At the very top of the list is an entry in what is currently the hottest game franchise on the market, Call of Duty. Specifically, Black Ops made the cut for the top slot. Coming in at number two was an equally popular franchise, Halo, for its Halo: Reach installment. And rounding out the top five are The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and the original God of War. They’re all major heavyweights in the industry.

The tally was decided through a public vote, so on some level you’ve got to believe that it was just a popularity contest. Black Ops set a launch day sales record when it was released; millions of gamers still play it on a regular basis, so of course a lot of people will blindly vote for it just because it has so many fans. It’s digging through the deeper entries in the list where you might find the real hidden gems. So without further ado, here’s the entire top 50 breakdown:

50. Resident Evil 4
49. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
48. Ratchet & Clank: a Crack in Time
47. Crysis 2
46. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
45. Call of Duty: World at War
44. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
43. Half-Life 2: Episode Two
42. Super Metroid
41. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
40. New Super Mario Bros. Wii
39. inFamous
38. Fallout 3
37. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
36. Gears of War 2
35. Bioshock
34. Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
33. Sonic Adventures 2
32. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
31. Kingdom Hearts II
30. Mass Effect
29. Super Mario Galaxy
28. Sonic the Hedgehog
27. Metal Gear Solid
26. Assassin’s Creed II
25. Assassin’s Creed
24. Shadow of the Colossus
23. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
22. Kingdom Hearts
21. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
20. Super Mario Galaxy 2
19. Mass Effect 2
18. Grand Theft Auto IV
17. Portal 2
16. Assassins Creed: Brotherhood
15. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
14. Halo: Combat Evolved
13. Halo 3
12. Pokemon Black and White
11. Super Mario Bros
10. Heavy Rain
9. Final Fantasy VII
8. Metal Gear Solid 4
7. Portal
6. Red Dead Redemption
5. God of War
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
2. Halo: Reach
1. Call of Duty: Black Ops

[via RipTen]

One enterprising person has offered his services as a first-person shooter bodyguard, allowing Xbox 360 players of Modern Warfare, Black Ops, Battlefield 3, Halo Reach and Bad Company 2 to employ him for just £5. Toby Smith says he’ll watch your six, point out enemy threats, and even take bullets to make sure you stay at your killing best. It’s an innovative way to make some quick money, I’ll grant – he’s charging £5 for 30 minutes of game time. Getting paid £10 an hour to play online video games is a mean feat in this economy.

That said, there are sure to be those who won’t appreciate Toby’s efforts. After all, most modern shooters are supposed to be team-based, not individual affairs – not that that matters to some gamers, to whom a kill-to-death ratio is everything. But the idea of a virtual bodyguard isn’t that far out from gold farming, where players (often in third-world countries) grind for hours to sell in-game loot on MMORPGs. And if you can sell virtual items or currency online, as many game developers do via downloadable content or in-game markets, why not employ an actual human being?

Mr. Smith doesn’t offer up any indication of his gaming skills, l33t or otherwise. Let the buyer beware.

[via Game Rant]

Video demos after the cut

“The fight for humanity rages on a galactic scale. From a frozen xeno-archaeology site harboring secrets millennia old to an orbital anchor defending the stars high above planet Reach – and to mysterious places far, far beyond – Bungie’s Noble Map Pack injects three new explosive environments into the multiplayer battlefield, each designed to reinforce all of Halo: Reach’s vital warfronts, from small scale engagements to massive Invasion battlegrounds.”

You’ll obviously need a copy of Halo: Reach if you want to do anything with the map pack. More information at Xbox.com here.

Halo: Reach – Breakpoint demo:

Halo: Reach – Tempest demo:

Halo: Reach – Anchor 9 demo:

The proceeds will go to Child’s Play, as well as the Brian Wood Memorial Trust, so you can safely say that the winning sum will be used for a good purpose. The helmet itself was sculpted by Daniel Yuan of the 405th Infantry Division, but it’s probably not one helmet that you’ll want to wear if you want to actually see what you’re doing. The replica is also signed by over 20 Bungie employees, so it’s obviously a collector’s item.

If you’re interested, you’ll need to hurry up and start bidding. As of the time of this writing, the eBay auction was at $475, and is scheduled to run its cource by 9:30PM Eastern time. So, get to bidding!

[via Joystiq]

Considering Halo: Reach just came out, Microsoft isn’t talking up the next game in the franchise, let alone the exact release date. But, Microsoft is apparently planning on releasing these titles faster. In a brand new interview with IGNMicrosoft Game Studios’ Vice President Phil Spencer said that the Redmond-based company intends to release the Halo games at a faster frequency. He points out that there’s no exact strategy that says they have to release a new game every year, but that the three year waiting period between Halo titles, which was what was happening previously, is probably not frequent enough.

Spencer points out that waiting so long in between releases, that the overall engagement for the titles could dwindle. Because of that mind state, Microsoft is planning on “a more persistent Halo engagement for customers and not go dark for two years.” While a new game every year might not be the best plan, Spencer says that Microsoft wants to provide gamers with “an ongoing relationship” with the franchise.

Truth be told, it will be up to Microsoft to find a sweet spot for the release of future titles. Spending too much time in between titles could indeed make people stop caring about the franchise, but three years in between Halo titles in the years before hasn’t made the franchise any less successful, either. However, on the flip side, releasing sequels every year might be too much, and people may get exhausted. It could also seem that Microsoft is milking a franchise that many believe they’ve already been milking.

The faster release schedule for video games within the franchise has grown since 2009, surely. The industry saw the release of Halo: Wars in February of 2009, which was then followed by Halo: 3 ODST in September of the same year. And then ultimately, the release of Halo: Reach just a week ago. While neither the RTS-based Halo: Wars or the side-story themed Halo: 3 ODST saw the sales numbers that other pivotal releases, like Halo 2 and Halo 3 saw, they were indeed successful in their own right. If Microsoft can find the right way to keep fans of the franchise engaged, before the release of a major title, then they can probably keep the Halo universe going for quite some time.

[via IGN]

But all the laudatory comments and gushing over the game just don’t work for me. I’ll be the first to admit that Halo games are fun to play. But for me, Halo Reach – and all the hoopla surrounding it – is what’s wrong with the gaming industry.

Let me take you back to the 1990s.

During that decade, the gaming industry was a much different space. There were a slew of developers and none were big enough to be called dominating players in the market (potentially with the exception of Sega and Nintendo). At the time, game budgets were small, and the industry itself was a niche market.

And yet, it could very well be the golden era of gaming. It was a time that was led by extremely unique and fun games. It was also a time when the allure of corporate profit gave way to the desire of a handful of people in a room to create a groundbreaking video game. Indeed, it was still a business. But it was one that still coveted and cultivated originality.

Today, the gaming industry is nothing of the sort. It’s dominated by a handful of companies that want to quickly turn a profit. And they feel that franchises are one of the best ways to do that. In the process, they have effectively forgotten about the unique, fun games of the past and stuck with what gamers know.

That’s precisely why role-playing games are hard to come by today. It’s also why so many one-off titles that catch a cult following, but fail to hit the mainstream, are never heard from again.

Admittedly, there are other elements to this argument. Major developers will only stick with franchises that do well. And, for the most part, first-person shooters, sports games, and other action titles have been selling well. Thus, developers are feeding the beast.

It’s also worth noting that there are still unique and fun titles in the wild. But as far as I’m concerned, there aren’t nearly as many as there should be.

So, as Halo Reach gets all the accolades that most gamers say it deserves, I’m left wanting more. The game might be fun to play. It might be a great step up over predecessors. But to me, it’s everything that’s wrong about the gaming industry. The game is part of a major franchise. It’s yet another first-person shooter. And it doesn’t push the industry forward in any measurable way.

To some, that might be a good thing. But I disagree. And I hope that as time goes on and the gaming business becomes even bigger, more companies see value in bringing back the old days.

I’m not too confident that it will happen. But I won’t stop hoping.

Whether or not Halo: Reach will out-sell other FPS titles still coming out this year, like Call of Duty: Black Ops is anyone’s guess at this point, but Steven McGill obviously has his own opinion. He’s the head of Xbox over in the UK, and he was on scene to watch as a Spartan flew over Trafalgar Square in London. It may not be the biggest marketing aspect of the whole period leading up to Reach, but it’s certainly one of the coolest. Check out the video below to see it for yourself.

[via VG247]

And you know that the Redmond-based company is serious when their Director of Policy Enforcement for Xbox LIVE steps into the game, and makes a public announcement about the whole thing. According to Stephen Toulouse, if you play Halo: Reach, as in the unauthorized leaked version that made its presence known last week, you’ll get banned. And this isn’t just some kind of cute ban, where you’ll be unable to play online for a week or two. Oh no. You’ll be permanently banned, says Toulouse. It’s called a permaban, and it’s a real thing.

Of course, if you wait until September 14th (when Halo: Reach is scheduled to release), then you won’t have an issue. Buying and playing the game isn’t illegal, and we’re pretty sure Microsoft actually wants you to do that. It’s unknown at this point whether or not Microsoft has already started swinging the banhammer, but considering the amount of spoilers that are out there now, there seems to be plenty of people to start hitting with it.

[via CNET]

The game, which has been on the servers for a little while now, was originally meant for reviewers of the title, and was supposed to only be able to be downloaded courtesy of a special code. The modders were able to find their way around that, and have been able to download the title at their will. Game spoilers are popping up all over the place, even Bungie’s official forums, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop any time soon. Unless Microsoft figures out a way to put a stop to it, and pronto.

Considering the title isn’t meant to be released until September 14th, this is a pretty big leak for both Microsoft and Bungie. Whether or not it will make a significant impact on their sales remains to be seen, but we really doubt that it will. Halo: Reach is the culmination of the series, and while it may not have its prodigal main character that Halo fans have grown to love, it’s still Bungie’s swan song to the Halo Universe. And that means it will probably sell a ridiculous amount. Even with a leak like this.

[via Joystiq]

The first, big catch is that price. As the image clearly shows, the price for Reach is listed in Microsoft Points, and that’s a whopping 99,999. Or, about $1,250. Now, why we don’t imagine that many folks out there actually have that many Microsoft Points just sitting on their account, waiting to be used at any given moment, even if you do have that much, and you’re aching to spend it on game that doesn’t launch until next month, you still won’t be able to download it. Unfortunately, as Microsoft puts it, you’ll need a special (and obviously limited) 25-character pre-paid token to get your hands on this download.

It’s pretty much assumed that this is going to be the same digital download that reviewers all over the place are going to be able to use for their final retail reviews. Just like Crackdown 2 in the past, digital downloads were handed out to reviewers, but the casual public is still unable to download the game via Games On Demand. So, we don’t expect Microsoft or Bungie to let customers download the prequel that way, either. At least, not any time soon. Anyone out there a big enough Bungie/Halo fan to actually be willing to pay this much to get your hands on the title early?

[via Joystiq]