Last week over at bungie.net, the Bungie Weekly Update hinted at something big dropping this week, and here it is!

After launching to incredible acclaim and fanaticism, “Halo 3” players will be able to enjoy three all new multiplayer maps on Dec. 11 as part of the Heroic Map Pack, the first in a series of downloadable content from Bungie Studios to come via Xbox LIVE.

These maps will be available on the XBL Marketplace for 800 MS points ($10) and include Standoff, Rat's Nest and Foundry—all fully customizable in Forge. Also of note, these maps will available for free in Spring 2008.

The Review Frenzy Preview for: Beautiful Katamari
Author: ClownX
Edited by: Killazilla

The Skinny
The Katamari Damacy series has always been a favorite of mine. Pastel colored worlds, blocky, Lego-like graphics, a quirky Japanese, sensibility, and a soundtrack that is the aural equivalent of walking into a candy shop, bundled with a budget price, make a winning combination. So, when the new Katamari Damacy game was announced for the Xbox 360, I was downright giddy! This joy resurfaced when I picked up the September issue of OXM, and found the demo on the demo disc.

The whole series stars The King Of All Cosmos, and his diminutive son, The Prince, and his Cousins. In the first game, The King had a night during which he was extremely intoxicated, and ended up destroying all the stars in the sky, and charged The Prince to roll up items on Earth, in a ball called a Katamari, to replace the stars. The second game, We ♥ Katamari, involved The King and The Prince dealing with their newfound popularity. What lies in the third game? Time will tell. So, since the basics have been covered, let's get cracking.

The Good
Katamari Damacy has always been dead simple: Pick up smaller stuff in your Katamari, avoid bigger stuff. Not much has changed in this game, and that is quite good. Most of the game is controlled with the Analog Sticks, and an occasional use of the triggers for controlling the camera. Being that your Katamari cannot pick up objects bigger than it is, many of the items you cannot pick up at first. The music is also great. The series' soundtrack consists of J-Pop, which normally, I dislike, but it works well in this game. It's bright, and poppy, and, if the last two games are any indication, there will be an extremely wide variety of J-Pop within. There is a definite feel of completeness to the demo. Everything seems very thought out and planned, and, while the demo level is still a small arena with very little order, it makes sense. An odd, Katamari Damacy sense, but sense nevertheless.

The visuals in Beautiful Katamari are a touchy subject. On one hand, they at first blocky, ugly, and not very nice to look at. On the other hand, however, they fit the game perfectly, with all the items in a seemingly Lego-inspired design choice. This makes the sometime modular items (a ladder made of people, for example), much more fun to pick up. Though it may not seem it, play one of the PS2 prequels, and you will see what I mean by saying that KD looks much better on the 360 Everything seems more vibrant, and all of the models look sharper. As an added bonus, the game rescales without load times.

Overall, even though it won't be heralded with visual masterpieces such as Gears of War and Bioshock, it does its job sufficiently. By the way, look out for the 360 island, and the other 360 themed stuff. My Katamari was as big as a few hundred thousand Wireless Controllers.

The Bad
In this demo, one is hard-pressed to find flaws. As I mentioned before, the graphics are not going to win any awards, and aren't for the HD aficionado. Also, I have noticed, like the last games, that the framerate slows down when one is picking up a vast amount of items at once. Again, not much has changed. Though I like that, a little innovation would be very nice.

Overall Impression: Excellent
I just can't wait for the next installment in this amazing series. So, until next time, ROYAL RAINBOW!!!

Today, the folks at Xbox Family (xboxfamily.com) published an intercepted e-mail from Microsoft that includes the various ways that the company will be marketing Halo 3 to the public in the coming months. It looks like come August, you won't be able to turn your head without seeing something Halo-related!

Mountain Dew – Game Fuel

• The promotions team is partnering with Mountain Dew to create a new Dew drink called Game Fuel inspired by Halo 3
• Game Fuel is a customized, limited-time “Halo 3-themed” Dew beverages that contains 30% more caffeine and a citrus cherry twist
• Game Fuel will come in 20-ounce bottles, two-liter bottles and 12-packs of 12-ounce cans (~40M) and distributed nationwide at ~150K outlets
• Additional support includes TV and online advertising, street teams, and press distribution of the drink

7-11 Program

• Halo 3 will be featured on Slurpees with 3 collectible linticular cups
• Dew will be creating special aluminum bottles of Game Fuel for distribution at 7-11
• Halo 3 will also be included on Doritos packs at 7-11 with a sweepstakes to be a voice actor in Halo Wars

Pontiac

• The team is also working with Pontiac who will be promoting Halo 3 along with their new high
• performance Pontiac G6 launch
• Pontiac will create events just prior to launch
• We will be partnering for a chance to win a Limited Edition Halo 3 G6 car
• Additional support includes TV advertising

Burger King

• We are also partnering with Burger King who will be promoting Halo 3 with Survival Kits sold nationwide for 10 weeks during Sept and Oct
• On King Size upgrades, consumers will receive their food and drink in Halo 3-themed packaging.
• Additional support include sweepstakes, drive thru POP, and other activities

That's in addition to the other branded materials and products already coming to the market, like the Halo 3 Limited Edition Xbox 360 controllers, the Halo 3 Limited Edition Xbox 360 console, Halo 3 Limited Edition wireless headset and Halo 3 Xbox Live subscription cards. So, as a Halo fan, what do you think? Is this a good thing, seeing the Halo brand spread so far and wide? Or has it become overkill with Master Chief car commercials and happy meals?

More at Xbox Family (Thanks HBO)

For a the last week or so, speculation has been flooding the internet about the new features that would be in the latest Dashboard update, for the Xbox 360 console. The guessing can be put to rest, because it has all been officially confirmed. On May 7th, 2007, 360 owners will get a bunch of goodies, to further expand their range of communication with their friends.