Top eSports league will begin drug testing players
The Electronic Sports League has announced that it will soon begin testing players for performance enhancing substances at future competitive events. The organization told Motherboard that it won’t share details just yet, but will institute measures to police, educate and prevent drug taking on its watch. The news comes in the wake of the revelations made by professional Counter-Strike player Cory Friesen about he and his team, Cloud 9. Friesen told an interviewer that they had all taken the psychostimulant Adderall to boost performance during a recent tournament in Poland.
ESL’s Anna Rozwandowicz has also announced that the league won’t be taking retrospective action to punish Friesen or other members of Cloud9. After all, there’s no way to substantiate the alleged drug use and any trace of the substances would have passed from their bodies after five days. It seems as if the line between electronic sports and its meaty equivalent is getting narrower by the day. After all, there are now arenas where you can watch competitive gaming and superstars are even being forced to retire through injury. Hell, all we need now is the digital equivalent of deflategate and they’ll be indistinguishable from each other.
[Image Credit: Getty]
Filed under: Gaming
Source: Motherboard
‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 3’ multiplayer beta starts August 19th
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 doesn’t drop until November, but you won’t have to wait nearly so long to find out whether or not its online play lives up to the hype. Activision and Treyarch have revealed that the sci-fi shooter’s multiplayer beta kicks off August 19th if you’ve pre-ordered the PlayStation 4 version, and August 26th on Xbox One. You’ll only have five days to play in either case, but it should give you a feel for the player classes and new gameplay mechanics (such as momentum-based movement) before you get your full copy. It’s not certain just which maps and game modes will find their way into the beta, but you’ll likely find out before the test starts.
Filed under: Gaming
Via: Windows Central
Source: Activision Games Blog
Twitch starts dumping Flash for HTML5
Twitch is ditching Flash. The first step is a redesign of its video player controls, swapping out the old Flash model for shiny, new HTML5 and Javascript controls. Twitch videos are still Flash-based for now, but this is all in preparation for a full HTML5 player. The new controls will be rolled out gradually to all users, and you’ll notice them on channel pages first.
Twitch follows in YouTube’s footsteps with today’s switch: In January, YouTube dropped Flash to make HTML5 the default player for its videos. This came fiver years after YouTube started extolling the virtues of HTML5, while noting that Flash was, at the time, the “best platform” for the site.
As for Twitch, whatever keeps our weekly JXE Streams rolling, we’re happy.
Filed under: Gaming, Internet, HD
Source: Twitch
‘Hearthstone’ expansion is a Grand Tournament with new cards
That’s 132 new cards, to be exact. The Grand Tournament is Hearthstone‘s latest expansion, due to hit in August with 132 new cards, plus fresh spells and weapons. It also introduces a new keyword — a special attribute attached to certain cards — called Inspire, which adds attack and spell boosts to some plays. Plus, the game board gets a revamp with tournament tents and competition grounds. The Grand Tournament comes at a price, of course: These card packs will be available for in-game gold or real money at the same price as standard packs, ranging from 100 gold for one pack and $3 for two packs, all the way to $50 for 40 packs. There’s a pre-purchase price of $50 for 50 Grand Tournament card packs to be unsealed on launch day. The expansion launches sometime in August across iOS, Android, PC and Mac. Ready your decks, champions.
Source: Hearthstone
These are your favorite video game soundtracks
Not that long ago we published a list of the Engadget crew’s favorite game soundtracks. But, of course, we left some of your favorites out. Well, we listened. What you’ll find below are a selection of soundtracks that y’all made impassioned pleas for in the comments and on Facebook and Twitter. The big takeaway? You gals and guys really like the music from Eastern-developed games like Chrono Trigger and Shadow of the Colossus. You’ll find those along with other, perhaps more modern, examples as well.
Your mouse will soon work with your Xbox One
Beneath that shiny exterior, the Xbox One is, basically, a glorified gaming PC in a slightly smaller frame. As such, wouldn’t it be great if you could play RTS games on the machine with your keyboard and mouse? The hardware can already support the former, and if Microsoft’s Phil Spencer is to be believed, the latter is coming in the near future. The executive was asked on Twitter if it’d be possible to stream games from a Windows machine to the Xbox — in the opposite direction to how the company has set up its game streaming system. In response, he said that it’d require keyboard and mouse support for it to work, crucially adding “those aren’t far away.”
@Tak225Th Still finishing Xbox to Win10 streaming right now. I like the idea of Win10->Xbox One streaming but don’t have a plan yet.
– Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) July 21, 2015
@lgriao @PNF4LYFE @Tak225Th Yep, keyboard and mouse support for Xbox would need to be there for this to work, those aren’t far away.
– Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) July 21, 2015
@lgriao @PNF4LYFE @Tak225Th Mouse is what we’d need to add.
– Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) July 21, 2015
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has often spoke about bringing the disparate elements of the Windows businesses into a more cohesive single entity. When Windows 10 was announced, it was with the subtitle “one product family, one platform, one store,” and the move should help the gaming division tie in with its siblings. After all, with keyboard and mouse support, the console could support the majority of Windows 10 apps that are being crafted, and could even drive hardware sales. Hell, we’re perversely hoping that there’s a way that we can access a text editor so that we can write the news and play Halo at the same time. Yes, we know — we do need to get more.
Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, Microsoft
Via: UberGizmo
Play ‘Star Wars: KotOR 2’ in 5K, on your Mac
So this whole year of Star Wars thing apparently includes dormant video games too, who knew? Despite the fact that the lesser of the two Knights of the Old Republic role-playing games released all the way back in 2004, it recently got a pretty huge update. Now KotOR 2: The Sith Lords is playable on Mac and Linux, available in the Mac App Store, has achievements, widescreen support and will even run in 4K and 5K resolution. If it’s a console-like experience you’re chasing, the game supports controllers too, including PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One gamepads. The title’s Steam page teases mod support via Steam Workshop and even a “Force special effects” option in the game’s menu. To find out exactly what the latter entails, you’ll likely have to download it for yourself.
[Image credit: theglobalpanorama/Flickr]
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Steam
‘Project Cars’ Wii U version canceled
Project Cars finally launched on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC in May, after three delays and a few platform uncertainties dating back to January 2012. The game — a realistic racing simulator from Need for Speed: Shift developer Slightly Mad Studios — was supposed to launch on Wii U this year as well, but that’s not going to happen, according to Gamespot and other outlets. Slightly Mad Studios Creative Director Andy Tudor confirmed the cancelation, noting that Project Cars “is simply too much for Wii U,” according to the site. “Despite much perseverance on the Wii U version of Project Cars, we will no longer be actively pursuing development on it as the quality does not meet our own high standards nor our intended vision for the title on this platform,” Tudor told Gamespot.
We’ve reached out to Slightly Mad Studios and publisher Bandai Namco for confirmation of today’s reports.
Speaking with Gamespot, Tudor mentioned that Slightly Mad Studios would look forward to developing for any new hardware from Nintendo — a not-so-subtle hint that it’s waiting for the NX, Nintendo’s mysterious, forthcoming console. The Wii U has faced an uphill battle in the current console generation: It launched in November 2012, about a year before the Xbox One or PS4, and it boasted a focus on games rather than streaming apps, social functions or alternative entertainment options. It’s simply not a technological powerhouse on par with the Xbox One or PS4, and Project Cars isn’t the only big game to skip the console entirely. That said, the Wii U has its fans — including three of Engadget’s own.
Source: Gamespot
2K is reportedly bringing college basketball back to its games
For the first time in years, college basketball teams may soon be playable in a video game. ESPN’s Darren Rovell reports that 2K Sports has licensing deals in place with ten schools and plans to include them in an upcoming title. That list of teams includes Arizona, Kansas, Louisville, Michigan, UCLA and more according to SB Nation — some of college basketball’s big-name programs. If you’ll recall, EA cancelled the 2014 installment of its college football title after a lawsuit over the use of player likenesses and the NCAA pulling its licensing deal. When it comes to college hoops, though, there hasn’t been a game in several years, so this would be a welcome release for folks who’ve been waiting.
It’s unclear whether there will be a standalone game or if the teams that have opted in will be playable in the upcoming NBA 2K16 that’s set to arrive in September. It would also make for a rather compelling post-launch DLC. As Rovell points out, to avoid any potential legal troubles, 2K will likely only use the school names, uniforms and logos while leaving the players themselves generic. You’ll have to create players yourself if you want to use the current rosters. What’s more, Rovell says that any rumors of EA reviving its licensed college football franchise soon aren’t true.
[Image credit: Brad Barket/Getty Images for 2K]
2K has indeed gotten the licenses to at least 10 college teams & will have college basketball.
– Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 21, 2015
If 2K does add colleges this year to its NBA game, expect just jerseys & logos. You’ll have to make your own players to fit the roster.
– Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 21, 2015
Filed under: Gaming
Via: Game Informer
Source: Darren Rovell (Twitter)
The PS4 will get an officially licensed media remote
You’d think that Sony would have released a remote control for the PlayStation 4 given that video is even more important this time around, but that’s not the case — without a compatible TV remote via HDMI-CEC or Harmony setup, you’re usually stuck using a gamepad. The next best thing is coming, however. Accessory maker PDP has quietly unveiled an officially licensed PS4 media remote that gives you an easier way to navigate both your console and your TV when watching movies. PDP hasn’t formally announced launch details, but US retailers have it shipping in October for $30. That’s not a trivial amount, but it could be worthwhile if you spend as much time watching Netflix as you do grinding through Destiny.
Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, HD
Via: GameSpot, GameInformer
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