Here's a Roundup of the Sony Japan Press Conference

So, I messed up. Slept in. Didn't know. Didn't know that Sony Japan was even having a press conference (although signs point to it being "mysterious" so go figure). My journalizms have failed you folks.

No, seriously: I feel bad. What you should be seeing is individual posts on the big news that happened during the conference (and there are some big ones), and yet the best I can do for you is a hopefully nice roundup of the what was announced at the show. Sorry about that. But take a look at the links below - anything thrilling?

No Fun: PlayStation 4 releases later in Japan: February 22nd, 2014

New slim Vita announced, screen switches from OLED to LCD (?)

Lily Bergamo is the latest game from Suda51 (EEEE!!), PS4 exclusive [Trailer]

PS Vita TV is announced, let's you play Vita games on your TV. Yup. [Trailer]

Deep Down, the Panta Rhei-powered Capcom game showed off at the PS4 announcement show, takes place in...New York?

Final Fantasy XIV Beta available for PS4 at launch, is free for the PS3 folks.

Yakuza Ishin is Yakuza Restoration in the states, launches with the PS4 in Japan [Trailer]

Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends drops on Japan PS4 launch [EXTREEEEME Trailer]

New Strategy Role-Playing title, Natural Doctrine, on the way to all Sony consoles.

Gran Turismo 6 PS3 bundle announced, hopefully tides people over 'till the PS4

Soul Sacrifice Delta set to hit the PlayStation Vita, is "more than an update" to the original

Phantasy Star Nova drops on the Vita as well for 2014, carries up to four players

One more for the Vita: Final Fantasy X/X-2 bundle coming for the Vita, has a limited edition handheld

BONUS ROUND: God Eater 2 and Gundam Breakers also get LE Vitas, look MILES better than the Final Fantasy one.

ONE MORE THING: Here's a cheesy yet neat video showing off some of the new tech announced today:

League Of Legends NA Regionals at PAX Seattle

The NA team roster for the League of Legends World Finals was decided this weekend at PAX in Seattle. in the group stage Team Solo Mid, Counter Logic Gaming, Dignitas and Curse Gaming went head to head to enter the semifinals where Teams Cloud9 and Vulcan were waiting due to their buys after the Season.

In day one the TSM vs CLG games came down the several close games that were decided at the Baron pit, but with their LAN Faces on TSM pulled the rug out from under CLG with a 2-1 win. With TSM advancing to the semi finals the last open spot was between Dignitas and Curse. After a decisive first win for Curse, Dignitas came back with a one two punch in the last two games of the series eliminating curse and setting them on a collision course with Vulcan in the Semifinals.

Day two saw the fifth place match between CLG and Curse. The winner of this match would earn their spot in next seasons series while the losing team would have to go back through the grueling promotion tournaments to re-enter the season. With CLG's Doublelift dominating the first game and CLG bringing the team together the second game, Curse was sent home packing with CLG securing the season 4 spring LCS spot. The first semifinal series was between the Fan Favorite TSM and the hot streak Vulcan team. TSM's captain Reginald brought the pressure for his team all game keeping Vulcan on their heels until they gathered as a team to deliver a deathblow at 25 minutes. In the second game Vulcan showed that they would not go down without a fight with their smart plays and daring Baron grabs, but TSM took advantage of Top laner Dyrus and used a perfect fight to decimate Vulcan and secure a spot in the NA finals. The Next Semifinal match-up was between the front running Cloud9 and the 5th place Dignitas. Dignitas came out strong the at the start of the first match earning an early lead over Cloud9. But after a few key plays by AD Carry Sneaky, Cloud9 bounced back and took game one by storm. Once again showing that their early game is their only weakness Cloud9 gave gidnitas a few free early kills. But it didn't last long for Dignitas as a tower dive bottom lane would gain Cloud9 the kills back and then some. Cloud9 would continue on the rampage to definitively claim the finals spot versus TSM.

Day three began with the third ticket to worlds representing North America being desperately fought over by Teams Dignitas and Vulcan. Vulcan rushed Dignitas for an early lead in game one, and their relentless assault took game one is a quick and effective fashion. Dignitas' desperation showed in several early mistakes in game two leading to a very large lead for Vulcan. Vulcan similarly took game two and securing their place in worlds and sending Dignitas home. The Final match-up of the tournament  was between reigning NA champions and the new kids on the block Cloud9. Cloud9 quickly established their intent by taking TSM in the first game quickly after 20 minutes in a forceful manner. Game two leaned in TSM's favor in the beginning but Cloud9 soon brought their lead back in a destructive team fight at baron where TSM was aced. The Third game quickly spun out of control for the reigning champs as Cloud9 rode their momentum straight into the TSM base for another quick victory despite TSM's baron buff.

In the end PAX Prime Seattle ended with Cloud9 reigning as the new North American champs and TSM and Vulcan going with them to world championships carrying the hopes of the North American circuit with them.

Train Your Vehicle Skillz in Battlefield 4's Test Range.

Yes, that's a 'z' in "skillz"

No, I'm not changing it.

In a Q&A with IGN, DICE Creative Director Lars Gustavsson spoke on player's fears of flying and driving the vehicles in previous Battlefield games, and said he and the team know about their hesitation with the heavy machinery. That said, they've put together a test range in the upcoming Battlefield 4 so future pilots and tank drivers can get used to the vehicles without crashing them into their own squadron accidentally on purpose.

"We've definitely heard that people are afraid of getting in there [and using vehicles like helicopters] and that's not our intent, so what we've done is, we've added a test range, which allows you to try out all the hardware ahead of time so that if you want to learn to fly a helicopter you can get in there and you can find the settings that work best for you."

Gustavsson even suggested that players, "...start doing some stunt flights just to feel safe..." before carrying fellow squadmembers into battle. Neat. I never got the chance to drive one, but the things did look complicated. Might have been the reason why you never actually flew in the campaign (as far as I know). 

Source [IGN Battlefield 4 Q&A]

Nostalgia! Use the Original Starters in Pokemon X/Y

In today's Pokemon-flavored Nintendo Direct, the company announced that players can choose from either the new starter monsters in the upcoming Pokemon X/Y, or pick from the original trio from Red and Blue. The original trio will have the new Mega-Pokemon ability, which boosts their abilities farther than their final evolution during battle.The mega designs for the Red/Blue trio range from cool, (Charizard and Blastoise) to little more than slapping a flower on a head (Venusaur).

The new evolution is tied to the trainers' mega bracelet, the new mega stone item held by a Pokemon, and the connection between trainer and creature.

The Direct also announced a pair of swank 3DS XL X/Y devices as well, one red and one blue. These are not bundled with the game though, and won't be coming out to coincide with the games' October 12th release date. They'll be shipping out instead on September 27th.

Additionally, a new cloud storage feature was also announced, dubbed the Pokemon Bank. It's a paid app (with subscription) that allows for 100 boxes of storage for X/Y, Black/White and Black/White 2. The Black/White games will need the extra Poke Transporter app to move the critters around.

Here's the Direct in full.

Xbox One to Drop November 22nd

After news of "late November" and speculation on a before or after the PlayStation 4 launch, we've finally got something concrete from Microsoft about the Xbox One.

The company announced a release date of November 22nd, exactly seven days (cue The Ring) after Sony's console is set to hit shelves here in the states. It will hit North America and 12 other countries, a reduction from the original 21. Those remaining locales will have to hang on until next year.

The price of the One is still at $499 bones, despite a few people (myself including) hoping that they'd ship a version of the console out without the Kinect bundled. Because, you know, some people just want to play games and not have anything to do with having full control of their home theater (although that is an awesome thing to do).

The console blood wars begin in November people! Going to be interesting to see who comes out on top.

Source [Destructoid]

Eh? - Xbox One Supports Eight Controllers At Once

Image from Geek.com

Not just one, not only five, but eight - count 'em, EIGHT controllers at once, people!

The Brit folks over at CVG took a gander at the Xbox One product page, only to discover that players will be able to play with eight controllers on a single console. Wow. Additionally, the controllers will have a 30 foot range.

There isn't any word on any games that will use the eight controllers but, I can't help but be...kind of interested in this. Party games aside, there are a lot of possibilities that could stem from a lot of controllers. If confusion could be put aside (and 8-player splitscreen), coupled with some smart designs, this could be fun. I'm excited to see what could come from an 8-player same room game.

Sources [CVG via Destructoid]

A Steep Slope: Another step taken, and Understanding the difference between Leading and Carrying.

Well here we are at the first actual step of the path. I have made my way out of the Silver V division. A few clutch games earned me the necessary 100 LP(league Points)  to enter my promotion series. Well that didn't go to great. After three very close games I had failed my best of three series and reentered Silver V with 89 LP. So the next day after a good talk with an experienced platinum player friend of mine, I jumped into

a ranked que yet again. The Nautilus game I played was not only one of my best Nautilus games to date, but it was the most fun I've had in the ranked system in a while.  I then went on to my promotion series again, the Nautilus game having earned me my 100 LP, with my new outlook intact and proceeded to play great Anivia and Xerath games promoting me to Silver IV.

Now you may be wondering what is this talk I had with my friend and what is this new outlook. Well he shared with me that getting through ranked especially getting out of the bronze silver and gold divisions isn't about carrying your team by pure skill and determination (or try harding for those league players out there) as I thought it was before. It's more about playing a champion who can lead your team, you don't have to be a leader but you have to make sure that your champion can blaze a path and leave a sign that says "Let's Go TEAM !" behind that is impossible to ignore. Because in the end League of Legends is a team game, and you can't get anywhere without the other four members of your team. But even then league can be a bit bland jsut grinding on your own, so do what I do every now and then! Duo with a friend with similar mmr to yours and enjoy having someone to actually communicate and joke around with during the game.

Friend was a platinum player, Squisheeball.