‘League of Legends’ fuels college rivalries with live broadcasts
You no longer have to head to a basketball or football game to see your favorite college sports rivalry play out. Yahoo eSports and Riot Games’ uLoL are partnering on a series of five League of Legends live broadcasts that will pit players from major North American schools against each other once a week, starting November 4th at 6PM Eastern. You vote for your favorite rivalries among 12, ranging from Cal/Stanford to Harvard/Yale — the top 5 go on to in-person competitions that Yahoo will stream online. There will even be viewing parties at each school if you’d rather watch with fellow students. While there’s no certainty that these college MOBA match-ups will be as intense as the conventional kind, it’s safe to say that there’s a lot of pride on the line.
Source: League of Legends
YouTube star charged over ‘FIFA’ game betting
The consequences of promoting dodgy bets on video games can extend well beyond account suspensions and tarnished reputations. YouTube star Craig Douglas (aka NepentheZ) and FUTgalaxy owner Dylan Rigby have both been charged with violating the UK’s Gambling Act through their respective businesses. The two allegedly used their online presences to push lotteries and “unlawful gambling” in FIFA 16 matches through bets with in-game coins. Douglas is also accused of encouraging underage gambling by refusing to warn viewers that bets were only for people 18 and over.
The two men have already appeared in court, although the trial won’t resume until October 14th. Whatever happens in the case, it could set an important precedent for game-based gambling. Social media celebs in the UK may be more hesitant to promote betting on video games, or at least put more disclaimers on their existing efforts. Non-UK residents aren’t under quite so much pressure, but it wouldn’t be shocking if the charges prompt game betting advocates elsewhere to clean up their acts.
@FUTGlVEAWAYZ Let us worry about that kind of stuff, yeah. Jesus, lmao. Go annoy someone else, somewhere else.
— NepentheZ (@NepentheZ) June 29, 2015
Via: Kotaku
Source: BBC, PCGamesN
Valve pulls games after studio plans to sue critical players
If you ran a game studio and faced a slew of very negative (and sometimes threatening) user reviews, what would you do? Strive to improve your work? Rig the reviews? Ignore the haters? Digital Homicide decided that it would be better to sue the reviewers… and now, it’s facing the consequences. Valve has pulled all of Digital Homicide’s games from Steam in response to a developer subpoena forcing Valve to reveal the identities of 100 users who posted harsh reviews, paving the way for an $18 million personal injury lawsuit. Digital Homicide’s legal action is “hostile to Steam,” a Valve spokesperson says.
The lawsuit, filed by Digital Homicide’s James Romine, comes alongside a separate claim against YouTuber Jim Sterling, whose videos have frequently roasted the developer’s games. Some of Sterling’s fans have supposedly harassed both James and his brother Robert through the mail.
Not surprisingly, Digital Homicide has a different take on the situation. It claims that it’s only suing after Valve did little to moderate user game reviews, at least some of which included death threats. The company deserves a “safe environment” to do business, it says, and Valve is reportedly showing a “reckless disregard” for the Steam community.
The truth might be somewhere in between the Valve and Digital Homicide positions. There’s no question that at least some of the reviews are uncalled for, and that Valve didn’t clamp down on them quickly (even if they weren’t likely serious). However, it’s not clear that all of the reviews were so hostile, and Digital Homicide doesn’t exactly have a squeaky-clean reputation. It has been waging a war against Sterling for many months, including doxxing and questionable YouTube takedown requests, in response to videos that do little more than highlight the studio’s shady practices. On top of producing shovelware (it posted 18 games on Steam Greenlight in one year), Digital Homicide has allegedly masqueraded as different developers and offered game keys in exchange for rigging Greenlight votes. The company may have already been on the road to a Steam ban — the subpoena could just be the last straw.
Via: Polygon
Source: Rami Ismail (Twitter), Digital Homicide, SidAlpha (YouTube)
Watch how ‘Star Wars: Battlefront’ portrays the Death Star
Ever wanted to blow up the Death Star in Star Wars: Battlefront? If the answer is a resounding “yes,” you’re in luck. EA has revealed that its Death Star paid DLC will arrive on September 20th, and has released a gameplay trailer to match. Suffice it to say that this will rekindle plenty of memories from the original Star Wars movie — including things you might have wished for, such as a fight with a Star Destroyer and an on-foot assault against the Death Star.
The extra content has three core sections: space battles, the firefight inside the Death Star, and a trench run that has you shooting torpedoes down the Death Star’s exhaust pipe. The DLC will also have new playable heroes (Chewbacca and the bounty hunter Bossk) as well as new weapons, Star Cards, a new game mode, and five additional maps.
This third major expansion further tackles one of Battlefront’s biggest early gripes: the relative lack of variety. Previous DLC added new maps and characters, but the core experience was ultimately the same. You can argue that Battlefront should have had a lot of this on day one, but it’s good to see the additional depth all the same.
Via: GameInformer
Source: EA Star Wars (YouTube)
‘Jackal Assault’ is all I ever wanted in a seated VR game
There’s already plenty to look forward to in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare due out on November 4th: Space, futuristic weaponry, rifle customization, enhanced multiplayer modes and a bit of Jon Snow. While I missed the opportunity to try the game at the Tokyo Game Show this week, I did come across Jackal Assault which is a PlayStation VR freebie that comes with the CoD title, and it didn’t take long before I fell in love with this space dogfight demo. More importantly, I didn’t feel sick at all, which is surprising given the speedy maneuvers I managed to pull.
There’s no gameplay footage of Jackal Assault at the time of writing this article, but most part of the demo I tried was very similar to what’s shown in the above CoD footage (from 1:35 to 3:05). The game puts you inside a Jackal fighter jet, you have a bit of time to look around the launchpad, and moments later you’re shot into cold space behind a fellow Jackal, with Planet Earth staring right back at you. You’re then tasked with a simple debris removal job to get you familiarized with the controls, which are straightforward on the PS4 controller.
Suddenly, an anomaly is detected nearby, and you’d end up being ambushed by a fleet of similarly-sized enemy spaceships plus their large but stationary battleship. That’s when the game really begins. Soon I found myself taking full advantage of my 360-degree view to track down enemies while flying smoothly at full speed, and occasionally braking to make sharp turns in the debris field. There was certainly no shortage of adrenaline throughout the game. Interestingly, at no point did I notice any nausea even while moving my head around, so I could simply focus on pointing my Jackal at the damn things to shoot them down with my rounds and missiles. Every explosion put a smile on my face.
That was until the demo got cut short by a black hole that came out of nowhere and sucked everything in. Given how simple yet thrilling Jackal Assault is, I wouldn’t mind a longer demo, but then again, it was a good time for me to wipe away my sweat.
Alienware: VR rigs will become the new Wii thanks to laptops
Almost exactly seven years ago, Alienware joined the Tokyo Game Show for the first time to launch its redesigned machines since Dell’s acquisition. This week, the American company is once again present there to launch the Alienware 17 and 15 laptops for Japan, with one of their main selling points being their VR capability courtesy of NVIDIA’s GTX 10-Series graphics. While this won’t change the fact that high-end VR rigs are still relatively expensive, global marketing director Joe Olmsted reckons the mobility aspect will be enough to turn VR into the new home party machine that can be shared between friends — much like what he did with the Nintendo Wii back in the days.
“I don’t know if you remember but ten years ago it was hard to get a Wii, and yet everyone wanted one, everyone wanted to play it, everyone wanted to do tennis and bowling,” recalls Olmsted, who first joined Alienware 13 years ago. “So we had one, we just lugged it around in a bag and went from place to place to place, you know, be wherever our buddies were at on a Friday night.”
“With VR, I can see that happening; I certainly do it myself.”
Over the last few months, Olmsted has been bringing his company’s next-generation VR-ready notebook (he sure likes to tease) and his own HTC Vive — all tucked into one bag — to friends’ houses for extra entertainment at parties and gatherings. As he quite rightly puts it, “it’s basically a portable VR [rig].” Neither do the Vive nor the Oculus Rift have to be stuck at home because of the bulky desktop PC they’re tied to, as the latest high-end laptops can perform just as well, let alone whatever future model that Olmsted is already using. For those planning on doing the same, you may also want to bring tripods to prop the trackers up.
According to the exec, the GTX 10-Series graphics is the biggest performance jump he’s ever seen on laptops, but that’s not to say the previous generation isn’t good enough for VR, either. Take Alienware’s VR backpack, for instance: It’s essentially an Alpha R2 mini PC powered by the older GTX 960, and it’s utilized by Australia’s Zero Latency to host its six-player VR zombie game. Obviously, for those who are buying a PC now for the sake of VR, you’ll want to go straight to the GTX 10-Series to be as future-proof as possible. In the case of the Alienware 17 and 15 laptops, they’ll be hitting the US store on September 30th and then its UK counterpart on October 4th.
The Pokémon Go Plus bracelet is great for grinding
My Pokémon Go survival kit keeps growing. It started simply enough, with just my iPhone 6 Plus happily running Pokémon Go, but it quickly became apparent that I would need backup battery power in order to comfortably catch digital monsters for extended periods of time. After all, this is a game that takes players away from their outlets and into the great wilds of the real world, so I shoved a portable power pack and cable into my purse. I happen to live in Arizona, so I soon added an icy water bottle to the mix. Now, with the launch of Pokémon Go Plus, my kit also includes a lanyard bracelet, a plastic vibrating teardrop painted like a Poké Ball and a tiny screwdriver.
I’m starting to suspect Ash Ketchum was hiding more than hair under his iconic hat.
Pokémon Go Plus is a $35 accessory that connects to iOS or Android versions of Pokémon Go via Bluetooth. The main gadget is a teardrop-shaped hunk of plastic with an opaque button in the center that glows different colors depending on the feedback it receives from the actual game. The whole device vibrates and lights up when Pokémon or PokéStops are nearby.
The teardrop comes with a clip on the back so you can wear it on a belt, collar or backpack strap, or you can pop it into the included lanyard bracelet. It’s more complicated than just shoving it into the plastic holder, though (as anyone who watched my live unboxing video can attest). You have to unscrew the back of the teardrop with a teensy screwdriver, removing the clip and exposing the battery, and then re-screw it into the bracelet case. The bracelet screw is found under a length of lanyard running under the back of the plastic holder, so you have to move the bracelet itself out of the way before tightening the teardrop into position. It’s not necessarily difficult, but it is delicate work.
With the tools and screws involved in moving the Plus from bracelet to clip, I imagine folks will pick one way of wearing the device and stick with it. Both options are viable, though I personally prefer the bracelet option. However, I’m not wearing a watch today; if I decide to put one on, it’s possible the clip option will be more attractive. Apple did just unveil Pokémon Go support for the Apple Watch, after all. In daily life, it may simply depend on whether I can find my tiny screwdriver.
The bracelet option is my favorite because it’s the most convenient. The teardrop vibrates powerfully enough to feel even if the lanyard isn’t digging into your skin and it’s natural to flick up your wrist to check the notification colors. The button pulses green when you’re near a Pokémon you’ve previously caught, it flashes yellow for new Pokémon and it glows blue for PokéStops.
This is where Pokémon Go Plus is most useful: PokéStops. Once the teardrop flashes blue and vibrates, press the button and viola, a bounty of Poké Balls, potions and miscellany are added to your inventory. That is, unless your inventory is full or you leave the PokéStop’s range before collecting the goodies. The bracelet lets you know if you’re successful by flashing in a rainbow of colors; if it doesn’t work, the device flashes red.
The same goes for catching Pokémon, though there are a few caveats here. The teardrop vibrates and lights up when a Pokémon is near, but there’s no way to tell what kind or what level that Pokémon is. Nor is there a way to change which type of Poké Ball you throw — if you want to use an Ultra Ball or raspberries, you’ll have to pull out your phone. With Pokémon Go Plus, you could unwittingly walk by a 2000 CP Charizard and attempt to catch it with a single standard Poké Ball, which is highly unlikely to work.
It’s crucial to note that with Pokémon Go Plus, you get just one chance to catch each creature; they always run away if you’re not successful on the first throw.
I walked around my neighborhood, which is thankfully littered with PokéStops, and tried the Pokémon Go Plus on my wrist and clipped onto the top of my jeans. Both options worked well, though I happened to be wearing high-waisted jeans and whenever the device activated there, it felt like a fat worm attempting to wriggle across my stomach. Its vibrations are definitely powerful enough get your attention — and maybe the attention of anyone nearby. I entered my building’s elevator with four other people and felt just a little ridiculous as the Plus vibrated and lit up at the top of my jeans. At least on my wrist I can fool strangers into thinking it’s a new kind of fitness tracker, rather than an accessory for a mobile game about trapping exotic fictional monsters in palm-sized prison balls.
Pokémon Go Plus is not a replacement for the game on your phone, but it’s good for the simple stuff, like hitting PokéStops and catching stray Rattatas, Pidgeys and Spearows. It’s a grinding machine. And, in a game where grinding is crucial for anyone who wants to dominate a gym or two, that’s not a terrible thing. Just be prepared to pack a few more items in your Pokémon Go survival bag.
Beam’s interactive livestreaming hits Windows, Xbox this winter
In early August Microsoft announced its acquisition of Beam, a videogame livestreaming service that separates itself from the competition by using tech that allows for low latency and interactive features. Now, Beam has announced it will launch on Microsoft’s gaming platforms (Windows 10 and Xbox One) this winter. That’s not a very specific window, but it will be interesting to see what happens once the parts come together. Currently, Amazon-owned Twitch is the most popular livestreaming service, but Beam’s hook is the ability for viewers to influence the streamer’s gameplay and broadcast.
We’re extremely excited to announce that Beam is coming to Xbox One and Windows 10 this Winter!!
— Beam (@Beam) September 14, 2016
With the support of Microsoft that could mean some interesting new game wrinkles, but so far it’s mostly speculative. Already, Beam lets people play along with Minecraft streamers, and in Rare’s upcoming game Sea of Thieves, the company says you’ll be able to watch from different player perspectives.
Since the acquisition, Beam has launched a few new features including resizeable chat windows, verified social accounts as well as chat replay and activity graphs to go along with archived recordings. Currently, streamers can use OBS or Xsplit to get video of their gameplay on the service, but now we’ll be waiting to see what happens when there’s built-in support.
Source: Beam (Twitter), Beam.pro
Logitech’s Saitek purchase is all about flight sticks
Logitech has been expanding its product line in several directions, moving up to pro-gamer gear and down to basic, yet robust, mice and keyboards. But it’s also been moving beyond the desktop computer market, like buying wearables and sport headphone maker Jaybird back in April. Today the company acquired Saitek, maker of high-end simulation hardware, presumably to supply peripherals for the driving and flight genres. You know, the kinds of games you’ll really want a specialty controller to play in VR. Whether this means the end for the custom controller Saitek was building for the upcoming Star Citizen is uncertain, as its new parent company wouldn’t comment when asked by Polygon.
Logitech paid $13 million to wrest them from Mad Catz, which purchased Saitek back in 2007. Its catalog includes a range of simulation gear, from space-age joysticks to flight yokes and instrument panels. Why the company wants to invest in higher-end peripherals isn’t difficult to guess — a statement confirms it’s to swell product ranks for the coming VR landscape. Saitek’s gear already has a high reputation, so it should feel at home integrating with Logitech’s performance gaming G line.
Source: Logitech Blog
Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida ‘understands the criticism’ of ‘No Man’s Sky’
The vast and ambitions No Man’s Sky didn’t have the smoothest of launches. Even after pushing out a huge day-one patch, some players still encountered glitches and crashes, and some players even feel like the game didn’t deliver on what the marketing campaign promised. Speaking to Eurogamer, Sony Studios president Shuhei Yoshida said he understands complaints from players who don’t feel like they’re getting what was promised to them.
“I understand some of the criticisms especially [creator] Sean Murray is getting, because he sounded like he was promising more features in the game from day one,” Yoshida said.”It wasn’t a great PR strategy, because he didn’t have a PR person helping him, and in the end he is an indie developer.” Indeed, No Man’s Sky is one of the most massive “indie” releases of all time, and it’s plausible that Murray simply got overwhelmed with the work as his game got bigger and its release became more and more anticipated by players.
Regardless of some unhappy players, Yoshida is still happy with the game overall and is glad it’s on Sony’s platform. “I am super happy with the game actually, and I’m amazed with the sales the game has gotten,” he said. But Yoshida has also had to deal with lots of customers unhappy with the game who wanted to return it, so even if it’s selling well, it’s far from a runaway success for Sony.
Source: Eurogamer
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