Times are tough in Hyrule. The Hero of Time is in need of a new shield, but he's a little strapped for cash. An animated short by YouTuber Callegos Yavolitak shows exactly how far Link is willing to go to get his hands on a shiny new Hylian Shield. Smashing pots for rupees is only the beginning.

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The short film was made entirely in Source Filmmaker and manages to bring a lot of personality to one of the most famous silent protagonists around. Yavolitak’s YouTube page is packed full of SFM shorts about everything from BioShock to Team Fortress 2, so be sure to check it out as well.

If you have a computer or tablet, you could be reading all about Halo 5: Guardians right now. Following today's cover story announcement, our digital issue is now live on web browser and will be coming to iPad, Android, and Google Play throughout the day. You can download the apps for free. All four of these digital options are included in a standard subscription.

The issue launches tomorrow on our third-party subscription apps including Zinio, Kindle, and Nook.

Not a digital subscriber yet? Convert your print subscription here or start a new subscription here.

Up until now, Activision has been focusing the Call of Duty: Black Ops III spotlight on PC and current-gen consoles. Today, the publisher has announced details for gamers who haven't yet upgraded.

If you are hoping to play Treyarch's latest Call of Duty entry on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, you're in luck. Beenox and Mercenary Technology are assisting on those versions.

Activision has suggested some of the changes that players will experience on older hardware. There is a "goal" of two-player cooperative play (as opposed to four-player co-op on PC and current-gen). Other elements built to take advantage of Xbox One- and PlayStation 4-specific features also won't make the cut.

Update 2: CD Projekt Red is pushing the Xbox One version of patch 1.04 out today. This patch should repair the save game issues that executive editor Andrew Reiner and others have experienced on Xbox One.

Update: Despite a statement from CD Projekt Red's North American community manager that patch 1.04 isn't out yet on PlayStation 4, we have some good news. The update is rolling out right now on that console. There have been no reports from Xbox One users yet, so sit tight.

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Update: EA has confirmed that the next Mirror's Edge game is titled Mirror's Edge Catalyst. As you might have guessed with a release planned for this fiscal year (ending March 31, 2016), we'll be getting more information at E3.

The publisher pushed live a new website for the game, complete with how Faith is conceptualized to appear. Based on the "tattoo trailer" from E3 2013, we already suspected this game is about Faith's earlier years. We know a bit more thanks to a letter from producer Sara Jannson.

"The team has spent a lot of time re-evaluating every aspect of the game and making it a new experience," Jannson writes. "This is not a sequel, this is not Mirror's Edge 2. We have landed on a vision that honors the first game — pushing the boundaries of first person movement and diving deeper into the story behind our heroine Faith — but also brings a lot of great new, interesting gameplay and features to the experience for our players."

You've played the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta. Now it's time to uncover the mysteries behind the story.

We went to 343 Industries to get the first hands-on with Master Chief's campaign. As you can see from the cover imagery, the Chief is now accompanied by the legendary Blue Team in both single-player and four-player co-op. Linda, Fred, and Kelly were abducted when they were six years old alongside John to be turned into Spartan-II super soldiers. This tight-knit squad grew up together and battled through many adventures in the expanded fiction, but this will mark their first significant role in a core Halo game. With the loss of Cortana in Halo 4, Blue Team steps up to interact with Chief, appear in cutscenes, and accept commands from him in single-player. In co-op play, everyone takes on a specific member, each with a different loadout unique to their specialty.

Sony has announced upcoming DLC for LittleBigPlanet 3 to continue Sackboy's story. The events at the end of the game were supposed to send Sackboy back to Craftworld. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.

The upcoming DLC will be a whirlwind tour of new levels based on themes found in the first two LittleBigPlanet games. There are new cooperative challenges, and OddSock gets a new bouncing ability. The adventure pack also includes creative items for level building.

Sumo Digital and Sony are also releasing a free costume pack this week. It will be available when the store updates later today.

Chris Avellone, the writer, storyteller, and game designer behind many of Obsidian Entertainment's titles, has left the studio. The news was announced via Twitter in jocular fashion, though Avellone confirms his departure is legitimate.

I have officially left Obsidian Entertainment to accept a sudden opening as the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts.

(The first part is serious, but much love and well wishes to my fellow devs, good folks one and all.)

It wasn’t even September when readers started asking when we’d publish the initial list of 2015 release dates. Our ever-popular and regularly updated roster of launch dates for the new year is here.

If you see anything we’ve missed, please let us know in the comments. Please note that games will not get assigned to a month until they have confirmed release dates. Prior to that, they will appear in the bottom grouping.

Microsoft has confirmed a report from last week of a new Xbox One with a 1 TB hard drive and new controller. The new version of the console will be available next week at the existing $399 price point.

In select territories, these new consoles will also include a copy of Halo: The Master Chief Collection for a limited time. Included with these new units are the new controllers which weren't entirely a secret (thanks first to a support page on Microsoft's own website).

At the same time, Microsoft has dropped the price of the 500GB models. You can pick one up for $349 starting on June 16, the same day that the new 1TB models are available.