Hello guys thanks for clicking on the Wrapup again, we've had good stuff going on this week so let's get into it!:

Congrats all

With Titanfall's launch approaching quickly, fans are excited to see the game in all it's glory on launch day, and some are prepping their consoles earlier, to do this, they must first see how much space Titanfall's installation will take up. With the new bundle, Microsoft has indirectly revealed that Titanfall will be a whopping 40GB on the Xbox One, compared to the usual 20-30GB most next generation games have required thus far. This info comes from Amazon.com's listing of the Titanfall bundle. The amount for the Xbox 360 is still unknown, but it is likely less extreme as it is a previous generation system.

View attachment: Titanfall40gb.JPG

If that hasn't shocked users enough, the PC versions is even larger, requiring 50GB of space to play on default. This information comes directly from the Origin Store at Origin.com.

Has this reveal changed your opinion on purchasing Titanfall?

The Z-110 Energy Pistol, better known as the Boltshot, was an immensely popular side-arm in Halo 4, but was often criticized for it's damage ratio and how people could use the pistol. 343i might be keeping the pistol in the long run as the newest action figure for Halo Xbox One's line of toys sports the gun. Similar to how the Halo 2 figure that was relaunched could hint at Halo 2 Anniversary.

View attachment: boltshot.jpg

Would you enjoy having the Boltshot back?

Source: Gameranx.com

A popular distribution method on PCs is pre-loading, downloading a game before launch so it is ready to play on launch night. Vince Zampella, a popular representative of Respawn Entertainment had stated on his account on Twitter.com that Titanfall would be available for pre-loading, though he left out which platforms it would be present for. Xbox had said that pre-loading would come later on, so naturally, fans were excited when news broke of Xbox's website recently stating that this feature would also be available for Titanfall, but after an interview at Polygon.com, they are pulling back, stating this is in fact not true, and was a site error.

View attachment: titanfall0617-610b.jpg

A microsoft representative spoke to Polygon in the article linked above, stating, "We believe in digital distribution, and are proud to give gamers a variety of ways to purchase and experience their games. However, pre-purchase and pre-download for Titanfall for Xbox One will not be available from Xbox Store," meaning that players will be forced to either download the game on day one, or buy a disc version, and have to install it. The PC version is true though, so those with Origin will in fact be able to pre-load the game.

Will you be buying or downloading Titanfall if you purchase it?

The Xbox One media remote is releasing worldwide early March.

The remote has a plethora of different qualities and functions. Including:

• BlueRay video playback and streaming control
  
• A "OneGuide" button that allows one-touch easy access to your favorite TV shows
  
• A dedicated Back button
  
• Control for TV/Receiver power and volume through Kinect
  
• Motion activated backlight buttons
  
• A soft silicone, finish formatted for comfort.
  

The Xbox One media remote is listed at $24.99 ERP in the US.

Will you Xbox One users be getting this incredible device for your consoles or just stick to using your controllers? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.

Today Co-founder of Irrational Games, Ken Levine, announced that Irrational Games will be shutting down.

Ken Levine made the announcement on Irrational Games website saying:

"I am winding down Irrational Games as you know it. I’ll be starting a smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor at Take-Two. That is going to mean parting ways with all but about fifteen members of the Irrational team. There’s no great way to lay people off, and our first concern is to make sure that the people who are leaving have as much support as we can give them during this transition."

The Employees will not be simply dropped off though, Ken Levine informed us that they will receive financial aid, as well as access to the studio to put together their portfolio. The studio will also hold a recruiting day with third party developers to allow departing staff other oppurtunities.

Ken Levine has yet to reveal what kind of project he will be working on in the future, but did reveal that the now much smaller studio will "focus exclusively on content delivered digitally."

Also note that Irrational Games will be handing Bioshock entirely over to 2k Games.

What do you think, what type of affect will this have on Bioshock? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Confirmed by Vince Zampella on Twitter.com, he recently tweeted that the beta would be opening up to all users on Xbox One tonight, and PC later on. His argument was how little players got into the closed beta and Respawn wanting to reach the max rather then have too little. He does however, expect it to hold, with the worse case scenario being that a server or two get temporarily clogged and receive delays. His exact words were:

"Ok, just heard from [Respawn programmer Jon Shiring]. His words are 'Let's break it', so the plan is to make the beta fully open and have you max stress it! All the switches need to be flipped, and there are probably lots! It will take some number of time units to do it all!"

View attachment: titanfall-gamescom.jpg

The period will extend by a single day to account for the loss in time. The Xbox One is estimated to receive the beta tonight, and the PC will receive it the following morning. Major Nelson gave instructions on how to access the beta in his blog at Majornelson.com.

Now that the beta is open, are you excited to get your fingertips on Titanfall early?

Microsoft will be allowing free access to Xbox Live Gold subscription services this weekend for Xbox 360 users, Major Nelson has announced. But Xbox users in the US and Canada can only take advantage as the free service will only take place in those countries.

The free access with begin at 12:01 a.m. PT Friday 14th, February and will end at 11:58 p.m. PT Sunday 16th, February. So any of you in North America can enjoy a weekend of free Xbox Live Gold and while you're at it you can also grab this months free games with games with gold. This Saturday will be the last day to get Dead Island and this Sunday Toy Soldiers: Cold War will available so grab them while you can this weekend.

Source: majornelson.com

In an Interview with the voice actor of the Master Chief, Steve Downes, has confirmed Halo 2 anniversary is coming.

Gamezone sat down the Steve and spoke with him about Halo 5 and the rumors about Halo 2 anniversary. This is what he had to say about it.

“I think you may be ahead of yourself on Halo 5,” Downes said. “I wouldn’t expect anything until 2015. What you can look forward to this year is an anniversary edition of Halo 2.”

It is unsure if the re-release will contain it's own multiplayer, if it will just ported over to Halo 4 or if it will just be HD version of the campaign.

Halo 2 is arguably the game that has defined online console gaming and has been a great success for Xbox Live. Gamezone has not published the full interview yet but they did say it will be up soon.

What are your thoughts on this news, are you happy to hear Halo 2 anniversary is coming, are you upset Halo 5 has been delayed?

Update

On Steve's facebook he was confronted with comments from fans asking about him confirming Halo 2 anniversary, Steve made comments backing out of his supposed statement.

"Let me clarify something. I think there may be a misunderstanding. I have no official info on a H2 anniversary edition. I've only heard what you have heard. You'll have to go to Waypoint for the official word"

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=100731122&postcount=16365

So was their a mix up at the interview or did Steve Downes mistakenly confirm Halo 2 anniversary and had back out of his statement?

Source: Game Zone, Neogaf

The Shrike is sort of an all terrain mobile bike, it is quick and nimble, and somewhat standard issue. It lacks in it's ability to be offensive and is used more as a means of transport or exit. The shrike is a fully modifiable vehicle and comes standard issue with three different paint schemes to match your guardian class. Tom Doyle stated:

"The Shrike is something that you'll upgrade over time in Destiny, Right off the bat, the Shrike has three distinct paint themes that correspond to your particular Class."

View attachment: shrike_concept.jpg

The vehicle was made as a way to get rid of pesky menu fast travel and to create a more immersive experience on Destiny's worlds. It is made to represent your guardian and how you play.

Though the article was rather short, it included a selection of photos and renders of the Shrike in action. All photos in the spoiler box below.

What do you think of the Shrike so far?

It was announced that the Xbox One system update would be coming today, but Larry Hryb aka Major Nelson announced that the update will not be arriving today but sometime this week as it still needs to be finalized.

"FYI: The February #XboxOne System Update will ship this week, but not today." Major Nelson announced on his twitter page, "The team is working on finalizing. More details when I get them."

In related news it has been confirmed that the update will need to be manually accepted, Microsoft told Kotaku, just like the 360 updates. But it will also allow future updates to be enabled and to download in the background if that option is enabled, which is a feature that is part of the system update.

This weeks update will include;

Better system stability.

Improved kinect voice commands.

Power Indicator that monitors the controllers battery life.

Ability to check and manage storage space.

USB keyboard support.

Background updates.

With the update planned for March 4th it will be focusing on bringing better party and multiplayer system.

So what are your thoughts on the upcoming updates, are you happy with what they will be bringing?

Source(s) Major Nelson's twitter, Kotaku, Digital Spy

With Titanfall receiving such critical acclaim and being nearly a month away from launch, fans will be saddened to hear that the Xbox 360 version of the game has been delayed. This was recently announced at Ea.com by EA's Vice President. The original release dates, March 11th in North America and March 13th in Europe, have been pushed about two weeks back for the current generation version, with a March 25th launch in North America and a March 28th launch in Europe. This push does not affect the Xbox One and PC versions of Titanfall.

View attachment: titanfall-gamescom.jpg

When asked, Electronic Arts' own vice president Patrick Söderlund gave defense for the push back, saying:

"To give them the time they need to put the finishing touches on the current-gen version of the game, we are moving the Xbox 360 ship date to March 25 in North America and March 28 in Europe. The extra two weeks will ensure the full world of Xbox gamers has an awesome experience."

With these steps, the game may not launch in as bad of a state as the previous EA title, Battlefield 4, but has this decision made you want to switch your pre-order to a next gen copy?

Yesterday Microsoft announced that Satya Nadella will be the new Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Bill gates also has made a switch of positions as he takes on the new role of Technology Advisor after leaving as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Satya Nadella, who has replaced Steve Ballmer as CEO has been at Microsoft for 22 years, joining in 1992. Before the announcement yesterday Nadella was the Executive Vice President of Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise group. Upon his new role, Nadella sent emails to his fellow employees saying how humbling it is for him and that it's like his first day joining the company over two decade ago. "Today is a very humbling day for me. It reminds me of my very first day at Microsoft, 22 years ago. Like you, I had a choice about where to come to work. I came here because I believed Microsoft was the best company in the world"

Bill gates who was also among the change of positions said a few words on Nadella becoming CEO. “During this time of transformation, there is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya Nadella,”

The co founder also said; "Satya is a proven leader with hard-core engineering skills, business vision and the ability to bring people together. His vision for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of expanded product innovation and growth.”

Quite a few changes have been happening at Microsoft lately, being within the main company itself and within their gaming studios. What do you think about the recent news? Leave any thought's in the comment below.

Sources: Micrsoft (1), Microsoft (2)

After the announcement Frank O' Conner had this to say of the new deal:

“We’ve had the luxury of working with amazing novelists and publishing partners in the past – and we’re excited to continue that tradition and growth with the announcement of our new novel publishing partner, Gallery Books – and we can’t wait to share the worlds and wonders we’ll build together.”

Louise Burke, President of Gallery Books, spoke of the partnership as well:

“We are thrilled to be working with 343 Industries and Microsoft on these upcoming Halo books, it’s a phenomenal brand that continues to grow and we look forward to continuing the ascent with them.”

The first publication is currently set to be released in Fall of 2014.

This is very exciting news to all of you Halo lore fans, I'm sure. Be sure to let us know what you think of this deal in the Comment Section below.

343 Industries has done quite a lot of hiring lately and bringing new people on board, this time, they are adding to their writing department, with a qualified person. The newly hired employee must be able to work with the Halo lore and twist it in a way that makes it still work, as well as the usual behaviors around the workplace which are common. In summary, they need to have precise attention to detail of the Halo universe and be able to perform to the best of their abilities in creating a script for future Halos. To do that requires extensive training in that field.

View attachment: 343industries_660.jpg

The challenges ahead are said to put stress and pressure on the hired employee and he must be able to take that, and still create a work of art. Points are added if the employee has skills such as experience in editing and writing in-game content and doing the same for audio, which is said to raise it by ten points, and web publishing experience, a minor seven points.

View attachment: 343iHiring.JPG

Of course 343i Includes a writing sample which will determine if you have what it takes or not. This will have the applicant write a 1000 word or less summary of the concept of "The Mantle". Included must be images and videos when appropriate. To push you further in the project, 343i has said below:

"Anticipate that this document would be used by Halo creators at 343 Industries and external development/creative partners. "

The position is still open to those who are willing to attempt it.

Would you want to work for 343i?

Source: Microsoft-careers.com

HaloWaypoint.com