Rampancy

GameSpy stops playing Halo 3 just long enough to wax lyrical about the game. There are viewpoints from several staffers, but here's one that stands out. Associate Console Editor Sterling McGarvey was bitten by the bug that disables the Resume feature when moving a hard drive from one console to another:

It's not all rotten in the state of Denmark, however. After jacking a Wraith to Gabe's amazement, I proceeded to mow through legions of Brute forces with alarming ease. That was because I'm playing on Normal. What can I say? I can't organize enough guys on my schedule to burn through four-player Legendary. Yet. I'm sure that I'll be far too green to play well online in time for Wednesday's upcoming 'Spy-Hunter, but what else is new?

Playing on Normal because you've no help or time for Legendary? There's a solution to that problem. It's called Heroic.

GameSpot has a nice feature out that lets you compare in place screenshots from all three Halo games so you can see the changes in the graphics; very slick. Check it out.

Penny Arcade doesn't hate Halo anymore (well, at first they loved it, then they hated it, then they sort of... well, at any case, now Tycho says:

I'm not sure people understand that the time to bag on Halo was years ago, when everyone liked it, as opposed to now, when they've finally delivered a cool draught of its deep promise. I have to say that I'm done hating things just because idiots like them, a state you might call post post post hip. Unless you bought a more expensive version of the game whose abrasive collector's case scratched your disc, in which case your rage is just and proper.

To find out what they think now (sort of) see their latest comic.

Kotaku notes that the Japanese release of Halo 3 works in US/NTSC Xboxes. Usually the reverse (US releases working in overseas consoles) is true, but not the other way 'round. The only catch is Japanese language audio with apparently some grammatical problems, according to comments.

UPDATE: According this story at Xbox360Rally, Halo 3 sold 45,000 copies in Japan its first day, more than half of what Blue Dragon sold in its first week.