I'm Master Chief!

I took a little quiz on Facebook that told me what Video Game Character I am. It turns out I am Master Chief. What a coincidence! Pretty cool.

Halo 3 multiplayer strategy notes

My Bungie.net profile shows me some cool information. For example, it shows me a heatmap of every map in multiplayer so that I can see where I get the most kills and where I die the most. In essence, it tells me where I ought to head in the maps and where I ought to avoid so that I can be most effective.

Here are my notes that I will try to incorporate as I play and see if it works out:

Construct - left side facing sword by purple lift; stay away from
right side counterpart

Epitaph - stay away from middle beneath rockets

Foundry - no notes

Guardian - main room in front of lift; stay away from center

Highground - first and second level of the fort; stay away from gate

Isolation - stay away from center underground

Last Resort - between stairs and columns to the immediate right of
laser; stay away from right of main fort while facing beach

Narrows - light side top center in front of the blockade wall just
before ramps; stay away from blue side counterpart

Rat's Nest - middle near exit facing rockets; stay away from hammer

Sandtrap - no notes

Snowbound - center snowside; stay away from center room and laser tower

Standoff - center of map by the rocks facing the base on the cliff side; stay away from non cliff base

The Pit - left side facing sword in between high block in the pocket
and ramp; stay away from rocket alley

Valhalla - facing ocean left side by mongoose but stay away from the
nearby touret and don't go to the central hill

So, do you use the heatmaps through Bungie.net? If so, how do you incorporate it into your play?

Halo 3 Skill Move

Okay, I am not the greatest gamer out there and I most certainly am nothing to speak of when it comes to Halo 3. However, I had one magnificent moment of Halo glory last night. Here is my story.

I was playing shotty snipes on Last Resort. I took some high ground on the far side of the map adjacent to the base. I was nearly killed when an opponent from the red team started shooting me from beneath Invisibility. I strafed out of his path and shot him in the process, which forced him to fall back and take cover. Meanwhile, two other red team players flanked me at the same time, which killed me. I spawned in the center of Last Resort where the Spartan Laser is. I knew where the two opponents were at from when they killed me, so I immediately turned my attention towards that direction. When I did, I found a red opponent beneath them on the ground. I scoped in once and as I dropped down from center island I maneuvered my cross hairs and timed the shot just right to hit him square in the head.

The pictures reveal the mid-air shot with relatively far distance, the ledge from which I was dropping from, the location of the head shot on my opponent, and a on-looker view of the shot at the end.

If you have Halo 3, go to my file share to download it onto your Xbox 360 and watch me fall and shoot my opponent in the head.

Halo 3 on the 360

I am having a great time playing Halo 3 on my new Xbox 360. I am not all that good, but I do enjoy playing it as I like a good challenge. The picture I have posted here is from one of the games that I played. Pictured here is me beating down my purple opponent. He fell straight back like an upside down Superman, which caused all of his weaponry to go flying. I took the picture using the Theater function on the game, which allows you to watch your last played game and take video of any part of that round or to take a screenshot. I did both, but I can't get the video that I took of me throwing a game winning grenade to become the victor of that round. The screenshot uploads onto the Bungie.net server, so I quickly grabbed it off of my Bungie profile's page and saved it as my desktop, which is what you see in the posted picture.

Halo 3 - a fun pass-time

I have enjoyed playing Halo 3 since its debut about a month ago. I have beaten the campaign mode in easy, and now I am working at completing it on legendary while simultaneously trying to get all of the hidden achievements that are possible for it. Additionally, I have really enjoyed playing online with my friends and also new and random people through multiplayer on Xbox Live. I do hope that Bungie, the creators of the Halo saga, will bring all of the previous maps from the first and second installment of the trilogy into an high definition multiplayer world, similar to what they did for the expansion pack for Halo 2, but bigger and better for Halo 3. Fun and exciting stuff!

Reflections on Arguments Against Halo 3 in the Church

I have already touched base on the negatives and positives of playing Halo (Video Games as Good Clean Fun (5.07.2006)), and I would like for you to read that post first before you continue any further in this new post.

The recent arguments against Halo 3 found both in Dr. Ben Witherington's posts and other people's comments on them on his blog neglect and fail to discuss the relationship between sacred Scripture and the violence that it contains. When the violence of the Bible is taken into consideration, the arguments against Halo 3 fail to stand. The Bible, therefore, complicates the arguments against playing Halo 3. This fact cannot be left to itself. It must be dealt with for anyone who is against playing this popular video game.

Now, the discussion on that blog is whether or not Halo 3 in all of its violence and popular glory should be used in the Church to reach out to teens and the gaming generation. The argument generally follows that since it is violent the Church should not advocate its use. However, I want to point out that the Bible contains its own violent texts, which, if we keep to the same criterion to critique the Bible as they do with Halo 3, causes us to question whether we should be using the Bible in Church! Such questioning points towards the absurdity of the argument.

However, some would say that the Bible and Halo 3 cannot be compared in terms of violence, for the former is not as engaging as the latter. Halo 3 has repetitive killing; it trains the mind, so it is said, to kill without thinking through repititious acts of slaughter. However, according to Ellen Davis in a presentation on preaching from the Old Testament, she argues that Christians should be intimate with the text and allow the Old Testament to have a ruling influence over our lives. In other words, we should be actively engaged with the text through repititious study. Since the Old Testament should be a ruling influence over our lives as it is God's Holy Word, and since we should be intimate with the text--not merely reading it and moving on to another but reading it and meditating on it for days at a time until we have exhausted all that the Spirit would have us take from it for the short-term moment, it makes sense that, at least in theory, the Old Testament should be of a similar influence if not more as Halo 3 in communicating violence.

Furthermore, Scripture has no problem using violence to teach a lesson. Scripture is quite graphic! Its details are enough for one who is intimate--actively engaged--with the text to teach gruesome strategies for murder and violence. In Judges, Ehud deceptively assasinates the king of Moab. Although not every murder or killing in the Old Testament is as graphic as Ehud's story, there is a sense that at times violence is acceptable and necessary. At any rate, God chose to use violence to communicate at least part of his heart to us. This fact cannot be overlooked. Those who oppose Halo 3 must come to terms with this fact, and more importantly they must address it in their argument if they want to attempt to have an affective one.

Up to this point I have attempted to show the complications involved between the arguments against Halo 3 and the contents of the Bible. But now I want to argue more forcefully. Halo 3, although it is violent, must be considered for what it is as a video game. It is a piece of non-reality that has effects in reality. Some of those effects are good and some of them are not necessarily good (for more on this issue please read my aforementioned post). Beyond the positive and negative effects of the game, the good has yet to be faithfully pointed out, while the negatives have dramatically been emphasized, that is, they have been given as a caricature of the game and primarily given by people who have never played or participated in it. One cannot do a book review if they have not read the book; likewise, one cannot review a game if they have not played it.

So, I am going to argue for two related things. First, Halo 3 requires both skill and thinking. Second, Halo 3 requires individual talent but also team effort.

Halo 3 requires a great deal of skill and also a great deal of thinking. In order to play the game, one must be able to develop exceptional hand-eye coordination. Not only hand-eye coordination, but fluid movement with the thumbs and the ability to use several other buttons with the index fingers and thumbs while at the same time moving the cursor in a three-dimensional environment. This task is not easy and it does not necessarily come quickly. It is a skill that one must work hard at, but it proves to be useful outside of the gaming environment. When one learns the skills on the controller and is able to perform well with it, they have gained a certain dexterity that is hard to develop elsewhere, but is valuable for other tasks in life. To be able to position an object strategically in one's hand without having to look at the object is a fine talent, which can be fostered and developed by learning to use a controller. Pitchers in baseball might find this particularly attractive so that they can position the baseball properly in their hand without having to look at it and without dropping it. Hand-eye coordination is especially useful in using a hammer and a nail. To be able to simply look and execute a task is of great value, and it proves to be beneficial to the safekeeping of one's hands in using a hammer and a nail. So it develops hand dexterity, but what else does it do?

In order to play the game, one must be able to develop the skills necessary to play the game. This requires knowledge of the game and also of particular tactics. For example, one must know the weapons involved for battle. Certain weapons are good for particular tasks and terrible for others. The player must know such things. They must be familiar with the tactics of the game. They must be able to read and use the tools given so that they can make good decisions when playing the game. They must be able to monitor their status in the game. They must be able to know where they are at in relation to their team and their opponents. They must be able to navigate the maps of the game and know where the most advantageous locations are for battle. The player must be able to incorporate all of this knowledge so that they can develop their skill. The skill here is to be able to use all the various advantages of the particular games to one's own advantage and also for the benefit of the team. Skill and knowledge are a large factor of the game, for both individual play either in campaign mode or online, and also for team play online.

Whoever says that there is no skill involved in playing this video game obviously has not tried to play it. Whoever says that it is a brainless activity has obviously never played it. There is much skill, knowledge, concentration, focus and strategy involved, which cannot be denied by anyone who has actually played Halo 3.

The team effort that is involved in online play cannot be overlooked. Strategy applies at the team level. Those teams that communicate the most generally win the game. Those teams that have a strategy typically win the game. If one is trying to play the game as an individual but is involved in a team match, they are not going to perform so well. The game invariably encourages teamwork. Teamwork is a virtuous goal. It is essential both in the work force and at home. It is necessary on sports teams. It is fundamental in marriages. It requires open communication and work. It is encouraged in Halo 3, and this fact cannot be overlooked.

Whoever says that there is no virtue in playing this game obviously does not know the game at all. Whoever says that there is no benefit to playing Halo 3 has no understanding of the game whatsoever. Those who play the game on a consistent basis would not deny that this game requires teamwork, and no one can deny that teamwork is a good virtue.

What I have shown is that there is good benefit to playing Halo 3. But what can be said of all those negative arguments against Halo 3 that focus on the negative influences of the game?

The game, it is argued,teaches killing. I have heard people say that they are not killing people, they are killing pixels. Well, that is not true. No pixels are being killed. The pixels are still there. No person is being killed. When someone is shot, there is the appearance of being shot in unrealistic blood, but no person is being shot. In reality, the game, despite the blood effects, is no different than laser tag. In laser tag, you shoot light at an opponent, and you typically have about three targets on each opponent to shoot at, and they are not all created equal. Shoulder shots are usually worth more (at least in my experience) than stomach or back shots. Compare this setup with that of Halo 3. The player moves the cursor around and shoots light at opponents on the screen. The player is shooting for one of two targets--either the head or anywhere else on the body--and the two are not equal. Both types of play have the following things in common: they both involve shooting light; they both involve aiming at opponents; and they both involve shooting at particular areas of the opponents. They are different in one sense, which is that one is a physical experience while the other is an on-screen experience. Now my question is why is lazer-tag not argued against while Halo 3 is? The only factor I can think of would be the graphic use of blood in Halo 3. The blood is unrealistic, however, but it is there nonetheless. Because of the lack of realism in either game, lazer tag or Halo 3, the players do not perceive themselves as shooting and killing another player, at least that is how it is for myself. I am simply playing a game of virtual lazer tag in a friendly match of skill and knowledge through both individual talent and teamwork. I am not drawn into the game so as to believe that I am killing anyone. I realize that the game is not real. It is fiction. Furthermore, I recognize that it has no bearing on my physical reaction to the strains of life. I have never been in a physical altercation and if I were, I would not be able to defend myself. The video game is far from reality and is quite unable to teach me violent responses for the real world. It may cause more aggression, but as I have said before in my aforementioned post, puzzles can do the same thing. In truth, I have played first-person shooters quite a bit. Several times have I used a shotgun in these games. And yet, when I went to Hawaii over a year ago and went to a volcano shooting range, I had no idea how to use the shotgun, and even though I had an instructor, I had no ability despite my so-called violent influences of the Halo games to be able to hit the clay discs.

What I am saying is the arguments against Halo 3 that rest on the ideas that it teaches our kids to be violent and to kill is bogus. It might teach violence and how to kill in the game, but not in reality. Because the game lacks the ability to draw its players into the game much like a movie or television show is able to do, it is unable to influence the kind of behavior typically and stereotypically attributed to violent video games. Columbines are few and far between; I do not deny that they occur, but I seriously question how much influence games like Halo 3 have on those unfortunate instances of history. If Halo 3 and similar games are as influential as they are made out to be, and since they are so popular and widespread in our culture and in the rest of the world, why is it that we don't see more of those such instances? The truth is these games are not so much of an influence as they are a hobby. However, they are a hobby reserved for those with the minds capable of realizing what they are as fiction. A young mind who is unable to distinguish reality from fiction ought not to play such games (again, see the aforementioned post). For those who are able to make such a distinction, and the ages will vary depending every person's maturity and higher thinking, are able to play such games, and bear in mind that simply because one plays Halo 3 does not mean that they are necessarily a ruthless killer.

As for the arguments that say Halo 3 is a contradiction to the message of Christ, I would have to say, then, that according to their standards the message of the Old Testament is contradictory as well, and therefore they ought to forsake it. Since they are good evangelical Christians, I would hope that they would realize that is a problem and reconsider their arguments.

Halo 3 is a great option for youth ministry to tap into so as to reach out into the world and preach the gospel. It develops unity and teamwork in those who play, it requires thinking and strategy, and it is a fun way to pass time. It is an absolute hit among both the secular and Christian youth generation. Since there is no real biblical problem with it, why not use it? It might resemble killing, but it is not killing, and since it is not negatively affecting gamers as people say it does, what's the problem?

By the way, this issue is not a new one. Youth ministries always have a battle with some tee-totaler or another. For example, some parents throw up red flags at youth groups that allow the youth to play cards at church. Others argue against any sort of game play with dice. Both resemble gambling, so they argue, and they do not want their kids around such an environment. Well, the argument's contents have changed (we shouldn't use Halo 3 in the Church), but the argument is still the same.

Wishing I bought a 360 instead of a Wii

I took some time to play my Wii today after having not played it for several weeks. I decided to play it after having finished a couple of hours of lectures for my independent studies class on Christian Worldview for my philosophy fulfillment for my Master of Arts in Theology at the Northern California Fuller Theological Seminary extension. I must say, I am really wishing I bought a 360 instead of a Wii because when Halo 3 comes out I won't be able to play it, the Wii's remotes, also known as Wii-motes, has issues when playing particular games and the Wii doesn't have all that great of games. So, the question is, should I get rid of the Wii in order to pick up a 360? Let's examine my reasons for wishing first.

I am a huge Halo fan. I may not be very good, but I love to play the Halo series. When Halo 3 comes out, I am going to be dying to play it, but because I won't have my own 360, I won't ever be able to play it. I won't have enough time to justify having friends come over to play it with me and also to go to friends' houses to play, so that completely rules out social playing. Since I don't have a 360 of my own, I will simply be unable to play Halo 3 when it comes out. Now this sucks.

The Wii-motes really have some major flaws. I notice it the most with Tiger Woods 2007. I can't tell you how many times I would go to make a swing and the Wii-mote would register the swing to early and would only give me a small percentage of the power I was trying to create, thus causing me to lose a stroke. It would happen in crucial putting moments. It would happen totally at random, but most certainly when it mattered the most. For example, this afternoon I thought I would play Tiger's Challenge to have a little bit of fun after having studied through the aforementioned course material. As I was playing--and winning--I began to come up short a lot, and it was because the Wii-mote was causing my character on the screen to complete a premature swing rather than a full and complete one. I ended up losing the match because of this flaw! My afternoon turned sour because of this issue. The Wii-mote's flawed functionality really makes me lose the desire to play the Wii.

The Wii does not have very many good, outstanding and fun games. Sports is one great game when you can get the Wii-mote to function properly. It's too bad that more games haven't come out for the Wii that have the same fun-factor as Sports. I hear that Zelda is one of them, but I wouldn't know since I don't have it and have never played it. I have Sports, Play, Tiger Woods 2007, Medal of Honor: Vanguard, and Ice Age 2. Sports came with the Wii; as I already said, it is good. Play is a Wii-mote training program. It's really trivial and does not provide a source for hours of fun. Tiger Woods 2007 would be fun if it weren't for the flawed functionality of the Wii-mote. Medal of Honor: Vanguard is fun and the concept of pointing and shooting is sweet. However, there is no campaign mode. There is no on-line or internet play capabilities. So, in terms of multiplayer, it's 4 players max. with no bots and it's every person for themselves. This means that unless you are playing the story mode by yourself, it's no fun.

Now that I think of it, I should get rid of the Wii. I could probably get a decent amount for it on eBay and then turn around and buy a new 360 and pre-pay for my copy of Halo 3. The 360 has everything that the Wii doesn't: fully functional remote controllers that don't have any flaws, fun games, internet play, and Halo. The only thing the Wii has that 360 doesn't is the interactive motions required to play the virtual games. However, since the Wii-motes are not fully functional and have a significant amount of errors, the whole experience becomes tainted with minor issues and the desire to play becomes negligible. Overall, it appears that the 360 would provide for a better gaming experience. It seems that Nintendo's Wii is going to have to undergo some more technological advances before it can provide a better experience than the 360.

Halo 3 Beta for Xbox Live

The Xbox Live beta version of Halo 3 is quite impressive despite the fact that it is an unfinished product (hence the name). Overall, this game sure is beta than Halo 2 (pun intended). The graphics, although unpolished, are quite pleasant. The play is much more refined, which means that more accuracy is required. In terms of realism, it seems to be even better than before and more realistic than ever considering that it is a ficticious android-like character. The ranking system is fantastic and a sure step above the Halo 2 version. Now there is a ranking system based on military-style ranks and not a numeric number. The ranks appear to only increase and never decrease, unlike the previous games in the Halo trilogy. If you win, ranking points are awarded. If you lose, zero points are awarded. Something new for the game that I would like to mention is the Spartan Laser. Although it requires a 3-second charge, it is quite useful. Something else that I would like to note is the return of the Assault Rifle. It is a bit more useful in this game and is actually not all that bad. Some of the other weapons have been made more useful, such as the Needler, while others have been made more difficult to use, such as the Sniper. There are all sorts of features about this game that are new and many of them have already been exploited on You Tube; for further information on such additions, search around there. Halo 3 Beta was a blast to play. Apparently it is only available until June 10, 2007. If you really want to play it before it is shut down, go get Crackdown and ensure that you have a gold account for Xbox Live and you will be able to play up until June 10. Otherwise, you will have to wait until September.