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Steam's Summer Sale offers discounts on 'Fallout,' 'Sonic' and more
Steam holds seasonal sales throughout the year, offering decent discounts during certain dates in Autumn, Winter and Summer. It's definitely time for the most recent sale, just a day after PUBG got its first deal ever on the game distribution service. Dubbed the Intergalactic Summer Sale, which runs from June 21st through July 5th, the discounts will net you tons of games from 20 to 85 percent off their regular price, including titles from the Fallout franchise, Ni No Kuni II and Where the Water Tastes Like Wine.
All Xbox 360 ‘Halo’ titles are now playable on the Xbox One
Microsoft had a fun announcement this week. All Xbox 360-era Halo games, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo 4 and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, are now backwards compatible for the Xbox One and Xbox One S. (Halo: Reach was already backwards compatible with the system). They aren't yet playable yet on the Xbox One X, but it's coming soon.
Everything you missed from 'The Game Awards'
Each year that Geoff Keighley's Game Awards distances itself from its SpikeTV past, it gets subsequently less embarrassing to watch. And without a doubt, The Game Awards 2016 was the best show yet. Couldn't watch the stream? Well, that's too bad, but we've got you covered. Below you'll find a list of the night's big winners in addition to all the trailers that made their world premieres onstage at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. There were a few emotional moments onstage as well, including Ryan Green accepting the Games for Impact award for That Dragon, Cancer; Keighley presenting his friend Hideo Kojima with a statue for Industry Icon and Nolan North throwing striking voice actors under the bus during his acceptance speech for best performance.
'Halo Wars 2' takes the series back to its roots next February
If Halo 5: Guardians disappointed you last year, maybe try Halo Wars 2 on for size on February 21st next year. It takes the shooter series back to its strategy roots, something that's been toyed with a bit before. New stuff like the Mantis mechs from Halo 4 and Halo 5 look to be controllable units, with a heavy emphasis on battling the ape-like Brute enemies. It continues the story of the original game's Spirit of Fire crew and has you battling those enemies on The Ark, a location from Halo 3.
Xbox One grabs 360 games 'Halo Wars' and 'Soul Calibur 2 HD'
The Xbox One is beefing up its library via backwards compatibility, allowing players to boot up some of their favorite games from the Xbox 360. This week, Xbox One users get Halo Wars, Soul Calibur 2 HD Online and The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match. It's a fighting game fiasco with a side of real-time alien-shooting strategy.
'Halo Wars 2' exists, hits Xbox One and Windows 10 in 2016
Halo Wars 2 is the sequel to 2009's troubled yet generally beloved real-time strategy game, and it's on its way to Xbox One and Windows 10 in fall 2016. Microsoft presented Halo Wars 2 as the cherry on top of its Xbox Gamescom conference in Cologne, Germany, today, offering us a short and sweet cinematic. Halo Wars 2 comes from current Halo developer 343 Industries and Alien: Isolation studio Creative Assembly.
Hello Kitty Xbox 360 dazzles while you frag
You may remember deviantART member Ricepuppet from his days dressing up his Xbox 360 in Domo-kun stylings. He's back, combining our love for console paint jobs with all things Hello Kitty. No matching controller this time, but there's more than enough stars, shades of pink, and cuteness to make up for it. The Sanrio charmer isn't the only new mod he's got, we also spotted consoles adorned with Halo Wars, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Chocobos (of Final Fantasy fame). Now how about we see some of that HK love plastered on a Rock Band drum set?Read - Hello Kitty modRead - Go Go Sonic modRead - Halo Wars modRead - Chocobo racing mod
Game developers sound off on industry layoffs
It's all too easy to forget that there are real people behind the power-ups we're so fond of collecting. Gamasutra has posted a sobering look at the industry, interviewing recently out-of-work employees from such companies as Eidos and Pandemic while putting faces on the disturbing number of layoffs that have impacted the business behind the games we play. "In our industry, there's a relatively high chance that once your game is finished, the studio will make some cuts," noted David Lewis, a software test engineer at Ensemble, which will close its doors after Halo Wars (pictured) rolls out the door later this year. "But I had no reason to suspect that the whole studio would be closed." Even so, some, like recruiter T.J. Summers, believe that there is work to be had for those willing to stretch beyond their comfort zones and look for work in "new growth sectors" such as web or mobile. Still, we sympathize with those impacted, especially knowing that the drop off from developing AAA titles to Flash games has to be enough to lose your stomach.
Joystiq E3 hands-on: Halo Wars (Xbox 360)
After all this time we finally got to touch Halo Wars and ... it was good. There's visual polishing to be done, but the user interface (UI) is as intuitive as developer Ensemble Studios has been hyping since (what feels like) the time of the Forerunners. This is an RTS game clearly made for a console first.The UI is incredibly intuitive. Left analog moves the camera, right analog zooms, A selects, X is the move/attack button and Y activates special moves. If you've played other RTS games ported to the Xbox 360, this is a very different experience.%Gallery-1676%
New Halo Wars vid shows off 'Ice Level'
If Halo Wars' absence from Microsoft's E3 keynote left you blue, you're likely in the right frame of mind to enjoy a new gameplay video of Ensemble's tactical take on the Halo universe set upon a descriptively titled "Ice Level."Marvel as Spartans rain down MAC Cannon devastation from above. Be astounded as good guys gather resources, and then spend them. Be astonished as you forget to care about Halo Wars well before the game's early 2009 release.
Rumor: Halo Wars for PC with cross-platform competition
Still very much part of the rumor mill, website The Angry Pixel, "after enough assurances that this is not a cruel hoax," writes that Xbox 360 exclusive Halo Wars is in development for PC and that the game features cross-platform play. The result: Xbox 360 owners may feel what it's like to play an RTS against keyboard and mouse players -- or might it actually be balanced? CVG followed up with a Microsoft rep about the story and was naturally told, "We do not comment on rumour and speculation."Cross-platform capabilities have been accessible through UNO and Shadowrun, and it's no real shock to postulate that an RTS like Halo Wars could be in development for PC. Apparently Sega's Universe at War will have cross-platform capabilities when it launches on Xbox 360 this spring, so it would seem somewhat plausible for a first-party title like Halo Wars to feature the capability as well. Update: Predictably, Microsoft has squashed the rumor. "Halo Wars is being developed from the bottom up for the Xbox 360 and its control scheme to ensure that we deliver a groundbreaking console RTS experience. Given that, we have no plans to develop Halo Wars for Windows Vista at this time," a Microsoft representative told IGN.Read: Fog of War: Halo Wars for PC?Read: Is Halo Wars going cross-platform?%Gallery-1676%
First Halo Wars multiplayer screens surface
The Halo Wars news well has been dry lately. It's Winter, what do you expect? But today, in an effort to quench your thirst, we bring you some brand new Halo Wars multiplayer screenshots. Over at CVG they posted five four new screenshots featuring multiplayer craziness like what you see above, familiar units and old school red versus blue action. And we'll be the first to say "wowzaz!" Not only are we impressed at the landscapes, terrain, units and the sheer amount of action going on screen, but we instantly get a comforting Halo feeling. It's hard to explain, but we can tell that Ensemble Studios has worked closely with Bungie, because the game just looks right. Now click away kids and drink up. One can't be sure of when our next Halo Wars watering will come. [Thanks, Muffin man]
Next Gen compiles best of 2008: GTAIV on top
Next Generation has put together its own list of the best upcoming games of 2008, a popular thing to do at this time of year. Their list has an interesting twist though: estimated sales numbers. Each game is given a three month sales projection derived by taking sales of previous entries in a franchise (or similar games in the case of new franchises) and tacking on expected sales increases for 2008. Most titles are nestled somewhere in the 300,000 - 900,000 sales range. Undoubtedly though, the one game predicted to blow the competition away is none other than Grand Theft Auto IV, projected to sell between 3.5 and 4 million copies. The only titles close to this number are Fable 2 which could go as high as 1.3 million and Fallout 3 and Halo Wars, both of which could break 1 million. Granted, these are all merely predictions, but we'd say it's a pretty safe bet that Grand Theft Auto IV will be the game to beat in 2008.[Via Evil Avatar]
Halo Wars and TF2 videos on XBLM
A new day brings some new Xbox Live Marketplace content, and while we don't have any new demos to enjoy, there are some decent videos. The first video is the Halo Wars walk-through that was supposed to go up earlier this week. If you haven't already seen it on the intertubes, it's definitely worth checking out. The second video has also already been seen on the web, though it's probably worth watching in hi-def with some popcorn on the couch. We are talking, of course, about the Team Fortress 2 video featuring the soldier. We said it before and we'll say it again: comedy gold. Download both videos at your earliest convenience, but please, watch responsibly.
Halo Wars gameplay footage now on XBLM [update 2]
[Update: The content is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. For more details, click here.] We reported earlier today that something Halo Wars related was coming along today, and lo and behold, here it is. A 10 minute video of Halo Wars in action has now hit Xbox Live Marketplace as well as HaloWars.com. The video is the same walk-through demonstration that was shown at E3 and gives an overall feel for what the game has to offer. Some of the things you'll get to see are vehicle construction, troop movement, and of course, battle. But enough jibber-jabber, watch it already. After you've seen Halo Wars in action, why not tell us what do you think? Does it have what it takes to give Command & Conquer 3 a run for its money?
New Halo Wars gameplay trailer [Update]
Was that thirty seconds of Halo Wars gameplay footage from July not enough to quench your thirst for wanton Spartan vs. Covenant destruction? A new, ten-minute gameplay trailer with narration is now available in HD over Xbox Live. The trailer goes over how the controls currently work, as well as show off some of more acute details of the game (spoiler: UNSC troops do push-ups). If you can't fire up your Xbox 360 (either because of circumstance or an irksome Red Ring), the new video is embedded above for your viewing pleasure. Be sure to check out our impressions of the game from this year's E3. [Update: D'oh! Due to extenuating circumstances -- our Xbox 360s are sleeping with digital fishes -- we took the word of the press release that the Halo Wars trailer would be available on Xbox Live. You can still enjoy the video, in standard definition, via the embedded video above.]
Halo Wars demo or video coming soonish
Xbox Live members may be getting another look at or first play session with Halo Wars soon, as it's rumored that a Halo Wars demo or video will be releasing to the XBLM sometime today. In an interview with Ensemble Studios executive producer Harter Ryan (video embedded after the jump), he hints at some sort of media release when talking about the game at Leipzig saying that "we're showing a demo that'll be available on Monday". Indeed, Ryan's comment can be taken two different ways meaning either the release of an actual game demo to the Marketplace or just a video of the demo, but our logical side is leaning towards a video. You can cross your fingers though fanboys, an actual Halo Wars demo would be a lot cooler than a boring old video.
Official Halo Wars website gets an update
Ensemble Studios has updated their official Halo Wars website featuring screenshots from the game and some information on new vehicles that'll grace the battlefield. Heading on over to the website you'll be slapped in the face with a few new screenshots on the homepage featuring battle scenes seen in the gameplay trailer. Digging a little deeper we found the Features section which showss off renders and concept art from a few new in game items including the UNSC Cougar, UNSC Supply Pad and Covenant Air Artillery. Give the updated website a look over, stop by the forums and see what other goodies you can uncover.
Halo Wars demo out before the game releases
Some developers like to share their products before they release and give consumers a taste for the greatness to come, while others like to build anticipation and hold out on a much deserving demo-o-greatness (here's looking at you Assassin's Creed). But good thing for us is that Ensemble Studios is all about showing off the goods. Behind the mysterious "closed doors" of E3 during a Halo Wars demo, Joystiq learned from Halo Wars producer Chris Rippy that a demo is in fact planned to release "for sure before the game comes out". Ensemble Studios' generosity is probably due to the fact that they want to convince the masses that not only is Halo Wars teh greatness, but that their control scheme is teh greatness too. But you're in for a wait fanboys, because Halo Wars and the promised demo are penciled in for sometime in 2008.
Ensemble: Halo Wars demo before release
Gamers tend to be (understandably) cautious when it comes to real time strategy games on consoles. The reason for this is simple: RTS games on consoles have been uniformly bad, with the (arguable) exception of Battle for Middle Earth II and Command & Conquer 3 on the Xbox 360. Even with those games, however, the controls are far from perfect, which becomes abundantly clear in later levels. Halo Wars hopes to change all that, or so we were told by Ensemble. Still, we'd like a bit of a safety net if you please. Lucky for us, the folks from Ensemble told us during our Halo Wars E3 presentation that there is a demo on the way. According to producer Chris Rippy, the demo will arrive "for sure before the game comes out." While we were generally impressed with the Halo Wars presentation, our one nagging concern was the control, so it's nice to know that we'll all be able to try before we buy. Halo Wars touches down in 2008.
