For some reason unbeknown to me, I was actually looking forward to getting a go at the Halo 3 beta.  Those of you who know Paul, Phil and I will be well aware of our, apprehension, shall we say towards Halo 2.  Truth be told, in the case of Paul and I I think it’s fair to say it’s bordering on loathing, but Phil is a little more tolerant than us.

So the release of the three editions of the game is being delayed by a day, which isn’t too bad, although a little ridiculous unless they have something really good planned.  Yet three editions, come one Bungie you’re starting to take the piss now.  It is only Halo!

I await the flaming for that comment

I digress.  I sit here on the evening of May 16th, having waited to get home and download said beta through my copy of Crackdown.  Note, I’m sitting here typing this, not getting ‘pwned’ (fecking hate that word, but it seems ot fit with Halo) online, because some person, or possibly collection of peoples at Microsoft/Bungie or both have screwed up.

It seems that current expectation for your copy of Crackdown being able to let you in on the fun that we assume everybody else is having, is at some very early hour of the morning of May 17th.

Oh look, that’s a day late as well!

Forgive the heavy cyncism in this post, but living in the most maligned territory in gaming i.e. Europe, takes it’s toll over the years.

The really daft thing is, as it stands, I have no intention of actually buying the game when it does come out in September, and unless the beta is mind-blowingly superb, I don’t think that’s going to change.

On a lighter note, today is the day that the all new video gaming TV channel officially goes live, X League TV.

Now I’ve been watching a bit of this over the past few days via the test transmissions they’ve been running over Sky, and I have to say it looks like it could be a winner.  They seem to have the right attitude about the subject matter, use a variety of consoles, tournaments are actually interesting to watch (caught a Rainbow Six: Vegas and PES 6 contest so far) and the people thay have in the studio also appear to be employed for their knowledge and interest rather than having ‘yoof’ appeal.

If you do have a Sky subscription, then hop over to channel 291 to find X League TV which is transmitting as I type.  Alternatively, head over to the official website for more information on what they’re all about.

You know it had to happen at some point. And you probably also knew it would be from me! I do like it when I’m unpredictable! OK, onto the subject at hand.

You know that F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport. The technological achievements of what the teams create and the lengths they go to, to get that extra second out of their cars is phenomenal. So, why has the TV side of the sport been lagging behind for so long? I make this point, as this season is the first time that Formula 1 has been broadcast in widescreen!

I know, I know! You’re asking what the big deal is?

Well, for a good few years now, all of the major TV channels have been broadcasting in widescreen, and most recently, High Definition services have started to roll out. Take into account that you also have interactive services, and multi-start options for your favorite programs, TV has entered a nice cushty period of interactive bliss. My beef about the F1 side of this, is that a few years ago, there was a specific Formula 1 channel on Sky. It was also a fully interactive service which gave you the information that only the biggest, anal F1 geek could dream of. Yes, that also includes me

For a measly £50 for the season (I think it was), live timing streams, choose from a multitude of different camera angles, listen to different commentaries, and pretty much revel in the ultimate of geekdom. I loved it! I even managed to stay up for early morning races. Something I’m afraid to say, I just couldn’t manage this weekend!

My problem with all this though, is that the F1 channel only lasted for the one season. From what I gather, it was massivly popular, and way ahead of the times. And I think that is part of the problem. Good ol’ Bernie Ecclestone (F1’s big boss man, and the ultimate rich bar steward) thought that it was costing a little too much money, and so asked Sky if they would like to pay a little bit more money. They said no. Bear in mind that Bernie bought all the equipment needed and moves it from race to race.

This is the shitter. It seems that the TV stream was so far ahead of everyone else, it was also effing expensive. So much so, that the decision was taken to pull the plug on the service after only one season. Mr E probably shat himself when he saw the bill and decided that normal, non-interactive service will be resumed, and bollocks to the technology, which is a damned shame.

I was pleasently surprised to see that F1 is finally being broadcast in widescreen. Other channels have been doing it for years now. Take into account that almost every channel on TV now has some sort of interactive service for the viewer to play with, I think it would be time to bring back the F1 digital service. You have the football with it’s “player cam”, goal replays, and you can even re-watch the days matches too! Well, before I got rid of the Sports package from Sky you could!

This is a message for Mr Bernard Ecclestone; bring back the interactive service. Hell, even push the boat out and broadcast in HD. Just don’t be put off by what went wrong last time. There are people like me screaming for more in-depth coverage. As a friend of mine is fond of saying…

JFDI