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Halo 3 players will get three all new multiplayer maps on December 11th 2007 as part of the Heroic Map Pack, the first in a series of downloadable content from Bungie Studios to come via Xbox Live.

It will be available for 800 Microsoft Points (that’s US$10 / €9.60 / £6.80 / CAN$12.40 / AU$13.20) on Xbox Live Marketplace, each map presents a totally different play style. Standoff’s symmetrical valley, with its entrenched bases and fields of boulders is ideal for mid-sized objective and Slayer game types, while Rat’s Nest’s vast, labyrinthine passages bring something new to the Halo multiplayer experience: an indoor vehicle paradise, strongly influenced by the Campaign mode, ideal for big team battles. Finally, Foundry is the ultimate Forge map – players can edit every single object in this voluminous industrial warehouse, place stairways, walls, bridges and tunnels to create an entirely new play space and build almost any kind of map they can think of.

Like Gears of War’s multiplayer map pack, all three maps will become available for FREE download via Xbox Live Marketplace in Spring 2008, just prior to the next wave of all new Halo 3 multiplayer maps.

The Forge also allows players to edit and customize all three maps, keeping Halo 3’s multiplayer experience fresh, exciting and evolving. In addition, ongoing updates to Halo 3’s matchmaking playlists ensure that ranked and social gameplay remains dynamic and competitive.

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Microsoft has released the Xbox Live activity up to last week this month. These top 10 lists for the original Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Arcade games count global unique users connected to Xbox Live or in the case of Arcade, full versions purchased.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles:
1. Halo 3
2. Call of Duty 4
3. Gears of War
4. Guitar Hero III
5. Madden NFL 08
6. Guitar Hero II
7. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas
8. Guitar Hero III Demo
9. Assassin’s Creed
10. Forza Motorsport 2

Top Arcade Titles:
1. Switchball
2. Word Puzzle
3. Sonic The Hedgehog 2
4. UNO
5. Screwjumper!
6. TMNT 1989 Arcade
7. Shrek-n-Roll
8. Bomberman LIVE
9. Worms
10. Tetris Splash

Original Xbox Top Live Games:
1. Halo 2
2. Battlefield 2: MC
3. Star Wars: Battlefront 2
4. Counter-Strike
5. Madden NFL 08
6. Call of Duty 3
7. Madden NFL 07
8. Rainbow Six 3
9. Ghost Recon 2
10. Forza Motorsport

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Xbox Live turns five years old on November 15th! And to celebrate it’s five year anniversary, Microsoft has a number of events planned. These coincide not only with the five year anniversary of the Xbox Live service itself but also with the recent anniversary of the revamped Xbox 360 Xbox Live Arcade (which debuted on November 22nd, 2005).

So what events does Microsoft have planned for it’s big birthday bash? There will be quite a bit going on. First of all is the “Xbox Live for 5ive” Promotion on the 15th (read more about that below). On the 16th will be a “Frag Doll Friday” session where you can play against the all-girl gaming fraggers. They will be playing the original classic Xbox title Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, check the Frag Doll Xbox 360 page for more information.

On the 17th and 18th will be a special all-night gaming session with the classic first-person shooter Return to Castle Wolfenstein. If you take some pics of your all-night session, and let them know what happened during the all-nighter, how long you played and how many friends (or enemies) you created, then send it in to xlmail@microsoft.com for a chance to be featured on the site. They’ll also be having a Family Game Night featuring LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga on the 20th.

In addition, Microsoft is also holding a “Play and Win” contest. Xbox 360 owners who register their gamertags before November 15 and play an online multiplayer game on the anniversary will be entered to win an array of accessories for the system from an HD-DVD player add-on to a 1,600 Microsoft points card.

The main event though is the “Xbox Live is 5ive” promotion and it will start on 9am to 8:30pm on November 15th, where developers from 17 of the hottest new Xbox Live enabled Xbox 360 titles will be online for you to play against in a bevy of Xbox Live games. Check out the list and remember to mark your calenders so you don’t forgot to challenge them to your favorite titles!

* Halo Wars Dev Team: Look for the creators of this upcoming strategy game playing Halo 3 from 9:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. (more…)

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What are the best-selling games in America, Japan, and Europe (UK) this week? Thanks to Amazon online sales data here are the games that are the most popular now.

Nintendo Wii
North America: 1. Wii Play (Nintendo), 2. Carnival Games (Global Star), 3. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 4. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts), 5. Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party (Konami).

Japan: 1. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo), 2. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 3. Ghost Squad (Sega), 4. Dragon Quest Swords: Kamen no Joou to Kagami no Tou (Square Enix), 5. Hajimete no Wii (Nintendo).

Europe: 1. Big Brain Academy for Wii (Nintendo), 2. The Simpsons Game (EA Games), 3. Carnival Funfair Games (2K Games), 4. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo), 5. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Nintendo).

Xbox 360
North America: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 3. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 4. The Orange Box (EA Games), 5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Activision).

Japan: 1. Ace Combat 6: Kaihou e no Senka (Namco), 2. The Idol M@ster — Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Namco), 3. Just Cause: Viva Revolution (EA Games), 4. Chikyuu Boueigun 3 — Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (D3 Publisher), 5. Dead Rising / Gears of War — Xbox 360 Platinum Double Pack (Capcom / Microsoft).

Europe: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 3. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare — Special Edition (Activision), 5. The Orange Box (EA Games).

PlayStation 3
North America: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (SCEA), 3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 4. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts), 5. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA).

Japan: 1. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Ubisoft), 2. Minna no Golf 5 (SCEI), 3. The Eye of Judgment: Biolith Rebellion (SCEI), 4. Imabikisou (Spike), 5. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Spike).

Europe: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction (SCEE), 3. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 4. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 5. Sega Rally (Sega).

PlayStation 2 (more…)

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Bungie have revealed they are actively working on a new non-Halo game. While there will be more Halo content, they’ve got new ideas in development. To quote Bungie’s studio manager Harold Ryan:

“Obviously Microsoft wanted us to make more Halo games. Both I and some of the more senior guys from the original Halo game have deep piles of game designs for the Halo universe that we are excited to build at some point. If the stars align and motivations are good and the platforms are right we’ll do them.

But, on the other hand, a lot of the staff here are fans of the original game or fans of the studio. We shipped Halo with 45 people and now we’re 115, so two thirds of the studio have only shipped one or two games in the Halo series. For the most part they came here because they were really excited to work at Bungie and in the Halo universe. So from that point of view we don’t have a shortage of people happy to make Halo games.

But obviously there are guys that have shipped Halo games for ten years, and they are definitely ready to work on new IPs or create new things. We’re actively engaged with the senior staff here on a couple of new IPs right now, but the team that can generate cool Halo games is still running full-speed as well.

Previously Bungie had tried to create new spin-off projects, but the crunch around Halo 2 meant those were cancelled. He explained: “During the development of Halo and Halo 2, we had other, non-Halo IPs in development and we killed those projects both times. Both teams were swallowed whole by the Halo team. With Halo 3, that was the first time we know that we couldn’t let that happen – it’s not an acceptable way out to add 20 people to the project by killing that prototype.

We kept that prototype running throughout the development of Halo 3 and now we have a creative team which feels like they own that. We also have Halo DLC on the way, and a new IP prototype that we are very excited about. Then we have other Halo games [Halo Wars and Peter Jackson’s episodic Halo game] that are cranking along also. So the end result so far has been exactly as it should have been – we’re happy, excited, and doing our best work on a path that lets us grow.”

Full interview at Developmag, via CVG

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Bungie has already been hard at work on new Halo 3 multiplayer maps to offer as downloadable content on the Xbox Live Marketplace. In a recent weekly update, the company talks about four of the maps that are in development. To quote:

“O.K. Corral is an asymmetrical medium-sized map and O.K. Corral had its lighting tweaked considerably. The changes shifted the sun’s position shifted, giving the entire map a warm death-at-sunset feel. The sun’s rays stream through trees and into the blown out structure that often ends up at the very epicenter of combat (assuming you’ve procured some kind of close-quarters weapon). If you haven’t got anything short range, however, there’s a variety of multi-level open air catwalks, with glorious sight-lines down long semi-protected alleyways where you can rain death from above.

Jodrell Bank, a map Frankie talked about in recent weeks, is fast becoming one of my favorite maps from our excellent smorgasbord of DLC maps. It’s a Team Slayer main course and player counts would fit swimmingly into both Social Slayer and Team Slayer hoppers and I think it might even be possible to shoehorn a few more players into the mix without overcrowding things.

Purple Reign continues to see slick revisions. The earliest iteration of the map actually had a completely different overall shape. If I sketched the cross section of the map’s floor onto a napkin it would’ve looked like a small hill, but when you played it, it wasn’t readily apparent. In the last month, the concavity was changed so that if you were staring the same napkin with the new version of it it’d look more like a gently sloping bowl. The difference in the way the map played then versus now is pretty remarkable. Subtle changes to the floor’s geometry resulted in wider lines of sight for players staring down one half of the map and an intricate and strategic mix of floor/column/ramp gameplay on the other side and all of the sneaky jumps those mechanics entail.

One of the sooner-than-later maps is a treat we’re calling Vandelay. Vandelay is structurally the simplest map we’ve ever made, yet the tools that we’re providing with the help of the Forge give the map tons of potential. That potential could be used for devising clever contraptions, unique playspaces and when paired with Player Traits could become a test bed for new ideas from both Bungie and the playerbase.
(more…)

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What are the best-selling games in America, Japan, and Europe (UK) this week? Thanks to Amazon online sales data here are the games that are the most popular now.

Nintendo Wii
North America: 1. Wii Play (Nintendo), 2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 3. Carnival Games (Global Star), 4. Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party (Konami), 5. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo).

Japan: 1. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo), 2. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 3. Ghost Squad (Sega), 4. Dragon Quest Swords: Kamen no Joou to Kagami no Tou (Square Enix), 5. Takarajima Z: Barbaros no Hihou (Capcom).

Europe: 1. Big Brain Academy for Wii (Nintendo), 2. Carnival Funfair Games (2K Games), 3. The Simpsons Game (EA Games), 4. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo), 5. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Nintendo).

Xbox 360
North America: 1. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Activision), 4. The Orange Box (EA Games), 5. BioShock (2K Games).

Japan: 1. Ace Combat 6: Kaihou e no Senka (Namco), 2. The Idol M@ster — Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Namco), 3. Chikyuu Boueigun 3 — Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (D3 Publisher), 4. Dead Rising / Gears of War — Xbox 360 Platinum Double Pack (Capcom / Microsoft), 5. Gears of War — Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Microsoft).

Europe: 1. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 2. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 3. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 4. The Orange Box (EA Games), 5. Project Gotham Racing 4 (Microsoft).

PlayStation 3
North America: 1. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (SCEA), 2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 3. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA), 4. The Simpsons Game (EA Games), 5. FIFA Soccer 08 (EA Sports).

Japan: 1. Imabikisou (Japan), 2. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Spike), 3. The Eye of Judgment: Biolith Rebellion (SCEI), 4. Rise from Lair (SCEI), 5. Minna no Golf 5 (SCEI).

Europe: 1. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEE), 2. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 3. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 4. MotorStorm (SCEE), 5. Heavenly Sword (SCEE).

PlayStation 2 (more…)

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In this 80’s episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, we follow Mister Rogers to a local Arcade Hall. Watch as Mister Rogers and a friend play the video game Donkey Kong and find out how exciting it is in- and outside. Special cameo by Keith David who nowadays plays the voice of the Arbiter in Halo 2 and Halo 3. If you’re not used to hearing Mr. Rogers talk, keep in mind that this man was genuinely nice to everyone and throughout his life he was an advocate for the education and welfare of children. Enjoy this video flashback.

PS: Yes, the plumber Mario started out as the carpenter Jumpman in Donkey Kong.

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You may have heard recently that Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and creator of Pong (a game idea he took from the real founder, Ralph Baer who made the first home video game console in 1968) called modern video games “unadulterated trash” . . . quite a statement from a guy who’s been out of the business for some time.

On that note, Gametap interviewed him and got some more quotes out of the guy.

Nolan explained that his scorn on modern games was reserved for a “narrow segment” of gaming, which includes titles like “Halo 3″ and “Grand Theft Auto” (natch), calling them out for their “deification of antisocial behavior,” even going so far as to say that Halo 3 is nothing more than a “Doom-clone” (remember that term), stating that Halo 3 is “Doom 1 in different clothing. The clothing is nicer, but the game is the same.”

So what games are innovative and not just “Doom-clones” in his eyes? He pointed to stuff like Guitar Hero, DDR (which are actually quite similar given they are both music rhythm games) and of course, Nintendo’s ultra-popular back-it-and-people-will-love-you-more Wii console, saying, “Even though the bowling is the same, doing it on the videogame, using the Wii controller, that’s an innovation.” (lots of commas, I know . . . Oops)

Finally, he goes on to give us this bit of wisdom: “There’s a lot of people who think that bigger, faster, better is an innovation. It’s not. It’s just bigger, faster, better.”

Erm, yeah . . . Do I laugh or cry? *laughs* — Via Joystiq

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What are the best-selling games in America, Japan, and Europe (UK) this week? Thanks to Amazon online sales data here are the games that are the most popular now.

Nintendo Wii
North America: 1. Wii Play (Nintendo), 2. Carnival Games (Global Star), 3. Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party (Konami), 4. Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure (Capcom), 5. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo).

Japan: 1. Ghost Squad (Sega), 2. Gintama: Banji Oku Chuubu (Bandai), 3. Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party (Konami), 4. Takarajima Z: Barbaros no Hihou (Capcom), 5. Dragon Quest Swords: Kamen no Joou to Kagami no Tou (Square Enix).

Europe: 1. Carnival Funfair Games (2K Games), 2. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Nintendo), 3. Big Brain Academy for Wii (Nintendo), 4. Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis (Rockstar), 5. MySims (EA Games).

Xbox 360
North America: 1. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 2. The Orange Box (EA Games), 3. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (Namco Bandai), 4. BioShock (2K Games), 5. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation — Flightstick Bundle (Namco Bandai).

Japan: 1. Beautiful Katamari Damacy (Namco), 2. Blade Storm: Hyakunen Sensou (Koei), 3. Halo 3: Limited Edition (Microsoft), 4. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 5. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Spike).

Europe: 1. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 2. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 3. The Orange Box (EA Games), 4. BioShock (2K Games), 5. Project Gotham Racing 4 (Microsoft).

PlayStation 3
North America: 1. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (SCEA), 2. The Eye of Judgment — PlayStation Eye Camera Bundle (SCEA), 3. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda), 4. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA), 5. FIFA Soccer 08 (EA Sports).

Japan: 1. Imabikisou (Japan), 2. The Eye of Judgment: Biolith Rebellion (SCEI), 3. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Spike), 4. The Godfather: The Don’s Edition (EA Games), 5. Minna no Golf 5 (SCEI).

Europe: 1. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 2. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEE), 3. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 4. MotorStorm (SCEE), 5. Formula One Championship Edition (SCEE).

PlayStation 2 (more…)

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