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Halo 3 gets shutup button

Gamers can conveniently shut opponents' pie holes on top of normal Xbox Live features with Bungie's new "A-Hole Button."

"What did you say about my momma?"

Nothing ruins an online gaming session like being taken down by a headshot and then hearing some pipsqueak up past his bedtime demean your family, particular the matriarch. However, even more hurtful than ragging on your mom are the too-frequent racial slurs, unnecessary profanity, and freestyle rappers trying to get a record contract.

To those people, Bungie says, "shut up." On its latest weekly update post, community liaison Frank O'Connor reveals that Halo 3 will have what one staff member calls "The A-Hole Button." The feature will let gamers instantly mute players of their choosing directly within game sessions.

Currently, the feature is locked onto the Back button of the 360 controller, but O'Connor suggests it may not remain mapped to that position.

One major complaint about Halo 2's online play has been the behavior of gamers over Xbox Live. While Bungie can't police every single person's actions, the company does say, "We're doing our best to come up with lots of smart solutions for stuff like this, but honestly, we can't be parents to some of these poltroons."

805 Comments

  • NacresErut

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 2:54 pm GMT

    how can you abuse it i think it only shuts up the person to the person that presses the button, everyone else can still hear that person, and i think they should get this for like everygame, its a good idea i wonder why no one ever thought of it

  • zedjay

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 10:04 am GMT

    i hope bungie also notes how often a player uses this, and who he/she mutes. That way we wont have people abusing it and at the same time knowing whos really an A-Hole.

  • racerx737

    Posted Apr 10, 2007 8:27 am GMT

    sounds good to me, go A-Hole Button!

  • rockerode

    Posted Apr 7, 2007 8:33 pm GMT

    finally the jerks wil shut up, GO A-HOLE BUTTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Chief_6909

    Posted Apr 3, 2007 3:17 am GMT

    this should definatly be a feature for xbox live itself, those annoying gamers aren't just limited to halo, you know!! why they didn't put a feature like that in right off the bat eludes me.. hopefully enough ppl like me will make it heard... POWER TO THE A-HOLE BUTTON!!

  • speedman101

    Posted Mar 22, 2007 10:11 pm GMT

    SWEET now I can actually use the com hopefully... why would you play loud music and wear your headset if you can't talk or hear anyone because your stupid music is hogging the line... this is like the best feature ever... THANK YOU BUNGIE!! You guys rock out there!

  • trey555555

    Posted Mar 16, 2007 11:56 am GMT

    this is great...now i can stop listening to those "im a halo god" people who play 24-7 and call everyone noobs just because they dont have a girlfriend and a job hahahahaha

  • comedian31

    Posted Mar 16, 2007 10:44 am GMT

    This is a great idea because before it took way to long to shut the idiots up. Hopefully this boutton will work with players on your own team too because often, I've been paired up with complete .... Yeah you know what I mean.

  • Star_Wars117

    Posted Mar 11, 2007 12:08 am GMT

    my god ive heard some of those darn rappers.

  • Dark_Lord777

    Posted Mar 10, 2007 11:44 pm GMT

    yeah i like that.....have a message come up saying you have been muted...with an Elite head logo X'd out in red....lol

  • gamer4life95

    Posted Mar 5, 2007 5:22 am GMT

    ITS ABOUT FREAKIN TIME!!!!

  • LinKuei_warrior

    Posted Mar 3, 2007 5:58 pm GMT

    LMAO!!thers rappers on there!!??!?

    thats what myspace and youtube is for weak MCS!!

    LMAOI!

  • lowenergycycle

    Posted Mar 1, 2007 11:08 am GMT

    Why oh whyyyyyyyyyy havent Microsoft patched Xbox-Live with this obvious feature already?

    I mean, it shouldn't be exclusive to Halo3 - it should be something that ALL games can utilize.

    Come on MS! Waddaya waiting for? I'd actually use Xbox-Live if I didn't have to listen to irritating pricks every time.

  • JDSPORTS0

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 11:04 am GMT

    lol, vgplaya99 is interested because of the A-Hole Button?

  • D3RC4S

    Posted Feb 23, 2007 12:48 pm GMT

    full support for this one, another great idea by bungie

  • vgplaya89

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 1:12 pm GMT

    wow, im actually interested in playing Halo 3 now.

  • BigDaveyDogz

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 7:33 am GMT

    get this working for gears of war and we're in buisness!

  • saadi

    Posted Feb 21, 2007 3:44 pm GMT

    AGREED with the person below me!!!!

  • nmbeg

    Posted Feb 21, 2007 3:43 pm GMT

    Yes!! this is the greatest thing evaa... sometimes thoses kids just give me a head ache.. they should definitly get a message on their screen telling them that they have been muted

  • tH3_cH3a7_027

    Posted Feb 21, 2007 2:55 pm GMT

    This kind of stuff is what makes the Halo series so far ahead of its time. Hats off to Bungie!

  • DarkKnight5688

    Posted Feb 20, 2007 1:36 pm GMT

    GREATEST....IDEA.....EVER!!!

    And to all of you little middle schoolers dropping f-bombs and thinking you're the s***, guess what, you sound like white trash and even more pathetic than you already are. No one whats to hear that and you're simply making the game more annoying for the rest of us more mature gamers.

  • Nishua

    Posted Feb 20, 2007 6:42 am GMT

    Damn and I thought Xbox live was for mature adults. The sad part is even though this game is rated Mature its not just kiddies online trash-talking a majority of the time its grown men who act like kids.

  • GregersVarg

    Posted Feb 20, 2007 4:08 am GMT

    I'm a bit under 18, and I just walked right into a store and bought a copy of GoW, noone in the store cared, that's probably why that's my favotite store

    .. crazy indeed..

    great idea by the way

  • GregersVarg

    Posted Feb 20, 2007 4:08 am GMT

    I'm a bit under 18, and I just walked right into a store and bought a copy of GoW, noone in the store cared, that's probably why that's my favotite store

    .. crazy indeed..

    great idea by the way

  • GregersVarg

    Posted Feb 20, 2007 4:05 am GMT

    I'm a bit under 18, and I just walked right into a store and bought a copy of GoW, noone in the store cared, that's probably why that's my favotite store

    .. crazy indeed..

  • amogley

    Posted Feb 20, 2007 3:31 am GMT

    Lovely idea .... now we just need it transferred to a few other games

  • Antinate

    Posted Feb 19, 2007 10:01 pm GMT

    I think the point we're all missing here is that Halo is rated M. That means 17+ ONLY. Parents, for the love of God in Heaven, do not buy your children M-rated games JUST to protect their fragile little minds. Don't buy your children M-rated games so we don't have to put up with their crap.

    Which reminds me. When Burning Crusade was released, I saw a kid running out of the store with a copy of BC. He was young. Very young. He couldn't have been in higher than 4th grade.

    Double you tee eff?

  • tattooistjake

    Posted Feb 19, 2007 9:56 pm GMT

    I'd be happier if they got ride of modding all together. I can put with whinning kids and low budget rappers, but the mods make to frusterating to play

  • j0na8aca

    Posted Feb 19, 2007 7:02 pm GMT

    This button is for people who want to hear the game, but not the obnoxious player. I think it's a good idea. Now I don't have to mute my tv.

  • Blind-Justice

    Posted Feb 19, 2007 6:23 pm GMT

    XBL is going carebear?! NOOOOOO!!

  • GameTrixta

    Posted Feb 19, 2007 5:23 pm GMT

    "Xbox live should be split into age brackets, i dont want to play smart ass kids with nothing better to do. Stick me in the 18+ bracket thanks"

    Dear god, if only there were a way that that could work...

  • mooseman721

    Posted Feb 19, 2007 4:14 pm GMT

    This is great news, you should be able to do this in any online game, CS has had it for ages I believe. No more whining, cursing, 12 year old Cockneys! Bloody marvelous.

  • Sharvie

    Posted Feb 19, 2007 2:32 pm GMT

    Now i don't have to listen to those XBL idiots.

  • sizzlemebacon2

    Posted Feb 19, 2007 12:43 pm GMT

    Yes while an awesome idea how's Bungie going to make sure this button won't be abused?

    Also can the person know you muted him and still hear you talking that'd be awesome.

  • tblack7073

    Posted Feb 19, 2007 11:35 am GMT

    "The A-hole button", nice.

  • joshSF

    Posted Feb 19, 2007 7:47 am GMT

    good idea, i hope it doens't get abused to much though... kudos for bungie!

  • niwom510

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 9:15 pm GMT

    wow, im going to ad poltroons to my vocabulary now

  • Reaper425

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 6:58 pm GMT

    Seems like a good idea.

    I want the person you mute to be able to see that you mute him.
    That way he can get all pissed and cry cause he knows you cant hear him.

  • S_Pac_316

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 6:39 pm GMT

    Cool. It really does annoy me when someone would talk **** to ya when online but you know they would not say those things to your face IRL. We all know that they all are a bunch of ****** who hide behind the cyber screen and say what they want about anybody and not get punched in the face for it.

    So this is a good step in the right direction.

  • Iceman1388

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 5:06 pm GMT

    I haven't played in a long time but uhh... You could always just mute them in the options of the Halo 2 friends screen. Mute is not a new thing.

  • Uisquebaugh

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 5:03 pm GMT

    i hope the person who is talking crap can see that you muted him, so at least he knows that you can't hear him anymore.

  • Withoutme

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 3:09 pm GMT

    My god this will mute roughly 80-90% of the players of Halo 2 online...

  • Luke_Skyjogger

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 1:29 pm GMT

    dillibob, sorry to break it to you, but you are an idiot. Bungie isn't stupid. If you take off your headphones you can't hear the rest of your team. It's not gonna be put in a place where it could easily be pressed by accident. Plus, its just fun to know that there's a button specifically for a-holes like you.

  • 3rd360

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 12:20 pm GMT

    nice,i hope it also has team chat only option,in multiplayer,this is long overdue

  • Darius_Dante

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 12:13 pm GMT

    YEAH! +100Exp points for Bungie! xDDD

  • jpgrant91

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 11:57 am GMT

    it doesnt mute everyone, just the idiot thats yelling at you, and how often do you press the back button by accident? it's kinda out of the way of the other buttons

  • dillibob

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 8:48 am GMT

    whats the point of a mute button when u can just take off your headphones? i know u might burn an extra calorie but im sure you'll live the strain. plus if they put the mute button on the black button u know how many times ur gonna accidentally press it? sides, halo isnt even that good. sorry to break it to ya

  • natedogr

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 8:33 am GMT

    I have been waiting for this. Thanks Bungie!

  • clayness14

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 8:07 am GMT

    Thank God for Bungie.

    I HATE people who do nothing but talk trash on Halo, Gears, etc. It is really pointless...not to mention stupid. I had a kid on Gears the other day that did nothing...NOTHING but mock everything I was trying to say to my other teammates. Screw that. I am all for the mute button

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