the Hushed Casket

LINK

Through Xbox 360 Fanboy and the Bungie weekly update I recently found the above linked blog, Ascendant Justice. The author has painstakingly and thoughtfully compiled the story of the Forerunners from all the information gleaned from the Halo 3 terminals as well as tidbits from other Halo campaigns and lore. The story is not only a great addition to the Halo universe, but is extremely well-written. The author is careful to not turn speculation into fact and notes every part of the story that remains canonically uncertain. If you are a fan of Halo fiction, you need to read this blog.

Grand Theft Auto IV has sold $500M worth of games in its first week of release. For comparison, GTA IV sold more copies in one day (3,600,000) than HALO 3 sold in its first week (3,300,000). That figures to a $500M first week for GTA IV compared to HALO 3's $300M.

The numbers are staggering for the dual platform GTA IV which was released in a PS3 and XBOX 360 format.

We know 6,000,000 copies of GTA IV were sold in the first week. VG Charts estimates that the XBOX 360 version sold 3.3M units versus 2.6M copies for the PS3 version. Those are pretty close figures considering that the XBOX 360 has sold 6M more consoles than the PS3. Evidentially and not surprisingly, PS3 owners are loyal to the GTA series.

And is Microsoft regretting not expanding the HALO universe to other platforms?

Perhaps the development costs of making a version of HALO 3 for the PS3 wasn't feasible. Okay.

But what about say Halo 2 on the PS2? There are an estimated 50M PS2 consoles out there right now compared to just 17M original XBOX consoles.

Obviously, there was a massive install base. After they see GTA's numbers, is Microsoft regretting making HALO exclusive to the XBOX family?

Move over Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3.  Grand Theft Auto IV is now the #1 game on XBOX Live (thanks Major Nelson).  For the first time, Halo moves to #3 (the lowest a Halo title has ever been).

CoD4 and Halo 3 have been and will remain at the top of the XBOX Live leaderboards for some time to come because they offer a proven multiplayer experience with high replay value.  Halo 2 is still the #1 original XBOX title on XBOX Live.  I don't recall it at anytime being #2 on that list.

Multiplayer modes in GTA IV is new to the series.  Will gamers find replay value in GTA IV?  Will it play much like the way Bioshock did?  Amazing story.  But not much replay value.

I'm guessing that in 4-8 weeks after the newness of GTA IV has worn off, CoD4 and Halo 3 will be ahead of GTA IV in the number of unique users on XBOX Live.

Or have I totally under estimated the GTA IV following?  A huge hit on the PlayStation consoles, does GTA have some kind of a massive cult following that's going to keep playing this game until the end of the year?

The Team Fortress 2: Gold Rush Update is now available, free to owners of Team Fortress 2 via Steam. The Gold Rush Update introduces the new Gold Rush map and Payload gameplay style, the first set of unlockable weapons, and a new set of achievements for the Medic.

In other TF2 news, a worldwide Team Fortress 2 Free Weekend will begin Friday at noon PDT, and will include access to the new content released today in the TF2: Gold Rush Update. Using the functionality made available through Steam and Steamworks, all of the files needed to join the Free Weekend are available for pre-loading now.

The Free Weekend is open to players around the world, and there is no obligation to purchase to participate; all that is needed is a Steam account to join.

To start pre-loading everything you need to play on Friday and learn more about Team Fortress 2, please visit www.steamgames.com/goldrush

Anyone else getting this? I'll be buying it on launch day (April 29th). GTA III revolutionized what I thought a game could be. I can't wait to explore GTA IV.

What say you?

Gears associate producer Tanya Jessen told Shacknews.com that there are no plans for a GoW2 demo. She says that such a fast release of a sequel that this caliber means that they won't have time for the demo.

Will this end up hurting GoW2 sales?

Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3 both had successful demos or beta tests before the launch of those games. Both of those games sold millions of copies on launch and today are the most played games on XBOX Live.

Of course, Gears of War 1 didn't have a demo and it is the #5 most played game on XBOX Live; two years after release.

Will GoW adopters give up that game for the sequel without a demo?

General Info
Who: THX - Up to 34 people can comfortably fit
What: Halo 1 LAN
When: Saturday, June 7, 2008: Be There At 11AM
Where: Rayne's House outside of Huntsville, Alabama - PM Mintz for directions if you do not have them already.
Why: It's been a while since the last LAN. It's time to fire it up again. Keep your thumbs warm. Bring your controller. Yes, most of this is just copy-pasted from the last JuLAN.