We all knew it was coming, the first Halo: Reach map pack has been announced today by Bungie. The map pack, named as the Noble Map Pack, will be released on November 30th and brings with it the first Xbox Live achievements update, adding an extra 250 points for all you point hores out there, bringing the grand total up to 1250. Alongside the points increase, the map pack also brings with it 3 new online multiplayer maps for gamers to enjoy: Tempest – an 8-16 player map set in around an abandoned facility situated on the shoreline. Anchor 9 – set in a UNSC controlled orbital dry-dock, this is a cosy 2-8 player map. Breakpoint – another 8-16 player…

In less than 3 weeks, gamers all round the world will be able to get their hands on the latest, and final, Halo game developed by Bungie. Halo: Reach is expected to be one of the biggest releases of the year on the Xbox 360, however, some gamers were able to download the game illegally earlier this month. The game was reportedly leaked after the game was made available to journalists from Microsoft’s online store. It was then spread across the internet to sites like The Pirate Bay and then downloaded hundreds of times by pirate gamers (not the eye patch, parrot fetish ones). Well now Microsoft are putting their weighty boot down and tracking down anyone playing the game…

Since gaming has been pretty bleak this summer with the only highlight of my gaming calendar in July and early August being Lego Harry Potter: Year 1 -4, I think it was time to look ahead and report on what games to watch out for on the run up to Christmas 2010. From the looks of the upcoming games you’ll see below, 2010 is very much a year of the sequels. I personally don’t have a problem with this, as long as it was a good game to begin with and they don’t screw it up, I’m perfectly happy playing a second or even third generation of a game. That aside, I’ll begin. Mafia 2 I’m eagerly awaiting my copy…

The new Halo Reach campaign trailer was released the other day and is entitled “The Battle Begins” and when I learnt of this when sitting in my little office space I couldn’t wait to get back on the Xbox and have a look at it! I will confess to being very disappointed by what I was playing when it came to Halo: ODST but Reach is looking fantastic. I played the Reach Beta from the second it was released here in the UK and despite what I thought was going to be another disappointment I was amazed at what the guys at Bungie had done. This is going to be one of the biggest releases of the year if not…

It’s been announced during an interview with games site IGN that after the completion of both Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach, Bungie, creators of every Halo game (except Halo Wars), will be moving away from the Halo franchise to develop a brand new game title. The interview was done by Lars Bakken, a member of the Bungie team who said this: “After Reach that’s it for us. We’re already working on a new IP that we can’t talk about yet.” It’s a shame nothing was said about the new title because with Bungie’s track record, we don’t know what type of game to expect. If you always thought that Bungie had only done Halo, then you’re wrong. Before Bungie started…