Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Not having any video games to play is now officially becoming torture...

I found myself up at 3:00 AM last night after staying up to get my latest Netflix DVD (Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby) watched and ready for the mailbox, as my wife had no interest in another inane Will Ferrell movie, and wanted the next disc on our queue sent to us as quickly as possible. As is typical when I'm still awake at that hour of the morning, I end up delaying sleep even longer by channel surfing, and today I ended up on the G4 network watching a recast of the Microsoft press conference from the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3), the major yearly video gaming conference going on this week in Santa Monica, CA. If Wander ever wanted to sell me on an Xbox 360, he should have just had me watch this conference--them games are super cool!

The Microsoft presentation ended with news about Halo 3. I have yet to play Halo 1, but by the enthusiasm of the crowd and the fact that everyone from serious gaming addicts like Wander to even casual players like Scratch were big fans of the game makes me think that the release of the third sequel is a huge deal. As is typical of Microsoft, though, they had a dramatic announcement of the Halo 3-branded Xbox 360 which was met with the sound of crickets. Why anyone thought simply coloring an Xbox green and printing Halo 3 on it would bring down the house is beyond me.

Anywho, they showed a couple of videos related to Halo 3. The first was a live action trailer that I think was a teaser for what would have been the Peter Jackson-produced (complete with Weta Workshop special effects) Halo movie, had Microsoft not gotten so greedy and basically made the whole project fall apart. The second is the official trailer for Halo 3 the video game. Wander, I suggest lining your floor with plastic and having Tellulah ready with a mop before watching because I'm afraid your head might explode:


Online Videos by Veoh.com


Online Videos by Veoh.com

4 comments:

Wander said...

Pimp! How can you resist the sweet siren call any longer? Can you not see these games were MADE for us? And together (through on line co-op) we can beat Halo 3 together, and Gears Of War, and Too Human, and Mass Effect, and the score of new 360 exclusive games that are coming. Join me and together we will own the cyber realm! It is your destiny...

(seriously though, watch, and hell post, the trailers for Too Human, and Mass Effect that they released yesterday. I'm telling you, it is a golden age for sci-fi gamers. Plus you get to talk to me! On line! While we play! I rock to talk to, ask Crackah. Crackah who will be next on my list to corrupt by the way)

Anonymous said...

Yep, that gets me pretty fired up and pretty disappointed all at the same time. Fired up because I loved playing Halo, Halo 2, and going head to head online. You want to talk about losing some sleep. The online stuff sucked me in to the point where 7 hours would pass and I would realize that I had only 3 possible hours of sleep left before I had to get up again. The movie trailer looked pretty cool. I was not aware of the stuff you were talking about in regards to a Peter Jackson movie. That would have been sweet.

You can't knock Microsoft too hard for creating a Halo 3 console. While it was met by crickets I think they will be hitting a decent market because I think there are some gamers who have held out on the 360 just for this video game. Also, you have to remember that your beloved Apple has done some similar things with their Ipod a.k.a. the U2 themed version.

Swany said...

Yeah, Peter Jackson was supposed to be the executive producer on a Halo movie that was to be released next summer. From what I recall, Microsoft demanded all kinds of control over the creative aspects of the project and wanted to retain full merchandising rights which made the big movie studios less than willing to invest the money needed to make the film a reality.

Now, after reading Wild Willie's comments, I'm almost afraid to get an Xbox 360 for fear that I'd be left a video game playing zombie like in that old episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where Wesley Crusher and his girlfriend (played by Ashley Judd) are the only one's not falling into the alien trap.

So, Wander, I must say, "I'll never join you!" Well, at least not today. ;-)

Wander said...

You worry what video games will make you, but reference a ST:TNG episode in the same argument? Your path has already long been chosen. Join me in the dork side, and together as pimp and wanderer we shall rule the galaxy!