Halo 5 Multiplayer Armor Unlocks in Halo: The Master Chief Collection November 2, 2014

IGN has reported that there will be some special bonuses in the form of exclusive unlockable multiplayer armor in Halo 5 for players who purchase Halo: The Master Chief Collection when it launches later this month.

The armor unlocks are tied into earning some specific achievements in Halo: The Master Chief Collection and watching episodes of the upcomming Halo: Nightfall series. Some of these achievements can be gotten from any of the games included in The Master Chief Collection, some are game specific, and some are tied into the Halo: Nightfall series. If you want to know all the details, check them out below.

And don’t forget, you should be able to wear these exclusive armor permutations in the Halo 5 multiplayer beta this Holiday.

MARK VI [GEN1] Armor – To unlock this armor you must earn the “Your Journey Begins” achievement: 5G – Play your first campaign or multiplayer mission.

This looks like it will be a very easy achievement to obtain as it can be achieved on any level or multiplayer map. This will likely be most players’ first achievement.

MARK VI [GEN1] Scarred Armor – To unlock this armor you must earn the “Cairo Stations” achievement: 10G – Complete the Cairo Station Level in Halo 2.

This is the first level of Halo 2, and it should unlock at any difficulty. Play this level first and you should have it unlocked pretty quickly.

HELIOSKRILL Armor – To earn this armor and helmet you must unlock the “Legend” achievement: 50G – Beat all of the Halo games on Legendary Difficultly.

This by far will be the most difficult armor to unlock. Fortunately there don’t seem to be any requirements to beat the levels by yourself to earn this achievement. My advice would be to try to link up with friends and tackle each mission in cooperative mode. It will take a while but it should be possible. I just hope that 343 won’t require a checkpoint reset if your cooperative partner dies when playing Halo 2 on Legendary difficultly.

NIGHTFALL Armor – This armor unlocks in two pieces. To unlock the helmet, watch the second story from the first episode. To unlock the rest of the armor, you need to watch all the episodes of Halo: Nightfall.

This could arguably be the easiest armor to unlock as it only requires you to passively watch the Halo: Nightfall series, but it could be a very time consuming one. We don’t know how long this series is going to be yet. We also don’t know if we’ll be able to watch all of Nightfall’s episodes at launch. According to some information that Microsoft included in the Xbox Store, the Halo: Nightfall series is going to be streamed, and new episodes will be added to the stream on a regular basis. It could be different for retail customers, but Microsoft has not been very clear on the Halo: Nightfall schedule and, like Halo 4‘s Spartan Ops missions, we might have to wait a few weeks after the game’s launch before all the episodes are released.

Also, what the heck does “second story” mean? Are they going to pull a BMW Films and tie each separate episode together by including small postscript films for each episode which tie into a viral marketing campaign or do they just mean the second part of the episode? I’ll keep you guys posted on that.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is coming November 11, 2014 exclusively to the Xbox One. Halo 5 is coming next year exclusively to the Xbox One.

All New Halo 2 Documentary Out Now on Xbox Video October 31, 2014

Happy Halloween everybody!  With the release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection a mere two weeks away, Microsoft decided to give Xbox gamers a nice treat.  They produced an hour long retrospective documentary on the development and release of my favorite game in the Halo series, Halo 2, and the process of remaking the game for the newest Xbox console.  I still remember waiting out in the cold for this game’s midnight release ten years ago, but I never realized just what a momentous occasion I was taking part in until I found out I participated in one of the biggest entertainment launches of its time.

The documentary is up now and you can download and stream it for free on the Xbox Video service for the Xbox One and Xbox 360.  If it isn’t on the main page just do a search for “Halo” and you’ll find it pretty quickly.  If you don’t have an Xbox 360 or Xbox One and would like to catch the documentary anyway, Microsoft is planning to stream it on their Twitch.TV Channel a few times this weekend.  Check below for the schedule.

• Friday, Oct. 31 at 12pm PST/3pm EST
• Saturday, Nov. 1 at 6pm PST/9pm EST
• Sunday, Nov. 2 at 6pm PST/9pm EST

Microsoft also plans to put the documentary on the Halo Channel on November 11th, 2014.  As of this time of writing, the Halo Channel has not yet officially launched on any platform, nor has Microsoft announced a release date for it, so this announcement could be taken as a small confirmation that the channel will be up in time for Xbox One release of the Halo remakes.

Halo 2: Anniversary is coming as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which is going to be released November 11th, 2014 exclusively on the Xbox One.

Costume Quest 2 Launch Trailer October 29, 2014

I know a lot of players out there are going to be familiar with the work of Double Fine Studios. Creators of Psychonauts and Brütal Legend, they have been releasing a lot of unique downloadable titles as of late, and their newest release is a sequel to a downloadable title I enjoyed a lot when I played it, Costume Quest. Since the game’s expansion ended on a pretty big cliffhanger, I’ve been waiting for quite some time to play a sequel!

Today, Microsoft has announced that Costume Quest 2 has been released for digital download on Xbox 360 and Xbox One, which means that the game should be downloadable on practically every platform out there.

Costume Quest 2 is out for digital download right now on PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, and Wii U.

Halo 2 Anniversary Cinematic Launch Trailer October 29, 2014

I have to admit I was a little skeptical when I heard that Blur Studios were going to be producing the cinematics for the Halo 2 Anniversary Edition which is going to be included with Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Out of all the Halo games, Halo 2 remains my favorite, and I still maintain that it had some of the best story moments in the history of the Halo franchise, with some of the best writing in the history of gaming. I was concerned that Blur would not be able to reproduce the magic that made those original cinematics so good.

Today, Microsoft released this trailer to show off what Blur Studios have done with Halo 2‘s cinematics. After having seen it I can say I’m not concerned anymore.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is coming November 11, 2014 exclusively on the Xbox One.

Final Fantasy Type-O HD Enter the Fray Trailer October 29, 2014

Many JRPG players in North America were disappointed to learn that Final Fantasy Type-O would not get released, but when it was announced that the game was getting an HD facelift and rerelease on the new consoles, that upset slowly faded away.

As promised, Square Enix has released a new trailer for Final Fantasy Type-O, and it does a great job explaining the game’s story and setting the stage for the game’s universe. More than that, if you had any question about how good this portable game was going to look on the new consoles, take a look at this.

Final Fantasy Type-O HD is coming March 17, 2015 to the Xbox One and PS4. All retail copies of the game will include a download code for the Final Fantasy XV demo.

Pokémon X and Y Update 1.3 Released October 28, 2014

A major update for Pokémon X and Pokémon Y has been released by Nintendo this week. The update includes a variety of bug fixes for both of the Generation 6 Pokémon titles as well as all of the previous fixes from earlier updates.

To update your game, you must download the 1.3 patch from the Nintendo eShop. Simply do a search for “Update” and the 1.3 updates for either game should come up on the list of downloads. If you don’t have a wireless Internet connection at your location, I would recommend bringing your 3DS to a Nintendo Zone location. Nintendo Zone locations can typically be found at areas with AT&T hotspots and offer free wireless Internet to 3DS owners. Don’t forget to update your 3DS firmware while you’re there, since you can’t access the eShop without the most recent 3DS firmware installed.

Two versions of the 1.3 update were released, one for Pokémon X and one for Pokémon Y. You must install the proper update for your version of the game to ensure compatibility with your game. You do not need to have any previous updates installed on your 3DS to install update 1.3.

The 1.3 update can be downloaded right now and is required to use the game’s online features.

Pokémon X and Pokémon Y are out now on the Nintendo 3DS.

Playstation App 2.0.7 Released October 28, 2014

Because of the major PS4 system update release today, Sony has had to update the official Playstation Companion App for Smartphones. This was a pretty smart move, as I’ve been having issues with the Playstation App’s Second Screen functionality since Apple released iOS 8. Hopefully this new version of the app fixes that.

The new version comes with an updated new interface and can now support a tablet layout. Check your device’s official App Store to install the update.

UPDATE: The new version of the app does seem to fix the Second Screen issues I’ve been having. If you’ve been having issues with connecting your phone to your PS4 since installing iOS 8, make sure to update your app to the new version.

PS4 Software Update 2.00 Released October 28, 2014

PS4 owners hoping to finally make use of the long touted game sharing feature can rejoice as Software Update 2.00 has just been released.

The new required update brings in a ton of new features for the Playstation 4 including the previously mentioned game sharing, support for the soon to be released YouTube app, and a whole lot more. Take a look for yourselves at all the new features.

The PS4 2.00 system update is required to use the Playstation Network.

Xbox One $50 Holiday Price Cut Announced October 27, 2014

Anyone interested in picking up the Xbox One this holiday season will find a little bit more cash left on their pockets than they were expecting. Microsoft has confirmed that Xbox One bundles sold between November 2nd, 2014 and January 3rd, 2015 will be sold at a $50 discount.

This sale applies across all Xbox One bundles, and there are going to be a few of them out this holiday. Only some bundles will include a Kinect 2.0, so keep that in mind if you would like one with your new console.