Microsoft and 343 Industries are operating the Halo 4 hype machine at a good clip, and this week’s reveal is focused on what you’ll get if you pick up the limited edition of the game. Gone are the days of the Heroic and Legendary Editions, the latter of which essentially pioneered the over-the-top video game pack-ins with the Spartan Helmet included with Halo 3. Instead, 343 is narrowing down the product editions to just two, allowing fans to get all of the bonuses without plunking down more than twice the cost of the standalone game.

The Halo 4 Limited Edition, which will retail for $99, includes a beautiful metal UNSC-themed game case, free access to the War Games map packs, a UNSC Infinity Briefing Packet, a special edition of the live action Forward Unto Dawn digital series, and a variety of digital goods.

If you haven’t yet jumped on the Xbox 360 bandwagon, Microsoft’s latest console pricing scheme might be somewhat enticing. As rumored, Microsoft Stores have begun offering an Xbox 360 4GB console, Kinect sensor, and Xbox LIVE Gold subscription for $99, plus a two-year contract of $14.99 a month.

Why is this deal so good? Well, it’s not necessarily the cheapest way to pick up a new Xbox 360 console and various accessories, but it significantly drops the barrier to entry. $99 has long been thought of as the “sweet spot” for console pricing. While this new bundle hits that mark, it also adds a monthly fee to help subsidize the low cost.

Sold separately, the Xbox 360 4GB console with Kinect will run you $299.99, with an Xbox LIVE Gold subscription tacking on an additional $59.99 a year ($9.99 per month if you prefer to go that route). Added up, it costs $419.97, $38.79 less than the $458.76 that the subsidized bundle will run you when it’s all said and done. Of course, while the $99 deal ends up being slightly more expensive, you also get the benefit of paying it off over the course of two years, rather than all up front.

Customers are used to paying $10-$15 a month for entertainment services like Netflix and Hulu Plus, and smartphones are almost always sold at a subsidized price in the US, so $15 a month for an Xbox 360 and all of the entertainment it encompasses isn’t bad at all.

[Microsoft Store via Kotaku]

Love it or hate it, Call of Duty is a massive juggernaut. And this week, Activision finally revealed the sequel to Black Ops and the follow up to 2011’s Modern Warfare 3—Call of Duty: Black Ops II. The game is scheduled for release on November 13, one week after the launch of Halo 4.

Activision and developer Treyarch have revealed a surprising amount of information about the game, despite the launch being just over six months away. At first glance, the game’s trailer seems somewhat reminiscent of Battlefield 2143, complete with a futuristic setting and towering mechs. But upon closer examination, it’s obvious that this is certainly not the case.

Cave Johnson is fed up with paying employees to design new test chambers, so he has concocted a new scheme to acquire the blueprints for free: the Perpetual Testing Initiative (PeTI). This Portal 2 DLC will take advantage of the Steam Workshop and a “powerful, easy-to-use Puzzle Maker” to give gamers the best experience for creating, sharing, and playing custom Portal 2 test chambers.

The free “Perpetual Testing Initiative” DLC, which will be released on PC and Mac on May 8, is the second digital add-on to be made available for Valve’s hit puzzle game. The DLC was actually revealed last fall, but like all Valve projects, the development process took much longer than expected. Unfortunately, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners are out of luck. It’s too bad, since a Portal 2 test chamber could have been a big hit on consoles, which have proven to be just as effective at level editing.

[Think With Portals]

Even with some of my favorite games ever coming out of Nintendo, I smile from ear to ear when I see Nintendo failing. I don't particularly care for neither Microsoft nor Sony, but I will give them one thing: they're going with the times. Playstation certified phones, Xbox integration in Windows Phone 7, the PS Vita, and so on and so forth. Nintendo? Refusing to play ball with modern technology, and instead releasing c...reative products like the 3DS.

Granted this is just my opinion, but it seems to be shared by many if you go by the earnings report that Nintendo just released. The company lost 37.3 million yen last financial year, roughly $460 million, despite the price cuts it introduced as some sort of emergency measure half way through last year. It says that the coming year will be better, with the Wii U, price cuts and strong game titles helping achieve that. I wouldn't hold my breath though, a company that sits on so many fantastic game franchises yet completely refuses to get with the times really has no business in 2012. Nintendo is trying to make money the same way now as it did 20 years ago, and that just isn't going to work.

[Engadget]

The Halo 4 marketing effort is in full swing now. Microsoft and 343 Industries have followed up last week’s news that Neil Davidge will be scoring the highly anticipated game with an even bigger announcement: Halo 4 will be released on November 6, 2012.

If that date sounds familiar to US residents, that’s because it should. Tuesday, November 6 is also Election Day in the US, so today’s announcement has already spawned a number of 'Master Chief for president' jokes. The real release date humor, however, comes straight from the machinima masters at Rooster Teeth. The video (above) depicts the popular characters from Red vs. Blue humorously debating how they will keep the date fresh in their minds. Remember not to forget, folks.

With Halo 4 officially marking its fall release slot on the calendar, it’ll be interesting to see what the competition does. Call of Duty, for example, regularly comes out during the first or second week of November. Interestingly, this is the first Halo game to be released in the eleventh month of the year since Halo 2 in 2004. The last three titles, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo Reach, were released in mid-September.

The Halo series is known for its groundbreaking multiplayer, but it has also been widely recognized for its engaging story and emotional soundtrack. So it was with great fanfare that 343 Industries announced that Neil Davidge would be taking over the musical reins from Marty O’Donnell, the man responsible for giving Halo its iconic sound. Davidge is known for his work with Massive Attack, and his resume includes scores for film, television, and advertising.

Along with this announcement, 343 Industries has decided to give fans a preview of Halo 4’s music through a ViDoc and a soundtrack sample (available in both MP3 and video form). It already sounds fantastic, even though our initial impression is based solely off of these limited samples. O’Donnell will always be the man who created Halo’s classic score, but it sounds like Davidge was the perfect choice to succeed him. We highly recommend taking a listen.

The ending to Mass Effect 3 is still one of the most talked about issues in the gaming world right now, and the people who have been actively campaigning for an alternate ending has sort of won through. This summer, there will be a free DLC that doesn't as much change the ending as expand on it. The ending being depressing and practically identical for everyone regardless of whether they've played this or that way aside, one of the major complaints was that the ending storyline makes no sense. Despite some "evidence" of it being foreshadowed, many players feel that too many previously unknown concepts were suddenly introduced in the last 15 minutes of a 100 hour game trilogy for it to be a valid ending to the story.

This is one way of "fixing" the ending that I've seen suggested by players, and perhaps the way of doing it that's the least likely to upset those who liked the ending. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with, and my biggest wish is that they make the ending more customized. Some cutscenes here and there that actually show the war assets you've collected, instead of the current system where you have 200 ways of increasing your war assets without any reason to do so beyond a certain (low, compared to maximum possible) number that unlocks 20 more seconds of video at the end.

Still though, I'm not sure if the extended cut will make me pick up single player again. I love ME3 multiplayer, but one of the absolute biggest problems with the ending as it is right now for me is that it makes me completely apathetic about what happens before that point in the story, and doesn't give me any reason to do anything but rush through it. That's quite a failure for a game that is at best average without the story, and I think a lot of people who don't understand the criticism towards the ending aren't seeing what it does to replay value for those who don't like it.

[Engadget/Press release]

The long-awaited Kinect Star Wars Xbox 360 bundle is every geek's dream, perfectly blending the fantastic hardware of the Xbox 360 S and the iconic imagery of R2-D2 and C-3PO. The special edition console was obviously created with the utmost care, going as far as to include some subtle Easter Eggs that should make Star Wars fans squeal with glee.

We decided to take one for the team--we couldn't have resisted, in all honesty--and pick up one of these special edition consoles for ourselves. In addition to the system itself, styled like R2-D2, the bundle comes with a gold metallic controller--obviously a homage to C-3PO--and a stark white Kinect sensor which evokes memories of Stormtroopers. The Kinect Star Wars game, the reason for the console in the first place, and the standard Kinect pack-in, Kinect Adventures, also come with the bundle. For the full details on what's included, check out our unboxing video.

Mass Effect 3 is one of the greatest games of all time. Unfortunately, it also has one of the most controversial endings to date. Fan reaction to the game’s final moments has been strong and ranges from unabashed love to a general acceptance and even a very strong dislike which left gamers with a bad taste in their collective mouths. Some fans in the latter category have even gone as far as to file frivolous lawsuits and submit complaints to the Better Business Bureau. But could BioWare have actually foreshadowed how the saga would end way back in 2008?

Players can explore a galaxy full of planets in the Mass Effect series, and each one comes with a Journal entry containing additional details about the fictitious world. Believe it or not, one of these in the original Mass Effect (2008) actually reveals the twist presented to players in the final moments of Mass Effect 3. WARNING: Spoilers to follow.