For the last two weeks Halo 3 has been the most played game on Xbox LIVE. For most of this year, Call of Duty 4 has been the most popular game on LIVE.

So why has Halo 3 surged to the to Major Nelson's most played list? Battlefield Bad Company is drawing war-sim gamers away from Call of Duty 4.

It would be interesting to see if the number of gamers playing Halo 3 has gone up during this time. (Surely some fan has a website tracking the number of daily Halo 3 gamers).

I'm looking forward to purchasing Rock Band 2 because of the hugely popular songs already confirmed for the game.

I've gone out and used the SeeqPod API to make a playlist of most all of the songs that will be shipping with Rock Band 2.

Stream the playlist after the break...

Infinity Ward has announced that new gametypes are headed to Call of Duty 4 for the consoles. The gametypes are:

Bare-bones Team Deathmatch

No more excuses. No more blaming Martyrdom or Juggernaut for your lack of skills and kills. Bare Bones Team Deathmatch eliminates the excuses and takes it back to basics with standard Team Deathmatch with no perks, no kill streak rewards. Just you, your skill, and your weapons.

Hardcore HQ

Hardcore HQ requires a lot more than just spamming the HQ position with nades and running in guns blazing. Hardcore HQ encourages more tactical gameplay and communication to win with increased damage, no HUD elements, and friendly fire on.

Multi-bomb Search and Destroy

Multi-bomb Search and Destroy starts every member of the attacking team with a bomb. So everyone has the opportunity to plant if they’re good enough.

Hardcore FFA

Even faster paced Free For Alls, where every bullet counts and playing smart is key for a solid k/d ratio. Standard Free for All rules, with Hardcore mode enabled for extra damage, no HUD, and no health re-gen.

A panel at E3 spat out all kinds of Gears of War 2 tidbits. The most revealing were than there is a possibility of a $130 GoW2 Bundle that ships with a miniature Lancer and the "Linked Achievements" precedent. Here's IGN's list:

# Gears 2 will use what's being called Linked Achievements. Players who played Gears 1 and completed Act 1 will be able to play as Carmine in Gears 2's multiplayer. If you killed Raam at the end of Gears 1 his character model will be available as well. There will be more Linked Achievements in Gears 2, but those were the only examples given.
# Steve Jablonsky recently finished the last recording session at Skywalker Sound for the soundtrack. He also did Transformers and the remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
# You'll see Carmine brother Anthony in the game.
# There's a 130 dollar bundle of Gears 2 that will include an actual Lancer. No, it's not a functioning gun. Note: The information about the bundle -- including pricing and what it will include -- is unconfirmed by Microsoft and is subject to change.
# Gears 2 is "just as much Dom's story as Marcus'."
# Dizzy's hat can be shot off in multiplayer. Dizzy is voiced by Peter Jason from Deadwood.
# The collector's edition of Gears 2 will include the photo of Dom and his wife that Dom actually carries through the campaign. He pulls it out to ask people if they've seen Maria.
# Both the comic and the novel are prequels to Gears 2 but take place after the first game. The comic stars a new COG soldier who makes a cameo in the campaign mode of the second game.
# Jack, the helpful little robot from Gears 1 has much more screen time in Gears 2.
# The panel showed off a Gears of War Xbox 360 adorned with fancy artwork and a red paint job. One side of the console showed frenzied Locust and the other showed COG soldiers.
# The Gears novel comes out on October 28. Karen Travis also wrote the Republic Commando novels and love writing about war. She quizzed the folks at Epic asking, "How do the soldiers clean the chainsaw bayonet? What does their armor feel like?" Cliff had no answer when she originally posed the question. At one point Ortega suggested that they use "Lancer floss."
# The Corpser is in the game.
# Dom's older brother Carlos, who is a friend of Marcus', is in the novel.
# Len Wiseman is directing the Gears movie, Chris Morgan is doing the script and Legendary Pictures is co-financing. Cliff is an executive producer on the project.
# The actor playing the lead role might not be the massive buff guy that people expect.
# Cliff enjoyed lighting things on fire and dressing as a ninja as a kid.
# Thirty percent of Gears 2 takes place in The Hollow (the Locust lair). Cliff made the distinction to ensure that people didn't think it was a "cave game."
# People think Jon DiMaggio is hilarious. Especially when he converses with himself in the Bender and Marcus Fenix voices.

"At the moment we do have three distinct projects underway within Bungie - some familiar, some not. Some on a closer horizon, some quite far off." - Sketchfactor in a news post at Bungie.net.

I have been addicted to the Too Human demo this week, and I wondered what anyone else thought of it. I know the game has had some big hype, especially when it was originally going to handle 4 player co-op and a loot system equivalent to Diablo.

When I played through the 1st time, I was only slightly impressed with the game. The loot was cool, but the controls were a little cumbersome to me. After playing it a few more times and really getting used to the controls, I am really looking forward to the release. The loot doesn't seem to be too random right now, but that might have to do with it being a demo only.

Is anyone else playing the demo? If so, what do you think?

PC gamers can now give Microsoft's Games for Windows – LIVE service another look. One of the biggest gripes among PC gamers was the $50 annual subscription fee to LIVE which enabled all of the online gaming features like unrestricted online multiplayer, achievements, stats, and more. At launch, PC gamers were wondering why they needed to pay $50 to play Halo 2 or Shadowrun online.

Now the LIVE service is free on the PC. This should sit very well with PC gamers who have been used to free online gaming for decades.

Microsoft also seems to be getting a clue from Steam. Microsoft is planning to digitally distribute game content online through the LIVE service.

Is this a step towards Microsoft distributing games via digital download like what is already being done on Steam?

Through the Xbox LIVE Marketplace gamers can download Arcade games and some original XBOX titles. During E3, Microsoft announced that XBOX 360 owners will be able to install games to their hard drives (however the game disc must physically be in the disc drive to launch the game).

Like always, the PC version of LIVE is playing catchup to the XBOX version. However this is a step in the right direction for both versions.

I say give Microsoft some time to build up the license ownership mechanism into the LIVE ID's and we'll see full up Xbox 360 and PC titles distributed through Xbox LIVE and perhaps other outlets (like on the Zune marketplace, LIVE.com, and MSN.com).

Sure, it's a lot of bandwidth to download, say, Halo 3. But A) Steam seems to be doing it just fine without charging for the service, B) Xbox LIVE Gold users are paying $50 a year for the service, and C) Microsoft saves money on packaging and shipping by offering digital downloads.

It's my take that Microsoft still has a lot of work to do to make Games for Windows – LIVE attractive to PC gamers. For one, they need developers to adopt the service. While many companies are adapting to the "Games for Windows" standardization, very few are using LIVE for online networking.

To date, there are only 10 games that support LIVE on the PC. Third party developers are doing just fine without adopting Microsoft's LIVE standards. In fact, Value's Steam is thriving as it hosts many of PC's most popular First Person Shooter titles and those games' online matching, servers, achievements, full game downloads, mods, and etc.

Without a game selection, there's less reach into the PC gamers' library.

Microsoft is also competing with Xfire which runs both on the desktop and in-game. LIVE only runs inside certain PC games and the current user interface was designed by use with an XBOX 360 controller. Xfire allows for voice and text chat, stats tracking, joining of parties, game downloads, patches, and more. Best of all, Xfire is free, used by over 7 million gamers, and supports most popular PC games.

It's been over a year since Games for Windows LIVE was launched. I welcome the new changes. I believe changes like these will encourage third party developers to build their games for the LIVE network.

Some users of Halo 3's file sharing system (meant to share game screenshots and map and game variants) have figured out how to share content not related to Halo 3. In fact, the content I saw is pornographic content.

Yesterday while playing in Halo 3 matchmaking, I was placed on a team with someone who insisted that I visit his file share as our game was starting. Figuring I didn't have time to do this, I decided to wait until the game was over to look at his amazing Halo 3 screenshots. After the game was over, I navigated to my "recent players" menu and viewed the file share of the gamer.

Behold. Naked girls everywhere. All over my big 55" HDTV in the middle of my living room! In the screenshots section of his profile were pornographic images. That gamer's friend also had pornographic images on his file share.

Since last night, one of the images is still visible on Bungie.net and his file share (I reported the image to Bungie). The rest of the images have been removed from both profiles. The image has been downloaded 4,500 times from this particular gamer's file share.

I wonder if MSBUNGIE are going to have some legal battles on their hands. I wonder if the way we use game content file sharing on Xbox LIVE is about to change.

Features:
* Collectible SteelBook DVD case
* "Beneath the Surface: An Inside Look at Gears of War 2," a 48-page hardbound book including character profiles, exclusive concept art, and foreword by Design Director Cliff Bleszinski
* Bonus DVD including exclusive making-of-the-game video footage, design galleries with audio commentary by Epic Games, and promotional videos including the E3 2008 trailer, "Rendezvous."
* An exclusive gold-plated Lancer Assault Rifle available during online play

Update: Microsoft confirms that Bungie is working on a new Halo title.

Bungie's publisher (Microsoft Game Studios) is not allowing Bungie to reveal their new title during E3. It seems Bungie is pretty ticked at this as they've posted a statement directly from Bungie President Harold Ryan.

There's no indication that this letter is part of the "Superintendent" ARG as this letter is sincere and directly from Bungie's President. Pulling the rug out from under the fans tomorrow with the following letter would be confusing and insensitive.

**********************************
For the last several months, we've been building toward a reveal of something exciting that Bungie is working on. We were looking forward to sharing that with our fan community during the week of E3. However, those plans were just changed by our publisher.

We realize that many of our fans are disappointed by this turn of events; members of the Bungie team share that disappointment.

When the right time comes, we look forward to sharing this exciting announcement with you. Until then, we appreciate your continued support and patience.

Harold Ryan
President
Bungie LLC
**********************************

“Games like Metal Gear Solid 4 aren’t exclusive to PS3, but only possible on the PS3.”

“2008 is about software.”

The future of PS3 is about the CELL processor and processing capabilities.

256-player multiplayer game called Massive Action Game (MAG). 32 players on 8 teams in a free for all matchup.

Resistance 2. 8 player coop and 60 player multiplayer.

Resistance: Retribution coming to PSP in Spring 2009.

God of War 3 announced.

PS3 Greatest Hits coming and will be $30 and include Resistance, MotorStorm, War Hawk, CoD 3, Fight Night, RS3V, and Need for Speed Carbon.

130 PS2 titles coming to PS2 in ’08.

PlayStation Network users will have a single sign-on for PS2, PS3, and PC.

Video rental and purchase is coming to PS3. Sony, Fox, Warner, Disney, MGM, Lionsgate and 20th Century will be on the PS3. After you download it to your PS3 you’ll be able to put it on your PSP. It’ll take 60 min to download a standard definition movie. Sony is offering 85 movies right off the bat. This service will be available tonight. $15 to purchase. $6 to rent in HD/$4 in SD.

80GB PS3 will be $400 in September.

$149 PS2 bundle comes with Lego Batman game and the Justice League animated movie.

Nintendo selling 200K DS’s a week. 700K Wii’s a month.

GTA: Chinatown Wars headed to DS.

A new snowboarding game is coming out – Shaun White Snowboarding. Uses Wii Fit footpad.

A new Wii Sports Resort game where you can throw a disc to a dog, ride a jetski, or sword duel. Yes, you can sword duel on a beach. WIN!

Wii Speak is a community microphone that allows you to talk to other gamers.

Wii Music: Play 50 musical instruments with your Wii remotes and footpad. This isn’t Rock Band. Create your one music as you move the instruments including drums, piano, saxophone (by blowing into the speaker on the remote), guitar, etc.

Kotaku’s poll says that 2% of votes are Psyched, 81% Pissed, and 17% Satisfied with Nintendo’s conference. Wow. That’s harsh.

Color me bored. Wake me when she rolls over. This was a lackluster E3 for Nintendo. Wii Music is going to be a great casual game. The snowboarding game will be a good buy for anyone with Wii Fit. Other than that, I see nothing that is going to make me want to go out and buy a Wii. Parents will certainly buy Wii Music for their kids.

As I’ve been saying for a while, 3rd party developers aren’t going to want to develop for the Wii because of the niche motion controls. I think this may be a reason why we didn’t see more third party games during the Nintendo demo.

GoW2 is set to be launched on November 7th.

This game is set for launch in October 2008.

Summary:

1) only SD videos will be offered
2) LIVE Party viewers must be Netflix subscribers
3) Netflix servers will handle the streaming
4) No downloading; just streaming
5) Not avialable for Silver memberships
6) Free for XBL Gold subscriptions

Here's the official press release which misses some of the details above:

A new trailer for Halo Wars has been released.

More assets are found at http://halowars.com and the XBOX Live Marketplace.

We still have no release date for this game and it's looking more and more like a 2009 launch.

This is an older trailer, but you can expect the same kind of graphics to be found on the XBOX 360 version.

Microsoft has revealed the set list for Rock Band 2 (due out in mid September). All songs are master tracks; not covers.

• After 14 years since Guns N’ Roses last official music release, Axl Rose selects Rock Band 2 to debut official new track “Shackler's Revenge” from the highly-anticipated album Chinese Democracy.

• Rock Band 2 is the first and only video game to feature the music of AC/DC. It includes their epic rock anthem, "Let There Be Rock.”

• For the first time ever, music from American music icon, Bob Dylan, is featured in a video game with “Tangled Up In Blue.”

• Rock Band 2 will feature backwards compatibility with all Rock Band downloadable music content released to date.

• Owners of the original Rock Band will have the ability to export most of the Rock Band disc tracks and upgrade them into Rock Band 2 gameplay-the first time ever in videogame history! [1]

• With ongoing weekly DLC releases including individual tracks, track packs and full albums, the Rock Band music library will feature more than 500 songs by year’s end!

This is going to rock:

AC/DC - "Let There Be Rock"
AFI - "Girl’s Gone Grey"
Alanis Morissette - "You Oughta Know"
Alice in Chains - "Man in the Box"
Allman Brothers - "Ramblin’ Man"
Avenged Sevenfold - "Almost Easy "
Bad Company - "Shooting Star"
Beastie Boys - "So Whatcha Want"
Beck - "E-Pro "
Bikini Kill - "Rebel Girl"
Billy Idol - "White Wedding Pt. I"
Blondie - "One Way or Another"
Bob Dylan - "Tangled Up in Blue"
Bon Jovi - "Livin’ on a Prayer"
Cheap Trick - "Hello There"
Devo - "Uncontrollable Urge"
Dinosaur Jr. - "Feel the Pain"
Disturbed - "Down with the Sickness"
Dream Theater - "Panic Attack"
Duran Duran - "Hungry Like the Wolf"
Elvis Costello - "Pump It Up"
Fleetwood Mac - "Go Your Own Way"
Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
Guns N’ Roses - "Shackler’s Revenge"
Interpol - "PDA"
Jane’s Addiction - "Mountain Song"
Jethro Tull - "Aqualung"
Jimmy Eat World - "The Middle"
Joan Jett - "Bad Reputation"
Journey - "Anyway You Want It"
Judas Priest - "Painkiller"
Kansas - "Carry On Wayward Son"
L7 - "Pretend We’re Dead"
Lacuna Coil - "Our Truth"
Linkin Park - "One Step Closer"
Lit - "My Own Worst Enemy"
Lush - "De-Luxe"
Mastodon - "Colony of Birchmen"
Megadeth - "Peace Sells"
Metallica - "Battery"
Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "Where’d You Go"
Modest Mouse - "Float On"
Motorhead - "Ace of Spades"
Nirvana - "Drain You"
Norman Greenbaum - "Spirit in the Sky"
Panic at the Disco - "Nine in the Afternoon"
Paramore - "That’s What You Get"
Pearl Jam - "Alive"
Presidents of the USA - "Lump"
Rage Against the Machine - "Testify"
Ratt - "Round & Round"
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Give it Away"
Rise Against - "Give it All"
Rush - "The Trees"
Silversun Pickups - "Lazy Eye"
Smashing Pumpkins - "Today"
Social Distortion - "I Was Wrong"
Sonic Youth - "Teenage Riot"
Soundgarden - "Spoonman"
Squeeze - "Cool for Cats"
Steely Dan - "Bodhitsattya"
Steve Miller Band - "Rock’n Me"
Survivor - "Eye of the Tiger"
System of a Down - "Chop Suey"
Talking Heads "Psycho Killer"
Tenacious D - "Master Exploder"
Testament - "Souls of Black"
The Donnas - "New Kid in School"
The Go-Go’s - "We Got the Beat"
The Grateful Dead - "Alabama Getaway"
The Guess Who - "American Woman"
The Muffs - "Kids in America"
The Offspring - "Come Out & Play (Keep ‘em Separated)"
The Replacements - "Alex Chilton"
The Who – "Pinball Wizard"

Microsoft has increased the storage capacity for it's Premium system SKU bundling a 60 GB hard drive instead of a 20 GB hard drive. The Premium system is still $350 even with the added hard drive space. The 20 GB SKU dropped in price to $300; a $50 savings. Buy a 20GB system from Target and they'll throw in a $25 gift card.

There's no price drop mentioned in the announcement for the 120 GB Elite system or the "no hard drive" Arcade system.

E3 is this week. Look for more announcements from Microsoft starting tomorrow (Monday) about entertainment hardware and software.

Old Gregg was nice enough to detour from his date with Howard Moon at the Black Lake to play Rock Band with us this evening.

Amazon is running a Goldbox special. For the next 120 minutes, Grand Theft Auto IV will be on sale for $45.

If you are interested, go here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/goldbox/

Today is 7/7. In honor of Bungie Day a free Halo 3 map is being released. It's a remake of Chill Out from Halo 1. Also today, the Legendary Map Park has been reduced to 600 points.

Look for an announcement about a Halo 3 XBL meetup taking place one night soon.

I was playing COD4 tonight and spawned in Ambush. As I ran forward I noticed an Arabic sign in front of me, but it didn't look right. Upon closer inspection I realized that the characters were written from left to right like western characters. Arabic is written from right to left. I thought that peculiar so I started imagining a mirror image of the text and verbalizing what it said, just in case it contained a word I recognized. Well, it did.

In-fii-na-ya-ti-ya Wa-r-d

Looks like some blogs have covered the COD4 Arabic mishaps before, but this was news to me. Interesting easter egg (or screw-up), Infinity Ward.