General Gaming Article

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• The Ultimate USB Thumb Drive Toolkit
• Microsoft Reportedly Waiting Until April to Update Windows 8.1
• Toshiba Chromebook Arrives in U.S. Ahead of Schedule
• Google Inks Deal with EU, Dodges Potentially Hefty Fine
• Zotac's Zbox ID45 Series Hitches a Ride on Ivy Bridge
• MSI Arms GX Destroyer Series Gaming Laptops with AMD R9 M290X Graphics
• Google Doodle 4 Art Contest Gives Kids a Chance to Score a $30,000 Scholarship
• Newegg Daily Deals: MSI Gaming N760 GeForce GTX 760, Corsair 750W Fully Modular PSU, and More!

The Ultimate USB Thumb Drive Toolkit Posted: 05 Feb 2014 03:53 PM PST Five ways to put your collection of neglected USB thumb drives to good use Although they were once considered expensive luxuries to most users, USB thumb drives have become nearly as ubiquitous as the now defunct floppy disk. Thumb drives of all shapes and sizes are currently sold at corner drug stores, freely disseminated at trade shows, and even given out as digital business cards. Thumb drives are so commonplace now that it's not unusual for PC users to have amassed huge collections of drives that, for the most part, do little else but sit around collecting dust. We speak from experience. Though some of the drives you'll have lying around are likely to be small in terms of their usable capacity, that doesn't mean they're useless. Even thumb drives with capacities of only a few megabytes can still come in handy for creating things like bootable DOS disks, which can be used to flash the BIOS on an older motherboard or graphics card, or even bootable disks with a full-blown HTPC operating system. We're going to cover a number of handy projects in this article that'll help put those neglected thumb drives to good use. Before we continue, though, a word of caution: All of these projects will destroy the data stored on the drives. If there's anything important on them, back it up before attempting any of the projects listed here. You'll be happy you did—trust us on this one. Create a Custom Windows Install Disk Speed up and minimize the hassle of installing Windows Many of us have installed Windows more times than we can count. Whether it's for building or testing a new system or repairing an older rig, installing Windows can be a regular occurrence. With more recent versions of Windows, the installation process has become more streamlined, but it can still be a chore, especially if you're using optical media and have to manage multiple discs and product keys for all of the different versions that are available. Thankfully, there's a faster and easier way to do it using a USB thumb drive. There are a number of ways to create and customize a Windows installation disk. We're going to outline one of the easiest methods here using Microsoft's own Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool (the same process works with Windows 8, too) and a bit of simple file editing. When done, you'll have yourself a customized Windows installation disk that can install any edition of Windows—like Home Premium and Ultimate or Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro—and it won't require a product key during the installation process. There are much more involved methods for customizing a Windows installation disk, which can also give users the ability the incorporate applications and drivers and even pre-configure many settings, but for most enthusiasts, the method we'll outline here should still come in quite handy. Gather Your Materials Before you begin, you'll need to have a USB thumb drive with a capacity of at least 4GB (larger is better if you want to store other files on the drive), ISO files for Windows 7 or 8 (a Google search will lead you to a legitimate source for the ISO you need, such as Digital River), a copy of Microsoft's Windows 7 USB/DVD tool (download here: http://bit.ly/162L74X), and, of course, a PC running Windows to complete the process. Note that the Windows 7 USB/DVD tool requires the .NET Framework to be installed on your machine, so you may need to install that, as well. Install Files to Drive Once you've got your ISO file(s) handy, connect the thumb drive to your system, note its drive letter, and then install and run the Windows 7 USB/DVD tool. On the initial screen, you'll be prompted to browse for your Windows ISO file. Click the Browse button, navigate to wherever you saved the ISO, click the Open button, and then click Next. On the subsequent screen, you'll be asked to choose your media type. The Windows 7 USB/DVD tool can create a bootable DVD or USB device. Since we're focused on thumb drives here, click the USB Device button. On the next screen, choose your thumb drive from the drop-down menu and then click the Begin Copying button. The Windows 7 USB/DVD tool will format and prep the thumb drive and then copy over all the necessary installation files automatically. Microsoft's Windows 7 USB/DVD tool can prep a thumb drive and copy the installation files over in just a few simple steps. When the Windows 7 USB/DVD tool is done doing its thing, close it, and you're technically finished and ready to go. However, by default, the installer will only offer the option to install whichever version of Windows was designated by the ISO used to create the drive (Home Premium, Ultimate, etc.). Windows 7 and 8's image-based installation method is capable of installing any edition of Windows (within the same family) with a bit of tweaking, though. Edit Your ISO File If you created a Windows 7 install drive, insert it into your PC and browse to the \sources\ directory. In that directory, delete the file named ei.cfg. With Windows 8 the process is a bit different. Create a simple text file named ei.cfg (or edit the one you have if it is already present) with the following contents: [Channel] Volume [VL] 1 Save the file and you're done. The Results So, how much time can you save installing Windows from a USB thumb drive? When using a USB 2.0 flash drive, it took Windows 7 Ultimate x64 six minutes, 14 seconds to go from the "Windows is loading files" prompt to the "Completing installation" prompt on a Core i5 Dell laptop equipped with a 128GB SSD. Performing the same test with a USB 3.0 drive resulted in a time of only five minutes, 49 seconds. When timed using the Windows 7 installation DVD, however, the same process took 13 minutes, 51 seconds. That's a big time savings, especially if you find yourself installing Windows often. Store all of your favorite applications and most commonly used drivers on the thumb drive as well, and you can have them all installed right away, too, without having to swap a single disc. Click the next page to read about how you can take your apps on the go with you.     Take Your Apps on the Go Portable apps let you use any PC without leaving a trace By far, one of the handiest things to do with a USB thumb drive is to create a mobile workspace, loaded up with portable apps. If you're unfamiliar with portable apps, they're essentially self-contained versions of programs that work entirely from their installation directory and don't leave any trace on the host PC. Once configured, you can take your thumb drive loaded up with portable apps anywhere, plug it in, and all of your favorite applications and data will be right there waiting for you. Portable versions of popular applications are freely available from many developers' websites. Technically, all that's required to use a portable app is to download and install/run it right from a thumb drive. If you'd like to have a wide assortment of portable apps available, however, managing them all can get a bit unruly, since you can't simply create a directory of shortcuts—the shortcuts break if the thumb drive's drive letter changes. But that's where the PortableApps Platform comes in. Enter PortableApps The PortableApps Platform is an easy-to-use launcher for managing and running portable apps. To use it, download the tool from www.portableapps.com and install it to your thumb drive. While on the site, you can download a wide array of portable apps too. Install the portable apps to the thumb drive as well, and when you run the PortableApps Platform (by double-clicking the Start application on the root of the drive), all of your apps will be listed in a Start-Menu-like launcher. Some of our favorite portable apps are Firefox, FileZilla, 7-Zip, OpenOffice, and GIMP. For the most part, if there's a popular open-source desktop application available, there's a portable version of it out there, too. The PortableApps launcher gives you easy access to all of your portable apps from a single interface. Install a Dedicated HTPC OS  Use OpenELEC on a thumb drive for media duties There's a lot of debate among home theater PC enthusiasts. Some prefer their HTPCs to be Jacks-of-all-trades that run Windows and are as adept at playing movies as they are at running desktop applications. Others prefer their HTPCs to be simple boxes that are strictly for multimedia playback.   Well, why not have both?  The Open Embedded Linux Entertainment Center, or OpenELEC, is a tiny Linux distro that leverages XBMC (formerly known as the Xbox Media Center) and can be run right from a bootable thumb drive (or any external drive, for that matter). With OpenELEC, your HTPC's internal drive can boot whatever OS you like, but should you choose to go the streamlined route, you can boot from the OpenELEC- equipped thumb drive and quickly access your media.  Get OpenELEC  If you'd like to give OpenELEC a try, point your browser to www.openelec.tv and download the distribution that best matches your hardware. There are versions for AMD APUs, Intel processors, and Nvidia Ion-based platforms—among many others—with file sizes of only 80–125MB. Once you've got the distro downloaded, decompress it into a folder, and connect the thumb drive you'd like to use to your PC—it can be as small as a few hundred megabytes.  In the folder where you've decompressed OpenELEC, you'll find a file named create_livestick. Double-click it, and follow the onscreen prompts to prep the thumb drive and install OpenELEC. The process requires only four clicks: two to start the installation and accept the license agreement, a third to select the thumb drive (which should be automatically identified), and a fourth to finalize the installation.  When the OpenELEC installation is done, connect the thumb drive to your HTPC and boot from it. On the initial splash screen you'll be asked to either install it to the PC or run the live edition right from the flash drive. Run the live edition and configure XBMC to your liking and you're good to go. OpenELEC includes a utility to prepare a bootable thumb drive containing the OS. Create the Ultimate USB Boot Drive  Arm yourself with the tools to meet any PC emergency Every PC tech, amateur, or pro needs a boot disk in their arsenal jam-packed with various apps and utilities for recovering files and passwords, scanning for malware or disk defects, taking disk images, and myriad other essential tasks. There are a handful of excellent options to choose from, but few offer as extensive a line-up of applications as Hiren's Boot CD.  Hiren's Boot CD, available at www.hirensbootcd.org, started its life as a less-than-savory tool rife with pirated software. But the developers have since gone legit and replaced all of the pirated apps with excellent freeware alternatives. The Hiren's Boot CD ISO is meant to be burned to a disc so it's write protected and insulated from malware, but it can also be written to a thumb drive using a couple of freely available utilities.   Prepare Your Drive To create a bootable thumb drive with Hiren's Boot CD files, you'll need a drive with a capacity of at least 1GB, a copy of the Grub4DOS Installer (also available at HirensBootCD.org), the Hiren's Boot CD ISO, and if you're on Windows 7, a utility like WinRAR or 7-Zip to extract the necessary files from the ISO (Windows 8 can mount ISO files natively, so you won't need a separate utility). Once you've got everything gathered up, connect your thumb drive and format it using the FAT file system (right-click the drive in File Explorer and choose Format from the menu), to ensure the drive is free of any data. Then run the Grub4DOS Installer utility as an administrator. In the program window that opens, click the Disk radio button and then select your thumb drive from the adjacent drop-down menu. Then, hit the Refresh button next to the Part list drop-down menu and select Whole disk (MBR) from the associated drop-down. Hit the Install button at the bottom of the interface to install the Grub4DOS universal bootloader to your thumb drive—it'll only take a couple of seconds. Populate Your Drive  Once you've got the Grub4DOS bootloader installed, the next step is to copy all of the Hiren's Boot CD files over to the thumb drive. Extract the files from the ISO (or mount it if you're on Windows 8) and copy all of the files and folders to the thumb drive. When all of the files have been copied over, navigate to the HBCD folder on the drive and copy the grldr and menu.lst files within the HBCD folder to the root of the drive. Once the grldr and menu.lst files have been placed on the root of the drive, it's ready to use. To prep your drive, format it first to ensure it is clean and free of data. You'll need to install the Grub4DOS bootloader to your thumb drive before it'll run Hiren's Boot CD. Click the next page to read about how to troubleshoot and boot from the USB.     Troubleshooting: Booting from USB  All modern systems should offer the ability to boot from a USB drive, barring some corporate PCs that may have security measures in place to prevent it. Should you have problems booting from a USB drive on your personal system though, there are a few things that could be at play. First, check that your system is configured to boot from the USB drive. Connect the drive, restart the system, enter the BIOS (usually by hitting Del or F2 during the POST), and under the Boot menu make sure the USB drive is being recognized and that it is first in the boot order. On many systems, you can usually hit F11 or F12 during the POST to load a one-time boot menu as well, and select the USB drive there. You may also have to enable the option to boot from USB, depending on your motherboard manufacturer.  If none of that works, there's also a chance there's an incompatibility between your drive and a third-party USB controller. Plug your drive into a USB port that's native to your motherboard's chipset and then try booting again. Another possibility is some sort of corruption on the USB drive itself. As a last resort, copy all of the data from the drive to your PC and use Windows' Diskpart utility to clean the USB drive of any partitions, then create a new primary partition, set it to active, and reformat/reconfigure the drive.  Your system won't boot to the USB drive unless it's selected in the BIOS or boot menu. Create a Linux Live Bootable Key Try any version of Linux, without altering your current system Experimenting with different versions of Linux is a great way to utilize those thumb drives cluttering up your junk drawer. There are a ton of utilities out there that can help ease the setup process, but one in particular, the Universal Netboot Installer, or UNetbootin for short, makes the entire process, from selecting and downloading a distro to prepping a thumb drive, about as easy as could be. Get UNetbootin UNetbootin can be downloaded at http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net. It is a stand-alone utility that doesn't need to be installed. Once downloaded, simply double-click the file to run UNetbootin and on the initial screen you'll have two options: to either select a distribution to download and install (there are hundreds to choose from) or to create a bootable thumb drive using a pre-downloaded ISO. If you'd like to experiment with different Linux distros, UNetbootin will download and install them to your flash drive right from its main interface—there's no need to scour the web on your own. If you've already got some ISOs downloaded and just haven't gotten around to burning them, UNetbootin can use those, too. For the purposes of this project, we downloaded the popular Ubuntu Linux ISO, but just about any distro should work. UNetbootin is a one-stop shop for downloading and creating Linux Live bootable thumb drives. The UNetbootin boot menu gives you the ability to run Linux right from the thumb drive or to install it to the host PC. Create Linux Live Drive To create a Linux Live USB drive, UNetbootin extracts the necessary files from an ISO, copies them to the thumb drive, generates an appropriate config file, and then makes the drive bootable. To use UNetbootin, connect your thumb drive to your PC, run the utility, and download a distro (or choose your pre-downloaded ISO) right on the initial screen. The thumb drive should be a few hundred megabytes at minimum, but larger (think 2GB-plus), faster drives are preferable. Once you've chosen the distro and selected the thumb drive from the menu, click the OK button and UNetbootin will download and/or extract the necessary files and automatically copy them to the thumb drive. The utility will then make the drive bootable, and when complete, UNetbootin will prompt you to exit or to restart the system, should you want to give the thumb drive a try right away. Most Linux distributions, like Ubuntu, which we used for this project, run very well from a USB thumb drive. Put It to Use To use your Linux Live bootable thumb drive, simply boot to it, and at the UNetbootin menu select "Try Ubuntu without installing" (or whichever distro you chose). The OS will run right from the thumb drive as if it were installed locally on the host PC. Linux Live bootable drives are particularly useful for not only learning your way around Linux, but also as pseudo-recovery discs, as well. If you've got a Windows PC that won't boot and you need to recover files, booting to a Linux Live drive may allow you to access the system's hard drive and copy whatever files you may need. Click the next page to learn how to set up "Windows to go" using a USB thumb drive!     Set Up a Windows to Go Environment  The perfect excuse for buying a new USB 3.0 thumb drive One of the coolest new features of Windows 8 is its ability to run from a USB thumb drive. Microsoft calls the feature "Windows to Go." With Windows to Go, you can install Windows 8 and all of your favorite applications and tools to a thumb drive, plug it into a PC, boot to the drive and your entire workspace will be available.  To create a Windows to Go portable environment, you need a USB 3.0 thumb drive with a capacity of at least 32GB, a Windows 7 or 8 PC to actually configure the thumb drive (Windows 8 is preferable because of its native ability to mount ISO files), Microsoft's Automated Installation Kit, or AIK (available here: http://bit.ly/relfql), and a Windows 8 installation disc or ISO.   First Things First  If you've got everything available and downloaded, install the Windows AIK first. It'll create a \Program Files\Windows AIK directory with a number of other directories within. In the \Tools subdirectory, you'll see a number of other subdirectories labeled with specific system architectures. If you're creating the Windows to Go drive on a system running a 64-bit edition of Windows, open the \amd64 folder. If you're running a 32-bit edition of Windows, open the \x86 folder. In those folders you'll see a file named ImageX.exe. Copy ImageX.exe and place it into a new subdirectory of your choosing—we used C:\ToGo.  Once you've got the correct ImageX utility copied, you need to extract the Windows installation image from the Windows 8 ISO. Mount the ISO (or extract it to a folder) and in the \sources directory find the file labeled install.wim and copy it to the same directory in which you placed the ImageX utility.  The ImageX utility included in the Windows AIK is used to install the Windows image to the USB flash drive. Prep Your Drive With ImageX and the Windows 8 install.wim file copied, it's time to prep the flash drive. Connect the drive to your system, then open a command prompt as an administrator and run Diskpart. At the Diskpart prompt, first type list disk and hit Enter to see a numerated list of drives connected to your system—on our machine, the thumb drive we wanted to use was listed as Disk 4. When you know the number of your thumb drive, type select disk 4 (replace the 4 with the number of your drive) at the Diskpart prompt and then hit Enter again. Once the proper drive is selected, you've got to run a handful of commands to clean, re-partition, and reformat the drive in preparation for the Windows to Go installation. Type the following commands in succession, hitting Enter after each one: clean, then create partition primary, then format fs=ntfs quick, then active, then assign. Then exit the Diskpart utility and navigate to the directory where you placed the ImageX and Install.wim files. Since we used C:\ToGo, at the command prompt we typed cd\ToGo and hit Enter. Use Windows' built-in Diskpart utility to clean the flash drive, create an active primary partition, and format it with the NTFS file system. Install Windows The next step is to actually install Windows to the flash drive using ImageX. At the command prompt, type: imagex /apply install.wim 1 X: (where X is the drive letter of your flash drive). This command tells ImageX to apply the first image within the install.wim file to drive letter X. The installation process will take a good 15–20 minutes or so depending on the speed of your drive. Once the ImageX process is complete, the next step is to install the correct boot record. While still at the command prompt, type bcdboot.exe X:\windows /s X: /f ALL (again, replace the X with the drive letter of your thumb drive) and hit Enter. This command tells the bcdboot utility to install the boot record from X:\windows directory to the root of the drive. Once the boot record is installed, your Windows to Go drive is ready to use. The first time you boot to it on a system, it'll detect new hardware and configure the necessary devices, but it'll eventually load the Modern UI and behave just like a local Windows installation. Activate the OS, install your applications and any necessary drivers, and you're done.

Microsoft Reportedly Waiting Until April to Update Windows 8.1 Posted: 05 Feb 2014 01:22 PM PST An update to Windows 8.1 may roll out in April instead of March Microsoft is planning to issue an update to Windows 8.1 that will introduce a number of new features and enhancements, such as possibly bypassing the Start screen and booting straight to the desktop environment by default (this hasn't been confirmed), but when it will arrive is still up in the air. Initially planned for a March release, world on the web is that Microsoft is now planning to roll out the Windows 8.1 Update 1 in April. CNET's Mary Jo Foley says she's heard from two sources within the past week that the update will most likely be pushed out to users on April 8 instead of March 11. Microsoft's thinking is that it makes sense to dole it out as part of Patch Tuesday, which falls on the second Tuesday of each month. It's unclear if Microsoft still has some tweaking to do, though a leaked test build of the update suggests it's at least close to being finished, if not already. While none of this is set in stone, the test build showed off some interesting features, like the ability to pin Metro apps to the desktop task bar. Dedicated search and power buttons on the Start screen also appear imminent. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Toshiba Chromebook Arrives in U.S. Ahead of Schedule Posted: 05 Feb 2014 12:02 PM PST Toshiba's first Chromebook arrives early Google has to be pleased with the growing popularity of Chromebooks, which are laptops built around the search giant's cloud-based Chrome OS. If you're interested in Chromebooks but have yet to pick one up, you have another model to choose from. New to the U.S. market is Toshiba's first Chromebook, a 13.3-inch machine with an Intel Celeron 2955U processor. It also has 2GB of DDR3L-1600 RAM, 16GB solid state drive (plus 100GB of free Google Drive cloud storage for two years), 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, 720p webcam, built-in stereo speaker, two USB 3.0 ports, a memory card reader, HDMI output, and a 4-cell battery that Toshiba claims is good for up to 9 hours of run time. Toshiba first announced its intention of offering a Chromebook at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last month. It was supposed to be available on February 16, 2014 starting at $280, but it arrives ahead of schedule for $300 direct from Toshiba. Alternately, Amazon currently has it listed for $280; the same goes for Micro Center and Adorama. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Google Inks Deal with EU, Dodges Potentially Hefty Fine Posted: 05 Feb 2014 11:30 AM PST As one dispute ends, another could open up Google has reached a settlement with the European Union that effectively ends an antitrust investigation that had been ongoing for more than three years. Under terms of the deal, Google agreed to alter the search results shown in Europe so that competitor's webpages are "clearly visible" when users look up specialized services such as lodging and restaurants. Going forward, European users will see services of three rivals in the same way that Google shows its own services. The deal won't affect search results in the United States, The Washington Post reports. However, let's say a user in Europe looks up a gas grill (the example EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia shared during a news conference today). Two boxes would appear, one that shows Google Shopping results and another that's labeled "Alternatives." According to Reuters, Google avoided what could have been up to a $5 billion fine, or 10 percent of its 2012 revenue, by inking this deal, which is valid for the next five years. That's the good news for Google. So what's the bad? The EU may still target Google in a second investigation, this one in relation to Android, though it's unclear exactly what regulators would be looking into. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Zotac's Zbox ID45 Series Hitches a Ride on Ivy Bridge Posted: 05 Feb 2014 09:55 AM PST New PC from Zotac kicks it slightly old school Zotac, a company that's best known for its line of mini PCs, just fleshed out its Zbox family with a new model. The newly introduced Zbox ID45 comes to town wielding a 3rd Generation Intel Core i3 processor (Ivy Bridge) paired with Nvidia GeForce GT 640 graphics. It's a bit of a blast to the past to see a new system rocking a last generation foundation, though Zotac claims this combination offers plenty of performance while remaing energy efficient. Though the discrete graphics are also dated, the GeForce GT 640 is capable of processing 4K video. You won't get away with much gaming at that resolution, though you should be able to watch 4K videos without much trouble, making this system a candidate for a home theater PC (HTPC). Other specs the Zbox ID45 bring to the mini PC tablet include two DDR3 SD-DIMM slots with support for up to 16GB of DDR3-1600 memory, a single 2.5-inch drive bay, 4-in-1 memory card reader, two GbE LAN ports, onboard 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, four USB 3.0 ports (two on back, one on front, and one on top), HDMI output, a DVI-I port, and a VGA port with an included adapter. Plus configurations come pre-populated with an Intel Core i3 3227U dual-core processor clocked at 1.9GHz with 3MB of L2 cache, 4GB of DDR3 memory, and a 500GB hard drive (5400 RPM). No word yet on price or availability. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

MSI Arms GX Destroyer Series Gaming Laptops with AMD R9 M290X Graphics Posted: 05 Feb 2014 09:00 AM PST High end graphics for gaming on the go MSI today announced the arrival of its new GX Series of gaming laptops with AMD inside. These include the 15.6-inch GX60 Destroyer and 17.3-inch GX70 Destroyer, both with Full HD 1080p (1920x1080) non-reflective displays. Both models also feature the same APU and GPU -- an AMD A10-5750 processor clocked at 2.3GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) and AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics. The R9 M290X is pretty much a rebadged HD 8970M, which itself is a powerful mobile GPU. It has an 850MHz engine clockspeed (up to 900MHz with boost), 1,280 stream processors, 80 texture units, 128 Z/Stencil ROP units, 32 color ROP units, and 2GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 1,200MHz on a 256-bit bus. MSI's GX60 Destroyer also features 8GB of DDR3L-1600 RAM, 1TB hard drive (7200RPM), DVD burner, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, memory card reader, built-in headset amp, three USB 3.0 ports, a single USB 2.0 port, HDMI and mini DisplayPort output, 720p HD webcam, 2.1 speakers, SteelSeries backlit keyboard, 9-cell battery, and Windows 8.1. The GX70 is similarly equipped except that it has more RAM (12GB), a Blu-reader reader, and of course the larger size display. Both the GX60 and GX70 Destroyer models will be available soon for $1,300 and $1,400, respectively. MSI says some retailers and e-tailers will also bundle Battlefield 4 with each laptop. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Google Doodle 4 Art Contest Gives Kids a Chance to Score a $30,000 Scholarship Posted: 05 Feb 2014 07:57 AM PST Creating a doodle with a theme We've all sat around and doodled during our grade school days, and some of us still do it during board room meetings and any other time our minds wander. Kids today have it better than we ever did -- while our doodles all ended up in the dust bin, Google will award a $30,000 scholarship to one lucky artist as part of its 2014 Doodle 4 Google competition, the search giant announced. The winner will also see his or her school receive a $50,000 Google for Education technology grant. However, the contest is themed. Google requires participants to ask themselves the following question: "If I could invent one thng to make the world a better place..." Students in grades K-12 are eligible to submit a single entry (if more than one are received, only the first will be considered and the rest discarded). There are no limits to how many doodles can come from each school, Google states in a related FAQ page. You can find more information on the 2014 Doodle 4 Google website. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Newegg Daily Deals: MSI Gaming N760 GeForce GTX 760, Corsair 750W Fully Modular PSU, and More! Posted: 05 Feb 2014 06:33 AM PST Top Deal: The expansion pack Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls is just around the corner, but in the meantime, there are plenty of quality games to occupy your free time. Of course, your gaming experience is directly tied to your GPU, and if it's been several years since you've upgraded your graphics card -- or were left weeping after testing your aging GPU against our list of The 10 Most Graphically Demanding PC Games -- now is a good time to shop something new. There are a lot of options out there, including today's top deal for an MSI Gaming N760 GeForce GTX 760 Video Card for $250 with free shipping (normally $270; additional $10 mail-in-rebate). This card brings all the gaming goodness of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 760 architecture and pairs it with MSI's top shelf construction consisting of military class components (all parts are MIL-STD-810G certified). Other Deals: Corsair RM750 750W Full Modular Power Supply for $120 with free shipping (normally $130 - use coupon code: [EMCPHPF23]; additional $20 Mail-in rebate) Intel Core i7-4770 Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Desktop Processor for $305 with free shipping (normally $310 - use coupon code: [EMCPHPF29]) Asus Z87-Plus LGA 1150 Intel Z87 ATX Intel Motherboard for $138 with free shipping (normally $148 - use coupon code: [EMCPHPF36]) G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2x8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1866 Desktop Memory for $144 with free shipping (normally $160 - use coupon code: [EMCPHPF33])

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MMO Updates

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• Smedley hints at supposed game for Star Wars Galaxies lovers (yet again)

CCP plans monument to EVE Online players in Iceland Posted: 05 Feb 2014 08:30 AM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, PvP, News Items, Sandbox More than an in-game monument to a single battle, EVE Online fans will soon be able to visit a tangible monument in Reykjavik, Iceland recognizing and honoring all players. The monument will feature two main elements facing each other through a reflective stainless steel barrier, a quote from the EVE universe, and the names of all main characters created as of March 1st, 2014, (including a special mention of players who have passed away). Underneath the structure, a laptop containing videos and messages from players and staff will be buried as a time capsule. The completed work will be unveiled April 30th, just in time for Fanefest 2014. Of this endeavor, CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Petursson stated, "Our intention is to immortalize the contributions of the millions of people of the EVE universe in a way that extends beyond their immortality in our games. Honoring them as part of a timeless monument shows how virtual lives and adventures have reached a new level of meaning and impact that weaves into and enhances those that happen in this world. We are humbled by all those that have joined us on the journey so far, and it's our hope that this physical piece will continue to gather energy and relevance into decades to come, becoming like EVE Online and outliving us all." [Source: CCP press release] CCP plans monument to EVE Online players in Iceland originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 05 Feb 2014 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Elder Scrolls Online hosting another beta event this weekend Posted: 05 Feb 2014 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, The Elder Scrolls Online, Subscription With the NDA still firmly in place, the best way to know what is happening in The Elder Scrolls Online is to see for yourself, and many fans will be doing just that this weekend during the game's next beta event. And according to the official site, even more invitations are going out than before, so players should be sure to check their spam folders as well as Gmail's promotions tab. The event itself starts Friday, February 7th at 12:00 p.m. EST and lasts until Monday, February 10th at 11:29 p.m. EST. Characters that players created during the previous test will be available to play. [Thanks to all who sent in tips!] The Elder Scrolls Online hosting another beta event this weekend originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 05 Feb 2014 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Beta invites

Final Fantasy XIV provides Square Enix profitable 2013 Posted: 05 Feb 2014 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, MMO Industry, News Items, Final Fantasy XIV Final Fantasy XIV's reboot last year was more than anecdotal good for Square Enix's image, it was pretty positive for the bottom line. 2013's fiscal year ended with the company pulling in profits between 3.5 to 6.0 billion yen ($34 to 59 million), compared to losses equaling 13.7 billion yen ($135.4 million) in 2012. Although A Realm Reborn wasn't the only factor in this turnaround (reduced operating costs as well as increased revenue from other segments of the company also played a part), it was a major contributor. The segment of the company housing video games operation reported a revenue of 56.6 billion yen ($559.4 million) in the final nine months of the year compared to previous operating losses of 392 million yen ($3.9 million). Final Fantasy XIV provides Square Enix profitable 2013 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 05 Feb 2014 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Gamasutra

Leaderboard: What's the most you'd pay for early access? Posted: 05 Feb 2014 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Business Models, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Sandbox, Leaderboard, Crowdfunding, Elite: Dangerous, Buy-to-Play I want to play Elite: Dangerous. Like, really bad and stuff. The good news is that I can, since Frontier has jumped on the pay-for-early-access train and is selling slots to its alpha. The bad news is that said slots go for around $320.00 USD depending on the exchange rate. In other words, I can help squash bugs and fumble around with unfinished systems and content, or I can enjoy nearly six full-price triple-A games. So, yeah. As much I'd like to support (and write about) another promising space sim sandbox, I think I've found my upper limit in terms of game pricing. What about you, Massively readers? What's the most you'd pay for early access to one of your most anticipated games? Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard! Continue reading Leaderboard: What's the most you'd pay for early access? Leaderboard: What's the most you'd pay for early access? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 05 Feb 2014 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: What's your most screenshotted game? Posted: 05 Feb 2014 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Screenshots, Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous I'm a screenshot junkie. Many of us on the staff are. I wouldn't be running One Shots if I wasn't, really. I compulsively take pictures of interesting vistas, events, and glitches in every MMO that I play. However, there are some games that have me reaching for the screenshot key more often than others. For instance, The Secret World has caused me to take so many pictures that I quickly found out that there's an upper limit on how many screenshots a folder can hold (it's a thousand). What about you? What MMO do you take screenshots in the most? And why don't you wing some of the more interesting ones my way for One Shots (cheap plug)? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind! The Daily Grind: What's your most screenshotted game? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 05 Feb 2014 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Stream Team: Checking out claims in EQN Landmark Posted: 04 Feb 2014 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, New Titles, Free-to-Play, EverQuest Next, Livestream, Crafting, Housing, The Stream Team, Player-Generated Content Have you gotten enough of EverQuest Next Landmark? Neither has Massively's MJ! She can hardly tear herself away, alpha or not. It may not be the most action-packed game, but there is plenty to do and she's barely scratched the surface; there are world shards to explore, claims to investigate, and tons of resources to collect. Oh, and let's not forget crafting: More resources means more goodies for the claim and better tools for harvesting. This time around, MJ is going to try not to be distracted by resources as she explores the fruits of others' labors. Join us live at 9:00 p.m. for a look at player creativity. Game: EverQuest Next Landmark Host: MJ Guthrie Date: Tuesday, February 4th, 2014 Time: 9:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Checking out claims in EQN Landmark The Stream Team: Checking out claims in EQN Landmark originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Feb 2014 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Jukebox Heroes: Free Realms' soundtrack Posted: 04 Feb 2014 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Free Realms, Kids, Jukebox Heroes, Music There's something about the announcement of a game's closure that draws tons of interest to that MMO, the type of interest that it frankly needed long before now, not a few minutes too late. Even so, I had Free Realms on my to do list for a while now and figured that spending an hour with its score was something that needed to be done. Free Realms had had a lot of fingers in its musical pie, including those belonging to Tracy W. Bush, Atli Örvarsson, David Raiklen, and Aaron Kaplan. As a score, it's very reminiscent of The Sims franchise's soundtracks: whimsical, childlike, and quite light on pounding percussion. The many minigames and themed zones probably demanded a good variety of motifs to be developed. It's a very good score overall although not as wide on variety as I would typically like. Let's give this game the musical send-off it deserves! Continue reading Jukebox Heroes: Free Realms' soundtrack Jukebox Heroes: Free Realms' soundtrack originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Feb 2014 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

SOE's Higby on bringing PlanetSide 2 to the PS4 Posted: 04 Feb 2014 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, PvP, News Items, Free-to-Play, MMOFPS, Community Q&A, PlanetSide 2 PlanetSide 2 creative director Matt Higby stopped by ShackNews for a quick interview this week. The piece focused on fan feedback as well as the upcoming PlayStation 4 version of SOE's MMOFPS. Higby says that "designing the UI/UX to be more console-friendly and figuring out ways to better contextualize the massive scale combat for players who are used to more arena-style FPS gaming has been the most challenging" aspect of development thus far. "This is something we encounter with the PC version of the game, too, so we're used to thinking about it, but bringing this game to the console market puts an extra layer of importance on these goals," he explained. SOE's Higby on bringing PlanetSide 2 to the PS4 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Feb 2014 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: ShackNews

Nether adds crafting, creature mode, and tribes Posted: 04 Feb 2014 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Horror, Video, Guilds, Patches, MMOFPS, Post-Apocalyptic, Crafting The mean streets of Nether are easing up a bit on players, as Phosphor Games has patched in a slew of helpful systems for its February update. The trio of new features includes crafting, a creature mode, and tribes. Crafting encourages players to scavenge from their adventures and fashion gear and weapons to use and trade. If being a bad guy is your thing, then the new creature mode allows users to step into the twisted role of a nether to stalk victims. And tribes, Nether's version of guilds, are now in the game with bases, a skill tree, and special objectives to be patched in later in the month. Players who join a tribe from now through February 15th will earn special bonuses including currency and a free uniform. We've got a video showing some of the February update features after the jump, so get a move on, little doggy! [Source: Phosphor Games press release] Continue reading Nether adds crafting, creature mode, and tribes Nether adds crafting, creature mode, and tribes originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Feb 2014 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Gloria Victis rebuilds animations and database as alpha approaches Posted: 04 Feb 2014 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Historical, News Items, Crowdfunding Updates on Gloria Victis have been sparse recently, but according to the development team, that's because a lot of behind-the-scenes work has been getting done. The team has just finished polishing off two major projects, starting with a complete rework of the game's database structure to allow for easier updates and improvements. The downside is that it doesn't make much difference in play; the upside is that it will allow the team to easily change and update the game with less futzing about. Black Eye Games has also reworked the animations for combat as well as the mechanics, and different sorts of weapon will now interact with armor in a more realistic fashion. The team is working on a video to show off the improvements, though it's not quite ready yet. It's a bit of an invisible update, but it means that development is still continuing, and when the game finally launches into alpha testing it should be that much more engaging. [Source: Black Eye Games press release] Gloria Victis rebuilds animations and database as alpha approaches originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Feb 2014 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Stream Team: FFXIV's Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak Posted: 04 Feb 2014 12:00 PM PST Filed under: PvE, Final Fantasy XIV, Livestream, Dungeons, The Stream Team, MMORPG In the world of MMORPGs, there's no such thing as too many dungeons, or, apparently, too many maws. Today, Massively's Jasmine Hruschak heals her way through Final Fantasy XIV's mid-level dungeon, The Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak! Join us live at 3:00 p.m. EST for webs, slime, and monstrous bugs. Game: Final Fantasy XIV Host: Jasmine Hruschak Date: Tuesday, February 4th, 2014 Time: 3:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: FFXIV's Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak The Stream Team: FFXIV's Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Feb 2014 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Soapbox: Novel content trumps novel mechanics Posted: 04 Feb 2014 11:00 AM PST Filed under: City of Heroes, Game Mechanics, Patches, Endgame, Opinion, The Soapbox, Dungeons, Player-Generated Content Action combat. Interactive conversations. Public quests. Voxel worlds. There are many game mechanics that developers of massively multiplayer online games crow about when promoting their games because these are the things that make their games stand out from the pack. Even if they're not the first to do it, they'll proclaim that they're doing it bigger and better than their predecessors. I don't have a problem with any of this. It's when the developers and their ardent fans gloss over the importance of the actual content these mechanics are applied to that I get annoyed. Mechanics are just a skeleton, and they can't do anything at all without some meat on the bones. Content matters, and good, fresh content will keep players interested long after the novelty of unusual mechanics has worn off. Continue reading The Soapbox: Novel content trumps novel mechanics The Soapbox: Novel content trumps novel mechanics originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Feb 2014 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen reveals the mind-blowing Enchanter Posted: 04 Feb 2014 10:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Previews, News Items We regret to inform you that the Enchanter in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen will literally blow your mind. Yes, we know, literally can now be used to mean figuratively, but we're using the classic definition here. Your mind will swell and burst. It will be messy and presumably uncomfortable. Well, all right, the class probably can't do that unless you're in the game, but if you do somehow occupy the game world, this class can totally do that. Assuming for a minute that you want to do something other than just make heads explode around you all day long, the Enchanter is set up to have a few more tricks. Enchanters can specialize as a Beguiler or a Phantasmist, with the former focusing on charms, stuns, and debuffs whilst the latter hypnotizes groups and uses them as a private army. Check out more details on the official class reveal page if you can't get enough of mind tricks. Or if you just want to know more about the head-explosion thing. Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen reveals the mind-blowing Enchanter originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Feb 2014 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Kickstarter update

Smedley hints at supposed game for Star Wars Galaxies lovers (yet again) Posted: 04 Feb 2014 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, MMO Industry, News Items, Miscellaneous, Sandbox So what exactly will Sony Online Entertainment's love letter to Star Wars Galaxies fans look like? Who knows? Actually, that's a silly question -- John Smedley knows, and he seems to enjoy teasing people about what the game will contain. A recent pair of tweets from the man promise that players who enjoyed sandbox elements of SWG such as player-run towns and bases might well enjoy the new mystery game. Of course, that could still mean almost anything. Will it still have the same science fiction theme? Will it play like SWG? Is it just DayZ with a different name? Can you really make a bigger sandbox than EverQuest Next Landmark is trying to be? Maybe you could offer up a title? But it's a hint, at least. Hopeful fans can keep their eyes peeled for more in the days to come. Smedley hints at supposed game for Star Wars Galaxies lovers (yet again) originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Feb 2014 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Twitter, Source: Twitter

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