A number of gaming journalists were invited over to the Microsoft offices in Prague on September 11th to have their first crack at HALO 3: ODST. As I was one of them I thought I would let you all know what I thought. Microsoft did also promote their upcoming Forza 3 and Lips #1 Hits titles but the crowd was chomping at the bit for some HALO 3 ODST.

The moment the game begins, you know this is HALO. Getting into the gameplay confirms this fact but you’ll notice some slight changes. First off, there is no Master Chief, this allows the mythology to breathe and the universe to expand away from a single timeline and single story. It makes HALO 3 ODST all the better and enriches the HALO universe. This game brings diversity to the FPS portion of HALO like Halo Wars brought diverse gameplay to the entire franchise.

[I:http://exporubens.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ChristophorRick1.png]If you’re like me and you love a great story that acts as motivation for you to continue playing a game, then you’re in for a real treat, HALO fan or not. Humanity’s fight against the Covenant was never so three-dimensional as it is now.

The gameplay tells you this is a HALO title. The FPS action, the environments lacking in much destructibility, the weapons and major players. They are things we know, things we are comfortable with as we have seen it now for some time. HALO 3: ODST brings with it the comfort of familiarity and that means many will be instantly pleased with it. The Warthogs make a return as do many of the weapons. I hear that you get to drive a tank through the city of New Mombasa but I haven’t witnessed it yet myself.

HALO 3 ODST expands the existing universe and the war with the Covenant into a new direction. You get a new look at the battle and have some new ways to complete some missions. Sure it isn’t groundbreaking but it does mix it up and it is worth the price of admission.

The game will contain two discs, one with the single player campaign, another with the multiplayer content. It will have 24 maps (all of the pre-existing HALO 3 maps) and a variety of gameplay modes including some new ones, the inclusion of skulls, etc. HALO 3 ODST will have 9 multiplayer game modes that will each have 3-5 variants for a total of 35 different ways to play it. Modes include: assault, capture the flag, king of the hill, slayer, oddball, infection, VIP juggernaut and Territories.

HALO 3 ODST might have started as an expansion but it has taken on a life of its own and could stand out as a shining example of the FPS genre on the consoles. It certainly seems well worth the price they are charging and come 22 Sept, 2009 you too might find yourself shouting: We are ODST!

A few years ago, my 360 got those three red rings, and I really went through a nightmare of a situation. It happened to me again last week, but thanks to a guide that I found, I avoided all of the headaches I experienced the first time around.

It happened to me just last week. My girlfriend was away for the weekend and it was Friday night. I had a few friends over, and we were playing Madden ‘10. Excited to have a whole weekend where I could play some games (I rarely have the time I used to anymore), things were looking good. We were midway through our second game, and right out of nowhere, everything just died on us.

We tried turning it back on, and it was exactly what I was fearing in the back of my mind: the dreaded Red Ring of Death (aka the “RROD”). Seriously, what a way to ruin a weekend! We were all pretty bummed to say the least.

How’s that for a buzz kill?! Even worse, one of our friends over had sent his back to Microsoft last year, and they took two months before he got it back (not to mention a nice little bill they charged him). This can often cost over $100 to have it fixed by Microsoft. You’d almost be better off buying a new one.

I decided to call my friend James. He knows everything about these things. He pointed me to a guide that his brother had used to fix his Xbox 360 in less than an hour.

I checked it out and saw that they promised I’d have mine fixed in an hour or less, or I’d get all of my money back, guaranteed. Sounded good enough to me, especially considering my alternatives.

Just 25 minutes later I was the proud owner of a working Xbox 360 again. I followed their suggestions to a t and they worked. I was kind of surprised that Microsoft couldn’t provide this info to its owners, but I guess that comes with the territory when you’re a corporate giant.

Hopefully the red ring of death won’t happen to me again (they also give suggestions about how to prevent this for the future), but if it does, I won’t need to spend another dime. I have all of the info I need.

If you’re in the same boat that I was just in, check it out. I can just about guarantee you’ll be up and running within an hour, and you’ll have your money back if you’re not. There’s nothing to lose. And Microsoft, I plead with you to fix your products. This is unacceptable.

For more details on the kit I purchased, visit my xbox 360 repair site, and learn how to fix red ring of death in an hour or less with a money back guarantee.

Below, you’ll find a brief article that will show you how you can download Xbox 360 games as an Xbox 360 owner to use on your Xbox.

You can do a few things to download games for your Xbox 360. We get asked questions about xbox downloads quite often, so hopefully this article helps out a few gamers!

Option #1 - XBOX 360 Downloads

This is usually the first option people try although it rarely works out for them. There are websites that claim to offer “free xbox 360 downloads” and ask you to install their software in order to start downloading games and movies. It sounds great, but you need to know a couple of things before you rush off to use these websites.

First of all, and perhaps most importantly, these websites often spread viruses and spyware. This makes these games not “free” after all. You’ll get a download, yes, but you also get a lot of problems with your computer as well. These files are often not monitored by anyone, which puts you at greater risk. It’s not worth it for a “free” game. Better not to take the risk.

Second of all, download speeds for these sites are often so slow that it can take forever to get your download to complete.

Worse still, many of these files are corrupt, which means that they don’t work after all, once you do take the time to download them. It’s a huge problem to sit and wait for a very long time to get a game, only to find out that it doesn’t work after all. Again, it’s not worth your time.

There’s a better way, and one that is of no risk to you or your computer.

Second option: Xbox 360 game downloads

This second option is a lot better than the first. It lets you download just about any game you want and you don’t have to worry about the problems that you find in the first option we described.

Xbox 360 downloads have been in demand for a long time, and a couple of business people decided that this trend was worth capitalizing on. They therefore started specialized Xbox 360 download websites. These websites will let you download music, games, movies and more right from your computer when you register as a member. It’ll cost you about $50 for a lifetime membership. You’ll be billed only once for unlimited downloads, and then you can log into the website so that you can download a new game whenever you want to.

The membership costs less than the price of most games and lets you download as many games as you want, so it’s a great option if you want to try out new games without spending a lot of money first.

The selection of games and movies is definately impressive. Their “library” of files is massive and it includes new releases along with games that you may not find any longer in the stores.

Obviously the companies that put together these xbox 360 download websites are hoping to make a profit, so they do what it takes to keep their customers happy. They invest money in the software to make sure the downloads are fast, the games are always up to date and that every single game you download will actually work on your system.

At the bottom of this article, we include a link that will take you to a free trial so that you can go to a couple of the most popular Xbox 360 download websites. It’ll take about 5 to 10 minutes to set up, and all the software you’ll need to use the games is included.

Considering how easy and less expensive downloading xbox 360 games is, it’s surprising that not more people are members. In reality many people just aren’t aware that this is an option.

When you get in the habit of using xbox 360 downloads it’s easy to find yourself with a huge library of games and movies to choose from. It’s a much cheaper and easier way to find xbox games whenever you feel like it. One little warning though - it’s easy to become addicted! All the best!