Now available for pre-order, 343 Industries have today announced the details for the Limited Edition version of Halo 4. The Halo 4 Limited Edition will include:

• War Games Map Pack Access – Access to nine maps – three future competitive multiplayer map packs, each including three new locations (available for download post-launch).
• Specializations – Receive early access to six Specialisations to achieve higher ranks in your Spartan career. In addition to gaining access to new ranks, Specialisations unlock new customisation options.
• The Limited Edition also contains the UNSC Infinity Briefing Packet, which includes an armour customisation schematic, a blueprint of the massive ship itself, and insight into what it means to be one of humanity’s finest warriors: the Spartan-IVs.
• Bonus digital content through Xbox LIVE:
• Unique in-game Spartan-IV armour skin
• Unique in-game weapon skin for the Assault Rifle
• An exclusive in-game emblem
• Xbox LIVE Avatar prop
• Xbox LIVE Avatar Spartan-IV armour set
• Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn Special Edition – An extended 90-minute version of the live-action digital series.
• Halo 4 Limited Edition also includes the following exclusive videos:
• Bonus in-fiction content expanding the characters and stories of “Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn”
• Special Featurette: Bringing Gaming into Reality
• Making of “Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn”

Halo 4 will be available on November 6th, 2012. The Limited Edition version of Halo 4 will set you back £69.99.

Zombie games, no matter what kind of excuse or creature they use, are by this point overplayed and I for one am burned out with them; though by ‘them’ I of course mean every game that isn’t Naughty Dog’s upcoming The Last of Us.

It’s no secret I’m in love with Naughty Dog and all of their technical offspring, but with good reason. So far I have yet to see a company consistently produce such technically incredible, mind blowingly cinematic and downright fun to play titles. Crash Bandicoot was one of the greatest 3D platformers to grace the 5th generation, followed by Jak and Daxter in the 6th, and most recently the superb Uncharted trilogy in the 7th. They are now looking to expand this success with an entry to the post-apocalyptic zombie scene with The Last of Us, which features a parasitic fungus and more green than most end of the world games have ever even imagined (outside of Enslaved). The latest trailer for The Last of Us shows the two main characters – Ellie and Joel – in a more human orientated scenario:

As the trailer shows (set to the all too appropriate lyrics of Hank Williams’ Alone and Forsaken) it’s more than just the parasitic fungi that need to be watched for, other survivors are looking out for themselves and as such can, and will, provide an obstacle to the continuing survival of Ellie and Joel. Colour me excited, and just hope that when some gameplay is shown I don’t actually explode…

The Last Of Us is being released exclusively for the PS3, though does not have a release date at this time. Expect to see more at E3 2012 in the first week of June.

May 5^th – 12^th

The wayward kings of fan misjudgement, Capcom, released their expectant (and profoundly optimistic) “shipment target” to Andriasung yesterday.

It will come as no surprise that they predict their most financially lucrative title of 2012 to be Resident Evil 6 with a whopping 7 million copies outgoing. With the game’s mechanic trajectory set to channel as much Call of Duty as genuine horror-suspense, it would be permissible to predict a worst-of-both-worlds situation on the cards.

Similarly DMC: Devil May Cry stumbled dying out of the PR gate with its initial trailer by effectively alienating fans and strangers alike. Thankfully, since then, Cambridge-based Ninja Theory have taken to heart the criticisms of the fans, delivering a slightly more recognisable Dante who hopefully can provoke the predicted sales of 2 million copies.  Whilst this seems manageable, a target of 1.4 million for Lost Planet 3 seems steep given that the IP never really gained traction outside of Japan. The teaser trailer suggests a new but derivative direction – perhaps it will impress at E3.

1.5 million copies of Dragon’s Dogma comes a across as a more realistic target. By combining the better elements of Skyrim, Dark Souls and (to a lesser extent) Shadow of the Colossus, Capcom could actually be on to a winner. Let’s hope so.

Sources: IGN, Andriasang

Owners of the PSVita  haven’t had many games to get excited about lately, and even known upcoming releases are few and far between. One of these upcoming titles is LittleBigPlanet, the Vita entry of Sony’s Sackboy mascot’s world creation game.

Those looking forward to this title who would like to help out (and get some early hands on) can now apply to participate in the beta for the game. The Official PlayStation Blog has all the details of how you can apply, which are a little tricky so make sure you read the step by step guide (though where it says paste the link into your browser feel free to just click on it).

During sign up you’ll have to enter you Sony Entertainment Network (PSN) details and answer a short survey about your previous LittleBigPlanet experiences, though for early access to what might be possibly a must-have Vita title its easily worth it. Unfortunately not everyone who registers will be guaranteed a beta place, but those who don’t apply are guaranteed to miss out.

Popular book publisher Tor Books have just announced the latest novel in the Halo series, Halo: The Thursday War. This upcoming instalment will pick up right where Halo: Glasslands left off and will continue the “Kilo-Five Trilogy”, written by the talented Sci-Fi author Karen Traviss.

The Thursday War is the telling of life after the Covenant-Human war. Humans and Sangheili (Elites) are fighting each other as well as fighting amongst themselves. The story will set up “the events and circumstances that will come to define the state of the Halo universe in Halo 4,” according to 343′s Frank O’Connor.

Halo: The Thursday War will touch down on October 2nd and will be available in hardcover and audio editions. If you’re a Halo but have yet to check out these amazing books, you’re truly missing out. Travis is taking the Halo-verse to entirely new places, The Thursday War is destined to be a big hit.

May 28th – 5th

I like black consoles, mainly because they don’t show just how dirty they’ve managed to get. This is especially true for handhelds which are in and out of pockets and bags and public places. Other people, however, tend to like more vibrant or generally brighter colours. This other set of people will then be pleased to learn that Sony are releasing a white PSVita. There’s just one catch at the minute:

As the trailer being in Japanese may have implied, this is so far a colour unique to the land of the rising sun, as is the limited edition Hatsune Miku version.

While it would be wise to assume that eventually the white Vita will come to other territories, the lack of any official announcement as of yet means it could be a while before that happens.

For those who just cant wait, or really want a computerised pop idol adorning their state of the art handheld gaming device, then they are scheduled for release in Japan June 28th and August 30th respectively.

We all knew that this was coming. Once Nintendo announced they were planning to release their own games as digital downloads, it would only be a matter of time before the third party developers and publishers would get their chance. Nintendo confirmed this to IGN, stating that both the third and first party content for its new digital initiative will be supported. This plan is to be set in motion for both the Wii U and the 3DS starting off with the New Super Mario Bros. 2 game for the 3DS.

“We are currently preparing a program for third parties but have nothing specific to announce at this time,”a Nintendo representative told IGN.

Retail shops will have printed codes that will allow you to download the game fully from online, significantly expanding its digital business. This content will also be availble online, so you have three different ways to choose how to get your games!

Source: – IGN

Apr 21^st – 28th