Rahul Shirke

This is the woman who sabotaged your fantasy of finishing Halo 3 first.

Admit it, you’ve probably dreamed of playing a video game before anyone else does in the whole world. Of finishing the game before anyone has laid their eyes on it. Perhaps it was Halo 3 in your fantasy – Microsoft’s massively-promoted shooter for the Xbox 360. Well, you certainly won’t be a little envious of the woman in the photo above.

That’s Francesca Reyes – the first person in the world to completely, wholly, entirely finish Halo 3 (excluding Bungie/Microsoft staff members, of course). Of course, you must be left wondering as to why God made her the Chosen One. She an editor-in-chief of the Official Xbox Magazine. Well, all I can say is that, if I were given the opportunity she was, I’d be grinning like that too.

She’s going to write a massive 10-page review in OXM, since well, this is one of the most highly-awaited and godamnit, I can’t even begin to emphasize Halo 3’s importance! She has been bombarded with questions and the only thing she’s managed to say is that there is a very large variety of levels in Halo 3’s missions. She’s also revealed that:

Halo 3 won’t be “4 hours” long.
The campaign’s ending “isn’t Halo 2”.
It’s going to be a “very Halo” game.

Man, that’s certainly informative. Just wait for the 10-page review, folks.

[Via Games Radar]

Sony’s reputation sinks further. (Includes Wikipedia, Halo 3, Infinity Ward and bad English)

Halo 3

It appears that Sony is really in quite a ditch. If their lunatic antics aren’t enough for you, here’s some more. Reportedly, a Sony staff member has been caught editing a Wikipedia page. What’s so embarrasing? The page in question is the Halo 3 page.

A sorry staffer at Sony Liverpool is the origin of a hate comment against Microsoft’s great Halo 3. The comment in question says:

Although it wont look any better than Halo 2.

Talk about that. He didn’t even bother punctuating the ‘wont’. Pfft. Don’t look at me like that, I’m not the only one who doesn’t like Sony’s English. Ask Grant Collier, one of the big guys at Infinity Ward, makers of the upcoming Call of Duty 4. In an interview, Grant says:

With Microsoft we’ve got the advantage of them being an American company so our level of accessibility to them is much better than Sony. I’m not disparaging Sony in any way, but it’s just that they [Microsoft] speak English, we speak English. I know ten or fifteen guys over there and I can just call up and find out what new special sauce is coming around… I would really like to have that level of relationship with Sony. We’re really pushing for that and it’s a personal goal of mine to get there but I think there’s very few companies that have that level of relationship with Sony. After we come out with CoD4 I hope that we’ll be one of them.

Poor Sony. I’m actually starting to feel sympathetic for a corporation. I wonder what they’ll do next!

[Via Xboxer.tv and Kotaku]

Dragon Ball Z the movie?

[UPDATE]

Dragon Ball Z has been confirmed. It will star Justin Chatwin and James Marsters. See this post for more details.

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If the Gazette hasn’t begun spreading lies, it is probably telling the truth when it says that a live action Dragon Ball Z movie may actually be in the works!

According to the Gazette, 20th Century Fox is working on 3 movies that are expected to be shot in Montreal next year, each having a budget of atleast $100 Million! From the source:

The films are the Night at the Museum sequel Another Night, Independence Day director Roland Emmerich’s remake of the sci-fi flick Fantastic Voyage and a big-screen adaptation of the Japanese manga Dragonball Z.

Are we hearing this right? Dragon Ball Z is an immensely successful franchise spanning mangas, animes, several video games and who knows what else (wikipedia it, dummy).

We know nothing more than this, except that production should end by next July.If this turns out to be ‘fer real!’, we might just be in for a nonsensical, but fast-paced, action-filled live action flick! Just the sort I like!

[Via SuperHeroHype]

Ubisoft’s Holiday Idea: Release 4 great games for free!

Ubisoft has moved up on my Nice Corporations Chart by a few spots, because of their generous Santa Clause act. Ubisoft has just released four of their games, Far Cry, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Rayman Raving Rabbids and Ghost Recon! Note that these games are ad-supported, though. But I wouldn’t mind seeing some ads when I’m getting Far Cry for freaking free! Download the games without that feeling of guilt from Fileshack:

Finally, somebody who listens to us poor gamers without the systems to run Crysis or BioShock. 🙂

Medal of Homer

Truly, I wonder if there can be a game to damned compelling, emotionally demanding and downright beautiful. You might have played Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, Brothers in Arms and god knows what else they spat at you, but you haven’t played intense World War II till you’ve played Medal of Homer.

Add The Pipeline: Entertainment Within a Box to your page

Tsunami of awesome games to strike you in November!

2007 is one hell of a year to be gamer. 2007 marks further integration of video games into the entertainment mainstream as well as a grand evolution of video games in general. If the record-breaking BioShock is not a signal obvious enough, let me remind you to save up your money, ’cause the fun hasn’t even started.

Microsoft has recently announced that Bioware’s highly anticipated RPG Mass Effect will be hitting stores on November 20th. There is no doubt that this game, with its novel innovations will make ripples on the gaming industry. But Mass Effect is accompanied by several over games, to be released in November. Let’s take a quick look at what’s going to come.

Gears of War (PC, coming November 1st)
Gears of War. Love it or hate it, you can’t deny that Gears of War made a mark on the Xbox 360 gaming scene with its intense action and breathtaking graphics. Epic proved their worth once again, by creating the first game to harness the powers of the Unreal Engine 3. Gears of War will be coming out for the PC this November, which should quench the PC enthusiasts’ thirst for some GoW action!

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, XBOX 360, PS3, coming November 5th)
Call of Duty, one of the most successful World War II shooters finally crawls itself out of the trenches and into the choppers as it advances to Modern Warfare. The intense action of the previous games combined with modern technologies and settings is bound to make a mark. Call of Duty 4 is reported to feature more unpredictable action, more yelling officers and like always, addictive multiplayer!

Blacksite: Area 51 (PC, XBOX 360, PS3, coming November 5th)
Area 51 managed to garner some attention back when it was released, but Blacksite is one game that’s rather overshadowed by the giants (read Halo 3). Developed and published by Midway, Blacksite: Area 51 will feature squad-based action as you infiltrate a secret government facility. Adding to the list of clichés is an enemy gallery full of aliens and plenty of ass-kicking action. And yes, Blacksite is also a game using the Unreal Engine 3. To be specific, it will use the very version that is under development for Stranglehold, the much-antipicated “John Woo game”.

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (Wii, coming November 5th)
The hugely successful Fire Emblem series is known for its brilliant storylines, unique and addictive strategic role-playing action as well as its colourful characters. Fire Emblem crosses the generation gap and enters the Wii, offering radiant new action with the Wiimote. Build support relationships between your characters as you command the “Dawn Brigade” to victory. Also featured is widescreen support, which will make for some cinematic Fire Emblem action!

Empire Earth III (PC, coming November 6th)
Take control of a civilization and turn it into a great empire in the third version of the popular Empire Earth series. Span all the human eras, from stone age to the future. Lots of new features include taking defeated enemy armies under your wing, as well as a new freeform campaign mode. Also, look out for strategic missions to add some colour to your game. This is the game for all you strategy maniacs!

Assassin’s Creed (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, Various dates in November)
Assassin’s Creed comes from the team that brought you Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. Assassin’s Creed is also one of the most awaited games, as well as one of the most unique stealth games. Set in the medieval age, you take control of an assassin as he is tasked to well, assassinate targets. You use the city to your advantage, melding with the people, taking camouflage and using every damned visible object in the game to your advantage.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, coming November 12th)
Super Mario Galaxy is the supposed spiritual successor to the highly acclaimed (and damn right it was) Super Mario 64 (which was the same to the phenomenal Super Mario Bros.) This time, Mario will take his adventures to the galaxy, with planet-hopping and Italian accents galore! Demonstrated by the big daddy Shigeru Miyamoto himself, we have no doubt that Super Mario Galaxy might just be the game that’ll have you reaching for the Wiimote again!

Unreal Tournament 3 (PC, PS3, coming November 12th)
Unreal Tournament, Epic’s flagship series of games makes a return with UT3. The latest iteration is slated to include a new gametype, Warfare, more “in-your-face” action, and a complete revamp of playing style from the speed-based UT2004. UT3 will also feature seamless PS3-PC integration, as well as mod support for the PS3 version. Unreal Tournament 3 is the game to buy if you like long nights of merry fragging.

Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, coming November 13th)
Brothers in Arms is considered to be one of the finest WW2 shooter series, and with good reason. Like before, the third version of BiA will feature a compelling storyline, strategic squad-based action that goes beyond the usual gun-slinging action and of course, dramatic and visually appealing graphics powered by the Unreal Engine 3. Join Matt Baker in the singleplayer of the game to open up the “Hell’s Highway” or frag friends in the new revamped Multiplayer segment of the game!

Crysis (PC, coming November 16th)
Come on, you can’t not know this game and still be a PC gamer. Crysis the pet project of Crytek, the previously unknown developer that made a massive mark with the hugely successful Far Cry. Crysis will feature DirectX 10 graphics, alongside a slew of other graphics technologies to offer you an absolutely cutting edge visual experience. With a rather random story that involves North Korea and aliens, Crysis will be a ride of coolness with its hot “Nanosuit” that looks awesome, functions even more awesome!

Rock Band (Xbox 360, PS2, PS3, coming November 20th)
Rock Band is Electronic Arts’ famous competitor to Activision’s very successful Guitar Hero series of games. Rock Band may be dropping in a while after Guitar Hero III rolls in, but that matters not, does it? Rock Band is reportedly published by MTV, while EA is playing distributor. Many are considering this game to be a cross between Guitar Hero and Karaoke Revolution. Whatever this ends up becoming, Rock Band is something to keep an eye on!

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (Xbox 360, PS3, coming November 27th)
Quake Wars is the long awaited RTS game from the Quake franchise, one of gaming’s forefathers. Take control of futuristic weapons, vehicles and units as you wage war against the alien Strogg or the humans. Establish bases, deploy structures and conquer obstacles to ensure that you are ahead of your enemy at all times. Quake Wars will certainly be something to look forward to for console strategy fans, and may even succeed in drawing fans of the FPS series into strategy!

So, what do y’all think? Think we missed out your favourite game coming out in November? Think a game doesn’t deserve to be on this list? Think we should quit our jobs and go back to the zoo? Drop us some comments, then!