Monthly Archives: January 2020
Pokemon Direct Announced for This Week: Home and Sleep Info Rumored
A Nintendo Direct has been announced for later this week that will be themed around Pokemon.
Referred to by Nintendo as a Pokemon Direct, you’ll be able to watch the whole presentation over on Nintendo’s website or YouTube channel on Thursday, January 9 2020, starting at 06:30am PST / 09:30am ET or at 14:30 GMT if you’re in the UK.
Nintendo said in an announcement tweet that the stream will last for roughly 20 minutes and will contain new Pokemon information.
Origin PC Is ‘Definitely’ Going to Put Next-Gen Consoles in the Big O
About 10 years ago Origin built the original Big O, a liquid-cooled PC with an Xbox 360 crammed into the same box. Last year the Big O returned, with a massive chassis housing a PC, an Xbox One S, a PS4 and a Nintendo Switch. That insane product was just a concept though - Origin just built one because it could. This year at CES 2020 the monster is back, and now as an actual consumer product.
The new Big O has slimmed down – it's using Corsair's Crystal 280X case instead of the massive Origin Genesis case, with RGB lighting powered by Corsair iCUE. And while it does cram both a PC and console in there, you have to choose between a PS4 Pro or Xbox One X – you don't get both (plus a Switch). However, in addition to the PC, the console is liquid cooled too. And you can configure it with a built-in capture card, so it's in theory a good option for console-based content creators and streamers.
This Ultra-Portable Laptop Is Impossibly Light
At CES 2020, NEC unveiled the lightest laptop I've ever held. Weighing just 1.85 lbs, the Lavie Pro Mobile is the one of if not the lightest laptops ever made. It's definitely an ultrabook – there's no discrete graphics card here – designed for productivity and, of course, portability. But that portability is really astounding.
The laptop I use on a daily basis weighs just more than 3 pounds, and that may not seem like much of a difference. But holding it and then the Pro Mobile one after the other – the difference is night and day.
Despite that incredibly light weight, the Pro Mobile doesn't feel flimsy at all. This is thanks to a magnesium lithium chassis paired with a carbon fiber lid. Really it feels just as solid as my daily driver, a Lenovo ThinkPad, just much lighter. The Lavie Pro Mobile is made by NEC, a Japanese PC manufacturer that's owned by Lenovo. The Pro Mobile has thus far only released in Japan but Lenovo is expanding it this year into the US in March, with a starting price of $1,599.
LG’s New OLED 4K TVs Give You Both FreeSync and G-Sync
LG showed off a boat load of new 4K TVs and 8K TVs at CES 2020. While the company was meek with details on how its panel technology has improved, this year’s crop of TVs come with new features and in a few new form factors and display resolutions if you’ve got the budget for it.
The most important thing gamers will love to hear is LG’s mainstream CX- and BX-series—and the 8K-capable Z9 series—OLED TVs will all support both FreeSync and G-Sync, so you’ll be able to enjoy tear-free game play whether you’ve got an Xbox One S, Xbox One X or a Nvidia-powered gaming PC.
Thor: Love and Thunder – 6 Characters Christian Bale Could Play
Former Batman Christian Bale is reportedly in talks to join Thor: Love and Thunder, and with no other information confirmed by Marvel, the announcement sent sparks of speculation flying. Could Bale be playing a hero or a villain in the highly anticipated sequel to Thor: Ragnarok? Could the character be drawn from Thor’s long comic book history? Maybe from the book based on Jason Aaron’s run in which Jane Foster picks up the hammer? Or is it a character that readers met more recently?
Kentucky Route Zero Act 5 Release Date Announced
Kentucky Route Zero’s fifth and final act will release on January 28, along with a complete collection of all acts and interludes called Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition for consoles.
The TV Edition will be available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch that day, and Act 5 will arrive on PC at the same time. The compilation of all acts and interludes in the TV Edition will also be available on Steam by buying the Kentucky Route Zero Season Pass.
This is a story seven years in the making, as the first act of Kentucky Route Zero released back at the start of 2013. IGN’s review at the time gave it an 8.3, followed by an even more positive review of Act 2 later that same year with Act 3 following close behind in 2014.
Epic Games Working on Fix for Player Loss of Star Wars Achievements in Fortnite
If you're a regular Fortnite player, then you likely participated in the Fortnite Star Wars event in December. Now that the event has come to a close, it seems that players are reporting missing achievements earned from the event.
In a Reddit post to r/FortniteBR, Redditor Romulousvoid shared an image revealing that all of their achievements from the Fortnite Star Wars event were gone. The post quickly picked up comments from other players with the same issues, and eventually an Epic employee commented on the thread stating they were aware of the problem and were working on a fix.
The UK Now Has Classic Video Game Postage Stamps
A new series of postage stamps featuring images from games such as Tomb Raider and Elite have been released in the UK in order to celebrate British-developed video games.
The series is comprised of 12 stamps, with each showing off a key UK-designed game from the 1980s and 90s. Elite, Dizzy, Populous, Lemmings, Micro Machines, Sensible Soccer, Wipeout, and Worms all feature in the collection.
4 of the 12 stamps are dedicated to Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft, who was created by English studio Core Design in the 1990s. These 4 stamps feature Lara’s visual evolution over 1996’s Tomb Raider, 1998’s Adventures of Lara Croft, 2000’s Tomb Raider Chronicles, and 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot.
The UK Now Has Classic Video Game Postage Stamps
A new series of postage stamps featuring images from games such as Tomb Raider and Elite have been released in the UK in order to celebrate British-developed video games.
The series is comprised of 12 stamps, with each showing off a key UK-designed game from the 1980s and 90s. Elite, Dizzy, Populous, Lemmings, Micro Machines, Sensible Soccer, Wipeout, and Worms all feature in the collection.
4 of the 12 stamps are dedicated to Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft, who was created by English studio Core Design in the 1990s. These 4 stamps feature Lara’s visual evolution over 1996’s Tomb Raider, 1998’s Adventures of Lara Croft, 2000’s Tomb Raider Chronicles, and 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot.
Amazon’s Lord of the Rings Reportedly Casts Game of Thrones Actor as New Lead
Robert Aramayo - best known as Young Ned Stark in Game of Thrones - has reportedly been cast in a leading role for Amazon's Lord of the Rings TV series.
Deadline reports that Aramayo will play a young hero, Beldor, replacing Will Poulter (Black Mirror), who apparently left the project after scheduling difficulties.
It's perhaps not a surprising choice, given the creative team for the series includes alumni from Game of Thrones (as well as the likes of Hannibal, Toy Story 4, Star Wars and more).