US Army hosts first ever Halo 3 Xbox Live tournament
by Scott Jon Siegel 
{ Jan 10th 2008 at 11:30AM }
Leading up to the tournament, the US Army will sponsor a series of "Basic Combat Training" mini-contests through Xbox Live, where players register and play Halo 3 on certain days in order to win. Registration has already begun for the first contest, entitled "Sniper School," and gameplay will begin on January 19. Registration for the main tournament will begin in March.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jerk Face @ Jan 10th 2008 11:38AM
Something about this is kind of f*cked up. I don't like it.
"See kids? If you like Halo, you'll love it over in beautiful Iraq! Enlist today!"
It just kind of has that bad taste to it.
LunarAura @ Jan 10th 2008 11:43AM
Yeah. Except Halo had a point. Sorta.
copa @ Jan 10th 2008 11:46AM
Look, Jerk Face, maybe you like to see our kids dying in Iraq. But if we can save one American life because our boys learn where the Plasma Swords spawn in Fallujah, then this has been worth it.
Jerk Face @ Jan 10th 2008 11:47AM
Ha ha, nice. (+)
dan stabbingworth @ Jan 10th 2008 1:12PM
Seriously, can people just click the friggin [+] button without posting about how they clicked the [+] button?
sp @ Jan 10th 2008 2:37PM
no. [-]
WiNG @ Jan 10th 2008 2:48PM
[+] for Dan Stabbin'!
Jerk Face @ Jan 10th 2008 2:50PM
There is nothing wrong with letting someone know you thought their comment was funny. At least I don't think so.
dan stabbingworth @ Jan 10th 2008 3:30PM
If you think it's funny, that's why you click the button. Then the text gets darker. The comment section is constantly littered with asinine posts of this type, especially from you, jerk face, which add no value to the conversation.
Jerk Face @ Jan 10th 2008 3:43PM
You know what? You're probably right. Any kind of human interaction on the internet is probably a bad thing anyway.
true blu @ Jan 10th 2008 11:39AM
Is this a joke? The army must not of heard of COD4. Makes halo 3 look like panty waste. lol
Cyro @ Jan 10th 2008 11:58AM
What the hell are you talking about. Halo 3 online multiplayer is 10 times better than COD4. I am sorry if you are one of those people that hate all things popular.
rv @ Jan 10th 2008 12:41PM
Cod4- more realistic, sometimes more fun. The problem with halo is not public custom games list. I can play rocket race so much before I get pissed off.
bounchfx @ Jan 10th 2008 1:11PM
lol and I'm sorry when you can't realize which is better.
then again, it's all preference, they are both wonderful online experiences, but COD4 just feels so much more.. fun. to me.
sp @ Jan 10th 2008 2:40PM
would you want to play in a contest in a game that looked just like YOUR job?
Sam @ Jan 10th 2008 10:03PM
tru dat! Halo 3 is COD4 for racist, sexist 12 year olds.
baby sea tuna @ Jan 10th 2008 11:40AM
Seeing this makes me want to commit rocket suicide.
Co @ Jan 10th 2008 11:44AM
Man they must really be hurtin over there....
Then again, the majority of Halo 3ers probably should be over in Iraq lol
Phranctoast @ Jan 10th 2008 12:00PM
lol. Cant say I wasn't thinking it.
Night Elve @ Jan 10th 2008 11:44AM
The winner of the tournament will have all inclusive vacations to Iraq.
The Runner-up will win a trip to Afghanistan!
Thr3e2wenty8 @ Jan 10th 2008 11:46AM
remember that old Marines commercial where the guy climbed a big rock only to have to go through an obstacle course on his way to fighting a dragon?
That was a realistic representation of the core.
Carl Abrams @ Jan 10th 2008 10:25PM
Marine Corps - not core...
copa @ Jan 10th 2008 11:47AM
I looked at the registration page, but I couldn't get a clear answer to this: Is my e-mail address ending up on the US Army spam list?
Andrain @ Jan 10th 2008 11:50AM
Just slightly a bad taste?? They have 4 videos of sniper spots in the game all hosted by an Army sniper, their fifth video is about "sniper school" showing a sniper get in a ghillie suit and squeeze a trigger at the end of the video. (The only way to see what it looks like is to enlist.) Not only that but you can download a theme with a H3 logo in the bottom left corner 3 pics of army snipers with an Army logo in the top right.
The only possible reason for the investment is recruitment via video games furthering the stereotypes people look for in games. I mean it makes perfect sense that since we love fragging people online we should learn to do it to real people in the army for a stupid f..(sorry other blog) war.
Anyways I think this is a bad move by MS and Bungie to accept this ad blitz. Next if someone can advertise on behalf of criminals that escape the law to sponsor the upcoming GTIV multiplayer we could bring more games into the real world.
T3H WICKERMAN (FDF) @ Jan 10th 2008 11:51AM
I like the fact that my taxes pay for the army to advertise with shitty late 90s bands and do shit like this. Like tampons and toilet paper we know the army exists. This shit sickens me to the core. Maybe Jack Thompson now has a correlation between violence and videogames...
samfish @ Jan 10th 2008 11:51AM
What a wonderful waste of taxpayer dollars.
WiNG @ Jan 10th 2008 11:52AM
Only a matter of time before they change their slogan from "Army Strong" to "Spartan Strong"
Mike @ Jan 11th 2008 1:59PM
Hey, don't knock it... I'd totally enlist if they gave me some real life hayabusa armor to wear.
T3H WICKERMAN (FDF) @ Jan 10th 2008 11:54AM
Were it that we all had mjolnir armour and wars were fought over xbox live with 12 year olds calling me ni**a instead of peoples lives being reduced to this mockery.
AirIntake @ Jan 10th 2008 11:55AM
I remember when the US Marines used to tour fairs and exhibitions in Canada (??? yeah, it didn't make sense to me either, was their plan to recruit Canadians??), they set up huge tents with networked computers in them, and got people playing Marine Doom mod. I remember that this guy on the team didn't know how to play and was blocking the exit to our base, locking the whole team in. I took out my shotgun and shot him in the back. A marine came over to me, and told me that the game was about teamwork, just like the marines, and in real life you couldn't do that. I informed him that I merely executed a traitor for refusing to fight for his country. He chuckled, and my team won the match.
Kazi @ Jan 10th 2008 12:00PM
I chuckled
Mr.ESC @ Jan 10th 2008 12:17PM
Because those 12 year old brats are really army material o-0.
Mr.ESC @ Jan 10th 2008 12:20PM
Doubly U tee eff?
A spy is sapping my sentry.
Mr.ESC @ Jan 10th 2008 12:17PM
Because those 12 year old brats are really army material o-0.
Ian @ Jan 10th 2008 12:23PM
Ummmm.... I'll be in the tournament IF Live ACTUALLY is working by then. Or EVER.
An online tournament is ridiculous anyways. Between server lag and live failure....The results will be untrue and unreal.
Mr.ESC @ Jan 10th 2008 12:40PM
"The results will be untrue and unreal".
Like a real tournament,good to know they got that part right.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Jan 10th 2008 12:32PM
ummm I don't understand what's the problem with that. The Army sponsoring a Halo tournament is no different if Mcdonalds did it. So I have no idea why you all have your panties up in a bunch because of this.
Mr.ESC @ Jan 10th 2008 12:47PM
Probably because the Army is using Halo unnatural popularity as propaganda to recruit more people but is up to them anyway.
I have to say that McDonalds don't need this kind of stuff also it would be better for McDonalds to include exclusive unlockable Ronald McDonalds’ / Hamburglar armors in every happy meal, everyone knows Halo players would do anything for more armors.
Gangsta Smurf @ Jan 10th 2008 1:26PM
This head shot was presented by the US Army. Be all you can be.
WebPimp @ Jan 10th 2008 2:40PM
...with the top winners immediately being drafted. Have fun registering for the draft.
WiNG @ Jan 10th 2008 2:53PM
Well on-line Halo and the Army have one major thing in common: intolerance of homosexual individuals.
Sam @ Jan 10th 2008 9:58PM
Shwing!
WiNG @ Jan 10th 2008 2:58PM
Also, the Army forgot that people play Halo so they can shoot stuff without the chance of getting shot back.
You know, and also going to bootcamp.
ogenboy @ Jan 10th 2008 5:02PM
You'd think they made their own game called America's Army for a goddamned reason.
Nick the Hero of Canton @ Jan 10th 2008 5:19PM
All video games are bad because they make you kill animated people - Except America's Army because it trains you, quite literally, to kill actual people for oil.
The army's words, not mine.
Nick the Hero of Canton @ Jan 10th 2008 5:54PM
Ugh, I shouldn't have put oil, I can sense a flame war coming.
Sam @ Jan 10th 2008 9:56PM
This is sick, GUESS WHAT AMERICA! THIS IS WHERE YOUR TAX MONEY IS GOING! I say The Army should quit doing the number 2 thing they're good at (enticing young children to throw their lives away) and start doing the number one thing they're good at (Killing Terrorists and Nazis)
boon @ Jan 10th 2008 11:38PM
Joining the Army is a noble sacrifice. You're putting everything on the line for your fellow man. It is the sacrifice that allows all of you the right to spew this hatred.
All servicemen and branches deserve the presemption of respect from EVERY country in the world. At the request of the world, we are the policemen. (Think about every crisis: Kuwait, Darfur, Nazis, etc. Everyone's first question is what are the Americans going to do about this. The only answer the service ever gives is, "Whatever we are told to do.")
In today's world, with people like you all describing the Armed Services to our kids, they're obviously going to have to do some recruiting so that the kids understand what it actually means to be a soldier. And just for a little clue, it does not involve killing people for oil. That line is so tired. What was the closing price of oil today anyway, and how much are we taking from Iraq free of charge? None? Then quit spewing that disrespectful hatred.
animeman_59 @ Jan 11th 2008 10:01AM
Last I checked, people keep asking why the U.S. isn't helping with the crisis in Darfur. Let me ask you this. Why isn't anybody else? Why does the U.S. always have to help every goddamn ingrate country in the world? I'll be glad when the U.S. finally pulls out of every shit in the old world and leaves it to founder and die, just like it almost did in the 30's and 40's. I'm tired of wasting good men's lives for other people who use a guilt trip to get us to fight their internal conflicts. If the world wants to destroy itself then let it. We Americans should just rely on our own resources and people and thrive like we have in the last 100 years. And if anybody tries to threaten us on our soil, we'll blow 'em to kingdom come.
But you know what? We're better than that. A lot of people probably thought the same retoric I wrote. Yet, we know that for the good of all those around us, we don't let evil win. U.S. soldiers don't just fight for Americans. They also fight for that young child who can't go to school for fear of being kidnapped, shot at, or blown up. While politicians sit in their offices thinking of the "big" picture in Iraq. Soldiers fight just to make sure that the people they see everyday in the neighborhoods they patrol can sleep peacefully for one more night.
People may be right with the whole "Bush's Oil" and other things. But soldiers aren't the ones who made that policy. While all the naysayers are still safe on their computer desks typing away their discontent, soldiers are the only Americans that die because of it. If we as a people are really tired of this, then we need to make sure that we don't make the same mistakes. Don't let politicians get away with this crap. It costs too many lives.
KungFuKricket @ Jan 14th 2008 11:43PM
I think that the Army has the right to do this. I would not choose that avenue but if it helps meet recruitment, fine by me. But I am sick of all the left wing people constantly lambasting the military for being in Iraq, we have sent soldiers around the world to die for everyone else's rights. We have taken the high ground and defeated Nazis, Communists, Japanese warlords and other threats, and without the Army, no one would be able to disrespect them. So God Bless America and God Bless those that have enlisted to serve our country.