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Diance Distribution July 24-27th July 20, 2015

Posted by Maniac in Game News.
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The Pokémon Company has just made a major announcement in time for The Pokémon World Championships. They will be distributing the mythical Pokémon Diance as a free download off the Nintendo Network between July 24th and July 27th, 2015.

What will you be able to do with this Pokémon?  Take a look.

You should be able to download Diance as a gift from the game’s main menu once the distribution period begins.  Your 3DS will need to be connected to the Internet to receive Diance. If you don’t have access to a wireless network, you can always take your 3DS system to a Nintendo Zone location for free WiFi internet access.

Pokèmon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire are out now exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS.

God of War III Remastered Launch Trailer July 14, 2015

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One of the first games I ever covered on this website is getting rereleased on the Playstation 4 this week and it’s coming in native 1080p at 60 frames a second.  Here’s the game’s official launch trailer.

If you haven’t played this epic conclusion to one of the greates video game trilogies in history you owe it to yourself to check it out.  Kratos must have his revenge.

God of War III Remastered is out now exclusively on the Playstation 4.

Halo: The Fall of Reach SDCC 2015 Teaser July 12, 2015

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The very first piece of expanded universe content released to coincide with the launch of Halo: Combat Evolved and the original Xbox was a novel titled Halo: The Fall of Reach.

The book told the backstory of Master Chief Petty Officer JOHN-117, better known to fans of the Halo franchise as the Master Chief, the hero of Halo.  It starts with the creation of the SPARTAN-II program and details the events leading up to the first Halo game.

This weekend, 343 Industries announced that they are going to re-release this epic story as an animated feature.  If you haven’t read this amazing story you should certainly give this animated feature a look, as many of the book’s characters will be making their first game appearances in the next Halo game.

Take a look at the first official trailer below.  Its release is timed to coincide with the launch of Halo 5: Guardians this October.

Halo: The Fall of Reach is being released exclusively through the Halo Channel to anyone who purchases the Limited Edition or Limited Collector’s Edition of Halo 5: Guardians.  Halo 5: Guardians is coming October 2015 exclusively to the Xbox One.

Halo 5: Guardians – A Hero Reborn Documentary Released on Halo Channel July 12, 2015

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Earlier this week, 343 Industries produced a new behind the scenes documentary for Halo 5: Guardians to coincide with the San Diego Comic Con.

The ViDoc, called A Hero Reborn, was released exclusively on the Halo Channel app, but (for those who don’t have access to the app) you can check out a brief teaser for the documentary below.

It’s nice to see some behind the scenes information about the game’s single player campaign getting released. The other documentary series 343 Industries has been working on, called The Sprint, focused strictly on multiplayer development.

The Halo Channel app is currently available free of charge on Xbox One, Android, and iOS platforms. It can also be downloaded for free on Windows 8 PCs through the Windows 8 digital app store.  It will be released on Windows Phones after the release of Windows Phone 10.

Halo Channel Released on iOS Devices July 8, 2015

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To celebrate the launch of Halo: The Master Chief Collection on the Xbox One last year, Microsoft released an important companion app for Halo fans, the Halo Channel, on the Xbox One and Windows 8 marketplace.

The Halo Channel was created to keep Halo fans up to date with the latest information from 343 Industries and provide a platform for the Halo community to showcase their films.

Starting today, you can download the Halo Channel on your iOS device.  Once downloaded, you can simply sign in to your Xbox Live account and watch any of the content available through the service.  The app’s performance is pretty good on an iPhone, heck it’s faster than it runs on the Xbox One.

You can download Halo Channel free of charge through the App Store.

Zuma’s Revenge Now Free Through Origin On The House July 7, 2015

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Just a friendly notice to anyone interested in puzzle games this summer, the PopCap puzzle game Zuma’s Revenge is now free to all Origin customers on the PC and Mac through EA’s download service.  To get the game, you only need to have the Origin client installed on your computer (which is free to download) and an Origin account (which is free to set up).

As with all games released through Origin’s On the House promotion, the game will continue to remain free in your Origin account forever, even after you’ve deleted the game.

REMINDER: You Can Play All Playstation 1 Discs on All Playstation 3 Systems July 3, 2015

Posted by Maniac in Game News, Site News.
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As we go into the July 4th Weekend here in the US, I wanted to remind old school gamers who still have PlayStation 1 game discs collecting dust that they can play their PS1 discs on their PlayStation 3 systems.

The reason why I’m bringing this up is because I was watching a Twitch stream of a Final Fantasy game several weeks ago, and one of the users on the stream lamented the fact that he had so many good PS1 games on disc, but he didn’t want to go through the hassle of bringing his PS1 out of storage to play it.  When I told him that he could play his PS1 discs without much issue on his PS3 he simply didn’t believe me, even though I was able to successfully play PS1 discs on a myriad of different PlayStation 3 models up to that point.

Now I know that a lot of PS3 owners think that only the original model PS3s can play PlayStation 1 games, but that is not the case.  You can usually tell a first generation PS3 by the fact that it uses a original case design, denoted by four USB ports on its front and “FAT” style casing, but in actuality, what makes those units special is not that they can play PS1 games, but the fact that they can play PS2 games.  I’ve tested PS1 games on as many model PS3 units as I could find, that includes not only the original model “Fat” PS3 systems, but also the second generation “slim” models, and the new “super slim” models which feature a sliding top for its Blu-Ray Disc drive, and I’ve been able to play PS1 games on all of them.

You’re probably wondering if you can play PS1 games on your PS3, how can you create a save game if the PS3 has no slots for PS1 Memory Cards?  Well, you can create virtual PS1 Memory Cards on your PS3’s Hard Drive.  Just create a virtual PS1 Memory Card from the PS3’s XMB menu, and assign it to Slot 1 by pushing the Triangle button once you have the Memory Card highlighted.  You can have a maximum of two virtual Memory Cards assigned to virtual slots (because the PS1 only had two Memory Card slots), but as far as I can tell you can create all the virtual PS1 Memory Cards you want until your PS3’s Hard Drive becomes completely full.  As long as a Memory Card has been assigned a slot, it will automatically be loaded when you play your PS1 game.

If you would prefer to use your own PS1 Memory Card’s data, Sony did manufacture a Memory Card adapter for the PlayStation 3 several years ago.  The adapter will accept any PS1 or PS2 Memory Card, and while it was not designed to actively save or load any data during gameplay, the adapter will allow you to copy all of the data on the card to the PS3’s Hard Drive using your Dual Shock 3’s USB charging cable.  Sony isn’t making these adapters anymore, so finding one may be a bit difficult if you don’t already have one, but you could probably find them at a secondhand game store or just borrow a friend’s adapter.

By default, the PS3 will have a feature called “image smoothing” enabled while playing PS1 games, but if you have graphical issues while playing, you can disable that feature by pushing the PlayStation button on your PS3 controller.  Don’t worry too much about image quality, the PS3 will upsample PS1 games to 1080p.  Some PS1 games (including Final Fantasy VII) may not be compatible with the Dual Shock 3’s analog controllers, but some PS1 games are.  If you’re having issues controlling a PS1 game that you know supports the analog stick, you can also tweak your analog stick’s analog/digital settings .by pushing the PlayStation button on the Dual Shock 3.  If your game supports rumble and you have a rumble equipped PS3 controller, you should notice rumble will work seamlessly.

iOS 8.4 Released June 30, 2015

Posted by Maniac in Game News.
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Apple has just released a major update for any personal devices running iOS 8. iOS 8.4 includes, among minor bug fixes, a major update to the iOS Music app, enabling access to the new Apple Music service.

iTunes users who update to iOS 8.4 are eligible for a free three month trial of the Apple Music service.

The Sprint Season 2 Now Online June 24, 2015

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A documentary series showcasing the ongoing development of the upcoming Xbox One exclusive game Halo 5: Guardians has just released its second season online.

The first season of The Sprint focused on the difficult process to get the game ready for game’s multiplayer beta test. This season focuses the road to E3 2015, and all the difficulties in getting the game ready for the world’s biggest trade show.  That not only includes showing the difficult process of game development, but also the amazing work that goes into the game’s digital actor performance. That alone makes this series worth watching.

While you can watch the entire series on your PC or Xbox One console using the Halo Channel app, 343 Industries and Microsoft were good enough to release the entire season online for all to see. Enjoy.

Halo 5: Guardians is coming October, 2015 exclusively to the Xbox One.

Sunset Overdrive DLC Goodies Being Distributed on Xbox Live June 23, 2015

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If you’ve ever played the Xbox One exclusive game Sunset Overdrive before Monday, check your Xbox Live messages on your console right now.

Microsoft is distributing download codes for some free DLC to anyone who has played Sunset Overdrive.  That includes anyone who may have downloaded the game and played it during a free Xbox Live weekend or anyone who borrowed the game and played a friend’s copy.

If you are an eligible player and want to see if you’ve got the content, just check your private messages on your Xbox One, and you should find a free download code for the content in one of your messages. Thankfully, Microsoft offers anyone with a valid download code in their Xbox Live messages the option to automatically redeem it without having to manually re-input the code. The DLC codes unlock some exclusive clothing and weapon options in the game.

Sunset Overdrive is out now exclusively on the Xbox One.