Halo 5 2014 off topic Posts.

[Ghost Recon]

This Topic will be Halo 5 2014 member posts that I find will be posted in here for now on. So I won't be creating a lot of topics.

 

Transformers Universe Launching This Summer.

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Transformers-Universe-Launching-Summer-62112.html

 

Jagex announced today that they're months away from launching Transformers Universe. They also explained why they haven't released many details on the game lately.

"2013 was a critical year in the evolution of Transformers Universe," said Jagex CEO and CTO Mark Gerhard on the game's website. "It was essential that we just knuckled down and got on with the core gameplay, and that unfortunately meant there was not much news to share for anyone outside of Jagex. However from today onwards you can expect regular updates, and soon all start participating first-hand as the game moves from core development, through each stage of community participation, balancing, polish and iteration."

Transformers Universe is inspired by the visual style of the Prime animated series. That won't be the sole inspiration for the game, though. Jagex has said in the past that the game will draw from various Transformer works.

Universe was first envisioned as an MMORPG. Now, though, Gerhard describes it as a "massively online tactical action game." Players will lead a squad of Autobots or Decepticons into battle with and against players. Each Transformer has their own weapons and augments. It's up to the player to decide on a strategy that makes full use of their unique capabilities.

"Legendary" Transformer characters - Optimus Prime and the gang, I guess - appear in the game as well. It's unknown whether they'll actually participate in battles, though. Jagex is promising additional details on this aspect of the game soon.

The first thing on the developer's to-do list is to release a gameplay trailer and screenshots showing off some of the characters. They'll also provide information on the features and modes of Universe. Last we heard, the game uses an updated version of RuneScape engine and I'm very curious to see how Jagex has upgraded their old tech.

Before Transformers Universe officially launches, Jagex will hold a beta test. They haven't announced a start date yet. However, you can sign up now at their website. You'll have to choose your faction and your commander name when you register so you've got some thinking to do.

"2014 is the launch year for Transformers Universe and the start of an epic journey as you #testyourmetal," Gerhard said. "Soon you’ll be able to experience this for yourself as we roll out to BETA. I look forward to seeing you on the frontlines."
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h5T6qEOCPsQ

 

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‘The Flash’ set to shoot in Vancouver in March

http://globalnews.ca/news/1109902/the-flash-set-to-shoot-in-vancouver-in-march/

 

TORONTO — The Flash is coming to Vancouver.

The pilot for a potential series based on the character with superhuman speed is set to be shot in Vancouver in March.

Grant Gustin, best known as the Warbler who tried to break up Chris Colfer’s Kurt and Darren Criss’ Blaine on Glee, plays the titular character and his alter ego Barry Allen.

The pilot will also star Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order), Rick Cosnett (The Vampire Diaries) and Danielle Panabaker (Necessary Roughness).

Gustin, 24, was in Vancouver last year to guest star as Barry Allen on several episodes of Arrow.

The Flash, created for DC Comics by Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert, debuted in Flash Comics in 1940.

John Wesley Shipp played the lead role in the 1990 TV series The Flash. It lasted one season.

 

 

[Ghost Recon]

I know this is Halo related but I am going to post them on here as will.

 

The Halo Conundrum

http://www.frontburnr.net/burnrs/the-halo-conundrum/

 

The Halo Conundrum

 

 

 

 

Last year at PAX East we attended an event that left us with a gift bag that contained several different things related to all sorts of different video games. One of the things in this bag was a copy of Halo: Cryptum, a book in The Forerunner Saga series of Halo novels. Out of curiosity one day I began flipping through and reading this continuation of Halo’s story as it was adapted from popular video game series to novel series with a fairly fervent following. Was it because I liked Halo and had an interest in where the story started or needed more lore? No, not even a little bit. I’m familiar with the franchise via the multiple Halo installments, but past that I’ve never ventured out to find the continuing story. I simply read some of this book because it happened to be in my possession.

My opinion that follows is one that I’m pretty sure the majority of people who read this will question, vehemently argue against, and possibly even discredit me as a games writer over: Simply put, I cannot possibly, for the life of me, I will never understand the anomaly that is Halo.

Let me begin by saying I don’t fault those who do enjoy Halo, and I fully understand why they may have a connection to or interest in this universe. It hits all the right checkboxes for Sci-Fi fans. It also hits all the right checkboxes for fans of first person shooters. Unfortunately for me, it just never seemed like anything more than an average at best title that became a staple of the Xbox lineup because it had to. I feel like it only ever succeeded because Microsoft desperately needed a first party IP to work with, so they did everything they could to market it, promote it, and make sure (by throwing tons of money at it) that it was successful.

I started my Halo journey the same way most people did, with Halo: Combat Evolved. Let me give you a little backstory — I was primarily a PC gamer back in the days of the original Xbox but I was also a diehard PlayStation fan. I owned the PlayStation for games like Final Fantasy or for wrestling games — games that (at the time) were rarely (or not at all) found on the PC. I was really into Unreal Tournament and Quake III Arena, and we desperately searched for something to rival that experience on the PS2 when we’d get together at a friend’s house to play games as a group. One night while looking for a game to rent, I stumbled across Timesplitters 2 by chance at Blockbuster (showing my age here, aren’t I?) and we decided that might be fun for a little bit. We played that stupid game for hours upon hours, eventually buying a copy because it was becoming too expensive to keep renting. Eventually, we stopped hanging out so frequently so I went back to upgrading my PC for more gaming.
 

I wound up buying a new sound card and it came with a whole bunch of games, one of them being Halo: Combat Evolved. Was this really that game I’d been hearing so much about from people online or reading about in magazines? I didn’t personally know anyone who had an Xbox because people in my area saw it as an overpriced, gameless, failure (with a controller that was the size of a pizza box.) In fact, it was almost a year after Halo 2 came out before I met someone who actually had an Xbox in person. I played through Halo on PC and thought it was an adequate, though forgettable shooter and it wasn’t nearly as fun as Unreal Tournament 2003 was to play online. Pretty much anything Halo did, Unreal Tournament 2003 did better in my eyes. Halo’s story seemed mostly convoluted and ridiculous, and Master Chief felt like the most bland hero I’d ever seen. He seemed to lack any sort of personality in my eyes.

Was I being too hard on Microsoft’s new IP, or just simply too attached to what I was familiar with to care about a franchise on a system I didn’t own?

Needless to say, when Halo 2 was announced I didn’t really care past being surprised that such an average game was getting a sequel, but I knew the Xbox didn’t have much to talk about so it seemed like a reasonable thing to have happened. We went to an event at the fairgrounds one summer where they touted a travelling video game tour, and among the playable games was Halo 2. This was the first time I’d played Halo in a split screen session, let alone via system link against other people on the other side of a tent. I finally understood the appeal: Xbox owners had grown to love Halo, just as I had grown to love Unreal and Quake. Add in the invention of Xbox Live and it was clear that Halo, as mediocre as it was, had changed the face of console gaming forever.

I eventually played through Halo 2 and, much like I had felt about Halo 1, the story was still as generic Sci-Fi as possible with a paint-by-numbers emotionless action hero in Master Chief. I didn’t really give it another thought, figuring Halo was just going to be one of things that people kept making regardless of whether or not it was “good”. What I eventually realized is that I didn’t even care for stories in shooters, I just liked having fun blowing things up, and Halo with its purple and green blood was just too dumb for me get into.

Was I desensitized by Doom, Quake, and Unreal, since those games feature normal colored blood and gore?

I never even gave Halo another thought as Halo 3 never saw a PC release, and as I said earlier, I was only interested in PlayStation consoles, so I didn’t think I’d ever own an Xbox. I wound up working at my local cable company and everyone I worked with owned an Xbox 360. I was the lone man on the floor with a PS3. Casting all pre-dispositions aside, I caved in and bought an Xbox 360 so I could play with my co-workers. Since I had the Xbox, I went through Halo 3 and saw the trilogy through to its end. Hopeful that Microsoft would finally shelf that boring space marine franchise, I felt like I had seen the end of Halo and I’d finally get a chance to play something a little more fun. Unreal Tournament 3 came out and I had a blast with it on PC and I couldn’t wait for the console release. I kept trying to talk people into getting it, but they were all still playing Halo 3. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

Why on earth would they play this self-indulgent garbage when there was a far superior shooter just on the horizon?

Unreal Tournament 3 wound up taking forever to eventually come out for the Xbox 360 and by the time it did, even my interest in it was completely gone. Had Halo gotten its hooks in me? Hardly. I’d simply moved on and started looking for more fulfilling experiences.

I realized my taste had changed when I played through God of War 1 and 2, which led to playing through Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, and eventually ICO and Shadows of the Colossus. I’d never been much of a platform player, just shooters, wrestling, and Final Fantasy games (because those were the only RPG games that mattered, aside from Chrono Trigger.) My taste changed and I eventually started to adore games with a real storyline, gameplay started to take a backseat to a good story experience. What about Halo? Wasn’t that a good story experience? My mind still said no. It was a painfully bland ode to average and anyone who helped make that pile should be ashamed.

I got a free copy of Halo: Reach for being part of the Xbox 360 dashboard beta test, which was the only way I would have ever played it, since I was in utter disbelief that this franchise was still being made. Not having Master Chief as the main character was a step in the right direction, and dare say I even sort of enjoyed Reach, though in my head it was supporting something I’d long dismissed as garbage. Fast forward a little further and Halo 4 is announced. For the first time ever, I was impressed by an upcoming Halo game. It looked really good, graphically, and with a new developer, I figured I’d like to see what someone not named Bungie could do with the franchise. But I never played it. I still haven’t played Halo 4 to this day. Why? I just haven’t. No real reason. I played the other games almost (subconsciously) begrudgingly, but I still didn’t “get” the series.
 

Reading that Halo book, I couldn’t help but think that it was just boring. Nothing about what I had read stood out to me, nor did I even seem to care about what I was reading. For whatever reason, Halo and its universe, story, and even the games were always mediocre at best in my opinion and there were always better alternatives. I always put Timesplitters above Halo in any conversation, though 99% of people would laugh in my face about it. Was it my blind loyalty to PlayStation or PC? To this day I still can’t figure it out. Halo just didn’t impress me, and I always thought it lacked imagination. Mass Effect? Yep, I totally get that. That world is extremely interesting, even though I didn’t care for Mass Effect 2 or 3, so why do I still have an adverse reception to Halo as a franchise? I guess my brain is just programmed to dislike Halo, regardless of how much I’ve changed over the past almost 15 years.

What about you? Are there any franchises that you’ve played that you either can’t understand or can’t figure out how they became popular or beloved?

 

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Is Halo too scared to face its Destiny?

http://www.arabicgamers.com/features/3148/is-halo-too-scared-to-face-its-destiny

 

We've all heard the leaks by now. If you haven't, you might want to read up on a few things. An insider believed to have ties with Microsoft revealed details for a bunch of eagerly anticipated games coming to the Xbox One, and even some unannounced ones, too. One of the tastiest tidbits was the news that Halo 5 had been pushed back until 2015, a big surprise. Or was it? Halo is by far Microsoft's biggest system-seller. Last week's Gears of War news might have been important for the company, but in the long run that franchise pales in comparison to Master Chief's adventures. The Xbox One needs Halo more than the PlayStation 4 needs any of its exclusive titles. It goes without saying that Microsoft wants to give Halo the biggest chance possible of succeeding, and in the process attracting more potential customers to the Xbox brand. And that biggest chance possible might not be this year. Afterall, there is a certain other sci-fi shooter coming out this September, and it's created by the guys who made Halo what it is today. Destiny has been public knowledge for well over a year, and it was officially confirmed as a next-generation game last February. Bungie - the studio that created every Halo game up until Halo 4 - is in charge, and there are some pretty amazing things planned. A shooter with MMO elements, in a shared world and the encouragement to take on missions in teams, Destiny could be a game-changer. Microsoft must know this. Why else would Halo 5 be pushed back to next year? A short trailer was shown as early as E3 2013, intended to build excitement for the Xbox One. And I'm sure many early adopters thought that they'd be getting to play a new Halo within a year. However pitting Halo up against its old creators and the might of Activision's marketing would be foolish. Of course, they're obviously just rumours for now and we probably won't hear anything concrete for a good few months yet, but if they're true - and a lot of them sound legitimate - then it's a good move on Microsoft's part. But it could also be an acknowledgment that Microsoft really needs Halo 5 to be a runaway success so that Sony doesn't get too far ahead, even this early in the console's lifecycle.

[Ghost Recon]

http://www.turtlebeach.com/product-detail/xbox-one-headsets/ear-force-xo-seven/389

Premium Xbox One Gaming Headset

 

The Ear Force XO SEVEN is the ultimate audio companion for the Xbox One™, built with tournament grade durability and superior quality audio components. Experience everything Xbox One™ has to offer and get the most from your games, music, TV shows and movies.

 

The Ear Force XO SEVEN is now available for pre-order!  They will ship on March 14, 2014. 

Why you need it:

•Wireless to the Xbox One™ Console
 

•Full Chat Functionality on Xbox One™

•Game and Chat Volume Mix Controls
 

•Swappable Speaker Plates

•Premium 50mm Neodymium Speaker Drivers
 

•Noise-Isolating Memory Foam Ear Cushions

•Mobile device compatibility*

*Not all features available with mobile game devices including game and chat volume mix control.

[Ghost Recon]

Halo: Mortal Dictata Review.

http://www.pixlbit.com/review/851/halo_mortal_dictata_review

 

Halo games have continuously fumbled the stories that justify Master Chief and crew blowing everything up. Somehow amongst this mess of in-game cut scenes, a colorful and interesting sci-fi universe with tons of potential was cobbled together, ready to be harnessed by a real pro. Karen Traviss has worked wonders with Halo’s raw materials in the final installment of the Kilo-Five trilogy, Halo: Mortal Dictata, giving us an action-packed book with moral quandaries and personal relationships injected throughout – intensely better than the clunky narratives the games foist on us.

The entire Kilo-Five trilogy has focused on smaller conflicts than you might expect if you’re only familiar with the games or the other Halo novels. This isn't to say there's not mayhem and destruction, but the quieter nature of the trilogy is most notable in Mortal Dictata. The story revolves around infiltrating an outer colony of humans and Kig-Yar (the birdlike aliens) to stop an insurgent from getting his hands on an old Covenant vessel that has the capability to glass part of Earth. It’s the perfect set up filled with opportunities to push our empathy buttons for several characters as they try to sort out their pasts, each brutally impacted by the nature of a futuristic military and its conflicts with aliens and rebellious humans.

There is the truly sad retelling of a father looking for his child who was abducted to become a Spartan-II. We see the struggles of high ranking naval intelligence (ONI) personnel as they grapple with continuous moral quandaries in order to keep as many humans alive as possible, even if the means to get there are a little messy. Even the emotional journey of self-discovery for the artificial intelligence, BB, is pretty endearing. The morality of cloning, the underhanded dealings of wars, and the humanity of artificial intelligence aren't new themes to sci-fi writing, but Traviss deftly handles them all and has the benefit of dashing in some real Spartan ass-kicking to keep things juicy and not too high brow.

The thoughtful moments never turn into a plodding mess or into lengthy lectures on tariffs and interstellar politics – they give us just the right amount of details to get the background and understand how the characters are experiencing their world, filled with unsettling Forerunner artifacts, drifting tentacled aliens, and slipspace jumps. It’s a wonderful use of the backdrop created to host endless rounds of shooting aliens, and one we can only hope the game developers take some cues from. The game stories don’t appear to be improving what with the hokey budding romance between Master Chief and Cortana on the other side of the universe in Halo 4, but there are glimmers of hope in a few of the cutscenes.

I’m certain the games will never achieve (or even try to achieve) the sort of personal connections given to us in Halo: Mortal Dictata, but at least we have a way to get some deeper insight into the world that rides on the back of Master Chief. There’s certainly no reason why a fan of the Halo games should feel obligated to tackle the Kilo-Five books, but if you've had a moment where the fictitious universe looked like it could open up and offer more than what you’re seeing through John-117’s visor, Traviss' novels are probably the best place to start. Halo: Mortal Dictata is a powerful conclusion to a thrilling and humanized series that gives Halo fans the action they love and the characters they deserve. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ghost Recon]

http://gamerfitnation.com/2014/02/new-spawn-movie-in-development-confirmed-by-todd-mcfarlane-with-details/

New Spawn Movie in Development Confirmed by Todd McFarlane with Details

 

In an interview with Antwand Pearman, legendary artist Todd McFarlane told GamerFitnation that he was working on not only a new Spawn movie, but a video game, anime and more. It’s also good to note that McFarlance expressed interest in seeing Spawn as an unlockable character in Injustice: Gods Among Us.
 

“Get  him in there and then he takes down everybody”

This is good news, especially since Nether Realm Studios also expressed interest in seeing Spawn in Injustice as well. Still, details about a new Spawn movie included an off-camera suggestion insinuating that Jamie Foxx will be Spawn. Foxx did say that he wanted to play Spawn in a film. McFarlane also said that he will write, produce, and direct the film. Watch all the details in the video interview itself.
 

“Non-negotiable. I write, produce, and direct. That’s it”

Fans wanted a new Spawn movie since the 1997 film starring actor Michael Jai White. We haven’t seen an animated Spawn since HBO’s Spawn, which aired from 1997 -1999. So, the real question is: Are fans ready for the resurrection of the mighty hell Spawn? Tell us your thoughts; we’d love to know.