Halo was so long-hyped, so widely acclaimed, and so eagerly anticipated that it was rare to see it, as well as its rectangular abode, the Xbox, as roundly made fun of as both were in the frames of Penny Arcade.

Their criticism of the Xbox has waned some in the intervening months, although their Awards cartoon still poked fun at Halo, featuring the Xbox's flagship title next to a picture of.. of... well, a toilet.

However, in today's news post, Tycho of Penny Arcade fame does give Halo some props for its control scheme:

I got a couple mails asking about Medal of Honor: Frontline, which is kind of a sore subject with me. Being on the PS2, the graphics might not be as good as the PC version, in raw terms, and controlling an FPS on a console has been difficult for me in any game but Halo.

A well deserved comment-- regardless of what I or anyone else said (or still says) about mouse and keyboard controls being superior, Halo's controls are easy to learn and are surprisingly comfortable.

Oh, and the comic is worth a look too, for the pictures of Gabe's secret in Filth Weekly...