Halo: Combat Evolved represented a watershed moment for the Xbox. The design, multiplayer, and high-end graphics helped the game become a cultural phenomenon. And so, to celebrate the original title's tenth anniversary, Saber Interactive, 343 Industries, and Certain Affinity all worked together on a remake.

Cheating is a problem in most online games, especially those with synchronous play. Microsoft's Ferdinand Schober discusses how you can implement a custom cheat-resistant cloud server to mitigate cheating without paying for anything but programmer time.

The challenges of collision in open-world games are legion. When players can go anywhere and do anything, you have to be ready for anything. But in Saints Row: The Third, Volition wanted drivable tanks to be able to crush objects, including other vehicles. Volition programmer Victor Cepeda IV outlines the visual deformation techniques from Saints Row 1–3 to demonstrate how the team conquered this problem.