Halo

With the March 3 release of Halo Wars for the Xbox 360, one of gaming's most popular brands took a potentially risky step into uncharted waters. Instead of a twitch-based first-person shooter, Halo Wars is a real-time strategy game. This complex genre, perhaps best described as Stratego meets the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, has befuddled mainstream gamers for years, even with occasional hits such as Command & Conquer and Starcraft. (Despite having covered the video game business off-and-on for the past 10 years, I'm still an RTS novice.)

Having had a chance to get some serious hands-on time with … Read more

Last week, Democrat Rep. Joe Baca introduced "The Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2009." If passed, the bill would create a new rule in the Consumer Product Safety Commission forcing developers to affix a warning on any game rated Teen or higher.

The label would read, "WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior."

In a press release sent out by the Congressman's office, Baca defended his position and explained that the video game industry must be held accountable for violence.

"The video game industry has a responsibility to parents, families, and to consumers--to inform them of the potentially damaging content that is often found in their products," he wrote. "They have repeatedly failed to live up to this responsibility. Meanwhile, research continues to show a proven link between playing violent games and increased aggression in young people. American families deserve to know the truth about these potentially dangerous products."

He continued: "We must hold the video game industry accountable and do everything in our power to ensure parents are aware of the detrimental effects that violent games can have before making decisions on which games are appropriate for their children to play."

Let me get this straight: lawmakers now want to affix a warning label, much like those already placed on cigarette packs, to warn the world about the possible danger violent video games can create? What a joke.

First off, video games should not be treated the same as cigarettes at any time. One entertains people, and the other quietly kills them. Secondly, there is no solid evidence to support the claim that violent video games cause children to be more aggressive.… Read more

A teenage boy in Ohio has been convicted of murdering his mother because she took away his copy of the video game Halo 3, and now faces the possibility of life in prison.

Daniel Petric, 17, shot both his mother and father in October 2007 with a handgun after what was potentially "weeks" of planning, according to the Associated Press. His father survived, but his mother died of a wound to the head. Petric's defense attorneys had argued that he was not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming that he was dangerously addicted to Halo 3. Petric … Read more

With Funai licensing the Philips brand in 2009, things have gotten a little confusing about just what's going on with Philips home audio and video products. But it appears that all the products that Philips announced at CES 2009--including the new 7000 series Flat TVs--are true Philips products. Philips had already planned out its 2009 line and Funai Electric will be taking over the production of that line this year.

Thus far, details are scant on just when the new 7000 series LCD TVs will be released and how much they'll cost. However, they do have a new … Read more

We discover a fun new tautology on today's show (you know, competition...for the win?), have a fun time goofing off with Brian Tong, rail against Apple's decision to include HDCP restrictions in its new MacBooks, and rejoice at the arrival of Netflix streaming on the Xbox 360 (minus a few select Sony movies, ahem). Also: India takes on Google in the Earth-spying department. Yeah, India! Go, India!

Apple’s new MacBooks have built-in copy protection measures (thanks Mager!) http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/11/18/apples_new_macbooks_have_built_in_copy_protection_measures.html http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/11/17/apple-brings-hdcp-to-a-new-aluminum-macbook-near-you… Read more

Microsoft made a splash recently by announcing (among other things), Halo 3: Recon, which is slated for release next Fall. According to the company, the title will feature a new protagonist and be a prelude to the events we played through in the original Halo games.

At first glance, the game sounds like a smart idea: Halo is one of the most celebrated titles in the history of gaming and is one of the main reasons the Xbox and Xbox 360 are relevant today. But the question of whether or not we should have another Halo hit store shelves is not an easy one to answer.

The original Halo title for the Xbox was undoubtedly one of the best games of that generation. It featured outstanding gameplay, a pretty good story, and a multiplayer experience that was unrivaled at the time. Since then, though, the Halo franchise has become a shadow of its former self.

Sure, Halo 2 and Halo 3 may have been embraced by gamers and the latter made $170 million in its first day of availability, but anyone who played through the last two games knows all too well that the experience couldn't match the first game, the stories weren't nearly as appealing as the first, and the gameplay couldn't quite compete with the first title.

And now, Microsoft wants to go back to the well to see if it can squeeze every last ounce of cash out of the Halo franchise before it enters gaming's retirement home. Financially, it will probably behoove Microsoft to do so. But from a long-term perspective, will it do more damage than good?

I think so.… Read more

Over the weekend I played with a very cool tool from video host GameVee. It's called Grab, and it will pull saved videos from the console hit Halo 3 and deliver them to the cloud where they can be replayed without the need of local hardware or Halo software.

Typically to watch these videos you must first find and download them through the in-game video browser, then run them in the game's replay engine. More importantly, gamers are only given a certain amount of space to host their videos, and can only share six at a time without … Read more

Over the past few weeks, I've heard from reputable news outlets that video games are made specifically for men and most women find little reason to play.

According to these neanderthals, games like MGS4 and GTAIV are designed for men, just like sports games are, driving simulators are, and most other titles are. And if titles are not made for men, they're made for children. All the while, women are left out in the cold.

But is that even close to true? I certainly don't think so, and to be quite honest, I think it's insulting to women to suggest such a thing. Just because most media outlets show men playing video games and the majority of people playing games are men, it doesn't mean women are left out, and you might be surprised to know that women really do play games and have a very real interest in the industry.

Even with that in mind, I don't see why it's so hard to accept. How have we come to a point where we denigrate the fact that women play video games and try desperately to paint it as a male-controlled industry? Evidently it stems from a total disregard for the facts, but maybe (just maybe) some people are opening their eyes for once.… Read more

There are few things that video game publishers--or any consumer products companies, for that matter--like more than reaching big, notable milestones.

So it was with considerable pride that Activision's wholly owned Infinity Ward studio told me Tuesday that its war game, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, has just sold its 10 millionth copy.

Infinity Ward studio head Vince Zampella didn't know exactly how many units the game had sold on each platform it is available on--the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC--but did say that COD 4 had been most successful on the Xbox.

These days, monster … Read more