Halo: Master Chief Collection owners will receive Halo 3: ODST for Xbox One for free

Posted on December 20, 2014 by John Scalzo

halomasterchiefcollection-header

Microsoft and 343 Industries are still working on a patch to fix the matchmaking problems found in Halo: The Master Chief Collection. As a way of apologizing for these issues, the publisher and developer will offer players who purchased the game before December 19 a free month of Xbox Live Gold service and a series of free content updates over the next week:

  • All ten Halo 4: Spartan Ops episodes
  • Exclusive In-Game Nameplate
  • Exclusive In-Game Avatar

Finally, Microsoft will add “Relic,” a remastered Halo 2: Anniversary multiplayer map, and the popular Halo 3: ODST campaign to Halo: The Master Chief Collection sometime in the future. According to Xbox Wire, development has just begun on both, so it might be a while before they’re available. But as with the Spartan Ops episodes, both will be available for free for Master Chief Collection owners who purchased the game before December 19.

Presumably, both downloadable additions will be available for everyone, but no announcement has been made as of yet.

Posted in News, Xbox One | Tagged ,

Respawn is working on a non-TitanFall game… and probably more TitanFall

Posted on December 20, 2014 by John Scalzo

respawn-logoRespawn Entertainment’s CEO, Vince Zampella, recently sat down with Game Informer to talk about the company’s rather eventful year and their presently percolating future.

First things first, Zampella confirmed that the company doesn’t have any additional DLC planned for TitanFall now that the Season Pass has run its course. However, EA previously announced that they had contracted with Respawn for “new TitanFall experiences,” so perhaps the developer is already hard at work on TitanFall 2? Zampella alluded to that in the interview by saying, “Respawn Entertainment does want to make more Titanfall.” He also reaffirmed that “future [TitanFall] projects will not necessarily be exclusive” to the Xbox and PC.

Finally, Zampella also revealed that Respawn is now home to a second team, which is working on a “non-TitanFall project.” This team is headed up by the recently hired Stig Asmusson, who you might remember as the Creative Director behind God of War III.

But whatever Respawn has in the hopper, a public debut will have to wait. Zampella closed the interview by saying, “Next year will be a little quiet. We’ll be heads down, back to work.”

Posted in News | Tagged

Evolve’s last behind-the-scenes trailer is all about “Creating A Monster”

Posted on December 20, 2014 by John Scalzo

Turtle Rock Studios has posted the fifth, and final, episode of “The Evolution of Evolve,” their behind-the-scenes look at Evolve. This episode is all about the Monsters and how Turtle Rock attempted to make the beasts less alien and more relatable to players. Because I know that when I’m hunting human prey in the forest, I think of myself as a giant Cthulhu-like demon. Everybody does that, right?

Evolve will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on Feburary 10, but Turtle Rock will host a beta test in January, which you can read all about here.

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged

Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Review: The Natural Evolution of Retro Evolved 2

Posted on December 19, 2014 by John Scalzo

geometrywars3-header

Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions had a lot to live up to. The last game in the series, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, dethroned Smash TV as the standard bearer of the twin-stick shooter genre. And the first game in the franchise, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, was considered by many to be the Xbox 360’s killer app for the first year. But Lucid Games proved to be more than up to the task with an excellent new entry in the series. After the closure of Bizarre Creations (the creator of Retro Evolved and Retro Evolved 2), Lucid became the new home for multiple members of the Geometry Wars development team. So we probably shouldn’t have been worried at all.

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in PC, PS3, PS4, Reviews, Top Story, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Daily Scoop: December 19, 2014 – So close to vacation

Posted on December 19, 2014 by Nicole Kline

I’m starting to really get excited about the holidays – my vacation begins at 5pm today. I plan on playing a lot of video games, finishing up our Kickstarter, cleaning the apartment, and seeing most of the people I love. What are you doing over the winter break, reader?

Well, whatever you’re doing, if you want some cheap video games to play, now’s the time to grab them. The Steam sales are blowing my mind every day: Castle Crashers is $1.49, Killing Floor is $4.99, Batman: Arkham Origins is $4.99, and the recently-released Valkyria Chronicles is $14.99. ‘Tis the season for incredible deals!

Let’s not forget the sale at the Humble Store. Pick up Age of Wonders III for $13.59, Gauntlet for $9.99, Killer Is Dead for $6.79, and a game I really want to play, Viscera Cleanup Detail, for $6.69.

Just one shirt today, but it’s amazing!

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in Daily Scoop |

Insert Quarter: Broken Games Are Still Broken

Posted on December 19, 2014 by John Scalzo

insertquarter-header

Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.

Yes, we’re still talking about games that were shipped to stores broken and still haven’t been fixed after nearly half-a-dozen patches apiece. In light of all the problems that Assassin’s Creed: Unity and Halo: The Master Chief Collection has caused for Ubisoft and Microsoft, respectively, Joystiq’s Richard Mitchell looked at what companies are trying to do to prevent this from happening in the future. And the answer seems to be… “not much.”

Sony will gladly take your $60 to pre-purchase Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End through the PlayStation Store, and that’s because they’ve added a disclaimer stating they don’t have to refund your money if it gets canceled. But on the other hand, CD Projekt delayed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt when it became obvious that they wouldn’t be able to ship the game in February as originally planned. Even though the average gamer now expects the games they purchase to be patched many times over:

What’s really alarming, however, is that this process is standard practice now. Not only do we expect games to have problems at launch, but we tolerate it. We shrug our shoulders, saying “that’s just the way it is,” while developers and publishers take advantage of one of the most passionate audiences in existence.

That’s unacceptable.

The full article is available for your perusal at Joystiq.

Posted in Insert Quarter, PC, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged , , ,

New trailer offers a sneak peek at Halo 5: Guardians beta

Posted on December 18, 2014 by John Scalzo

The Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta will begin on December 29 (and run until January 18). To get gamers ready for the three-week test, Microsoft has released a brand new trailer featuring some “hot Red on Blue action.” If you pay close attention to the trailer, here’s what you might see:

To prepare fans for the start of the highly-anticipated Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta on December 29, this new trailer provides a sneak peek at the new maps, modes, weapons and Spartan Abilities featured in the intense 4v4 multiplayer arena gameplay of the three-week beta. Each week we will feature new content including seven new maps, two new weapons, new modes, and a new Competitive Skill Rating (CSR) system. Or sit back and enjoy watching multiplayer matches in the all-new Spectator Mode.

The Halo 5: Guardians beta is open to everyone who owns a copy of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. So if you’re waiting on Santa to place yours under the tree, don’t worry, you’ll still have time to enter the beta.

Posted in News, Xbox One | Tagged

Telltale teams up with Mojang for Minecraft: Story Mode

Posted on December 18, 2014 by John Scalzo

minecraftstorymode-header

After teasing some kind of “super secret surprise announcement” yesterday, Telltale Games has announced that they’re teaming up with Mojang to produce an episodic game series based on Minecraft. They were right, that is surprising!

The first episode of Minecraft: Story Mode will premiere sometime in 2015 and “introduce new characters” to the world of Minecraft whole exploring “familiar themes.” To that end, Telltale has also confirmed that they plan to enlist prominent members of the Minecraft community to help them craft the game’s story.

“People really like the idea of stories about Minecraft, but forcing a narrative into our core game experience would restrict players’ freedom to view the world in their own unique ways. Instead, letting them explore an alternate interpretation via Minecraft: Story Mode, driven by the proven might of Telltale, seems like a no-brainer,” said Owen Hill, the Chief Word Officer at Mojang. “We’re big fans of Telltale Games at Mojang, and we can’t wait to reveal more details on Story Mode soon.”

Minecraft: Story Mode is currently in development for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC platforms (Windows and Mac), and mobile platforms (iOS and Android).

Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged