It’s been a rough year for Ubisoft, with nasty bugs cropping up in their flagship franchise’s latest sequel, Assassin’s Creed Unity, as well as the lukewarm reception for new properties like Watch Dogs and The Crew. But they struck gold with Far Cry 3 a couple years ago, adding another major AAA arrow to their quiver, and fortunately for them, that vein runs deep as Far Cry 4 has delivered another open world shooter tour de force that kicks things up yet another notch.
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The quest of the hunter and the hunted has begun, today marks the kickoff of the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta, giving fans around the world their first taste of the next evolution of Halo combat.

Launching in fall 2015 exclusively on Xbox One, Halo 5: Guardians continues the story of the Master Chief, and introduces a brand new central character to the Halo universe – Spartan Locke. Peace is shattered when colony worlds are unexpectedly attacked. And when humanity’s greatest hero goes missing, Spartan Locke is tasked with hunting the Master Chief and solving a mystery that threatens the entire galaxy.

Today, pre-orders have kicked off by revealing early details on various editions of Halo 5: Guardians.

With three pre-order editions to choose from, eager fans can reserve a copy of Halo 5: Guardians, plus exclusive content:

– Standard Edition for $59.99 USD ($69.99 CAD) – Halo 5: Guardians plus an exclusive poster1, only available to those who pre-order.

– Limited Edition2 for $99.99 USD ($109.99 CAD) – Everything in the Standard Edition plus new digital content to enhance Spartan combat and exclusive items wrapped in a uniquely designed steel book.

– Limited Collector’s Edition3 for $249.99 ($259.99 CAD) – Everything in the Limited Edition as well as additional content such as a commemorative numbered statue designed by 343 Industries. More details on the design to be shared at a later date.

To pre-order your copy from the Microsoft Store or your favorite retailer, visit the Halo 5: Guardians Pre-Order page.
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Large public betas were a tradition set for Halo games back when Bungie was at the helm of the franchise. Halo 3 started the trend with its beta in May of 2007. It packed three maps and debuted that games iconic equipment system. This continued with the Halo Reach beta in May of 2010. This one was even larger with four maps and debuted the new invasion game type. Both of these events were real betas too, launching approximately four months in advance of each games respective releases. There was actually a chance your feedback could alter the final product. Many games recently have pushed out pseudo-betas that are within a month of launch and feel like they merely lack the traditional day-one patch. When 343 Industries took over control of the franchise, it was wondered if they would continue having public betas but sadly they didn’t with their first Halo installment. Fortunately, as evident from this preview, they changed their tune for Halo 5: Guardians.
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Alltynex Second is actually an overhaul of a prototype called Alltynex. It was originally released in Japan in 2010, but now it’s finally in the West. All courtesy of Nyu Media. And it’s quite the contrast compared to KAMUI.
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KAMUI was originally released back in 1999, over 15 years ago: It was a shmup that hit the Japanese PC doujin scene. Now in 2014, it has finally made its way to the Western market on Steam and other digital storefronts. And despite its age, it’s still as fun and inviting as ever.
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EDIT: ALL SERVICES HAVE BEEN RESTORED.

The Xbox Live service appears to be back up and running according to the Xbox Live Status Page and we were able to sign in and chat with some friends at the posting of this article, Sony Playstation however is still down.

A hacker group seems to be taking responsibility for this DOS Attack, but both companies have not issued an official statement just yet.

@AskPlayStation
Our engineers are continuing to work hard to resolve the network issues users have experienced today. Thanks for your continued patience!

@XboxSupport
Some Xbox One users may currently be experiencing issues signing into Xbox Live. Please see http://xbx.lv/XBLstus for more info. ^AD

Developer Kemco and publisher Natsume are back with another JRPG to add to the pile of decent titles. This time for their Alphadia series: Alphadia Genesis might the first to get a console release however, and now with a new localization courtesy of Natsume. Although like most Kemco games, it exists with just being competent, and not aspiring too much. Still it feels like they put a bit more effort into this one.
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WWE 2k14 wasn’t one the franchises that made the big jump to the new generation launches last year of the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One. It’s taken over a year but the first WWE games for both these brand new platforms are here. The question though is, are they ready?

There are many things that are familiar with the last two games in the franchise in 2k15, the main story modes recreate moments from a point of WWE history. The only difference this time from the previous games is that instead of recreating key Attitude Era of WWE or moments major moments from the 30 years of Wrestlemania you get two very specific and far less interesting points in time. You get to recreate the feud between HHH and Shawn Michaels in 2002 and the feud between John Cena and CM Punk in 2011. This unfortunately isn’t as fun as the previous games modes of the same vain because you get an less interesting cast of characters to play with from both eras, a cast of characters that doesn’t really add to the rosters and tons of matches repeating themselves over and over again.
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Steam has become something of a dumping ground for products that are frequently released in an incomplete state, usually by the virtue of billing themselves as ‘Early Access’. Most of these games are indies; However, some games can apparently skip this process just by nearly making use of an old IP. Such is the case with Haunted House: Cryptic Graves, a remake of an old Atari 2600 classic, which has been remade once before. But it seems that these attempts to resurrect a dead property are best left alone, because this game is haunted by a complete failure of what it’s trying to imitate.
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I wish I had stronger feelings about MXGP. If a game is great, it’s easy to wax lyrical about its beautiful mechanics. If a game is abysmal, it’s fun to tear down everything awful about it. If a game walks the fine line between mediocre and merely good, there’s less fun to be had covering it.

But that’s what MXGP is. A decent motocross game, maybe even a half-good simulation of the sport. For the people who already have an interest in professional motocross, this game is a no-brainer. In the larger context of games, it’s not likely to make much of a splash, because it doesn’t deliver its gameplay, which is solid, with an ounce of flair or attitude.
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