Dissidia Final Fantasy NT Announced June 7, 2017

We’re less than a week away from E3 2017 and Square Enix has just announced the next title in their Dissidia Final Fantasy series, DISSIDIA FINAL FANTASY NT.

This new game, developed by Team Ninja, looks to take the great characters from the past thirty years of Final Fantasy games and throw them into the ultimate battle royale.  Take a look at the official announcement trailer below.

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is coming to the PS4 in 2018.

Pokken Tournament DX, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Pokemon Ultra Moon Announced June 6, 2017

Looks like I need to get a Switch now. Enjoy.

Pokkén Tournament DX is coming to the Nintendo Switch September 22nd.  Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon are coming to the Nintendo 3DS November 17th, 2017.

Pokemon Gold and Silver Coming To 3DS Virtual Console June 6, 2017

Big news Pokémon Trainers, tons of new Pokémon news dropped early this morning!  One of the biggest announcements is the reveal that Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver, are coming to the 3DS Virtual Console. These games were not only two of the best selling and highest rated games on the Game Boy Color, these two games are considered two of the best Pokémon games ever made. Take a look at the announcement trailer and enjoy!

Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver are coming September 2017 exclusively to the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console.

Beam Streaming Service Renamed to Mixer May 25, 2017

A few months ago, Microsoft bet big on the live streaming service Beam.  Yesterday, they’ve announced that service has been renamed to Mixer, and now app updates across platforms are reflecting that change.

This is surprising news.  In the past few months, Beam had proven itself to be a decent platform for Xbox One streaming, so we have no idea why Microsoft would choose to rebrand it. We will keep you posted with everything Beam users will need to know to navigate this change, but for right now I recommend updating your personal device’s Beam apps to the new Mixer-branded versions.

Halo Wars 2 Sergeant Johnson DLC Released May 24, 2017

Fan-favorite supporting character Sgt Johnson returns to Halo as a downloadable leader pack you can use in Blitz multiplayer. Want to know more?  Watch the trailer below!

If you have the Halo Wars 2 Season Pass or the Halo Wars 2 Ultimate Edition you can download the Sgt Johnson DLC for free.

Halo Wars 2 is out now for PC and Xbox One.

iOS 10.3.2 Released May 19, 2017

Just wanted to share a small news post before you start your Friday night. Apple has just released a minor security update for iOS 10 portable devices including the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.  The new update is called 10.3.2 and includes non-specific security fixes which should improve your device’s performance.

You can download the update over WiFi by selecting the Software Update option in the Settings app. If you don’t have WiFi access or enough internal storage on your device, you can always install the update through your PC or Mac with iTunes, just use the Apple USB charge cable.  Depending on the specific iOS 10 compatible device you’re upgrading and if you already installed the previous iOS update, iOS 10.3.2 should require a download around 170MB.

Irish Mike Made a Real-Life Gunblade May 18, 2017

The Gunblade is the signature weapon of Final Fantasy VIII.  Wielded by characters like Squall Leonhart, the weapon is unlike any other.

One of my favorite shows on Discovery Channel was Big Giant Swords. The show featured a retired steelworker turned bladesmith named Irish Mike, who created enormous swords for enthusiastic clients.  The show may have ended production, but Mike is still creating his swords online and for the past two months he’s been working on replicating Final Fantasy VIII‘s Gunblade.

This has to be the best real-life Gunblade I’ve ever seen. The detail is incredible and its scale looks very accurate to the game. If you want to see more of Irish Mike’s work, visit his YouTube Channel!

Final Fantasy VIII is out now for PC and PS1.

Life is Strange is Returning May 18, 2017

Ladies and gentlemen, I present you three developers from DONTNOD, the creators of Life is Strange.

This is an incredible announcement, especially since I actually talked about the possibility of something like this happening yesterday during my Let’s Play of Alan Wake.  I can’t wait to see what DONTNOD has in store for us!

Phantom Dust Re-Released on the Xbox One and Windows 10 May 17, 2017

For the past two years, I’ve been hearing a lot about the original Xbox game Phantom Dust.  After a failed attempt to develop a sequel, Microsoft decided to remaster the original game and release it on modern platforms.  Two days ago, Microsoft announced they would be offering the game free of charge on Xbox One and Windows 10 platforms and the internet just went crazy.  Here’s the trailer!

As of today, gamers can download Phantom Dust on their Xbox One or Windows 10 PC free of charge.  The new version of the game supports Xbox Live Play Anywhere, meaning it supports cross-platform cloud saves and multiplayer between Windows 10 and Xbox One users.

Don’t forget to download the free Multiplayer Starter Pack DLC after installing the game on your platform of choice!

Phantom Dust is out now on Windows 10 and Xbox One.

How to Participate in the Dungeons and Dragons Adventurers League May 12, 2017

If you’re like me, you’ve probably been hearing musings from your friends and peers about this game called Dungeons & Dragons for years now. Its ruleset has been used as a template for countless Western RPGs for decades, and now that it has published its 5th Edition, Wizards of the Coast has been pushing hard to get new players familiar in the game.  In our last article, we talked about where to find free online resources where players interested in checking out the game can learn how to play it.  Today, we’re going to talk about the best way for new players to find a place to play, the Dungeons & Dragons Adventurers League.

Dungeons & Dragons is, at its heart, a social experience and players from every walk of life are welcome to play.  To help bring players together, the publisher established the Dungeons & Dragons Adventurers League, and major conventions and stores that sell D&D merchandise will often participate in it.  I’ve found it to be a great way to meet new people and check out all-new 5th Edition modules as they come out.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Dungeons & Dragons Adventurers League, you’ll want to check out this website which includes special rules and documentation for the league. First off, you’re going to want to find a place close to you that may be hosting League events.  If you’re interested in playing, you can use this locator to help you find official Adventurers League events.

Once you find an event, you’ll need an official Wizards DCI number and player account.  If you don’t have one, an organizer should be able to create you a DCI number and give you an official DCI ID at the event.  If you want to make a DCI ID on your own before you go to the event, you can register an account and generate an ID for yourself at this website.

You’ll need to create a character specifically for use in the league, so let’s talk about creating you a character.  First up, you’ll need to use an official Adventurers League character sheet.  You can find download links for Adventurers League character sheets here, alongside download links for other blank or pregenerated character sheets.  Don’t worry, you can print as many copies of the files you need, and because of that I recommend printing them out double-sided in color.

As you can see, they’re almost identical to normal character sheets with a big exception, it asks for a DCI number on top of the sheet.  Characters are generated in the exact same way as they’re described in the Player’s Handbook or the Basic Player Rules.  If you’re having trouble creating a character, you can always consult with your location’s DM or other players before the event starts.

Now that you’ve created a character, next you’ll also need an official questlog.  This helps you keep track of everything you do, how much XP you earned, and what items you’ve obtained over the course of the event. Make sure to take a specific note of your DM’s DCI ID number and the name of the official module you played on the log as well.

Once you have all the tools you need to get into the Adventurers League, all that’s left is just to play and have a good time. In many cases, the organizers hosting the Adventurers League event will likely have spare character sheets and quest logs they’ll be able to give new players.

Obviously some of this information is subject to change and we will be sure to update this article as time goes on.  Players who plan to attend an event should bring a few important items with them.  First, you should bring a copy of the 5th Edition Player’s Handbook or Basic Rules, some dice, and a pencil.  Have fun!