The Snowdown has arrived!

The Snowdown is finally here and with it are all the treats. New Summoner icons for completing special events will be given to every player for free as long as such event is played. The Showdown mode is finally available as well so players can now search for 1v1 or 2v2 queues. A new login screen with great music of past Snowdowns is also here and all Legacy Winter skins are back making it an amazing time for skin sales with the regular Legacy and Winter themed skins available. In addition, Winter Wonder Lulu, Snow Day Singed, and Snowstorm Sivir are available now at the shop. Be sure to experience this time of the year and get the most out of the Snowdown.

Happy Holidays to all

Nintendo Direct Tomorrow!

There will be a brand new Nintendo Direct airing tomorrow at 9 a.m ET. This Nintendo Direct will focus on games being released this upcoming Spring like Mario Kart 8 and Donkey Kong Country Returns Tropical Freeze. Be sure to check Nintendo's website at http://www.nintendo.com/nintendo-direct/archive/12-18-2013 for the stream tomorrow.

Snowstorm Sivir coming this Snowdown as well

Along with Snowday Singed and Winter Wonder Lulu comes Snowstorm Sivir, all hitting the shop this Snowdown. All 3 Skins will cost 975 RP according to the most recent PBE patch details. The Sivir skin shows off new ice crystal particles yet not as noticeable as the other two winter themed skins. Overall this is a good skin for Sivir players that want something to enhance their game but not a must pick for anyone that plays League.

Patch 3.15 is here!

The second patch of the preseason is finally here and with it come many new changes and the introduction of Yasuo the Unforgiven. Apart from the new champion there are several things that are important from this patch. First and foremost is a major change to Taric decreasing the armor ratios of his passive and shatter from 30% to 20% and the armor reduction of shatter from 10% to 5%. Fiddlesticks and Rammus have also gotten pretty noticeable nerfs to their CC abilities as both Fear and Puncturing Taunt have had their maximum rank durations lowered from 3 seconds to 2.25 seconds, to compensate however they have gotten some mana cost reductions. Lulu, Sivir, and Lucian have also been changed a little so for full details of the patch visit http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/game-updates/patch/patch-315-notes . I am generally satisfied with the patch as it had solved some major issues that players have been hoping for and has balanced the game quite well for now.

Pokemon Soundtracks on iTunes

The Pokemon Firered and Leafgreen soundtracks have been released on iTunes and more will be coming in the future. The Pokemon Company has promised future releases of other soundtracks like Ruby and Sapphire, Diamond and Pearl, and even Heartgold and Soulsilver. The Pokemon company also stated all these soundtracks will be released by the end of 2014. Hopes that other soundtracks will also get released eventually. 

Snow Day Singed is ready for the Showdown!

Singed is back and this time he's covering Summoners Rift with snow. With a snow-creating backpack and his trusty sledge Singed will show all who chase him the wonders of a blizzard. One of the best holiday skins designed by Riot so far Snow Day Singed is a must for any Singed player. Prized at 975 RP this neat skin is a great representation of the season and will hopefully make up for the lack of a snow-themed Summoners Rift.

Winter Wonder Lulu arrives this Snowdown!

One of this year's holiday themed skins is a new Lulu skin named Winter Wonder Lulu. This skin changes the regular looks and particle effects of Lulu into a winter themed skin. In a blue outfit and a new poro themed pix, Winter Wonder Lulu is a wonder all in of itself and a must have for any Lulu fan.

Urgot to be redone in January

The champion Urgot is currently the least used in the League. As a result Riot has made it a priority to remake Urgot completely. This champion will be remodeled into a ranged bruiser according to recent posts on the forums. I am very excited about this remodeling and will keep you guys up to date with any information concerning this project.

A special Game Mode coming for the Snowdown Showdown!

During the Snowdown Showdown Summoners will be able to battle it all out in 1v1 and 2v2 modes to see who is the best LoL player. These battles will be held on the Howling Abyss stage and will have their own Queque like the previous All for One mode. There are three ways to win this mode:

1. Get first Blood
2. Get the first turret
3. Score 100 creep score before the enemy

Hopefully this mode will finally stop all those "1v1 me Bro." comments we all see at the end of match screen.

Gift Mystery Skins for a limited time!

This new feature will be available starting November 29 through December 2 and you will get a randomly unowned skin of any price for just $4. These gifts are random so you could get a $20 skin like Pulsefire Ezreal for just $4. In addition, you could also get unreleased legacy skins that will not be available anytime soon like the TPA skins for the same price in the Mystery Skin feature. Be sure to take part in this special occurrence while it lasts.

Legacy skins are here!

The long gone and exclusive legacy skins make their return from November 29 through December 31. Each skin is scheduled to recieve a 50% discount on a certain day. You can purchase the sin on any day during the time period but you will only get a discount on the specified day.




Visit http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/store/store-update/legacy-vault-opens-limited-time to view more details and the schedule for discounts.

Popstar Ahri is finally released!

All fans of the Ahri should be joyful today as the spirit rush tour is finally here. The long awaited Popstar Ahri skin has been released at a great price of 975 RP or about $7.



The skin features a new character model as well as new animations and spell effects. These gorgeous effects are nothing to miss out on as this is the best Ahri skin released so far. From beautiful spell animations to new dance and taunts, this skin is a must buy for any Ahri fan.

The Preseason is here!

The first patch of the Preseason (3.14) is finally here! Many new items have been added as well as some major changes to support champions. Supports will now scale their abilities with ability power making them impactful late game where they were previously useless. Major map and vision changes have occurred like the new addition of trinkets which offer a small ward clearing, vision for 1 second on the map, or a free stealth or vision ward. New gold income items have also been added making it easier for supports and junglers to keep up with their other teammates. The preseason looks very promising lets see what happens as we all eagerly await League of Legends Season 4.

Nasus gets a Visual Upgrade and More

Nasus is the next champion to get a visual update. His voice acting has increased form 16 to 45 and he has a new character model and animations on spells. It is also rumored that a Shurima Desert Patch is coming upgrading all desert champions just like the Frejliord patch did with the ice champions. If this is true then we might see other desert themed skins and even another game mode. Lets see if this patch gets released between Harrowing and Snowdown Showdown patches along with the Season 4 patch.

The Harrowing has arrived

The harrowing has finally arrived to League of Legends. This year brings 2 new skins in Officer Vi and Haunted Zyra. New ward skins have appeared and can be used freely for the time of the harrowing, these wards will cost RP later though. The best addition are the legacy skins that were supposedly never available again. These skins not seen since past harrowing are available for a limited time.

Pokemon X and Y review

The long awaited 6th generation of Pokemon arrived last week with Pokemon X and Y. This shows the first entrance of Pokemon into 3D in its main series. A great story, amazing mechanics, and drastic visual changes make this a must have for any Pokemon fan whether young or old. The weakest point is the story which gives no innovation pertaining to the feel of the game. The changes with the fairy type increase the overall experience and balance out the game where we thought it was balanced. Overall a great game X and Y are nearly a perfect 9/10.

Music- 10
Graphics- 10
Story- 8
Game play- 10

Game Review- Super Mario 64

Super Mario 64 is known to be one of the best games of all times. Released on September 26, 1996 for the Nintendo 64 system this game alone transformed the concept of 3D gaming worlds. The concept of the game was easy like any other Mario game made before, save the princess and defeat your nemesis Bowser. It had, however, mechanics never seen before. A fully realized 3 Dimensional world letting the player roam around for as long as he wanted. This game set the standards for this new type of game but also introduced something else, an over-world. This over-world is what made Mario 64 so special. You could practice, run around, swim, climb trees, anything you could imagine. The music was also considerably good for the time using the 64's improved sound chip. One could say that the only thing lacking was difficulty as the game was pretty easy to beat for older folks. All around I give Mario a 9/10 being one of the best games of all time.

Graphics-9
Game-play-10
Sound-10
Difficulty-8
Lasting Appeal-9

Video Game News Week of September 30

League of Legends News

Jinx, New Champion Revealed

This new champion was revealed to be a marksman primarily running on bot lane while having a ton of Crowd Control moves and Area of effect Moves.

Garen Rework released

The Long Awaited Garen rework is finally available in game as of Patch 3.12
The rework improves the visual effects of Garen while giving him an improved character model with new taunts and sounds.

Patch 3.12 Released

The patch has made some changes to existing champions while making jinx available for release at a later date. Olaf's move-set has undergone major changes while Katarina and Shen have gotten tweaks in their moves.

Nintendo News

Nintendo Direct 10/1/13

Released dates for Mario 3D world, Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics, and Sonic Lost World were announced. Donkey Kong tropical freeze has also been delayed until February 2014.

Mario 3D World- November 22
Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics- November 15
Sonic Lost World- October 29
Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze- February 2014

Wii U gets a price Drop

For the upcoming holiday season Nintendo has lowered the price of Wii U by $50. Its now priced at 200 and is available for two bundles at that price. Both for $200 you can either get the system with Nintendo Land or The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker HD.

Kanto Starters Mega Evolutions

The Mega evolutions of Charizard, Venusaur, and Blastoise have gotten new abilities as well as looks.

Venusaur

Gains the Ability Thick fat reducing fire and ice type moves.

Charizard

Gains the Ability Drought permanently placing sunlight in the battle.

Blastoise 

Gains the new ability Mega Launcher.

This abilities details have yet to be revealed.

The Game releases October 12, 2013.

Sivir gets a Visual Update

In the upcoming patches a visual upgrade to Sivir will be released. This upgrade was revealed at PAX but is now confirmed to be released in a few weeks. The upgrade will change the character's model as well as the texture and effects of her moves.

Pokemon News Update

A bunch of Pokemon X and Y news has been revealed. The starters evolutions and many other new Pokemon have been shown. They also revealed mega Garchomp and Mewtwo. For the first time trainer customization is available in a main Pokemon game.

Championship Thresh Revealed

A brand new skin to celebrate the world championship has been revealed in League of Legends. This skin is for the champion thresh and introduces new particle effects. The release date of this skin was stated to be released shortly.

Garen Gets a Visual Update

The League of Legends champion Garen is getting a Visual Update in the Upcoming patch. His moves and character are getting new in game particle effects. While it isn't the most awaited update this visual upgrade foreshadows how good the upgrades to come will be.