More on 'Halo' and Excel

The "Halo 2" Excel Workbook, detailed in today's Microsoft Notebook, appears to be one of the first -- if not the first -- Excel spreadsheet to use the built-in XML (eXtensible Markup Language) capabilities of the Microsoft spreadsheet program for the specific purpose of bringing in data contained in RSS feeds. It's unusual because RSS feeds are a form of XML typically used by news sites and weblogs to send out data streams containing headlines and content. It's much less common for RSS feeds to include the kind of data that would warrant bringing the feeds into a spreadsheet. (See one Excel expert's take on the "Halo 2" RSS Excel application here.)

Sam Radakovitz, who created the application, explained that it goes through some parsing behind-the-scenes to separate the raw game statistics from the html code that's included in the RSS feeds. That html code is there for the benefit of the newsreading programs in which the feeds were originally meant to be viewed. Radakovitz has talked with people at Bungie Studios about the possibility of offering additional data streams in pure XML, eliminating the need for that additional parsing in the "Halo 2" Excel application.

In the meantime, after playing some "Halo 2" over the weekend, I had more of a chance to analyze my own stats in the spreadsheet. I ended up agreeing with Microsoft's Sean Alexander on one point: For me, it's basically a way to more fully comprehend how bad I am at the game.

I hesitate to do this, but putting my shame aside in the interest of illustration, here's a basic summary of my results from a few days' worth of Rumble Slayer, a type of "Halo 2" game that pits you against up to seven other players. If nothing else, if you play the game, this is sure to make you feel better about your own stats. Note especially my kill-to-death ratio: I'm dying more than twice as often as I'm killing someone else. Sheesh! Seriously, I'd challenge anyone out there to come up with stats worse than these.

Posted by Todd Bishop at December 6, 2004 03:35 PM