PAX East 2012 just wrapped up and is still visible in the rear-view mirror, but stories, photos and videos from the event are already hitting the interwebs.

 

On Friday April 6th at PAX East, 2old2play's own Derek "DSmooth" Nolan hosted a bunch of community-minded folks for a panel on gaming communities and real life relationships. Due to technical issues, the video cuts off just before the last couple audience questions. From the brochure, the panel was as follows:

 

Online Gaming Communities and ‘Real Life’ Relationships

 

Are you are a member of one or more online gaming/website communities? Perhaps the friendships and relationships you’ve formed online have made their way into your everyday “real life”. You are certainly not alone. We will discuss the communities we have created and support, and how they help to form and impact real life relationships for gamers of all types. This popular panel from the past 2 years at PAX and PAX East makes a triumphant return with all new panelists.

According to a recent press release, the website dateagamer.co.uk has contacted Game (I know, weird name, just “Game”, but hey they are European), operator of both the Game and Gamestation retail chains and offered to partner with the struggling retailer. Under the proposal, Date A Gamer would create “dating zones” in approximately 600 British locations of the retailer’s 1,300 European stores.

Spotted Dick. That’s right. I said it. For those of you not familiar with it, Spotted Dick looks like this:

This nifty little article started out as a review of a new product. Namely the Pritect Sensor Cover for Xbox 360. Initially it sounded like a high tech way of limiting your Kinect from eavesdropping on you. Interestingly it was also billed as not interfering with the regular operation of your Kinect.

 

To Pritect and Serve

Steven “frizzlefry2” Boulé attempts to scramble your brain with gamer demographic trends in his first post as a member of the 2old2play Writing Staff.

 

Aren’t you too old to game? We’ve all heard it. The popular refrain from those not in the know. Let’s face it-the general perception of a “gamer” is an overweight, out of shape prepubescent teenage boy. Socially isolated, he sits tucked away in a dark room pounding energy drinks. He sweat's profusely from endless rounds of COD: MW3. His only connection to the outside world? A wireless headset. He is prone to violent fits of anger and screeches at the ruination of his current killstreak.

 

And there you have it 2o2p. Many of the current myths about gamers summed up in approximately sixty words. Overweight and out of shape? Check! Prepubescent teenage boy? Check!  Socially isolated? Check!  Prone to violence? Check! Of course we know better than that. We live it. The naivete of the general public is to be expected. The naivete of mainstream media is unacceptable. Mainstream media is the primary information source for the general public. The expectation is that information presented by them is accurate and complete. Perpetuating these myths while an accurate representation of video game culture exists reeks of irresponsibility. Who am I kidding, mainstream media is always responsible! Right? Wrong!  Let’s clear up a few of these myths, shall we?

Damn, that Mass Effect 3 DEMO has some serious GRAPHICS!

Ok, so this section has nothing to do with the Mass Effect 3 demo. We’ll discuss Commander Shepard and his galactic exploits in due time. Let’s be honest, many of you would probably skip this section if it was titled “A Brief Synopsis on the Study of Demography.”  Now that you’re here, read on!

 

Demography is the study of populations. Specifically, the statistical characteristics of populations. Age, gender and race are a few of the most commonly studied demographics. Demographics break down larger populations into its sub-populations. Once sub-populations are identified, the characteristics of representative members of each sub-population are determined. Demographic trends indicate the change in population demographics over time.

 

 

That was easy, wasn’t it? Quick and painless!  Now onto something every gamer should be familiar with...

 

Oooh, fancy acronyms!

 

Formed in 1994 as the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) and renamed in July 2003, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) serves as the trade association of the video and computer game industry. Its membership boasts many of the top publishers in the world. Heavyweights such as Capcom, Electronic Arts and Sony Computer Entertainment fill its ranks. Many gamers are undoubtedly familiar with the ESA via its yearly presentation of the gaming nirvana that is the  Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).  So why the lesson on fancy acronyms you ask?

 

Mmmmmmnnnn, data!

 

 

No not this Data!

 

It turns out the ESA releases a nifty little report each year at E3. Titled Essential Facts About The Computer and Video Game Industry, the report is a yearly study on the computer and video game industry and includes an analysis of video gamer demographics. It gathers data from approximately 1,200 households that identify as “owning either or both a video game console or a personal computer used to run entertainment software.” The report is broken into five sections. Who is Playing is the analysis of gamer demographics. At Play details how players play. It includes information on online games, parents and games, computer and video game sales by ESRB rating and top selling games and game genres. The Bottom Line details sales information and total consumer spend on the video game industry. Who We Are is the ESA’s mission statement and a list of its current members. Other Resources is a list of ESA partners.  

 

Now, I’m a data guy. Blame it on my occupation. The Biotech industry will do that to you. I’ve learned that data usually tells a pretty accurate story. The numbers are what the numbers are. If you want to know the real story behind something-study its data. Since my most common reaction when asked “aren’t you too old to game?” is to reach for my Qwack-O-Ray and turn the unsuspecting fool into a quacking water fowl (link included for those not familiar with this platforming gem available on the little black beauty that is the PS3) I decided to research gamer demographics. Is there data? What does the data tell us? A lot, actually.   

   

Oooh, eye candy!

 

	% American households that play computer/video games	% of gamers that play games with other gamers in person
2011	72%	65%
2010	67%	64%
2009	68%	62%
2008	65%	59%
20071	67%	2
20061	69%	2

 

1=Category named “American heads of households who play computer or video games”

2=Category not included in report

Demographic trends from 2006-2011 indicate that gaming continues to grow in popularity as there is an increase in the number of American households playing video and computer games. Beginning in 2008 the ESA report includes social gaming as a category. Trends indicate the explosion in popularity of social gaming and demonstrate the growth in gaming from a single person experience to a more social endeavour. These data are contradictory to the myth of a socially isolated gamer.

 

	Average game player age	Average number of years adult gamers have been playing	Male/female average number of playing years
2011	37	12	13m/10f
2010	34	12	13m/10f
2009	35	12	12m/10f
2008	35	13	15m/12f
2007	33	13	14m/11f
2006	33	12	10m/8f

 

m=male; f=female

Demographic trends from 2006-2011 indicate an increase in average gamer age. We could attribute this increase to adult gamers aging each year. If that were true we should expect to see a similar concurrent rise in the average number of playing years of gamers. The data indicate the average number of years gamers have been playing remains relatively stable. We could attribute this relative stability to an influx of new adult gamers. Curiously, 2007 and 2008 data show the longest average of playing years for both the male and female categories. Between 2008 and 2009 there is a three and two year drop in average number of playing years between the male and female categories respectively. We could attribute this drop to an outflux of adult gamers. This outflux could also explain the relative stability of average game player age and average number of playing years. These data clearly show that gamers are not all prepubescent teenage boys.

 

	Gender (m/f) of game players	Women age 18 or older 1	Boys age 17 or younger 1
2011	58%m/42%f	37%	13%
2010	60%m/40%f	33%	20%
2009	60%m/40%f	34%	18%
2008	60%m/40%f	33%	18%
2007	62%m/38%f	31%	20%
2006	62%m/38%f	30%	23%

 

m=male; f=female

1=portion (%) of game playing population

Demographic trends from 2006-2011 indicate that gaming continues to gain popularity among females. The data clearly indicate game player gender is approaching equilibrium. At current growth rates we could see gender equilibrium occur between 2018-2020. Interestingly, since 2006, women age 18 or older make up a significantly larger portion of the overall gaming population than boys age 17 or under. Furthermore, the data indicate popularity of video gaming among females is at an all time high while at an all time low for boys age 17 or younger. We can draw two observations from these data: the gaming population consists of more than just  prepubescent teenage boys (yes, I am beating the proverbial dead horse!) and the number of female video gamers is clearly on the rise.

 

	Under 18 years 1	18-49 years 1	50+ years 1
2011	18%	53%	29%
2010	25%	49%	26%
2009	25%	49%	26%
2008	25%	49%	26%
2007	28%	48%	24%
2006	31%	44%	25%

 

1=age of game players

Demographic trends from 2006-2011 indicate the largest video game demographic is the 18-49 year old demographic. Furthermore, since 2008 the 50+ year demographic has been the second largest demographic while the under 18 year demographic has been the smallest. We could argue that these trends are simply a result of aging. Tracking the influx of new gamers and the outflux of older gamers would provide us with a clearer picture; one where we could determine if these trends are a result of an aging gamer population. Moreover, it would be interesting to break the 18-49 gamer demographic into two distinct demographics: 18-25 and 25-49 year old. This too would provide a clearer picture on gamer aging and the ebb and flow of the makeup of the gaming population. These data clearly refute the notion that “you are too old to game” and provide the clearest picture that adults comprise the majority of video gamers today.  

What does all this mean?

 

 

Demography and demographic trends are far from perfect. Boiled down to their core they are generalizations about populations. Demographics, relatively speaking, are based on a small sample size. Thus, the characteristics of representative members may not be the same as those in the overall population. They are merely predictive of the rest of the population. If a census was taken on the entire American population regarding video game demographics would the numbers be the same? Probably not. Would they be closer to or further away from the numbers presented in the ESA reports? My money is on closer to the ESA reports.    

 

 

Aren’t you too old to game? You are not. I am not. We are not. In fact, we are the majority. We are the 82%!  Say it loud and say it proud!

 

The next time someone asks you “Aren’t you too old to game?” go grab your data and tell them “Too old my arse!”

 

If you’d like to check out more on this topic, here are some additional resources:

 

2011 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry

2010 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry

2009 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry

2008 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry

2007 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry

2006 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry

Reality is Broken

Gaming Essays

 

About the Author

Steven “frizzlefry2” Boulé is an avid indoors-man. He currently resides in New Hampshire where he is an active member of Task Force 141. He frequently swims in the River Styx and tirelessly works to rid the universe of the evil Dr. Nefarious. Steven’s favorite game genres include platformers, action/adventure, RPG’s and first person shooters.

 

Comments? You can post them on ElektraFi's Blog or in the 2o2p Front Page News forum.

ErinAS was primarily a PS3 gamer, but picked up a Kinect last November. See what she thinks about this platform transition and a few of the motion games she tried out.

A few months ago I finally broke down and acquired an Xbox with a Kinect.  I was a PS3 woman but after the second hardware fail in less than 90 days and losing all our saves AGAIN, I was open to giving Microsoft a shot.   As luck would have it, I happened to score a good deal on a complete system at a local charity auction in Boston for www.monkeyhelpers.org (so you can say my Xbox acquisition helped the helper monkeys).

I was slow to move platforms and was not a fan of the controller compared to the PS3, so I mostly play Kinect games.  

Let the Gaming Begin!

One of the first titles I picked up was The Gunstringer, since I’m a sucker for skulls and terrible puns.  I’d highly recommend it as a good one to start off with.  It’s a great use of the controls (you use your left hand to move the puppet and right to fire his weapons) and a fun story.  My only complaint is my arms get tired after a few levels (though according to my husband I’m gesticulating far more than is strictly necessary so that’s probably my own fault).
Twisted Pixel chose an interesting way to tell this sordid tale in giving the story an omniscient narrator who is telling the story to a live theater going audience who are watching the gunstringer progress through each level.  The audience provides oh and ahs and a laugh track almost as if you were playing along to a sitcom!  The game brings you through several different types of levels including shoot ‘em ups and platforming on your quest to destroy the gang of outlaws who set you up and left you for dead.  One of my favorite game play mechanics is when it incorporates boxing and you get to air punch your opponents as you run up platforms.  There are also several different shooting techniques that range from running around guns a blazing hitting anything that moves, duck and cover, and shoot while you are riding a vehicle, all of which mix things up just enough so the levels don’t get too repetitive.  All and all a solid effort that makes natural use of the Kinect controls.

Next up was Dance Central as I’m a huge Harmonix fan girl.  I love the menu system they created, as it seems to be the only way I can navigate with any accuracy so far. I hope more games adopt it.  I’d highly recommend the game for fitness and getting you moving. The music is fun even if it’s not quite the genre I’m normally into.  “Santa” brought me Dance Central 2 for Christmas, which improved on an already fun game.  Harmonix updated the fitness mode so it’s a lot easier to keep track of how much you’ve worked out . They also improved the parts that were annoying about Break it Down mode (where it teaches you how to do the moves properly) so you can do things like only work on moves you fail or record and watch videos of yourself.  They’ve also done a neat job integrating the voice control commands and incorporating a much more fun 2 player simultaneous dancing experience.  I’d recommend picking up both DC 1 & 2 since you can import the songs and just have a bigger library of songs to choose from.

Christmas Games Round Up

Santa also brought me two more games for Christmas,  Carnival Games: Monkey See, Monkey Do and Raving Rabbids: Alive and Kicking.



Monkey See, Monkey Do I clearly neeeeeeeeeeeeded because of my love of monkeys but after my first few playthroughs, it’s not really one I’d recommend.  For the highlights they did a good job selecting games you’d actually find at a carnival like dunk tanks, skee ball, and ring toss.  The interface is cute in that the menus to chose games are like sign posts different parts of the park including Coaster Corner, Launchpad Lane, Carousel Junction, Whirling Way, and Teacup Court.  It’s also the first game I played that actually uses your Xbox avatar and puts your friends in the game as well (like they took a page from their previous Nintendo titles that incorporated miis) . The biggest deterrent to my enjoyment of the games are the actual controls.  While they attempted to utilize the Kinect controls and the instructions seem intuitive they end up being clunky and sometime the games just seem to altogether not respond to my motions.  Overall I’d recommend waiting till its super cheap in the bargain bin and even then probably only if you have kids.



Raving Rabbids: Alive and Kicking on the other hand is my showcase game for when someone wants to see what the Kinect is all about.  Ubisoft did a great job translating the franchise over to the Kinect controls.  I love their use of the “window” in a building the rabbids have taken over that turns the camera on you and your living room so it seems you are peering in.  The games are clever and a good work out too.  One of my favorites is a crazy version of whack-a-mole where you have to stomp around on rabbids as they pop-up through your actual floor in the mirror image of it on the screen.  It never ceases to get my heart rate pumping and the “audience” of people not playing are always howling with laughter.  My biggest complaint with the game is I am awful at navigating the menus and am constantly scrolling and swiping trying to actually select what I want.  The party game interface is also a little tedious to setup so I’ve instead stuck with Quickplay mode when showing it off to friends.

The Honeymoon Isn’t Over

All and all, I’m still in the honeymoon phase with my Kinect, since I just got it in November.  Call me a romantic, but I’d like to think we’ll last. I do like the fitness aspect of the games and while I wouldn’t want every game ever to have motion controls, I really enjoy the games that make good use of the technology.  It may be one of those fad peripherals, but I hope game studios continue to throw some of their R&D budget at making unique games that innovate the use of motion controls.

About the Author
Erin is a born and bred Masshole gamer who started at a young age watching her dad play Atari. She currently owns all three major platforms as well as has a home arcade cabinet and 2 pinball machines (Erin has games instead of children). Erin is actually pretty terrible at a lot of video games and continues her trend of watching her husband play games and “managing” him from the comfort of the couch sans controller. Her favorite type of games are point and click adventures, platform, and rhythm which fits nicely with her love of prog rock and live music.

Comments? You can post them on ElektraFi's Blog or in the 2o2p Front Page News forum.

Jason "Pulsaris" Thomsen tackles the age old question: “Why do we play video games if they get us so frustrated?”

My night began just like any other night. I fired up the XBOX and put in my game of choice for the evening. This particular evening it was Battlefield 3. I joined my Battlefield buddies and began my daily attempt to become a soldier that is feared by my enemies. In actuality what resulted was quite the opposite. Every step my soldier took was one step closer to death. My soldier from time to time would reincarnate in this world, in a location that would make any rational man quickly question his sanity. Generally, it is not a good idea to appear directly in front of an enemy with a knife or a very powerful weapon. In the real world, the level of profanities being spewed after my soldier’s death would make any sailor blush. My wife, sitting on the couch enjoying her book, could clearly see that I was just a bit unhappy at what was happening to me and asked me a very innocent question: “Why are you playing if it gets you so frustrated?”

While the question itself was pretty straightforward, it made me think. Gaming, for myself as well as most of 2old2play, is a hobby. We take time from saving the real world to turn on our console of choice to make an attempt to save another. Whether it is leading our favorite sports team to victory or saving a blue hedgehog from defeat from a pudgy moustached villain, we make attempts to be victorious. Through all these attempts, many factors can lead to limitless failures.
 

Frustration with Games

As early as the first video game, game developers have come up with ways for gamers to pull out their hair. In the early days of gaming, the causes for frustration were a bit more limited. Generally my moments of banging my head against an arcade cabinet were caused by two main factors. First was the challenge of a high score. I think we’ve all had a moment like this: You’re on your last life and just as you’re about to beat the new score a flaming barrel takes your character and your dream of bragging rights up in smoke. The other is the infamous boss fight. Making it all the way through a level is a challenge of itself, but when a fifty-story tall Gorilla stomps your dude to death, no amount of quarters will bring back your dignity.

Fast forward to present day gaming, and developers have become much more creative in their methods to create anger and hatred towards their new creations. One example of this was a game I played on Playstation 3, called Demon’s Souls. Demon’s Souls is a game that advertises itself as a game in which you will die a LOT. Death is actually a gaming mechanic. There are even blood spots where other people have died and you can watch their unfortunate demise.  As many times as my character bit the dust, I was surprised there was not an option for my character to put his sword down and go home and choose to retire on a sunny island where death was a little less frequent.

Games also use other methods to create frustration. While “lives” are not as much of a factor as they used to be, they’ve more than made up for it in other ways. Save points, while meant to award a job well done, can create many moments of controller tossing. Imagine this scenario: your soldier/knight/enchanted bunny traversing through spinning blades of doom. Just as your character reaches the save point, he/she/it slides into an abyss only to have to perform the same arduous task yet again and again. There is a distinct point where a game makes a change from challenging and fun to broken controller and re-plastered wall (raises hand emphatically).

Frustration Created from Developers’ “oops” Moments

While perfection is a goal worth achieving, many games miss the mark and can lead to very unexpected results. A likely scenario:

Your hero has been crossing the desert for hours in search of the long lost Kazoo of Souls. Before you reach the destination, you cross the dreaded Bridge of Blades. As you pass the very last blade unscathed and cross back onto land, the ground disappears and your hero is now lost in limbo wondering why he didn’t just say “no”.

Moments such as this can not only be frustrating, but can be enough to call it quits for a particular game for good.

Other glitches can occur when performing a fairly trivial task. I recall playing Magic The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers on XBOX live in a multiplayer match with friends. As the game was nearing the end, someone played a card that another was unfamiliar with. He took a look at the card, a fairly innocent task, and the game froze. How dare my friend do such a thing!

These type of glitches and countless others are very hard to overlook. We purchase a game in the expectations that we are getting a finished product. Games go through trials and beta testing with other gamers searching for errors. Then we purchase this game, press the A button three times in a row and die immediately. Not really what one would expect. It would be like purchasing a hamburger and as you’re about to eat it, it punches you in the face and walks off.

Frustration Created from our Gaming “Abilities” and Expectations

There are times where we can be the source of our own frustration.  While we may all strive to be Master Chief, there are times we’d be lucky to be qualified as a Grunt. Our expectations on what we want to achieve can cause a certain amount of frustration. A few weeks ago I was playing Rock Band rocking out on drums. During my session I thought I was putting on a show to make any band in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame jealous. What resulted was a very disappointing three star show. While three stars is nothing shake a stick at (sorry, couldn’t resist), it was a reality check that sent me from headliner to roadie.

Another cause of frustration are the constant mistakes that we make. I admit that I do a LOT of stupid things in games that cause frustration. When playing Call of Duty, generally it is a very bad idea to run around in the open for extended periods of time. I am aware of this, yet I find myself still doing it from time to time. Obviously, my soldier gets shot and dies a humiliating death. The frustration creates a spiral of stupidity which causes more mistakes and more idiotic decisions. This in turn leads to more frustration.

Frustration Caused by Other Gamers

Then there are the other gamers in which we share our experience with. From Timmies to old geezers, they may be some of the worst culprits of our frustration.  When gaming, far too many people flip a switch that turns off any humanitarian feelings towards their fellow air breathers. Getting shot by a voiceless computer player over and over for many would be sufficiently frustrating. Now add a voice telling you how they did unspeakable acts to your mother/wife/goldfish while tea-bagging your dead body is enough for many sessions of therapy. If the vocal barrages were not enough for you, add on their unfathomable knowledge of every glitch and cheat that not even the game developers thought were possible. Let’s not forget that many of these gamers appear to eat, sleep and breathe the games you play and they are better than you in every shape and form.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Any one of these frustrations could cause a normally sane person to drink all of the alcohol in the house (I would never do anything like that!). When more of these factors combine, they create a Voltron of hate that would cause even the most loved family member to lock you away for life. Through it all, there are ways to maintain your sanity and keep gaming enjoyable.
When I get frustrated I try to remember why I am a gamer. I absolutely love video games and they are my number one hobby. From the Atari and Intellivision days of the eighties, to the XBOX and Playstation 3 days of today, I have constantly enjoyed gaming. Games not only engage me with their story, but with their gameplay and challenge as well. If I love gaming so much, why should I allow it to become such a frustrating experience? The answer is simple: I shouldn’t.

Since there are so many outside factors that can lead to frustration, it’s important to separate the things that you can control from things that you cannot. I may not be able to prevent little Timmy from humping my dead body, but I can control my reaction to it. Reacting negatively to opposing trash talk or actions is exactly what they want, and there’s no reason to play into their strategy. I can’t control glitches in the game, either, but I can choose what I do when I encounter one. I can wait for a solution to that fix, do something different in the game, or accept that is just how the game is at that particular point in time. Either way it puts the control back in my own hands.
Other times it’s just best to just take a step back from the game. At times I’ve tried working through the frustration only to have it compound and get worse. Sometimes it’s best to switch games or just turn off the console completely.  Your controller and your console will thank you.

It’s always important to remember why we play. We play to have fun and enjoy ourselves. There’s no reason why gaming should be anything other than that.

About the Author
Jason "Pulsaris" Thomsen joined 2old2play in 2006. He is 33 years old and lives with his wife in Radford, Virginia. Jason is a 2003 graduate of James Madison University with a Bachelors of Science degree. His first gaming console was the Intellivision and he has been gaming since. Gaming favorites include first-person shooters, role playing games, and sports games. He loves playing for both competition and for fun, as well as for the social interaction with his friends. Other activities include playing trumpet and skiing.

Comments? You can post them on ElektraFi’s Blog.

The game that sold over 34 million copies (over 2 billion in sales) over its lifespan is coming to the end of an era.

No it isn't really dead per se. People aren't throwing themselves off buildings, massive earthquakes have not rattled the globe, and there isn't a meteor the size of Texas hurtling towards the Earth. However, it is a sad time we are living in. Bungie, the creator of the much beloved franchise, parted ways with Microsoft with their last installment in the series, Halo: Reach. 

Originally, Bungie had plans to produce Halo as a traditional PC game. Microsoft stumbled across them while scouting talent to secure their bid for supremacy in the world of gaming. They saw Bungie as a diamond in the rough. They purchased Bungie for an undisclosed amount somewhere between 20 and 40 million, shut the doors on their Chicago office, and shipped all the employees to Seattle to work exclusively on Halo. Little did the world know, this was the beginning of one of the largest sci-fi franchises in history. 

We've seen multiple iterations in the Halo series enter our households from games we've grown to love on good days, and hate when we're playing like crap (Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo: ODST, Halo Wars). There are action figures, 6 best selling novels, a Halo Encyclopedia, and a Bungie self-financed anime series "Halo legends." The more we've seen, the more we love. 

Halo like with any good franchise has a fan base that has immersed themselves in the story telling and lore that has grown with the series. We've seen web shorts like "Red vs. Blue", fan fiction, self made cardboard replica weapons, people showing up en masse at events like Comic Con dressed as Spartan Soldiers. There was even a group dressed as Master Chiefs who choreographed a dance paying tribute to the series on America's Got Talent. Now if that doesn't saying lovin', I don't know what does. 

And don't forget the Halo live action movie that almost made it to the silver screen a few years ago. It's too bad Universal Fox walked away when the approved budget of $134 million was surpassed by then director Peter Jackson and WETA Digital. Jackson, a long-time Halo fan, has wanted to make the film for some time. He even went so far as to produce a live action short as a sample of what we would have to look forward to in the final version. Check it out. 

Well fear not Halo Fan Boys (and girls), Frank O'Connor, former Bungie content manager who now oversees Microsoft's management of future Halo series at production company 343 Studios says, "We're still interested in making an excellent Halo movie. We've created an awful lot of documentation and materials to support a feature film. We have a good idea of what kind of story we went to tell, but won't move on it until there's a great reason to do it. We're in no particular hurry." 

So you're saying there's a chance... 

Microsoft is also rumored to be looking into launching something with the series on television. For now, live action films like "Birth of a Spartan" and "Deliver Hope" directed by Noam Murro are all we'll get until the green light is given to produce the mythical beast of a movie. 

It is somewhat bittersweet as we celebrate the release of the last Bungie-developed Halo game. In a way it's like seeing your best friend move away when you were growing up. You know you're always going to be good friends, but you'll never have that same bond. We know that Microsoft has plans to continue the series well beyond Bungie's departure with their in house studio. And Bungie has signed a 10-year development deal with Activision Blizzard to produce new intellectual property that we can look forward to. We'll still have Halo games, possibly movies, books, comics, live action shorts, and much more. But we won't have the company that gave birth to the game that we've come to love. 

As the release passes us by of the most anticipated game of the year (as stated by Ipsos OTX a company who polls 1000 US video game players a week), we've been bombarded with more reasons to love the first "first person shooter" to succeed on a console. We've made a lot of memories together Bungie, and we know we'll make a few more. We're sad to see you hand off our beloved series to Microsoft, but we know everyone has to let their baby grow up. We can't wait to see what you have in store for us, with Reach and your new endeavors. 

Halo is Dead, Long Live Halo.

Heard about the MML but aren't sure if your skills are up to snuff? Are you new to team shooters and wondering why everyone else seems to know what they are doing? Do you just want to make sure that yours is not the last name in the post-game lobby? Read on unenlightened one.

Team-based multiplayer games, on any platform, require one core ingredient: teamwork. But what is teamwork? And what makes it successful? If you are new to the site you might feel overwhelmed by the chemistry some of the teams have here. We've been playing together, and against randoms, for a long time. Don't be discouraged. Here is the final word from one of the best team players on the site. Fir3 will have you up running and gunning with the rest of us faster than you can click a link to the MML sign-up thread.

Teamwork is defined as: “A cooperative effort by the members of a group or team to achieve a common goal.”

Three skills – communication, strategy and chemistry – form the basis of any successful team. While this may seem like a simple task, getting your team to a competitive level takes a lot of dedication. While most of the references in this article are Halo-based, everything in this article can be applied to any team-oriented game. The term "Slayer" can also refer to "Death Match" or "Arena" and Objectives can refer to King of the Hill, Capture the Flag, Territories, etc.

Communication is Key

The ability a team has to clearly communicate the in-game events to one another is essential. It is every team member’s responsibility to communicate not only what they see, but also what actions they're making.

“Call outs” are musts! Telling your teammates how many people are pushing in on a side of the map, if they are hurt, where the enemy is spawning – if a team member does not call out enemy positions or fails to alert teammates of an enemy pushing in on their flank or their objective, it creates an advantage for the enemy to exploit and move in.

Communication in progress: By labeling areas of the map with specific names (the more specific the better), call outs become that much more important. For example, on the Halo 3 map Guardian, location and color-specific call outs rule the map. Simplified color call outs (yellow/gold 1 and 2, blue 1 and 2, green 1 and 2) and location-specific call outs (snipe 1, 2, 3; top/bottom/middle; snipe lift; camo lift; etc..), provide teammates with a good idea of where to find the enemy. Knowing and memorizing each location of every map can greatly help a team stop an enemy push to their side of the map or keep the enemy pinned down in their base.

In addition to basic location and color-specific call outs, enemy call outs are also helpful. Always let your team know how many people are pushing a given side of the map, or how many shots you may have in an enemy. Say you have two enemies pushing your left side of the map and you fired one shot in each of them. Sharing this with your team tell two things: 1. Obviously, two people are coming on the left side, and 2. They are both slightly weakened, giving your defending teammates a potential advantage in the upcoming fire fight.

Using specific name call outs can also greatly help your team. Take this scenario: Two guys, Players A and B, are pushing on the left, you manage to put two shots in Player A, but none in Player B, before being pushed back or getting killed. Sharing this with your team helps them know that Player A is weakened and Player B is full shields. The bottom line: Specific call outs give your team a huge advantage.

Strategic Game Play

Strategy is huge to any team’s success, and not only a best-case scenario strategy, it's important to have plans in place for the variables that will inevitably come up. So where does a team begin?

For starters, each map should have an essential strategy based on what you want to achieve, and how you can achieve it. From the moment the match starts you need a plan. In Halo, you need to send team members to secure key power weapons on the map. For example, on the Pit, my team knows what to do the moment the game starts: Neks0ne and another team member push to the rockets, while I (F1R3) and another team member push to overshields and sniper. But now what? This is where the variables come in. Did all four of us survive the initial push? Or are we down players? And if so, who's down and where were they? If three or four of us are alive, we automatically push to their side, and start to control their spawn points and/or push in on an objective if it is an objective gametype. If less than three are alive, we sit back, wait for our teammates to spawn and then push in as a team or stop the other team from pushing in on our base, and push in afterward.

As you can see in the above example, variables need to be accounted for in most situations and this can be complicated – but the game flow, team strategy, and variables all become easier and more natural with practice and team scrimmages.

In some respects, objective game types can prove to be trickier than slayer game types because you need to protect a teammate carrying an objective and give him/her a clear road to the capture point. Working out your team’s optimal route and a secondary route can help your team to correctly score objectives and protect the flag runner or ball carrier, allotting your team more scores on the flag or times with the oddball.

Chemistry

Chemistry is equally important as communication and strategy. Team chemistry is, simply, how well you work together. This is something that can be learned over time, but some players just play better together than others. I am fortunate enough to have a teammate that I have played with for three years now. Our team chemistry is great because we've played so many games together. The more a team plays together the better the team will become over all. Chemistry doesn’t come by simply saying, “YAY! We have four people, we are a team!” It comes from a lot of practice and playing other teams in matchmaking or in scheduled scrimmages. A couple years back, there was a great article by Overswarm. In this article he broke down the different types of Halo player. As a team, you should strive to become what he described as a “wolf pack.” Attacking your enemy together, aka team shooting, will give you a big advantage over the other teams: “The Wolf is the least common of the five styles, and that is a sad thing. One thing that wolves know is that no matter how strong they are, no matter how fast they are, there is always the possibility that there is something bigger. They also know that it is easier to take down even the simplest of prey if you work as a team. That is why wolves run in packs.” This pack mentality can lift a team to victory or shatter a team in defeat. If a team does not have chemistry they are bound to fail, over and over again.

Conclusion

Ultimately, teamwork is not as hard as it sounds. With the proper practice and dedication, any team can become a cohesive unit. Below I have added a couple of you tube videos of neks0ne and myself (F1R3) playing together using some of these principles. The video shows Neks and I on the Halo 3 map Orbital, we run through seven opponents simply because we talked, shot together, and worked as a team. Orbital is not a map we have any strategy for, but with our team chemistry and communication, we were able to stay alive.

If you have any questions about this article feel free to PM me or Neks0ne, or better yet, dive on into the Halo Tournament and League Forum. Join the discussion and add your own strategies

Big shout out to Caesar, thanks for capping these vids for Neks and I. – F1R3

NoGame got fed up and isn't going to take it anymore. He's starting a posse to hunt down and sodom... er, lynch all the cheating Timmies of the world. You in?

Ah, shit. I'm dead again.

Where in the hell did that come from? I'm watching the kill cam and I can't see anything. Oh, there he is. He's on top of the roof in the building in the back of the map.

According to Tara, most the Forged maps she played in Halo 3 sucked. I can pretty safely say that my experience is in line with hers, and with that in mind, I think you need to hear what she has to say.