Video Games

New console owners had to wait an extra year, but it sounds like it was worth the wait!  WWE 2K15 is now available for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and Booker T would be proud to hear that there’s now FIVE TIMES (FIVE TIMES! FIVE TIMES!) the character animations and commentary dialogue, along with a new career mode and wrestling engine.  Get in here before Sting hits you with the Stinger Splash!

November 21st signals the arrival of Super Smash Bros for Nintendo WiiU as well as Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, reboots of the popular Game Boy Advance games. On November 20th, Toronto residents have the chance to get in on a day (and night) of fun downtown, and the next day, the rest of the nation will get to help celebrate Nintendo Day.  Come check out, and look back on Nintendo’s 2014 offerings.

It’s Call of Duty, not like I’m talking about some unknown quantity… but that started working against this juggernaut of a franchise by the time the heralds of a new hardware generation started sounding.  We were done with Modern Warfare, and we’d had our share of Black Ops, what’s next?  Well Activision and Sledgehammer Games had an answer, it was ‘advanced’ warfare, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

The stalwart, quiet protagonist of videogames as we understood them in the new millenium, since 2001 Master Chief has been taking the fight to alien powers that threaten the lives of mankind.  Across 4 main titles, the lone Spartan and his AI companion Cortana entered the modern psyche, instantly recognizable all around the world.  That is a lot of campaigning, and a LOT of multiplayer in that amount of time, and now they’ve compacted it even further, fitting it all in one neat little package, with Halo:The Master Chief Collection.

I’ll never forget that time in Grade 4 when my friend asked his grandparents for a specific game for his Super Nintendo, and his grandma bought him the Nintendo version of the game instead. He was then told that he had to keep it so not to hurt his grandma’s feelings. The story sticks with me because I’ll often get asked questions from parents or grandparents about whether they can buy, say, NHL (current year) for PlayStation when the gamer has an Xbox. Or even whether that year’s NHL for the Xbox 360 would just play on the Xbox One since it’s cheaper to buy that one.  This is a pretty quick and easy guide to understanding backwards (and even cross-platform) compatibility between gaming consoles to hopefully help you decide which versions are the right ones, and which ones should be avoided when you’re out buying for your gamer.

If you’ve ever had a computer in your house, you probably had a copy of Sid Meier’s Civilization on it. The Turn-Based Strategy that brought the genre into our homes and lives, chances are you’ve experienced epic campaigns of Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, or some other dynasty of your choice. Spanning the globe on a campaign for a unified world, or getting smashed to pieces by some other power that takes exception. Hopelessly addictive, undeniably well crafted, and hugely successful, it seems Civilization has achieved all it can on this lonesome blue rock. Good thing there’s more out there somewhere, just waiting to be subjugated, I mean… civilized, with Civilization: Beyond Earth.

It’s been a little while now since Sunset Overdrive was initially announced, and it’s been on the minds of gamers (especially Xbox One owners) for well over a year now. The game, looking reminiscent of some famous titles of old like Jet Grind Radio, throws you into a modern open world full of mayhem, terror and a lot of laughs.  It should get some consideration for game of the year, and is a must for Xbox One owners.  Find out more by clicking to read.

It’s Lord of the Rings meets Assassin’s Creed with a healthy dose of Arkham Asylum, and if that sounds like it might be a winning combination, you’d be right.  A huge step in video game technology, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor brings to the table enemy programming unlike anything we’ve seen to date.  Oh, and there’s like, an unlimited amount of Uruk warriors that need to be taken care of (and it never, ever get’s boring)

The PlayStation TV has finally arrived in North America, and brings with a solid lineup of features, including video streaming, an extender option from the PlayStation 4, and the arrival of the new PlayStation Now service, offering full versions of games via digital stream rental. It’s small, lightweight and packs a lot of power, and it’s just getting started.

You know what Borderlands is all about, if you haven’t played it… well, I’m not sure what’s wrong with you. But you’ve at least  seen it, or heard about just how awesome it is (because it is) and why. Now picture that, but in low gravity on the surface of the moon, and Bob’s your Uncle. Sound Fun? Of course it does. It’s Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.