XBox 360 Rally

Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hann… well, no. Hanukkah is over, but still. I hope you had a good one.

See you all on Wednesday.

I own it. You own it. Odds are your friends own it. There is simply no denying that Halo 3 is an absolute beast of a game. In its first day in the US, Halo 3 made nearly $200 million, and helped Microsoft by being a definite system seller, pushing 527K consoles out the door in September. But just how impressive are the numbers?

Well, according to the NPD numbers through November, 4.1 million copies of Halo 3 have been purchased in the US. Meanwhile, there have been 7.9 million Xbox 360 consoles sold in the US since its launch just over two years ago. Doing the math, a whopping 52% of all Xbox 360 owners own Halo 3.

That’s more than half, people. And with Christmas looming but a week away, you can expect both Halo 3 and the Xbox 360’s numbers to increase.

[GameDaily]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Bungie, Halo 3

A sting operation in El Paso, Texas where fugitives were informed that they had won free electronics including Xbox 360s, has resulted in over 100 arrests.

“Our goal is to try to keep El Paso safe and arrest as many fugitives as we can,” said U.S. Marshal supervisor Gerry Payan.

The operation was aimed specifically at targeting those with past illigal entry, violence and drug charges (because apparently all gamers are drugged up illegals with hot heads ). 129 warrants were cleared in all, and over $25,000 worth of traffic fines were collected.

Just more proof that the Xbox 360 draws you in. But remember south Texans… if you are told you won a free 360, in the words of Admiral Ackbar “It’s a trap!”.

[Shack News]

Xbox 360, El Paso, Texas, U.S. Marshal

Tecmo has released the first image of the Ninja Gaiden II box art, which will surely have fanboys squealing like gleeful children from now until they get to slice their first head off of “Poor Bastard #1″ in the sequel.

God, I can’t wait to get this damn game.

[HIGH RES]

Ninja Gaiden II

Hi, boys and girls. It’s just me, your friendly neighborhood JW, here to remind you all that we’re currently looking for people to replace us here at Xbox 360 Rally. All you have to do is go HERE, fill out the form, and wait to hear back. It’s really not that hard.

So, get to it already — so Paco and I can get to the NEW site!

Odds are you’re going to be heading out tonight for the highly-anticipated Halo 3 launch. Hell, it’s very possible that you’re already there, reading this on a laptop… in which case, I pity your soul. But, all the same you should know what to do to survive this Halo 3 onslaught, and get through the night.

So, after the break I’m going to give you a few survival tips to help you get through the long, difficult night ahead.

(more…)

Ok, people, here’s the deal — Paco and I are on our way out. We’re taking over at 1PStart.com in an effort to restore it to it’s former glory. …that, and I just plain want to write about another game every once in a while, is that so wrong?!

Anyways, here is what we’re looking for: A competent, capable writer with a love for all things Xbox. Now, by competent writer, we mean someone who spells “you” correctly, and knows when to capitalize. If you can do that, you’re a shoe-in. So, CLICK THIS DAMN LINK, do the required stuff, then get paid to play video games and write about stuff.

…hell, Mike and I did the hard stuff already, and YES, the GTA4 Banner contest will continue, and I will still give you a copy of GTA IV… or something. So, hop to it.

Xbox 360 Rally, JW, Stuff, Job Openings

Remember earlier this week when someone got their grubby little mits on Halo 3 early and tried to sell it on eBay? Yeah, well apparently that douche bag is hell bent on ruining the Halo 3 ride for everyone else, as apparently he has leaked the ending to Halo 3 onto the internet. Sites like Joystiq, Gaming Today and Gaming Nexus are all reporting that someone, who is RUMORED to be the aforementioned douche bag, is trying to spoil the ending to Halo 3 by posting it on YouTube.

For the record, it’s been taken down, and I hope Microsoft gives him the grade A banhammer. If you wanna watch it on your own, go find it. We won’t be linking you here, for we fear Microsoft.

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Halo 3, Bungie, YouTube, douche baggery

UK Halo fans, you have my condolences. It appears that all Halo 3 midnight launch plans in the United Kingdom have been scrapped. You see, the people in Westminster (no idea where that is) fear that so many people would show up for the midnight launch, that there would be panic in the streets of London.

Man, that must suck for you guys, not being able to get your Halo fix at midnight. As for me and my fat, stupid, bloated, self-righteous American ass? …yeah, I’ll be at my local GameStop, getting my hands on some Legendary Edition goodness. For those of you in Westminster… you’ll get yours on the 25th.

[CVG]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Halo 3, Midnight Launch, Bungie, United Kingdom

Look, I’ll be straight up with you guys — today is Saturday. Tennessee is playing Florida, Michigan is playing Notre Dame, and my Spartans are currently beating that Pittsburgh ASS! So, there won’t be any “Games We Want on Xbox LIVE” this week — however, I will be back next week with Aladdin.

See y’all later.

Aladdin, Disney, Sega Genesis, Xbox LIVE Arcade

Megatonik is cool. Really cool. So cool, in fact, that they would have been the first recipients of the monthly “JW Seal of Awesome”… if I wasn’t lazy as hell. Regardless, zizzy (semi-frequent commenter here) has made a most intersting discovery while reading up on Halo 3 that supports our earlier story about Clan Support on Xbox LIVE.

While looking through some Halo 3 details on his Dashboard, zizzy discovered the following message under Halo 3 > Expand your LIVE Experience > Online Game Play:

Clans are one option for playing ranked matches. A clan is a player-created group for playing ranked matches as a team. With clans, you know the players backing you up are dedicated, and the players you’re going to face will be just as dedicated.

Now, keep in mind that Bungie has confirmed that there is no Clan support build into Halo 3. So, unless Bungie changed its mind, you would have to think that this is feature would have to come via an update.

So, does this mean will we see the fall update in the next two weeks?

[Megatonik]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Bungie, Halo 3, Dashboard Update, Clans

I don’t know who commissioned this Halo 3 marketing campaign, but it is, in a word, brilliant. Here is the third, 90-second installment, of the Halo 3 “Believe” campaign.

If this model set made it’s way to eBay, I would mortgage my house to own it.

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Halo 3, Bungie, Believe

It was bound to happen somewhere, and sure enough it has: A store in Norway by the name of “Empire” has broken the Halo 3 street date, and sold at least one copy early.

…this is yet another example of how stores like GameStop need to hire people who actually have knowledge about video games! Every time you see a street date broken, it’s because someone who doesn’t know Xbox from PlayStation saw a box of games, went “Hey, we have new games”, and just threw them on store shelves.

I’m tired of this.

[MaxConsole]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Bungie, Halo 3, Norway

Michael Pachter, or who I consider the Mel Kiper of the gaming industry, has come out and stated that he expects to see Halo 3 sell [three] MILLION copies in the first twelve days. Pachter also says that we can expect to see Halo 3 drive console sales, possibly pushing as many as 400,000 Xbox 360s out the door, in what would (obviously?) be the highest figures of any non-holiday month since it’s launch in November, 2005.

Now, it goes without saying that Halo 3 is going to be a system seller. Halo 3 was the quickest to one million pre-orders, and the hype machine surrounding the game’s launch is on par with most presidential campaigns. Everyone knows it’s coming, most if not all Xbox 360 owners are psyched for it, and when that fateful Monday night gets here, sidewalks will be crowded with dozens of Halo 3 fanatics.

Which reminds me — I’ll be doing Halo 3 launch coverage. It’s going to be awesome.

[Gamasutra]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Bungie, Halo 3, Michael Pachter

I can’t say I am excited about all three, but, hey, I never say no to demo’s, I download all, no joke. Juiced is coming in with an 8 player online demo, so that should be fun, I am particular on racing games, but I am willing to give them a shot (even though I haven’t found the time to play the one player demo which I have sitting on my hard drive). This is running 1.37GB.

Spider-Man Friend or Foe had me turned off from the first screens and demos. The concept of the co-op with villians is so so, but, again, I will download anything, plus this is running in at only 431mb)

Though I am no ‘futball’ fan, EA just released some FIFA screens, and they are HUGE, but you can see such awesome detail, that even if it isn’t a game you are into, you can appreciate the eye candy of it all. (Demo runs in at 702mb btw) Check the screen below, I left them original size, EA hooked it up with these pics, I must remind you again, they are HUGE (4856×2731 resolution):

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Xbox 360, Spider-Man, Juiced, FIFA, Soccer, Screenshots, Demos, Xbox Live Marketplace