The button layout was really interrupted my experience at first. In Halo 2 most of my actions of the player – such as reload, weapon pick-up, and vehicle boarding – were mapped to the X button. In the Beta on the Xbox 360, that is all placed on the 360’s shoulder buttons. Do you realize how hard it was for a seasoned Halo 2 player like me to use those shoulder buttons? It felt so unnatural.  

However, after a few games, I got used to it and it became one of the best games that I ever played…and this is only a Beta. The first thing I noticed was the plethora of additional content, all of which had been released already (Spike Grenade, Brute Spikers, Bubble Shield, Portable Gravity Lift, Spartan Laser, Mongoose, Mancannons, Trip Mine etc…) What was a complete and total surprise to me were the missile pods and the detachable gun turrets.

Now to those of you that haven’t played a day of Halo of your life, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about, but it’s OK. Let me break it down. My Halo 3 Beta experience was a very good one. The game-play is fast paced and very competitive. The additional content is a big improvement from Halo 2, and once you pick up Halo 3 when it releases in September, you just won’t put it down.

Gaming Dictionary
Reload: The restocking of your ammunition in your current weapon.
Weapon pick-up: Acquiring and equipping a weapon that is lying on the map.
Shoulder buttons: The buttons placed on top of the Xbox 360 Controller.
Spike Grenade: Type of explosive that spreads very fatal prongs in multiple directions.
Brute Spikers: A handheld weapon that fires very fatal prongs at a high rate.
Bubble Shield: A deployable protective force field that encloses the player in a dome.
Portable Gravity Lift: A deployable device that when moved lifts the player upward.
Spartan Laser: A devastating shoulder mounted weapon that fires a very lethal beam.
Mongoose: A two person all terrain vehicle.
Man Cannon: A device that shoots the player a long distance.
Trip Mine: A conventional explosive device that detonates when enemies are nearby.
Territories (H2 Version): When players set territories for a designated amount of time.
Territories (H3 Version): When players take turns capturing territories on the map.

Most Recent Amazing Gaming Moment:
I was playing the Halo 3 Beta in a free-for-all match against seven other players called “Rockets,” when all the other players where equipped with Rocket Launchers. Rockets were flying all over. People were scoring multiple kills everywhere I turned, beating each other down with the large rocket launcher. It was crazy. What makes this particular match amazing was that after only five minutes of game play – the match was over. Now I was thinking to myself, someone had just lagged out and the game was adjusting, but the game was over. When they displayed the score, I realized, “Wow this is the first time I’m looking at the scores.” It just so happened that I won too.

Recently, I got my hands on a Nintendo Wii. I put my 360 aside and made room for my borrowed Wii and my copy of “Rayman’s Raving Rabbits” and Wii Play. As kiddy as the games may have appeared to me at first, it was crazy fun. The Nintendo Wii is Nintendo’s next-gen console where the controller has a very innovate and well designed motion sensor capability. That means like if you’re playing a sword fighting game instead of pressing set buttons to perform a standard attack, you’re actually swinging your controller around like it was a real sword…very fun, very unique, and what a workout.

In “Rayman’s Raving Rabbits,” I play as the franchise’s hero, Rayman. Apparently these rabbits capture me and they lock me up in a cell and force me to complete a bunch of different tests. Now, as I complete each set of four mini-game tests, I have to play either a big racing mini-game or a shooter style mini-game similar to that of an early “Time Crisis” or maybe even “House of the Dead.”

After that is completed, the rabbits leave me with a plunger and I add that plunger to my collection, so I can eventually make a plunger ladder to scale the tall wall and leap out of the window. By the sheer size of the wall, I can already tell that I have loads of mini-games to play.

This game is the first Wii game I’ve ever played, and it’s pretty fun. The mini-games really give me a workout. There was this one mini-game where Rayman is holding a chain attached to a cow and he has to spin the cow around and throw it about 100 virtual yards. As the player, I had to swing the remote around and around over my head and press my handy-dandy “A” button at the right moment. I kept messing up so, I had to do it over and over again. When I finally got it, I was really happy. I jumped for joy but had to take a break because my arm was tired. J

“Rayman’s Raving Rabbits” is game of mini-games, like “WarioWare” and “Mario-Party”…games that I usually steer away from. But with the new Wii remotes, the mini-games are crazy fun. The graphics on the game are decent and the sound is cool. I love the sound the rabbits make when I fail a mini-game, it sounds like a long “PSYCHE!” If I were Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb I would give the game a three out of five, but since I’m Bill Lewis Jr, I give it a seven point nine out of a perfect ten.

I wish I could say something more analytical and intriguing about the Wii, but playing it is a lot of fun. Not to mention all the Wii jokes I can get away with…

Gaming Dictionary
Adam Sessler: Co-host of a video game review show “X-play” on the channel G4
House of the Dead: A first person shooter video game usually played in an arcade where your controller is a fake gun and you shoot bad-guys/monsters/zombies in scripted scenarios and you are not allowed to control any other movement of your character except for the aim of your weapon.
Mario Party: A game where you control the loveable Mario or others in a board where after each set of turns a mini-game is played that don’t necessarily relate to one another. For example, one game might be collect the most falling apples in your basket, while the next would be sat afloat on the raft in the rapids.
Mini-game: A small game that is played very quickly, aside from the main game.
Morgan Webb: Co-host of a video game review show “X-play” on the channel G4
Rayman: Another franchise hero similar to Zelda, Mario, Sonic, Kirby, etc…
Time Crisis: A game similar to House of the Dead just more mainstream and popular
WarioWare: A game similar to that of Mario Party, just more random
Wii: This Wii little thing is Nintendo’s next-gen console.

Most Amazing Gaming Moment:
I’m playing Table Tennis on Wii Play and after a good chunk of time of trying to reach the set goal of 100 rallies. I finally accomplish it and bask in the shining glory of knowing that I did it.