It’s still hard to believe that 2015 is behind us. It feels like only yesterday when we were all anxiously waiting for Fallout 4 to launch. But it’s time to look forward to the year of virtual reality/Pokémon. I for one can’t wait for what’s to come.
Now, for a round-up of recent gaming goodness: Square Enix launches an anti-bullying campaign, our Pocket Mortys review is live, Xbox One‘s EA Access is headed to PC, fan-made LEGO Pip-Boy is RAD, and Sony will be compensating players for the recent PSN outage.
Square Enix wants you to share your stories for a good cause.
The Life is Strange folks are launching an anti-bullying campaign, which allows fans to help a good cause by sharing their stories. Square Enix announced that they’ll be collaborating with PACER’s Bullying Prevention Center for the campaign, #EverydayHeroes. All you need to do is share a story about a time when you helped somebody or were helped in a time of need. Square Enix will donate money for every post that you share from January 13-19 using the hashtag.
I applaud Square Enix for doing something so positive. Some will say that these massive companies just do this for good publicity, but even if that is the case, they’re doing something positive. I wouldn’t mind if more companies took this approach.
HT: Square Enix
Pocket Mortys Review
Our review for the Pokémon-style Rick and Morty title, Pocket Mortys, went live today to coincide with the early release of the mobile game on iOS and Android. Our very own Derrick Rossignol said the game is very much Pokémon-lite. There’s plenty of charm, and the gameplay is fun for a while. The issue is that it lacks the depth of a standard Pokémon RPG, so things get stale rather quickly. But if you like the show, you’ll like the game. You can read the full review here.
HT: Nerdist
Xbox One’s EA Access is coming to PC.
EA has announced that their popular service, EA Access, will be heading to PC as Origin Access. Despite the name change, it’s the same service that Xbox One owners have grown to love–sign up and you get access to a “vault” that includes a bunch of EA games available for free. Subscribers also get a 10% discount on full games and DLC. Origin Access will include 15 games in the vault as soon as it launches.
Here are the 15 games you’ll be able to play for free:
- Battlefield 3 SE
- Battlefield 4 Digital Deluxe Edition
- Battlefield Hardline Digital Deluxe Edition
- Dead Space
- Dead Space 2
- Dead Space 3
- Dragon Age 2 SE
- Dragon Age Inquisition Digital Deluxe Edition
- Dragon Age Origins Ultimate Edition
- FIFA 15 SE
- NFS: Rivals Complete Edition
- Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare
- SimCity
- The Sims 3 Starter Pack
- This War of Mine
The subscription will set you back $4.99 a month. There’s no word on how much a year subscription will cost, but it’s currently $30 on the Xbox One. This is a great deal for those that haven’t played older EA titles, or those that don’t mind playing older versions of sports titles. I personally buy Madden and FIFA religiously, so this isn’t quite the deal for me.
HT: VG24/7
Fan-made LEGO Pip-Boy looks fantastic.
The Fallout 4 Pip-Boy Edition that came with an actual Pip-Boy was one of the hottest gaming commodities last year, and thus, it sold out instantly. Now there’s a solution for those that didn’t get one of the sweet collectors editions and still need the accessory. I present to you, the LEGO Pip-Boy. It’s fan made and unofficial, but that thing looks slick. The image above surfaced this week, but without any build instructions. You could always try to replicate it and make it unique. Maybe a recon scope attachment?
HT: Nerdist
Sony compensating players for PS Plus outage.
Another holiday season, another PSN outage. If you’re a PS4 owner, and tried to get in on some online fun during the holidays, then you know that PSN went down for some time. Sony has announced that they’ll be compensating players who had a PS Plus subscription during the outage this week with an extension for the service. There are still no specific details about how the extension will work. All we know is that Sony will be sending out emails to everyone who was affected.
That’s all fine and dandy, but Sony really needs to figure out their online infrastructure. I understand that it’s more complicated than just saying “fix it,” but consumers are now paying to play online, so it’s Sony’s responsibility to make sure it works properly. I’ve been a PlayStation user my whole life, and I know PSN is relatively stable when compared to the PS3 days, but enough is enough.
HT: VG24/7
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Featured Image: Square Enix
