It’s always interesting to take a look at what titles round out the top 10 most played games on Xbox Live and what it says about the Xbox community. Since the release of Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4, they’ve both shared some time at the top spot. Same can be said about Call of Duty: World at War, but a little game called Modern Warfare 2 released on November 10th and it should be no surprise to anyone that it became the most played game on Xbox Live.

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Not only does the staff of Spawn Kill keep readers up-to-date with news and reviews from all facets of video games, we also partake in our fair share of private gaming goodness. While we may not be writing about it, many of us are knee-deep in games both old and new. Now Playing at Spawn Kill is but a glimpse into some of the staff’s present indulgences.

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If for some reason you’re not quite into the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 scene, then you most certainly wouldn’t be interested in the 250 GB special edition Xbox 360 the long-awaited title is being packaged with come this fall.

But wait, there’s hope — that is, if you’re into Halo. Matching another of gaming’s titans with a system of its very own, Microsoft is bundling copies of the upcoming Halo companion shooter, Halo 3: ODST with a sleek black Elite Xbox 360, matching controller, a copy of the game that thousands of modders can’t keep themselves from spoiling for the rest of us, a copy of Halo 3, and access to what should be an explosive Halo: Reach beta.

The kicker? So far, it’s slated only for a European release at the end of this month. It’s preposterous to think that audiences outside of Europe would stand for this kind of exclusion, so it’s likely we will see an American date for this bundle of Halo 3 goodness in the near future. Kind of unfair, considering France had early access to Halo 3: ODST already, eh?

A week ago, Halo 3: ODST’s street date was broken in France and there was some murmur about possible bans. Luckily for those early purchasers, their Xbox Live accounts and consoles are safe. Kotaku reports that Microsoft has instead begun banning the Xbox Live accounts and possibly the consoles of ODST pirates.

Xbox Live Chief of Police Stephen Toulous, who revealed that these bans would occur through Twitter, told Kotaku that the bans will only happen for those who pirated ODST and that players with authentic copies will not be punished. He wouldn’t elaborate on Microsoft’s methods as to how illegitimate players are discerned to avoid pirates getting around the detection methods.

[Source: Stephen Toulous via Kotaku]

G4’s TheFeed reports that although the current Xbox Live architecture could easily support more than one hundred friends, Halo 2 prevents Microsoft from increasing that limit. Halo 2 cannot support more than one hundred, and well, it seems that people are still playing it online even as Halo 3 has been released for nearly two years with Halo 3: ODST right around the corner.

The post at TheFeed says that it’s unknown exactly when Halo 2 support will be discontinued but thinks that if enough gamers tell Microsoft to abandon Halo 2, it could happen in the near future.

[Source: G4's TheFeed]

We all know how big a nerd Marc Ecko is; he says it himself all the time. In fact he loves video games so much he helped produce his own game called Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. It was released three years ago and received decent reviews. His love for video games doesn’t stop there; today Ecko has released a Limited Edition line of Halo T-shirts.

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On July 7th, “Bungie Day”, the folks over at Bungie thought they would give their thousands of fans a sneak peek at three new multiplayer maps. According to the official Bungie website, the maps will be included on a bonus disc that is to come with Halo 3: ODST.

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Halo 3: ODST doesn’t come out until September but we already have details on some pre-order goodies and what gamers can expect from the Special Edition bundle. The highly anticipated shooter features a brand new campaign, telling the story of the events leading up to the first Halo from an ODST perspective. The game will also feature a Firefight mode, which is a new cooperative multiplayer game mode. In Firefight you will have to work together to fend off waves and waves of increasingly difficult enemies. To add to the difficulty random skulls will be turned on as rounds are completed.

If that wasn’t enough to entice you to get the new Halo game, Microsoft is offering up some extras for you. Upon pre-ordering the game you will get a code to use Sergeant Avery Junior Johnson in the Firefight mode. Sergeant Johnson is one of most popular characters in the Halo series. Everyone who buys the game will also get a standalone Halo 3 disc with all 24 maps included and a beta key for the recently announced Halo: Reach.

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Halo 3 is in no danger of losing its steam. With the release of Halo Wars and the pending arrival of Halo 3: ODST, gamers are still in for real treats regarding the franchise. Recently, I got a chance to check out the Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack, containing three brand new maps ripe for play. They’re currently available for purchase via the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. So, if you haven’t got on that, why not visit a friend who has to get a look at them? In the meantime, I’ve written my impressions of the maps for your reading pleasure.

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Just to let our heavy-pocketed Xbox 360 readers out there, the marketplace will be providing you with new additions to some of your favorite Xbox LIVE titles, Gears of War 2 and Halo 3, particularly, the map packs you’ve been waiting (or not waiting) for! Finally something to unload those Microsoft Points on, a bunch of… maps. Again. For Gears of War, you will be able to achievement-whore yourself over a steaming batch of 250 achievement points (9 different achievements) for 800 MS Points. This pack, titled “Snowblind”, will include four maps: Grindyard, Under Hill, Courtyard, and Fuel Depot; all of which are themed in an icy-like environment, for all you cold-blooded killers out there. It will be available to my fellow gear-grinders on Tuesday, March 31st.

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