A VERY Brief History of Xbox

In my opinion the history of Xbox is more interesting then the Playstation. Simply because they had a large challenge that needed to overcome, a lot of competition.

Bill Gates had the idea to make the best gaming system out there. He wanted the graphics, memory, and overall game play to be superior to any other system out there.

The Xbox was hinted at in 1999 and confirmed by Bill Gates in a press release in 2000. This was a surprise for the public as well as other corporations. The PlayStation 2 was just going to be released and was the leading brand of games by far. People thought that Gate’s idea was crazy, why would he stand up against gaming’s super power?

There are two thought origins of the name “Xbox”. One was that it was originally supposed to be DirectX Box named after a group that designed it but was changed to Xbox because people liked the name better. The other idea says that it came from a conference of the original developers. They liked how the second part of recent gaming consoles have had a part of the name being with what the console actually was (eg. gameCUBE was a cube; playSTATION was a station for playing). So the team began to brainstorm, they came up with Pyramid, Sphere, Box, etc. They liked box so the person in charge put an asterisk next to it and when he turned in the form they thought that the box with an asterisk next to it was Xbox. In either story they liked the name so it stuck.

During the unveiling of the Xbox at a game developer’s conference later in 2000, people were amazed the technology that it held and thought that it had some potential, mainly because the Dreamcast was dying out.

The Xbox team became focused on the release of the Xbox, wanting to make a huge impact. In Japan they had little success unlike in Europe where they held a massive party to introduce it, the Europeans accepted the Xbox with open arms.

To start the party in Europe though, they needed an awesome game to go with it. They had seen Bungie at a computer games convention and liked their game “Halo: Combat Evolved” so much that they bought Bungie and used “Halo: Combat Evolved” as their opening game for their console. With this, Xbox took the title of second place of best console from Nintendo by 2002. They also released a couple more games along with the launch such as “Fuzion Frenzy” and “Dead or Alive 3”

In 2005 the Xbox 360 was released with better storage and better overall looks. The Xbox 360 was also released with a removable hard drive that would greatly increase the amount of memory that the Xbox had, allowing for more downloadable content and more memory for saved games

A VERY Brief History of Playstation

The PlayStation video gaming franchise, you could say it was a franchise started almost on accident.  But no one is complaining that it happened. This multibillion dollar franchise has provided gamers with some of the best known games and memorable ideas to ever happen.  This is the VERY Brief history of PlayStation.

PlayStation began with the partnership of Sony and Nintendo to make a product called the “Super Disc” which would be an attachable accessory for the Super Nintendo that would make it so the Super Nintendo could play CD-ROMs on it which would be a large improvement on the bulky Super Nintendo cartridges. Sony decided that it didn’t like the partnership and so the two companies parted ways. Sony however, developed a console in 1992 that integrated the original “Super Disc” idea with their own ideas, creating the original PlayStation. 200 consoles were created but were not released to the public.  A couple years later Sony came out with the PSX, which played CD-ROM games only. Playstation had taken its first step to becoming a mega franchise.

The Playstation one was created in 2000 followed later in the year by the PlayStation 2, which the PlayStation 2 to this day is the best selling console ever. However it did not start out that way. The year it was released the PlayStation 1s were selling better than the PlayStation 2s, not because people thought that they were better but because the PlayStation 2 simply did not have enough consoles to sell. They grossly underestimated the demand for the PlayStation 2. Causing a major scarcity of the console in markets everywhere. The PlayStation 2 is best known for its ability to play games from the PlayStation 1, which allowed the owners of a PlayStation 1 to enjoy all of their favorite PlayStation 1 games and still get rid of their older PlayStation.

In more recent years the PSP (or PlayStation Portable), the hand held PlayStation, allowed fans to play their favorite PlayStation games on the go. It was released in 2005 and still has not been able to have more sales then Nintendo’s Nintendo DS. The PlayStation 3 eventually came out in 2006, harnessing the power of Blu-Ray technology to make for amazing graphics and massive amounts of storage space. Currently

However, with a lagging game base and a high price tag, the PS3 has sold fewer units than any previous Sony gaming system, and the PlayStation 2 remains the most popular of all. The PS3 has barely sold 24 million worldwide. Critics say that while the system is capable of great technological advances, it's difficult to develop for and not well received by consumers.

Master Chief statue in reach

A couple posts ago I mentioned a Master Chief Statue, its nothing super fancy and I can't imagine that some Average Joe was able to discover it.

This Easter Egg is on the level "Lone Wolf" the very last "level" of the game. This requires only one person and sometime of boring flying because you have to use theater mode. Start the Lone Wolf on any difficulty and play just a few seconds past the cut scene. End the game and go to theater mode. Let the video play until you get to the Banshees and then go to the very beginning of the video by pressing left on the D-Pad. Press B and then Y to get into free-camera mode. There is a large Cargo ship looking structure in the distance. Make your way towards it. Go around the right side of the right crane and once you go around the back side of it there is platform that has a very tiny Master Chief statue on it. I think that it was left there by a programmer.

In my opinion, this spot was leaked by a designer who either left the statue there for some reason or another programmer who knew about it. I think this simply because the statue is so far out of the way it isn’t even funny. It’s cool but not funny. The statue is in the middle of an area no one would think to look. So yeah… if you know who did it and it wasn’t a programmer or one of his buddies, you can correct me all you want and I would be okay with that and I would give that person props for finding such an out-of-the-way Easter Egg. But until then, I think that designer put it there.

Bless your face, and Peace off. (Yes. I am a Tobuscus fan. If you don’t know who Tobuscus is, check him out on youtube.)

Magical Elites and Magical Numbers

I have some other Easter Eggs dealing with some sneaky Elites! Some disappearing Bobs and Invisible Elites. There are also some spots with Bungie’s famous attraction towards the number 7 and 117.

The "Golden Elites" or Elite Rangers (affectionately named "Bob") are Elites with yellow armor and blue helmet visors. They appear in some levels but then quickly vanish into thin air if you don't kill them. You get a medal for killing Bobs called "Seek and Destroy." Nothing else is known about them. Here are some of the locations where you'll find Bob. On the Winter Contingency, quickly make your way through the level and you will randomly encounter the Bob; he usually he appears during the part of the mission where you're driving around looking for the stranded marines. (He appears on both Legendary and Normal difficulty, but he seems to show up in different areas). On Bungie.net he will show up in your statistics as one of the types of enemies you've killed. In the stats section, it lists him as an Elite Ranger, and actually says his name is "Bob”. In Nightfall  where you meet up with the colonists fighting a pack of Covenant, this Elite appears -- and quickly disappears -- amongst the buildings. In the Package  once you enter the gate to Oni Sword Base (Rally Point Alpha), quickly head up the ramp and look to the left to spot the Elite. It's in the courtyard area where you meet up with Noble Team before heading into Sword Base. In the Pillar of Autumn after the cave you'll come across two massive buildings in a valley. The second building you come to a garage at one end (to the right when facing it). Inside the garage you'll find Bob.  Happy Hunting.

At the start of the first level on legendary, as your running towards the distress signal, you can vaguely see a camouflaged elite running off into the distance towards your right, if you manage to kill it, there is a data pad which you can pick up that contains information about the covenants ability to "glass" planets.

The number 7- Bungie’s one and only true love... besides 117 (a reference to Master Chiefs Spartan Number). They both appear multiple times throughout the game.

*The price of a Moa burger is $7.77.

*At the end of the credits a golden 7 will light up in the background.

*The number of bullets in the AR in the level Noble Actual: 7.

*The number 7 is in the sky in the trailer for the game.

*The trailer is 1 minute 17 seconds long.

*In the manual you get with the game on page 17 next to the “C“ defense point you will see a 117 indicating it is 117 meters away.

Master Chief is in Reach! and magical ammo drop

Master Chief is in Halo Reach!!!!! That’s right! It’s true! Master Chief is in Reach (twice actually, though one is much harder to find… I will cover this in a later Blog entry). Pillar of Autumn has a few nice surprises in the end of the game for us.  One is in the form of DMR ammo and the other in the form of a super warrior known as Master Chief.

Both of these Easter Eggs are near the end of the level when you are protecting Keyes from an onslaught of attacking Covenant.  Go down one flight of stairs and go to the building on your left. If you go inside you will find some Health and some AR ammo. That’s all good and jolly but not what I’m here to talk about. Go back out side and go the left side of the building walk so that you are at the point where the wall goes in a little than back out. Stay on the right side with the metal sheet look. Melee about a foot away from the corner where the wall juts in and you will be rewarded with a weapons drop full of DMRs and one shotgun. Good luck with the rest.

The ammo cache is sweet but it isn’t Master Chief. Continue through defending Keyes from the Covenant. Eventually you will be able to take control of the massive MAC cannon destroy the incoming air forces and you will go to a cut scene, don’t worry you haven’t missed it yet. Hold your right thumb-stick right and wait for the cut scene to go continue. When the cut scene goes to the cargo hold keep holding it right!! You will see, without a doubt, Master Chief in a Cryo-tube. The scene is a short but very cool way to incorporate Master Chief into the Reach game. And it wasn’t cheesy at all! It was very subtle way to add him into the game.

Halo: Reach Reach Racers

Halo: Reach Reach Racers                                                                 blogpost 10/10

Reach RACERS! Oni Sword Base's awesome Easter Egg! This Easter Egg requires at least 2 people and transports you to a different part of the level with 2 Gauss Warthogs for a race that'll send you through your paces.

No offense to my own writing ability but a video is a lot more helpful in guiding you on how to get this Easter Eggs. There is IGN's video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK7pRUtbyXw which is more helpful but less fun to watch and there is RoosterTeeth's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovafv-sxUQ8&list=SL which has a lot of funny commentary but is less detailed on where the important spots are.

PLAYER 1
Reach Racer, as I said before, is located on the ONI Sword Base mission. The points that are used to get the Easter Egg are on opposite sides of the map so be prepared. One person needs to go to the part where it says something about a generator near the beginning of the level. There should be 2 buildings near that location, eliminate all of the enemies there and start heading toward the bottom of the cliff near the shore by the second building. Jump onto the rocks and you will shortly drop a foot or two onto a slightly lower rock. Facing the cliff's drop-off there is a relatively small rock; go just a little bit to the left of that rock and look around and there will be an invisible switch! Our best buddies in finding these Easter Eggs. DO NOT Activate it yet.

PLAYER 2 (and any additional players you may have)
Continue through the level past another area that has a bunch of buildings swarming with Covenant. Defeat these enemies and continue to make your way on the main trail. You will pass through a small pond and then go up a small hill. There is a large boulder to your left. Jump on very top of it and go to the farthest rock away from the main trail. Look around for a little bit and there is another invisible switch! :D

BOTH PLAYERS
Activate the switches at the same time. You will see your new objective: Reach Racers (the name is based off of an old video game called "Ridge Racers"). In a few seconds you transport to the beginning of the level with 2 Gauss Warthogs! Pile in each of the Warthogs and battle it out racing through pre-determined checkpoints until you reach the final checkpoint. The first person there wins! ... And then the losers vehicle explodes. Have fun repeating the race as long as you like.

Halo: Reach- Suicidal Marine + etc

New Alexandria has another Easter Egg! This Easter Egg is pretty early in the level. When you get in your Falcon and you need to go to the Ivory Towers. Kill all of the enemies and get on the elevator. The elevator will take you up. Get out and go to the right. Go up all of the stairs; when you are at the top go past the rock garden looking thing and turn right. Walk up the stairs and look to the little area to the left there in the back is a lone Marine... Who is suicidal. This Marine will sort of just walk back forth shaking his arms. This battle is not what this Marine signed up for, and he lets you know it. He will continue to babble on about the war against the rebels was bad enough but now there are aliens and that if they bite you, you will turn into an “methane sucking freaks.” And continue to say that he is out and literally spells it out for you. After he is “done” freaking out he will start screaming. lolz

If you come back during a different game you will see him again. Possibly on his knees just slowly shaking himself back and forth with his gun to his head; still spouting the same nonsense as before. In either position he is pretty quite so you may need to turn up the volume on your TV.

Time for the etcetera part of “Halo: Reach- Suicidal Marine + etc.”

For those of you reading I have not discovered a single one of the Easter Eggs I have talked about but I have confirmed all of them. Roosterteeth on YouTube they are the people who did the Red Vs Blue series (which I am a fan of) and are hilarious and know what they are doing. Roosterteeth is where I found the guides to find all of the Easter Eggs. It helps a lot to see the video and what they did to get the Easter Egg, after all if a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is a three and a half minute clip?  

Halo: Reach How to get 4 new Banshees

Another Easter Egg found on “The Package” is getting 4 unused Banshees. This one is easy to get if you know what to do. This one Easter Egg is easier if done by two people but can be done by one. At the very beginning of the level there are 2 buildings in the water in front of you. After killing all of the enemies one person needs to get into a Ghost and go to the building farther away from the start point and go under the bridge. There is a giant crate there; push it out of the way using the Ghost. That player stays there while the other continues on the normal route to the Scorpion. Get in it and destroy the tower and the the Shade and tower towards your right. Go back to the tower that you destroyed first and get out of the Scorpion. Walk across the rocky ridge until you get to the coast. Jump down and go to your left and you will see a switch. The other player HAS to be looking at where the crate used to be. A green switch will appear when you press the switch at the rocky area but only for a few seconds. Activate them both ASAP! For the Player that activated the switch by crate, look back towards the 1^st building. There are now 4 Banshees on top of it. Your Welcome.  

Halo: Reach Tribute Room

On the level “The Package” is one of the best known Easter Eggs called the Tribute Room. It is full of pictures, databases, and unique scenery that all pay tribute to multiple areas of the Halo fan base, including Red vs. Blue, and previous Halo games. This Easter Egg is very difficult to get because it has to be done with 2 or more players and you must past the hardest part of the level, defending Halsey's lab, on Legendary.

Some points of reference are important in knowing how to deal with getting to this Easter Egg. First is the main battle platform that has all of the weapons, defense barricades, and armor loadouts. If you are standing on the platform directly in front of the door facing away from the building take a left staying on the platform. Take note of the Jet-Packs that you pass, but DO NOT take one, they are a key part of activating the Easter Egg. Continue your way left on the platform and you will reach some rocks at the end of the platform, go around them and to your immediate left there is a door that you cannot open. This is where the teleport is to take you to the Tribute Room. Return back to the main platform and begin defending Halsey's lab from an onslaught of Covenant. I suggest having one player stand directly behind a pillar while the other player is more in the open so that that player can respawn when they are killed and there is a smaller risk of both dying. Try to destroy all enemies but keep at least one Ghost. One player will get in the Ghost and wait down the hill a little ways and wait. The other player takes a Jet-Pack to the far end of the map past Turret A. There is an area that is boxed in by a fence. Jump on top of the side that connect to the wall and walk about one-third of the length of its length. When your Jet-Pack is fully charged, Jump left off the fence so you are out of bounds and use your Jet-Pack to gently ease your way down to a switch at the bottom of one of the supports and activate it. You will soon respawn next to the other player who is (hopefully) in a Ghost. Remember the door I mentioned that led to the teleporter? 6 Senghelli Generals will come out when you activate the switch. That is why you have a Ghost. These Senghelli Generals are super tough but have very little dodging ability. That’s right, its time for a Splatter Spree. After you had your fun running over the Generals, go back to teleporter door. It now opens when you approach it! Walk into the room and wait for a little bit and you will be transported to a very mysterious hallway with the Siege of Madrigal music playing in the background. Make your way down the hallway and you will make it to the Tribute Room! Congratulations!

If you go to the left, the first terminal you can open is about Red vs. Blue! The others are on HBO, the “jump” video (flying Warthog), “Fight the Flood”, Halsey's friends, and I like Pie (it seriously says that. It even says how it might be a security breach and needs to be investigated). You can also find the Terminal where Cortana used to be located, several posters from previous Halo games, and Bungie's “Seven Step Plan to Take Over the World.”