First GameSpy, now TeamXbox shun Halo 3 when it comes to top honors in its year-end awards roundup. Crackdown-- the game that at first people thought might only be bought by people who wanted into the Halo 3 Public Beta, but then turned out to be good in its own right-- was dubbed best action game.
Mass Effect took the overall Game of the Year award.
Falling just one spot short of GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann getting the axe for his "tone", the story of Bungie flying the Microsoft coop makes #10 on Game Daily's list of big gaming stories in 2007:
GameSpy wants you to know they love Halo 3. They really do. It's just that 2007 was just too good a year for the console, and well... a game that executes really well on a known formula while tinkering with details and adding some new features just isn't quite enough to make the top half of a top ten list this year.
It shouldn't come as much surprise, but if someone owns an Xbox 360, odds are they'll also pick up Halo 3. So far 52 percent of the US installed base owns the game, according to GameDaily BIZ.
Halo 3 is an enjoyable experience and a decent rounding out to the series. Still i was hoping for a different direction then i was given and got that 'something is off' feeling that i got with halo 2 dispite it working hard to feel more like halo 1. Spoilers ahoy for what is basically me bitching about halo 3 in it's entirety. Keep in mind i still have fun with the game and by no means consider it bad. I merely bitch because i love.
Ask many Bungie fans what they think makes their favorite games different than others, and you might get an answer like "addictive multiplayer". From a perhaps smaller, but no less dedicated or vocal group, you might get "the story" as an answer.
Not everyone agrees.
Dallas News technology writer Victor Godinez thinks videogame writing has a long way to go, and points up Halo 3 as an example:
Wired takes a look at the work of Forge artist Brock Davis. Amongst other things, he's created an optical illusion of a 3D self-portrait on Sandtrap.
With the release of the Foundry map, especially targeted for users of Halo 3's map editor, Forge, Rampancy.net opens its Forge Maps database. Users can submit their maps with a screenshot, descriptions, and links to the map posts on Bungie.net, as well as rate maps submitted by other users.
Submit your own maps today (registered users only-- we have to know whose map it is!).
The kind and well-behaved folks from Clantacular met us on the Internet for a "friendly." Did we lose again?
Bungie recently demonstrated the Heroic map pack to the press, and Gamasutra spoke to lead mission designer Steve Cotton of Halo 3's DLC team.
If you're not nearly as behind the curve as I am, then you already know that Wideload Games' upcoming party title Hail to the Chimp has released a new trailer that you can see on GameTrailers.
Shacknews says that Bungie has finally addressed some of the limitations of Forge with the new options available in the Heroic Map Pack.
Bungie's blockbuster Halo 3 has already sold over five million copies since its September launch. Full story from Slashdot.