General Gaming Article

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• Valve Hands Out Game Soundtracks to Celebrate Public Launch of Steam Music
• Acer Gives Conan O' Brian S7 Following Unflattering Skit
• Asus ROG Introduces G551 and G771 Gaming Laptops
• Amazon App Store Now Serving Dozens of Android Apps Worth Nearly $175 for Free
• Newegg Daily Deals: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Graphics Card, Intel Core i5 4690K, and More!
• Apple Apologizes for Cellular Killing iOS 8.0.1 Update, Suggests Rolling Back to iOS 8
• Linux Bash Bug Poses Security Threat, Gets Compared to Heartbleed

Valve Hands Out Game Soundtracks to Celebrate Public Launch of Steam Music Posted: 25 Sep 2014 12:14 PM PDT Out of beta and into the public spotlight The folks at Valve announced that its Steam Music Player is now out of beta and is available for all Steam members to enjoy. Through the Steam Music Player, you can listen to your own collection of tunes while playing games -- just use the Shift+Tab overlay. This eliminates the need to exit a full screen session or otherwise switch over to load up your songs or to control playback options. "Point Steam to the MP3s on your computer, then browse your collection of albums and artists. You'll also find your Steam Soundtracks DLC in your Steam Music library when the associated base game is installed," Valve explained in a blog post. "Listen to albums, queue up mixes, and create playlists you love, right in your Steam library. Best of all, it's all available right within the Steam Overlay, so you can control playback without leaving your game. The Steam Music library and player consist of all the basics you need to enjoy your music without switching tasks." To get you going, Valve is making several game soundtracks available for free, provided you own the base game. And if you don't, you can buy the corresponding game for 75 percent off. Games included in the promotion are Half-Life, Half-Life Two, Half-Life Two: Episode One, Half-Life Two: Episode 2, Portal, and Portal 2. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Acer Gives Conan O' Brian S7 Following Unflattering Skit Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:52 AM PDT Mockery is the sincerest form of flattery? Maybe not in this case We like some of Acer's products, most notable the Aspire S7 which we awarded a 9 Kick Ass in our review. Still, the company recently made some headlines for being perceived as old, cheap, and out of touch on Conan O'Brien's late night talk show. The video below shows Conan's mock Acer keynote conference, which was done shortly after Apple's 9/9/14 event.    See Conan's Acer keynote conference spoof above. In the sketch, the show makes fun of Acer's products stating that they offer "free YouTube" and a built-in pill counter among other things. While the comedic jab is definitely unfair, we thought it was hilarious just the same and asked Acer what they thought of it. While our rep stated that the skit certainly wasn't flattering and pointed out that its conferences actually look more like this, they did admit that it was funny and weren't too bothered by it considering Conan has a history of making fun of big tech companies, such as Apple and Samsung.  In response, Acer sent Conan and his staff an Aspire S7 for him and his crew to try. The company doesn't expect Conan to do anything with it, but hopes that he and his team will at least view the company in a different light.  What did you think of the video? Let us know in the comments below!

Asus ROG Introduces G551 and G771 Gaming Laptops Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:49 AM PDT Gaming on the go Asus has been winning over gamers with its Republic of Gamers (ROG) line of laptops, some of which sport aggressive designs. Others, like the new Asus G551 and G771 gaming laptops, feature a more traditional aesthetic with an emphasis on quiet cooling -- Asus describes the scheme as an "almost-silent cooling system" that efficiently removes heat with minimal fan noise. Both laptops feature a matte-black brushed aluminum finish with red diamond-cut edges and an illuminated ROG logo on the lid. The G551 boasts a 15.6-inch with up to an IPS panel and 1920x1080, while the G771 is a 17.3-inch laptop, also offered with up to an IPS panel and 1920x1080 resolution. Other options include up to 16GB of DDR3L-1600 RAM, Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M GPU, storage options of 750GB/1TB/1.5TB HDDs or 256GB/512GB SSDs, 802.11n Wi-Fi, HDMI output, WiDi support, three USB 3.0 ports on the G551 and four USB 3.0 ports on the G771, memory card reader, and various other amenities. No word yet on when the laptops will be available or for how much. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Amazon App Store Now Serving Dozens of Android Apps Worth Nearly $175 for Free Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:21 AM PDT Snag a $59 dictionary app for free Every so often, Amazon offers up a collection of paid apps for free, not including its daily free app. Back in July, Amazon served up 29 apps worth over $100 for free, and this time around, Amazon is giving away over two dozen Android apps worth almost $175. The highest priced app of the bunch is Merriam-Webster's Third New International Pro from Paragon Software Group. It normally sells for $59, but can be had for free for a limited time. Interestingly, Amazon advertises the promotion as being worth "over $135," though when we added them up individually, the tally came closer to $175. That qualifies as "over $135," but at the expense of Amazon underselling the deal. In any event, you'll find a wide assortment of apps among the collection of 27 titles, everything from games like Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II (normally $4.99) to productivity apps like OfficeSuite Professional 7 (normally $14.95). Swype Keyboard (normally $4.99) and SketchBook Pro (normally $4.99) are a couple of other notable inclusions. The deal is going on now and runs until Saturday, September 27. You can check them out by clicking here. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Newegg Daily Deals: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Graphics Card, Intel Core i5 4690K, and More! Posted: 25 Sep 2014 10:04 AM PDT Top Deal: If you take a knife to a gun fight, you're setting yourself up for pain, agony, and disappointment. Incidentally, the same is true if you bring integrated graphics to the virtual battlefield. Just like affairs (not something we condone, btw), when it comes to GPUs, discrete is the only way to go. Not only do we encourage it, we'll point you in the right direction with today's top deal for an Asus GeForce GTX 780 Graphics Card for $294 with free shiping (normally $330 - use coupon code: [EMCPAHE22]; additional $20 mail-in-rebate). Not only is it fast, but Asus slapped on a custom cooler that cools better and quiter than reference. It also comes with a backplate for added support and heat dissipation. Other Deals: Crucial MX100 2.5-inch 512GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive for $189 with free shipping (normally $210 - use coupon code: [EMCPAHE223]) Intel Core i5-4690K Devil's Canyon Quad-Core 3.5GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor for $225 with free shipping (normally $240 - use coupon code: [EMCPAHE23]) Acer G6 Series 27-inch 6ms Widescreen LED Backlight Slim Bezel Monitor for $180 with free shipping (normally $200 - use coupon code: [EMCPAHE24]) G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory for $72 with free shipping (normally $80 - use coupon code: [EMCPAHE224])

Apple Apologizes for Cellular Killing iOS 8.0.1 Update, Suggests Rolling Back to iOS 8 Posted: 25 Sep 2014 09:44 AM PDT What else can go wrong with the iPhone 6 launch? We know you don't come here to read Apple news, but when things are this bad in Cupertino, it's pretty tough to ignore -- it's like watching a train wreck and then trying not to tell anyone about it. The train in this case is Apple and the wreck is its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus launch. The latest in the ongoing saga has Apple apologizing for its problematic iOS 8.0.1 update, which has caused some users to lose cellular service and Touch ID functionality. The iOS 8.0.1 software is the first update to iOS 8 and was intended to fix a bunch of issues with Apple's mobile OS. However, complaints quickly started rolling in after the update was released with users saying their iPhones would no longer connect to a cellular network and that Touch ID was no longer letting them unlock their handsets with their fingerprints. Apparently the issues only affect iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners. Apple has since pulled the update offline and suggested a workaround, that being a rollback to iOS 8 through iTunes. In the meantime, Apple said it's preparing iOS 8.0.2 with a fix for the issue and plans to release it "in the next few days." "We aplogize for the great inconvenience experienced by users," an Apple spokesperson told NBCNews. Chalk this up as yet another misfire in what's been the most anticipated (and botched) iPhone launch ever. Apple fumbled the launch from the onset with a live stream event plagued with technical issues. The feed kept cutting out, and when it would play, there would sometimes be an audio feed of a Chinese translation overpowering the keynote. The frustration for anxious would-be iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners continued when they stayed up late to place pre-orders at 12:01AM Pacific. Most visitors to Apple's online store had to wait until around 12:30AM Pacific before the site went live, and by then, several iPhone options were unavailable. Shipping times quickly increased from 7-10 business days to 3-4 weeks, and as iPhone 6 Plus buyers wait at home for their devices to arrive, the Internet became filled with reports of the phablet-sized handset being prone to warping just by having it in a pants pocket. It's too early to tell if the issue is being overblown, though at minimum, the iPhone 6 Plus definitely has a bit of uncomfortable flex to it. Throw in the iOS 8.0.1 issue and you have to wonder what else could possibly go wrong. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Linux Bash Bug Poses Security Threat, Gets Compared to Heartbleed Posted: 25 Sep 2014 08:30 AM PDT Here we go again Security researchers have discovered a major security bug in the Unix shell known as Bash (Bourne-again shell), one of the most commonly used utilities in Linux and one that could potentially affect a great number of Unix and Linux web servers. By exploiting the newly discovered vulnerability, an attacker can take complete control of the system and/or execute shell commands that could make a server vulnerable to even more threats. The bug is such that an attacker would need a high level of system access to do any real damage, though according to Red Hat, remote attacks are possible through "certain services and applications." Patches are needed to fill in the security hole and eradicate the bug, but since it's been present in enterprise Linux software for so long, that's no easy task, The Verge reports. That said, Red Hat, Fedora, Ubuntu, and others have already released patches, and Apple is working on a fix for Mac OS X. Some security experts, including Errata Security's Robert David Graham, have compared the Bash bug to Heartbleed. Graham went so far as to say it's "probably a bigger deal than Heartbleed" because of all the software out there that's vulnerable -- cataloging it all would be a nightmare, if not an impossible task. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

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MMORPG News

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• Blade & Soul: No North American or European Release This Year
• Destiny: Not the Ghost with the Most
• Age of Wushu: The Silver Hook - Stepping Stone to Delightful Island
• World of Tanks: v9.3 Brings New Tanks, New Features, Improved In-Game Rules
• Guild Wars 2: The Road to the 2014 World Championships Revealed
• Pathfinder Online: Extended Alpha Stress Testing to Begin September 25th
• Rift: Endless Rifts, Endless Rewards
• The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing 2: 'Complete Pack' Released Via Steam
• General: Sony Announces Plans to Raise $50k Via Extra Life Event
• Infinite Crisis: Atomic Joker and Nightmare Robin Join Up
• Firefall: Behind the Community Team’s Curtain
• EVE Online: Oceanus Site Opens in Preparation for Sep 30 Launch
• General: MMOs: Titan's Death Signals Change

Blade & Soul: No North American or European Release This Year Posted: 25 Sep 2014 07:36 AM PDT German site Mein-MMO.de has stated that indicates NCSoft will be releasing Blade & Soul in either North America or Europe in 2014. While we'd all love this to be true, we reached out to Lincoln Davis, NCSoft Director, Corporate Communications who confirmed that this simply NOT the case. Blade & Soul is now anticipated to be released in North America and the EU sometime in 2015.

Destiny: Not the Ghost with the Most Posted: 24 Sep 2014 04:26 PM PDT You are brought back from the dead in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. This could be the plot for any number of science fiction movies or novels but it's the start to Bungie's highly anticipated new intellectual property Destiny. Your Ghost, voiced by actor Peter Dinklage of Death at a Funeral and Underdog fame, prods you back to life and informs you that he needs your help.

Age of Wushu: The Silver Hook - Stepping Stone to Delightful Island Posted: 25 Sep 2014 06:37 AM PDT Age of Wushu players will want to check out the latest update to the main site that reveals more information about Delightful Island and how players will unlock the zone. Before setting foot on the island, players will have to complete a "stepping stone" instance called the Silver Hook.

World of Tanks: v9.3 Brings New Tanks, New Features, Improved In-Game Rules Posted: 25 Sep 2014 06:33 AM PDT Wargaming has announced that the World of Tanks v9.3 patch is ready to hit live service later today. The update brings several significant changes to the game including updated game rules for more balanced play, a pair of new Strongholds functions, several new light tanks and a variety of top tier light tanks.

Guild Wars 2: The Road to the 2014 World Championships Revealed Posted: 23 Sep 2014 07:53 PM PDT ArenaNet is ready to unleash the preliminary rounds for the 2014 Guild Wars 2 World Championships. The first tournament champions will be crowned on December 4-5 in Beijing, where players will vie for a $50,000 prize pool and the title of first-ever Guild Wars 2 World Tournament Series Champion.

Pathfinder Online: Extended Alpha Stress Testing to Begin September 25th Posted: 24 Sep 2014 04:05 PM PDT Pathfinder Online's Ryan Dancey has posted a new update to inform early adopters that the alpha stress test will begin on Thursday, September 25th. All players with Alpha, Early, Explorer or Open Enrollment will be able to participate in the Stress Test. The alpha is expected to last four weeks with early enrollment alpha testing to start on October 23rd.

Rift: Endless Rifts, Endless Rewards Posted: 24 Sep 2014 01:22 PM PDT Beginning October 8th, Rift players will see Nightmare rifts opening up all over Telara. During special timed waves, players are challenged to take down all monsters emerging from the rift in order to see another wave spawn. The spawn waves can go on endlessly as will the drops of loot, chests, power ups, and more.

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing 2: 'Complete Pack' Released Via Steam Posted: 24 Sep 2014 11:29 AM PDT Neocore Games has announced that The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II Complete Pack has been released on Steam. The pack includes the original game as well as the Pigasus and Ink Hunt DLCs. The new edition of VHII retails for $19.99.

General: Sony Announces Plans to Raise $50k Via Extra Life Event Posted: 24 Sep 2014 11:24 AM PDT Sony Online Entertainment has announced that it will be taking part in next month's Extra Life 24-hour marathon event. The participants hope to raise $50,000 for the Children's Miracle Network.

Infinite Crisis: Atomic Joker and Nightmare Robin Join Up Posted: 24 Sep 2014 11:06 AM PDT The latest Infinite Crisis update brings both Atomic Joker and Nightmare Robin into the fray as well as provides new players with an expansive tutorial series that will net six heroes by its end. Players can also expect overhauled maps and several key performance upgrades.

Firefall: Behind the Community Team’s Curtain Posted: 22 Sep 2014 05:08 PM PDT When several of our podcasters at Sitting on a Couch emailed me that Firefall was patching and going live in just a few months, I could only shake my head sadly at what I perceived would be an ill-fated first step. Then I saw the patch notes, and was blown away at the level of change that they were incorporating just before launch. Vertical scaling, simplified missions, ability unlocks at progression, and a full on end-game raid! Yes, Please!

EVE Online: Oceanus Site Opens in Preparation for Sep 30 Launch Posted: 24 Sep 2014 11:01 AM PDT The EVE Online teaser site for the next major update has opened its doors. The Oceanus pages give players insight into what to expect from the patch set to hit live service on September 30th. Oceanus will bring full French language support into EVE as well as UI improvements, new cloaking effects, updated wormhole nebulae and more.

General: MMOs: Titan's Death Signals Change Posted: 22 Sep 2014 06:11 PM PDT Yesterday's announcement that Blizzard had canceled Project Titan after over seven years in development spelled a big moment in the MMO genre's history, perhaps one that many may have overlooked. Consider this: When even Blizzard takes a step back from developing what was undoubtedly a 'traditional' MMO, the development world and the player base sit up and take notice.

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