Nintendo World Championships 2017 Announced August 8, 2017

Nintendo has just announced some incredible news earlier this morning. Nintendo World Championships 2017 will take place this October in New York City!

Nintendo World Championships is Nintendo’s flagship event. Selected gamers earn a spot to compete at the main event, where those competitors will challenge each other across Nintendo’s enormous catalog of classic, new, and upcoming games.  It started in the early 90s and was revived in 2015 to great success. Heck, the 2015 event was even rebroadcasted with commentary on the Disney X D Channel!

To qualify for the event, you must visit a participating Best Buy store during the selected qualifying period and post a time in Mario Kart 7 on the Nintendo 3DS.  You can read the full list of participating Best Buy locations here.

Good luck players, I can’t wait to see this event!

PS4 Software Update 4.73 Released August 3, 2017

Sony has released a minor software update for the PlayStation 4 earlier this week. The new update includes very vague notes about optimizations and bug fixes but that is all.  This may fix the online availability issues certain users were reporting from the last firmware, but I haven’t yet had the chance to test the new system software  long enough to confirm that.

You’ll have to download the latest software update as soon as possible because you won’t be able to log into the PlayStation Network without it.  You can get it right now using the system software update feature in your console’s settings menu.

Final Fantasy XV Chocobo Carnival is Back July 31, 2017

I finally started playing Final Fantasy XV on the Xbox One and I couldn’t be happier to announce Square Enix has brought back the limited-time Chocobo Carnival event!

If you want to join the carnival, fire up your game console right now!  Players will need to install the latest Final Fantasy XV patch and the Free Holiday + DLC to participate in the carnival.  The event will take place from July 31st to September 2nd!

Final Fantasy XV is out now for the PS4 and Xbox One.

Halo Wars 2 Operation Stormbreaker and Leader Serena DLC Released July 26, 2017

It has been a day since the release of the latest Halo Wars 2 patch and today Creative Assembly has officially released two DLC expansions for the game. The first is the Leader Serena DLC, which adds all-new Blitz Packs to multiplayer. The second is the Operation Storybreaker DLC, which adds two new single-player missions featuring the fan-favorite ODST squad.  Here’s the trailer:

The two DLC expansions are free to download with the Halo Wars 2 Season Pass and the Halo Wars 2 Legendary Edition. It can be purchased in a bundled pack for those who do not have the Season Pass.

Halo Wars 2 is out now for Windows 10 and Xbox One.

If You’re Having Issues Updating Halo Wars 2, Keep Your Xbox One Running July 25, 2017

Since the second patch was released for Halo Wars 2 on the Xbox One, I’ve had nothing but issues installing it.  The update would simply hang at 0% in my download queue, seemingly accomplishing no progress regardless of the amount of time it was running.

Today, an all new patch has just been released for Halo Wars 2, including new balancing tweaks and support for the new DLC Blitz Packs, and once again the download stalled before it even started. I kept my Xbox One running for over two hours before the game finally began to patch.

In the past, I believed this issue to be a bug with the Xbox One’s operating system or a mistake with my game installation, the developers have assured me neither is the case.  They believe it is an issue with the Xbox Live Marketplace and they are still working on fixing it. If you do a hard restart of your Xbox One console while it is patching the game, the Xbox One will immediately re-download the entire game from scratch, all 30GB+ of it, so be aware of that.

Halo Wars 2 is out now on the Xbox One and Windows 10.

Destiny 2 Beta Extended, Final Hours Today July 25, 2017

Bungie has been overwhelmed by the popularity of their Destiny 2 Multiplayer Beta and because of that, they have extended their online test to today.  Just be aware that Bungie is doing an extreme test in its final hours, as they are spending this time to test their network under extreme stress.  Sudden disconnects are a very real possibility for anyone who continues to play.  If you haven’t had the chance to check it out, you can download it for free off the PlayStation Network or Xbox Live Marketplace.

The beta test is expected to end in a few hours so make sure to play it all you can until then.  Destiny 2 is coming to PC, Xbox One and PS4.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Western Ghats Gameplay Preview July 25, 2017

I got an in-depth look at Uncharted: The Lost Legacy during E3 2017, and I honestly thought that would be the longest preview Sony would do for the game before its release, but it looks like I was wrong. Earlier today, Sony released this all-new preview of the game, featuring the Western Ghats section.  Its a pretty lengthy preview so if you want to avoid spoilers you may not want to give it a watch until after the game is released.

Is it just me or did this level feel like it was a bit more open than some of the other Uncharted games have been?  I guess we will find out next month.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is coming August 22nd, 2017 exclusively to the PS4.

Pokemon Go Fest Refunds To Be Issued July 23, 2017

When it launched, Pokémon Go became a worldwide phenomenon, and it is still going strong a year after its release. Developer Niantic planned to host an enormous fan event in Chicago, IL this weekend to celebrate the game’s first year, and it started early this morning.

Major plans were unveiled before the event even started, including raids to unlock various Legendary Pokémon in the wild. Players not at the event would be able to participate as well, as any Pokémon caught worldwide at certain points of the day would bring attendees one step closer to achieving that goal.

However, Pokémon Go Fest was riddled with non-stop glitches ranging from connection issues, long lines, admittance problems, and more. Major raids failed, not because the players were unable to accomplish them, but because the vast majority of potential players couldn’t even connect to the game during the limited play period.

Due to all of these issues, Niantic has decided to refund every attendee’s money and compensate everyone at the event who couldn’t play.  Players with a legitimate ticket will get the following:

• A full refund of their ticket.
• $100 of in-game currency (Pokécoins)
• Access to rare eggs at select PokéStops. (Players must redeem the Pokémon Go Fest Attendee Badge QR code at an event PokeStop first.)
• Lugia

That last one is not a typo, all attendees are going to get the Legendary Pokémon Lugia, and now Lugia can be earned at gyms in raid battles worldwide.

Anyone who paid for a legitimate ticket to the event should check their email addresses as soon as possible for all the details they’ll need.  Trainers will have until Sunday to register their Attendee Badge QR Codes at the specially designated Pokémon Go Fest PokéStops.

Let’s be honest, while most people are blaming Niantic for this event, Niantic isn’t the only company at fault here.  In the US, its become expected that when you attend a major convention anywhere, the cellular service at the event is going to fail. One would assume with all the profits the cell phone companies are making here, they can afford to provide their customers with a service that works consistently, but they can’t.  Creating a major event that entirely relies on cellular service working is, in my opinion, a bad idea.

I plan to talk more about this event on the website throughout the week, so stay tuned for more Pokémon Go coverage!

Ready Player One SDCC 2017 Preview Released July 22, 2017

I’ve been reading Ernest Cline’s novel Ready Player One all summer. The book is well deserving of all the praise it has gotten over the years and it came as no surprise it would be adapted to a major motion picture. What was an enormous surprise was the announcement that the feature film would be directed by Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones Trilogy), and today at San Diego Comic Con, attendees got their first look at the film. Enjoy.

Ready Player One is coming to theaters in 2018.

Destiny 2 Open Beta Live on PS4 and Xbox One July 21, 2017

Bungie has just opened access to the Destiny 2 Beta to all console players, and if you want to check out a game that was so popular at E3 2017 I couldn’t even get near its booth, you can download it right now on your console’s respective online marketplace.

If you want in on the Destiny 2 beta you need to download the beta client right now because it will be active for only this weekend. It ends on 9PM PST on July 23rd.  PC players interested in joining the beta will be able to play the beta on PC in August 2017.

Destiny 2 is coming to PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in September 2017.