More IW defections; Halo Reaching, more

In any event, it may all be moot. Today, I go for my interview in Albany. My former workmate, Hopper, gave me a tip on a cheap studio apartment up there, so, with God's help, I'll avoid a 200 mile round trip commute. Hopper tells me the studio includes wi-fi internet, so that means the blog may live on through my cheesy netbook or a cheap laptop. We'll see how it goes...
In the meantime, this week's agenda will also include a trip to the DOL to see my unemployment rep. That actually conflicts with my trip North, so I'm trying to rechedule that. We also have a bash planned for Wednesday to celebrate Roseanne's birthday... Here's a pic of Berta, Rose, and me in our sloshed glory at the infamous October 7th, 2009 tailgate party:

More employees have bailed on Infinity Ward bringing the total exodus to 18, as linked below. Meanwhile PCGamerUK has updated the credit scroll from Modern Warfare 2 with strikeouts to identify the ones who've gone on to pursue other career opportunities. You know what would be uber-cool? To see former Infinity Ward president Grant Collier, who has been seen only on milk cartons since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare came out, land over at Respawn Entertainment along with almost 20% of his former co-workers. As you can see from the above snapshot of the Respawn Homepage, they've made their intentions clear: They're hiring. On to the links:

• BASHandSlash: CoD's biggest hurdle? FTA: "But sadly, IW has not appeared to have taken any action to persuade the community that they actually are listening. Consider that,
  
  
  

  • IW has been unwilling to address the drawbacks of IW.net, such as its unacceptable lagginess.
  • IW has been unwilling to discuss, even limited dedicated server capability.
  • IW has been unwilling to address online issues like the shear chaotic randomness of the game. All suggestions, whether they were to nerf the international-house-of-douchedom kits, or to limit the rain of death caused by the non-player-controlled choppers, to name only a few have fallen on deaf ears."

• Gaming Union: Why the future is bright at Infinity Ward. Or maybe not... See below.
• Play.Tm: Steinberg fears for Infinity Wards' creative freedom.
• MCV UK: Infinity Ward now has lost 18 employees.

• Geoff Keighley via Twitter: Halo: Reach Noble Team website launched: Welcome to Noble Team. "Augmentation begins April 28, 2010."
• EuroGamer: Halo: Reach beta gameplay analysis.
• Co-Optimus: Halo 3: ODST Drops to $29.99 in Anticipation of Halo Reach Beta.
• Destructoid: Microsoft expects Halo: Reach beta to boost Halo 3: ODST sales.
• Kotaku: Behind the scenes: Bungie's Lobby.
• GiantBomb Ask Me Anything: Halo: Reach beta.

 
    Non-Gaming Links:

• PC World: Microsoft execs: We and users win with the cloud.
• AfterDawn: SEC members stiffened as market went flaccid.
• UGO: Ghost Rider 2? Maybe without Nicholas Cage.