Have you been wondering what Bungie is gonna come up with next after Halo Reach in 2010.  Well the staff over at Attack of the Fanboy found a nice little tidbit of information regarding our beloved developer of Halo goodness.  Bungie filed a trademark for the name Bungie Aerospace, with the logo in the image above.  It’s anyones guess but some people are thinking Bungie is going middleware, others think they are gonna be developing games and engines, and others are still sulking about Bungie not making any more Halo games after Reach.

My palms are clammy.  Do I have time to wipe them on my pants? NO.  The controller, already having a slight rattling noise due to some, uh.. mishaps, vibrates. Through the headset an explosion of expletives, directions, and game noise blaring. One more kill, for either team and it’s game over. I say to myself  ”don’t be THAT guy”.  I am already wounded. They know where I am. This is it. I turn the corner, the screen goes into black and white. Take one deep breath until I read…..VICTORY. 7500-7400, wow.

Returning to  the lobby, and of course name calling, the racial slurs, and questions about each other’s sexual preference intertwined with our mothers are involved. Shots at gameplay style, n00bs, campers, terms that to someone other than gamers (Of course I referring to ALL of us) would just scratch their heads at.

I mute my mic, take the headset off and reflect on how this came to be. When did it get this way? When did I go from coin collecting, boss beating, happy to just have the privilege to get to a save point before having to go to bed, to this.  When the frustrations came from within, and  accusations were directed  towards the “computer” or non player character.

Could it of been during my days with an Atari? nope….

How about the NES(Nintendo Entertainment System?) hmmm. Perhaps in Contra? nah…

Ok, I got it.  SNES(Super Nintendo Entertainment System) Mario Kart battles!!!! No, wait, not there either.

N64 and Goldeneye or Mario Kart 64? Close, but no. How about Playstation and PS2 with Madden Football? we’re getting warmer…

Not even fighting games, probably because I am piss poor pathetic at them but do enjoy playing!

No…XBOX, Halo, LAN Parties, and Tea Bagging, That’s where. That’s where it all started.

I by no means considered myself an elite in Halo Combat Evolved for the original Xbox system. But among our group of friends, I’d like to consider myself up there. The amount of trash talking, booze, and more trash talking, reached levels never before imagined. People complaining on being on so and so’s team. Threatening to betray due to taking a weapon. A weapon that would re-spawn by the way. Bets were made, and friendships were tested. Of course this competition spilled into other games.

With the exception of connecting to one of the services that existed pre Xbox, trash talking was limited to how far you were willing to go when talking about a person that was within arms reach of.  You likely still talked trash, and it was to that persons face.

Then the age of Halo 2. Ah, Halo coming to Xbox live. At first it was fairly calm.  Many gamers amazed by this great new technology that allowed us to converse with players from across the globe.  Then the proverbial poop hit the fan and here we are.  And there’s no turning back.

My innocence. Lost…gone. The once bright eyed smile has morphed into a menacing brooding smile. I have achieved the Isomotion…..

Capcom finally revealed it’s last cast member of the Super Street Fighter IV game. And Hakan, an oil wrestler from Turkey is him! Using lubricant to assist him battle, “Hakan has some of the most insane moves and Ultra combos in the series” . This Turkish greaseball will be all yours to master come April 27th, 2010. View the screenshots below and as always tell us what you think of this new character?

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In Mashable’s popular Faceoff series ( a poll), Xbox Live trumped the Playstation Network, when asking readers which online gaming network the preferred.  The few day long poll resulted in the Xbox Live getting 57% of the votes with 19858 votes from readers, Playstation Network getting 41% of the votes with 14258, and 3% were undecided 939 votes.

We did our own scientific tests on Xbox Live and PSN a few weeks back

Testing proves Xbox Live users are bigger %@#$!’s than PSN users

Online Gaming Faceoff: Xbox Live vs. Playstation Network

Over on the EB Games website we ran across either an unconfirmed release date for Portal 2, or a error.  Listed on the site is a release date for Portal 2 dated October 26th, 2010 for both PC and Xbox 360.  When you click on the link for more info though it brings you to an error page. After a few hours this error message was removed, and a normal product description page was put in its place.

Well there are two things we can take from this.

#1) Contrary to the statements that seem to hint at development on the PS3, Portal 2 will not be one of those titles, unless released at a later date.

#2) We’re gonna see Portal 2 in 2010.  Yes!

EBGAMES

GAMESTOP

While it might be spoiling the exclusive coverage from Game Informer this April, Gamestop listed the title with a product description that gives away some of the unreleased details.

“Coming this holiday. Portal 2 is the sequel to 2007’s Game of the Year and draws from the award-winning formula of innovative game play, story, and music that earned the original over 70 industry accolades. Features single and multiplayer co-op modes. The single-player portion of Portal 2 introduces a cast of dynamic new characters, a host of fresh puzzle elements, and a much larger set of devious test chambers. Players will explore never-before-seen areas of the Aperture Science Labs and be reunited with GLaDOS, the occasionally murderous computer companion who guided them through the original game. The game’s two-player cooperative mode features its own entirely separate campaign with a unique story, test chambers, and two new player characters. This new mode forces players to reconsider everything they thought they knew about portals. Success will require them to not just act cooperatively, but to think cooperatively.”

This Xbox Live Code of Conduct has changed.  As of this morning, your sexual orientation may be expressed in Xbox Live profiles or Gamertags.  A letter from Marc Whitten to Xbox Live users was posted today as follows:

” Dear Xbox Live Members,

Since the beginning, Microsoft has made an investment in the security and safety of Xbox Live and created tools and monitoring practices to ensure it is a fun and welcoming entertainment experience for people of all races, nationalities, religions, and sexual orientations.  And thanks to this investment and the enthusiam of community members like you, we’re proud to be the strongest and most diverse online community of its kind at 23 million.

The Xbox Live Terms of Use and Code of Conduct are designed to create a place where people can safely enjoy all of the ways to interact on our service, be it online multiplayer gaming, photo sharing, Netflix parties, or social games such as 1 vs 100, without fear of discrimination or harassment.  As the service evolves and our customers provide us with feedback, these rules evolve to incorporate new features or changes in how people wish to interact.

With that in mind, I’d like to announce an update to the Xbox Live Terms of Use and Code of Conduct which will allow our members to more freely express their race, nationality, religion and sexual orientation in Gamertags and profiles.  Under our previous policy, some of these expressions of self identification were not allowed in Gamertags or profiles to prevent the use of these terms as insults or slurs.  However we have since heard feedback from our customers that while the spirit of this approach was genuine, it inadvertently excluded a part of our Xbox LIVE community.  This update also comes hand in hand with increased stringency and enforcement to prevent the misuse of these terms.

I truly believe that our diversity is what makes us strong: diversity in gaming and entertainment options, and diversity in the people that make up this amazing  community.  I look forward to seeing you on LIVE soon.

Jump in,

Marc Whitten”

A Letter from Marc Whitten: Update to Xbox LIVE Code of Conduct

Xbox Live Code of Conduct