Gears of War 3 2v2 Tournament UPDATE, and Halo 4

It has come to my attention that one of the biggest rivalry games in the history of the NCAA is going to be happening only an hour after we are holding the Gears of War 3 tournament. In the interest of our attendance, and the BYU vs. Utah's attendance, we are moving the time from 7:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Please check out our Cook Off's page for further details.

It has also come to my attention that Halo 4 is quite possibly going to be the best title in the Halo franchise yet. When Halo: Combat Evolved was released the bar was set high for console FPS's. Halo 2 added to it with the addition of Xbox Live, duel wielding, better graphics, harder enemies, but the story sort of lacked. Halo 3 was an exciting ending to the war with the Covenant race, and added incredible multiplayer, much better graphics, customization, and several other things. Halo: Reach gave us insight on how the Halo story all began, added a new style of multiplayer, and was graphically enhanced.

All of these games were great, but what was missing was an amazing story, and a giant leap forward in the FPS multiplayer genre. Bungie became independent, and hung up their hat with the Halo franchise. Lucky for us, Frank O'Connor took over the franchise with the help of Microsoft by opening a studio called 343. This studio is actually located where Bungie use to be, and seems to be working more passionately on Halo 4 than any other Halo title before.

Recently 343 has been gracing us with some developer diaries, and the most recent one has me in tears. Halo has been big part of my life for the past 11 years, and I have a connection with it. Countless LAN parties, and all-nighters kicking Covenant butt, playing with my brother, sister, best friends, and other players alike. If you'd like to see this incredible video that gives us a huge sneak peek behind the scenes of making Halo 4, click this link and prepare to be blown away.

I have one hundred percent confidence in 343 succeeding with Halo 4, and bringing a new way to play multiplayer and experience a story like never before. I thought it was funny that Steve Downes (voice actor for Master Chief), and Jen Taylor (voice actor for Cortana) had never met each other until working on Halo 4. That’s because 343 have taken it a step further and had them do voice acting in the same room so there was more of an emotional connection this time around. Very impressive.

BLAM! And I'm holding the flag! Wait... What?!?!

Multiplayer is going to be incredible for Halo 4, I know that 343 hasn't revealed a whole lot on it, except for how mechanics will work, and that it will be a completely separate experience from the story, and have a story of its own if you choose to do it cooperatively; but I am going to take a guess, based off of footage from various video game expos, and say that this is going to be a totally unique experience for long time Halo fans and for people that are getting into it for the first time alike.

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!