The Halo 5: Guardians beta began earlier this week, and 343 Industries is already loading it up with more ways to play. The next time you log in, you’ll have some new options to test.

Breakout, an extremely fast variant that gives each player one life per round, enters rotation. We had a chance to play around with this mode, and the lethality is most certainly ramped up.

We had a chance to play on the Crossfire map. It will be available alongside a variant called Trench. For Slayer fans, Regret subs in for Truth and Eden takes Empire’s place. Both are “remixes” of the two that appeared in week one. You’ll also note that assault rifle starts are out, battle rifles are in.

Reports are surfacing that multiple titles in the Alien universe are disappearing from Steam. We were able to confirm one of them, 2013’s Alien: Colonial Marines, has been removed.

The title received critical panning and is the subject of an ongoing class-action lawsuit. The other title allegedly removed, Rebellion’s Aliens vs. Predator, is available on the platform as of this time.

Alien: Isolation, released in October 2014, is likewise unaffected. We’ve reached out to Sega for comment and will update should we receive a response.

Earlier today, I hinted at my own gaming resolutions in a post about getting organized. This is the year I wrangle my backlog and catch up on the games that really matter.

I’m not the only Game Informer editor making plans for the coming months. Senior features editor Matt Helgeson also shared his thoughts about 2015 resolutions.

Now it’s your turn. We want to know what you hope to accomplish or change in the coming year. 

In June 2014, Steam saw record concurrent usership during its summer sale. Over 8 million people flocked to the site at the same time during the heat of June. Now, in the early hours of 2015, a that number has been surpassed.

At approximately 11:30 a.m. Pacific / 2:30 p.m. Eastern on January 1, usership hit 8,466,441. Dota 2 remains the top-played game by a wide margin, with perennial favorites Counter-Strike, Team Fortress 2, Football Manager, Skyrim, and Civilization taking spots on the top ten list.

Click to enlarge.

In response to extended PlayStation Network downtime over the Christmas holiday, Sony is offering compensation for all users. If you are a PlayStation Plus member, you’ll receive more time, also.

For members and trial users of the premium service, you’ll automatically receive five additional days. Unfortunately, the extension isn’t ready quite yet and it is possible that those taking PlayStation Plus for a test drive will be awarded time after your trial expires. There will be more news on this in the coming days.

For every PlayStation Network member (Plus or otherwise), there will be a 10 percent discount code made available in the future. This is a one-time use offer that will apply to everything in a single cart purchase (rather than a single item).

Happy New Year! Here's hoping each of you has a bright and prosperous 2015. May all your games be good, your extra lives plentiful, and your checkpoints frequent.

After 3.3 years, 14,479 blogs (1,884 of them being featured here), and 175 consecutive weekly episodes, it's with a heavy heart that I announce I'm stepping down as the curator of Blog Herding. I'd like to thank everyone for all of your support and contributions to making the G.I. community what it is, and to Jeff Marchiafava for being awesome.

Fair winds and following seas.

Microsoft, Sony, and Valve are wrapping up their holiday sales, making this your last chance to save on popular titles. Here’s what you can find from each of them and when the offers expire.

SteamThe final two days of the Steam Holiday Sale bring back discounts on popular games. Included in the roster are some of 2014’s best, like Dark Souls II, Wasteland 2, Transistor, Shovel Knight, Wolfenstein: The New Order, and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.

Visit the Steam website to check out the full list. These sales end on January 2 at 10 a.m. Pacific / 1 p.m. Eastern.

Here we are on the final day of 2014. It’s time to make your decision and name your champion.

We’ll be revealing our Game of the Year after the new year (along with the results of our reader voting). But we want to hear from you as individuals. 

What was your favorite game of 2014? If you’ve got more than one, want to call out stars in a variety of genres, or have a list, we want to hear it.

Each new year presents us with a fresh start, and a chance to fail at our goals all over again.

I thought about how I'd like to game different in 2015, and here are some of the ways that I hope to change for the better.

1. Pay Better Attention to the Indie Scene

Update: Sony Computer Entertainment America has confirmed the rundown of PlayStation Plus titles for January. In addition, The Swapper is available for all three systems, Duke Nukem 3D Megaton can be played on both Vita and PS3, and the PlayStation 4 version of Whoa Dave will be available in the cross-buy program when it releases later in 2015.

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