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If the pollen level doesn't die down soon I might not be around to write the next Community Spotlight....Treasure this one as I attempt to pull through the haze of allergies and an insidious cold.

Pour One Out For Halo 2
By S. Robert Delk
This week marks the end of original Xbox Live support. Live radically changed online gaming and Robert remembers it best through the multiplayer experience of Halo 2. I never played the game with other people, but I feel for those who are losing their favorite online pastime.

Red Dead Redemption – Sandbox for Western Fans
By Michael Bradley
Michael’s anticipation for Red Dead Redemption manifests in an imagery-laden glance at the life of a merciless wild-west bounty hunter. I felt myself reel from the description of spitting through cracked lips. This is an absolute must read.

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It's always good to see a guy who pretty much works exclusively on big, tough, manly-man war games can get a little dorky, too.

Robert Bowling, creative strategist at Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward, has an unexpected, geekier pick for best war movie (though it's a lot more obvious now that he points it out). He has a great guy in mind for his real-life Spec Ops partner that will make some of you giggle. And his favorite video game of all time doesn't even have any guns in it.

Let's see what Bowling has to say in our latest installment of 21 Random Qs.

1. Favorite game gun from outside of the Call of Duty universe?

Robert Bowling: The Lincoln Repeater from Fallout 3. Something about one shot popping the heads off some Super Mutants with freedom bullets from Abraham Lincoln gets me giddy.

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So you want to write about video games? You love playing video games, you love writing -- and everyone told you that you should do what you love, right?

If you truly want to break into the business, it's going to take some work. The Tutorial is a series of articles about video game writing that will better prepare you for what's ahead -- or help you figure out if it's even for you.

In the first installment, we'll take a look at freelancing, which will probably be your first step. Recently I've begun freelancing in addition to working as Bitmob's Community Manager. (See, it works!) I thought I had it made: free games that I could write about! Sure there was no pay, but, free games!

Within an hour of playing my first game for review, I realized that this wasn't going to be everything it was cracked up to be. Nothing shows how much work freelancing can be than forcing yourself through a terrible game. And this is in your future, Aspiring Games Writer.

But don't take it from me. I touched base with Bitmob's own Demian Linn, who has sent many freelancers right to the bottom of the review pile. Demian pokes holes in some assumptions I had (and you may share), while providing a dash of optimism for those willing to put the work in.

Andrew Hiscock: How did you find freelancers?

Demian Linn: When I was at EGM, I would hear about possible freelancers in a few different ways -- from my editor-in-chief, Dan Hsu, from other editors at our parent company Ziff Davis, and occasionally freelancers would email me directly. The conversion rate on that last one was very low, though; I found most of my reliable freelancers through my coworkers' word of mouth.

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Editor's note: Daniel's entry for our Anticipated Games callout is also the game that literally changed his life growing up. His personal tale of living with LeChuck is an engrossing read. -Brett

The recent announcement that Money Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge would receive a special edition did not surprise me -- the success of the special edition for the first Monkey Island game led to many rumors of the sequel getting a similar treatment -- but it definitely made me happy. I wanted to shout from my window, "LeChuck's Revenge is returning it all its glory!"

LeChuck's Revenge has a very special place in my heart. I played it during a pivotal point in my life, and it left a deep impact on my sense of comedy and storytelling. It also forever cemented my love of gaming.

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For the record: Just because we're showing this Final Fight: Double Impact video does not mean we that endorse Mike Haggar, or any other candidate, for mayor. 

Video Blips:

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Editor's note: We're a little late in helping Suriel promote this, since the deadline is...yikes...today. Maybe he'll give everyone an extension? Also, Suriel previously had a misspelling in the email address where you can send your submissions. Should be correct now. -Shoe

While I still expect a certain number of you -- the Bitmob readers, writers, editors, etc. -- to submit articles to the Bitmob: Year One anthology, the current results are a bit underwhelming: four submissions as of this writing! You know I love you guys, but...come on!

The guidelines remain the same: Shoot an email to bitmobanthology[at]live[dot]com with five -- you know what, however many you want at this point -- articles you think are fit to print. Anyone can submit any articles (don't be afraid to submit your own, but don't go overboard), as long as they are not too timely. I love getting my news from Bitmob, but some of these posts aren't exactly going to stand the test of time.

I'll compile the top 50 -- based on number of submissions, personal interest, and a variety of other factors -- into a huge PDF file, and I'll find someone to re-vet the articles and someone to jazz up the pages. If you're interested in helping out at all, please send an email to the same address.

Bitmob is such a great collection of writers, and their works deserved to be honored! If you can read this, you can submit, so please do so! Time is of the essence! The due date is this Friday!

Update: I will be extending the submission period until Friday, April 30th. This means missing the One-year anniversary due date, but if it means more submissions, so be it. Please, if you haven't submitted, please do so! You now have extra time to sift through older articles and find the best ones! Editors welcome!

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Editor's note: Check out Chris' humorous look at the dating life of a hardcore gamer. It's tough going when your passion is something the other person couldn't give two hoots about. -James

"What the hell do I do?"

The movie was playing. Maybe I should have picked something more romantic. But how could I have not chosen The Boondock Saints? She said that she hadn't seen it yet! I guess I didn't think this one through all the way. Since I've already seen the movie 79 times, I got up and went to the kitchen to make some popcorn. I forgot that someone who hates me programmed the microwave's popcorn setting.

I walked back into the room with a bag of burnt popcorn and poured it into a bowl. Despite being lactose intolerant, I smothered it with butter, and added a lot of salt.

She just looked at me and smiled. Seeing as her taste buds still work, she wasn't going to eat it, but she at least thought it was funny that I tried. I ended up eating the entire bowl --  to show her how much of a man I am -- but I didn't  unlock an Achievement at the end (unless you consider a stomach ache from the butter to be one of Sony's bronze trophies).

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I was never very good at SimCity. It only ever entertained me when I would start using cheats to make things easier, or if I watched a volcano engulf my entire populous. Others get into the whole architectural and city-planning thing more. Some really get into it:

The SimCity 3000 virtual metropolis of Magnasanti has six million Sims, which is the game's maximum. The city's creator -- who goes by Imperar V. Omnika -- claims that the original plans started in 2006, and that "the most advanced construction techniques were employed to achieve a near optimum population density." So, who wants to live there?

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You might have heard -- rumors going all the way back to 2002 are finally true! Well...not exactly. 2K Marin Canberra -- not Ken Levine and Irrational Games (Bioshock) or Sid Meier and Firaxis (Civilization) -- announced their plans to reboot the famed X-Com series, but not as Julian and Nick Gollop's (the originators of the genre, beginning with Rebelstar Raiders in 1984) tactical, squad-based strategy game many of us love. Instead, the developer has opted to turn X-Com into a first-person shooter. Few other details are currently available.

Are you scratching your head? Did you ask: "What's this 'X-Com,' anyway"? Fear not! I'd like to take the Bitmob community on a journey through one of the greatest games ever made, X-Com: UFO Defense, by asking you to sign up and stop the planetary assault of spacefaring UFOs. You'll be a part of the ground force created to face the deadly aliens in combat.

Hit the jump for the details and how you can participate!

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Would you pay $31,000 for a terrible video game? The copy of Air Raid I wrote about a week or so ago finally sold for the aforementioned staggering price after a fierce eBay battle. Atari Age authenticated the cartridge before the auction ended and concluded that it is likely the only boxed edition in existence. 

While the story is very cool, I want to touch on what this will do to the retro games market. Retailers will be flooded with calls about Atari 2600 games, unnamed cartridges will go for thousands in hopes of finding a rare gem, and shady people will markup their wares in an attempt to trick consumers.... 

Retro games are the new antiques, but hugely successful auctions like this will turn them into the new comic books. Not everything is rare, but everything can give the illusion of being rare, just like a comic issue could become iconic.

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Look out John Romero and David Jaffe -- there's a new renegade game developer in town!

News Blips:

Crytek (Crysis 2) CEO Cervat Yerli thinks that console gamers "don't respect development." Speaking with the Official Xbox Magazine, Yerli described his peculiar method of defining the differences between console and PC gamers. "I said the single most important difference is a PC gamer forgives you for about a minute. A console gamer gives you two seconds. It sucks or it fails and you're either the top or a flop. They don't respect any value you put into your development, either it works or it doesn't work." In the wake of these comments, let it be known that as a journalist, I will maintain the objective integrity befit of my career.

A Connecticut man accused in a drug and gun case discovers the power of trolling after sending threatening messages to a witness' Xbox Live account. Anthony Hayward was apprehended for intimidation and harassment of a witness after writing such unsubtle messages like "Rats Die Slow" and "a dead man walking." Hayward was slapped with a hefty bail of $50,000 and is due back in court soon. When will the general public realize that the art of berating someone on the Internet is an exacting skill that demands a high level of finesse? [Courant]

"Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom" (N3RD), a new play by a performing arts school in New Jersey, touches upon the cantankerous subject of video game addiction. The story revolves around a fictitious video game named Neighborhood 3 and its addictive properties to the youth of a small community. The ever-blurring distinction between reality and video games along with the importance of parent-child communication are discussed during a round-table debate following the conclusion of each play. I fervently hope that the compounding issue of parents scoring higher than their children in video games is also addressed.  [Sentinel]

Jeff Brown, Director of Corporate Communications at EA, had a few snarky words to say about the Infinity Ward/Activision fiasco. When Activision announced a heightened fiscal outlook as a result of the successful Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Pack, Brown took a jab at the rival company by glibly stating, "This is kind of like announcing: 'The race horse I shot last month has won the Triple Crown!'" Nowhere else has a job title been so aptly bestowed on the correct individual. [IndustryGamers]

Got any hot news tips? Send 'em over to tips@bitmob.com.

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Editor's note: Taxes are a pain in the ass -- even if you'll eventually get some of your money back. But taxes play an important role in society, as Jeff demonstrates with these five games featuring taxation. -Brett

Tax day is upon us. The line at the post office runs around the block, drinking establishments have extended happy hours, and the IRS offices are likely under heavy guard against Tea Party uprisings.

Fact is, no one likes paying taxes. Some sicko named Oliver Wendell Holmes once tried to convince the American people that taxes are our civic duty, saying, "Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society." Holmes may be right, but he's also an idiot. You aren't going to convince the KFC-Double-Downing public with reason and an appeal to patriotism.

That is where I step in. I've decided to help out poor ol' Oliver with the only things that can save a situation like this: video games and a list!

I've pulled together five games that will help you to realize the importance of paying taxes. You might notice something these games have in common: all of them put you in the position of a leader of a military or government. Why's that? Because the best way to win those games is providing for the people who pay those taxes -- just like real life.

So without further ado, here are the top 5 games to help you realize why paying taxes are important -- and soothe the sting of your own emptied wallet.

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