DDO Player Council announced by Turbine
Like Lord of the Rings Online before it, Dungeons and Dragons Online will soon have its own Player Council. If you are a DDO player, you can apply for membership through here. Basically, the Player’s Council works with the game developers to provide targeted feedback and valuable suggestions. You have until January 20 to sign up, and the Council is slated to go into effect around January 27. Thanks, Massively.
Windows 9 “Threshold” to be announced during BUILD 2014 in April – rumor
Good news for those who loathe Windows 8: Microsoft is rumored to be making an announcement regarding Windows 9 during BUILD 2014 in April.
Oculus Rift ‘Crystal Cove’ prototype designed as “a seated experience,” says founder
Oculus VR showcased the latest version of its Rift headset, dubbed Crystal Cove, at CES 2014 in Las Vegas last week.
Xi3 Piston isn’t a Steam Machine so it can play non-Steam games
Xi3 Piston, the first device revealed when Valve admitted it was getting into hardware, is not a Steam Machine – because “if you can play it on a computer you should be able to play it on a Piston”.
LCS chaos in wake of Lemondogs fiasco, Ninjas in Pyjamas disqualified, Supa Hot Crew promoted
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Last week, League of Legends fans were stunned by the news that last year’s top regular season European finishers, Lemondogs, had been disqualified from the LCS. That move set off a three-way battle between the teams who lost their promotion / relegation matches during the Battle of the Atlantic a few weeks ago.
This was a huge stroke of luck (sort of, and we’ll get to that in a second) for Ninjas in Pyjamas, who were upset by Polish newcomers KMT in a 3-0 sweep. Now they had another chance to get into the LCS. But they forgot about that crucial first step in winning a high-stakes eSports battle: actually showing up.
Awesome Games Done Quick raise over $1m for Prevent Cancer Foundation
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For people who like to awesome games done quick and other things done quick too the Awesome Games Done Quick speedrun event was likely a must-watch stream of the last seven days. The group of speedrunners have been streaming themselves complete a slew of hard as nails games as quickly as they can all to raise money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.
They’ve done a great job of it, too. This year the team have raised more than $1 million.
Maia update stops colonists colliding with their own heads
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Ever since Theme Hospital, heads have caused problems in management sims. In Bullfrogs medical simulator it was a bad case of bloaty head that would get your denizens down. In Maia, a much more modern management game, one that sees you colonising distant planets, the colonists’ noggins were causing a more oblique problem: they were buggering up pathfinding.
The colonists were colliding with their own heads when they tried to walk.
This and other problems have been patched out in the game’s next build which is due out later this week
As progaming team Quantic implode, a new installment of a sadly common eSports story
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Ko "HyuN" Seok Hyun is a tremendous professional StarCraft 2 player who enjoyed an incredibly successful 2013, during which he won DreamHack Valencia, finished second at MLG’s spring championship, and racked up a slew of semifinals appearances in other major tournaments. He should be be at the top of the world right now, except that he may never see a dime of the $23,000 he earned in prize money and salary. Now, with his Quantic team unraveling and his CEO gone missing, one of the best Zerg players in StarCraft may be depending on the kindness of strangers to continue his career.
What’s surprising about this story is that it’s happening to a major player in StarCraft 2. But when it comes to the basic storyline — an absent manager, vanished prize money, financial defeat from the jaws of progaming victory — Hyun’s story is a depressingly familiar one in the world of eSports.
DayZ: The best videos, from deadly fists to Coldplay recitals
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When the world ends and the dead rise from their graves, it's not the meek who will inherit the Earth, but rather the clinically insane. Most confrontations in DayZ might involve people killing each other, but every so often, something magical happens. Sometimes literal magic is involved, with cults summoning ancient, dark powers, but other times a man will be made to sing Coldplay or someone will attempt to fly.
With the help of lovely Nick, I've collected some of the strangest, funniest - and at least one downright terrifying - videos to have come out of the bleak post-apocalyptic survival shooter. But beware, because when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you. And it might make you wiggle.
Blackspace isn’t dead, it’s resting. Team break long silence
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I’d forgotten about Blackspace. You probably had to. There’s so little space in our brain RAM that we can’t hold onto data about every game project that crosses our path, not least the ones that fail their Kickstarters and go silent for more than a year. Even if they are space-based RTS games with voxel environments and artwork prettier than the current apple of your eye.
So when I got an email saying there’d been a project update I was surprised. Then I started getting excited.
A lot has changed since Blackspace failed its Kickstarter in 2012.
League of Legends’ security just got tighter
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What phrase is sex to your ears? Custard cream? Rochester’s mansion? Scintillating jewelled crabs? No, don’t be silly, it’s ‘email verification’.
“As part of ongoing work to keep all Summoners’ accounts safe, we’re rolling out email verification for any and all account credential changes,” Riot wrote in a recent update. “Once activated by players, this system will message your verified email whenever a change is made to your account, ensuring that you know if any suspicious activity is happening.”
AMD’s Catalyst 14.1 Beta Drivers Will Bring Mantle Support & Frame Pacing Enhancements
Zol.com.cn (chinese website) has leaked some slides from AMD’s upcoming Catalyst 14.1 Beta driver. According to the slides, this new driver is expected to hit the Internet in Q1 2014 and will come with Mantle support, as well as numerous frame pacing enhancements. Continue reading
Evolve – First Screenshots Emerge
Turtle Rock Studios has released the first screenshots for its upcoming sci-fi MP title that pits a four-player crew of alien hunters against a separate player-controlled monster. These first screenshots showcase the monster that players will be able to control. Evolve is powered by CRYENGINE and is planned for a 2014 release on next-gen consoles and PC. Enjoy the screenshots, courtesy of GameInformer! Continue reading
Lords of the Fallen – Two New Screenshots
Two new screenshots for City Interactive’s upcoming fantasy action/role-playing game, Lords of the Fallen, have been unveiled. Lords of the Fallen is said to be a demanding and strategic third-person action-RPG experience that is being created for next generation consoles and PC. The game is scheduled for release later this year. Enjoy! Continue reading
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