Over the weekend there were a few people shouting "OMG, hackers have taken over all of Xbox Live," and everybody just laughed. Seems like there actually is a problem with a few of the six million Xbox Live players online, and the number of complaints is quickly spreading. It started with rumors that a portion of Bungie.net was hacked - people would call Xbox 360 customer service numbers to help figure out why their account had been hijacked, with their credit card used to buy excessive amounts of Microsoft products, and every time customer service would blame the problem on the credit card company.

In the last few days they're finally admitting there's an issue, but still aren't pointing to any solutions. For many players, the complications go as far as talking shit online to a random gamer as usual, but then finding out their opponent wasn't joking when he said he'd hack your account. For other players, that was just the beginning:

"I have been involved with Microsoft Support for days on this exact issue and have spent many hours on the phone trying to prove to them that, first, my Windows Live ID was stolen and, second, the ID and password associated with my ID were changed; two actions that Microsoft swears can NEVER happen; and third that the thief was able then use my credit card information associated with one of my Windows Live ID accounts to purchase over $800 of Microsoft products.

Thank goodness for other websites that still contained my old Windows Live ID information and also the fact that, in order to gain access to those other websites, you NEED a Windows Live ID. After spending over 20+ hours on the phone with support and finally getting them to realize that I did indeed have a Windows Live ID, after pointing them to the other websites, I was told by a supervisor that "Yes, in fact, we have heard of some instances where a user's Windows Live ID had been compromized!"

After finally getting this confirmation and having a case number assigned and forwarded to Microsoft Security Investigations, they, also, confirmed it as a breach, issued me another Windows Live ID and then reinitialized the stolen Microsoft Products that were associated with the old ID over to the new ID."

There's even a clan offering to perform the service, claiming to have successfully hijacked seven different accounts of whiny players. So far Microsoft has changed its stance now that complaints are escaping online forums and appearing across the Web, but they aren't giving us an update on how huge of a problem this is. At first they insisted it must have been players who gave out too much information online to their opponents, but it's clear that they're being silent for now until they know exactly what is going on. We probably won't get an update from them until the problem has been solved, hopefully more news will come later today.

While Sony was busy talking about trophies today, an announcement on achievements was made that's worth pursuing if you're a Gamerscore addict. For the first time in the history of the Halo series, you'll be able to earn achievements for assaulting aliens, and Halo 3 won't be the first game to do it. Bungie will be adding new features to the Windows Vista version of Halo 2,  and online achievements are one of them. It'll be hard for Bungie to go back and add the new goals, but they've got until May to work on it when the game is released. So far they've  mentioned achievements for finishing the campaign levels on each difficulty, and hinted that they'd also reward skilled sword and sticky grenade players.

If Master Chief was Arnold Schwarzenegger, then Jamie Lee Curtis would be Cortana - yep - I'm talking about True Lies. First up is some truth - Bungie has released even more information about Halo 3 on their site, including new Halo 3 wallpaper downloads, the tentative button controls layout, funny fan art, and hints at what's to come soon. They're saying that the Halo 3 advertising campaign is set to start soon, so we should have more screenshots and videos coming in the next month - they've already announced that beta testing will contain a few surprises, and that they won't try to hinder players from spreading pictures of their experiences.

Now for the lies. According to an 'official' eBay auction run by Bungie (who just signed up for eBay a few weeks ago . . hmm), Halo 4 is on the way as well. And people are actually taking it seriously. Sigh.

Halo 3 news has been flowing from Bungie's monstrous maw for months straight now, but unless you're an avid Halo fan, all you probably know is "it has more brutes, a cool grenade that blocks meteors, and you get a beta invite for it if you high quality crack." If you've been holding off on Halo 3 news in wait for a gathering of all the facts and features, then Bungie has finally granted you your wish with their new FAQ section for their upcoming Xbox 360 game. They go over all the beta details, touch upon gameplay and controller questions, and even talk about online multiplayer features. It's still a little light on the details, but the specifics will start pouring in soon once the beta finally starts. No date has been announced for beta yet, but IGN has hinted at March 15th. Thanks to reader FANK for tipping me of Bungie's new info.

Nothing is for sure obviously, but it looks pretty damn convincing. It's not quite as shaky and blurry as we've all come to expect from YouTube videos, but it's not good enough to make out the interface either. The guy who uploaded it says that it's a Halo 3 Alpha test for weapon placeholders, and that he got it from someone named Bip Chizzle, so maybe this 'leaked video' is already outdated. It could just be an unknown mod project, but I think it might actually be the real thing. Maybe Bungie just wanted to further hype it without spending the marketing money for another awesome full CG commercial.

Bungie's still implementing plenty of new features into Halo 3 for us, and the best new feature they're mentioning is the multiplayer "A-hole Button." They've even done the math to arrange a formula that describes how it works to those of you who have never played an online game before: Teenagers + anonymity + microphone = idiot. That's the best math I've seen since my teachers turned Calculus into a . Xbox Live muting tools do exist, but the Bungie's asshole button promises to make it quick and painless. Just pull up the score and every player's tag will show up. Highlight the audible assholes with the right joystick and they're now talking to themselves.

I don't see why people get so upset over online jerks though, the majority of them are usually hilarious to listen to. Except the women. If Bungie made a Tits Button I'd be forever grateful. The second a vag enters a match there's always some drunken divorced dude who's more interested in talking to her instead of playing the damn game. The Tits Button could be an online dating Halo hotline that introduces all sorts of different covecunts to cute brutes bachelors. Teenagers + tits + microphone = $$$. If they charged for the service Microsoft could probably make Xbox Live free.

During a recent trip to the Bungie studio where the first two Halo games were made, one of the technical leads had some negative comments about their Halo 2 game. If you've seen the "making of" video for Halo 2 then you know that they were extremely rushed on finishing the game, but the mandatory morale boosting beach trips didn't help much either. Here's what Chris Butcher has to say about his disappointments:

"We had about four to five weeks to polish [the first] Halo at the end. No more than that. And that last five per cent is responsible for 30 per cent of the success of the game, or more. The entire game came together within that four- to six-week period. One of the things that stuns me when I think about it, and I can't believe this is true - we had none of that for Halo 2. Take that polish period and completely get rid of it. We miscalculated, we screwed up, we came down to the wire and we just lost all of that. So Halo 2 is far less than it could and should be in many ways because of that. It kills me to think of it. Even the multiplayer experience for Halo 2 is a pale shadow of what it could and should have been if we had gotten the timing of our schedule right. It's astounding to me. I fucking cannot play Halo 2 multiplayer. I cannot do it.

Looks like even a few Bungie dudes hate Halo 2, but what's more important is that it's obvious they're putting a ton of extra time into Halo 3 - far more than they did with the first game. So if they fuck anything up it's their own fault. If the Halo 3 beta (I still haven't received an invite yet, damn) goes well, then we should expect an awesome FPS game for the Xbox 360. Here's an awesome preview video if you're still clueless to what the Halo games are like.

Still desperately want to get a beta testing spot for Halo 3? Don't give up hope yet! Microsoft has just announced the last ways to get a chance to help Bungie out. The first of the two ways is indeed buying the upcoming Crackdown game. And here's the way that we didn't know about: 

Beginning Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007, at 12:01 a.m. EST, all gamers need to do is participate in at least three hours of “Halo 2” multiplayer sessions, via Xbox Live, before Feb. 3, 2007, at 11:59 p.m. EST and then be among the first 13,333 to register at http://www.halo3.com. The “Rule of Three” program is currently planned for gamers in the 50 United States (includes District of Columbia) age 17 years and older who have access to an Xbox 360 Pro console or an Xbox 360 Core console with hard drive, a valid Xbox Live Gold subscription and the “Halo 2” game. Gamers around the world are encouraged to visit http://www.halo3.com in the coming weeks for more information on the “Rule of Three” program in their region.

Hmm, three hours of awesome Halo 2 gameplay, or some serious money on a game that looks like it might be complete crap - easiest choice ever. You can read the full press release here.

Wal-Mart made yet another slip up when it posted Halo 3's release date on their site. They listed the day as an October 1st release, but it has since been taken down, setting fanboy hearts ablaze. Even if it was the actual release date, I wouldn't get too excited - October is way too far off for a game that's already been playable for a while - I'm guessing it was just a retail error. I can see this game coming out in late April or maybe May. I wonder what games will steal the July 7, 2007 release date to look stylish.

Update: The beta won't start until Spring 2007, so a release date of May would still be way too early. Wal-Mart may have actually spilled the beans.

Don't believe me? Then what was Halo 3 doing over in Iraq in the past week? Hmm? A game of murder just so happens to cross seas straight into a land of war at the exact time Saddam dies? Bungie's gonna need quite the alibi to get out of this one. Too bad Saddam's father never taught him how to wear a Halo - it's not too comfortable when worn around your neck. Here's two videos showing quick clips of Halo 3 gameplay, with a few pictures below too. 

Not a single swear word, how disappointing. Maybe Halo 3 isn't even fun?

Hmm, perhaps Bungie is pulling another I Love Bees alternate reality game on us? Something smells fishy. And deserts don't often smell fishy.