and Samurai Shodown II. Other SNK games (Fatal Fury Special, Neo Geo Battle Coliseum ) don't appear to be affected by the glitch.

All players need to do is access the demo versions of those SNK games from the guide button while playing Modern Warfare 2 and "quick launch" them.

Worthplaying explains further how the unusual unlock works, a bug we expect Microsoft, SNK and Activision might be scrambling to fix.

'Modern Warfare 2' (ALL) Bug Grants Free SNK Games [Worthplaying - thanks, Drtyfrnk!]

Two More Multiplayer Maps Arrive for 'Battlefield: Bad Company 2' Today

Two new maps were served up today over the free (to retail buyers) VIP service for Battlefield: Bad Company 2. VIP Map Pack No. 5 adds White Pass and Nelson Bay, shown in this here trailer.

White Pass supports Rush Mode; Nelson Bay is for Conquest Mode. The content is free to VIP pass holders, which came free with the full purchase of the game. Otherwise, it costs $15, but it gives you all content - such as the four VIP map packs preceding it.

Send an email to the author of this post at owen@kotaku.com.

Kinect's 'Dance Central' Revealed at E3 2010

Part 1

Video Games | Dance Central | E3 2010: Game Debut Part I

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Part 2

Video Games | Dance Central | E3 2010: Game Debut Part II

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Kinect's Star Wars Game

More Kinect: Star Wars Videos

Power A Makes a Wireless Xbox 360 Controller for the PS3

courtesy of kotaku

This is the best PlayStation 3 controller right now, precisely because it's not shaped like a PS3 controller.

Power A spent a good deal of time taking what's best about the Xbox 360 controller—the most natural "traditional" controller—and bringing it to the PS3. It's called the PS3 Pro Elite, and it's only $50. You have your left analog stick up on the top left and D-Pad down on the bottom. The palm parts extend much lower, and are coated with a grippy, but breathable material, which makes a huge difference when you play games for hours on end.

The only thing that Power A didn't bring over from the 360 are the shoulder buttons. The L1, R1 buttons are more mushy, and the L2 and R2 shoulder buttons are super mushy, like the PS3's. This is my only complaint—I wish they went all the way and brought the Xbox's triggers over.

Oh, and you still get Sixaxis capabilities, so there really is no sacrifice. Plus you get glowing buttons, and true wireless, albeit a third-party wireless that you need a dongle for. The dongle is included.

For a cheaper, wired solution, Power A has a $20 controller that sacrifices stuff like Sixaxis, but still gives you the 360-style shape that will be great for secondary and tertiary and quaternary controllers that you only use when friends come over. [Power A]

Send an email to Jason Chen, the author of this post, at jchen@gizmodo.com

E3 2010 Coverage of 'Halo: Reach'

E3 2010 Campaign Trailer

Video Games | Halo: Reach | E3 2010: Campaign Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

E3 2010 Campaign Walkthrough with Developers & A Look at the Space Ship Battles

Video Games | Halo: Reach | E3 2010: Campaign Walkthrough

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

E3 2010 Multiplayer Walkthrough Pt 1

Video Games | Halo: Reach | E3 2010: Multiplayer Walkthrough Pt 1

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

E3 2010 Multiplayer Walkthrough Pt 1

Video Games | Halo: Reach | E3 2010: Multiplayer Walkthrough Pt 2

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

ESPN to Deliver Programming Over Xbox Live

courtesy of kotaku

Microsoft and ESPN have struck a deal delivering exclusive sports programming to Xbox Live. The partnership will deliver more than 3,500 sports events, most of which will be in high definition.

ESPN anchors Trey Wingo and Josh Elliot took the stage to demonstrate the service, which will be free to Xbox Live Gold subscribers. Highlights from last year's USC-Ohio State college football game and game two of this year's NBA Finals were shown, indicating that the service should offer top sporting events also being broadcast on the main network. The service will also offer polls, trivia and other content inline with the broadcasts.

There will be no Medal Of Honor Beta this Week Xbox 360 Owners

courtesy of kotaku

Tomorrow, select PS3 and PC owners will begin beta testing the new Medal of Honor. Xbox 360 owners, you're going to have to wait until next week. Sorry!

There's been some kind of hiccup with the 360 version of the beta, and all EA can say is that "it is expected to be available next week". Next week, incidentally (June 21) is when the open beta kicks off, so those VIP customers who were hoping for bragging rights on the 360 are straight outta luck.

To compensate, EA say the beta period will be extended.

Hulu headed to a Xbox 360 dashboard near you?

courtesy of engadget

From its humble origins as a chunky black box of PC parts, the Xbox has grown into a strapping young adult -- attracting a social circle including Netflix, Facebook and Twitter. Now, rumor has it that the Xbox 360's preening for a date with Hulu, too. Though plans aren't set in stone, Gear Live tells us Hulu has been spotted in internal Xbox 360 dashboard builds, and that Microsoft will introduce the streaming video service as part of their Xbox LIVE experience at E3 2010. The publication is mighty certain here, but at this point we can't corroborate for ourselves. If this does end up happening, the question is how much it might cost, as we hear there's going to be some sort of fee -- perhaps Hulu will be part of that "Xbox LIVE Platinum Tier" rumor that gets dragged out most every year.

Refined, polished, punishing: Ars plays Halo: Reach multi

courtesy of arstechnica

After finding myself on the receiving end of so many flames after failing to name Halo: Reach as one of our most-anticipated games of 2010, I promised myself I'd deliver some good coverage of the game for our readers. Bungie did one better, and let us simply play the game for an afternoon. As is our policy, Ars Technica paid for 100 percent of our travel and hotel expenses.

The best preview events, the ones where you know the game is going to be good, are the ones where the people behind the game know enough to get out of the way and let you play the game. Last week I flew into Seattle at the invitation of Bungie to sample the multiplayer of Halo: Reach, and the crew gave the assembled press a short presentation of each of the maps and game modes we would be playing. Then they simply stood back and allowed us to play against each other.

The mood was serious at first, as everyone spent time taking notes and murmuring to themselves about this detail or that reveal, but soon the room devolved into a group of hooting, cursing fans playing the game. "This is the first time anyone outside of Bungie has played this," we were told, but the developers were more than happy to allow us to enjoy the game.

"Do you guys want to play a round of Juggernaut?" we were asked. Of course we did. There was some question of how much to reveal to us in our time with the game, and this seemed to create a short internal struggle. "It's in there," one of the developers said, shrugging as he motioned to our builds of the game. Soon he was setting the game type up on one of our stations, and we were playing. In another round of Headhunter, things were extremely tense as a three-way tie finally ended with a victor. After the cheers, those of us in the room took a moment to sink back into our seats and take a breath.



"That was one of the closest rounds of Headhunter I've seen," we were told by the onlookers. I nodded. The game clicked for everyone in the room, and we were lost in the struggle of collecting the flaming skulls and trying to up our own score. It was a delicious assignment: hang out with a dozen or so members of the gaming press and just take the new multiplayer modes of Halo: Reach out for a test drive. Kick the tires a few times. We weren't shown everything, but we were given the run of the content that will be available in the beta when it goes live, with promises that there was a lot from the full game that we wouldn't be seeing.

There is a reason this series is so respected

There is a fair amount of hate for the Halo series, in the way that anything with this level of popularity brings out the haters. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that nothing else in gaming feels like Halo. If you don't enjoy the series, more power to you; taste in games is personal and you should always play what you like. For those who love Halo though, they understand that it's a slower paced, deliberate, slightly insane multiplayer experience.

The fact that you're stuck with only two guns at a time, the reliance on grenades to flush out enemies, the floaty jumps and the love of melee attacks—it doesn't look or play like anything else on the market. Every time Bungie releases a Halo game, the multiplayer is tweaked and refined and improved, but the formula remains consistent. Halo is a game that simply works, and its fans expect a high level of polish when they play.

Matchmaking is set to get a boost in this version of Halo, with a smoother experience that works well even with more players. The new system also allows for impressive granularity: you can make the game prioritize connection speed, skill level, or games in your native language when trying to find a game. You also have social settings to choose from, to make sure you play with people who match your style. Do you talk? Are you quiet? Do you play competitively, or simply to enjoy yourself? Do you go Rambo, or enjoy teamwork? Do you like a polite game, or are you a trash talker? By adjusting all these options you'll be able to filter out people whose play styles may be distasteful, allowing you a better play experience.

There is also a credit system, where you gain virtual currency by playing the game. You use these credits to buy different options for your armor, and your aesthetic choices will be shown in both the single and multiplayer modes. You gain credits by playing the game, and by clearing challenges that will be constantly added to the game. Daily challenges may be easy to accomplish, but the weekly challenges will require a heavier time commitment. Commendations will also be awarded based on your behavior, with seven different Commendations included in the beta. All these things simply serve as your way to gain credits, and the credits are only spent on prestige items to change how you look to other players.

Derek Carroll is the Multiplayer Designer on Halo: Reach, and I asked him if there was ever a temptation to allow players to purchase better weapons or powers with credits."Not for us," he said. He understands that some games have you begin with an underpowered character and make you earn a "good character," but that simply doesn't fit into what they want for their own games. "Halo has always been about everyone having the same bag of tools... when you first start playing it you'll learn and grow, the RPG happens on the inside." You get better with practice, not by earning better weapons and abilities. "It has come up, but internally there has not been the temptation to do that."


The multiplayer isn't class-based, but you'll be making choices

Certain game modes will ask you to choose from a selection of armor powers, which come with a set loadout when you spawn. You'll still be able to pick up any weapon in the battlefield, but these powers will affect your strategy and give you some advantages in certain situations.

The jetpack was the most remarked upon addition to multiplayer, and it adds a very welcome sense of the vertical to the game. It's also wonderful to simply fly over the head of an opponent stalking you with the energy sword. You have a limited amount of thrust, and you can take falling damage if you fly too high and don't have the energy left to break your fall. Spartans can also take the Sprint ability, which is simply a flat run to increase your speed, while taking away your ability to shoot. The Elites can take the Evade power, which allows them to dodge and roll away from attacks, just like they do in the single-player game. Throwing a well-aimed grenade, only to have your prey tuck and roll to the side and continue to come after you is unsettling, to say the least.

Active Camo is now an Armor Ability as well, giving the player a limited time to be less visible. Standing completely still makes you completely invisible, while walking, running, and shooting makes you easier to pick out. Armor Lock is an interesting ability: when activated the Spartan crouches and becomes completely invincible, but cannot shoot or move. It's an easy way to soak even the most powerful weapon shots, and if you stay down for long enough, you throw off an EMP charge when you get up, killing the shields of nearby enemies and allowing you to quickly turn the tables. It's a risk/reward move, but when used well it's a very effective tactic.

You choose your Armor Power when you spawn, and can change from one to the other as many times as you'd like in a single round. Don't worry: there are still plenty of game modes that don't allow these powers if you like a more classical experience. Each game mode offers different loadouts, with a combination of weapons and Armor Abilities to choose from, and those will be specific to different game modes and maps. In the final version you may also be able to customize these yourself.


Invasion ups the scale of Halo multiplayer

The largest change in the multiplayer of Halo: Reach is the Invasion game mode. Maps with multiple objectives, played with Spartans against the Elites, will make this mode a hit among fans of a more tactical and team-based experience. The map we played was Boneyard, a large graveyard for decommissioned ships. The Elites have to climb onto a vessel being held by the Spartans, and stand inside set areas for twenty seconds to unlock the next area. The second area features vehicles, upping the scale of the battle, and each progressive step allows both sides to choose from more powerful loadouts and Armor Abilities.

After opening the second set of doors, the Elites have to steal a power core and walk it to an extraction point to win. At this point in the round there will be Scorpions and Scarab tanks fighting; there is a Warthog available, as well as Wraiths, and all the loadouts are available. The last push, with the Elite running the power core to safety, can be incredibly chaotic, and team play is essential to win. The round ends either when time runs out or the Elites steal the power core, and then roles are reversed.

We played this mode for a few hours, and quite simply, it's brilliant. There are many ways to win the objectives, and it was amusing to see an Elite turn on his active camo and stand stock still inside one of the objectives while the defending Spartans seemed confused by the alarms telling them an enemy was attacking the objective. Once jetpacks are unlocked, both sides begin to swarm the skies. It's quite the sight.

Generator Defense

Generator Defense also pits the Elites against the Spartans, with the Spartans defending a series of generators from the invading aliens. Played on the scenic Overlook map, the Spartans have the ability to "lock down" the generators and make them invulnerable for short amounts of time. Grenades take down the power of the generators very quickly, as do melee attacks. The problem with melee attacks? When the generators are destroyed, they erupt, as I found out painfully the first time I played and my body was blasted across the level.

You'll see the power level for each generator, and alarms tell the defenders when one is under attack. It's a difficult game of locking down the generators and trying to be at all places at once while the attacking forces harass the Spartans and take pot shots at the generators. Again, team play is essential to success in this game mode, so be sure you have voice chat on (as scary as that can be in public games of Halo).

Other new game modes

In Headhunter, fallen players drop a flaming skull, which can be picked up and deposited in set scoring areas for points. You can carry up to ten skulls at once, although when you die you drop all your skulls, while adding your own. If someone is able to deposit ten skulls at once, it's an automatic win. The number of skulls you're carrying is shown above your character, so the more you carry, the more of a target you'll become.

In Stockpile, a set number of neutral flags are scattered around the level, and those can be picked up and placed in your team's scoring area. Here's the catch: the point only counts when the timer counts down to zero, so before that time enemies can raid your scoring area to steal your flags, or simply remove them so you don't score.

As we stated above, we were also able to play Juggernaut, with a few changes. Now, when the Juggernaut changes between players there will be a small interval when the Juggernaut is invulnerable, causing the players fighting the last Juggernaut to scatter as the invincible player slams everyone he sees with the hammer. The stat for becoming the Juggernaut was listed in our builds as "Jugg time," which we were assured was simply placeholder. It's a shame, that. Who doesn't love Jugg time?

New Weapons

The weapons will be familiar to fans of the series, with a few nice additions. The Plasma Repeater is the Covenant version of the assault rifle, but instead of reloading you'll vent the gun to cool it down. When you pull the trigger the rate of fire is impressive, but it drops as the gun collects heat. Vent often.

The Grenade Launcher sends out a bouncing, hard-to-aim grenade. By holding the trigger button you can control when the grenade detonates, allowing you to set traps for your prey. The Plasma Launcher is my personal favorite: a Covenant weapon that can fire up to four plasma grenades that stick to your opponents. The grenades even track your opponents to a limited degree, making this a wonderful weapon to use against vehicles.

The Focus Rifle is the update to the Covenant Sniper Rifle, but it now fires a continuous beam. The DMR is the updated Battle Rifle, good for headshots and medium- to long-range fighting. The Needle Rifle is a longer-range Needler.

These weapons are welcome additions, but there isn't anything here that will come as a shock. Learning how and when to use each may take a little bit of time, but the new weapons seem to be mostly evolutions of what we were already used to.


Derek Carroll

I had a chance to sit down with Derek Carroll, who is the Multiplayer Designer for Halo: Reach. The first thing I asked was, "How do you make sure something that's as much of a game-changer as a jet pack doesn't change the game for the worse."

"We playtest every single day," he told Ars. They add something new, playtest it over and over, let their team find exploits, sand down the exploits, and finally arrive at something that works.


An example of that level of polish: during a game of Headhunter, someone noticed that skulls dropped inside the scoring area simply disappeared. That was a conscious decision, as it became a popular strategy to simply wait in the box and kill those trying to score. As we played, we were talked through many of these tiny tweaks that made the gameplay smoother, and kept the competition heavy but fair. These things may seem idiosyncratic at first, but it became clear that every decision was made to keep the game as balanced as possible. It's an impressive amount of care.

So what's something that didn't work? Carroll talks about one dropped feature. "Invasion at one time had an economy where you got money and spent it on weapons and vehicles. That level of complexity, where you add another layer to the basic Halo gameplay—it was interesting, but you spend so much time worrying about money and these other things that you don't have enough time to worry about tactics and keeping the team completing your objective," he explained. "Everyone worrying about making money for themselves took away from the point of just capturing [the objective]. So we had that for a while, tried it out, and that additional complexity... it's not better."

Being in a beta, back in the proverbial day, meant dealing with an unfinished game, writing out bug reports, and working for the right to play the game early. Has the role of the beta changed? "Absolutely. The thing with betas is, everyone wants to get into the beta. If it's a game you're excited about, of course you want it sooner. Do you want to be part of the process? Yeah."

While Carroll is open about the publicity factor inherent in offering a beta for a game of this popularity, he stresses that they'll still be learning. "This is a working beta for us, we're going to get some good data out of it. We wouldn't do it just for fun, or just for marketing. But recognizing that there is a marketing upside, people are excited and want to see it and play it, it's a way to give them a slice and get a lot of information for ourselves. It's great."

Everyone is looking at something different once the beta goes live: Are there exploits? How does the game feel? Is the back-end working? Where are the player populations gathering? Everyone at Bungie has something they're going to learn from. At one point Carroll called the beta a "demo" before correcting himself.

Carroll doesn't worry about any ideas being completely rejected, however. "Because we internally playtest so much, because we're own biggest critics—maybe not according to the forums (laughs)—I'd be very surprised if the entire universe said, 'This is stupid' by the time we show it to them. Reach Multiplayer is so big I really think there is something for everybody, there are so many kinds of game in the game."

The most important question: how was it?

We played the game for about six hours, with a break for lunch and for interviews. The new multiplayer modes are already tuned very tightly, and the maps are filled with surprises and tactical opportunity. Learning how to use the Armor Abilities and to remember to look above you for jetpack attacks took time, but it also opened the game up wonderfully.

The game won't convince you to play if you don't care for the Halo style of play, but for fans of console-style multiplayer, this is one of the best experiences you'll find. The different game modes offer something for team players, for lone wolves, and the ability to tweak the game settings and set up your own games means that you can stick to the modes and style you like the best.




This is a significant improvement in both scope and execution from Halo 3, with plenty of new things to see and do. You'll be able to play for yourself when the beta goes live on May 3, and I think you'll be just as excited as we were last week. Halo is one of the most popular franchises in gaming, and that didn't happen by luck: even while playing unfinished code the content felt polished, tweaked, and well designed.

Invasion is going to be fun to play online, and Headhunter is a riot if you don't mind a little bit of anarchy. Swordbase is a wonder with the jetpacks—it feels like Boarding Action, but now you have even more power to move vertically. The options here are impressive, and so many play styles and options are presented that it can be slightly overwhelming. Even just looking at the content included in the beta, this is an impressive suite of multiplayer offerings, and the office was filled with the groans, cheers, and good-natured curses as the gaming press learned the game modes and tried out the new weapons. No razzle-dazzle from Bungie—we just sat down and played.

See you online very soon.

Halo Reach Beta Previews Storm the Net: Summary and Round-Up

courtesy of vgchartz

The Halo Reach event in London, among other places, kicks off the onslaught of Beta previews for Bungie's finale to the epic Halo series, and plenty of gaming journalists from across the wide world of the internet were there to begin gleaning details from this epic project.

But why so epic, you may ask? Well, Bungie's Brian Jarrard estimates "conservatively" that the beta will host 3 million players, though there is no actual cap to how many players can join in. This is even more impressive given that in order to get access to the beta on May 3rd, gamers have to pick up or already own a copy of Halo 3: ODST. This is unlike traditional betas, most of which are available for free download or by free invitation, and some of the most impressive of these just barely reach the 3 million mark.




Ok, so we know it's a big deal, what else? A number of the previews out now are making free associations between this beta and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, saying Bungie has taken obvious upgrading elements from Infinity Ward (as if it belongs to them), but turned it on it's unique, Halo-head in order to create what feels like a rewarding, unique experience.

How? First, Halo Reach features changeable loadouts, a first for the franchise. However, these loadouts are not entirely customizable, as they are tied to the level being played. This gives the multiplayer that "choose your own path" kind of feel, allowing players to focus more on battle than picking up the right weapon, while retaining the traditional Halo style "use what you got" mentality.

Also, Characters can upgrade armor at the beginning of battles to feature "Sprint" (Spartans only), "Active Camo", "Evade" (Elites only), "Jet-Pack", and "Armor Lock" (temporary invulnerability). One of the major concerns with these new add-ons has been the way that the jet-pack might dilute gameplay into some quasi Dark Void fly-swatting escapade. However, if the majority of the previews are to be believed, it sounds like the jet-pack provides anything but, some calling it "our favourite by far". Of course all of these elements will take some getting used to, but apparently the feel is similar enough to previous Halo games to be easily picked up on.




What seems to be the biggest new change is the addition of differentiation between Spartans and Elites. Not only do they have access to different abilities, but the Elites are a little slower and more powerful, while the Spartans are quicker and fare better in team attack situations. Probably the most startling difference, though, is that the Elites regenerate their health over time, while Spartans have to pick up med packs scattered throughout the levels. Again, according to the previews, the strategic placement of some of these med packs has actually made for a well-balanced health system, despite the parity between them.

And of course there's the new game types: Generator Defense, Stockpile, Headhunter, and Invasion. Generator Defense pits Spartan vs. Elite in a battle for the human faction to defend three generators from the alien. Stockpile is kind of like a capture the flag game, but with collection intervals. Headhunter gives players the Sonic-esque ability to collect tokens (heads) from the players they kill in an attempt to return as many to their base. Invasion has a Battlefield feel to it, once again pitting Spartans vs. Elites in an ever evolving, moving stage, multi-objective game. For example, as one base is destroyed by the Elites, the Spartans must fall back and defend the next flag, or take out the Elite attack force for good.




There's so much more information out there, so this summary only scratches the surface. Feel free to check out the previews referenced in the links below for more, and if you don't already have it, go get that used copy of Halo 3: ODST before May 3rd.

Thanks...