Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Animated Trailer November 20, 2014

Just in time for the midnight launch of the the third generation Pokémon remakes Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Pokémon Omega Ruby, The Pokémon Company have released this animated trailer. The trailer provides more than just a glimpse into the Pokémon world, new players will get a good look at all of the new Mega Evolved Pokémon that are going to be offered in this game.

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire is coming November 21st, 2014 to the Nintendo 3DS and 2DS.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection Matchmaking Content Update Coming Today November 20, 2014

A major system update which is planned to fix issues with Halo: The Master Chief Collection’s multiplayer matchmaking service will launch later today for Xbox One players.  The update was supposed to be released yesterday, but the game’s developer delayed the patch a day to add a lot more than just fixes to matchmaking, and because of those extra fixes have delayed the update’s launch to later today.

Here is the complete patch log for the third Halo: The Master Chief Collection content update.  You can read the official report here.

Matchmaking

• Made a number of updates to how matchmaking progress is communicated to the player. With this update, you’ll see better, more frequent and more informative status updates throughout the matchmaking flow – so “Players Found” for example, will be displayed to let players know where they are in the matchmaking process instead of simply wondering if it’s going to connect.
• The improved matchmaking flow is as follows:
  • Searching
  • Searching for more players
  • Players found
  • Finalizing matchmaking process
  • Connecting session
• Made an update to ensure that parties stick together when returning from the post-game carnage report
• Prevented the ability for players “kick” other players from matchmaking games
• Made an update to ensure that the Roster correctly displays the “searching” UI rather than “My Game Session” while searching for players
• Removed the possibility to boost ranking through a custom games exploit
• Made an update to ensure that players cannot get stuck in the matchmaking screen during map voting
• Made an update to ensure that the “Connecting to your game” message no longer incorrectly displays in the lower right of the screen during gameplay
• Made an update to the “team creation” phase that allows players to be grouped by team
• Made an update to prevent players from seeing the “connection failed” dialogue if disconnected during the map voting screen
• Improved roster / matchmaking lobby stability
• Made improvements to the accuracy and stability of the “Game Session Details” UI
• Improved version compatibility

UI

• Improved emblem and nameplate behavior to ensure that they do not reset to default (especially after game sessions)
• Corrected career stats that did not update uniformly across different profiles in multiple titles
• Improved Forge map display names in Theater
• Corrected various medal inconsistencies across titles

Campaign

• Made updates to the attainability of various achievements, including “Goat Roped,” “Monopolized,” “You’re Joking,” and “Devastating.”
• Improved Halo: CE career stat tracking
• Resolved scoring and time HUD reset and display issues
• Made an update to ensure that rival emblems are displayed correctly

Halo: CE

• Improved consistency and reliability of shot registration
• Improved headshot hitboxes
• Fixed an issue where respawning players could momentarily appear at their death location
• Made an update to ensure that the match ends when the entire opposing team quits
• Improved fall damage consistency (specifically in regards to uneven surfaces)
• Improved Halo: CE menu and loading screen stability
• Improved consistency with multikill rewards
• Made an update to improve post-game carnage report accuracy for Halo: CE FFA games
• Updated default language settings

Halo 2

• Made an update to ensure that the team color shown in pre-game lobby matches in-game
• Improved a variety of networking issues to allow for improved consistency between host and clients in peer to peer matches
• Improved a variety of networking issues to allow for improved gameplay consistency
• Made an update to service tag functionality, allowing for service tags to appear for all players
• Improved the post-game carnage report to correctly display team color
• Made an update to ensure that the match ends when the entire opposing team quits
• Improved “original” medal icon functionality in split-screen
• Improved host migration functionality
• Corrected “headshot” stat tracking
• Addressed a crash that occurred with the Scarab skull
• Addressed art errors that occurred on the opening cinematics for “Uprising” and “High Charity”

Halo 2 Anniversary

• Made an update to prevent players from gaining achievements in Forge
• Improved Forge item display names
• Resolved text overlapping issues
• Improved split screen stability
• Made an update to resolve the notorious “-1th” scoreboard text
• Improved lobby functionality to address players not being able to reconnect to the party leader after completing a match
• Improved host migration functionality
• Corrected vehicle and weapon thumbnails in the “Tools of destruction” table in the post-game carnage report
• Addressed a dedicated server issue that caused gameplay physics issues on Stonetown
• Improved split-screen party functionality to ensure that players are not directed to a broken lobby screen after completing a game session
• Improved Forge mode stability
• Made an update to King of the Hill scoring to prevent multiple hills from counting down at the same time
• Improved Shrine objective spawn points
• Improved King of the Hill and Ninjanaut mode stability
• Addressed an issue where controller vibration could persist during the pause menu
• Improved Race mode respawn zones

343 Industries have promised that more content updates are on the way, and this looks to be just the tip of the iceburg.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is out now exclusively on Xbox One.

UPDATE: The patch is out now.

Final Fantasy XV Walkthrough and Tech Demo November 20, 2014

Tonight, Square Enix did a bit of an information dump on something that a lot of JRPG fans have been looking forward to for the past few years, the next numbered title in the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy XV.  Based on the original design for the highly anticipated but never released title Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Final Fantasy XV is being built from the ground up to take advantage of the powerful next generation consoles.

I’m sure there are a lot of people out there wondering just what this game’s engine is capable of.  Here’s a look at the technology behind the game.

Anyone else having Alan Wake flashbacks?  The terrain technology they’re using looks to be very similar to Remedy’s technology for Alan Wake.  Those tools were built from the ground up to be for an open world game, and from the looks of it, that’s exactly what the Final Fantasy XV engine will be capable of.

If a simple tech demo isn’t enough for you don’t worry, I have more.  Here is a ten minute walkthrough of the gameplay.  There’s not really much action in the video, but it does give a good look at the world the players will be exploring set to a beautiful score.  I don’t know if anyone heard it, but there was a distinct set of notes from a classic Final Fantasy theme at the very end of the video.

It looks like this game will allow you to have four character adventure parties during quests.  I always thought that three person groups were the typical party size in modern JPRGs (Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy XIII for example), but I know Final Fantasy games in the past have allowed it.

Square Enix cannot stress enough that this content is subject to change in the final version of the game.

Final Fantasy XV is coming to the Xbox One and Playstation 4.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection Matchmaking Content Update Delayed November 18, 2014

Since its release, Halo: The Master Chief Collection players have been exposed to a multitude of problems with the game, and most of them revolve around multiplayer matchmaking. 343 and Microsoft have been working on patching the game servers to improve performance non-stop since the game shipped but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. I’ve personally heard of cases of users waiting in matchmaking for as long as 30 minutes to play a multiplayer game even after all of the recent server updates.

There was a new content update planned for release on Wednesday (11/19) which would have specifically addressed matchmaking problems in the game, but that patch has been delayed as more fixes are being added to the next update. If you want to read all the details about it, you can check it out here. Sadly, we don’t have a release date for the update, so there is no way to know how much longer matchmaking issues will continue.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is out now exclusively on the Xbox One.

iOS 8.1.1 Released November 17, 2014

iPhone, iPad and Apple TV owners running iOS 8.1 should take a quick look at the Software Update section on their device’s Settings menu. Apple has just released a small system update to their array of personal digital devices, and you can download it right now.

The new update, iOS 8.1.1, lists some very non specific stability improvements, but does specifically mention performance improvements with iPhone 4s and iPad 2 devices.

On the iPhone 5s, the update was about 68MB in size and required 1.6GB of free space to install. If you lack the free space to install the update, you can always connect your device to a computer with iTunes installed and install it that way.

Pokémon Trading Card Game Re-Released on 3DS November 14, 2014

Nintendo has just announced that the much beloved Game Boy Color version of the Pokémon: Trading Card Game has gotten a digital re-release on the Nintendo 3DS through the Nintendo Virtual Console service.

How does the game look? Exactly as you remember. Here’s the official trailer.

While many fans of this game are still lamenting the fact that its sequel never was released in the West, the fact that Nintendo is rereleasing this title is certainly a good sign. Hopefully this won’t be the last Pokémon Game Boy title released on the 3DS Virtual Console, as there is plenty of room for Pokémon Red, Pokémon Blue, Pokémon Yellow, and all of the 2nd Generation titles released for Game Boy Color on my 3DS’s upgraded SD Card.

Pokémon Trading Card Game can be purchased right now from the Virtual Console menu on the Nintendo eShop. It is exclusive to the Nintendo 3DS/2DS.

D4 Patch 1.1 Released, All DLC Re-Released for Two Weeks November 14, 2014

An enormous patch for the Xbox One exclusive adventure game D4 was released earlier this week. The new patch, weighing in at over 8 GB, adds new balance changes and bug fixes to the game.

The changes mentioned in the 1.1 patch include a reduction in the stamina burn rate during dives, and more food options during dives. The developers also tweaked some of the more frustrating control moments, and adjusted controller input for actions like “follow the circle” and “rapid moving thumbstick” moments.

Kinect commands have also been improved for players interested in using the Kinect to play the game. The patch notes mention the developers improved lock-on skeletal tracking and hand state accuracy. Kinect inputs should be faster and more reliable now. You can now also tell your Xbox One to simply “Go to D4” when you want to play the game if you have a Kinect installed.

Oh and for the next two weeks, the game developers have decided to re-release all of the game’s exclusive downloadable content, including exclusive clothing items and beard styles you otherwise won’t be able to unlock in the game. There is a lot of DLC to download, and the content will only be up for two weeks so get it now. All the content is still free, so players have no reason not to download it!

D4 is out now exclusively on Xbox One.

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Delta Episode Trailer November 13, 2014

The Pokémon Company has just officially released the latest trailer for their upcoming Generation 3 remakes, Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby today. The new trailer showcases not only all of the Legendary Pokémon the games will include, but also give a first look at the Delta Episode.

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire will be released November 21st, 2014 exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS and 2DS.

PS4 System Software Update 2.02 Released November 11, 2014

A required system update has just been released for the Playstation 4 in the form of System Software Update 2.02. Sony was unspecific about the changes in the update’s patch log, merely mentioning the update improves system stability, but many players expect that this update addresses system issues brought to the PS4 with version 2.00.

You must download and install the update to continue using the Playstation Network.