Halo: The Master Chief Collection 4K Patch Released August 28, 2018
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It’s been several hundred days since the last time Halo: The Master Chief Collection received an official update of any sort. Today, Microsoft and 343 Industries just released a MASSIVE patch for the game. Among the fixes and tweaks included in the patch is the long-awaited 4K update, making the game 4K native on the Xbox One X.
This is no minor software update. Even if you’ve previously installed the most recent version of the game, updating the game on the Xbox One X requires a 73.70 GB download. My advice is to shut off your console’s auto shutdown mode and start the download as soon as possible.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection is out now exclusively on the Xbox One.
Things to Watch While Waiting for Spider-Man PS4 – Part 1 August 28, 2018
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We’re days away from the release of Spider-Man for the PlayStation 4 and we have been going stir crazy in anticipation for its launch. If you’re like me and you’re planning to play it at its midnight launch, the time you’re spending counting down for that clock to strike twelve must be agony. So if you’re a fan of Spidey, how do you pass the time? Well, we’ve spent a lot of time scouring the internet looking for the best independently produced Spider-Man videos, and we’ve found a lot of great ones.
First off, we’re going to be featuring the work of Linkara. Host of Atop The Fourth Wall, Linkara has kept an incredible comic review series going for years. Most of the time he reviews horrible comics, but every once in a while he’ll feature a great comic or talk about the history of a classic franchise. Each year, he’s agreed to look at a new Spider-Man comic, and we’re going to feature some of our favorites.
First off, we’re going to highlight his review of The Greatest Responsibility. The reason I like this review is because it’s for a comic that is just the epitome of the 90s. There are so many stories from that time that centered around this new concept of Virtual Realty (VR) written by writers with barely any understanding of the actual technology.
Next up is a review he did for a mini-series that took place during the Clone Wars, Planet of the Symbiotes. In it, Spider-Man, Ben Reilly and Venom travel to Venom’s home planet to try to avert a full invasion of earth.
Those are some of our favorite reviews but I know you’re going to want to see his review of One More Day. If you really want to see his review of One More Day, go here.
Next up I want to highlight the work of comic reviewer StorytellerSKJ and his series Unrepentant Geeking. I first became familiar with his channel when he posted a review of the six-issue Spider-Man miniseries, Sins Past. It is considered to this day to be one of the worst Spider-Man stories ever written, it’s artwork has endured as memes and despite its out of character plot twist that was meant to have a huge impact on canon, as of the time that video was posted the twist’s enduring consequences have been mostly ignored by the main Spider-Man mythos.
He really does go quite mad while reviewing this awful storyline, but I cannot stress how great it is to hear his analysis of why Sins Past was a failure at nearly every level. It clocks in at nearly two hours to watch in total, but you’ll be hanging on it every moment.
Next up, we are going to take a closer look behind the scenes of the Spider-Man movies. While most people remember the first time Spider-Man appeared in the incredible 2002 film Spider-Man, most people don’t know how difficult it was to get that film on the screen, or all the studio interference that happened after the films started coming out.
Anyone interested in behind the scenes news about films and filmmaking should immediately check out the YouTube Channel Midnight’s Edge. They’re a fantastic source for news and analysis on upcoming films. I first became aware of them while they were covering the production of the atrocious Josh Trank directed Fant4stic (which they pronounced “fant four stick”), and stuck with the channel after that story wrapped. They’re huge fans of the genre and have covered a multitude of subjects ranging from The Phantom to the ongoing issues with the Star Trek license.
In this three-part video series, they covered the entire saga of bring Spider-Man to film. The first part involves the early plans and false starts that took place before the events of the 2002 film. Part two covers the development drama behind all the Spider-Man films Sony has released to date, and the third part covers the missteps Sony was planning to take trying to build their own Spider-Man cinematic saga. It’s a great watch and I recommend grabbing some popcorn before settling down to watch it in one go.
Even after watching this three-part video series, I still have pretty high hopes for the upcoming Sony film Into the Spider-Verse, despite the fact that Sony still won’t release their trailers on YouTube in 4K.
I just realized I spent a lot of this article devoting time to highlighting videos that showcase the worst of Spider-Man. Normally I would not have done that if the videos I featured weren’t so darn entertaining. Let’s focus on some of the positive next time shall we?
Spider-Man is coming September 7th, 2018 exclusively to the PS4.
Spider-Man PS4 – Relationships Trailer August 28, 2018
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Unlike previous times when a Just the Facts trailer was released for Spider-Man on the PS4, we waited an extra day to post this up so we wouldn’t have to use a video embed of sub-par quality. Now, the final video from the Just the Facts series has been posted. Sadly, we don’t see a lot of new content in this trailer, but listening to Peter and J Jonah’s banter is great as always. Check it out below.
I’m still reading the prequel novel, and I’ve noticed the rules regarding the timeline of this Spider-Verse are different than that of the 616 comic universe, but does the fact Peter mentions Ben Reilly (and the unlockable Scarlet Spider costume) mean that the Clone Saga has happened?
Spider-Man is coming September 7th, 2018 exclusively to the PlayStation 4.
The First Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay Footage August 28, 2018
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CD Projekt Red has finally released the very first actual gameplay footage from the long-awaited Cyberpunk 2077 and they did not disappoint. Instead of releasing a short snippet of footage, the developers went all out and released a 48 minute long video…all in glorious 4K. If you even have the slightest interest in this game you need to check this video out on the biggest screen you have.
I’m a huge fan of the game Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines, and to me Cyberpunk 2077 feels like a successor to that title. There are very fantastical concepts being explored in the game but I feel the mature themes keeps it on the edge of reality. Hopefully we will see more soon!
Cyberpunk 2077 is coming to PC, Xbox One and PS4.
Gaming History You Should Know – Virtua Fighter RPG August 26, 2018
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In the 90s, fighting games utterly dominated the arcade market. Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat II were probably the two biggest games I can remember from my arcade-playing days. They were just great to play, had great graphics, decent realism, and didn’t shy away from showing blood. However, these games kept the fighting to a 2D perspective, which limited a player’s options. Then, out of nowhere, Sega released Virtua Fighter.
Directed by Game God Yu Sazuki, Virtua Fighter revolutionized arcades by being the first ever 3D fighting game. The transition to 3D added a whole new depth (pardon the pun) to the genre. Players could now strafe their opponents in a 3D environment. Character models could now be made in 3D, laying the groundwork for an entirely new updated art style. And of course, players would now run the risk of getting knocked out of their fighting space.
It’s Sunday, welcome back to Gaming History You Should Know, where we highlight some of the best independently produced documentaries on gaming history. Today, in honor of the release of Shenmue I & II earlier in the week, we are going to highlight the special project that would eventually serve as the basis for that franchise, the Virtua Fighter RPG. This was a project that Yu Sazuki began to work on in the final days of the Sega Saturn. His intention was to tell a story in eleven chapters, provide unlimited environment interactivity and keep the fighting system that defined Virtua Fighter completely intact. Sadly, it was not to be, the game was never released.
So what came of this game, and why do I bring it up on the week of the re-release of Shenmue I & II? I’ll let YouTuber YuriofWind take it from here with an episode of his series, Gaming Mysteries.
Special thanks to YuriofWind for letting me feature his video on the site. If you’d like to check out more of his Gaming Mysteries video, you can visit his YouTube Channel here. For those of you thought this sounded like a great idea and wished this game would have come out, worry no longer. Most of its content will likely find its way into the Shenmue franchise. If you’d like to see more of what this early game footage looked like, you can find early footage here.
Shenmue I & II are out now for the PC, Xbox One and PS4.
Pokemon World Championships 2018 Starts Today August 24, 2018
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This weekend, the best Pokémon trainers in the world will be getting together in Nashville, Tennessee to determine just who is the very best like no one ever was. That’s right, it’s time for the 2018 Pokémon World Championships! The event covers all the competitions with the Trading Card Game (TCG) and recent video games like Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. We might even see some special surprises, it has happened in years past!
The stream is live now, but it looks the event will officially begin at 10am Eastern time. You can watch it here!
Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon are out now exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS Systems
Swery65’s Next Game is The Missing August 22, 2018
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The game director known as Swery65 is famous for unique titles like D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die and Deadly Premonition, two games I’ve enjoyed a lot. Now, his next game is called The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories. Today, it’s launch trailer has been released.
The Missing is coming some time in 2018 for the PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch. We don’t have an exact release date for it yet, but it should be out soon!
Let’s Play the First Hour of Shenmue August 21, 2018
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While he has heard for years about the greatness of Shenmue, Maniac never owned a Dreamcast and was never able to play the original Sega Classic. Today, that issue has been rectified. Shenmue I & II was re-released today and can be purchased on the PC, PS4 and Xbox One. To celebrate, Maniac played through the first hour of the first Shenmue blind with no guide and no guide.
We’re going to do this Let’s Play on the PlayStation 4 Pro in 1080p HD. The game was not augmented for 4K UHD or HDR so playing it on the Xbox One X or PS4 Pro should not make much of a difference. As usual, all gameplay is provided with full picture-in-picture video commentary.
Shenmue I & II is out now on the PS4 and Xbox One.
The Making of Halo: Fireteam Raven August 21, 2018
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Arcades in the US have been getting a resurgence ever since getting combined with the adult food and bar experience provided by locations like Dave and Busters. While there’s currently only one location for the entire state I live in, my friends and I have had a blast there whenever we have visited. Now, Microsoft just released a next generation 4K arcade experience exclusively to Dave and Busters locations called Halo: Fireteam Raven.
How does a game like Halo: Fireteam Raven get made? How difficult it is to take a property best known as a console first person shooter and turn it into an arcade light gun game? Watch this behind the scenes look and see for yourselves.
Halo: Fireteam Raven is out now exclusively in Dave and Busters arcades.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection Xbox One X Trailer August 21, 2018
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It’s been out for a few years but it looks like Halo: The Master Chief Collection is finally getting fixed and put into a playable state. At Gamescom 2018 Microsoft has announced Halo: The Master Chief Collection will be getting a major game update. The next patch will include an updated UI, improved game stability, LAN functionality and the much requested 4K graphics for Xbox One X. Take a look at the trailer for yourselves.
The new patch is expected to drop September 1st, 2018. That same day the game will be made available on Xbox Live GamePass.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection is out now exclusively on the Xbox One.