Legend of Zelda Tri-Force Heroes Unboxing October 23, 2015

Nintendo released The Legend of Zelda: Tri-Force Heroes on the Nintendo 3DS earlier today.  The game is a spiritual sequel to Four Swords Adventures, but takes place after the events of A Link Between Worlds. Fans of the site might remember we previewed this game during Nintendo’s E3 2015 Super Mario Maker preview event, and so we picked up a copy of it this afternoon at our local Best Buy.

Let’s see what’s inside the box while Maniac describes one of the most frustrating shopping experiences he’s had in quite some time.

The Legend of Zelda Tri-Force Heroes is out now exclusively on Nintendo 3DS systems.

Halo 5: Guardians Limited Collector’s Edition Unboxing October 21, 2015

We’re a week away from the official worldwide release of Halo 5: Guardians, but Microsoft decided to do something really special for anyone who picked up the game’s Limited Collector’s Edition and released that version of the game a week early.  They could get away with doing this and not breaking the game’s official street date because they decided that they would include a prepaid digital download code for the full version of the game inside the LCE’s box instead of an actual game disc.  This code, while nowhere near as easy to deal with as a game disc is, would allow players to preload the game and any day one patches to their Xbox One console a week early, saving them from having to install and download the game at midnight and allowing them to play the game the second it unlocks at midnight on the 27th.

Today, Maniac and his girlfriend Princess Angel decided to take a look at what’s actually included inside of the Limited Collector’s Edition box and see if it is indeed worth the $249 US price tag, disc or no disc.

Note:  Anyone who picked up this version of the game and would prefer to receive a disc instead of a download code SHOULD NOT REDEEM THE CODE INCLUDED INSIDE THE GAME BOX.  Instead, follow these instructions on how to get their code replaced with a disc.

Halo 5: Guardians is coming out October 27th, 2015 exclusively on the Xbox One.

Halo Week 2015 Bonus Video 2 – Halo Wars 2 Discussion September 30, 2015

Our final video for Halo Week 2015 details one of the biggest surprise announcements that I have heard in quite a long time.  I have a very soft spot in my heart for Halo Wars, the 2009 console RTS which proved that the Halo franchise could work in a medium other than a first person shooter.  While the game’s developers had massive plans for the franchise they helped create, Microsoft chose to close the studio that created it instead.

It seemed unlikely that we would ever see a sequel to Halo Wars.  Then, in a move we never saw coming, Halo Wars 2 was announced at GamesCom 2015!  Join Maniac and diskreader117 as we talk about this announcement, and speculate on what we would like to see in the next game of the Halo Wars series.

And with this, Halo Week 2015 comes to a close.  I hope you all enjoyed the time we spent talking about this beloved franchise, and speculate on its future.

Halo Wars 2 is coming to Xbox One and Windows 10.

Halo Week 2015 Bonus Video 1 – The Halo TV Series September 30, 2015

Halo Week 2015 is drawing to a close today but we’ve got two very special videos left to wrap this incredible week up.  First off, Maniac and diskreader117 talk about the Halo TV series, a series first announced at the Xbox One reveal two years ago.

The Halo TV series was intended to be the crowning achievement of Microsoft’s Xbox Live  programming lineup, but Microsoft decided to cancel those plans prematurely.  While the Halo series is still officially in production, we have not heard a single update about it since it was announced.  Join us as we try to figure out why.

Stay tuned, we have one more Halo Week bonus video on its way, a discussion about Halo Wars 2.

Halo Week 2015 Day 7 – Halo Reach Remake Rumors September 29, 2015

Ever since 343 Industries ported Halo 3: ODST into Halo: The Master Chief Collection earlier this year, there has been an enormous demand for Microsoft to rerelease Bungie’s final Halo game, 2010’s Halo Reach.

While there has not been any official announcement of a Halo Reach remake being in development, Microsoft has announced their plans to bring backwards compatibility to the Xbox One at E3 this year, and while Halo Reach has not been made playable on the Xbox One yet, Halo Reach‘s box cover was included in the official backwards compatibility promotional image.

So what would a Halo Reach remake look like and why do we want one so bad?  Give the video a watch and find out for yourselves.

You would think that after releasing a new video a day for the past week, Halo Week would be over.  Well, I’m happy to announce we’re going into overtime.  Two bonus videos are currently in production. Next time we’ll be talking about the Steven Spielberg produced Halo TV series, a project that no one has heard a peep about since it was announced at the Xbox One reveal back in 2013.

Halo Week 2015 Day 6 – Halo 5 Multiplayer Discussion September 28, 2015

Hot off the heels of the release of an incredible Live-Action TV commercial, Halo Week 2015 continues on GameXcess.net.

Today, Maniac and diskreader117 continue our discussion on Halo 5: Guardians by talking about the game’s new Multiplayer mode, Warzone. Both of them have logged actual hands-on time with Halo 5‘s MP mode already, so as you can imagine both of them have a lot they want to say about it.

Halo 5: Guardians is coming October 27th, 2015 exclusively for the Xbox One.

Halo Week 2015 Day 5 – Halo 5: Guardians Single Player Story Speculation September 27, 2015

We are halfway through Halo Week 2015!  Today, Maniac and diskreader117 speculate on what the story might be for Halo 5: Guardian’s Single Player campaign.  What parts of Halo lore will be integrated into the story?  What’s in store for Blue Team?  Is the Master Chief a hero?  Give it a watch and see what we think.  Minor spoilers for #HuntTheTruth might be brought up here so just be warned about that.

Not a fan of single-player?  Not a problem.  Tomorrow, we’ll be talking about Halo 5 multiplayer, see you all then.

Halo 5: Guardians is coming October 2015 exclusively on Xbox One.

Halo Week 2015 Day 4 – #HuntTheTruth Discussion September 26, 2015

As we continue Halo Week 2015 on this website, Maniac and diskreader117 talk about the ongoing podcast leading up to the release of Halo 5: Guardians, #HuntTheTruth.  Don’t worry if you want to watch the video before listening to all of the show’s episodes, we’re going to keep this discussion as spoiler free as we possibly can.

Halo Week 2015 continues tomorrow with speculation about Halo 5’s Single Player campaign!

Halo 5: Guardians is coming October 2015 exclusively on Xbox One.

Halo Week 2015 Day 3 – Halo: Spartan Assault and Halo: Spartan Strike iOS Review September 25, 2015

Continuing our Halo Week coverage as we get closer to the release of Halo 5: Guardians, Maniac and his guest diskreader117 talk about another Halo game which was released this year, Halo: Spartan Strike, and the game it is a sequel to, Halo: Spartan Assault.  While Halo: Spartan Assault was originally only released on Windows 8 PCs and portable devices, it would eventually get a release on Xbox 360 and Xbox One.  It’s sequel, Halo: Spartan Assault, has not seen a console release but thankfully it did get ported, along with Spartan Assault, on the iOS platform this year, and that’s what we’re going to be talking about.

Are the games worth a download on your SmartPhone or Tablet?  Let’s take a look.

Halo Week is far from over, everybody.  Expect more video content each day.  Tomorrow, we’ll be talking about Halo 5‘s #HuntTheTruth campaign.

Halo: Spartan Assault and Halo: Spartan Strike are available right now on Windows 8, Windows 10, iOS and Android platforms.  Halo: Spartan Assault is also playable on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Halo Week 2015 Day 2 – Halo Nightfall Review September 24, 2015

Maniac and his special guest diskreader117 continue our discussion on all things Halo by giving our review of Halo: Nightfall, a live-action episodic series included with all copies of Halo: The Master Chief Collection

In this video we talk about what we thought of the series itself, if we prefer the episodic or theatrical cut, and give our thoughts on the Halo Channel app it was released though.

If this isn’t enough Halo content for you, do not worry because Halo Week has barely begun.  Tomorrow, we’ll be talking about the other Halo game which has already been released this year, Halo: Spartan Strike on Android, iOS and Windows 10 platforms.