During its CES 2009 keynote, Microsoft announced that the Halo Wars demo would be arriving to the Xbox Live Marketplace on February 5, just a few weeks before the actual game hits stores on February 28.

Being a fan of the Halo series, I’m kind of skeptical about this game because it’s not an FPS. I’m glad to hear there’s a demo coming out to see if I’d like it.

Source: Kombo

Far too often we’ve seen top ten lists about boobies, yet nobody seems to have taken the time to appreciate what’s really important about women — their hearts. Of course by hearts, I’m talking about the shape of their sweet, sweet asses. What, you thought I was actually going to be a gentleman and care about anything other than looks? Get real (that’s a joke, kids — respect your mother).

Anyhow, the point is that there are plenty of men (and women) in this world who would consider themselves fans of the bottom half. Men are actually very evenly divided between boob lovers and ass lovers, and we need to try to counterbalance all these titty lists with a list about butts.

We will be counting down the best heinies over the next several days, some of which may surprise you, but all of them are sure to please. So without further ado, I give you Ripten’s Top 10 Nicest Asses in Videogames! No, wait — here’s some more ado: many of these images are NSFW, so make sure you know who’s around before you start fapping. Read more…

The original announcement trailer for Halo 3: Recon left a lot of unanswered questions and, even worse, projected the release to be a full year away. Thankfully, Game Informer has pulled through and gained exclusivity for the first bit of concrete details about Bungie’s next project. Read more…

The Ensemble Studios CGI department has definitely been working overtime cranking out stunning Halo Wars cinematic masterpieces, but what about the “real-time” aspect of the highly anticipated real-time strategy? Ask and you shall receive.

Here’s a brand new campaign focused video demonstration narrated by Halo Wars’ lead developer, Graeme Devine. It gives us some insight into the game’s straight forward interface design, the studio’s commitment to delivering an authentic Halo experience, as well as a brief glimpse of “The Flood.” Hit the jump for the video. Read more…

The lexicon of American politics includes many derogatory terms: carpetbagger, hatchet man, or flip-flopper. Now we can add “Halo player” to the list.

In the Maricopa County District 1 Supervisor race in Arizona, incumbent Republican Fulton Brock is slamming Democratic challenger Ed Hermes in his campaign literature as a “Halo gamer.” Read more…

A new Halo Wars trailer has popped up out of New Zealand. I think I heard something somewhere about this whole “Halo” business, so I thought maybe somebody might be interested in watching it. We’ve plopped it here on our site just for those few. Read more…

It appears that a Halo based MMO was in secret development by Ensemble prior to the studio closing its doors. Gamasutra reports on rumors that the game had been a work in progress dating back as far as 2006.

The screen shown above bears a striking resemblance to another popular MMO. When I first got wind of this news I thought “ok, this might be interesting”, but after seeing a Spartan duel-wielding two blades, that notion (like the studio itself) quickly dissipated.

If the idea still interests you, here is a tidbit that may give you hope. Microsoft Game Studios head, Phil Spencer, was recently quoted saying that there are “more than two or three teams” currently working on Halo branded projects. So, Halo MMO supporters can deny the game’s finite death, and instead choose to see this as nothing more than extended resurrection sickness.

Source: joystiq.com

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Bungie’s lead AI programmer Damian Isla praises Activision and Infinity Ward’s hugely successful FPS, Call of Duty 4. Even going as far as saying that Halo could learn a few things from Call of Duty.

“We have a lot to learn from their success too, they did some very innovative things to keep people going and their experience-rewards system was something that we paid a lot of attention to,” Isla explained.

“I think it’s a great game and single player obviously is fantastic… they did a hell of a job with their set pieces, of scripting certain moments that they were really sure the player was going to actually see and experience first hand. The way that they use those moments to craft the player experience…Halo has a lot to learn from.”

While both games are extremely outstanding and have a strong fan base, the battle for the most-played game on Xbox Live continues between Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4.

It’s good to hear that Bungie is willing to learn from other successful games so they can make their titles better. Because we all know improvements can always be made to make any game better.

Source: gamesindustry.biz

Believa Piñata

There isn’t much more I can add. We all remember Halo’s Believe TV advert, but did you ever wonder what it might look like with Viva Piñata figures from Burger King? Fret not my fellow, umm…word meaning ‘likes Viva Piñata’…as Believa Piñata is here to put your mind at ease, hit the jump for the full video forwarded to us by Rare.

Entirely unofficial, this home-made video is hopefully nothing more than a well meaning fan-film. I would hate to see Hudson Horstachio meet the same fate as Master Chief. Though… Halo Pinata does have a certain appeal now that I think about it.

Update on the previous Bungie cock-block snafu:  Microsoft, as the publishing giant apparently behind Bungie’s latest game, rescinded their green light just hours shy of Bungie’s official announcement.  Bungie was about to make us all climax, but Microsoft stepped in with its shotgun and forced them to stop. This does not make us happy, Microsoft… not happy at all. Read more…

The tail end of Bungie’s latest podcast contains an exchange of words between the two co-hosts, Brian Jarrard and Luke Smith, which tease at a possible July 14th reveal of some sort. Could it be a new Halo related project?

Brian: Isn’t there something going on on July 14th or something like that?
Luke: Yeah, around then.
Brian: Somehow that’s sticking in my head for some reason. Guess we’ll have to see.
Luke: Yep, we’ll just have to be patient. Who could say?

The tone of their delivery is best be compared to that of an adult playing hide and seek with a child. They know exactly where the child is hiding, but they still pretend they don’t.

While my fingers will remain crossed out of respect to those who want it, I highly doubt this is the Lego Halo game many gamers have been hoping for since EGM’s April fools joke. Ripten will be present for the Microsoft press conference on the morning of the 14th, so check back with us then.

Source: Bungie Podcast [Thanks Jon]

The steady flow of information about the units in the upcoming RTS, Halo Wars, is slowly beginning. Ensemble Studios have now revealed the Warthog and the Fire Base (above). Read more…

According to the folks over at the Angry Pixel, their source at Microsoft informs them that the upcoming Halo RTS, Halo Wars, will make its way to PC as well as Xbox 360 and feature cross-platform play via Microsoft’s Games for Windows – LIVE. Read more…

In an odd turn of events for non-PS3 games making their way to the console, the Halo map “Wizard” is now playable in Unreal Tournament 3. Should this awaken Microsoft lawyers? We hope not. Read more…

It’s not every day that you’re mentioned by name on the official news blog of a deep-in the-hundreds cable channel, but G4TV’s The Feed should probably check their facts a little more carefully before assigning folksy, Bush-like nicknames. Read more…

If you like the “idea” of playing video games, but are not very good (me), I would recommend picking up a copy of Playboy: The Mansion (Available for Xbox Consoles, PS2, and PC). As a young Hugh Hefner, it is the player’s goal to build the Playboy Empire through sexy parties and putting together the Playboy magazine every month. Read more…