Splatoon 2 Love/Money Splatfest Starts Tonight February 16, 2018
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Splatoon 2 players should fire up their Nintendo Switch consoles and prepare to pick sides because the next Splatfest starts tonight. Splatfest is an important event in the Splatoon franchise where players take sides on important issues, with winning teams getting special goodies. This weekend’s Splatfest will go on for exactly 24 hours starting at Midnight tonight. The winner will be determined shortly after the event concludes.
So what is at stake this time? The answer appears to be the very core of humanity. The game’s developers are taking inspiration from the Valentine’s Day holiday and are asking their players the hard question, do you prefer Love or Money? Players can make their team selection right now but just be aware that once a team is selected, you won’t be able to change it.
Good luck to everyone! May your ink be only on your enemies.
Splatoon 2 is out now exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.
Ready Player One “Come With Me” Trailer February 16, 2018
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Ernest Cline wrote a love letter to nerdy culture with his novel Ready Player One. This March, it is going to be released as a major motion picture. The book’s plot was heavily inspired by stories like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and what better song to use for the film’s trailer than one from that book’s film adaptation.
How many references can you recognize? Post what you spotted in the comments section below.
Ready Player One is coming to theaters in March 2018.
FAIL: Comcast Won’t Broadcast the 2018 Winter Olympics in 4K February 13, 2018
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We’ve occasionally strived to offer 4K content on this website at our own expense, which is more than Comcast has done for their customers for this year’s Olympics. Welcome back to FAIL, an unscripted series where we talk about the biggest blunders in film and television. This week marks the return of the Winter Olympics, where the best athletes across the world will get together to compete in a wide range of winter sports.
4KTVs/UHDTVs have received an incredible installation base over the past year, despite the lack of readily available UHD-capable devices and content. At this year’s Winter Olympics, Sony provided 4K-capable broadcast television cameras. In the US, Comcast/Universal has exclusive television rights to broadcast the Olympics, and has been airing them on their various NBC owned channels. The problem is, Comcast, by its own admission, does not have a cable service capable of 4K, despite being one of the most successful companies in the world. That means most of the US will not be able to watch the Olympics in 4K, even if they own a 4K television. Why not?
Gaming History You Should Know – The GameCube/Game Boy Advance Link Cable February 11, 2018
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Welcome back to a new edition of Gaming History You Should Know, an ongoing series where we take a look back at some of the best stories in gaming history, as chronicled by some of the best people across the Internet. Today, we will be taking a closer look at the Nintendo GameCube, the first gaming console I owned since the original NES. Nintendo’s GameCube may have come in last place when stacked up against the PS2 and Xbox console generation but Nintendo took some risks with it and it had some great games. One of the risks it took was in the form of a custom cable. While the GameCube may have been in last place, at the same time Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance was running nearly unopposed in the handheld market.
The Game Boy handhelds, with the help of a custom cable could allow for data transfer between two units. Eventually, someone at Nintendo realized they could use the Game Boy Advance’s data port to send data to and from a Nintendo GameCube, and they released a new cable to take advantage of that capability. Eventually, Nintendo released some incredible games to take advantage of GameCube to Game Boy Advance connectivity. Games like Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, Metroid Prime, and The Legend of Zelda: Four Sword Adventures are still discussed to this day. But how exactly did this technology work, and what were its limitations?
Enter Derek Alexander, formerly known as The Happy Video Game Nerd and now known as the host of Stop Skeletons from Fighting, produced this incredible documentary on the cable. If you ever wanted to know how the cable worked, what it could do, and how various GameCube games supported it, give this a watch.
Kingdom Hearts III D23 Tokyo 2018 Trailer February 11, 2018
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We’ve been waiting quite a long time to see the newest game in the Kingdom Hearts franchise. We know it is coming to the Xbox One and PS4, but we haven’t seen much news about it since 2.8 HD released on the PS4. This weekend, Disney unveiled the newest trailer for Kingdom Hearts III at D23 Expo Tokyo, which shows an all-new world we will be visiting in the game, the world of Monsters, Inc.
If you liked that, I’m happy to say that’s not all the Kingdom Hearts news we have for you today. Every Kingdom Hearts game has begun with a song performed by the singer Utada, and Kingdom Hearts III will be no different. Here is the all-new theme song for the game, “Don’t Think Twice”.
Kingdom Hearts III is coming later this year to Xbox One and PS4.
Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition Released February 9, 2018
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Square Enix has released Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition on Android and iOS smartphones earlier today. The game incorporates the content from Final Fantasy XV with a new art style that runs well on portable devices. If you want a closer look at it, here’s the official launch trailer:
If you want to take a look at how the game plays before buying the rest of the episodes, you’re in luck because you can download the first episode for free right now on your device’s respective digital marketplace.
Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition is out now on Android and iOS devices.
What You Need to Know Before Buying the Xbox One X February 8, 2018
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If you’re an Xbox One owner who bought a brand-new 4KTV and are interested in upgrading to the Xbox One X console, you’re in good company. Here’s some information current Xbox One owners should know before making the upgrade to the Xbox One X.
- The Xbox One X does not support the Kinect. It does not have a Kinect port in its rear nor does the Xbox One X include a Kinect-to-USB adapter in its package. Microsoft is no longer making Xbox One Kinect/USB adapters, and since all Kinect adapters they did make have either sold out or been given away, it is very unlikely you’ll ever be able to use the Kinect with the Xbox One X.
- You still need access to a high-speed internet connection to activate the Xbox One X and install the most recent system update. Once the initial setup process concludes, you do not need to remain online to play disc-based games.
- The Xbox One X package does not come bundled with a microphone-equipped chat headset. You’ll have to pay an extra $25 dollars for one if you don’t already have one.
- Not all games have their 4K content included on disc, older games may require patches to support the Xbox One X. Your console will install 4K updates automatically from the internet when applicable.
- If you already use an external Hard Drive, you can use that drive on the Xbox One X, provided you are using the same Xbox Live account on both consoles.
- If you don’t use an external Hard Drive, you can transfer the data from your old Xbox One console to the Xbox One X. Microsoft recommends enabling a new feature in your original console’s settings menu called “prepare for 4K”. This will download the 4K Xbox One X patches to your original console before doing the data transfer. You won’t be able to make use of the 4K patches on your original console, but it should save you some time downloading the content on your new console later.
- You can always redownload any purchased games and DLC on a new console, provided you sign into it using the same Xbox Live account you purchased the content on.
- There is no need to back up your game saves. Your most recent Save Games will download automatically from Xbox Live the first time you start the game on your new console.
Hopefully these tips helped you out! If you have any more tips you think should be included in the list feel free to post a comment below!
Switch Rewards Coming to My Nintendo in Early March February 8, 2018
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Got some highly-anticipated news for you all today. Nintendo’s digital rewards service, My Nintendo, provides Nintendo customers with point rewards ranging from purchasing games to completing tasks in Nintendo’s various smartphone titles. These points could be redeemed for rewards ranging from wallpapers, 3DS themes, Wii U DLC, or discounts on select 3DS or Wii U eShop titles. Rewards change frequently so it is a good idea to stay up to date with the latest offerings by visiting the website at least once a month.
However, while Nintendo Switch owners could earn points from their digital and retail purchases on the Switch, Nintendo does not currently offer any digital rewards for Switch owners. The Switch has been out for almost a year and has a larger install base than the Wii U, so many players have been asking Nintendo when they plan to offer rewards to Switch owners. Today, Nintendo finally revealed they will be offering rewards redeemable for Nintendo Switch content starting in early March!
Sadly, Nintendo has not yet revealed what rewards they will be offering for Switch owners, but they have several options. There are several digital titles on the Switch’s eShop they could offer. Also, it would be nice to see something like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild‘s Season Pass as a potential reward.
If you are a Switch owner and haven’t signed up for My Nintendo, you can do so here. You’ll just need to sign in with the Nintendo account you use on your Switch. If you’re a 3DS or Wii U owner its a good idea to link your Nintendo Network account, as that will add rewards made from future purchases on those consoles to your account balance.
You Will Be Missed – Miiverse February 7, 2018
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When the Nintendo Wii U launched back in November 2012, it featured a novel social media component which took full advantage of the Wii U’s unique touch screen controller. The service was called Miiverse and it was a completely free social network for Nintendo players to share their thoughts about the latest games. It was a great service which even got ported to Nintendo 3DS systems and PC.
When Miiverse launched it was everything I could ever have wanted in a social network. Like any forum, users could post their thoughts in text form, but thanks to the Wii U gamepad’s touch screen, users could also publish original art just as easily. Since this was a service for all-ages, Nintendo did a decent job moderating the service from publishing anything obscene. Miiverse felt to me like an incredible social network that was the exact opposite of Facebook. Players could get together to share their thoughts, art and screenshots on every Wii U game (and some 3DS games) as they played. It was glorious.
Before we get things started I just need to make one thing clear, I hate Facebook. That website is an utter privacy nightmare that runs like it is held together with chewing gum. To me, it spat in the face of the original rules of the internet, and only serves as a method for the il-informed to spread nonsense to their friends and family. Miiverse on the other hand embraced what it was, a place for gamers to share their love of Nintendo and gaming.
But there was more to Miiverse than just its social media component, the ‘verse was a haven for creative fan art. Sometimes, Nintendo would do things with that art, like how they managed the community features of Splatoon’s occasional Splatfest!
So with such a successful service that seemed to do everything right at launch, why would Nintendo choose to shut it down? Was it too successful or were cracks starting to appear in Miiverse’s foundation? The answer is complicated.
I think the first cracks started to appear in Miiverse’s foundation when Nintendo changed their moderation policies for absolutely no reason. A year after the service launched, all users received a restriction on how many times they were allowed to post per day. For those of you who don’t use social networks, limiting posting is usually a penalty moderators will impose on new users, or users who had violated a community rule. Nintendo never provided the community they created a decent reason why they chose to treat all the users keeping their community alive like they were on probation, but it certainly rubbed me the wrong way. Thankfully other Nintendo fan communities started to rise up around the same time Nintendo imposed these rules, and I moved on from Miiverse.
Eventually, Miiverse’s time appeared to run out. Miiverse support was not included with the Nintendo Switch, and the Wii U was getting harder to find on shelves. When I say Miiverse will be missed, I say I will miss it the way it was originally designed. Until then I’ll be keeping my eye out for the next great Nintendo fan community.
GameStop Offering Legendary Pokemon For All Four Generation VIII Pokemon Games Starting Today February 2, 2018
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Last month, The Pokémon Company announced they would be offering two exclusive Legendary Pokémon for free to players of Pokémon Sun, Pokémon Moon, Pokémon Ultra Sun or Pokémon Ultra Moon. Great news, that starts today! Here’s a closer look at what is being offered this month!
That’s right, The Pokémon Company is giving players the two GEN4 legendaries, Dialga and Palkia for free this month. To get your free legendary Pokémon you will need to connect your 3DS systems online and redeem a code in the game’s Mystery Gift menu. You can get your code starting today at your local GameStop. The specific Pokémon you earn with the code will depend entirely on which version of the game you redeem the code on. Dialga will be received if the code is redeemed on Pokémon Moon and Pokémon Ultra Moon. Palkia will be received if the code is redeemed on Pokémon Sun or Pokémon Ultra Sun.
Pokémon Sun, Pokémon Moon, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon are out now on Nintendo 3DS systems.
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