Pokemon Picross Released December 3, 2015

Nintendo has just announced that they have released Pokemon Picross, a Pokemon-themed version of their popular Picross puzzle series.

You can download Pokemon Picross right now to your 3DS system from the Nintendo eShop free to start, although later puzzles may cost money.

Jade Empire Special Edition Now Free Through Origin On The House December 1, 2015

Any PC gamers who are currently using Origin to play recent EA games should listen up. EA has announced the PC version of the Bioware classic Jade Empire: Special Edition is now being offered for free to all Origin users.

Jade Empire was one of the last major titles released for the original Xbox and borrows heavily from Eastern Mythology. Fans of Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect will find a lot of familiar elements, since this game borrows heavily from KOTOR‘s structure, and a gameplay system which would get refined further in the first Mass Effect game.

You will need the Origin installer and an EA account to download the game, but you can get both for free. As with all games redeemed through On The House, as long as a game has been redeemed during its free purchase period, it will remain playable on your Origin account forever, even if it is deleted and no longer being offered for free.

Halo 5: Guardians Thanksgiving REQ Pack Ending Today November 29, 2015

Anyone who logs into Halo 5: Guardians on Thanksgiving Weekend will be given an exclusive REQ pack featuring an exclusive emblem and a few other goodies.  Here’s a look at what I got.

Halo 5: Guardians is out now exclusively for the Xbox One.

Don Bluth Announces Dragon’s Lair: The Movie November 25, 2015

Visionary director Don Bluth (Land Before Time, An American Tale, Titan A.E.) has officially announced that he is seeking to turn the beloved arcade game Dragon’s Lair into a feature-length film.  The problem is they need your help to do it.

Bluth and his production company have been interested in making a feature-length Dragon’s Lair film but have been unable to secure proper funding for it. They fully intend to make this film using traditional 2D hand-drawn animation techniques (matching the style of the original games), and it seems like Hollywood is only interested in funding 3D animated projects, even when it isn’t appropriate (Peanuts anyone?). Because of that, the film is going to be funded via crowdsourcing.

Dragon’s Lair was one of the most groundbreaking arcade titles of its day, and having played it via recent ports on iPhone and Blu-Ray Disc, it holds a special place in my heart.

If you’re interested in contributing to the movie, you can check out the project’s official IndieGoGo site. It is expected to go online December 1st, 2015.

Nintendo Announces StreetPass Weekend This Thanksgiving Weekend November 24, 2015

Across the country, Nintendo offers free wireless hotspots, called Nintendo Zone locations, for 3DS users. Usually you can find Nintendo Zone hotspots in various McDonald’s, Barnes and Noble Bookstores, AT&T retail stores, and Best Buy locations across the US. These hotspots not only offer Internet access to Nintendo handhelds, they also help players obtain StreetPass tags from the hotspot’s previous users.

Nintendo has just announced that this weekend they’re going to be shaking things up and offering random StreetPass tags to anyone who visits any active Nintendo Zone location all weekend long. That means that instead of getting access to the StreetPass tags of the previous six visitors to the hotspot when you connect to it, you’ll receive random StreetPass tags from players all over the country!  This is perfect for any players who need to fill up their StreetPass plaza with new tags!

Don’t forget, this weekend Nintendo is also offering a special distribution to Pokémon Trainers by offering the legendary Pokémon Hoopa to anyone who visits a Nintendo Zone equipped McDonald’s with a copy of Pokémon X/Y or Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire starting November 27th.  You can get it by accessing the game’s gift menu while connected to the hotspot.

Halo 5: Guardians Update 3 Released November 24, 2015

A minor hotfix for Halo 5: Guardians was released earlier today. The hotfix repairs issues with save games and bookmarks caused by the previous update.

The new update is pretty small. If you had already installed the previous patch, the new update only weighs in at around 128MB of space.

Halo 5: Guardians is out now exclusively on Xbox One.