Pokkén Tournament Announced August 27, 2014

If what he mentioned hoping to see in his review of The Electric Tales of Pikachu #1 is still valid, Linkara will be VERY happy about today’s major Pokémon announcement.

Nintendo is partnering with Bandai Namco to release the first ever fully 3D Pokémon fighting game. No, I don’t mean an RPG or a sequel to Pokémon Rumble, I mean a full fighting game in the same style as Tekken. Don’t believe me? Take a look for yourselves.

Pokkén Tournament is expected to hit Japanese arcades in 2015. No word was given on a North American or home console release.

The Evil Within Voice Actor Trailer August 27, 2014

Earlier today, Bethesda announced the cast that would be donating their talents to the upcoming horror game, The Evil Within. Now, they have released this official short video with interviews from that cast. In the video they talk about their background with video games and what they plan to bring to the game.

The Evil Within is coming October, 2014 to PS3, PC, PS4, Xbox One and Xbox 360.

inFAMOUS: First Light Now Preloading August 26, 2014

One of the best advantages to placing a preorder on digital content is the ability to preload that content on your gaming system so it can be ready to play the very second the content releases.  I have been asking developer Sucker Punch for days now if they planned to offer a preload to anyone who chose to preorder their next game, a digital standalone expansion to inFAMOUS: Second Son,  inFAMOUS: First Light.  Well, tonight I discovered that anyone who placed a digital preload for inFAMOUS: First Light on the Playstation 4 should find their game starting to preload right now.

Unfortunately, the game is not yet available to play.  The game’s countdown timer is still ticking, and if my watch is correct, that means the game should officially unlock worldwide at 1 PM Eastern Time today.  A shame really, I was hoping for a midnight release.  The other issue is that the exclusive player skin for Fetch, dubbed the DUP Fetch costume, hasn’t been downloading alongside the rest of the preloaded content.  Many players across the world, myself included, have instead been greeted with an error message when their PS4 tried to download the DUP Fetch costume.  Hopefully this will be resolved soon.

inFAMOUS: First Light launches later today exclusively on the Playstation 4.

Destiny Launch Trailer August 22, 2014

With the release of Destiny coming just around the bend, Bungie and Activision have released the game’s official launch trailer.

An abridged version of this trailer has been making the rounds as a television commercial on various networks. It looks like they want to keep the hype train rolling across all media for this release.

Destiny is coming September 9th, 2014 to the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3 and PS4.

Watch Dogs Drinking Game Patch Changes August 21, 2014

The new patch for Watch_Dogs launches today in North America on all platforms, and among many of the requested features the game’s community asked for, Ubisoft has brought some changes to Watch_Dog’s infamous drinking minigame.

So how was the drinking minigame changed? Here you go:

• Increase round fail time by 20%. More time for player to finish.
• Increase button cycling time by 50%. More time between button switch.
• Increase player reticle radius by 25% in collect button mode. Allow easier button press succeeded on bad latency tv.
• Increase player reticle last frame velocity impact on this frame position (inertia friction) by 70%. The player reticle slow down faster when no input from player -> easier to stay on the spot targeted & More precise player control.
• Increase player input factor by 50%. More precise and more reactive player control.
• Reduce max force applied randomly to player reticle from 0.35 to 0.29. Less strong random impulse for drunk effect.
• Reduce moving target speed by 15%. Easier for player to time his button press on a target.

Watch_Dogs is out now on the PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox One and Xbox 360. It is coming soon to the Wii U.

New Watch Dogs Patch Coming August 21st to All Platforms August 21, 2014

UbiSoft’s multiplatform title Watch_Dogs is getting an all new patch on all of the game’s platforms. The patch is expected to include several bug fixes and tweaks to the single player and multiplayer game based on community feedback.

Here are the full patch notes.

Single Player Added Features

• REPLAY OPTIONS – After having completed the main story line, players will now have the option to reset previously played Gang Hideouts and Convoy Missions. – (ALL PLATFORMS)
• DRINKING GAMES – The Drinking Games were re-tuned based on community feedback. – (ALL PLATFORMS)

Multiplayer Added Features

• HACK YOUR FRIENDS – You can now select available friends via the grid and hack or tail them without their knowledge. This can be disabled under online options. – (ALL PLATFORMS)
• CTOS MOBILE – Mobile players disconnecting will no longer result in the gameplay ending for the console/PC player. Console and PC players will play their match to the end and receive some Notoriety points for doing so. – (ALL PLATFORMS)
• MULTIPLAYER BAD BEHAVIOR – Players who are frequently disconnecting from multiplayer matches will be pooled together and paired only against players with similar online behaviors. – (ALL PLATFORMS)

Single Player Fixes

• POKER – Fixed a bug in which players were getting stuck playing poker if they used the camera against the last opponent in a low stakes game. – (ALL PLATFORMS)
• MISSING PERSONS INVESTIGATIONS – Fixed instances in which the wrong text was appearing in Portuguese language. – (ALL PLATFORMS)

Watch_Dogs is out now on the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC, PS3 and PS4. It is coming to Wii U soon.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and P.T. Gamescom 2014 Presentation August 19, 2014

Hideo Kojima himself was in Germany last week for Gamescom 2014 to show off Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain to present his latest game to an audience of screaming Konami fans.  Little did he expect that just one day earlier it had been discovered that he was one of the minds behind the P.T. Demo that had been released as a Playable Teaser on the Playstation 4, and that demo was in fact a preview teaser for the next Silent Hill game, currently called Silent Hills.

If you the Konami Gamescom presentation, here is the video of the entire show.  Stay tuned after the gameplay footage, following the Metal Gear Solid V demo, Kojima sat down for a no holds barred Q&A session.  If you had any questions about Metal Gear Solid V or P.T., you want to check this video out.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is coming in 2015 to Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 3, Playstation 4, and PC.  You can download the P.T. Demo right now free of charge to your Playstation 4 from the Playstation Store.

Xbox One August Update Released August 19, 2014

Xbox One players can expect a whole lot of new features coming to their consoles this week.  Microsoft has released the August Update to the Xbox One and is currently in the process of phasing the update out to all console players.  Along with the usual set of bug fixes, this update brings an entirely new feature to the console, the ability to purchase Xbox One content from your mobile phone.  I’ll let Major Nelson explain it.

Microsoft has also released an update version of the Xbox One Smartglass App, so make sure to download the update from your Smartphone’s App Store.

Slowbro Mega Evolution Announced for Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire August 18, 2014

At the Pokémon World Championships this weekend, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company announced the newest Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Slowbro. Take a look.

Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Pokémon Omega Ruby are coming November 2014 to the Nintendo 3DS and 2DS.

Pokémon World Championships This Weekend August 15, 2014

The Pokémon Company is holding the year’s biggest Pokémon Tournament this weekend in Washington D.C. The event is expected to host an incredible tournament of the best players in the world from the video game and trading card game as they try to be the very best like no one ever was.

If you’re interested in watching the event and can’t be in D.C. this weekend, the Pokémon World Championships will start their live stream tomorrow at 9AM ET on the Official Pokémon Twitch Channel.