Halo Infinite Launch Trailer November 30, 2021
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This afternoon, we got our first look at Halo: Infinite’s single-player campaign in what feels like a year and a half. Today, Microsoft and 343 released this new launch trailer in glorious 4K. Take a look!
Halo: Infinite is coming December 8th, 2021 to PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.
Avengers: Holiday Deep Dive November 29, 2021
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The holidays are upon us and the team for Marvel’s Avengers are showing off what is coming next for the game in patch 2.2. Oh and there’s a certain spider coming to PlayStation 4 and 5 versions. Give it a watch!
Avengers is out now for PC, Xbox One, Stadia, Xbox Series X/S, PS4 and PS5.
Date Nite – Ghostbusters Afterlife Review November 28, 2021
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A movie we’ve been waiting thirty years for, Ghostbusters Afterlife, has been released this past week. Maniac, after just finishing watching it for the first time, is going to give his thoughts about the film. This is a SPOILER-FREE review. In the video below, Maniac discusses his history with the franchise, his feelings about the film, and gives his idea for what he’d like the next Ghostbusters film to be.
Halo: Infinite – Forever We Fight Trailer November 28, 2021
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Microsoft has just released this new full-length trailer in anticipation for Halo: Infinite’s release. In this video, we see the history of humanity and how it relates to Halo. There’s some great production value on this one and it’s clear Microsoft is trying to invoke those classic trailers from Halo past. Take a watch and decide for yourselves how it stacks up.
Halo: Infinite is coming December 8th, 2021 to PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.
Japan Travel Tips – A Closer Look at Capsule Hotels November 23, 2021
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Happy Tuesday! Welcome back to Japan Travel Tips, where we have highlighted some of the best independently produced travelogs about Japan in the hope to assist anyone interested in traveling to the country. One of the first articles we posted highlighted some of the various options travelers have for finding a hotel throughout the country. My intention with that article was to show a smattering of different hotel options in that first article, and then expand on each option in later articles. Today, we’re going to talk about one of the most unique options to stay while traveling in Japan, and possibly the best option tourists who plan to travel light and see as much of the country as they can might have, the Capsule Hotel.
Japan’s Capsule Hotels are world-famous. Instead of providing a guest an individual room with a bed, Capsule hotels are communal hotels where rows of beds are provided throughout the floors. However, each capsule is self contained with its own bed, power outlets, and a small television. For a cheaper fee per night than any hotel I could find, guests are provided their very own capsule to sleep in, and also provided lockers for their belongings, robes, pajamas and travel toiletries. There’s even communal areas for social exchange with the other guests. It is very popular among locals who stayed out too late and happen to miss a train home.
I wanted to start this article by re-featuring the best overview video I could find on the internet about the subject. Only in Japan produced this video about the Capsule Hotel, and I thought it would be the best way to outline what the experience is like to people who may not be from Japan.
So now that you have a better idea of what a capsule hotel is, you probably want to know what the experience of spending a night there was like. Well, I wanted to feature the great work of Tyler Williams, who traveled with his wife Safiya Nygaard to Japan and documented their experience staying at a capsule hotel. The video is incredibly in-depth with them talking about every aspect of their stay.
Next up, I would not be able to continue this article without providing another fantastic video by Abroad in Japan. In this video he does a great job showing the common areas available to guests.
I must stress some major takeaways from these videos. There are positives and negatives to staying at a Capsule Hotel.
- Capsule Hotels are among the cheapest accommodations for spending a night in Japan. They are a perfect option for people traveling on a budget.
- Capsule Hotels are a good option for travelers who are traveling alone or traveling with a companion of the same gender. In some cases, Capsule Hotels could be marked “Men Only” or “Women Only”. In the case of a hotel that accommodates men and women, they will usually assign separate floors for men and women that cannot be crossed. Married couples would likely be happier staying at an alternate accommodation such as a Love Hotel or Onsen.
- Guests are provided access to a personal locker while staying at the capsule hotel. Pack light if you plan to stay overnight at one as you’re going to want all your belongings to fit in your locker.
- I wouldn’t recommend staying at the same capsule hotel for their entire stay in Japan. Your best option is to stay at one while visiting an area for one or two nights, then taking a train, boat or plane to your next destination and stay at a different accommodation.
Hope you’ve all been enjoying Japan Travel Tips. We are going to take a break on this series for the time being. At the time of this writing there are still travel restrictions on visiting the country, and I felt that while this information is fascinating and has been useful to me in the event I could ever take a vacation there, I will probably not be able to visit for some time. Until next time!
Lifeline Games Getting Major Updates For Apple iPhone and Apple Watch November 22, 2021
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When I purchased my first-ever Apple Watch earlier this year, I became obsessed with catching up on all the unique games and applications that I had been missing out on for waiting so long to purchase one. While Apple has a great bunch of first party pre-loaded programs like its ECG and Fitness apps, a few games that can either only be played on or played best on the Apple Watch have been released. One of the games I saw listed in nearly every “Best of” Apple Watch games lists were the Lifeline series of games by 3 Minute Games.
Lifeline was one of the first games I ever played on the Apple Watch, and I absolutely fell in love with it. It had a simple interface, which functioned similarly to the interactive novels I remembered reading as a kid. However, the thing I appreciated the most about the game was that it could be played on either my Apple Watch OR my iPhone, and that any progress I made on one device would transfer to the other. Since the game required making a player wait in real-time for certain story sections to progress (similar to the alternate reality game Majestic I played back in 2000), being able to respond to the game as soon as the story event unlocked was a major immersive factor for me and helped blur the line between reality and game.
Earlier this year 3 Minute Games announced they were back in development of a new game and would be releasing updates for their games, starting with the original Lifeline. Part of that update would include native support for newer iPhone screens (like the iPhone X, 11, 12 or 13), as well as native support for the more recent versions of WatchOS. The version of Lifeline I played on my iPhone 12 Pro and Apple Watch Series 6 likely included this update.
While there is a Lifeline 2 (and I fully intend to play it someday), as far as I can tell, it was not a direct sequel to the original Lifeline, it features a new story, a new setting, and new characters. However, 3 Minute games has produced more games that served as follow ups to the original Lifeline and continued the plotline of the original game. The next game to follow Lifeline is actually called Lifeline: Silent Night. After completing the original game’s epilogue, I fired up Silent Night only to discover that my Apple Watch and iPhone progress were not in sync. I immediately stopped playing, and held out hope the game would get an update. This morning, that update finally came. A major free update was just released for Lifeline: Silent Night, and progress syncing is now possible between iPhone and Apple Watch.
I applaud 3 Minute Games for continuing the support of their applications this long after their original program release, and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for them and their applications. Hopefully Taylor will be okay.
Game Theory 1 Million Dollar Challenge for St Jude 2021 Stream November 30th November 22, 2021
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I’ve waited a long time to see this announcement, and it has just arrived. The guys over at The Game Theory have announced their yearly telethon event for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital will take place on November 30th, 2021! Here’s the official announcement video:
We will keep you all posted on the details for the event and provide links and embeds for the live event when it happens. This has always been a major fundraising event for an important charity, and we wanted to get the word out. I’ll be watching, hope you’ll all be watching too.
iOS 15.1.1 Released November 17, 2021
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A minor but important update has just released for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 line of phones. The new update addresses the issue of random call drops that have been reported.
The update, depending on your device, should weigh in at around 350Mb. It can be downloaded right now through your device’s software update feature. There does not appear to be a comparable update for the iPad or Apple Watch. There was an Apple TV update last week, but that appears to be unrelated.
Sony Releases Final Spider-Man: No Way Home Trailer November 16, 2021
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I know this technically counts as movie news and not video game news but I wanted to show this with you all and share my thoughts about it. Sony has just revealed the final trailer for the third Spider-Man film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Take a look. Fans of previous Spidey films may recognize a few familiar faces they didn’t expect to see.
If Sony plans to create a full Spider-Man multiverse and make films about it…why don’t they include the PS4 game’s Spider-Man characters as well? The Advanced Suit design has become iconic in its own right. The CG models would hold up just fine on film, and heck since most of the in-game characters used the likeness of the actor portraying them, there’s no reason you couldn’t just stick a camera in front of them and tell them to play their role in live-action.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is releasing exclusively in theaters December 17th, 2021z
Xbox Anniversary Celebration November 15, 2021
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Its been twenty years since the original Xbox console released in North America and earlier today Microsoft has celebrated that fact with this new video. Check it out!
Happy Birthday, Xbox (and Halo)!
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