Halo 4 "Forward Unto Dawn" Details

Microsoft has released a new video showcasing their live-action Halo 4 series, Forward Unto Dawn. 

The trailer introduces three new recruits who are undergoing USNC training at the Corbulo Academy of Military Science. This live action series will be shown online, and shows fans of the Halo series the beginning of the Human/Covenant war. 

The series reportedly has a huge budget behind it (somewhere between $5 million and $10 million), which 343 Industries hope will reach new audiences. 

Check out the trailer below:

343 Industries Release New Halo 4 Video

343 Industries have released a new video for Halo 4. The footage gives us a glimpse at the game behind the scenes, and contains a great soundtrack.

Check out the video below. Halo 4 is out on the 6th November. 

Halo 4 Limited Edition Console Bundle Details

Check out this Xbox 360 Limited Edition Halo 4 console bundle! Microsoft and 343 Industries revealed the bundle at the Comic Con in San Diego.


The bundle includes a snazzy custom Halo console, two matching controllers, a wired headset, a 320GB hard drive, a copy of Halo 4, built in Wi-Fi and Xbox Live tokens for exclusive Halo 4 in game and avatar marketplace DLC. 


Not only this, but the ring that lights up when the Xbox 360 is in use has been given a blue light rather than the usual green, to match the colour scheme of the custom skin. 




The bundle will be released at the same time as Halo 4, on the 6th November 2012. 


Kayleigh Powis

Halo 4 Live Action Trailer

A life action trailer for Halo 4 was screened during the half time segment of the England vs. France football game today. 


Xbox360achievements.org have kindly provided the trailer for all those who were not watching the game. Halo 4 will be released on the 6th November 2012.


Check out the trailer here.

E3: Microsoft Conference Summary

So the Microsoft E3 conference is over for another year, but was it any good? Well, if I'm being honest, although there were several games that look fantastic, the huge focus on services and apps was a bit of a letdown. Even Trey and Matt, the creators of South Park, made a little dig at this!


I also Tweeted live throughout the stream. It was the most amount of Tweets I've ever sent out in a a two hour period! If you wish to see all my E3 tweets, then be sure to follow @8_BitGirl on Twitter.


The show opened with a rather glossy and action packed trailer for Halo 4. The trailer seamlessly blended into some gameplay footage, which showed off some new guns and enemy types. The visuals seem to have improved significantly since Bungie's final Halo offering, Halo Reach, whilst many fans will be pleased to welcome back Master Chief once more. 


After some exciting and rather impressive Halo 4 footage, Splinter Cell: Blacklist was revealed. The visuals seem to have improved significantly since the previous Splinter Cell offering. The gameplay demo showed Sam pulling off some Assassin's Creed-esque moves and assassinations, which was a welcome change. 


Microsoft then introduced Fifa 13 and Madden NFL 13, which have both been integrated with Kinect functionality. Joe Montana made an appearance to show off how Kinect can be used in Madden NFL 13. If you like swearing at the referee...then it looks like that may be a possibility in Fifa 13!


After this, the obligatory "game trailer with dubstep" section came along in the form of a trailer for Forza Horizon. Forza Horizon was confirmed as an open world racing title that appears to embrace street racing this time around. 


A very brief but promising trailer for Gears of War: Judgement was shown, a game that takes place 14 years prior to the first Gears of War. It's nice to see Baird (definitely one of the best Gears characters) become the main focus of this upcoming title too. 


Fable: The Journey showcased a flashy trailer which unfortunately lacked in actual gameplay footage. Instead we were shown a clips of the player prancing about in front of the Kinect more than anything, but the trailer did reveal that the game is getting a late 2012 release, probably in time for Christmas. 


And now came the dull period of the whole conference-the services and apps section. Micorosoft placed a huge emphasis on the entertainment side of the Xbox 360 console, and it's Kinect functions more than games this year, and although it was new information, it didn't make it any less boring. First up the director of marketing talked about new services coming to the apps section of the dashboard. Now console owners will be able to download and watch services such as Nickelodeon, Mechinima, and Paramount. NHL and NBA services are also being expanded.


Xbox Music was a new service that was unveiled today. In a move that potentially sees us all kissing goodbye to Zune, Xbox Music will provide over 30 million music tracks, and will also work on Windows 8, tablets and phones. 


Without allowing us to pause for breath, Microsoft hand it over to Nike, who promise that the Kinect is the "future of fitness." Nike Fitness Systems is another fitness style game which will attempt to shape up those looking to get fit. Whilst it looks like it could be quite a good workout, I don't think I agree with the Matthew McConaughey lookalike (aka the Nike presenter) stating that, "if you've got a body...you are an athlete." Not everyone is built to be one!


So, back to the services. Xbox SmartGlass is revealed, which allows for your entertainment experiences to be switched back and forth seamlessly between devices. The presentation showed Game of Thrones being viewed on the Xbox 360, whilst the viewer looked at a map on their tablet which showed the exact position in the Game of Thrones world this particular scene was on. Thankfully they didn't spoil any of Game of Thrones (I was worried...as he mentioned how good the season two finale was), as I know plenty of us wouldn't have been impressed!


Speaking of spoilers though, a pretty spoiler-heavy Prometheus clip was broadcasted during the Internet Explorer introduction. Yes, Internet Explorer is coming to the Xbox 360 shortly, allowing users to browse the internet from their consoles. The presenter also took this as an opportunity to show off the Bing search engine on the Xbox 360 and try out some Kinect voice-activation searching. 


My attention dwindling (and judging by Twitter...many of yours too), I was itching for some more gameplay footage. Thankfully, we were back to some interesting stuff again when Tomb Raider, definitely one of my most anticipated games right now, was introduced. Poor Lara, like the trailers, the incredibly fluid gameplay footage showed her being more battered and bruised than ever before, and the action was reminiscent of the Uncharted series. We were shown Lara using her bow and arrows, falling from great heights and confronting plenty of enemies. The action looked amazing, whilst there is a definite cinematic and epic feel about the game. Tomb Raider looks refreshing, exciting and just what the long-running franchise needed.


After this, we were shown off some brief trailers for Ascend: New Gods, Lococycle and Matter, before XBLA title Wrecketeer was demoed on stage. Sporting some dodgy Scottish accented characters, Wrecketeer sees players using catapults to create devastation. In other words...Angry Birds for XBLA. 


Noew another highly anticipated game took the stage when Capcom introduced some brand new footage of Resident Evil 6. Focusing on the Leon Kennedy section of the game, the gameplay demo showed Leon battling his way through a zombie infested city, flying a helicopter whilst shooting the undead, and a series exclusive...running AND shooting. The graphics are looking brilliant this time around, whilst there was some brilliant cinematic set-pieces shown off. Also, traditional zombies are making an appearance once again!


Resident Evil 6 is swiftly replaced by South Park: The Stick of Truth which was announced by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. True to form, the guys ditch the auto-que for a dig at Microsoft and their huge reliance on integrating technology, Kinect and entertainment features before they go on to talk about their upcoming game. South Park: The Stick of Truth features a "distinctly crappy South Park look" which will make players feel like they are playing an episode of the popular South Park series. You play as the New Kid, who is trying to make it as the 5th member of the gang. It looks set to be a hilarious game, with plenty of Trey and Matt humour, so keep an eye out for this one!


And rather predictably, Microsoft's conference is closed by Black Ops II. Sporting an action packed and rather impressive gameplay demo, unfortunately it seemed to go on for a bit too long...but perhaps by this point my brain was in information overload, what with all the talk about apps and services.


So there you have it. What did you think of Microsoft's E3 announcements? Voice your opinions in the comment section!




My Top 5 Games from Microsoft's E3 Conference:
Tomb Raider
Resident Evil 6
Halo 4
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Splinter Cell: Blacklist

E3: SmartGlass Revealed

One of the many (and boy was there a lot...) app/service announcements from Microsoft at their E3 conference today was Xbox SmartGlass. 


The app unifies content across phones, tablets and the Xbox 360. As shown in a demonstration during the announcement, SmartGlass will allow you to seamlessly switch between a tablet or Xbox 360 whilst watching a film, allowing you to pick up where you left off on another screen. 


The demonstration also showed how SmartGlass can bring along some interactive content to TV shows such as Game of Thrones. In this instance, a map showing the current scenes location in the Game of Thrones world was shown on the tablet whilst the user watched an episode of Game of Thrones on their Xbox 360. 


It looks like games will be integrated with SmartGlass, as a preview of Halo 4's Waypoint feature was shown. With SmartGlass enabled, players will be able to access Waypoint on their tablet as they progress through the campaign. 


Also discussed as Internet Explorer, which will be introduced to the Xbox 360 shortly. 

Halo 4 Figures Reveal New Enemies

This weekend an image has popped up on the internet of McFarelane Toys' Halo 4 figurine packet.

As you can see from this picture not only are the usual characters involved but there are some new additions to the mix. The Elites and Grunts are still featured but for those of you that look at the smaller text, you can see that there are two enemy types, the Crawler and the Watcher.  The Crawler appears to be a four legged creature, whilst the Watcher looks like some horrid abomination.


The Spartan soldier also possess a new style of armour too, with a funky new visor.  For now none of this has been confirmed so it could change, but I would to think if it is on a toy packet then it should be in the game itself.

Written by Anna Harris

Halo 4 Lands This November

Microsoft announced today that the latest instalment in their hugely popular series, Halo, will be released on the 4th November for the Xbox 360.


Halo 4 marks a departure from Bungie, the developers who took the helm of the Halo series up until now. 


Set four years after the events in Halo 3, Halo 4 sees the return of Master Chief, who was last seen drifting through space at the end of Halo 3, thus leaving an open, questionable end for many fans. Halo 4 will address why he is back (and how, hopefully!), as the Chief battles to save the entire universe from an ancient evil. 


Microsoft have released a trailer to coincide with the release date announcement, which you can see below. 

Game Rank Survey Reveals Most Wanted Titles

Game Rank have published a survey that reveals what participants of the survey are most looking forward to playing this year. Halo 4 came out on top for Xbox 360, Assassin's Creed III soared to the top spot on the Playstation 3, whilst the Wii's most anticipated title was Madden NFL 13-a surprising choice considering Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two is due for a release this year.


Here's the full list of votes:

2012 Xbox 360 titles: Halo 4 - 98 percent Assassin’s Creed III – 94 percent Max Payne 3 – 91 percent Madden NFL 13 – 90 percent Resident Evil 6 – 89 percent Ghost Recon: Future Soldier – 85 percent Fable: The Journey - 85 percent Kinect Star Wars - 85 percent NCAA Football 13 – 82 percent BioShock: Infinite – 77 percent Tomb Raider – 77 percent

2012 PlayStation 3 titles: Assassin’s Creed III – 98 percent Max Payne 3 – 96 percent Madden NFL 13 – 96 percent Resident Evil 6 – 94 percent Medal of Honor: Warfighter – 87 percent NCAA Football 13 – 85 percent Prototype 2 – 85 percent Ghost Recon: Future Soldier – 80 percent BioShock: Infinite – 79 percent Tomb Raider – 79 percent NBA Live 13 – 79 percent

2012 Wii titles: Madden NFL 13 – 96 percent Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two – 94 percent Battleship – 86 percent Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes – 82 percent The Amazing Spider-Man – 82 percent Men in Black – 81 percent The Last Story - 64 percent Xenoblade Chronicles - 50 percent

Of the games available in this survey, personally I'd choose Tomb Raider, Resident Evil 6, Halo 4 and Fable: The Journey (despite the bugs, I've always enjoyed that series, and although I'm a little sceptical about this title, I'm intrigued) and Epic Mickey: The Power of Two. What would you choose?

Master Chief to get a Re-Design

Master Chief will be back in the upcoming Halo 4, but it appears that he will be receiving a bit of a makeover, according to 343 Industry's Frank O'Connor. O'Connor stated in an Xbox World Magazine interview that Master Chief's armour will look different in the latest game. He states that these are "fairly radical modifications" that will be "connected to the story."


Halo 4 will be the first in trilogy of games, where the story will see the games A.I., Cortana, in trouble again. The game is set for a release sometime in 2012.