Gearheads of War

Yeah, I started Gearheads, so I get the final word.  I think what the argument comes down to ultimately is personal preference and experience.  I have never ventured into ranked play on Gears of War.  I have already dabbled a bit in random matchmaking in Halo 3 slayer.

Perhaps my opinion is, in part, jaded by the fact that I've pretty much only played Gears of War with friends and fellow Gearheads, so there always seems to be plenty of communication and discussion of strategy.  My experience in Halo 3 was, even playing with Gearheads, that no one really talked much outside of, "You want to ride on the back of the Warthog?"  Other than that, there was no yelling of opponents' locations or warnings that someone was coming up on you.

Another dynamic about Halo 3 that I don't like is that you really can't sneak up on someone the same way you can in Gears because you have that freaking radar that shines red dots everywhere letting you know when someone is coming.  I absolutely love the fact that I can sneak up on people in Gears of War.  As a matter of fact, because I'm usually not as good as others with the shotgun or sniper, stealth is one of my big strengths.  I love approaching someone trying to kill one of my teammates with the Hammer of Dawn on Fuel Depot and Boomshotting or Chainsawing them to pieces before they knew what hit them.  I get a charge out of it when we come back and someone says, papi where the hell were you and how did you sneak up on me?  The only real way to be stealthy in Halo that I've been able to discern is to hide far away with the Spartan laser or the sniper, otherwise people know that you're coming because of the radar.

Now, you might've gotten the idea that I don't like Halo.  That is the farthest thing from the truth.  I've got nearly all of the action figures, I've read all the books and my wardrobe consists of no less than five Halo tee shirts, many of which I wear proudly on a daily basis.  I remember talking with my brother before Gears of War came out and saying to him, "You realize that Halo is my first love when it comes to gaming, right?  I'm sure I'm going to love your game, but I find it hard to believe that anything will ever touch Halo for me in terms of pure fun."  He knew where Gears stood and accepted it.  And really, it's taken me this long to realize that Gears has become my favorite multi-player experience of all-time.  Maybe part of the reason is because I've met so many great people and have enjoyed the FFF endlessly, but it's also because the raw game play of Gears of War just outclasses the Halo game play in my opinion.  And not because it's hyper-realistic, but because it's a much more visceral experience that cuts to core like a chainsaw slicing through an opponent.  The animations of killing an opponent or getting killed are just wonderfully gorgeous and rewarding.

Remember, I've also been talking about multiplayer this entire time.  If you want to talk about the campaign, I do think the Halo franchise easily outclasses Gears there because of the intricate storyline.  I also find the enemies more interesting in Halo as well.  The Grunts are just damn funny and the Covenant in general is fascinating.  The Locust's most interesting character was the Beserker, and she was pretty easy to kill once you figured out what you needed to do.

The bottom line in all of this is that I'm happy that I actually own an Xbox 360 because it's the only console that will allow me to play both of these magnificent games.  And it also gives me greatness to look forward to in the future with Halo 3 and eventually Gears of War 2.  Maybe my opinion will change once the final retail game hits the shelves, but I quickly realized after playing some Halo 3 that I was eyeing my copy of Gears of War on my shelf wanting to go back to it.  Perhaps that changes come September and maybe it doesn't?  My guess is that I'll play the Halo 3 campaign several times before I even touch the MP.  Whether or not I wind up playing the MP a lot or not is another matter altogether.

The following is the continued discussion of Zoso, Papi and myself about which game we prefer...Gears or Halo 3? If you haven't already, be sure to check out their first emails below...definitely two great reads!

But, if you are already up to speed then grab a drink and get ready because here are my views on the Gears/Halo 3 debate...

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To: Papi Blez, Zoso Fan
From: SweetTea023
Re:Gears/Halo- An honest discussion...continued!

Papi, Zoso,

Thanks for the quick replies.

You both seem to have somewhat similar, but in many ways different reasons why you pick Gears over Halo. Papi, you seem to like the realistic, team-focused, in your face game play that Gears offers, while Zoso seems to dislike multiple game design choices in Halo.

Let's start with the teamwork issue. First of all, let's set the ground work and say that the following thoughts apply only when your teammates are talking/participate. I agree with your analysis Papi, that in Halo you jump into the game and say "Let's go this way" and then the teamwork cuts out from there. However, I disagree with your thoughts when applied to the countless objective based games Halo 3 offers.  When you look at the teamwork that goes into, say, Capturing a Flag, I would say Halo forces you to work with your team more than Gears does.(Annex excluded, I'll touch on that in a bit...)
Going Rambo in any objective based Halo game is suicide and will get you no where. For example, when playing CTF on High Ground you have to start the match with a number of things in mind- Who will pick up the Sniper and make sure the Spartan Laser doesn't mow us down? How should we infiltrate their base-underground, use the gate, sneak through the pipes or fly over in a Mongoose using the Grav Lift?  If everyone goes out with no strategy you will loose almost every time.  In contrast, I have been in many Gears matches where a talented player can easily finish off all 4 of the opposing team without even talking to his teammates.   In regards to Annex, I would say that Halo 3 and Gears have an equal amount of teamwork involved...  

continued...

Gears.  Halo.  One console.  Could we possibly be in a better position?  Ok, well I know we all want a Viva Pinata MMOG but we have to be realistic...;) Since the start of the Halo 3 Beta, boards have flamed and comparisons have been made at which game is better. After some chatting with Zoso and Papi we have decided to have a first of hopefully many discussions through email.  We all remember the N'Gai NPD discussion and so a special shout-out to him for the idea. (If you haven't already, check out his "Monday Morning Quarterback" article on April's NPD numbers)

Love, SweetTea023

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To: Papi Blez, Zoso Fan

Fr: SweetTea023

Date: May 28, 2007

Re: Gears/Halo - An Honest Discussion

Tyler, Adam,

After playing months of Gears of War and weeks with Halo 3 (in the Beta state) I am hooked to both games.  Both are fantastic games; however both have their minor flaws. (Let's give Halo a little slack for being in Beta- and ignore the things we know will be fixed.)  Gears of War and Halo 3 both had/have enormous amounts of hype coming up to release and both seem to please most that pick them up.

Much like our relationship Zoso, let's start with online. (I'm only kidding...)  

 Let's look at the positives/negatives of both games online play:

Gears of War

Good
+Easy to find Ranked matches with people you don't know. (although getting the map you want can be tedious)
+Player matches are laid-back and fun with your friends. (which CAN be set to whatever map you want)
+Overall quick-paced strategic fun.
+Cool Executions
+Beautiful graphics

• Unique Guns (Ahem, the Chainsaw)
  
• Team Chat

Bad
- Lag can be a pain
-No ranked play with friends
-Host advantages

Halo 3

• Both overall ranking system (RP points) and game ranking system that works well.
  
• Awesome matchmaking system that pairs you with people of similar skill. (However this obviously needs work before the games release)
  
• Ability to create a party of friends and join any (save one) game type both ranked and social.
  
• A ridicules amount of game types.
  
• Ability to save "Films" of memorable games and send them to friends
  
• Comprehensive stat analysis on Bungie.net
  
• Guns, guns and more guns!  A huge variety of weapons with different combinations.
  
• Pretty graphics

• Only "pretty" graphics.
  
• Finding matches can be a pain
  
• Must "Hump" the D-Pad to talk to your team

Whew.  Now, given this is a rough list, in your opinion which game edges out?

 - Nick
(SweetTea023)

* * *

To: SweetTea023

Fr: Papi Blez

Date: May 28, 2007

Re: Gears/Halo - An Honest Discussion

Nick,

It's somewhat silly to be discussing which game is better since one is a final product and the other is a beta, but heck, I imagine that most of the core game play of Halo 3 is probably there.  So take what I say below with the fact that I'm talking mostly about game play in my comparison between the two.

It's not that I disagree with your assessment of the positives and negatives of both games at all.  But to me it's the above-mentioned game play which is what's very different and what makes Gears a better MP experience.  Halo is a blast, but it feels like playing a game of laser tag in a bounce house at a 4-year-old's birthday party compared to the strategic, much more realistic feel of Gears of War.  You can approach a Gears of War match with a very specific and strategic plan in mind.  In my experience in Halo, it's almost always every man for himself and the only strategy then becomes let's just stick together.  For example, Zoso and I often work together as a team in a clear way.  One of us will be the mouse to lure the cat out of hiding and come charging at the prey.  Meanwhile, the dog is lurking for either a Torque Bow, Sniper, grenade or Boom Shot kill.  

Guys in heavy armor should feel weighty.  They shouldn't jump around like they're Kate Moss on the moon.  And I know that Spartans are tough with their shields and MJOLNIR armor, but would it hurt them to use a little cover now and then?  To me, the game play of Gears feels solid.  You can go into a sprint when necessary and because you're a big guy with a ton of armor on you don't bounce around.  Plus, the characters in Gears actually have personality.  It's great being able to choose a character and not just a color and a logo.

That's the biggest difference to me.  If you're talking single player campaign, I would probably still take Halo over Gears for the complex storyline, but when it comes to killing your friends, Gears is head and shoulders above when it comes to game play.  Not a question in my mind.

-Tyler
(Papi Blez)

[In order to keep the topic fresh, Zoso Fan will be posting his response tomorrow in the afternoon]

* * *

To: SweetTea023
Fr: Zoso Fan
Date: May 28, 2007
Re: Gears/Halo - An Honest Discussion
Sweety,

I hope I am doing this right.

I think I should start by pointing out that I have played Halo vigorously and Halo 2 compulsively. Both were in my opinion the best games the original Xbox had to offer in terms of online gaming. But this is where I have my problem. Opening up Gears of War and playing online for the first time was amazing. Not only did the game look better than anything else ANYWHERE, but the gameplay was new, original and fresh. Also, the same can be said for the mood of the game which was gritty dark and covered themes like "destroyed beauty" which was badass. The thing is, when I play the halo 3 beta, I do not get that sense that I am playing a completely next-gen game. It plays beautifully, but just like it was supposed to on Xbox 1. The graphics are very Halo and honestly not as bad as people say, but there are A LOT of things I am expecting from final product now that I am not so sure I will get. It is freaking' Halo 3 for crying out loud, as a gamer I wanted it to blow my mind with visuals I couldn't see possible in any other game. (Also, remember that all halo's visuals can still change since its beta). But my biggest problem is the gameplay. At this point, in a new consoles cycle, I believe there needs to be an overhaul that makes the game play better than before. But I think the devs knew that there would be a HUGE backlash from crazy 10 year old fatties who would cry if the sniper wasn't the easiest used in a game. Hell, I will actually breakdown all of my problems with halo/gears and state which has the better.

Halo 3 (beta)

-The sniper is the easiest damn gun in the world. And I am not saying this because I am only getting pwned by it. There are games where I can EASILY get a killing spree on Valhalla with the sniper within the first few minutes. I am constantly running out of ammo before dying with the gun. With Gears, snipes are hard but with the difficulty comes rewards. Every kill makes you feel like a badass, in contrast to feeling like an 11 year old with halo ;).

-The Spartan laser is my favorite weapon, but it is also WAY to easy. After you hold the trigger you can still stop at any time. It controls kind of like a torque bow, but is a lot easier to use. Torque bow pwns it.

-The trip mine is awesome, but would be better if it actually worked when you drop it. I mean, remember the beta trailer where they showed it for the first time? A warthog was darting toward a Spartan and he dropped it right before the bastards ran him over, and he killed them both. Ha! I have literately dropped it down and had a warthog slowly drive over it with out it going off.

-You guys remember the three keys to halo? Guns, grenades and melee. Well, my favorite of the three (grenades) don't really seem to be effective much anymore. Did you know that 2 plasma grenades DONT even stop a warthog? Did you know a Spartan laser most of the time doesn't kill the gunner? How about throwing 2 frags next to a guy and he doesn't die. One of the biggest problems with gears weapons in the past was the boomshot BEFORE the patch. But now all grenades and really all explosive guns in halo have that VERY problem. ESPECIALLY the brute shot which Bungie boasted about being powerful?

-My biggest problem with Halo is the idea of (here you go grymm, who says that he copyrighted the term :)) "Garbage Picking". You want to be the halo master with the most kills? Sit back and wait for people to get into a firefight and when they are weak... Kill em both. Yes it is a strategy, but it completely terrible gameplay which should not be rewarding since it involved no risk or skill. With Gears, you are always in doing what I would call duals when you are not working as a team against another. There really isn't any garbage picking (stealing downs don’t count).

-Mongoose is cool for traveling short distances, but really needs to be more powerful for splattering. I have gotten it before but he already had almost no health. There was a time a few days ago where a guy was away from the game and I hit him at full speed dead on. No kill. Lame.

-Warthog is monstrously overpowered.

-Man cannon was in halo 2

-Matchmaking still takes about 30 min to get into a game sometimes. Connection issues.

-I can't talk to sweetea during a game in Halo (glitch) then I get put on the other team from my party (and a random guy took my slot) then everyone on my team got booted. While I was getting the black screen of death. Best system ever! ;) (All in one game btw)

-game lag (and lots of it!)

(And PLEASE NOTE: I AM ONLY LISTING THE NEGATIVES FOR THE GAMES WITH SOME COMPARISONS; there are PLENTY of BADASS things about new halo, like the needler and almost all the equipment)

GEARS

-No matchmaking, which I hope to see in GEARS 2.

-Bullet Lag when a host sucks.

-4 on 4 max (matter of perspective though)

-only 4 game types (but personally I only play slayer in halo anyway)

-grenades inconsistent.

-host advantage more visible due to gibbing effects in shotgun and chainsawing.

-melee'ers / active reload whores.

-Really Doe and his friends. (aka shotgun)

-slide glitch (but come on, Halo will have an assload of glitches when it first launches)

-no in-game map changes/weapon swaps

-no starting weapon swaps

Most of Gear's negative aspects really are just exploits, which all can be countered pretty easily and avoided all together. (Boot em or play with people who aren't 11)

I am sorry if this response is a little ramble sounding because I am pretty tired. But collectively, I think Gears of War has better core gameplay. And to everyone who complains about host advantage and bullet lag and such... I NEVER HOST. Honestly, ask anyone I play with, it is only on rare occasion and I don't have a shitty connection either. I prefer not hosting and have no problem taking the host out a lot of the time. Do you guys like it when a player jumps around from point to point in the air (in halo) because of lag? And you can't shoot him. This happens to the players and all vehicles commonly as well. Normal game lag is just as annoying if not more. But it’s the business of online gaming. I think people use host advantage as an excuse WAY to much. I mean, yes its there, but the opposing team of the host can win easily. It’s not that much of a factor.

Halo 3 is gonna be an awesome game. I have legendary pre-ordered for crying out loud. Single player with 4 player co-op is gonna rock my world and I am giddy as a school girl to finish the fight. But once it is over, I will go back to GEARS with out a problem or a doubt in my mind. This wasn’t something I was expecting from the biggest game on the consoles.

Basically, my main feelings are this:

- Halo is a great game, but the WOW factor isn’t there that I have been anticipating. Personally I think that some of the core problems with Halo is in its gameplay which is most rewarding when you sit back away from the action and pick off two people in a fight. Also, I find that it is not really anything new. For example, look at Splinter Cell: Conviction. By now, another splinter cell with the same gameplay would suck, that’s why ubisoft is making some changes to freshen up the series. Also, as you all know Tony Hawk games suck now. Yep. They used to be some of the best games, but after playing the same thing over and over again it is not as fun at all as when you originally began playing the series.

What halo needs is a whole new class of weapons, characters that are playable in multiplayer, and more varies in map design. There are like 3 styles (from what we’ve seen) of halo maps and it is honestly getting old. Innovation is needed imo to make a game lasting and fun.

-Gears is the classic example now of next-gen done right. It is a completely fresh and original environment and honestly it has an unfair advantage because of this. But that’s the point. Just like Assassins Creed has the potential to pwn Splinter Cell. New experiences make better games.

Along with this is that Gears brings a whole new style of gameplay. To a PC gamer who doesn’t have an Xbox, Halo seems like a “been there, done that” kind of thing because that style of game has been done numerous times before Halo even came out. Gears was created thinking outside of the box and because of it helps push a whole new genre.

In most basic terms: I prefer GEARS OF WAR’s gameplay over Halo. Easily.

Love, Zosie

(Zoso Fan)

I know they haven't announced Gears of War 2, but you know that it has to come sooner or later given the amazing sales of the game.  And after playing so much of Gears of War, I've come to realize that if all the sequel does is a few simple things, it would be a perfect sequel to me.  I'm talking specifically about the multiplayer here, not the campaign.  I'll address that at a later date.

Without further ado, here is what I'd like to see at a bare minimum:

-  Matchmaking as parties:  This is the most obvious one and something everyone wants and has been clamoring for.  I can't wait for the ability for a group of Gearheads to charge around during FFF and challenge all comers.

-  Detailed online stats:  The other thing that Halo 3 has that I've been completely addicted to is viewing the online stats.  I've learned that my kill to death ratio is about 71 percent (in other words, out of every 7.1 guys I kill I die about 10 times), which is pretty good as when I first started, I was at about 45 percent kills to 55 percent death ratio so I've raised that number.  It would be awesome if Epic could create a tie-in to their Web site like Bungie has so you can easily view what your stats are.   It would make me even more obsessive than ever.  I check my Halo 3 stats almost as soon as I finish up a game.  This is just freaking awesome and would make Gears 2 a complete experience.  I understand Epic is a smaller developer, but it should have something like this.  Can you imagine the running stats we could get going on Gearheads?  It would also be great to see how you've improved as you get more experience to see your stats rise.  I would love to know what my stats are from all the past FFF to see if I've actually improved a lot from the first time we played, wouldn't you?

-  Dedicated servers:  This would be incredibly expensive for Epic and Microsoft, but it's becoming something painfully obvious that needs to happen in the sequel.  The lag complaints seem to get louder and louder as time goes on.  I don't really ever hear it when people play on my connection, but it definitely exists.  And it would be very nice to have dedicated servers that do nothing but handle Gears games.

-  Something to force people to use cover and the environment: The shotgun circle strafing is old and played.  Some of the things I enjoy about Gears is being able to sneak up on opponents and hiding so that the opponent doesn't know that they're about to get killed.  I love sneaking up on snipers pinning our team down.  Today I was able to get a couple of boom shot kills without the opponent having any idea that I had the drop on them.  That's the essence of what Gears was supposed to be.  But there are too many who charge directly at the opponent with active reload ready to blow a person to pieces or down them with the Longshot (I still don't think that active reload with the snipe should down a person - snipe should only take someone out if it gets the headshot).  Epic kind of addressed this I think when the most recent patch came out and it seemed to up the power of the Lancer bullets.  But it needs to be even more powerful.  The rhinos (as I call them) need to be deterred from their tendencies to just charge in.  I don't blame them because there isn't really a huge penalty for just charging someone with the shotty unless the guy you're charging is better than you with the shotty.  Any way, make the Hammer burst, Lancer and pistol have a stronger impact on guys running at you so if they charge at you from a ways away, they wind up going down.

-  More maps and MP modes:  OK, so let's face it, Annex was pretty cool for about a week or two.  But now, how often do you actually play Annex?  Yeah, me neither.  I occasionally play and enjoy it, but there's something about Execution and the lack of re-spawns that make it feel dramatic.  Halo 3 has been a ton of fun, but it doesn't make me feel like playing cautiously.  Maybe I'd be better if I did, but I don't really care all that much if someone kills me.  It's like, oh well, I'm going to be right back in the fight in two seconds any way.  So, perhaps this is better in theory than reality?  I still wind up back on Execution 95 percent of the time.  Annex is a nice change up every now and then, but Execution is still where it's at for me.  As for the maps, the maps in Gears are beautiful and incredible.  I absolutely love almost all of them except maybe Clock Tower, Raven Down and Rooftops.  But it would be nice if the next game ships with 15-20 maps and then they add to that through DLC.  

Any way, even if Gears doesn't really improve graphically, has no new weapons or characters, I would be good with the sequel if it just had these particular things added to them.  Gears of War is simply the best MP experience I've ever had.  Just imagine how much better it can be.

Was there a full moon out last night or something?  We've been doing FFF for, oh, I'm not really sure how long.  Probably since January or so.  And last night was really the first time that I can remember having to play with people who seemed out to disrupt the general vibe of FFF.

We got stuck on Halo 3 with several of the most obnoxious British (or Australian?) folks you will ever hear.  They were not only talking all kinds of smack, but they were teabagging after kills and just being some of the most annoying, stereotypical XBL users you can imagine.  We did wind up winning the match, but the guys were good.  We also had a team slayer match against a bunch of guys who apparently have been strapped to the La-Z-Boys and had catheters inserted since the beta was released.  They all had played something like 250 games a piece whereas I think our most experienced player was around like 120.  Most were more like 50 and below. Although that is the only game we wound up losing.  We played three and wound up 2-1 so while we might be Gearheads, we can still rock out to some Halo.

When we went back to Gears we wound up having a bit of a controversy because a Gearhead came in the room and started talking all kinds of trash.  I just want to remind everyone that I created Gearheads of War to get away from the standard trash-talking, immature stuff that's out there.  We occasionally like to tease each other, but there's a pretty clear line between some friendly teasing and someone coming in and acting like they own the place.  I'm withholding the name because he and I wound up having a chat and he understands where I'm coming from now so I don't expect to have problems in the future.  You want to talk trash and act tough, go do it in ranked play.  Gearheads is all about having fun with a bunch of really good dudes, no matter what their skill level is.

I actually had a pretty good night last night myself, despite getting both sniped and torque bowed by Zoso (although I did get him back with a chainsaw when he was in the middle of trying to torque one of my teammates on Bullet Marsh).  Machete did have an incredible, across the entire map torque bow on me.  I'm talking he hit me through like fences and crap.  You've just got to give props for something like that.  And I actually was able to kill Really Doe not just once, but twice using the shotgun.  For some reason my shotgun was working very well last night and I did get some revenge on Machete doing a rolling boom shot kill on Process as he tried to sneak up behind me.  I still don't know how I didn't kill myself.

Any way, it was still a ton of fun as one of my favorite parts about FFF is actually when we're waiting for a match to begin.  It's pretty cool to just catch up with friends.  And I can honestly say that I do feel like a great number of you have become good friends of mine.  I look forward to just sitting around and talking to you every Friday night.  I love the quality and memorable moments from the gaming, but it's really become a social gathering for me.  I look forward to hearing what part Really Doe is playing in his play or how SweetTea's Fifth Quarter events are coming along or what appendage Zoso has nearly sliced off this week (how is that pinky, by the way?).  And on top of that, I've enjoyed meeting some newer folks like OG LOC and ninja fr0g and is not null.  So even though some times we have the occasional issue with someone new not really understanding the nature of the FFF (and no big deal, we just educate them), it's become a great love of mine.  In short, I'm really glad I've gotten to know so many of you and look forward to chainsawing you a bunch more in the future (as well as having my head popped off by you).

Yep, it's already that time again to sign up for the Friday Night FragFest.  This week, I'm considering only doing the beta for Halo 3 for a shorter time as I heard a few complaints this past week that people actually like Gears a lot more and don't really want to be playing the beta.

I actually played a couple of games of matchmaking yesterday and I had a lot of fun even though pretty much everyone is superior to me right now.  I did hang pretty good on my second game of Slayer on Snowbound when I got 11 kills.  I came in fifth, but everyone else in the match had 12 kills and one guy had like 16.  So I didn't do too poorly.  And the guy I wound up killing the most had played a hell of a lot more than me.

Any way, that's my goal is to get some more time with the beta and then switch over to Gears as we did last week.  And according to the poll, most people seem to want friendly fire turned on, so that shall be the case.  Although I might want to poll the people who wind up in my Gearheads room.

As usual, I'll start at 8:30 p.m. PST.  Look forward to seeing you all and please sign up below.

OK, so I finally broke down after hearing all of the adulation poured on Guitar Hero 2.  I went out and bought it yesterday.  I played a little on practice mode today, but I have a major issue that's going to be a constant problem in terms of making this game any fun for me.  I hold a guitar like Jimi Hendrix would.  That is, strumming with my left hand and doing the chord work with my right.  Uh, the game isn't really set up for that and I found out that I'm absolutely horrible holding it the other way.  I also bat lefty, hold my hockey stick lefty and golf lefty so that just feels natural to me.

I desperately want to like and play this game a lot, but the way it is currently configured, that's going to be next to impossible to me.  Does anyone have a suggestion?  I tried holding it upside down and that was just impossible as the buttons aren't aligned properly.

Any way, unless I figure out something, I might have to just ebay it.  Help, Gearheads!

This past week's 1up Yours had a really interesting discussion about multiplayer games and the fact that many people find them scary and intimidating.  I would actually tend to agree with a lot of the discussion, especially because guys like myself who have a wife and a child and a full-time job don't necessarily have the amount of free time to play as someone going to high school or college and doesn't have to worry about a mortgage.

It's already kind of happened with Halo 3.  I want to play more frequently, but I just don't have the time and I'm looking at some of the people on my friends list and they've already played 200 plus games.  How can a person who doesn't have the time to dedicate to the shooters wind up enjoying the experience with someone who has been playing for basically 24/7?

I kind of ran into this with Gears of War because I didn't have the time to jump into MP right away.  I concentrated on completing the single player campaign on hardcore prior to jumping into the fray.  I think I truly finally started playing once we started doing the FFF and I was miles behind guys who were playing all the time.  Thankfully, I stuck with it and got better and could hang with my fellow Gearheads.

But the truth is that I was trying to get a buddy into playing Gears online recently and it's really intimidating and not a lot of fun for those who don't really know what they're doing in the game because they get killed instantly.

When they talked about creating an environment that was more accessible, someone threw out the idea of having bots in the game.  I thought that was an excellent idea because that way people get to learn the maps and experience what it's like to take on opponents who are all about destroying you.  It just got me to thinking that there has to be something to make the games more accessible to those who can't dedicate so much time to perfecting their skills at the game.  Part of me doesn't even want to turn on the Halo 3 beta again because I haven't played since last Friday night.  That means I'm going to get my ass handed to me by guys who've done nothing but perfect their skills.  Maybe I'm just whining, but I'd love the online experience to be a fun one and games learn to take into account the difference in both time and skill level.  Maybe Halo 3 does that, but I do know that in Halo 2, there were guys who purposely leveled down so they could just pick on noobs.  I experienced it plenty on my own.

What do you guys think?  Is MP accessible enough for you?  What about all you guys with the families?  Do you feel a little out of sorts when you haven't played in a while because responsibility gets in the way?

I suggest you take the time out of your schedule today to head on over to N'Gai Croal's blog and check out the Monday Morning Quarterback discussion about April's NPD numbers.

It's a very interesting discussion between N'Gai and Geoff Keighley, one of the most respected reporters in the industry and someone whom my brother is very fond of.  

I personally think that, and I've repeated this over and over again, price is the biggest issue for all consumers in this generation.  I think that's why you see the PS2 still strong as hell, the Wii the leader in this new generation of consoles, the 360 second and the PS3 way back in the rearview mirror (one of those that isn't closer than it appears).  The fight will be a lot more of a romp the minute MS decides to drop the price of the 360 to $299 for the premium.  Especially if they do it to coincide with the release of Halo 3.  I know that it's counterintuitive to what the Big M is all about and that's about making the most money.  And I guarantee that some exec is sitting next to Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer right now saying, "Guys, if people want to play Halo 3 bad enough, they'll pay whatever they can to get it."  A smarter approach would probably be to say, "Imagine how many MORE people we'll have playing Halo 3 and signing up for XBL if we drop the price $100."

So check out the discussion between N'Gai and Keighley.  It's an interesting look at the numbers and a look ahead as to the impact of casual gaming on the market in the fall.  Can Rock Band and Guitar Hero 3 really lay the smack down on Halo 3 and GTA IV?  I don't think so, but it's most definitely possibly especially with what the Wii is doing right now.

I haven't spent as much time with the Halo 3 beta as I would've liked, but as I suspected, I likely won't be guying Halo 3 for the multiplayer.  I like it, but I don't love it the way that I love Gears MP.

My daughter has become addicted to the Halo 2 soundtrack.  She calls the Breaking Benjamin song "We got the moves" even though they say, "We've got to move."  But it was listening to that recently whereas I realize that Martin O'Donnell is a huge reason I love the Halo series.  Now, don't get me wrong, if the gameplay sucked I wouldn't be into Halo.  But the story, combined with the cinematic score and the great gameplay (and Cortana) has made Halo into pretty much my favorite game franchise.

I'm just dying to see what the story conclusion is but I'm also eager to hear what Marty O'Donnell has in store for us.  The initial trailer for Halo 3 was awesome because of the music more than anything else.  He really is the video game superstar when it comes to video game music.

Ultimately, that's what makes the Halo franchise special to me.  The MP is a ton of fun, but the single player campaign elements like the music is what helps it stand above others because it helps set the atmosphere and ramp up the tension.  The music in Gears was fantastic, but there's something about O'Donnell that makes it a different level experience.  Am I right or do you even notice the music?  Am I the only one who thinks that it contributes greatly to the mythical nature of this franchise?

Well as you all probably know, from about 5:00pm to 7:30pm pacific, Polandstyle, Myself and other lucky GEARHEADS (who were on and accepted their invites) got to play with the awesome fellows over at OXM. These fellows being: Paul Curthoys (Executive Editor), Corey Cohen (Managing Editor), Dan Amrich (Senior Editor), Ryan McCaffrey (Senior Editor) and Gary Cribb (Associate Art Director). (please excuse me if i forgot someone because I am working off memory)

The first round started on Garden, Robbins and MDK joined us and for all 5 rounds not one OXMer got a kill. Complete shut out. One of the highlights was Robbins getting crazy with the boomshot and Poland fighting his inner impulse to chainsaw. But he really held back :). The next map was Bulletmarsh and Robbins continued his domination with the boomshot while MDK got them with the long range snipe shots. Needless to say, the teams were grossly un-even and everyone from OXM were probably relieved when the match was over and it was time to invite other GEARHEADS.

The next set we invited in Is Not Null and GearsChrisb.The map was Process and this round the OXMers were getting a little more warmed up, but we still won every round. My highlight was when Dan went crazy on us and almost took the win. We really didn't want to lose at that point and his sudden burst of pwnage was quite awesome. After that round ended we loaded up Subway. Our teams main strategy was to either charge downstairs with one man on sniper or charge downstairs with all together and try to get the power weapons. The game ended up being about survival when one of us Gearheads was left alone with a big group of OXM guys, we still won ;).

After that we said farewell to is not null and gearschrisb and in came SweetTea and Texas Trap. The map was Canals and OXM started to put up a good fight. We still won every round. But it was CLOSE every time. After the match was over we got on Mansion and SweetTea was ON FIRE. I swear he could have taken out the whole team every round if one of us wouldn't have tried to get a kill. For some reason everyone was exploding by his hand, and it was definitely a way for SweetTea to play his last match for that time.

Once SweetTea and Texas left the match the map cycle restarted to Garden and in came Og Loc 619 and Hitman 9304 (one number is off there i think). Og Loc 619 made up the highlight of this match with lots of boomshot kills and such. The guys really good. After the match was over, up loaded Bulletmarsh and I decided to hop on over to the other team because they lost a man. With 4 gearheads on COG (cannot remember who filled the spot on our side, please remind me for an edit) and the OXM guys and myself on Locust. First round I went all Lord Zos' and killed everyone :) But there is a torque bow on the map so it doesn't count. Probably the highlight of this match (the most intense of them all because it was so close) was when Og Loc 619 got a truly awesome headshot on me with the sniper and said "hey Zos' where's your head?", needless to say I was pissed.:) I rushed sniper and headshotted him. Of course followed with "Hey Og, where's your head?" The reason I think this was my highlight was because i got lucky with the snipe, I know I probably could have got the headshot, but man I just got plain lucky on that one. :)

After the map ended we were down to our last two matches and i hopped back over to Cog. The OXM people lost another guy so they were down to two. One joined each side and we split up Robbins, Poland, Grymm, Boom65, (GearsChrisB?) and myself accordingly. I think COG team won the match but it was close. The last map was Subway and once again Robbins was on with every weapon he seemed to pick up. He really is getting crazy with the boom and got many kills with it. COG won again according to me records :)

One odd thing that was happening before, during, and after FFF was Grymm and I's weird death thing. We really didn't die THAT much, but when ever one of us died, the other would almost instantly. It was getting funny later on when I got killed just in time to witness only Grymm's death. I blame him! ;)

Papi is going to write the full summary of our time with the Halo 3 beta, and when he joined us back in GEARS OF WAR after that.

-Zoso

Just in case you've been busy twitching and circle strafing in Halo 3, I announced the other day that the Gearheads of War will be taking on the editors of the Official Xbox Magazine on Friday night starting at 5 p.m. PST.

Here is how it's going to work:

Polandstyle will be the host since MDK didn't comment or anything in the original thread.  Zoso Fan will be his partner in crime for the duration of the matches because I've asked him to document the evening for a recap on Gearheads.  The other two spots will be cycling people in and out.  Each person will get two maps each.  The maps will be the four new ones and Canals and Mansion (we figured we'd get some older school ones in there as well).  It's Execution, 10 sec. bleedout, first to five, eight minute rounds.  Make sure you comment below if you want to be a part of it.  And just FYI, not everyone is probably going to get a chance to play because the OXM folks are staying late at work for this.

On the other hand, you will get a chance to play Halo 3 with me later on.  According to the poll, most of you just want to keep it internal with the Gearheads for now, so that's how it's going to be.  We'll probably wind up playing Halo 3 for an hour and a half or so and Gears of War for the rest of the night.  I'll be on starting around 8:30 p.m. PST.

Go forth and kick some OXM butt, folks.  I wish I could be a part of it, but apparently my wife thinks that watching someone get chainsawed is bad for my two-year-old.  Imagine that ;-)