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Advanced Warfare Xbox One Bundle $50 Price Drop Expected At Launch, According to Leaked Retailer Ads

Leaked ads from popular retailers like BustBuy, Target, and Walmart have revealed upcoming video game sales for the first week of November.

Included in all three ads is a $50 discount on Microsoft’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Xbox One bundle, reducing the price from its original cost of $499 USD to $440 USD. The bundle will launch along side the release of Advanced Warfare on November 3 and will include a 1TB customized console with a special Sentinel Task Force design and Advanced Warfare sound effects, a customized controller, a chat headset, and a digital copy of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Day Zero Edition.

According to BustBuy’s ad, it will also be selling the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Season Pass for $45 USD, which includes the bonus multiplayer map, Atlas Gorge.

Images courtesy of Wario64.

Thanks, Bruce LeeroyCharlieIntel, and HardcoreGamer

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Advanced Warfare Digital Version Now Set To Unlock Midnight Eastern on November 3 For PSN and Xbox One

That means West Coasters in North America who’ve pre-ordered and pre-downloaded the digital version of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will get to play the game on November 2, a full three hours before its previous 12:01 Pacific Time unlock date or before brick and mortar midnight launches begin.

Activision has yet to make any sort of official announcement as of this writing, but reports are now coming in that Advanced Warfare’s Day Zero Edition will unlock for users on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and Xbox One at 12:01 Eastern Time.

Previously, the game was set to launch at 12:01 Pacific Time. The new time gives the digital version of Advanced Warfare on the East Coast a proper midnight launch, but also means gamers will get to boot up a little early as you move further West.

So, who’s going to be playing the ‘Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Day -1 Edition’ at 9PM PST on November 2?

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Double XP Coming to Call of Duty: Ghosts and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Next Week

This Monday, October 27, marks the start of a special Double XP event for both Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Ghosts and Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, the studios announced today.

Players on on both games across all platforms they are available on will have the chance to soak up some Double XP until next Friday, October 31, likely for the last time before Sledgehammer Games’ Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare drops early November. Double XP for both games starts and ends at 10AM PST / 1PM EST.

UPDATE: According to Infinity Ward, Strikezone will be the map featured in Call of Duty: Ghosts’ 24/7 playlist.

See you on online!

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David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Destiny – Bungie Promises Major Changes For Next Iron Banner Event, Get The Details

Having acknowledge player concerns over Destiny’s previous special competitive multiplayer event, Bungie is now promising a few major changes for the next time Lord Saladin and his Iron Banner roll into town.

For starters, player level will have a much greater effect on performance in the Iron Banner, which will now require Fireteam leaders to be level 20 or higher in order to compete with their squad effectively. The studio is also addressing early quitters by providing extra incentive to complete matches. Another highlight includes armor drops that will bumped to level 30, giving advanced players more options for sidegrades.

There’s a lot more too, so check out the full notes below from Bungie’s latest Weekly Update:

Iron Banner 2.0

  • In the next Iron Banner, we will debut a much more dramatic difference between players of wide variation in Level.
  • Because of this, the next Iron Banner will also require a Fireteam leader to be Level 20 to enter. While lower Level players may join in with their Level 20+ chaperone, they will find it very challenging.
  • In the next Iron Banner, players will receive a Medallion of Iron on a loss. Upon their next win, each Medallion they carry will convert into a reputation gain almost equal to a win.
  • In the next Iron Banner, new exclusive reward Armor will be bumped to Level 30, but will still only be available in two slots. For advanced players, this will make them viable [for] functional or visual sidegrades.
  • In the next Iron Banner, the weapon types available will go from two to four, divided between drops on match victory, and purchase from Lord Saladin in the Tower.
  • In the next Iron Banner, [several Bounties] have been tuned down quite a bit, and overall the value of Bounties has been bumped up. Also, they have been moved onto Lord Saladin, who was getting a little lonely back there with only his gong and dinosaur drawings.
  • In the next Iron Banner, Lord Saladin will offer players the option of Reforging any Iron Banner weapon (including those from the last event.) This will re-roll all of the upgrades, but will also reset any progression. The cost for each Reforge will be a small number of Motes of Light, so set some aside next time Xur arrives in the Tower.
  • In the next Iron Banner, Lord Saladin will offer a 12-hour buff called Tempered, which will boost Iron Banner reputation gains. As the week goes forward, this boost will be increasingly potent, to help players starting later in the week to catch up. In Iron Banners after the next, we expect that we will further tune these bonuses by increasing their potency, but limiting their effect to lower Ranks.
  • In the next Iron Banner, you will still have the Rank achieved in the last. But we still want players to come together for at least a few nights of team PVP, including veterans of the last event, so the Iron Banner ranks have been increased to 5. Some of the adjustments above will help players ascend more quickly through these and existing ranks.
  • In future Iron Banners, we will change over from Reputation to an Event Standing model where ranks are reset, but only after we better tune the effort required to reach the higher ranks.
  • DISCLAIMER: Some of the above changes are still undergoing internal testing, and we may encounter critical issues that force us to postpone a change. We’ll keep you posted.

According to Bungie community manager David “DeeJ” Dague, more specifics on the upcoming Iron Banner changes will be available in a separate post soon.

What’s your take on the changes listed so far? Do they make the Iron Banner event more appealing to you? Sound off below!

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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NoScope Gaming Glasses Review – Gimmick Or Worth It?

Gaming glasses have always faced a constant cautious and skeptical attitude from gamers. After all, they just look like normal glasses, but tinted. Not to mention that most pairs cost upwards of $80 – $150, so it’s only natural that gamers would choose to pass up something that still lays unproven. I’ll admit, when I heard about Gunnar Optiks for the first time, my immediate thought was, “Uhm, who the hell would spend so much on tinted glasses?” Well, the truth is, a lot of people who suffer from eyestrain and headaches while gaming for hours on end would.

Even so, a lot of gamers would simply prefer not to cough up that kind of money and just learn to put up with issues of eyestrain and headaches. That’s where NoScope Glasses come in. Aiming to make affordable eyewear that you can also look classy with outside of your man-cave, NoScope is in the business to solve your “Justgamerprobs”. But just because you sport a low price doesn’t make what you’re selling good quality, or does it?

The Specs

The glasses I was provided with by NoScope are the Orion and Hydra models. Each model comes with a leather carrying pouch with a magnetic seal, a cloth for cleaning the lenses, and a card for NoScope’s social media links.

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Let’s start with the Orions, arguably the more stylish and classic aviator-emulating pair of the two. Giving you a retro 70’s look because the lenses are so big, the Orions make sure to cover your eyes and provide a more socially acceptable look than its counterpart, the Hydra. The frames are sturdy and don’t bend easily when handling them, and I was especially surprised with how durable they are, considering I dropped them more than a few times and accidentally put an excessive amount of weight on them while cleaning the workstation.

But it isn’t all killstreaks and positive K/D’s, the Orions have an annoying problem with the screws on the hinges, which make the temples loose and flimsy. Along with that is the disappointment with the lack of a hard case for the glasses; It’s nice to have a leather pouch for them, and it’s very well made, but after all the dropping and day to day use, there’s a massive risk they’ll be stepped on or crushed and a pouch isn’t going to save them from that. That said, the Orion’s modest $19.99 cost means you won’t be spending a fortune on any replacements. Even still, you can always throw in the 1-year warranty for an extra $4.99.

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On to the Hydras. Maybe you wouldn’t consider wearing these out to gatherings or when you aren’t gaming, like you would with the Orions, but that’s okay because the Hydras feels different. The Hydras feel ‘premium’. While still on the cheaper end compared to other gaming glassess, they emulate the look and quality feeling you might expect out of a pair of Gunnars, which by the way, we thought lived up to the hype in our earlier review.

With a more rubbery build, the Hydras grip your face and are ready for any amount of raging or hard laughter after a night of gaming. Not to mention they are extremely comfortable to wear with and without a headset, ensuring you don’t have to deal with eye fatigue nor discomfort while gaming with a headset for long periods of time. Unlike the Orions, the Hydras don’t have any noticeable issues. They fit comfortably with no loose temples. They are what you want out of a cheap ($29.99) yet quality pair of gaming eye wear.

Do They Work, Though?

I sit in front of a TV/Monitor screen for hours on end gaming, writing, watching movies, all of that jazz. Eyestrain becomes very prevalent after the first couple of hours, and while taking a break from the complete annihilation of a collection of alien races can be relieving, it doesn’t exactly solve the problem. That’s where the science behind gaming eyewear comes in. Filtering out blue light generated by your monitor or TV and replacing the very limited light spectrum with a warmer and more contrasting one, the tinted lenses are suppose to help your eyes relax more and prevent fatigue.

Like I said in the beginning of the review, I truly believed it was a gimmick, but my experience with NoScope’s glasses has completely overhauled my opinion. My eyes no longer feel dry or painful and they certainly aren’t bloodshot anymore after staring at my monitor for hours. I was pleasantly surprised to notice them actually working.

But one opinion on these gaming glasses isn’t enough, so I gave the Hydras to my best friend and roommate, Ryan, to see if it solved his headache problem he’d get whenever he went on a League of Legends marathon. To my surprise, he said that (patching various comments together), “Well, I’d always have headaches after playing League for, like, 5 hours and I don’t get that anymore with these, which is nice because I thought they’d be s***. Pretty much wear them all the time now. The only thing is that if you aren’t use to wearing glasses, the back of your ears might hurt a bit.”

The Verdict

Gaming eyewear will always be a “see it to believe it” type of product, and while it might not work for those gamers who don’t tend to get eye strain and fatigue, those that do and want to save some cash, the classy Orion glasses or the MLG pro Hydra glasses are some of the best quality-built glasses I’ve ever had the pleasure of wearing under $50.

Not only do they get the job done, but they do it in an affordable manner that is both welcomed and surprising.

NoScope Glasses ship worldwide, so if you’re interested in a pair, you can check out the they have on offer on their official product page.

Sound off in the comments below. Do you wear gaming glasses while gaming, and do they work for you?

Den Kovacs

Subscriber

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Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel – Check Out Aurelia The Baroness’ Skill Tree

As we previously reported earlier in the month, a sixth playable character for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel called Aurelia the Baroness was discovered, hinting at a future character DLC release for the game, in addition to the Doppelganger class.

Now, through another leak, it appears that the Baroness’ skill tree has also been revealed. You can check out the video above, though it should be noted that the majority of the skill tree seems to be largely unfinished.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is available now for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms.

Joel Santana

Gamer for the past 20 years who loves anything ranging from RPGs, Fighters and of course FPS games. Author

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Speculation – Is This Halo 5’s Launch Date? [Updated]

Update

A Microsoft representative has told IGN that “The recent rumors regarding the release date of ‘Halo 5: Guardians’ are false.”

Original Story

It’s a bit of a long shot, but there’s a small possibility a new recruit to the development team at 343 Industries may have let the released date for Halo 5: Guardians slip.

Earlier on this 23rd day of October, Pro Halo player Michael “StrongSide” Cavanaugh celebrated his new-found position at 343 Industries to work on Halo 5: Guardians by tweeting out a picture of himself along side 343 Community Manager Andy “Bravo” Dudynski hanging out in front of a giant banner of the studio’s logo:

As NeoGAF user Big Jeffrey pointed out, if one were to interpret the red timer underneath the giant banner as a count down timer, it would point to November 10, 2015, which happens to fall on a Tuesday, a day of the week in which most games traditionally launch. Meanwhile, Halo is no stranger to November releases. Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 4, and the upcoming Halo: The Master Chief Collection all happen to fall on an early November release date.

To add some fuel to the speculation that is currently running rampant, the first-ever gameplay footage of Halo 5: Guardians will be broadcasted on November 10 of this year during the recently announced HaloFest, which would conveniently put the game’s gameplay debut exactly one year before its launch. On top of that, 343 studio head Bonnie Ross said earlier that Halo 5: Guardians’ multiplayer beta, beginning this December, is roughly “a year out” from the game’s official launch in order to ensure a sufficient amount of time to act on feedback.

It should be noted that 343 Community Coordinator Tashi took to NeoGAF shortly after the discovery in an attempt to debunk any speculation, writing, “lol that, ‘clock’ reads different numbers everyday. I don’t think anyone actually knows what it’s for.” Whether it’s the truth, or damage control, we can’t be sure. That said, a clock that counts down to something does read different numbers every day.

As of this writing, we’ve yet to hear anything else from 343 or Microsoft officials.

Our take: It’s not likely 343 would mistakenly let a new recruit post an image on social media that clearly indicates Halo 5: Guardian’s release date, even if indirectly, but it’s always fun to speculate, especially when certain conditions line up. While the 10th is up in the air, the month of November is a very likely release candidate for the game.

What’s your take? Do you think 343 just accidentally revealed Halo 5: Guardian’s release date? Sound off below!

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Get All Call of Duty: Ghosts Micro-DLC In One Bundle, Now On Sale On Xbox One

Various personalization bundles for Call of Duty: Ghosts are once again going on sale for what is likely the last time before many of you brush the game aside to make room in your disc tray (or hard drive) for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

If customization is your thing and you’ve yet to pick up any of the content packs released for Ghosts over the past year, including weapon camos, soldier skins, and voice-over packs, you can now get the entire collection on Xbox One for $20, or pick and choose between two different options for $10.

If you’re interested, you’ll find links below that will take you to each bundle’s Xbox Store page.

Ultimate Personalization Pack Bundle \\ $19.99

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Special Characters Bundle \\ $9.99

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Customization Bundle \\ $9.99

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Source: Activision Blog

 

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Interstellar Marines Update 14: Tactical Incursion Brings New Maps and Modes

A new update is hitting Zero Point Software’s PC, Mac, and Linux shooter, Interstellar Marines, that will introduce three co-op and single player maps along with three new game modes.

Update 14: Tactical Incursion follows last month’s NeuroGen Incident update, which added new co-op and story elements to the game.

In this new update, now live, the co-op game modes Survival and Elimination have been added to community-favorite maps Operations and Stronghold, respectively. Nucleus, the demo that was showcased at PAX Prime 2014, has also been updated and can now be played in the Escape co-op mode. New ‘mystery’ updates were also made to Get Killed by Bots.

You can check out the full list of fixes and tweaks in the official Update 14 changelog below. There’s also a new video overview the studio put together that you can watch above!

Interstellar Marines Update 14: Tactical Incursion

Version 0.5.14

What’s New

  • ADDED: Escape game mode to Nucleus for co-op and singleplayer. Nucleus is the new name for the PAX demo map.
  • ADDED: Survival game mode to Operations for co-op and singleplayer gameplay
  • ADDED: Elimination game mode to Stronghold for co-op and singleplayer gameplay
  • ADDED: Hotfix 1 and 2 from Update 13
  • ADDED: AI can no longer see through foliage (specifically added for the Stronghold map)
  • ADDED: AI Guards can now spawn with either SMG or AR

Improvements

  • UPDATED: Get Killed By Bots has been updated with iteration 1 of the War mode
  • UPDATED: AI for Defective and Guards tweaked and upgraded
  • UPDATED: Killing a CTR now rewards you with 5 TPs
  • UPDATED: Stronghold to make it more compatible with the Elimination game mode and CTRs

Known Issues

  • The HUD names and kill messages will be clipped on aspect ratios that are less wide than 16:10
  • The game will stop updating when switching out of fullscreen in Windows (known bug in Unity 4)
  • View jittering may occur when jumping on lossy networks
  • Audio may cut off partially/completely on weapon/helmet sounds
  • Other players will seem to float above or interpenetrate while standing on a moving dynamic platforms (network smoothing will exaggerate this effect)
  • Mainline and Mainline Winter maps have been temporarily removed from the multiplayer map rotation
  • Team Domination has been removed until issues can be fixed
  • Potential to fall through elevator when moving
  • Sometimes bots will not appear in single player maps. Restart the game and they will appear
  • When joining Nucleus you may be in spectator mode. Have a team mate TK the player you are spectating, and then rejoin the server
  • Number 1 clan logo does not show up in the scoreboard. Current number 1 clan is -TEK-

Fixes

  • FIXED: “Audio log progress for The NeuroGen Incident not showing on Steam achievement page”
  • FIXED: “Keycard not spawning in the crew area of The NeuroGen Incident”
  • FIXED: “Achievements show up in the Profile tab”

Interstellar Marines is now in Early Access on Steam.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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8-Player Smash Coming To Super Smash Bros. On Wii U, New Character and Feature Reveals

Full-on 8-player battles are coming to the Wii U version of Nintendo’s upcoming Super Smash Bros. title.

Nintendo confirmed the fact along with 49 others in an over half an hour-long “50-Fact Extravaganza” video.

According to the new Nintendo Direct, 8-player battles will only available on the Wii U version of the game on only a select few stages and only in offline modes, meaning all 8 of you will have to bunch up in the same living room together in order for the smashing to begin.

The new video, which you can catch above, gives Smash fans a clear and thorough overview of the game’s Wii U-exclusive features. There are a ton to go through, including exclusive stages, surprise character appearances, and options, so be sure to catch it above to learn about them all.

In addition, two new characters were revealed today; Mewtwo and Bowser Jr. Mewtwo, in particular, will only be an option for those who purchase both the 3DS and Wii U versions of the game and will be available in Spring 2015.

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Super Smash Bros. is now out on Nintendo 3DS and is coming to the Wii U on November 21.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Leak Confirms Map Names, Scorestreaks, Weapons, and Hardcore Game Modes

Just under a dozen days until the game’s official launch and new details on Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare are beginning to leak, thanks to the emergence a few early copies of the game already out in the hands of players.

CODForum user WhoIsDo appears to have gotten a hold of a hand-full of early Advanced Warfare information, including a full list of map names, hardcore playlists, Scorestreaks, and a few other details.

Check out the details below and keep your sights on MP1st for more on Advanced Warfare.

Multiplayer Maps

  • Ascend
  • Bio Lab
  • Comeback
  • Defender
  • Detroit
  • Greenband
  • Horizon
  • Instinct
  • Recovery
  • Retreat
  • Riot
  • Solar
  • Terrace

Hardcore Playlists

  • Team Deathmatch
  • Kill Confirmed
  • Domination
  • Search and Destroy

Scorestreaks

  • Aerial Recon Drone – 350
  • UAV – 400
  • Aerial Assault Drone – 450
  • Oribital Care Package – 500
  • Remote Turret – 550
  • System Hack – 600
  • XS1 Vulcan – 600
  • Missile Strike – 650
  • Bombing Run – 725
  • XS1 Goliath – 775
  • Warbird – 850
  • Paladin – 950

Options – Xbox One

  • Stick Layout
  • Button Layout
  • Look Inversion
  • Vibration
  • Sensitivity
  • Safe Area
  • Game Volume
  • Music
  • Brightness
  • Colorblind Filter
  • Auto Weapon Switch
  • Auto Mantle
  • Aim Assist Rotation
  • Aim Assist Slowdown
  • Exo Shield Activiation

Update: New details from Call of Duty YouTube personality TmarTn confirm the full list of weapons in Advanced Warfare.

Weapons

Assault Rifles

  • Bal-27
  • AK-12
  • ARX-160
  • HBRa3
  • IMR
  • MK14

Sub-Machine Guns

  • KF5
  • MP11
  • ASM1
  • SN6
  • SAC3
  • AMR9

Snipers

  • Lynx
  • MORS
  • NA-45
  • Atlas 20mm

Shotguns

  • Tac-19
  • S-12
  • Bulldog

Light Machine Guns

  • EM1
  • Pytaek
  • XMG
  • EPM3
  • Ameli

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’s Day Zero Edition launches officially on November 3 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Thanks, Doug, for the tip!

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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PS4 Firmware 2.0 ‘Masamune’ Available October 28

Sony’s massive firmware update ‘Masamune’, originally slated for this Fall, has an official release date of October 28th.

Last week, Playstaion’s Official Blog revealed specifics about what would be included. Users can expect to see oft requested features such as an official YouTube app and Themes in addition to Share Play, the much ballyhooed option from Sony which was first on display during E3 2013. Share Play will allow gamers to give control of their game to a friend remotely in addition to joining their session for co-operative action. This feature will have a time limit, so don’t expect to 100% any of your friends game library.

Another big addition is the return of the USB Music Player. Users now have a reason to dust off their multi-terabyte HDD’s filled with music as your PS4 can now play custom soundtracks without needing a subscription to Sony’s Music Unlimited. (Side Note: It appears custom MP3 support is limited to external storage as there is no officially supported way of playing them of the PS4’s HDD).

You can check out the full details over at the Official Playstation Blog. Any of the additions catch your eye? Let us know in the comments below!

MP1st Staff

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H-Hour – David Sears Leaves SOF Studios, Departure ‘Won’t Jeopardize The Quality Of The Game’

Former H-Hour: World’s Elite creative director David Sears has announced his official departure from SOF Studios earlier today.

For ‘personal reasons’, Sears made the ‘hard decision’, leaving behind his vision and framework for remaining members of the SOF team to successfully deliver a true spiritual successor to the classic games H-Hour is built upon.

SOF Programmer Kevin De Respino wrote in a reassuring note to fans on the studio’s official website, “Hearing of David’s departure was disappointing BUT I want to stress my absolute commitment to this project.”

“I am a longtime fan of the SOCOM games, with over 1,000 hours played in SOCOM 1 & 2 combined,” he continued. “I have also been working at SOF Studios since the inception of this project. I worked side by side with David for a year and a half and I know the creative vision he had for this game very well. Our goals for H-Hour have not and will not change.”

Studio co-founder, Tom, added a few of his own words: “I’ve personally learned a tremendous amount from David during the 2 yrs. and 3 months I’ve worked with him. The Studio and I wish him nothing but success in his new endeavor and he’ll always have a seat in the Studio if he ever decides to come back full time.”

“To quote a Navy SEAL phrase ‘The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday.’ Regardless of how hard it may get or what obstacles may get in our way, SOF Studios has every intention of delivering the feel and addictive game-play experience you all expect and deserve in H-Hour: World’s Elite.”

Lastly, here’s exactly what Sears had to say about his departure:

“For personal reasons I had to make the hard decision to leave SOF Studios. This was particularly difficult since I had invested so much of myself in the project and the design for the full game. However, that design is done and the team is experienced and more than capable of delivering. In fact, they are well on their way to achieving the goals I set for them. Basically, if other factors in your life mandate that you have to move on, in this case at least it didn’t jeopardize the quality of the game.”  – David Sears

Sears will remain an advisor to the team, along with other industry experts, “to provide subject matter and expertise to the studio,” writes Tom.

H-Hour: World’s Elite is still on course to hit Early Access on Steam this March, 2015. According to the latest news, the game is “now in full production”.

Thanks, xPsychopath410x, for the tip!

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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List of Confirmed Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Game Modes, Infected and Gun Game Return

12 competitive multiplayer game modes are launching with Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare on day one (or day zero, technically), in addition to the recently unveiled co-operative wave-based mode, Exo Survival.

On top of staple Call of Duty PvP modes like Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Kill Confirmed, the latest issue of Newsweek Magazine has recently confirmed that the fan-favorites Gun Game and Infected will also be making a return in Advanced Warfare.

Reddit user Skaterkid9606 was able to provide a few images of the issue, which provides descriptions of both game modes.

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Thus far, that brings the total list of launch day multiplayer game modes to these 12:

  • Team Deathmatch
  • Kill Confirmed
  • Free For All
  • Domination
  • Hardpoint
  • Capture The Flag
  • Search & Destroy
  • Search & Rescue
  • Uplink
  • Momentum
  • Gun Game
  • Infected

What’s your take on Advanced Warfare’s line-up of launch day game modes? Anything you think is missing? Happy to see Infected and Gun Game return?

Avoiding knife kills in an Exo Suit should be pretty interesting. Leave your thoughts below!

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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“HaloFest” Celebration and $50K ESL Halo Tournament to Precede The Master Chief Collection’s Launch

Mark your calendars. The second weekend in November is going to be a big one for Halo fans. HaloFest arrives.

On the eve of Halo: The Master Chief Collection‘s launch, Microsoft and 343 Industries are taking over the Avalon Theater in Los Angeles to broadcast the first glimpse of the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta before its December 29 start date and to premier the very first episode of Ridley Scott’s live-action digital series, Halo: Nightfall.

During the live stream, beginning at 8PM PST / 11PM EST on Xbox.com and Twitch, fans will also hear from 343 Industries head Bonnie Ross, franchise development director Frank O’ Connor, executive producer Dan Ayoub, executive producer Josh Holmes, and executive producer Kiki Wolfkill.

Prior to November 10th’s HaloFest-ivities, ESL will be hosting the Halo: The Master Chief Collection Invitational, a $50,000 tournament to take place in ESL’s Southern California headquarters, where 32 of Halo’s best teams will compete in Halo 2: Anniversary multiplayer. Participants will also score the chance to play the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta.

All of it will be broadcasted on Twitch.tv/Halo November 8-9 starting at 2PM PST / 5PM EST with highlights airing during HaloFest on November 10. More details can be found on ESL’s official website.

Giving fans something to chew on today, 343 left behind the first official trailer for Halo: Nightfall, which you can check out below.

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Halo: The Master Chief Collection drops on Xbox One November 11.

Source: Xbox Wire

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Titanfall Game Update 8 Arrives Tomorrow, Introduces ‘Frontier Defense’ Co-Op Horde Mode, Full Patch Notes

Titanfall‘s biggest game update yes is arriving on Xbox One and PC tomorrow, Xbox 360 at a later date.

Game Update 8, as it’s known, introduces a brand new co-operative wave-based game mode called Frontier Defense. The four-player mode pits a squad of Pilots and Titans against waves of various AI enemy types that increase in difficulty each wave, including Sniper Spectres, Cloak Drones, Suicide Spectres, Nuclear Titans, Mortar Titans, and Arc Titans. Defenses can be reinforced with deployable stationary turrets while players can adapt to oncoming attacks and stay topped up on ammo by utilizing new Loadout Crates.

Frontier Defense is playable on all Titanfall maps, including all maps included in Titanfall’s three DLC packs.

Other Game Update 8 highlights include Ranked Play, new competitive game modes like Deadly Ground and Marked for Death Pro, 17 new Achievements for Xbox One (and, eventually, Xbox 360), and new graphics setting for PC.

The full list of changes is pretty massive, but you can check it all out below, courtesy of the official Titanfall website.

Titanfall Game Update 8 Notes

Brand new cooperative game mode – Frontier Defense

Join forces with up to three other players in this cooperative game mode to defend a vital objective from increasingly intense waves of AI combatants.

    • You and your team will face down familiar foes as well as the IMC’s newest combat units: hordes of Grunts and Spectres, stealthy Sniper Spectres and Cloak Drones, explosive Suicide Spectres and Nuclear Titans, ranged Mortar Titans, and even melee-resistant Arc Titans!
    • Supplement your firepower by earning and deploying stationary turrets around the battlefield.
    • Leverage your full arsenal against the IMC without skipping a beat by using the new Loadout Crates near the objective to switch loadouts at will, while refilling ammo and ordnance.
    • Pilots who fall in battle are flown back into the fray in a dropship that circles above the action before touchdown. Experienced Pilots always maximize their impact on the struggle below by firing from the side window of the dropship on approach.
    • Seasoned players can challenge themselves to beat their best score. Try to earn 3 Map Stars on each map!
    • Play in every corner of the Frontier, including the maps introduced in IMC Rising and every previous Titanfall expansion!

Ranked Play

Test yourself! Ranked play will enable you to work your way through an increasingly challenging set of Tiers by out-performing other Pilots in battle. This is not an exclusive mode or playlist and it works in all standard competitive matches.

In order to obtain the metrics we need to finalize the details, this feature will be launching in beta form.

The beta will last at least through October. After the beta, it will be open to all players level 32 or higher. A new season of Ranked Play will begin on the 1st of each month.

Looking for a beta invite? All Gen 10 players will receive beta access, in appreciation of their skill and determination. Gen 10 players may also invite other players to join in the fun. Gen 10 players are given 5 invites to Ranked Play, and 3 more invites per day. We may also expand beta access during this period.

Sudden Death in CTF

In Capture the Flag if the timer runs out and the scores are tied, the match will go into Sudden Death. Respawning is disabled, the first team to capture the enemy’s flag will win.

Map Stars

For an additional challenge while playing the game, we’ve added 3 stars to obtain in each primary game mode of each map. The stars you earn persist forever and you only have to earn each star once. To earn the star just play a match and reach the indicated score requirement. There are a potential of 504 stars to earn, and new Titan Insignias to unlock for earning a total of 30 stars combined for a game mode. You can view the progress of all Map Stars, and their requirements, in the “Levels” menu under “Personal Stats”.

Full Screen Minimap

To improve coordination among teammates, we’ve added the ability to bring up a full map by pressing Right D-Pad or “M” on the keyboard.

New Titan Insignias

7 new Titan Insignias have been added. 2 for Frontier Defense, 5 for Map Stars completion.

Private Match Burn Card Sets

Instead of using your regular Burn Cards in Private Match, you now specify a set of Burn Cards for the lobby. Each player has access to a copy of this set and may make whatever selections they see fit.

    • Fair and Balanced—Set designed for competitive play.
    • All Cards—One of every Burn Card.
    • No Rares—Every Burn Card, excluding rare cards.
    • Ghost Match—Collection of cloak-related cards.
    • High Velocity—Collection of stim-related cards.
    • Machine War—Spectres…fighting Spectres…with armies of Spectres.
    • Fightin’ Titans—Collection of amped Titan weapons, anti-Titan weapons, etc.
    • Amped Up—All amped weapons, all the time.
    • CTF Competitive—Set designed for competitive Capture the Flag.
    • LTS Competitive—Set designed for competitive Last Titan Standing.
    • None—No Burn Cards.

Black Market Additions

New Titan OS Voices

This update introduces new Titan OS Voices to buy in the Black Market. Sid is aggressive and dominating, while Vanessa is warm and inviting. In addition, you can purchase Black Market versions of the Betty Titan OS in multiple languages.

Black Market—Forged Certifications

Completing challenges can be hard, but on the Black Market, cheaters always win. This update lets you buy “Forged Certifications” which allow you to skip all five tiers of a challenge. You won’t receive any of the rewards for those challenges. Be careful, though—there is a new Xbox Live Achievement, “Too Legit To Quit” (0 points), to reach Gen 10 the old fashioned way—without skipping any regen challenges! Players who are already Gen 10 will also receive the challenge retroactively. Skipping a challenge that is not a regen requirement will not affect the achievement.

More Featured Game Modes coming!

Deadly Ground

The floor is covered in deadly electrified fog! Play a variety of maps in Hardpoint, Capture the Flag and Marked For Death while staying off the ground. Deadly Ground is scheduled to launch as the new featured game mode on November 5th.

Marked for Death Pro

Do you like Marked for Death but pine for classic round-based intensity? Look no further than Marked for Death Pro, poised to launch on November 26th.

New Features (X1)

17 new Achievements

Gotta pop ’em all! Are you a bad enough dude or dudette to get all 2000 cheevo points?

New Features (PC)

New graphics quality settings: TXAA and HBAO

Got the GPU horsepower to take your game to the next level? Switch on HBAO for increased realism and shadows, and if you’re rocking a supported NVIDIA GPU you can also enable TXAA (2X or 4X) for increased fidelity.

Improvements and Optimizations

Load times are now significantly faster.

Specifically the time it takes to get from the main menu to a private lobby has been greatly reduced as well as the time to get from the game back into the lobby at the end of a match.

The load screen now displays the correct map name and game mode as early as possible. We managed to remove the delay before the next level showed up, and fixed bugs where the previous map and gamemode showed up in the load screen instead of the correct values.

Decal rendering optimizations were applied.

UI Improvements

The daily challenge menu now has a countdown telling you when new daily challenges will be available.

When abandoning a daily challenge, the selection will no longer return to the top of the list.

General

Changed the music that plays on the last round of LTS.

Gameplay Changes

Black Market Prices

Some item prices have been adjusted to align better with the rate at which people earn Credits.

Marked For Death

During the countdown, the player who will be marked is highlighted to his friendly teammates by an in-world icon and a minimap icon.

When you become the marked player, you now gain full minimap vision. (Previously, it gave you minimap vision of all players, but not AI). We’ve added a visual callout for this in the form of a bonus Burn Card indicator.

Rematch Burn Card

This is now disabled for use in Last Titan Standing.
Decreased the amount of time between using the card and respawning.

Weapon Burn Card Cancelled

The “Burn Card Cancelled” message has been modified to indicate if the killed player was actively wielding an amped weapon at the time of their death.

Burn Card Overflow Protection

You will no longer earn Burn Cards from kills if your total deck size has fewer than 16 free slots. You will still earn Burn Cards for all other activities such as completing challenges or successfully evacuating. This is to protect against excessive Burn Card overflow.

Voice Over

Toned down frequency of VO that tells you if the score lead has increased or decreased.

Minimap Alert

Shots fired without silencers will now make you appear on the minimap of all enemy players. Previously this was only up to a distance of 4000 units.

Bug Fixes (All Platforms)

  • Fixed artifacts due to interactions between Titan shields and particles.
  • Made challenge descriptions easier to read in the challenges menu.
  • Fixed some missing or incorrect data in the last game summary menu after playing in a private match

Gameplay:

  • Fix unsilenced Smart Pistols never showing up on the minimap.
  • Fixed a bug where the Extra Dash Burn Card could remove the Big Punch mod from Titans.
  • Fixed a bug where Gen10 players using Roll the Dice with a full Burn Card deck could overflow their available space.
  • Fixed minor variance in Titan shield regeneration time.
  • Fixed a bug where you could change your Titan’s loadout in the middle of its life, if your Pilot had just respawned.
  • Fixed a few cases where Titans could fly further than expected.
  • Fix view pop when rodeo-ing a Titan that then gets embarked.
  • Fixed a rare case where a neck snap might not neck snap.
  • Fixed getting under the map in Nexus due to nuclear eject.
  • Fixed rodeo animations getting cancelled suddenly due to a player embarking into his Titan.
  • Fixed Titan warnings for incoming hostile Titanfall and getting rodeoed not playing sometimes.
  • Fixed timer-to-next-Titan sometimes not displaying after respawning.
  • Fixed cases of missing attacker kill credit. When a Pilot suicides, if enemy player damaged them recently, that player now gets kill credit.

UI:

  • Fixed refractive effects in VDU.
  • Fixed menu navigation issues when level 50 in the challenges menu
  • The next map images in lobbies will properly clear when going in between menus.
  • Fixed a bug where your loadouts would look unchanged after editing a custom loadout.

Performance:

  • Frame hitch when Pilot connects or disconnects.

Bug Fixes (X1)

  • Fixed hitch when connecting to server.
  • Fixed hitch when other players connect or disconnect.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Learn Every Classic Halo 2 Button Glitch Before The Master Chief Collection Arrives

If you’ve already got a solid grasp on how to play a classic shooter like Halo 2, but are looking to get an edge on some of those really competitive players out there before it returns in Halo: The Master Chief Collection next month, knowing these glitchy but essential button combos are a must.

As you may already know, The Master Chief Collection will offer fans two versions of Halo 2 — the ‘Anniversary’ version and the ‘Classic’ version. While Halo 2 Anniversary sports brand new visuals, sounds, map details, and more, Halo 2 Classic is left absolutely untouched, other than a 60 frames per second and 1080p upgrade. That means all those wonky Halo 2 button glitches that some of the more dedicated players used to take advantage of will also be present in the 2014 version of Halo 2 Classic.

If you’re new to the series, you’re probably wondering what on Earth these “button glitches” are and what exactly they accomplish. In essence, they are small glitches discovered in the original Halo 2 that basically allowed anyone with the ‘know-how’ to skip certain player animations, making them a hell of a lot more effective on the battlefield. While they weren’t originally intended to be there, they were left in for a good portion of Halo 2’s life cycle and were mastered by many players.

As it happens, developer 343 Industries has decided to leave them in the upcoming re-release.

Luckily, if you’re feeling a bit intimidated by these advanced techniques or are simply in need of a refresher, YouTube personality CanWePlayGames has put together an all-encompassing tutorial video that offers an in-depth how-to on all button glitches and combos in classic Halo 2.

Give it a watch and get practicing.

[youtube id=”99qEhvahNE4″]

Again, if you’re hoping to try some of these out on any of the six newly remastered Halo 2 maps in the re-imagined Anniversary edition, you’ll be out of luck, as they will not be carrying over.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection has already ‘gone gold’ and will arrive on Xbox One this November 11.

Were you a master of any of these button glitches in Halo 2? Catch any in the video that you didn’t know about prior?

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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New Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Trailer, “A New Era of Multiplayer”

Another new trailer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is making the rounds today.

Instead of showing off new footage or cinematics from the game, Activision and Sledgehammer Games gathered some of the first ever Advanced Warfare thoughts and impressions from a few recognizable faces in the Call of Duty community, including one from a familiar media outlet that you may or may not be reading right now.

Check it out above!

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’s Day Zero Edition is out November 3 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Xbox One November Update Delivers Custom Backgrounds, Twitter Sharing For DVR Clips, and More, Now Rolling Out For Preview Members

Xbox One’s newest update’s is upon us, now beginning to roll out to Xbox One update preview members and soon to arrive for all Xbox One users this November.

Next month’s update is a big one, adding a number of highly requested features, including custom backgrounds, new profile features, and Twitter sharing for Game DVR Clips.

Xbox’s Larry Hyrb and Richard Irving put together a brief walkthrough you can check out above, while some of the more detailed notes can be found below, courtesy of Xbox Wire.

Xbox One November Update

Show Who You Are

Some of the most requested features being released this month include the ability to customize your Xbox One background and showcase and share some of your favorite achievements and game clips.

  • Custom Backgrounds – The #1 fan-requested feature is making its initial debut for preview members. For the first time, each account on your Xbox One can have a customized background.  You can choose a custom color or achievement art as your background on Xbox One, with more customization options coming down the road.
  • Gamer Profile – You can now share your location and bio as part of your profile. You can set these options on your Xbox One console and use Xbox One SmartGlass to browse to other people’s profiles and check out their showcase items. Additionally, you can now select a set of showcase items that are displayed when other gamers look at your profile on an Xbox One console. You can use Xbox One SmartGlass or Xbox One console to add or remove up to six game clips or achievements that will be displayed in a carousel format.
  • Tweet about your Favorite Game Clips – You can now share your favorite Xbox One game clips with your followers on Twitter. Use the Share button on any game clip you have created and select Twitter to compose the Tweet.

A New Way to Watch TV

With new Live TV and Twitter integration, you can discover new shows to love and see what people are saying on Twitter about shows in real-time.

  • Live TV Trending – Starting to roll out today for preview members in the U.S., Canada and the UK, a new tab will be available in OneGuide that displays the top 20 most watched TV shows, with the list filtered down to the shows that are currently available to you based on your OneGuide settings. The Live TV Trending list is updated by the minute, so you can easily discover shows that are popular with other viewers. The Trending tab in OneGuide is updated to display Twitter – Live TV trending first and Xbox – Live TV Trending second. You can tune to a specific show by pressing the A button.
  • Twitter TV Trending – New this month in preview, you can see what Live TV is trending based on the highest number of tweets. Twitter TV Trending will initially be available to preview members in the U.S.
  • Xbox TV Trending – The Trending tab in OneGuide is updated to display Twitter trending first and Xbox – Live TV Trending second. Xbox – Live TV Trending is based on the number of Xbox One owners currently watching that show in each country, pulled from anonymous data collected at a national level.
  • Tweets in MiniGuide – See the actual tweets for the Live TV shows in real time and quickly find the Twitter #hashtag to join the conversation.
  • Recents and Favorites in MiniGuide – MiniGuide has been updated to include your favorite TV channels in a combined Recents and Favorites area and MiniGuide can now be activated via voice by saying “Xbox Select – MiniGuide” while watching TV.

Store improvements and SmartGlass updates

We are also excited to roll out these cool features:

  • Store improvements  The Store pages on Xbox One have been improved to enable you to more quickly browse and find content. The navigation buttons were moved to the far left so you can find them easier. You can also more quickly find game add-ons, perform store specific searches and recommendations are more prominently displayed. Finally, store categories have been standardized so you can easily see the top items in each query at a glance.
  • Friends’ Game Activity on SmartGlass – You can now see a list of your friends that have played a given game within the Xbox One SmartGlass experience.
  • Games with Gold & Deals with Gold on SmartGlass – For gamers with an Xbox Live Gold subscription, you can browse “Free Games with Gold” and discounted content with Gold and initiate download of the content to your Xbox One console from your mobile device.
  • SmartGlass Store Improvements  We added a new section for Apps to make it easier to find and download apps for your Xbox One, as well as adding a Coming Soon filter for Games and Add Ons to make it easier to see upcoming Xbox One releases sorted by anticipated release date.

Internet Explorer updates

There are a few improvements Internet Explorer available this month:

  • Snap IE – From the Address Bar in Internet Explorer, you can now easily snap from a full screen experience and move Internet Explorer into snap mode.
  • Featured sites – Now, Internet Explorer will show a number when something is newly-added to featured sites. Newly-added sites will also display a badge until you launch them or seven days have passed since the site was added to the Featured list.

Updates to the Preview dashboard app

We’re gamifying the Preview dashboard. Here are some new features we are adding:

  • My Stats – If you are in the Preview program, you will now earn points for providing feedback, including points for completing Quests, Surveys, Quick Poll questions, and rating the update. These will be shared in the Preview dashboard under My Stats. The more points you get, the more you level up, and the more rewards you’ll earn. Keep checking back for special bonus point opportunities.
  • Leaderboard – We’re also adding a leaderboard that shows how you stack up against your friends based on the points you have earned. If you don’t have friends in the Preview program, we’ll show how you stack up against others in the program. Keep checking back – more things are coming to the My Stats page soon.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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New Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Trailer, “Memories”

Seen Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare‘s latest trailer?

GameStop published a new one today, if you missed it. If features some comedic dialogue between a handful of Operators with highly customized Exo Suits and shows off some of Advanced Warfare’s cool new Exo Abilities and Scorestreaks. You can catch it above.

Activision and Sledgehammer Games also released the game’s official launch trailer over the weekend, highlighting bits of the game’s single player and multiplayer. In addition, Advanced Warfare’s minimum PC system requirements were unveiled earlier yesterday, which you can check out right here.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is just two weeks away, launching on November 3 for anyone who’s pre-ordered the Day Zero Edition.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber