The pilot episode of the fan made Halo: Helljumper series hit YouTube last week. If you didn’t know, Helljumper is a short series of films that follows the life of one human ODST from his enlistment in the UNSC before the Human-Covenant War to around the Fall of Reach. The series, which is a spin-off of the Tobias Brickell Halo: Evolutions – Essential Tales of the Halo Universe short story “Dirt” was teased late in 2011 to a very captivated Halo audience.

In the first episode, main character Gage Yevgenny has just been saved from a losing firefight by a rookie soldier on the colony of New Jerusalem. Instead of letting the Rookie complete his rescue, Yevgenny forces him to listen to his story of the war, so that hopefully he doesn’t repeat the same mistakes. This prompts  a series of flashes into Yevgenny’s past that’s littered with cool special effects, an  evoking musical score and some rather awkward acting and dialogue—“You coming on to me, Soldier?” and “Excuse me, miss, do you happen to have a map… ‘cause I’m lost in your eyes” are a couple of my personal favorites.

Bad acting aside, it’s a cool concept that represents the highest form of video game love.

The next episode is due out on February 15^th.

KontrolFreek Celebrates Forty Years of Arcade Games by Unveiling America’s Favorite Title
Pac-Man Ranked Number One by 79 Percent of American’s Ages 18-70

ATLANTA – June 28, 2011 – Remember when an arcade was the only place you could go for the thrill of a game? Just forty years ago, before the Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii, teenagers across the country gathered up loose change and headed to pizza parlors, miniature golf courses and arcades to play their favorite video games.  An online research survey conducted by KontrolFreek and IBOPE Zogby found that Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Space Invaders have stood the test of time and are America’s all-time favorite arcade games. 

The top 10 favorite arcade games in the KontrolFreek and IBOPE Zogby 2011 survey of active gamers are:

1. Pac-Man
2. Donkey Kong
3. Space Invaders
4. Asteroids
5. Frogger
6. Ms. Pac-Man
7. Centipede
8. Pong
9. Mortal Kombat
10. Galaga

The complete survey results can be found on the KontrolFreek website.

“While all of these games kept it simple, they were able to give game players a truly unique and memorable experience,” said KontrolFreek CEO Ashish Mistry.  “As the leader in creating performance gaming gear for the active gamer lifestyle, we created the innovative Rcade Freek to breathe new life into gaming classics by giving console players the feel of an arcade joystick in the palm of their hand.”

The Rcade Freek was developed based on extensive user research and provides gamers a classic feel by improving the ergonomics, comfort, and precision of their Xbox 360 or PS3 controller. To further celebrate this 40-year milestone, KontrolFreek is releasing two new color options, Retro Red and Groovy Green, for its newest gaming accessory. The new Rcade Freek colors are available now and are priced at $9.99.

Joining in the celebration, celebrity video game players weighed in on their favorite arcade games and memories:

Alison Haislip, NBC’s “The Voice” V Room and G4’s “Attack of the Show!” :
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was my favorite. It was the game my brother and I played whenever our mother took us to Pizza Hut.”

James Kyson Lee, CBS’ “Hawaii 5-0” and NBC’s “Heroes”:

“Definitely Street Fighter II: Champion Edition and Super Street Fighter II Turbo were my favorite arcade games. During high school, we used to go to the burger joint that had it and have our own tournaments, lining up quarters on the machine to mark who was next. At the time, it had the most number of combination moves, characters, and story - and it was a challenge to finish the game.”

AJ LoCascio, Back to the Future: The Game:

“Easily the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game was my favorite. It was too perfect. I think my favorite memory of it was playing it recently at my friend Dennis's house; he has an arcade cabinet in his apartment and four of us played and beat the game on the spot.”

Fun Survey and Arcade Game Facts:

• 57.4 percent of republicans preferred blasting Asteroids versus 48.1 percent of democrats
• 7.1 percent of married people included Punch Out as their favorite game versus 20.9 percent of singles and 26.3 percent of divorced respondents
• In 1971, the first known coin-operated arcade video game, The Galaxy Game, made its debut on the campus of Stanford University
• Centipede was the first game that was designed by a woman
• According to Guinness World Records Williams’ Blaster cockpit is the most valuable arcade machine with an estimated worth of $12,000
• The fastest perfect Pac-Man score was achieved in 2009 by David Race who completed the game flawlessly in 3 hours, 41 minutes, and 22 seconds
• Pac-Man, Dragon's Lair, and Pong are all on permanent display at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
• According to Wikipedia, Pac-Man revenues equaled 10 billion quarters by the late 1990s
• Notable celebrities who are also turning 40 this year include Ewan McGregor, Snoop Dogg, Mark Wahlberg, Emmanuel Lewis, Mariah Carey, Luke Wilson, Jada Pinkett Smith and many others

About KontrolFreek
KontrolFreek is the leader in creating performance gaming gear for the active gamer lifestyle. Since 2007, the company’s range of highly acclaimed products for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 have combined the latest in ergonomics, engineering and materials technologies. KontrolFreek has cleverly merged the simplicity of design with performance boosting features to improve accuracy, maneuverability and comfort for gamers of all levels and gaming genres. For more information, visit KontrolFreek.com or join FreekNation on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.

About IBOPE Zogby International
IBOPE Zogby International is a non-partisan, premier global public opinion polling and market research firm that offers timely, accurate results and in-depth analysis and insights. IBOPE Zogby International works with issue experts in a vast array of fields including healthcare, technology, finance, insurance, energy, agriculture, public affairs, and media who offer insightful data analysis and exceptional service to clients in countries throughout the world. IBOPE Zogby International experts analyze data and work with clients to develop and implement new strategies, and offer customized and attractive solutions to challenges our clients face. IBOPE Zogby International was formed in January 2010 following the acquisition of Zogby International by IBOPE Inteligencia of Brazil, a subsidiary of IBOPE Group. Please visit www.ibopezogby.com for more information on IBOPE Zogby International. 

Just in case you haven't stopped by KontrolFreek.com lately, I wanted to tell you about four brand new bundles that we've created just for the holidays and supply you with a few tips for getting them to your house (or wherever you're planning on shipping them) before Christmas.

The first two bundles are the GamerPack TD and GamerPack Hoops.  These two are for people whose disk tray isn't taken up by Call of Duty: Black Ops 24/7, and instead craves more sports centered games, like Madden NFL or NBA 2K.  Each of the two bundles comes with either the Hoops or TD Freek correspondingly, and includes a pair of the critically praised Speed Freek.

The next two holiday bundles were designed for the serious first-person shooter fan.  The UltimatePack Prestige and UltimatePack Legendary are our most exciting bundles ever!  Each one features a GamerPack (FPS Freek and Speed Freek) and either the brand new FPS Freek Legendary--for all you Halo fans out there--or the even brand new-y-er FPS Freek Prestige--for fans of Black Ops.  Any gamer worth his or her weight in headshots should own one of these bundles.

If you are planning on ordering any of these new  holiday bundles or any other gear in our store and wish to have them by Christmas, you will need to have your order in by Friday, December 17th.  After that, your best option becomes placing your order through Amazon.com.  International orders or orders containing any FreekWear should be in by December 14th.

Spike TV has announced today the nominees for the big Spike TV Video Game Awards show that will be taking place Live on December 11, 2010 at 8PM ET/5PM PT on (wait for it)… Spike TV.  Sort of surprisingly, Bioware’s Mass Effect 2 looks like this year’s Uncharted 2, with ten nominations.  Everyone’s favorite western, Red Dead Redemption trails close behind with nine.  Halo: Reach and Call of Duty: Black Ops each have seven.

Here’s the full list of nominees:

Game of the Year

• Call of Duty: Black Ops
• God of War III
• Halo: Reach
• Mass Effect 2
• Red Dead Redemption

Studio of the Year

• BioWare
• Blizzard Entertainment
• Bungie Studios
• Rockstar San Diego

Best Xbox 360 Game

• Alan Wake
• Fable III
• Halo: Reach
• Mass Effect 2

Best PS3 Game

• God of War 3
• Heavy Rain
• Modnation Racers
• Red Dead Redemption

Best Wii Game

• Donkey Kong Country Returns
• Kirby's Epic Yarn
• Metroid Other M
• Super Mario Galaxy 2

Best PC Game

• Fallout: New Vegas
• Mass Effect 2
• Sid Meier's Civilization V
• Starcraft II Wings of Liberty

Best Handheld Game

• God of War: Ghost of Sparta
• Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
• Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
• Super Scribblenauts

Best Shooter

• Battlefield: Bad Company 2
• BioShock 2
• Call of Duty: Black Ops
• Halo: Reach

Best Action Adventure Game

• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
• God of War III
• Red Dead Redemption
• Super Mario Galaxy 2

Best RPG

• Fable III
• Fallout: New Vegas
• Final Fantasy XIII
• Mass Effect 2

Best Multi-player

• Battlefield: Bad Company 2
• Call of Duty: Black Ops
• Halo: Reach
• Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty

Best Individual Sports Game

• EA Sports MMA
• Shaun White Skateboarding
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11
• UFC Undisputed 2010

Best Team Sports Game

• FIFA Soccer 11
• Madden NFL 11
• NBA 2K11
• MLB 10: The Show

Best Driving Game

• Blur
• Modnation Racers
• Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
• Split/Second

Best Music Game

• Dance Central
• DJ Hero 2
• Def Jam Rapstar
• Rock Band 3

Best Soundtrack

• Def Jam Rapstar
• DJ Hero 2
• Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
• Rock Band 3

Best Song in a Game

• "Basket Case"
• "Black Rain"
• "Far Away"
• "GoldenEye"
• "Won't Back Down"
• "Replay/Rude Boy Mashup"

Best Original Score

• God of War III
• Halo: Reach
• Mass Effect 2
• Red Dead Redemption

Best Graphics

• God of War III
• Heavy Rain
• Kirby's Epic Yarn
• Red Dead Redemption

Best Adapted Video Game

• Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game
• Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
• Transformers: The War for Cybertron

Best Performance By A Human Male

• Daniel Craig as James Bond (Blood Stone 007)
• Gary Oldman as Sgt. Reznov (Call of Duty Black Ops)
• John Cleese as Jasper (Fable III)
• Martin Sheen as Illusive Man (Mass Effect 2)
• Nathan Fillion as Sergeant Edward Buck (Halo Reach)
• Neil Pattrick Harris as Peter Parker/Amazing Spider-Man (Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions)
• Rob Wiethoff as John Marston (Red Dead Redemption)
• Sam Worthington as Alex Mason (Call of Duty Black Ops)

Best Performance by a Human Female

• Dame Judi Dench as M (Blood Stone 007)
• Danica Patrick as Danica Patrick (Blur)
• Emmanuelle Chriqui as The Numbers Lady (Call of Duty Back Ops)
• Felicia Day as Veronica (Fallout New Vegas)
• Jennifer Hale as Commander Sheppard (Mass Effect 2)
• Kristin Bell as Lucy Stillman (Assassin's Creed Brotherhood)
• Tricia Helfer as Sarah Kerrican (Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty)
• Yvonne Strahovski as Miranda Lawson (Mass Effect 2)

Best Downloadable Game

• Costume Quest
• Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
• Monday Night Combat
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Best DLC

• BioShock 2 "Minerva's Den"
• Borderlands "The Secret Armory of General Knoxx"
• Mass Effect 2 "Lair of the Shadow Broker"
• Red Dead Redemption "Undead Nightmare"

Best Independent Game

• Joe Danger
• Limbo
• Super Meat Boy
• The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom

Most Anticipated Game

• Batman: Arkham City
• BioShock: Infinite
• Gears of War 3
• Portal 2

You can start complaining now.

Do you like Halo: Reach?  Do you have an iPhone?  Do you like getting great Apps for free?  Our friends, the creators of the fantastic Virtual Coach series for iPhone, have created an App that every Halo: Reach player should check out.  And the makers have been cool enough to give us 10 free download codes to gift to you guys.  The first 10 people to tell us why they must have this App get a code!

From iTunes:

1.99 GETS YOU THE MOST ADVANCED HALO APP ON THE MARKET!

-Want to get better at Halo Reach? HRVC can do that!
-Want to track your aggregate stats and medals? HRVC can do that!
-Want to chat with gamers around the globe? HRVC can do that?
-Want to have birds eye view of each map with weapon spawns? HRVC can do that!
-Want to draw set ups on the maps? HRVC can do that
-Want to time power weapons? HRVC can do that!
-Want to track your ten game K/D and Win/Loss? HRVC can do that!
-Want to read strats and tips from pro players? HRVC can do that!
Plain and simple HRVC has every feature a gamer could need.

Why buy a separate app for a weapon timer, one for tracking stats, and one for maps? HRVC has it all for the price of 1.

Featuring the GAMER LOUNGE. The first Halo Reach iPhone GPS Based chat room. The Gamer Lounge is the Social Network for gamers! Need to find players for your team? Looking for a scrim? Trying to recruit for your clan? Looking for the latest tips and tricks? The Gamer Lounge has it all.

Halo Reach Virtual Coach is the first Halo Reach app on the market for competitive gamers. Ready to have the edge over your opponents in Halo Reach? HRVC is for you. Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned vet we have the information and tools that you need to become a better player.
Halo Reach Virtual Coach features:
- Strategies for every aspect of the game from professional players and the developers
- High Definition bird’s eye view of each map including weapon locations
- Route Tracer that allows you to draw rush routes and game plans on your phone screen with your finger tip
- Ability to track all of your Halo Reach stats with HaloCharts.com in-app
- The Gamer Lounge. A GPS based chat room that allows gamers to meet and chat by location.
- MLG Weapon Spawn Timer
- 10% off of KontrolFreek Grips

We are always adding new updates, all for free!
The Virtual Coach Series is designed by competitive gamers, for competitive gamers.

Preview on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/halo-reach-virtual-coach/id372822095?mt=8

KontrolFreek and vVv Gaming have teamed up for a Legendary Weekend!



From Friday September 24 thru Sunday September 26, follow @KontrolFreek and @vvv_gaming and tweet the following:

Quote

RT @vvv_gaming @kontrolfreek I want to get better at Halo: Reach! Send me the new FPS Freek Legendary! #freekvvv

Each tweet enters you for a daily chance to win a pair of the new FPS Freek Legendary. Each day we will pick one lucky entry from the entrants we receive.

vVv Gaming and Trevor from Kontrol Freek said:

How do KontrolFreeks work?
Our products snap on over your existing thumb pads to improve your gaming experience on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. Our flagship product is the FPS Freek. It works by increasing the length of your stock sticks by about 40%. This gives you more aiming control in first-person shooters like Halo and Call of Duty etc...

What is the science behind them?
Increasing the linear distance your thumb travels gives you the opportunity to make smaller adjustments and also “snap” to targets much faster in first-person shooters. This gives you the luxury of turning up controller sensitivities without sacrificing precision. Using the FPS Freek honestly gives you the closest feel to a mouse possible on a console today.

How can they improve your play?
The greater leverage offers you better control and less force. This helps to alleviate thumb-fatigue and adds more comfort to long gaming sessions. In short, this increased accuracy and decreased thumb-fatigue results in more kills and less deaths.

How long does it take to get accustomed to using them?
It varies, really. Some people get used to them quite quickly and notice a difference right away. Others take a little longer. I would say, try them for a week and see what happens. 95% of the time people are pleased with the results.

You have different kinds of Freeks. Can you explain the differences between each and explain what they were designed to do?
Besides the FPS Freek that I spent the last few minutes talking about, we also have the TD Freek and the Speed Freek. The TD Freek works much in the same way as the FPS Freek but was designed with Madden players in mind. For the sake of comfort, we used a softer material for grip and went with a convex design for the thumb pad. It's getting some pretty positive reviews. The Speed Freek is a little different. It was specifically designed to help you gain faster lap times in racing games like Forza and Grand Turismo. It is a "U" shaped attachment that acts like a cradle for your thumb. It helps you keep your thumb in place while holding long turns and aids you in making smaller adjustments on the track. It's quite unique and our fans have found many other uses for it--like in SKATE and HAWX for example.

Let’s talk longevity. How long do a pair last?
I don't really have a definitive answer to this question. It's like asking how long a car will last. It all depends on how much you play, the alkalinity of your skin, how much you sweat, all those x factors. In my experience they last longer than the stock Xbox 360 sticks.

Can you link us to some reviews so players have independent sources to compare information?
A good place to get unbiased reviews from normal gamers like yourself is actually on our own website: http://www.kontrolfr...view-Index.aspx Other than that you can just do a Google search or hop on YouTube and see the many video reviews found there.

Follow @KontrolFreek and @vvv_gaming, and start tweeting for your chance to win!

LordJerith
President/Owner
vVv Gaming
Entertain.Educate.Dominate
Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto

According to Bungie, “The first matchmaking update for Reach will occur in early October…”  With this first round, bug fixes and balance issues will be addressed along with more game types and Forge maps.  But perhaps the best part of the update will be the inclusion of Co-op campaign matchmaking.

It’s not as if the large majority of us wish to play Halo’s campaign with complete strangers but the option is a welcome addition to the suite.  Bungie states that the game neglected to ship with Co-op matchmaking by design, to protect us from spoiling our campaign experience.  They also say that the “…matchmaking will not take in to account your current campaign progress.”  So just make sure you complete your current campaign before jumping in to the new playlist.

What do you think?  How anxious are you to delve into campaign matchmaking with strangers?