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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

When Microsoft finally discontinued Xbox Live support for Halo 2 on April 15, it was the end of an era. Gamers from around the world who spent inordinate amounts of time fragging each other in Halo 2's many levels were forced to say goodbye.

However, as most left for newer alternatives, some refused to let go just yet.

"Throughout the past week, a small group of dedicated Halo 2 players kept their Xbox's on so that they could enjoy the game for a while longer," Bungie Community member "Joe Campbell" wrote in a forum. He said even though Microsoft has turned off support for Halo 2, the players have been able to keep playing the game because they haven't turned their consoles off and maintained a constant connection to Xbox Live since April 15.

"As long as we don't turn off our Xbox's, or lose connection, we can stay online," Campbell wrote. "Our Xboxes have been on for nearly 12 days straight."

Staying online for 12 days has been difficult. The original group was much larger, but due to dropped Web connections and consoles overheating because of constant use, gamers have been dropping out "at a rapid rate." As of this writing, there are 14 gamers currently playing Halo 2 even after support has been discontinued.

The gamers who are left say they plan to keep Halo 2 for as long as possible. Campbell said he and his fellow Halo 2 gamers "will keep playing until we are all forcibly removed."

To prove that the players are actually still able to access Halo 2 and take on each other online, some have been live streaming the bouts between players. One gamer, "Z0mbie," has more than three hours of footage showing the last remaining people playing the game over Xbox Live.

There's no telling how much longer the remaining 14 gamers will be able to hold out until they are forced to bid adieu. But they expect the end to come by way of "Microsoft, Bungie, our Xbox's overheating, or just lagging out."

But don't think that they're doing this for accolades or prizes. According to Campbell, he and the rest of the gamers continue to play Bungie's classic "not for competition, not for a prize, but for the love, and memory of Halo 2."

Capcom’s shooting things action game Lost Planet 2 is packed full of jiggling thong clad maidens, thanks to a rather overactive physics system.

Gameplay videos taken by the desperate demonstrate the effects:




Some have complained that it is hard to concentrate with all this going on, not that sales look likely to suffer.

The reaction:

Looks like a freeware game.

Could easily be a PS2 or even PS game.

The PS3 just can’t do this kind of sophisticated lighting!

Totally looks like a cheap doujin game.

PSP is it? Ah, Wii, right? It’s for… the Xbox 360?

Looks worth 800 points, no more.

Something like this is fine. It’s just a character game after all.

I thought it was for the PSP!

"AP is reporting that Activision has countersued former Infinity Ward executives Jason West and Vince Zampella. Activision claims West & Zampella 'morphed from valued, responsible executives into insubordinate and self-serving schemers who attempted to hijack Activision's assets for their own personal gain and whose actions threatened both the future of the Call of Duty franchise and the future of Activision's (Infinity Ward) studio.'"

This follows Activision's firing of the execs earlier this year. Legal documents indicate that this legal dispute has caused delays in the production of Modern Warfare 3. Lawyers for the two fired execs say Activision's claims are ridiculous, citing Modern Warfare 2's overwhelming financial success. Meanwhile, it's rumored that EA is seeing the whole fiasco as an opportunity.

"A screw-up in EA's Warhammer Online billing system has resulted in many players being charged upwards of 22 times for a one-month subscription, filling bank accounts with overdraft fees and the Warhammer forums with very angry players, who are discussing the issue quite vocally. EA has said that refunds are in progress and that '[they] anticipate that once the charges have been reversed, any fees that have been incurred should be refunded as well.' They haven't specifically promised to refund overdraft charges, only to ask customers' banks to refund them once the actual charges are refunded. They seem to be assuming banks will have no problem with this."

The official Strike Witches shooting game planned for the Xbox 360, Strike Witches – Shirogane no Tsubasa (Silver Wings), has finally been detailed, with plenty of 3D pantsu well in evidence.

The fifth-generation Pokémon game has been announced! At least, the titles for the next generation have been announced -- Pokémon Black and White are the next pair of Pokémon games, to be released this fall on DS in Japan. Nintendo's going for relatively simple colors after things like "HeartGold" and "Pearl." And ... that's pretty much all we know. Of course, given the way the series works, we can all kind of guess exactly how this will play. Or maybe not: a note on the Pokemon home page promises that "every aspect will be reborn innovatively," according to our translation.

The first new creature from this generation has already been revealed as a sort of teaser: Zoroark, the Monster Fox Pokémon. The teaser site indicates that we'll know more April 15.

April 6, 2010 -- Bioware does it again with a bigger story line, and epic scenery, Mass Effect II has brought its third person shooters Role Playing Game a whole new level, Bioware did deliver from it’s first predecessor from Mass Effect I, you pick your character, you can choose between soldier, adept, vanguard, and engineer.

The game takes place in the year 2183, with the player, assuming the role of a human protagonist Commander Shepard, Shepard's body is retrieved by Cerberus, an extremist pro-human organization. Over the course of two years, attempts are made to bring Shepard back to life via the Lazarus Project.
After Shepard aids Cerberus agents Jacob Taylor and Miranda Lawson, Shepard is granted an audience with the Illusive Man, who explains that Shepard was revived and 'upgraded' in return for his/her aid combating a new threat. After playing through the game every detailed texture has polished, the result is that every little dialogue snippet is about as engaging as they come.
It was innovative when Mass Effect 1 first came out, and it's still so far ahead of the curve, backed up by further refinements, including a quick-time interrupt system,

Yes we played them all before, and we have been disappointed with the campaign, unless if you are a true Halo fan this would not have been said. However, this will be a new campaign everything has been revamped, so sorry for the old veterans of Halo, but look on the bright side, you’ll have a new fresh Halo game for you, and your Xbox Live buddies.

There is something oddly mystifying about treasure hunting. To go out into the wilderness, slay some baddies, and loot a treasure chest with glee. Borderlands, by 2k Games, tries to emphasize just that. You are greeted to the world of the Borderlands by arriving to the planet of Pandora, which is basically a desert hell-hole full of psychopaths and monsters, but having plenty of treasure and a mysterious ancient alien Vault that must be looted. Honestly, what more do you need?

The beginning of the game is my main praising over anything else. You start off by choosing any one of a group of 4 linear characters; the Sniper, the Medic, the Tank, and the Girl. Yes there, must always be a girl, but I love this, it makes the game easy to understand unlike the pain-in-the-arse system that Fallout 3 gave me. In which I spawned into the middle of desert (ironically, just like this game) and was promptly murdered by an enemy some 10 times my own level because the game decided it would be so much more fun not to show me a clear objective. But, Borderlands; you start

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