Hello again, Parents and Gamers!
With the PAX 2014 Gaming Conference continuing to to go full blast, a number of new games, titles, and dates have all been announced. While we are going to be focusing our attention more-so on pinpoint information that we believe you might find useful, it has given us pause for thought. Perhaps we might change the site slightly and the way that we update so as to include information like that as well. If you're interested in stuff like random game announcements, dates, etc...please let us know.
Now, that said, we have three things of note that we are going to be looking at today: one from Sony (the creators of PlayStation) and two from Nintendo. Starting off, Sony has announced some personalized changes that are going to be available soon for their PlayStation 4 and Vita systems. After that, we will take a look at the brand new "Amiibo" toys coming to you from Nintendo. This will be followed by the unveiling of a new and improved version of the Nintendo 3DS Handheld system. Let's take a look.
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Sony has announced that, with their upcoming updates to the Sony PlayStation 4 and Sony Vita Handheld systems (known as firmware update 2.0 and 3.3 respectively), players will be able to customize their units "home screens". Players will be able to change their wallpapers, icons, and even the overall color and design theme.
To make a comparison, think of like being able to customize the wallpaper and home page of your home computer or smart phone. With the current units, it is set to a pre-chosen colors and or pictures from the factory. However with the new firmware updates, players will have the option to choose the appearance. At the moment, it is unannounced whether players will be able to upload and use personal content (like home photos/pictures), or if they will have a selection of themes to choose from to download from the PlayStation Online store.
Please note that these updates are automatic and systems will only need an internet connection in order to download them. Both units have WiFi connectivity available and will only need to connect to your home Wireless Network in order to do so.
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During our downtime at the E3 Video Game Conference, Nintendo announced their plans for a brand new way to interact with their games and video game systems. Amiibos.
Amiibos are essentially a toy, showing similarities to the idea spearheaded by the Skylander's franchise, that reflect all of the major Nintendo characters including Mario, Kirby, Donkey Kong, Star Fox, Link from Legend of Zelda, and more.
The toy is used with both the Nintendo Wii U game system and Nintendo 3DS handheld game system. The Amiibo can be placed on the Wii U Game Pad (the large tablet-esque controller) in order to access that toy's data. The toy will store special saved data, customization options, extra in-game equipment, special moves, and more. The more that a player plays with one of the Amiibo toys, the more that toy will be leveled up and the "stronger" they will be for in-game use. While the major focus of the Amiibo release is for the upcoming title Super Smash Bros U, Nintendo has announced their intention to make the toys usable across multiple games.
The first batch of the Amiibo toys have been officially demonstrated and shown off. The characters that will be initially available include Mario, Princess Peach, and Yoshi from Super Mario Bros., Pikachu from Pokemon, Marth from Fire Emblem, Villager from Animal Crossing, Link from Legend of Zelda, and Donkey Kong, Kirby, Star Fox, and Wii Fit Trainer from their respective titles.
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Nintendo has announced that their mega-popular Nintendo 3DS handheld game system is going to be receiving an upgrade in the overall design moving forward.
Due to popular request and the demand of new, upcoming titles for the Nintendo 3DS, the company has decided to do an overhaul on the unit to include a number of changes. The new units are going to include a secondary analog stick on the right side of the unit (originally the unit function with only a single stick). Additionally, the new unit will be upgrading the computing power within, adding two additional buttons, the ability to integrate and play with the above mentioned Amiibo toys, and the ability to change out the face plates on the unit.
Many of these changes are being made with the new Super Smash Bros. game in mind.
The new models of the 3DS will be launching in Japan later this year (October 11), however Nintendo has NOT confirmed the release for the U.S. and European markets. Company representatives stated that the dates will be confirmed separately, however that they will not be launching in 2014.
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And that is it for the day! Before we go though, we would like a raise a question to you: the reader. At the moment, we have been debating on two big titles to relaunch our reviews on. One is an older, but very popular title we had reviewed while it was still in testing: Minecraft! The second is a free to play title from Blizzard entertainment, a card game called Hearthstone.
Which would you like to see us review? Leave your comment in the box below or shoot us an e-mail!
Thank you again for joining us. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about our article today or just Video Games in general, feel free to reach out to us at our e-mail at theparentsguidetovideogames@gmail.com or simply by clicking on my name below. Make sure to follow us at Facebook and Twitter to get up to the moment updates! See you soon!
cool...
ReplyDeletethe amibos remind me a bit of the INfinity series that disney is doing...though honestly that is a money suck...esp now that they are coming out with round 2..and marvel...and its own plug n play system...
def enjoy some smash bros though...ha...
drop in any time you want...smiles...i will do the same...
My son loves Minecraft!
ReplyDelete