It's not easier on an HDTV.

Yep, both the hill and the bubble shield are damn near impossible to see in and out of in HD as well.

The bubble shield mostly seems to hinder me when I use it. It's like covering yourself in grease smeared bubble wrap. It is somewhat handy in Snowbound if you drop it inside the buildings since the force fields already makes things tough to see. I have gotten a few cheap kills because someone has come inside and suddenly they can't see shit and I rush in and knock them out.

So here's a stupid Halo question -- my typicla battle involves me coming across another player and trying to keep him centered in my crosshairs as I'm moving and as he's jumping around like a hyperactive kangaroo and firing at me. Is there some secret to this, like in Crackdown where you can lock in on a particular target?

nope. Only trying to avoid enough fire to have an advantage in the firefight.

The trick is to jump around like a one-legged tard also, so none of you can get a decent hit. Then you get so close you are both frantically pressing the melee button until one of you gets lucky and hits the other tone fron the side and the system counts it as a kill. Welcome to Halo.

Spoken like someone who hasn't had much success in Halo.

As many who have logged hundreds of hours in the game can attest this is very much not how encounters tend to go down.

i find jumping is best, unless they have one of those spartan lasers. Much easier to kill a person when they are jumping

Same thing with sniping. Jumping commits you to a certain parabolic pathway which can easily be tracked and lead by a decent sniper. When you jump you obviously lose the ability to quickly change direction and dodge sniper fire.

good point

in machine gun-type battles, I've found that the exact time you choose to reload, and the rate of fire are really the deciding factor in a butt-load of fights.

Also, trying to keep all the fire concentrated on the enemies head helps a lot

Yep. Always aim for the head. That's the key.

Anyone notice (especially in halo2) that when someone is hooting you from behind the exact moment you will die is as soon as you turn a corner or turn to cover?
It's really amazing. I can run a mile away with them shooting me nonstop but as soon as I turn a corner, their shots turn deadly. Even when I'm around the corner.

That is because more damage is done with a headshot and a headshot is classified as the facemask area and side of the head. The back of the head i believe takes damage like the torso (presumably it is armored like the body).

This is especially noticeable in SWAT games where there are no shields. A BR will take 3 bursts to the back of the head to kill them whereas a single burst to the face or side of the head will drop them instantly. That is why turning around to face your enemy in SWAT isn't normally a wise choice and instead you try to get some cover, then turn and hope to blind side them. Normally in SWAT though if someone gets the drop on you you are in trouble.

Sadly, the following video is typical of what you hear far too often during online matches:

WARNING: LANGUAGE IS NSFW

Leading up to playing Halo was better than the actual Halo stuff.

Scanning the titles: Gay, gay, gay, gay, gay...

Tossing Gears in the closet, "bitch"

I liked all the jokes about how long Crackdown takes to load up.

4-Player Online Co-op confirmed

That was a well-made video.

I have to say the news about the co-op made this game once again shoot back up to the top spot of games I am dying to play. Since all my buddies are now out of state we were all pissed when the news was no co-op at the time of release. We still wanted the game but we thought the feature was a given and somewhat bummed out.

My wife wants to take me on a trip for my 30th birthday, 9/30, so I am trying to find a way to maybe extend the vacation I took for Halo 3 so I can work in the trip she thinks we should take.

Has anyone seen the Halo 3 achievements yet?

yep.

Halo 3 Achievements

"Honey, have you left work yet? We're supposed to be at the airport in two hours!"

"Babe, I'll be running late so go ahead and get to the airport and I'll see you on the plane."

...

...

"Honey, I'm in Paris and I didn't see you on the plane and this airport is crazy what am I supposed to do!"

"Babe, there is online co-op in this thing! No, he's over there! Behind you! Gah!"

What I want to know is who was the first person to do this, which caused the entire world to mimic the same moves.

What are items 41-49? What is a meta-game?