The Xbox 1.5 rumors won't go away – particularly in light of the hot-and-heavy PlayStation Neo rumors, so we discuss what a mid-cycle upgrade could look like for Microsoft. But should it even happen? Plus: Quantum Break's last boss frustrates us (no spoilers though!), Batman joins the remaster party that we don't want to be invited to, Red Dead might be returning, and more!

Link to IGN PAX East meet-and-greet #1: https://ignpresentsbattleborncommunity.splashthat.com 

Link to IGN PAX East meet-and-greet #2: https://ignmeetngreetpresentedby2k.splashthat.com 

Gears of War 4 boss Rod Fergusson joins us for a 30-minute interview about the new game as well as taking over the franchise. Plus: our thoughts on Quantum Break so far, the ex-GTA developer's lawsuit against Rockstar, Titanfall 2, the rumored effort to save Fable Legends, and more!

We discuss Gears of War 4's just-announced release date and what it means for the rest of the holiday 2016 Xbox lineup. Plus: Xbox 1.5, Mass Effect 4, Doom beta thoughts, Bethesda's public E3 presence, Final Fantasy XV demo reactions, and more!

On this week's Xbox show, Shadow Complex creator Donald Mustard sits in for a lengthy interview about his history on Xbox (Advent Rising, Undertow, Shadow Complex, the newly released Shadow Complex Remastered, and...maybe...Shadow Complex 2?)! And then we have Halo 1 designer Jaime Griesemer on to talk old Halo war stories with him. You won't want to miss either interview. We kick off with just Ryan and Mitch, as Ryan says goodbye to his longtime partner-in-crime. Don't miss this episode!

Microsoft opens the door to cross-network play across Xbox One, PC, and maybe PS4 too. Plus: Gears of War 4's campaign will be 30fps and its multiplayer will be 60fps. Opinions vary on that! We also detail Xbox Indie Showcase highlights of what we played, Tacoma's delay, a new ARK game, and more!

We analyze the cancellation of Fable Legends and the apparent closure of Lionhead Studios. Could either have been saved? Can and will Fable continue on, or is it dead? Plus: our first impressions of The Division, Gears of War 4 continues to divide us, Doom multiplayer inches closer, Overwatch and Battleborn have a silly (albeit one-sided) feud, and more!

Head of Xbox Phil Spencer joins us for a quick interview about the future of Xbox (hint: you probably won't lose access to your Xbox One games on the next-gen Xbox console years from now). Plus: our reactions to the Xbox Showcase event from last week – and to Quantum Break in particular, analyzing the Mass Effect Andromeda delay, how cool a World War I-set Battlefield 5 could be, and we tell Capcom how we feel about their creative output so far in this console generation.

On this week's Xbox show, it's all good news. First, it took four years, but Xbox's own Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb sits in with us for the entire show. Together, we talk about this week's awesome Halo 5 news, including the return of a beloved multiplayer mode and an even more beloved old weapon. Plus: Fallout and Elder Scrolls boss Todd Howard speaks about game PR cycles and their next projects. We analyze his comments, and much more! Oh, and of course we also send Larry back to Microsoft with a clear message: #BringBackXBLA

We analyze last week's Internet meltdown over Quantum Break's PC version, detail the first wave of Fallout 4 DLC, discuss what the departure of Mass Effect: Andromeda's lead writer means for both that game and Destiny 2, and much more!

P.S. We apologize for the problem with Mitch's mic this week. We're tracking down the problem and we'll have it squashed ASAP.

On this week's Xbox show, we discuss the now-confirmed Titanfall 2 solo campaign, DOOM's release date, Red Dead's imminent backwards compatibility, 2015's most tweeted-about games, continued love for Yarny, and more!

Bethesda announces that they'll put on another E3 press conference. We speculate about what will – and won't – be there. Plus: a 40-minute interview with Unravel creative director Martin Sahlin, The Division beta reactions, how we'd kill Spartan Locke in the first scene of Halo 6, and much more!

We celebrate the very Burnout-y new golf game (yes, golf game!) from the original creators of Burnout. Plus: praise for the word-of-mouth hit ARK: Survival Evolved and the awesome adventure that is Oxenfree. We also discuss the potential awesomeness of PlatinumGames's just-announced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game, share what you're getting for your $50 season pass in Star Wars Battlefront, lament Mighty No. 9's latest delay, and tell you how you can attend E3 with EA.

We speculate on what this year's Infinity Ward-developed Call of Duty might be like given all of the big-studio talent Activision's been hiring for it. Also, Microsoft files a couple of new game software trademarks we are hesitant to get excited about, the top 10-selling games of December are revealed, and much more!

We discuss our Game of the Year votes, lament the end of an era with one of the key creators of Grand Theft Auto, recount the insane development history of Homefront: The Revolution as it gets dated, weep at the lack of Psychonauts on Xbox, and more!

Happy New Year! We kick things off with our longest episode ever! Gone Home creator Steve Gaynor (who you may also know as the creator of BioShock 2's highly acclaimed DLC Minerva's Den) sits in for the whole show to talk about next week's Xbox One release of Gone Home. We also ask him about his time on BioShock 2 as well as his next game, the Xbox One-exclusive Tacoma. Plus: we make our Xbox predictions for 2016 and review how we did with our 2015 predictions. And we discuss the Scalebound delay, the Assassin's Creed leak, and much more!

[WARNING: Unlike regular episodes of Unlocked, this episode contains explicit language!] Continuing the tradition started last year, we're giving you an episode full of 2015's Unlocked outtakes while the Xbox world rests for the holidays. These outtakes span the entire year, will in some cases make absolutely no sense without any context, and you might think this episode is pointless and/or totally dumb. But you might also think it's hilarious. Let us know, and Happy Holidays! We'll be back with regular episodes of Unlocked starting January 6!

We discuss Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima's decision to sign with Sony for his next game, and whether or not Microsoft pursued the big-name free agent. Plus: we debate what Gearbox's new Quebec studio might be working on, what EA's commitment to eSports means for the industry, and more. Also, don't miss the end of the show this week, as an Unlock Block Trivia champion for 2015 is crowned in a shocking finale.

We review the Xbox-related announcements at last week's Game Awards. Plus: we attended PSX, and we discuss what Microsoft can learn from Sony's fan-service event. Also: we predict what Bethesda's new Montreal office might get up to, Gone Home is finally about to arrive home on Xbox, the Unlock Block Trivia challenge's quest for the Duke-y trophy gets super tense this week. Can Mitch clinch the trophy?

We discuss our thoughts on Rainbow Six Siege, our Xbox expectations for The Game Awards, what we'd like to see from PlatinumGames's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Game, what DC Comics superhero games Batman: Arkham Origins developer WB Games Montreal might be making, and more. Plus: we attempt to design a good Superman game. As you might expect, it doesn't go well.

The Xbox 360's 10th anniversary has us reflecting back on our favorite memories of Microsoft's second console, including the first time we played it, the legendary holiday 2007 season, the faceplates, and much more. Plus: Take-Two confirms more BioShock will be on the way, so we give our picks for who we think should develop it. Happy Thanksgiving!

Star Wars Battlefront is here, and we've got a lot to say about its present and future. Plus: the NXOE dashboard, Deus Ex's totally OK delay, we're in love with Rise of the Tomb Raider, Ronda Rousey gets EA cover cursed, and more!

A new Dashboard, backwards compatibility, and more are all here, meaning the Xbox One is now Phil Spencer's machine, full-stop. We discuss how the Xbox One has practically been relaunched, and when it might ACTUALLY relaunch. Plus: our thoughts on Fallout 4, are you and Elder Scrolls person or a Fallout person? Is Battleborn screwed? And how about that Mass Effect Andromeda teaser?! All of this and more!

Halo 5 gets off to a big start, Activision paid HOW MUCH for the Candy Crush creator, the first big game delay of 2016 happens, Skyrim gets ported to Xbox One but you won't get to play it, Konami gears up another Metal Gear, and more. Plus: a 45-minute interview with Jon St. John, the legendary voice actor best known as the voice of Duke Nukem. He explains his radio origins, coming up with the Duke Nukem voice, his career as a video game voice actor, and much more.

NOTE: The Jon St. John interview starts at the 45:19 mark.

Oh, and Unlocked now has its own snazzy new homepage! Bookmark this: go.ign.com/unlocked

**WARNING: HALO 5 SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR HALO 5 SPOILERS, SKIP AHEAD TO THE 1:11:00 MARK.**

Halo 5: Guardians is finally here, and we have very strong – and in some cases unexpected – reactions to it. We spend the first 1:11:00 of the show in full spoiler mode, discussing the good, the bad, and the ugly of Halo 5. So if you haven't finished the Halo 5 campaign yet or otherwise don't want to hear Halo 5 spoilers, skip ahead to 1:11:00. In other news, we discuss the just-announced release date for the New Xbox One Experience Dashboard and Xbox 360 backwards compatibility, some good news for Rock Band fans, and more!

On this week's Xbox show, Capybara Games co-founder Nathan Vella (creator of Super Time Force and Below, among others) sits in on the whole show. He updates us on the Xbox One-exclusive below, shares Xbox development insights, talks Back to the Future Day with us, September NPD sales numbers, EA vs. Square Enix on remasters, and more. Plus: your chance to win a Halo 5 prize pack including a copy of the game and an Astro A40 Halo headset!

We wonder what, if anything, Microsoft will do to counter Sony's PS4 price drop. Also, our thoughts on Star Wars Battlefront and how it will sell this holiday. Plus: more Season Passes that tick us off, Halo 5 news, miscellaneous (bad) news, and your chance to win a Forza Motorsport 6 Xbox One console bundle!

Oh, and Unlocked now has its own snazzy new homepage! Bookmark this: go.ign.com/unlocked

We celebrate news that the creators of Burnout are bringing the series back (albeit under a new name), rejoice at the Stone Age setting of the just-announced Far Cry Primal, calculate the crazy value proposition of the Fallout 4 Xbox One bundle, take credit (not really) for making the icky Deus Ex: Mankind Divided pre-order campaign go away, check Destin into a rehab facility for his Destiny problem (also not really), and more!

Discussed this week: Splosion Man developer Twisted Pixel pulls a Bungie and spins back out from Microsoft, single-player campaigns in first-person shooters seem to be an endangered species, Xbox One holiday bundles are in full bloom, Hitman course-corrects its unsettling pricing model, Telltale's Back to the Future heads to Xbox One, U2 heads to Rock Band 4, and more!

Head of Xbox Phil Spencer joins our show this week for a conversation about all kinds of happenings in the world of Xbox, from Final Fantasy XIV's absence on Xbox One to whether or not existing Xbox One owners should upgrade to the upcoming Elite console to whether or not he thinks the "killer app" is dead, and much more! Plus: we discuss the Hitman delay, among other timely topics.

On this week's Xbox show, Rainbow Six Siege's map count leads us to wonder how it'll be received. Plus: Fallout 4's season pass annoys us, Star Wars Battlefront gets a mini-fridge, we're excited for the imminent New Xbox One Experience Dashboard, Xbox One gets two new games in a genre it sorely needs them in, and more!

Also: after we recorded, Ubisoft issued a correction to their developer who was quoted as saying Rainbow Six Siege will ship with 10 maps. It will actually be 11.

We make an otherwise slow Xbox news week interesting by discussing notable 9/9 gaming birthdays, discuss former Xbox boss Robbie Bach's comments on how an 'Xboy' handheld almost came to exist, analyze what we learned about Destiny thanks to a court decision involving a former longtime Bungie employee, and give our ideas for what rides we think should be at Ubisoft's planned real-life theme park in Malaysia. 

Microsoft's newest Xbox One console bundle is extra special because it includes the hot new Elite gamepad as well as a 1TB SSHD hard drive. We break down the benefits you can expect as well as whether or not it might be worth upgrading to. Plus: we analyze Halo 5's newly released opening cinematic, take a guess at the real reason DICE is doing a Star Wars Battlefront beta, dry heave at Square Enix's pre-order incentives for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and...oh yeah, we give away a custom Gears of War-painted Xbox One console too.

Mitch and Ryan shake and bake their way through this week's Xbox show, tackling, among other questions: Will we ever see Master Chief's face? What are the odds of Xbox One actually getting original Xbox backwards compatibility functionality? Should you take Just Cause 3's $50,000 cash prize, or the mysterious actual real-life island they're offering? And much more! Polite College Duke Nukem stops by as well!

This week's Xbox show analyzes Rainbow Six Siege's daring delay and what it means for the franchise this year and in the longer term. Plus: we express sadness (but not anger) regarding the absence of Big Team Battle from Halo 5's launch, theorize what Gearbox might do with Duke Nukem now that their IP ownership lawsuit is settled, discuss Forza 6's new "mods," and more!

This week's Xbox show recaps Gamescom from the IGN guys who were there, explains why the Halo 5 console bundle might not be such a good deal, details how the Halo TV show isn't dead, laments Capcom's remakes/remasters-or-bust strategy, and more!

After Xbox's killer Gamescom, we just couldn't wait until Wednesday to do our next show. So here we are, talking about everything from Gamescom, including Halo Wars 2, Crackdown 3, Scalebound, Quantum Break, Homefront: The Revolution, the Halo 5 Xbox One console, new ID@Xbox games, strange Destiny news, Xbox One TV DVR functionality, and Xbox One's downright ridiculous 2016 lineup!

Microsoft is set to have a big presence at Gamescom. So, we play our ol' predictions game, making 12 Xbox predictions for what we think might happen. Plus: Tomb Raider's exclusivity is dated, 343 explains the lack of any split-screen multiplayer support in Halo 5, Windows 10 begins rolling out to change the Xbox ecosystem forever, and much more.

As news of a new Brothers in Arms game starting development surfaces, we revisit the smart, stellar, historically-based first-person shooter/strategy series and why we'd be excited for it to return – as well as if it could help bring WWII shooters back in general. Plus: all of Sony's marketing dollars still won't let you play Star Wars Battlefront on PS4 first, Xbox One gets another clever bundle, and much more! Special guest star Jared Petty joins the Unlocked crew this week.

With the year half over, it's time to give our picks for our Xbox Games of the Year...so far. Plus: the latest chapter in the Hideo Kojima/Konami divorce is as wacky as ever. We wonder if there will even be another AAA Metal Gear game, and who might do it. Also, Dead Island 2 has lost its developer, so we debate who might pick up the ball on that and run it into the end zone. Furthermore, two $200 special editions of upcoming big games generate wildly different reactions from us, and finally, don't miss the debut of the real-life Dukey trophy!

It's impossible to follow the once-in-a-lifetime episode 201, but we do our best by dissecting a rumor that suggests Microsoft may be looking to buy Xbox One and PS4 chipmaker AMD. What would it mean for the current consoles? How about the Xbox 4 and PlayStation 5? We discuss it in detail. Plus: we lament some of the E3 Game Critics Award winners and give our take on the first trailer for Telltale's Minecraft: Story Mode.

We don't believe three generations of Xbox leadership have ever been brought into the same room before to share secrets and stories of Xbox history. Until now. In a once-in-a-lifetime episode, Xbox creator Seamus Blackley, Head of Xbox during the 360 launch Peter Moore, and current Head of Xbox Phil Spencer talk for 90 minutes about all three Xbox consoles, including beating Sony in the living room, where the Duke controller came from, how Gears of War influenced a critical decision for the Xbox 360 hardware, and so much more!

Episode 200 finally happened, and it happened live with 450 IGN fans in San Francisco. It was an incredible event where we celebrated the history of Xbox, sharing our favorite original Xbox and 360 games as well as those of the fans in attendance. We even snuck in a teaser for a very special episode 201! We hope you enjoy listening if you couldn't make it, or reliving it again if you did!

We are all finally back from E3, rested, and ready to bask in the glory that was the week of Xbox awesomeness at the show. Sea of Thieves, Cuphead, HoloLens, Halo 5, and so much more all blew us away. We analyze what worked (almost everything) and what didn't (there isn't much) about Xbox's just-completed E3, and paint a pretty bright picture for Xbox in 2016 while we're at it. Join us for this epic episode!

In the wake of Microsoft's fantastic E3, we sat down with Head of Xbox Phil Spencer to discuss everything from backwards compatibility to Kinect, Xbox Live Arcade, winning the console "war," and much more. NOTE: this interview was recorded the day before Summer Spotlight was announced, so when you hear Phil play coy with our question about whether or not he'd ever bring XBLA back, now you know why. :-)

In this special mini-episode, bucket-list edition of Podcast Unlocked, we sit down with Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the Emmy Award-winning, Tony Award-winning, and Oscar-nominated comedy geniuses. They've got a new video game, hilariously titled South Park: The Fractured But Whole, that serves as a follow-up to the New Kid's adventures in The Stick of Truth. Here, Stone and Parker discuss the game, how they see the show ending one day, whether or not we'll ever get a Book of Mormon movie adaptation, and more!

In light of the big Halo 5 campaign details and multiplayer bomb dropped by 343 Industries, we spend a good chunk of the show getting SUPER EXCITED for Halo 5. Plus: reactions to the 1TB Xbox One announcement, a talk about how Forza is a victim of its own success, why we love Mirror's Edge Catalyst's new title, and much more. And, yes, there's another In-N-Out bet made over Games With Gold and, specifically, PoolNation FX.

You know what we're talking about this week: Fallout 4. Join us for a 26-minute reaction segment to the announcement and the trailer. We discuss what gameplay elements the trailer suggests, why we think we're going to get a very long demo at E3, when we think the game is coming out, and more. Plus: what the Gears of War developer's studio rebranding means for the series, why the Rise of the Tomb Raider teaser trailer bugged us, details on the big Unlocked 200 celebration, and so much more! It's a 90-minute epic episode of Podcast Unlocked!

As E3 2015 approaches, each of our Xbox podcast crew shares his best – or worst – E3 memories. Plus: we get teased by Halo 3: ODST releasing for Xbox One (but ultimately it didn't), teased by a real baseball game on Xbox (nope, it doesn't have the MLB license), and more!

We react to Star Wars Battlefront bucking the recent years' trend of using iron sights in the upcoming first-person shooter. We also give our take on the newly announced Assassin's Creed Syndicate. Plus: why we're happy about The Division's delay, all of LEGO Dimension's toy tie-ins leak out early, praise for the May Xbox One System Update, and more!

EA drops some vague release date windows for Titanfall 2 and Mirror's Edge on their quarterly earnings call, so we take more specific shots at pinning them down – as well as detailing why DICE's E3 presentation of Mirror's Edge will likely either send the game's hype train ahead at full speed or derail it completely. Plus: Disney Infinity 3.0, more Star Wars Battlefront talk, our thoughts on The Avengers: Age of Ultron, and more!

We try to find humor in what is otherwise a downer of a week: the Astro A40 Xbox One gaming headset isn't good, Silent Hills is canceled and Konami doesn't look long for this world, Black Ops 3 fails to excite us, Batman: Arkham Knight's DLC Season Pass is laughably expensive, and more. On the bright side, it looks like we're getting a Gears of War 1 remake/update, Halo 5: Guardians may finally let us play with Master Chief's best Spartan-II buddies, State of Decay: Year One Survival Edition and a Battletoads-infused Shovel Knight are out for Xbox One, and more!

Fierce debate grips the Unlocked crew this week, as we discuss whether Star Wars Battlefront is offering enough content out of the box to justify its $60 price. Is this the new normal? What lessons can we learn from Titanfall and Destiny? Mitch and Ryan even make an In-N-Out bet about it. Plus: we speculate on what Phil Spencer means by the expected "new, exclusive IP" for Xbox at E3 this year, how stoked we are about Mass Effect 4 after a pile of gameplay details purportedly leak, the never-finished Alan Wake 2 prototype, and more!

With World Music Game War II official, we break down the surprising pros and cons of Guitar Hero Live and Rock Band 4 and ultimately come to a pretty happy conclusion. Plus: a government agency whines about the Xbox One's power consumption rates, and then whines again when Microsoft pledges to fix it. We respond. Meanwhile, Destin isn't happy about Destiny's latest expansion, House of Wolves, and Xbox One owners will get first crack at Star Wars: Battlefront this fall.

The announcement of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided has the Unlocked crew standing as Fankind United. Yes, we're excited. We break down the newly revealed new-gen sequel, including where we think it's heading and how we prefer to brush up on the last game. Plus: Quantum Break gets officially moved to 2016 (called it!), former Xbox executive Don Mattrick escapes his first post-Xbox job on a golden parachute, Phil Spencer would like to see Banjo in Super Smash Bros. (plus: who we think should make a new Banjo game on Xbox), and more!

The weekend gave us not one but two Halo 5: Guardians trailers, and you needed to see both of them in order for your mind to be fully and properly blown. We dissect what each trailer's version of the truth means, and we talk at length about Halo 5's surprising October release date – including what it means for the rest of Microsoft's holiday Xbox One lineup. Plus: a nugget of Gears of War 4 news to chew on, a couple of April Xbox One system update features we really like, and more!

Noted Metal Gear fan Max Scoville joins Podcast Unlocked this week to discuss the whole (alleged) Kojima/Konami fiasco. And we have what may be an unpopular opinion about the entire thing. Plus: why the hell is there a Russia-only Halo Online game for PC? Will the next Xbox hit in 3-4 years instead of 7-8? What's the deal with Conker in Project Spark? Also: Shark Finnegan explains how to get thrown out of a Denny's.

Now that Titanfall 2 is a real, confirmed thing, we've got some ideas as to what it needs. In fact, we all agree on what that is. Meanwhile, we give a refresher course on the long-dormant Homefront: The Revolution now that it's been officially delayed to 2016. Plus: another hilarious round or marketing-spun NPD results, Rory McIlroy Highlander-kills Tiger Woods, and more. Also be sure to watch the full video episode of the podcast on the IGN Xbox One app if you haven't tried it!

A discussion about our early Ori and the Blind Forest impressions turns into an impromptu chat about our most emotional gaming (and movie) moments. Plus: we have a theory on the timing of this week's Halo: The Master Chief Collection Xbox One bundle, another theory about how Kudo Tsunoda's promotion proves last week's Phil Harrison rumors, why Quantum Break would be better off releasing in 2016 regardless of the validity of this week's rumors, and more! Plus: a very personal, 40-minute interview with Adr1ft creator Adam Orth. He discusses how his personal life is reflected in the new game, what his life was like during the #DealWithIt controversy, and more.

What a packed show! Chris Charla, the head of Microsoft's ID@Xbox program, stops by for a chat about choosing indie games for the program, how crazy (in a good way) Cuphead is, and more. Then we talk about Phil Spencer's latest Battletoads tease, freak out because Rock Band 4 is a real thing, discuss our experience playing one of GTA Online's Heists, and much, much more.

On this week's IGN Xbox podcast, we discuss running out of Xbox One hard drive and what decisions go into choosing an external hard drive to buy. Plus, rumors suggest that both Rock Band and Guitar Hero may be returning for the new consoles (and why we're FREAKING OUT), Microsoft makes a genius move to partner Forza with Fast and Furious, Batman: Arkham Knight's 'M' rating, why MMOs are finally hitting Xbox consoles, and much more!

This week's episode of Podcast Unlocked is packed! We predict what Bethesda will announce at their first-ever E3 press conference in June, including Fallout 4. Plus: reacting to Phantom Dust's developer shift, lamenting Shadow Realms' cancellation and what it means for 4v1 games, making our picks from the ongoing Xbox Ultimate Game Sale, and remembering Super Mario Bros. 3 and how it changed our lives as we note its 25th (USA) anniversary.

Halo 5 dominates our show this week, as not only do we talk to 343 Industries Halo 5 Studio Head Josh Holmes and Multiplayer Designer Quinn DelHoyo about what they learned from the now-completed Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta (skip to 1:02:57 for that), we also discuss all the changes made as a result of player feedback. Plus, a release date for the Halo 5 art book suggests that Halo 5 might not ship in November as we've all been expecting. We discuss why that might make a ton of sense. Oh, and get our thoughts on Evolve, hear some of the best 2015 Xbox predictions we got from you guys, and learn what's going into the February Xbox One system update.

Four editors. Three predictions each. That means we've got 12 Xbox predictions for 2015 that you can hold us to come Christmas-time. Plus, we can bet on them! Which of us is Nostradamus (probably none of us), and which of us is Nostra-dumb-us (probably all of us)? Plus: A few Sony games look like they're on their way to Xbox, Condemned 3 might happen, Grand Theft Auto V's sales numbers continue to astound us, Dying Light isn't being ignored (yay!), and more.

The Xbox's sales are down year over year for the fourth quarter, largely due to dwindling Xbox 360 sales. So it's time to wonder: is the old console toast? Also, IGN tech editor Alaina Yee joins us to share her first-hand, behind-the-scenes account of the Windows 10/HoloLens event she attended last week at Microsoft Campus. Plus: EA makes bank, the Xbox One's controller gets a firmware update, and we give you an In-N-Out Burger history lesson you absolutely didn't ask for.

Packed show! We distill the Windows 10 event down to what it means for Xbox, including the HoloLens AR glasses that may sound familiar if you remember "Fortaleza" from the big Xbox One leak in 2012. Plus: we reflect on the Halo 5 beta, the Xbox One goes back to $349...again, and Undead Labs CEO Jeff Strain sits in for an epic 50-minute interview that covers his fascinating past working at Blizzard, his present-day State of Decay success, and his online future.

IGN's Game of the Year has been announced. We discuss how we cast our individual votes. Plus: a big MOBA hits Xbox One, Forza Motorsport 6 gets announced...in Detroit, Microsoft may be bringing back a "beloved" strategy game, Xbox One wins an Emmy(?!), and more!

As Microsoft abandons their trademark on show favorite Blinx: The Timesweeper, we discuss what we'd do with it if we bought it (which we might). Plus: what does the Xbox One going back up to $400 mean for 2015? Will Xbox Avatars ever matter on Xbox One? Will Far Cry 5 pit you against...vampires? And what will Xbox One developers do with more power thanks to the newest XDK tools? Oh, and we give a warm Podcast Unlocked welcome to new IGN host Max Scoville. Say hi, won't you?

Thanks to Walter Hill (@walt_disknee) for the new outro music for 2015, and Ryan Quintal for the new logo!

We'll be up front: you might not even like this episode. It's a collection of random, out-of-context outtakes from the past year of Xbox podcasting. Strange stories. Off-topic conversations. Alex Solomita's 15 minutes of fame on ESPN. On the other hand, some of you might think it's hilarious. So give it a listen. It's only 16 minutes long. Then let us know what you think! If you find it boring and/or dumb, we won't do it next year. But hopefully you'll get some enjoyment out of it. And besides, the alternative was to not have any show at all this week. :-)

"I'm not even supposed to be here today!"

We'd planned to be on holiday break this week, but too much Halo happened! First, 343 Industries announced that Halo 3: ODST will be brought to Halo: The Master Chief Collection in 1080p/60fps – for free! And that an Anniversary remake of "Relic" would be added to MCC for free as the seventh Halo 2 Anniversary map. On top of that, we spent all weekend playing the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta during an early access period. Needless to say, we have a lot to say on all of this. Join us for the next 70 minutes or so, won't you?

As the year winds to a close, Microsoft celebrates a November NPD victory. What about December? What about the future? Will they put the system's price back to $400? We discuss. Plus: the big annual year-end Xbox games sale has begun, Grand Theft Auto V finally delivers a peek at online heists, remasters get an ultimatum from us, and more. Oh, and THANK YOU for listening this year. We appreciate your support more than you know!

Sony strikes back, securing Street Fighter V exclusively after Microsoft bagged Rise of the Tomb Raider. We discuss the situation, as well as what other games this could happen to. Plus: after Sony's PlayStation Experience Event, should Microsoft do something similar? Also: Adr1ft gets announced, The Witcher 3 gets delayed, and much more. Most importantly, we welcome back Jared Petty!

We catch up on everything we saw and played over the Thanksgiving break, including passionate (spoiler-free) discussions about Sunset Overdrive, Tales from the Borderlands, Game of Thrones, Limbo, and more. Plus: Xbox One's Black Friday success and whether or not the $350 price point will revert back to $400, Xbox's neverending struggles in Japan, hackers targeting Xbox Live, and much more.

As Ryan's old friend and podcasting partner Dan Amrich sits in to discuss Rocksmith 2014 for Xbox One (which Dan now works on), the crew discusses their thoughts on Xbox One's first birthday and the big Microsoft giveaway that goes with it. Plus: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare's campaign, Dumb & Dumber To, game show video games (like 1 vs. 100!), Titanfall's just-announced Deluxe Edition, and more!

What should be a celebration of one of the biggest weeks of the year for Xbox games is instead clouded by rough launches for both Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Assassin's Creed Unity, as well as online issues for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. We discuss what the root of the cause might be, as well as what recourse gamers have to combat Day One woes. Plus: Halo 5 multiplayer impressions, Just Cause 3 gets announced, Game of Thrones game details from Telltale, Phil Spencer sees a new game at Rare, and more.

The world's #1 Xbox podcast crew discusses the significance of the Xbox One price drop, and there's a *slight* chance we get derailed into an In-N-Out vs. Shake Shack vs. Five Guys cheeseburger conversation. Also: Destiny 2 gets confirmed, and we discuss what we want out of the sequel. Also don't miss our Grand Theft Auto V new-gen chat about the new first-person view, and when we might see a slimmed-down refresh of the Xbox One.

If you don't know how Max Hoberman is, here's the elevator pitch version: he's not only the Halo 2 lead multiplayer designer, but he helped invent all of the amazing party and matchmaking systems that Halo 2 pioneered that we all now take for granted. And now, he has his own studio, Certain Affinity, where they build maps for many multiplayer games, including Halo 2 DLC, Halo 3 DLC, Halo 4 (shipping version and DLC), various Call of Duties, and now Halo 2 Anniversary. Max shares some incredible insights on the making of Xbox Live's killer app, and then shares his gut reactions to every map from Halo 1 and 2. His answers may surprise you...

Microsoft Head of Xbox Phil Spencer makes his first Unlocked appearance in a year, dicussing a range of topics including when certain features will be added to the Xbox One via the monthly system updates, what he wants out of the next Gears of War, why there is no special-edition Halo-themed console to pair with The Master Chief Collection, what the hell Rare is up to, and much, much more. 

Find out what happens when four guys get busted for trying to use an original Xbox to smuggle cocaine. At the very least, it produces the funniest moment in the history of the show. Also, a new Halo game got announced, HBO Go will soon be usable on Xbox 360 or Xbox One without a cable/satellite TV subscription, a new Assassin's Creed Xbox One bundle provides pretty good value (and we share our favorite special-edition consoles ever), and much more.

On this week's episode of the world's #1 Xbox podcast, we discuss why Ubisoft messed up badly with their explanation as to why Assassin's Creed Unity will run at 900p on both Xbox One and PS4. Plus: how much of Halo 5 will Agent Locke star in? Why did Kingdom Hearts 3 switch to Unreal Engine 4? Why is Mitch worried about Geometry Wars 3? And find out which special guests will be appearing on the show this month.

Alleged NDA-breaking sources claim Destiny's story was VERY different earlier in development. We discuss. Plus: love for Screamride and its Crash Mode-esque feature, why you should get pumped for the release of Thomas Was Alone next month, pouring one out for Burnout, and hacking is bad, mmm-kay?

Want to know how you can have no artistic or programming talent and still end up becoming the head of the studio making the biggest game of the year? Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare's Michael Condrey shares his fascinating career story of how he went from beach bum to co-founding Sledgehammer Games and working on the world's biggest shooter franchise. Plus: Destiny's raid, Rudy Giuliani's defense of Activision against...Manuel Noriega (!), Grand Theft Auto V's next-gen first-person mode, D4 pulls a Beyonce (and why that's bad), and more!

We're back, and so much has happened! In this jumbo-sized 90-minute edition of the world's #1 Xbox podcast, we spend nearly an hour discussing Destiny -- what it is, what it isn't, what it could evolve into, and more. Plus: Jose Otero's Halo: The Master Chief Collection impressions, our analysis of Microsoft's big Minecraft developer purchase, and much more!

An annoying bell is left behind in the podcast studio, and we abuse it before finally hurling it out a window. More importantly, Halo pro and superfan Sean Finnegan discusses how it felt to play the new Lockout in Halo 2 Anniversary multiplayer. We also dive into the "WTF?" Saints Row expansion that's coming to Xbox One as well as 360. Plus: Get to Know Your Locksmiths gets a bit serious, discussing the topic of bullying.

This week, we're down Ryan McCaffrey, so it's a shorter show as we discuss HD remakes, Dragon Age: Inquisition's multiplayer, Shadow Complex's 5th anniversary, and what we think of Microsoft selling Kinect for $150.

Marty and Destin return from Gamescom in Germany, where they got to be among the first in the world to play Halo 2 Anniversary multiplayer. They tell us how Halo 2-y it feels. Plus: Madden 15's time limit on EA Access, a bigger hard drive for...Xbox 360, a Reddit app for Xbox One, what to expect in the September Xbox One system update, and the return of Get to Know Your Locksmiths.

First, we apologize for this week's audio issues. It's a bit quiet for the first half or so of the show, and then we tried to fix it and were successful...except somehow and for some reason Ryan's microphone cuts out. You can still hear him being picked up by the other mics, but...sigh...

Anyway, this week we discuss Rise of the Tomb Raider's controversial Xbox exclusivity, our first glimpse of the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare's multiplayer reveal, and everything else that came out of the big Gamescom show in Germany.

With Gamescom approaching, we make our Xbox predictions for the "European E3." What will Microsoft announce? What will they show off? We speculate. Plus: another last-gen game looks like it's getting an Xbox One port, Bungie has a supply-and-demand problem with Destiny, Evolve gets delayed, and more!

So much to discuss on this week's Xbox podcast! Mass Effect gets its Mako back, Destiny's beta goes well, Homefront fans get good news, Gamestop wants to help you ruin your credit rating, and more. Oh, and Marty sends notes from Comic-Con, which Ryan ruins by doing a dramatic reading.

Battlefield Hardline has been delayed into 2015, and the move has major ramifications for EA, for the other major first-person shooters of fall 2014, and for you. We dissect the decision and figure out what the heck we're going to have time to play this holiday. Plus: Dragon Age Inquisition is also delayed -- slightly -- but Ryan fears the worst. Conversely, he's super stoked for the possible return of Rock Band, the new Doom is finally shown off, legendary composer Marty O'Donnell settles his lawsuit with Bungie, and more!

Bungie Community Manager DeeJ stops by on the eve of Destiny's beta kickoff on Xbox platforms. We discuss the state of discourse in the video game community, how to give constructive feedback to your favorite developer, and much more. Plus: some very sad and unfortunate news at Microsoft overshadows strong Xbox One sales numbers, we discuss whether or not Homefront: The Revolution will ever come out a key staffer joins many others who've left Crytek recently, Tekken 7 is revealed, and Grand Theft Auto V on next-gen may have just had its release date leaked. P.S. Congrats to our prize winner this week: Parker Smith. Sorry for not writing your name down, Parker!

Are Xbox owners really getting the short end of the Destiny stick? And as Coagulation is announced as the second Halo 2 map to get the Xbox One "Anniversary" treatment in Halo: The Master Chief Collection, what might the other four be? Plus: Gearbox announces their new game (Hint: it's not Aliens: Colonial Marines 2), Alien: Isolation gets Sigorney Weaver, a couple of games are given sent-to-die release dates, and more!

Is EA's Peter Moore right about the console wars being a good thing? Is an analyst right about Destiny being 2014's biggest-selling game? What kind of game is Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinksi about to announce? The world's #1 Xbox podcast discusses.

It appears that developer Crytek is in serious trouble, and the fallout has already resulted in Ryse 2 being cancelled. We speculate on how Microsoft could still get the game made, making hypothetical picks on who might make it and what engine they'd use. Plus: Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson continues to get wealthier by the day, and we couldn't be happier for him.

We celebrate our mini-milestone episode by finally dipping into the Podcast Unlocked mailbag. Plus: Our personal E3 Game of the Show picks, Gearbox's Randy Pitchford criticizes Destiny, Capcom opens itself up to a hostile corporate takeover, and and an unpronounceable series of choices in the Unlock Block trivia challenge.

Recorded live from a haunted theater in Los Angeles, it's Podcast Unlocked! In our E3 2014 special edition, we dissect Microsoft's press conference, discussing what we liked, what we didn't, and what we wished had been there. Plus: What does Xbox's 2015 look like, and what are our Game of the Show picks? Tune in for the answers!

On the eve of E3, the crew makes a dozen bold Xbox predictions. Plus: several big-name games got announced this week ahead of the show, a pile of new apps are on the way to Xbox One (including an update on HBO Go), and Marty has a grade-A meltdown over the Unlock Block trivia question.

In the calm before the E3 storm, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella makes it clear that the Xbox business isn't going anywhere. Plus, EA leaks its own game, Minecraft on Xbox One gets a release date and a sweet upgrade deal, another publisher wants us to pay again for a recent game, and Mitch hates Batman Beyond spoilers. Oh, and why we may need to call in sick for the entire month of October.

Are we about to get FIVE Halo games in the next 18 months? Maybe, but one of them is definitely Halo 5: Guardians. We discuss. Plus: bad news for Rare that could have a silver lining, an unexpected delay from Ubisoft, Far Cry 4 is real, Fable Legends is being shown soon, and more!

Nathan Vella from Capy Games joins Marty Sliva, Destin Legarie, and Mitch Dyer to discuss Super TIME Force's launch, Xbox One's new Kinectless model, Games With Gold's benefits (and potentially harmful consequences), and more in this nutty, chaotic episode of Podcast Unlocked.