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Sports |
Halo 3 is in orbit
By FRANKLIN DAHTU KOLMA
In a matter of days, the world
will declare itself sick. Productivity will plummet. Millions,
possibly billions of kina will leave savings accounts.
September 25 will be the day when the long awaited Halo 3 will
hit the market world wide.
Games freaks have been going crazy waiting for this event, the
conclusion to the Halo trilogy.
A brief look at the war so far
So far, the human race has fought a futile battle against a
seemingly unstoppable alien civilization that has left the
humans both outnumbered and outmatched. This alien civilization
is collectively known to the humans as, the Covenant, a
monstrous civilization made up of different war mongering alien
races, all fuelled to fight by religion - a religion based on
the single-minded belief that a Great Journey awaits its
faithful and that this Journey can be embarked upon by
activating an array of vast, ring-like artifacts scattered
throughout the Galaxy. These ring-like structures called Halos
were the handy work of an ancient technological race that
long-abandoned their mysterious and superior creations, and are
only known now as The Forerunners.
It is on one of the Covenant's religious pilgrimages to one of
these Halos, a secret chamber is found and a deadly all
consuming parasite is unleashed, this parasite being called the
Flood. The Flood quickly decreases both the human and covenant
forces by taking over the bodies of any deceased soldiers and
using the bodies to fight against the humans and Covenant. The
flood multiplies and eventually causes the forced destruction of
one halo at the hands of a human hero called the Master Chief.
These events are the events that occurred in Halo 1 (Halo:
Combat Evolved)
The hero
The Master Chief is a war driven soldier, known primarily by his
rank, being the Master Chief but is otherwise known to his
makers as Spartan 117. He is the last of the Spartan II
soldiers, an elite group of genetically superior highly trained
super-soldiers. Spartans stand nearly seven feet tall, and in
Mark VI Mjolnir powered assault armor, weigh almost 1000 pounds,
that's more than 70 tons. Spartan 117 is an expert in all weapon
and combat systems and can run faster, jump higher, and hit
harder than any normal human. He is the perfect weapon, honed by
years of battlefield experience and has an unparalleled natural
talent for war. Master Chief has an Artificially Intelligent
helper in his system; this helper named Cortana helps him with
tactical, strategic, historical and practical information and
can also crack codes, decipher Covenant coded messages and hack
Covenant data bases to unlock doors or deactivate force fields.
Spartan 117 is the perfect soldier.
After the events of Halo 1 the Master Chief is the only Human
creation that the Covenant fears. In fact, he is listed as a
heretic towards the Covenants religion and is known to all
covenant forces as the Demon due to his Halo 1 exploits.
Halo 2 ended showing the Master Chief stowed away in a covenant
controlled mother ship; heading back to earth to destroy the
humans that remained on earth.
What was to become of him was a mystery that could only be
solved by the final installment to the Halo franchise: Halo 3.
Now the waiting is over. Come September 25 2007, Halo 3 will be
released worldwide and the world will never be the same. I don't
know how people will act or what people will say, but, I do know
that the world's productivity will plunge due to the biggest
sick day in the history of the world. When Halo 2 was released,
that is exactly what happened.
Halo 3, which has already set new records as the fastest
pre-ordered game in history, has exceeded one million presales
in North America alone. The title is set to shatter day-one
entertainment sales records when it is released on Tuesday.
In November 2004, the world's view of video games changed
forever with the release of Halo 2, which generated a record
$125 million (U.S.) in sales within the first 24 hours and
changed the way people think about interactive entertainment.
Three years later, it remains the most-played game on
Microsoft's Xbox LIVE(r) online gaming and entertainment
network, with nearly 1 billion hours of online gaming logged to
date.
The guys at Bungie Studios should be hailed as geniuses. Two
thumbs up for the Halo storyline.
Sadly, those without an XBOX 360 will have to wait it out until
the PC version hits the shelves.
To the rest of you who have been waiting, the reason for you
buying your XBOX 360 is just around the corner. Don't be late.
Spartan 117-The master chief needs us. Join the battle.
Finish the fight 2007
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Poems for Writers Forum
Drive
As long as you keep gas in your tank
In the form of motivation
Stay between the lines
In righteous determination
And keep your foot on the pedal
Within legal limitations
You'll get to where you're going
Your final destination.
The joys in the journey
So never let it end
Enjoy the ride
But don't lose the drive
You need it to survive
-By David Ketepa Ulg
Independence
16th September, 1975
The date, month and year
To remember and keep remembering
The birth of our motherland
Forging a new identity in the white pages
Let us mark it on our calendars
With palms on our chests let us pledge
To love, care and honour it
Until in its bosom we lie for eternal rest
The years are coming and going
The roads are getting longer and busy
The seaports and airfields are getting many
The trucks are traveling further
The ships are sailing far
The planes are flying high
Our national flag turns in the wind
We are getting stronger
We are growing taller
In the soil food gardens are still growing
From the sea fishermen are still pulling fish
On the beaches coconuts are still falling
In the bushes animals and birds are still calling
The harvest is still coming in
The food is still getting to the table
The mumu is still baking
The aigir is still turning
The singsing is still on
The sun is still rising every morning
The moon is still shining at night
The stars are still twinkling high up in the dark sky
The open fires are still burning through the night
The legends are still being told to the young
The dreams of our forefathers are still caressing us in sleep
And with bellies full we are still able to smile
Oh yes, we have strength for today
And enough to face tomorrow
The garamut and kundu are still beating
The conch shells are still blowing
The traditional songs are still resounding
Like songbird harmony
From dawn to dusk, dusk to dawn
From mountains to valleys, lowlands to islands
Our journey is still on
We are growing older
We are getting stronger
-By Arnold C Konawana
The theatre
In a dimly lit large room
With blood clot eyes
Limping with injuries
Of our greed, pride
And irresponsibilities
Behind closed doors
Shut up windows
Locked up cupboards
Choreogrpahed
Composed
Painted and re-enacted
Which you cannot see
With your inner soul
But laugh to forget as if fun
You pretend to be perfectionists
You impose severe standards on me
Say its obstructionism and obstinancy
No! I'm not.
Its no foolish man's hideout
Is a mirror of the society
Withnessing, recording
And confessing on behalf of you.
-By Christopher Usuka
 
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