She might have already been decked in Prada (and er, moogles), but Final Fantasy XIII's often-reheated hero, Lightning, is now the face of Louis Vuitton's incoming collection early next year. This all comes direct from the Instagram account of the fashion house's Creative Director, Nicolas Ghesquiere. Watch Lightning wield an LV purse like a "Blue Steel" Buster Sword in the animated teaser after the break.
Via: Polygon
Source: Instagram
The fine folks at Respawn Point are in the middle of a non-stop, seven-day Sonic the Hedgehog marathon, livestreamed on Twitch and benefiting UK charity Special Effect, which helps people with disabilities play video games. The stream started on December 27th and runs through January 3rd. Respawn Point's stream team is playing a lineup of historically significant Sonic games, starting with 1991's Sonic the Hedgehog and including notoriously awful installments like the 2006 Sonic disaster.
Source: Respawn Point
By Dennis Burger
This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer's guide to the best technology. Read the full article here.
After more than 100 hours spent researching and testing 37 gaming headsets in all, plus more hours of long-term comfort testing than could reasonably be counted, we think the Kingston HyperX Cloud Gaming Headset is the best gaming headset for most people. It's beautifully built, comfortable on a wide variety of heads, and excellent in sound performance, especially for the price. In fact, you won't get find much improvement unless you spend more than double what the HyperX Cloud costs. This model is also incredibly comfortable—you can easily wear it for hours on end without any appreciable cranial distress. It's a clear winner.
The PC version of Rise of the Tomb Raider is due in January, according to the game's Steam listing. Square Enix has yet to confirm a date for the desktop launch of its latest Tomb Raider installment, though in July it announced the PC and Windows 10 editions would drop in "early 2016." The PS4 version should release in late 2016. We've reached out to Square Enix for clarification on the Steam listing.
Via: Destructoid
Source: Steam
Take This is a non-profit that educates and supports those with depression, anxiety and other mental health issues, with a focus on the video game community. Starting today at 12PM ET, Take This hits Twitch for a two-day livestream starring BioShock creator Ken Levine, popular gaming critic Jim Sterling, Tom Clancy's son and game developer Thom Clancy, and other famous figures of the industry. Donate during the stream for a chance to win sweet gaming swag, including a signed Octodad poster, an IGN gift pack, a remote-controlled replica of Claptrap from Borderlands or a custom Fallout 4 Xbox One.
Source: Take This on Twitch, Donations
It's always a little awkward when a well-intended Christmas gift is a bit off target. But it's down right cruel what happened to little Scott Lundy from Wakefield, MA. After (we imagine) weeks, maybe months, of anticipation and avoiding the naughty list, Lundy was rewarded with a PlayStation 4 under the Christmas tree. Or so he thought. Instead of unboxing a sick next-gen console (his parents opted for the Teen-rated Uncharted bundle), Lundy found a PS4-shaped bit of wood. What's worse, instead of a quick start guide to read, the malcontent penned a surly seasonal greeting.
Via: GameSpot
Source: Fox25
Pokemon will soon be 20 years old. But before you reach for another egg-nog, here's how Nintendo is really going to twist your arm with the strength of nostalgia and bright primary colors alone. It's announced four different 2DSes (two that'll be exclusive) to launch alongside its incoming Pokemon remakes (the Gameboy classics Red, Blue, Green and Pikachu Yellow) for the 3DS (and 2DS, of course). The red and blue see-thru models have already appeared in Europe alongside the launch of the last Pokemon title, but it'll be the first time the 2DS has appeared in Japan at all. Cheaper Nintendo handheld and a Pokemon game bundled in? Sounds like a license to print money to me. Let's just pretend that Yokai Watch doesn't exist. The 2DS bundles will launch in late February.
Source: Nintendo (Japanese)
When the Pokken Tournament Wii U controller from Hori surfaced earlier this month our excitement was quickly subdued when Japan seemed like the only place you'd be able to buy it when in launched in March. Well it's time to get excited again because it's going to available to a much wider audience at launch.
Via: Destructoid
Source: Amazon
Valve's Steam platform is giving players access to people's private accounts. As per reports, when players log into their accounts for details, they're able to access someone else's information including email addresses, credit card details and previous purchases. What makes this security lapse more critical for the gaming platform today is that the site was in the middle of its winter sale with a large number of people buying online.
Source: Kotaku
Each holiday, Cards Against Humanity runs a mystery gift club, in which subscribers pay $15 in exchange for... uh... mystery gifts. This year, the presents included socks, socks and socks, as well as a year's membership to NPR and giving a week off to the employees of the factory where the cards are printed. The latest in the series of "Eight Sensible Gifts for Hanukkah," however, asks the promotion's 150,000 subscribers to decide the fate of a signed print of Picasso's Tête de Faune. The people have a simple choice: either they can vote to donate the work to the Art Institute of Chicago, or slice it into 150,000 pieces.
Via: Hyperallergic
Source: Cards Against Humanity
Now that Sony has more or less given up on first-party support for the Vita, indie games have become the portable system's lifeblood. It should come as no surprise, then, that when The Banner Saga developer Stoic announced it was putting its Vita port "on the back burner" due to budgetary concerns, Sony took note. It's partnering with indie publisher Versus Evil to continue work on the Vita port, and assumedly absorbing some of the cost (and potential profit). The news comes from Sony's Gio Corsi, who handles third-party developer relations for the company.
Via: Gamasutra
Source: Gio Corsi (Twitter)
In a sign of what's to come for your favorite board game, Harmonix announced it's fixed a "gnarly" Rock Band 4 bug, and next month will deliver a patch that ends a number of scoring exploits. The bad news for players? That also means the games leaderboards will be entirely reset. While players will still have their high scores saved locally, they'll need to go again for online bragging rights. Speaking of online, in a recent blog post Harmonix said that bringing internet multiplayer to the new game is "very much on the table," but it hasn't committed to a timetable.
Via: Polygon
Source: Harmonix Blog
Nintendo has ported Super Mario Galaxy, one of the most popular Mario Bros games of all time, to its Wii U Virtual Console and will release it on Thursday, December 24th for $20. SMG joins other gravity-defying 3D Mario platformers on the Wii U console including Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Super Mario 3D World.
[Image Credit: Getty]
Via: Venture Beat
Source: Nintendo
The puppies always get excited when I open the hall closet. As the heavy, wooden door slides open with a twist and a pop, my two tiny dogs run over, tails wagging, because opening that closet means one of three things: The pups are going for a walk, I need to sweep, or it's time to play Rock Band 4. My boyfriend and I store the plastic guitars in that closet, and as I slide them out, brushing past jacket sleeves and cardboard boxes, even the puppies understand what's going on. We're having a party.
The Witness' release date is coming in hot -- the Myst-inspired exploration game is due to hit PlayStation 4 and PC on January 26th. That's the launch date for digital distribution, though it's "likely" that The Witness will be available as a physical boxed product, too, creator Jonathan Blow writes on his blog. Blow and his team have been in talks with a few companies about a boxed version, he says.
Source: The Witness
If you're itching to experience what has been described as Nathan Drake's final chapter, you'll have to sit tight for just a little bit longer. Developer Naughty Dog has announced another delay for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, this time pushing it back from March 18th to April 26th in the US, April 27th across Europe and April 29th in the UK. The extra few weeks, according to creative director Neil Druckmann and game director Bruce Straley, are needed to give "several key sequences" more polish.
Source: PlayStation Blog
Ubisoft's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time defined how the company looks at its properties. But before the publisher began pumping out annual sequels with a startling cadence at rapidly diminishing returns, there was just the Prince and his snazzy ability to rewind time while jumping, wall-running and shimmying from stone column to stone column. And it's the latest episode of DoubleFine Productions' "Devs Play" series that focuses on that seminal game and finds its director, Patrice Desilets, explaining what went into development.
Source: DoubleFine Productions (YouTube)
That one game where you roll about and everything sticks to you, Katamari Damacy, is making a comeback on iOS and Android. The original PlayStation 2 game won over many hearts with its simple but charming world, and was followed up by sequels for numerous platforms, although series creator Keita Takahashi was only involved with the first two games). The iOS and Android title will be called Tap my Katamari, and is the first game in the series since the 2012 Vita title Touch My Katamari.
Via: Polygon
Source: Ludophiles (YouTube)
The video game business can be cruel at times, as British retailer GAME knows all too well. After weathering a complete collapse and returning to the London Stock Exchange in recent years, the company has reported mixed success as consumers gets to grips with newer consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. In its latest financial results, however, GAME has been forced to admit that its sales and profits have been heavily impacted by a "challenging" UK market, one that has finally begun moving away from older hardware.
Source: GAME PLC
You've probably seen some clever gaming Easter eggs in your day, but few of them are likely to be this... involved. Gamers playing Battlefield 4's new Dragon Valley map have discovered an Easter egg that requires a massive, multi-step sleuthing campaign to complete. How massive? Well, it starts with translating Belarusian Morse code and moves on to hidden objects, logic puzzles and audio editing. The kicker is that this isn't repeatable -- even if you pay close attention to the video below, you'll have to do some of the hard work yourself.
Via: Shacknews
Source: Jackfrags (YouTube)