I saw a lot of game journalists playing the beta of Halo: Reach over the weekend, though I didn’t detect much in the way of excitement. Not that it matters, as Halo and its sales are critic-proof, nor is it ever reviewed with anything close to a critical eye, seemingly immune to criticism lest magazines and websites upset their vociferous and loyal fan-base. Me? Previous Halo games have been boring and empty. Should be called Hollow.

Now that you’ve completely disregarded my opinion, why not read the opinions of two hardcore Halo freaks as they discuss the pros and cons of the new Halo: Reach beta:

Sascha Lichtenstein: Let’s make this conversation quick, because I’d much rather be playing this beta than talking about it.

I’m having a blast with Halo: Reach. Arena and Invasion are both locked out until the official start, so it’s a little light on new features, but I like the way the combat has evolved. The four armor abilities all bring different strategic elements to the game, and their value changes depending on the map and the game type.

Kyle Wattenmaker: I like it, and I’m saying that with tempered enthusiasm. I’m not nearly as enthusiastic as I thought I might be, but there’s still plenty I haven’t seen. Balance is iffy, but it’s a beta. Armor abilities are awesome.

SL: I was worried that the armor abilities would be completely unbalanced, that some would be incredibly powerful and others would be completely useless. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of an armor ability that I haven’t been able to use with great success, save for maybe armor lock…and that’s only because I keep forgetting I have the ability with the battles start getting heated. I always die and say “Dammit, I could have used my ability!” But I’ll get used to it.

The rest of this excellent feature can be found here.

Apparently unphased by Activision’s treatment of Infinity Ward employees, Bungie has sealed a deal with the devil for the next 10 years:

PR Spin:

“We chose to partner with Activision on our next IP because of their global reach, multi-platform experience and marketing expertise,” said Harold Ryan, President of Bungie. “From working together over the past nine months on this agreement, it is clear that Activision supports our commitment to giving our fans the best possible gaming experiences.”

“Bungie is one of the premier studios in our industry and we are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to work with their talented team over the next decade,” stated Thomas Tippl, Chief Operating Officer of Activision Blizzard. “Bungie has developed some of the most compelling and successful games, multiplayer experiences and thriving fan communities, and this alliance underscores our long-standing commitment to foster the industry’s best creative talent. Our unprecedented partnership with Bungie will enable us to broaden our pipeline of exciting new games as we continue to strengthen our industry position and pursue long-term growth opportunities.”

Microsoft has wrapped up their E3 press briefing, wherein suit wearing dweebs read from a TelePrompTer and try their best to act hip but usually come off as uncomfortably pathetic. For those of you with short attention spans, I present an unvarnished look at the big announcements with suitably snarky commentary.

• The Beatles: Rock Band is introduced. It’s like Rock Band, but with Beatles music. The graphics are like Rock Band, but with a Beatles aesthetic. It will make a lot of money, but Beatles kinda money.

• Watching Harmonix programmers play fake instruments is still ridiculous.

• Yoko Ono is brought to the stage to wave at the crowd for no particular reason. Considering she broke up the Beatles, this is an odd gesture. It would have made more sense to have her immolated right there on stage.

• Paul McCartney and Ringo Star arrive on stage to much fanfare. Neither seems to know where they are and what they are doing there. They mumble nonsense and leave the stage to much acclaim, because you see, when you’re from a legendary rock group you really don’t need to try any more.
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I’m sick of paying $60 for a game that doesn’t work.  I cringe every time I put a new disc in my Xbox 360 or PS3 and dive into multiplayer, knowing the odds are good that I’ll be faced with a half-assed experience.

The latest hunk o’ junk gracing consoles is the PS3 version of Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Finding games is hit and miss and when you do manage to enter a round, you’re faced with fun-killing lag.

Add to this other recent releases, like MLB 2K8 and MLB 08 The Show, both shipping with unplayable multiplayer, and gamers are increasingly faced with putting off purchases for a few months until these matters are addressed.

On the opposite side of this nonsense we have class-acts like Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3. There’s a reason both of these titles offer excellent multiplayer experiences: each had public betas available for the common man, allowing the developers to make essential tweaks before shipping a product. Now this practice is pretty common on the PC and usually makes all the difference between success or failure.

Unfortunately, public betas on consoles are few and far between and this needs to change. There’s no reason for developers and publishers to avoid a one-level test, unless they don’t believe in their product in the first place and are concerned exposing players to a lame game will ultimately hurt overall sales.

So consider this a call to action. Something needs to change.

While I’m on this topic, it sure doesn’t help when every gaming website and magazine showers praise on games that are fundamentally broken. In a rush to get their reviews out day-and-date with a game’s release, not a single one of these sites or publications have tested multiplayer in a live environment, if they ever really tested it all.  It’s a sham…and a shame.