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RECENT HALO NEWS

0  Why Japanese Developers Need New IPs Part 2 Thu, Sep 2nd, 2010, 9:54 pm (EST) BY ADAM MA Last time we covered what exactly is wrong in the mainstream Japanese gaming industry. The oversaturation of RPGs, longstanding titles that change very little, and of course the terrible attempts at reaching Western consumers certainly don't help much. There's really no reason for these developers (or publishers) to be so afraid of moving their products overseas, in fact there are a lot of great reasons to do so. The market is not only ready for Japan to take the lead again, they're almost begging for it. How do I figure? Allow me to explain. More »

0  Things Older Gamers Like To Moan About Thu, Sep 2nd, 2010, 7:32 pm (EST) BY BEN GRIFFIN The gaming world has changed: videogames come on small, shiny things called CD's. A small child thousands of miles away in Korea can whip your ass at Starcraft II. Resident Evil is now considered to have bad voice acting. HD graphics have rendered the outside world obsolete. Hardcore gamers love EA and hate Activision. Yes, sir, the world has changed, and you can either nobly roll with the punches and embrace the future or sit in your favourite comfy, moth-bitten chair and bitch, bitch, bitch. These are some of the topics in gaming today that make old people feel cold and frightened. More »

0  Countdown To Halo Reach: The Story Mon, Aug 30th, 2010, 10:02 pm (EST) BY COLIN When I look back at my time spent with Halo 3, I immediately remember all of the competitive multiplayer matches with friends. Looking ahead to Halo Reach, I find myself excited for the campaign co-op experience. Why is that? There's just something about Halo's campaign mode that's addictively fun, despite its limitations. Sure there are only so many times you can run through the story mode, but while multiplayer may be what fans latch onto for months on end, the campaign has been (and will be) a massive driving force for Halo Reach's sales. Join me, as I unofficially declare this upcoming week to be 'Halo Reach Week', and take you on a journey that most PS3 fans will ignore. Perhaps this is a unique perspective, but I've never felt there to be any tension in the world of Halo unless the player was pitted against the Flood. The covenant was never a big enough threat really, you spend the greater part of three games stomping across every single thing the alien collective has on a regular basis. Playing the game as Master Chief does have that effect however, which is why I look forward to experiencing the fun as Noble Team. From the very start, they're simply more human (and therefore more realistic) than the Chief ever was.  We see them without helmets, as they prepare for battle, and we understand they each have their own personalities and preferences. They are first and foremost human beings, and depicting the Spartans as such has never really been More »

0  Halo: Reach Hands-On Fri, Aug 27th, 2010, 11:42 am (EST) BY LEE BRADLEY Bungie's farewell to Halo is shaping up to be a glorious swansong. Promising to reclaim the magic of Halo: Combat Evolved, while echoing the grounded narrative of ODST and building on the stellar online modes the franchise has become known for, you get the feeling that this could be the very pinnacle of the Halo series. The developers certainly think so. They've stuffed every spare byte of the disc with content. A full campaign, a plethora of adversarial and co-op modes, a substantially enhanced Firefight mode, as well as the frighteningly flexible Forge 2.0 see to that. It's bursting at the seams. More »

	1  Halo Reach Live Action Short Is Epic Thu, Aug 26th, 2010, 5:42 pm (EST) BY COLIN Bungie's marketing campaign for Halo: Reach is probably the biggest for the franchise and they've released yet another live action short, featuring Spartans and plenty of explosions set to a rather melancholic score. More »

0  Halo Reach DLC Likely To Be Multiplayer Focussed Thu, Aug 26th, 2010, 7:27 am (EST) BY DARRYL Halo: Reach is out in a few weeks, but it hasn't stopped Bungie from talking about their DLC plans for the title, and what their focus will be regarding it. More »

1  Halo: Reach Already Leaked On File-Sharing Sites Mon, Aug 23rd, 2010, 2:54 pm (EST) BY DARRYL IGN has reported that Halo: Reach has been leaked weeks before its intended release. The game was put up on Xbox Live Marketplace so that members of the media could download the game for review. However, hackers managed to bypass Microsoft's security and acquire the game. The hackers initially pledged not to release the game to the masses, but it has since appeared on numerous file-sharing websites. More »

0  RAGE Release Date Announcement Signals Shift In Game Production Fri, Aug 20th, 2010, 6:11 pm (EST) BY JORDAN DOUGLAS id Software, the iconic team behind the Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake franchises, is currently working on their first new IP in over a decade, RAGE. The upcoming cross-genre title, largely considered a first-person shooter with driving and open world elements, was recently given a firm release date of September 13th, 2011 in North America. The announcement comes over a year prior to the planned launch, a rarity in an industry that tends to reveal launch details at the last possible second in production. id's release announcement shows a degree of consideration and planning that the larger gaming industry should work to adopt. Being able to set a firm release date well in advance indicates that id is confident in their ability to reach that target, likely meaning RAGE's development is somewhat near completion or at least far enough along to see the end in sight. It's also safe to assume that some time has been allocated for unexpected hurdles, creating a buffer zone after production is complete to avoid delays. This approach affords publishers and developers much greater stability when creating costly triple A titles, avoiding damaging delays. More »

4  Top Ten Development Studios Right Now Thu, Aug 19th, 2010, 10:43 pm (EST) BY JORDAN DOUGLAS Games have always been behind other creative mediums - such as film, music, and literature - when it comes to making consumption choices based on the team behind a product, as opposed to its franchise tag or brand. That being said, the "hardcore", enthusiast crowd has always had a deep appreciation and sense of loyalty toward the select group of studios that continually produce quality. Thankfully, that trend is slowly beginning to penetrate mainstream gaming. With that in mind, we decided to compile a list of the top development studios at the present moment - studios that generate a great deal of anticipation behind their endeavors, and are an influential force in the industry. This list is specifically directed towards individual teams, not publishers (i.e. Nintendo) or multiple teams that produce games under a common label (i.e. Ubisoft Montreal). More »

0  Halo Reach Gets A Taste Of 3D Thu, Aug 19th, 2010, 2:55 pm (EST) BY COLIN Bungie's Halo Reach seems to be getting a bit of the 3D treatment. Spotted at Gamescom, Halo Reach was on display in all its stereoscopic glory. Interestingly enough, Bungie never mentioned any word of 3D support for their final entry into the Halo Franchise. This may just be a sample video on display. Neither Microsoft nor Bungie have officially come out to confirm that the Xbox 360 will be supporting the 3D movement which is being spearheaded by Sony's line of Bravia tellies and PS3s. More »

	0  Halo Reach Gets Live Action Trailer Tue, Aug 17th, 2010, 1:58 pm (EST) BY COLIN Remember the Halo 3 ad campaign? Well, Bungie's being the creative bunch that they are with Reach's very own marketing campaign. Things aren't going so well apparently as the fight isn't simply with the Covenant anymore, but with a group of separatists that seem to be causing plenty of troubles. More »

0  Microsoft Readies Huge Xbox Live Push on WP7 Tue, Aug 17th, 2010, 1:18 pm (EST) BY SHAWN While we already knew Microsoft would be bringing the Xbox Live experience to Windows Phone 7, we didn't know much about what the service would entail, or how close it would be to the experience gamers are accustomed to on the Xbox 360. Microsoft has unveiled the official lineup for the device's Fall debut at GamesCom, and there's some pretty heavy-hitters included. More »

0  Are PC Games Finally Hitting Their Stride? Mon, Aug 16th, 2010, 1:05 pm (EST) BY ADAM MA This has been a fantastic year for PC gaming. Steam has gone to Mac, StarCraft 2 hit shelves, and Civilization V is just around the corner. Whether or not PC gaming is still viable when consoles have such a firm grasp on the market is something that gamers love to debate. Some say PC gaming is the only way to go, with mods (and a mouse) making a lot of experiences unbeatable. Others go down the console route, citing less expensive platforms and more developer support as the reason to make the switch. But in recent times, things have been different. Things have definitely changed. That 'thing' is PC gaming, and its identity crisis may finally be over. I use identity crisis because for a while, no one really knew what to do with the PC. Sure it had FPS and RTS games, those experiences that were far more difficult to reproduce on console. There was the mouse and keyboard to consider, voice communication, and mod communities. But as time went on, and consoles slowly began to integrate multiplayer, voice chat, and pretty impressive graphics for a set cost, PC developers got a little confused. Gaming on a PC went from a slow trickle, to a grinding halt outside the realm of MMOs, and even then options were quite limited. Games like Crysis didn't help the situation much either, as most could hardly afford to run the game with its ideal specs at the time. More »

0  Halo: Reach's Marketing Campaign Should Be Epic Thu, Aug 12th, 2010, 7:38 pm (EST) BY ADAM MA Most huge game releases have gone hand-in-hand with some extremely expensive marketing pushes. Web advertisements, mass emails, promotional goodies flying everywhere, and of course commercials are all part of the mix. A lot of the time it's all in-game footage, with maybe a few cheeky nerd jokes tossed in there. But Bungie has always done something different, for which they'll always be remembered. Looking back at Halo 3's Believe campaign, it's not hard to wonder why the franchise has such a strong following. It was staggering, beautifully crafted, and leagues beyond the typical gaming advertisements that had come before it. Knowing that, the follow up to Believe was 'We Are ODST', and knowing that Halo: Reach will be the final game in the series (at least for the time being), it can only be expected that this final game will have with it an amazing send off. Much like the Superbowl, I'm almost more excited for the ads than I am for the game itself, which says a lot about how effective these commercials are. Almost everyone I know, gamer or otherwise is familiar with them one way or another. It's this kind of detail that makes their commercials a joy to watch, though not in the Old Spice sense. More of an independent film that you wished would really happen. More »

3  Gamescom 2010: Press Conference Previews Tue, Aug 10th, 2010, 8:23 pm (EST) BY JORDAN DOUGLAS Gamescom, Europe's stop on the major game convention circuit, is just around the corner, kicking off with three press conferences from Microsoft, Electronic Arts and Sony next Tuesday. The German hosted event has risen to prominence over the past couple years, now viewed by publishers as an additional avenue (alongside E3 and TGS) for major global announcements - Sony and Microsoft revealed the PS3 Slim and Fable III at Gamescom 2009, respectively. With that in mind, anticipation for next week's convention is high, so we've broken down what to expect from the big three conferences. More »

0  Halo Reach Multiplayer Gets Revamped Halo 2 Maps Thu, Aug 5th, 2010, 1:19 pm (EST) BY COLIN Three new maps are inbound for Bungie's upcoming Halo: Reach, probably one of the more anticipated games of the remainder of 2010. The multiplayer's getting three new maps, two of which are "spiritual successors" to maps from Halo 2. The two maps are Ivory Tower and Midship which will be renamed to Reflection and Zealot respectively. Aside from a graphical makeover, the only real difference to the remade Ivory Tower map is the physics and new gameplay mechanics, like the jetpack and sprinting. More »

3  Top Ten Anticipated Games of Fall 2010 Tue, Aug 3rd, 2010, 9:57 pm (EST) BY JORDAN DOUGLAS 2010 has already been a fantastic year for gamers, with an abundance of quality releases throughout the first half of this year. However, the fall holiday season is typically the time of year when the biggest franchises hit store shelves, and 2010 appears to be no different. With that in mind, Gaming Union has compiled a list of the top ten games scheduled for release this fall. It's important to note that we only included announced games on this list - rumored entrances such as Resistance 3 are off the table. Below is our top ten anticipated games of fall 2010, in alphabetical order. More »

0  Microsoft Unveils Epic Halo Reach Campaign Trailer Thu, Jul 29th, 2010, 3:46 pm (EST) BY COLIN Microsoft and Bungie's released a properly epic campaign trailer for upcoming Halo Reach this afternoon. The trailer shows off plenty of story sequences that leads up to the fall of Reach, accompanied with a fitting score. Looks like Bungie's putting everything it's got into their final Halo game. More »

0  Xbox For Core On Facebook Unveiling New Halo Reach Screenshots Wed, Jul 28th, 2010, 6:18 pm (EST) BY COLIN The Xbox For Core Facebook group is slowly but surely releasing new screenshots for Microsoft and Bungie's upcoming Halo Reach, easily one of the most anticipated games of this year. There's only one up at the moment, but the group's assured fans that more is incoming. The screenshots are an exclusive look at the incoming Halo: Reach trailer, which is probably going to be shown at the invite-only London event this Thursday. More »

	0  Special Halo Reach Announcement This Week Tue, Jul 27th, 2010, 3:19 pm (EST) BY COLIN According to CVG, Microsoft's set to make a very "special" Halo Reach announcement on Thursday. The special event is invite-only and held somewhere in London, apparently The Gadget Show's Jason Bradbury as well as Rio Ferdinand will be present. More »