Check out this new Halo 4 video from Waypoint. 

Get into the minds of three recruits as they enter Corbulo Academy in Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.

Welcome to Corbulo Academy of Military Science, the UNSC’s premiere training facility for its brightest minds. From the very beginning, this arduous academy readies them for a life a of order, structure, sacrifice and belief in the righteous cause of the UNSC.

Way back in the magical land of Yesteryear, I eagerly awaited my Limited Collector’s Edition of Forza 4. Similar to past iterations of Forza LCE, it sported a super-shiny box chock full of super special codes and VIP-only DLC. Forza 4 also included a Top Gear book, a flash drive that didn’t work, and some other shit I already forgot about. It wasn’t the box that made the LCE special, it was the coveted exclusive content that pushed me to order early and pay the extra twenty bucks. Forza Horizon offers some of that VIP magic to those who pay in early including day-one exclusive DLC, another shiny box and a little bit of swag.

The Cars

Forza Horizon features five exclusive cars for VIPs only. Most of these cars are in the current Forza game. Be glad they are not part of a car pack.

2012 Audi R8 GT Spyder

Cruise Colorado with a sexy topless German. Sure this V10, AWD monster plows into turns and lags on the straights, but at least you won’t lose your tan driving it! Every race is a Kodak moment.

2011 Koenigsegg Agera

Since the inclusion of the mighty CC8S in the first game, the Swedish car maker has been represented in every iteration of Forza. The Agera boasts a 940 HP twin turbo V8 that does 0 to 60 in under three seconds and a top speed in excess of 260 MPH.

2011 Lamborghini Sesto Elemento

This carbon fiber, AWD Sesto Elemento features an incredibly distinctive style. There isn’t a car on the road that looks anything like it. But can it be converted to RWD? I like the car to turn when I ask it to.

2012 Pagani Huayra

This snub-nosed Pagani has been in development nearly as long as Duke Nukem. 700 HP in a car that weighs under 3000 pounds will certainly induce envy from the cheap seats.

2011 RUF Rt 12 R

RUF knows how to take a Porsche and make it snap. Take 730 HP and cram it into a 911 and ta-da, magic! Cars like this are why folks hate VIPs.

Additional Perks

Custom-designed Steelbook™ packaging
Horizon Festival ticket to access exclusive Xbox LIVE content
Day 1 Add-on Pack with five cars (more details to come soon)
Horizon Accelerator Token Pack
Five exclusive LCE Car Pack liveries (more details to come soon)
The ultra-special “VIP icon” next to your gamertag
Access to exclusive “rivals mode” events
Exclusive in-game gifts from the FM Community (presumably cars)
Expanded storefront with extra slots for pics, replays, designs, etc.
Expanded gallery space at forzamotorsport.net

Turn 10 traditionally gives VIPs a fair amount of exclusive content for the money. Forza Horizon will not be the exception. Undoubtedly, there will come a day when VIP status is made available to all players. If you want it now, you need to reserve your LCE quickly.

Turn 10 will announce the car lineup, a few at a time (sound familiar?), to those following on Facebook and Twitter beginning August 23.

Forza Horizon hits the shelves in November.

For those of us following the Halo 4 news, this piece is only news because Forbes is reporting it. It feels good reading about it on there though. Exciting days to come.

One tidbit I noticed in the article is that we'll be running into a certain someone during Spartan Ops missions. This is new news to me.

Read on.

Source: Forbes Article

For gamers, November 6 isn’t just Election Day. It’s the day when the Halo Nation get their collective hands on the long-awaited Xbox game, Halo 4. But gamers have even more to look forward to than the continuing adventures of the Master Chief and his ethereal AI sidekick, Cortana. 343 Industries will also be releasing the first segment of Spartan Ops, one of ten “episodic co-op adventures” (like a TV series but streamed via your Xbox).

The episode sets the context for a gameplay mission. In other words, after you watch the episode, you can actually play it to continue the plot of the episode you’ve just seen.

But you don’t just play one adventure per episode. You play five. According to 343 franchise development director Frank O’Connor, “Each week, we’ll introduce five [emphasis mine] 10 to 15-minute missions that continue the story of the UNSC Infinity.”

That’s a whole lot of Covenant-killing action—and that’s in addition to Halo 4. (Spartan Ops is free with the purchase of the game, although Halo 4 will set you back $59.99 or $99.99 for the limited edition.)

Even though Spartan Ops will be released the same day as Halo 4, Spartan Ops is actually a sequel to the main game. But rather than further the storyline of the Master Chief, the series will follow two Spartan squads, Crimson and Majestic. That way, Spartan Ops will keep spoilers to a minimum. O’Connor, however, offered tantalizing tidbits:

“The story of the UNSC Infinity intersects with the Halo 4 campaign, but continues on through Spartan Ops after the events of Halo 4. The UNSC Infinity plays an important role in Master Chief’s adventure, and while Spartan Ops is separate from Halo 4’s campaign, don’t be surprised if you periodically cross paths with the Chief.

“In the first episode, you’re going to find the Covenant is doing an archeological dig and has discovered an ancient artifact. You don’t know what it is, but the Covenant wants it, so that’s good enough for you.”

The “you” O’Connor refers to is a Spartan supersoldier (either male or female, your choice) that you can personalize with “a new armor modification system that introduces gameplay-enhancing customizations for the first time in a Halo game.” As you progress through the game, you unlock more, presumably more awesome, gear.

You can go it alone, but O’Connor said that single-player gameplay will be difficult. However, Spartan Ops supports “matchmaking,” that is, the game “will find you three other players at the same state of the series as you are, so you can play it together and hopefully make some new friends.” (And everybody needs friends who would kill for you, even virtually.)

Will any familiar voice actors make an audial appearance? O’Connor said, “We have a couple of actors in the game we haven’t announced. It’s not a star vehicle, but there are great journeymen character actors in the series.”

Sounds like a terrific way to introduce and develop the Halo storyline. Heck, it sounds like a terrific way to create a whole new form of entertainment and media delivery.

But are these daily episodic missions really only fifteen minutes each? “The gameplay is as long as your friends are cooperating,” said O’Connor.

I’m sure your week is looking bleak at this point. As you bury your tired face into your desk behind that cold coffee, let me remind you that it is Tuesday. New release day.

Hopefully you carved out some time in your busy schedule for this week’s new games. I for one am very excited for one in particular, maybe more. You know how it can get at the game store. It’s worse than a casino in there.

Multi-Platform Releases

Transformers Fall of Cybertron - Leading the charge this week with more trailers than any other game is High Moon Studio’s Transformers Fall of Cybertron. Available on PC, X360 and PS3, you can’t say you didn’t see this coming. Cybertron final days are here and we are all invited to watch. I expect autonomic perfection.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive - Once the #1 online shooter, Counter-Strike, the shooter franchise that has been around for 12 years now. It’s back, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a downloadable title on Steam (PC & Mac),  X360 and PS3. From Valve, the makers of Half-Life, Portal and Left 4 Dead this looks pretty darn good. Team-based multiplayer for a lot less than 60 bucks.

Playstation

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection - Solid Snake is coming to the PS Vita. Metal Gear Solid HD Collection includes games 2 & 3 in high defintion for your mobile needs. With optimized touch controls this could be a good use of memory card space. Zoom in on cut-scenes, peek around corners, perform quick melee moves all with the Vita’s touch controls. Don’t forget you can transfarr this to your PS3 version.

Way of the Samurai 4 - This is a sandbox style third-person game with a slicing history lesson. You are a lone samurai arriving in a small Japanese village. Based on the historical events of the time, this open ended story allows you to choose exactly how you want the story to unravel. Sure to really earn that M for Mature rating.

Nintendo 3DS

New Super Mario Bros. 2 - It’s time to go there again, that’s right the Mushroom Kingdom awaits in its latest reiteration. New Super Mario Bros. 2 releases this week as a stand alone title as well as a bundled with the new 3DS XL. I saw it running on the new system myself and I want it--am I ready to drop the bills on a 3DS for just Mario? Not just yet. This purchase is a given if you already own a 3DS.

Other

Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition - If you masochists out there need some more life out of Dark Souls you’re in luck. I, myself, never made it past 3 feet in Demon Souls. Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition releases for PC. This new version features more of just about everything; new enemies, new NPC, new areas, new bosses, weapons and armor. Maybe there is a PC modder out there that can give you half a chance at surviving.

Should be a fun trip to the store this week (or order online you otaku you). I have my checklist in order and hope to get some gaming in now that this article is finished. One more thing, in case your neck of the woods isn’t covered in black, white and purple posters too, Darksiders II released for all platforms last week.

It's hard to not be excited for Halo 4. The Halo series is the foundation of 2old2play and our upcoming LAN will feature Halo 4 as THE game to play for hours on end, or at least until you can no longer see straight.

The next installment of the Halo series is set to take the gaming world by storm this November. We're sure to see more trailers, more videos and more news about the game from 343 Industries in the coming months. Their latest teaser is a video called "Prelude" and is a behind the scenes look at the making of Halo 4. Enjoy!

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Joooeeeeee Danger... A sequel to one of the most loved downloadable titles is in the works and coming in 2013.

Well, I'm not the kind to kiss and tell but...

Hello Games is excited to announce the sequel to their highly rated, 2010 PlayStation Network game Joe Danger. Joe is a world famous stunt-man fresh off his comeback tour who is as funny as he is dexterous. The game is a dirt bike racer with the charm of Excitebike and the style points of SSX sprinkled over with some slapstick comedy. A side scrolling game where you maneuver Joe’s bike over obstacles, do continuous wheelies and most importantly rock crazy tricks. I still have fond memories of racking up crazy points and trying to beat the best time. In this new game, Joe is heading to Hollywood to the set of his latest adventure: Joe Danger 2 The Movie.

Fill up your boost meter

It looks like our favorite stunt-man has been adding some new skills to his resumé, because he is back on the dirt bike, on skis, with a jack pack, on an ATC, in a runaway rail car and a motorcycle, and even what looks like a unicycle. All these new methods of play seem to work within the same gameplay system as the original Joe Danger. The recently released trailer boasts some more information like: 50 characters, 20 vehicles, 100 levels, Multiplayer and Create and Share (the Joe Danger level editor). I'm sure there will be more surprises as we get closer to release.

A collaboration between Warner Bros. Interactive and Midway brought forth the fruit that was DC vs Mortal Kombat back in 2008, and that fruit was actually a turd disguised as a banana. Midway’s Ed Boon has since started NetherRealm Studios, who was responsible for the decent Mortal Kombat series reboot.

Injustice: Gods Among Us is a “let’s give it another shot, Ed” reunion with Warner Bros. that, this time, focuses solely on the DC side of the universe. Injustice: Gods Among Us is a 2D fighting game, powered by the Unreal 3 engine. A dedicated button will be used for environmental interaction, and different characters will interact differently with environmental assets. Like Mortal Kombat, damage will be shown as bruising, bleeding, and costume deterioration.

As Injustice is aiming for a Teen Rating, players should not expect the bloody fatalities from Ed’s other game. Finishing moves will be similar to the super moves from DC vs MK: brutal but not messy. On-screen blood will be limited and characters should leave with all their limbs and organs more or less intact.

Catwoman Vignette 

Just released this week, the Catwoman vignette trailer shows quite a bit of polish. The fighting moves are fast, and the combos and special moves look to have the traditional Ed Boon learning curve: button mashers beware! Warner Bros. also promises “a deep, original story featuring a large cast of favorite DC Comics icons.”  

Current Playable Character List

Catwoman
Wonder Woman 
Batman
Superman
Aquaman (just kidding)
Solomon Grundy
The Flash
Green Lantern
Harley Quinn
Cyborg (yes...the guy from Teen Titans)
Nightwing

Additional Characters?

The rumor mill is in full grind, and deservedly so. Lex Luthor and The Joker are two strong possibilities for the roster. The list is weighted in favor of the heroes of DC right now, so there’s plenty of room to squeeze in some more villians. Injustice is in development for the Wii, PS3, and the XBox 360. Release date should be announced sometime in 2013.

This week marks the possible beginning of the end of the Summer doldrums in game releases with the hotly anticipated Sleeping Dogs hitting store shelves this week. If you are not into John Woo action films, there is a lineup of downloadable games that may be more to your liking. 

 PC Releases

It is up to you and your arsenal of pails, buckets, barrels, sponges, hammers, etc to catch the drips, fix the leaks, clean things up and save the building. Drip Drip by Imminent Games falls into the realm of a RTS/tower defense type of game but instead of zombies, aliens or hordes of orcs you are fighting real time water simulated drip upon real time water simulated drip. Weather the storm, save the building and get rewards to help you in the next town. Drip Drip will be available for PC download August 14th.

Krater has been available on Steam as a work in progress since June 12th but if you don’t have Steam it is downloadable for your PC August 17th.

This well received PS Vita launch title from Drinkbox Studios is coming to the PC via Steam on August 15th. Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack! is a really long title for a 2D side scrolling puzzle platformer. You are a mutant blob out for vengeance as you gobble up pretty much everything in your path. Think Super Meat Boy mixed with Katamari. You grow until buildings, people, vehicles are no match for your gigantic blobiness but your size isn’t the ultimate goal. You use your size to solve puzzles, some may require you to be big while others small but the goal is always to get to the end of the level.

 DS Releases

Borderlands 2, scheduled for release on September 18, is undoubtedly one of the most highly anticipated games for this Fall. In the most recently released trailer we get to know Handsome Jack a bit better as he wants our heroes to "Come and Get Me".

"You know you idiots are so pathetic!"

"Come and Get Me" Trailer

Syfy Channel and Trion Worlds are bringing us their take on the post-apocalyptic, alien invasion genre. What is it that is going to make this show different?

Where the Viewers Are

Television executives worth the price of their expensive suits are always trying to figure out how to capture the so-called “second screen” experience. Executives have known for some time that viewer’s eyes are not only on their televisions. Many viewer eyes are also on their computers and, more appropriately, on smartphones and tablets. Many popular shows and networks are attempting to cash in on this experience by offering “play along” content for viewers. AMC’s The Walking Dead features “Story Sync”, the CW features a social game called “CWingo” and Disney features “Second Screen” for use with their DVD/Blu Ray library of movies.

The Next Big Thing?

The content provided thus far hasn’t blown me away. In fact, I feel you must be either a rabid fan or maybe just plain curious to check out these experiences. Syfy seeks to change that perception by capitalizing on the very popular MMO market. Both a new television series and MMO game entitled Defiance will release simultaneously in April 2013. The plan is to have key plot points, such as references to battles and weather conditions, appear both in the show and in the game at about the same time.

Defiance is set on earth in the near future where seven alien species join humans on earth’s drastically transformed landscape. The name Defiance leads us to believe there will be some sort of uprising or revolution. Episodes focus on the interactions between the now extremely diverse human and alien populations. An article from Ad Age (a weekly trade magazine for advertisers) states they are looking to integrate advertising on both platforms.

At the Helm of the New World

Trion Worlds is an American game developer and publisher whose primary focus is MMOs. Trion was founded in 2006 by Lars Buttler. Formerly Vice President for Global Online at Electronic Arts, Buttler oversaw several games including Ultima Online. The company develops on the Trion Platform. Tailor made to support connected games, Rift (2011) was one of the first games Trion developed on their platform. The company’s team consists of several industry veterans. The team’s previous titles include Aion, World of Warcraft and EverQuest as well as Pogo.com. Trion began work on the Defiance MMO in 2010.

Kevin Murphy, executive producer of an interesting list of shows, is the series’ showrunner.  Priest director Scott Stewart directed the pilot which began filming in July in Toronto. The cast of Defiance looks superb. Syfy producers cast several TV favorites such as Julie Benz (Angel, Dexter and No Ordinary Family), Jamie Murray (Warehouse 13) and Mia Kirshner (24, The L Word). The series stars Grant Bowler (Ugly Betty and True Blood) as Joshua Nolan, a law-keeper in a frontier boomtown that is one of the new world’s few heavily populated areas. Check out the entire cast here.

Invasion!

Specific information on the story is vague. As noted on the Defiance website: “And with the Arkfall came the Terramorph engines: machines designed to optimize the Earth’s surface for Votan habitation.” “Arkfall,” the name of the cataclysmic arrival of the Votan on earth, was followed by fifteen years of famine, disease, and war. In this time different alien races began to cohabit the earth. The story begins at this point. “Arktech” is some sort of foreign substance brought to earth by the Votan (I’m betting one of the more angry alien species). Arktech is important and valuable enough that both humans and aliens scramble to gather it. Playing as one of the “Arkhunters” your victories in this persistent world impact the television serial drama.

Defiance gets its name from the in-game township of Defiance. Built on the ruins of St. Louis, Missouri, it is a popular spot due to the useful ore in the nearby mountains. This town is inhabited by rebel Votans, allied aliens, humans and more. In this newly-formed civilization humans and aliens must learn to coexist peacefully. Episodes will take place in and around this boom-town.

When an MMO isn’t just an MMO

What makes this MMO unique? It’s linked to a TV show and it’s coming to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC! The user base is expected to be quite large across all these platforms. Trion’s dynamic-content technology creates gameplay that unites players rather than players playing on their own. Defiance calls these dynamic gameplay events “Arkfall Events.” Events are named after Votan ships that were destroyed while in earth’s orbit. Pieces of these destroyed ships fall to Earth occasionally, rich in rare resources that draw dangerous crowds.

A Link to the Future?

2Old2Play looks forward to seeing more progressive content like Defiance. With recent advances in technology such as SmartGlass and various Cloud services, it’s nice to see our devices finally linking together. Syfy and Trion are taking a gamble on the recent second screen experience. If they can create an interesting and seamless delivery of the franchise across platforms, Defiance could be a real game changer for both television and gaming.

Check out the E3 video below:

Official Site: http://www.defiance.com/en/