A while back we fell into this curiosity from obtaining Zuma (and that’s thanks to Hawty McBloggy), then looking into other games that were made by PopCap. No one ever told us about Plants Vs Zombies. Maybe they could have saved us from getting ensnared. But we checked it out. Bam. Hooked.

Since that initial PvZ binge, we found out there was rumor of it making it to XBLA. I’ve been waiting so long to finally hear that it’s made it and was still asking about it when it launched on the iPhone (That’s a link to the iTunes Downloader…). But now…IT HAS!
The official release date has not been declared (Early September…see below Dtoid article), but Aug. 1st they should be clarifying that for us. I’m a bit bitter for the wait, but it seems they are trying to sugar-coat it by adding Co-op and Vs. modes. That is a sweet deal, I’d say.

And, If you can’t get enough PvZ until it comes to the Marketplace, go here for more Plants Vs Zombies fun! (You can even make your own Zombatar!)
You can also get it on Steam for $9.99 as well.

Now it’s time to get it stuck in YOUR heads…again.

Related Articles:
Geek.com
DToid
Play.tm

So folks, our 1-year Anniversary is right around the corner…yeah I know, quick wasn’t it? Anyway, We would like you to help us celebrate it! Here’s the deal. We are hosting a Screenshot Contest. I think this is going to be fun… Theme = “A Match Made In Halo’s 1st Anniversary,” of course. We want you to forge a creative ScreenShot of your choice. Use Hearts, our Gamertags, Wedding date, AMMIH logo, or whatever might visually represent A Match Made In Halo. Most importantly, BE CREATIVE!

We will choose one Grand Prize winner and two Runner Ups. Winners will receive AMMIH swag and memorabilia from the wedding!

Email your submissions to Screenshots@AMatchMadeInHalo.com

Deadline will be 11:59pm EST Saturday the 16th.

Winners will be announced on our big day, “1/17″

Grand Prize winner will receive:

• AMMIH Handmade 1 1/4″ Pin
• AMMIH Handmade Bookmark
• Limited Edition Save-the-Date
• Limited Edition AMMIH Wedding Invitation
• Limited Edition Wedding Favor (Blue sphere Plasma Grenade “looking” Candle)
• Limited Edition Custom(Personalized) Thank You Card
• Autographed Wedding Photo
• 1 Year of Xbox Live Gold Membership

Runner Up (2) will receive:

• AMMIH Handmade 1 1/4″ Pin
• AMMIH Handmade Bookmark
• PAX 2009 XBox-360 Avatar Shirt
• Personalized Thank You Card
• 1600 MS Points

Well, there you have it… Year one coming to a close, I still can’t believe it myself. But it’s here and there’s no denying it. Let’s see how fast the next one shows up!

So get crackin’…make us proud! I cannot WAIT to see what you guys come up with! Good Luck, and let the Forge be with you…

But why are they moving? On a scale of 1 to 7 how sexy is the new facility. Will there be more room for snacks? What about a safer place to keep Ling-Ling’s head?

Well, let’s start at the beginning here…

Admit it, the Kirkland facility is sexy. That huge arch that serves as the roof calls you every time you see it. But Bungie is growing! The code monkeys, engineering geniuses, artist extraordinaires, and positively brilliant producers need some breathing room to work well. It’s time for a change in scenery.

I’ve gotta admit, having the pancake house, Starbucks, bakery, and QFC right next door rocks. But it’s not enough to keep those guys in Kirkland. On the other side of the freeway, we have Bellevue Galleria in need of some tenants. It’s a match made in Eastside!

I looked up the galleria on Google earth, went to street view, and you’ll never guess what I saw on the sidewalk! People held up a sign saying “Bellevue Galleria hurts our community.” Weird, right? I’m assuming Bungie is getting a good deal out of a desperate building.

The desperate building we speak of.

So, what does this mean?

Bellevue Galleria is a failing shopping center right now. It’s struggling to compete with Lincoln Square a few blocks down, and ¼ of its retail space is empty. According to local reports, and even bloggers, the facility has been going downhill before Lincoln Square was built (a rival shopping center right by Bellevue Galleria). I’ve found reports of this place going downhill since 2004. The citizens of Bellevue aren’t too happy with Bellevue Galleria’s current state, and the facility’s new managers are bound and determined to get anyone in there. Luckily for them, Bungie isn’t just any business to lease a building to.

With Bungie moving in, will it bring about a little bit more prosperity to the facility? It could easily encourage more businesses to move in to cater to the ever-expanding Bungie Studios! I’m sure the vast majority of Bungie workers may have a longer commute, and will probably end up using the facility’s stores and such for the sake of convenience. Only time will tell!

Naturally, Kirkland isn’t extremely happy with Bungie’s move. Kirkland was all “Haha! We have software companies here! AND we have Bungie!” and now they’re all “Damn!” that Bungie is leaving. Is it possible that someone in Kirkland will step in to keep them somewhere in Kirkland, for the sake of the city’s reputation?

The new facility in Bellevue is approximately 85,000 square feet, more than able to house the 138 workers (numbers from the Kirkland city business records). The part of Bellevue Galleria Bungie is going to occupy was once a movie theatre. Such a layout would seem ideal for a game studio.

According to local rumor, and maybe even a few official mouths, Bungie will be moving out in January.

Sources:

Kirkland Reporter

Kirkland Reporter- Article #2

The Sledgehammer

Puget Sound Business Journal

Well, something interesting came out of our stop in LAX. While we were traveling down that conveyor belt for people with heavy bags we saw a couple familiar faces walking the other direction in the center aisle. Sick and I glanced at each other and I asked, “Is that…?” She cut me off by nodding her head and said “Yes, that was the RvB guys!” So… they actually ended up being on our flight to Seattle and we got a chance to ask them for a picture with us.

Our next point of interest on this day was a nice visit to the wonderful Bungie Studios. We happen to come say “Hi” not too long after the building was swarmed by “Kirkland’s finest.” It seems they spooked a local when carrying their well known (to the Halo fans anyway) Sniper Rifle from one building to the other. You can check their past Weekly Update for more details.

After sticking our noses through the door SickNdehed and I were surprised to meet Stephen Totilo of Kotaku (who actually flew down to cover our wedding.) After seeing him finish up, we got to poke around the studio lobby for a few. We snapped some pretty pics with some trophies, memorabilia, and even got a few friendlies to come out of their cave to meet us.

Click image for more pics!

I’d say we started our trip off with a -BLAM!- This day is well set in our memories.

Well this wraps up our first story surrounding our PAX visit. Be sure to keep an eye out, there’s much more to come.

Official XBox Magazine: World’s Biggest Halo Fans

Sick’s Etsy Page – Official “Surviving the Flood” Sale to be announced shortly…

” Official definitions for nerd, geek, and dork each use the words “inept” and “foolish.” Nerds have the added distinction of being “unattractive.” Ouch. While it’s hard to argue with the dictionary, we sought out definitions from the Internet at large.

According to Whatis.com, nerds are people of above-average intelligence who place little importance on their appearance. Nerds are often aware of their status, but they don’t mind. In fact, many take pride in the putdown, as it means they’re smart and not wrapped up in superficial worries.

Geek is a more specific term. Back in the day, geeks worked at carnivals, and (according to the dictionary) “bit the heads off live chickens.” Thankfully, the term now has a different connotation. Like nerds, geeks are smart, but they tend to focus more on technology. As Urban Dictionary explains, these are the people you make fun of in high school and later work for as an adult.

Being called a “dork” is the biggest insult of the three. There’s no way you can spin it into something positive. After all, even the dictionary writes that dorks are “stupid” people. And to make matters worse, dorks assume they’re cool. Oh, and they smell, too.

So, to sum things up, if someone calls you a geek or a nerd, thank them. If someone calls you a dork, consider going back to school” ~ Ask Yahoo

Now that we’ve established being called a Geek is more like a compliment, we’re excited to announce that we’re in May’s 2009 issue of GEEK Monthly Magazine (on pg. 69 to be exact.)

“Geek is dedicated to anything and everything that geeks like you obsess about; like the latest toys, Anime, TV shows, Movies, Games and DVDs. But there is more to the modern geek so expect the lowdown on all sorts of things from the latest apply-to-the-forehead headache cure to the technology behind space currency, and the personalities behind our geek driven culture.” ~ geekmonthly.com

We had to do a little bit of running around to find a place that sold it, but we eventually found and purchased a few copies from Borders. HERE’S a .pdf copy of the article for those still having trouble finding it.

It was a long day filled sweat and excitement. Psycho and I spent the day at the Earth Day Birthday concert we won tickets to back in February. It’s been years since I’d been to any all day event. I couldn’t believe how many women were walking around topless with nothing more than body paint to cover themselves. One woman had Sponge Bob painted on her, her boobs were his eyes. Unfortunately we didn’t get a picture of that. Though we were able to get a picture of a woman with a penis painted on her (you’ll have to search our flickr pics for that one.)

{More Earth Day Birthday Pics Here}

Part of our prize was a ‘Meet N Greet’ with a few of the bands. I was thankful the ‘Meet N Greet’ took place in one of the more cooler parts of the Venue. While there, we got the chance to shake hands with and take pictures with Static-X, Chevelle and Candlebox.

One of the bigger highlights of our day was getting the chance to announce Chevelle on stage. It was a new experience looking into the crowd over the heads of so many people. I was actually a lot more nervous about being on stage the night before.

All in all it was a fun night and a great event. Perhaps you’ll even see us at Earth Day Birthday again next year. Hopefully I’ll remember to wear more comfortable shoes.

A couple of weeks before the wedding, Psycho and I had the pleasure of being interviewed by William Richards from Central Florida Lifestyle Magazine. It was great speaking with him and we were honored to have him at the ceremony.

Sadly, we have not been able to get a copy of the magazine. From what I understand it is delivered to all homes in Winter Park. If you or anyone you know is willing to give up their copy, please email us. We’ll be happy to pay for the April 2009 issue.

You can check out the online version of “Central Florida Lifestyle: Teammates for Life” on their website.

Although we had been together for over three years, we had very few photos together and even fewer good ones. Thanks to Frank that is no longer the case. He was very easy to work with and completely open to all the shots we wanted to take with our Legendary Halo Head, which happen to be my favorite shots.

RF Photography was started over 15 years ago in Orlando. The naming of RF Photography is a easy one. ‘R’ for Roxanne (wife and boss) and ‘F’ for Frank (primary photographer). Frank received his first camera at the age of 13 and it was love at first sight. He immediately immersed himself into photography. He worked at several camera stores to support his ‘habit’ and photographed his first wedding at the age of 18. He worked in photography his whole life in one aspect or another. From hand printing color portraits for a studio outside of San Francisco to custom B&W printing for labs in southern California.

Our wedding photos were just as beautiful as the engagement shots. Frank was able to capture great photos of everyone at the wedding. Family and friends (curious Halo fans too!) are able to order prints of the wedding directly from the RF Photography website. I’ve conveniently set up the domain name DesiraiAndJohn.com to go straight to the images. Sadly, they will only be available for purchase online until March 30th. Please make sure to order your prints if you haven’t done so already.

Over the next few weeks, I will be using Frank’s photos to personally thank each vendor. Thank you RF photography for providing us amazing photos of our extremely unique and special day.

We’ve made several new friends which we’ve been playing with regularly, one of whom is graphic designer and B5D Moderator x Awal x. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to x Awal x about graphic design and where I received my degree. After hearing all the good things I had to say about Full Sail, he decided to attend a Behind The Scenes tour.

PsychoVandal and I met up with x Awal x at the end of his tour to see what he thought. He was extremely excited. So will I be bumping into x Awal x in the Full Sail corridors anytime soon? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.