Thanks to our buds at Microsoft and the Gamerscore Blog, you can now set Podtacular or any of our fine affiliates at the Gamercast Network as your gamerpic… for free! Just go to the marketplace blade, then Themes and Gamer Pictures, then New Arrivals and you’ll see the Gamercast Network pics there under Community Gamerpics. Be sure to download them and set them as your gamerpic to show your Podtacular pride!

FYI: I don’t consider there to be any spoilers in this videos.

Some notes:

Plasma grenade explosions look great!
Saved film cameras seem really powerful.
Fuel rod cannon is back.
Fire and flames look great.
Check out the pink 360 controller on the table.
Check out the Warthog with only one tail light.
Detaching the camera is amazing.

currently playing: Shadowrun
currently supporting: Ron Paul

For those of you that missed Part 1:

currently playing: Shadowrun
currently supporting: Ron Paul

Bungie recently demoed some gameplay footage at the Leipzig Game Convention 07 in Germany. Here’s one of them. Be sure to click read more to see the other 3!

Some more details on Forge, the map editor for HALO 3, come from an IGN report.

• New mode/feature called the “Forge” lets you edit weapon placement, spawn points, vehicles and more in real-time during the middle of multiplayer matches. You’ll take on the shape of monitor, similar to the Guilty Spark, and will even be vulnerable to gunfire and player attacks while you edit maps in real-time.
• Multiplayer customization options let you create your very own power-ups with specific attributes. For example, if you want to create a power-up that lets you run twice as fast, kill in a single shot and jump extra high, you can.
• You can share your edited levels with others by placing it in your “shared items” slot, which other players can then access and download to their 360.
• “Bungie Recommends” section on Bungie.net will spotlight Bungie-found user content, like screens, videos, edited levels, rule sets and more.
• Heroic and Legendary difficulties now tougher than ever. Bungie recommends experienced Halo gamers play on these difficulties rather than Normal.

Hrmm. Making customizable power-ups. My only concern is NOT knowing what power-ups are in the map. I would hate to be running around Valhalla and get beaten by someone because they place their custom power-ups somewhere on the map. But, Forge is going to all at a lot of replay and fun to the game. Forge is going to drive more people to sign up on XBOX Live.

currently playing: Shadowrun
currently supporting: Ron Paul

Apparently the 360 Wireless Racing Wheel may get a bit smoky when plugged into your wall outlet. Yes, I know it sounds strange, but the wireless racing wheel is only wireless in regards to how it communicates with the 360. You need to plug it into the wall to experience the surprisingly strong force feedback and rumble. Otherwise your batteries will probably only last about 10 minutes. Microsoft is saying that a component inside the wheel may start to smoke. They’re not calling for a full out recall yet, it’s currently termed a “retrofit”.

I own the wheel and like it quite a bit. In fact it’s probably one of the best racing wheels I’ve used. Now here’s where I’m starting to get irritated. One of, if not the, largest software companies in the world is asking me to print out a snail mail form and mail it in in order to get this fixed. Come on Microsoft. Throw up a webpage or something.

I’m still undecided as to whether I want to have mine retrofitted or just keep a close eye on it when it’s plugged in. As long as it’s not shooting freakin’ laser beams at me or my wife I think it’ll be fine.

Go Here to print out the retrofit order.

Quote: from xbox.com:
“Newsflash:
Free Retrofit for Wireless Racing Wheel

Published August 22, 2007

As a precautionary measure, Microsoft Corporation is voluntarily providing its customers with a free retrofit to the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel. The Wheels were manufactured during 2006 – 2007. A component in the Wheel chassis may in rare cases overheat and release smoke when the AC-DC power supply is used to energize the Wheel.

There have been no reported incidences of fire, personal injury or property damage due to the Wheel malfunction. Despite no known safety incidents, we are advising our customers about this because of our strong commitment to ensuring that our products are safe and perform to our design specifications.

Owners of the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel should visit www.xbox.com/support or call Microsoft at 0800 587 1102 to register to receive the retrofit and protect against the potential hazard described above. Instructions will be provided with the retrofit. We are notifying and will be coordinating our response activities with the relevant regulatory agencies such as the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. This may impact delivery dates.

Owners of the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel should stop using the AC-DC power supply until they have obtained their retrofit. Owners may continue to operate the Wheel using battery power. While operating in battery mode, the force feedback feature will not be available. Once retrofitted, owners may run the Wheel using AC power and reactivate this feature.

Get Started Now
If you have a Wireless Racing Wheel, print out the retrofit form, complete it, and send it in. You’ll receive information soon from Microsoft regarding your retrofit. In the meantime, use your Wireless Racing in battery mode.

For further information and support, please contact 0800 587 1102.”

XBL GT: Mikeulus