Since there’s little to post about today (with the exception of a new Deus Ex game and Sony swearing they’re selling a lot of systems now), I thought I’d take this time to talk a little bit about my recent experience in sending back my poor, dead 360. This may be (hell, probably is) something that every owner of a 360 prior to this fall’s version of the console is going to have to deal with, so in the event that you haven’t, perhaps my tale will make your life easier.

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Halo, in its various incarnations, is being used to bring the Christian gospel. The NY times has broken a story that details how various Protestant churches around the nation are using Halo to get to the youth. Ministers and pastors alike have started Halo game nights, using them as a tool to bring in the youth who they feel they might otherwise not connect to.

This method is not without its critics. The obvious problem that many find with this approach stems from the fact that a violent video game is being used to draw these children. Many of the kids that are coming to the “Halo nights,” couldn’t even go out and buy the game legally, but that probably adds to the appeal of the events. Ken Kenerly, a pastor who runs a church out of Atlanta, in response to critics, asks, “With gamers, how else can you get into their lives?”

Some churches have been much more accepting than others. The Southern Baptist church has recently sent out an email to over 50,000 young congregates, teaching them how to spread their faith through Halo 3. Other organizations, like the group Focus on the Family, still hasn’t made up their mind about what stance they should take on this new form of proselytizing.

Neither Aegies or I have any problem with this. Despite the fact that neither of us are religious, we understand where these people are coming from. They aren’t being malicious, they’re just using new venues to spread a message they think will help us. So, I guess what I am trying to say, is, don’t be a dick to these people, they are doing what they are doing only out of love.

Moreover, we should all look at this as a good thing because it is doing two things. One, it is opening people’s minds about video games and violence, and two, it is making people more aware of the medium. These are good things, people.

I bet Jesus whores the rocket launcher.

Chufmoney

A lot of people have been speculating that the 360 Core SKU was on the way out. In some ways, people could still say that it is.

Teamxbox reported today that they have found a listing for a new 360 SKU on both Amazon and ToysRUs’ website. The SKU, while not called by the same name, is still a 360 without a hard drive. It is still 279$, but now will come with some arcade games — and possibly an HDMI port. We also suspect that the system will come with a memory card, possibly of the 256 MB variety.

Personally I don’t think that the SKU is going to make a damn bit of difference for the sales of the console. It just seems like too high of a price for a system that hasn’t been promoted enough as a casual system. Aegies, on the other hand, feels that the lower price and bundle will help sales come this holiday season, especially if it is promoted with Scene It. We both feel that ultimately the 279$ price tag is going to hold back most of the casual audience.

What do you guys think, does a 279$ xbox appeal to anyone besides those whose console has red-ringed and are seeking a cheap replacement?

Chufmoney

As you may or may not have noticed reading this site since it started, I’m a pretty huge Ninja Gaiden fan. In fact, really, Ninja Gaiden is the watermark by which I judge third person action games that focus on melee combat. It’s sad in some ways, because the fluidity and rewards of Ninja Gaiden’s combat has largely spoiled me for many other games. Devil May Cry feels silly and cheap on its hard difficulties, as did God of War II. With Ninja Gaiden, I never felt like there was a fight that I was ill equipped to win. When I did die, it was because I just wasn’t good enough, and I’d have to get better. I’ve played through the game at least 4 times on normal, hard, and Master Ninja, and while I’m not the greatest Ninja Gaiden player around, I’m pretty good.

Because of this, I had to violently mask my sexual arousal at the leaked screenshots from the Japanese Xbox site for Ninja Gaiden 2, which feature even more outrageous ninja antics, including dismemberment (arms AND legs!), decapitation, and disembowelment by sword, axe, and FUCKING WOLVERINE CLAWS.

As a matter of fact, why hasn’t Tecmo gotten the license for a Wolverine game? Microsoft quickly pulled the page offline, but the damage was done, and the “surprise” was somewhat spoiled I suppose for one of Microsoft’s big Pre-TGS announcements. But really, who cares? It’s coming, it’s coming reasonably soon, and unfortunately for those who went with a PS3 instead, this time it’s being published by Microsoft, which limits its potential to migrate to the black behemoth.

So aside from claws, what else is new?

We don’t have the full details just yet, but we were able to pick up some early information. Perhaps as a way to counter many of the complaints about the series’ difficulty, one of the central gameplay changes is a new health system that will automatically heal players to a certain extent. We don’t know exactly how this system will work, but it seems to be similar to Halo 1’s setup where a certain portion of your life will recharge if you can stay out of trouble for a few moments, but another portion of your life (your “armor,” to continue the Halo comparison) will remain missing until you make it to the next save point.

Between those save points, you’ll bounce from New York to Tokyo to the Netherworld, and as you can see in the new screenshots from the game, come across an area called the Aqua Capital with gondolas and a river running through the center of town. It’s hard to say much definitively about the game’s New York appearance, but a “stage select” screenshot released by Microsoft suggests that the Statue of Liberty will make an appearance.

I’m actually a fan of the idea of something of a stamina recharging mechanic for the title, as buying elixirs over and over again was one of the few really tedious aspects of the last game. But knowing Team Ninja, this also probably means the enemies will be even more aggressive/dangerous. Since I’m at work, I’m trying not to embarass myself with the visual manifestation of my lust for this game. Suffice it to say though, I’m excited. Release is expected in the second half of 2008.

-Aegies