Halo 5: Guardians Beta Preloading Has Started December 28, 2014

Owners of Halo: The Master Chief Collection on the Xbox One itching to play Halo 5: Guardians early can start putting their consoles to work right now as 343 Industries has started allowing players to preload the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer beta a day before the beta is scheduled to go live.

If you own a copy of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, you can start preloading the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta from the game’s Extras menu. You’ll notice the option for Halo 5 MP is no longer inactive. By selecting it, the Halo Channel app will activate and play an all new cutscene made specifically for Halo 2: Anniversary featuring Spartan Locke and The Arbiter. Once it finishes, you will be automatically redirected to the Xbox Store, where you can download the Beta client completely free of charge. If you really liked the cutscene between Locke and Arbiter and want to watch it again do not worry, the video is located in the Halo 2 Cutscenes viewer on the Halo Channel, and owners of The Master Chief Collection can rewatch the scene as much as they like from that menu.

You must have the most recent Content Update for your game installed to download the Halo 5 Multiplayer Client, but if you already have it installed you will not need to install any new system update just to download the beta. The Halo 5 beta client clocks in at just over 10GB. Current Beta players who got access to the multiplayer test early will find themselves downloading an 8GB Content Update starting today to bring their version of the beta in line with the version that Halo: The Master Chief Collection players are getting.

Just remember this is only a preload and even after it finishes downloading it will not be playable until the beta goes live tomorrow. I’ll try to keep you guys posted when it goes fully online, and will try to provide game footage for New Year’s Eve.

UPDATE: Beta is live! Go play!

The Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta is scheduled to run between December 29th and January 19th.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is out now exclusively for the Xbox One.

Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Special Demo Version Released December 27, 2014

Pokémon Trainers everywhere, now hear this. I’m sure many of you are enjoying your new copies of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire, but I’m going to ask you to put your games on pause for just a few moments. The special demo for Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire has been released as a free download to all 3DS and 2DS players right now on the Nintendo eShop. Previously, this demo could only be played by selected Pokémon Trainers who obtained a download code. Now, everyone with an Internet connection will be able to download it to their new Nintendo handheld.

The special demo serves as a prequel to the main games’ story and covers events not found in the full retail title. Since the demo has lots of battles, it’ll give those who may not be familiar with how to play a Pokémon game a taste of gameplay.

The demo includes a lot of secret bonus items, including a mega evolution capable exclusive Pokémon, that you can transfer to the main game. Unlike other Nintendo demos, there is no limit to how many times you can play this demo. That is really good, since the demo gives you a new experience every time you play.

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire are out now on the Nintendo 3DS and 2DS.

Naughty Dog’s 30th Anniversary Documentary December 26, 2014

Many of you may remember game developer Naughty Dog from the Playstation 3 hits Uncharted and The Last of Us, but the studio has been making games for the past thirty years on tons of different game platforms.

If you’re like me and just can’t wait for the release of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, hopefully this will hold you over for a little bit longer.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is coming exclusively to the Playstation 4.

Halo Community Feedback Program Now Taking Sign Ups December 24, 2014

343 Industries is calling all Halo fans to participate in a Community Feedback program which they say will help them shape the future of the Halo franchise.

It’s always nice when a game developer request direct feedback from the online community like this. Bungie has been doing it for years, Sony did it back when they had the Gamer Advisory Panel, but this is the first time that I’ve seen 343 Industries do this.

If you are 18 years of age or older and live in the United States with a valid email address and Xbox Live GamerTag, you can sign up here.

Right now the immediate plan is to use the program to assist them in the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta test, but the possibilities are limitless for what they plan to do in the future. There is no minimum amount of time required to be a part of the service, Microsoft says that you can quit at any point.

The Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta officially starts December 29, 2014 for all Xbox One owners with a copy of Halo: The Master Chief Collection.