General Gaming Article

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• Oculus VR Grabs Hand-Tracking Camera Developer Nimble VR
• Valve Launches Steam Holiday Auction Event
• Newegg Daily Deals: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1866, SanDisk 240GB SSD, and More!
• How Logitech Is Reinventing the Mechanical Keyboard
• Seagate Preps 8TB Hard Drive for Shipment, Bargain Priced at $260
• Razer's Seirēn Microphone Promises Studio Grade Recording for Podcasts
• Microsoft Bets on Bitcoin, Begins Accepting Cryptocurrency
• Digital Storm 'Eclipse' Shines Light on Slim Form Factor Gaming PCs
• Cougar 500K Gaming Keyboard Takes Swipe at Membrane Market

Oculus VR Grabs Hand-Tracking Camera Developer Nimble VR Posted: 11 Dec 2014 08:06 PM PST Oculus keeps growing While Samsung has released its Gear VR headset for mobile devices, there are virtual reality enthusiasts who are waiting for Oculus VR to finally release a consumer version of the Oculus Rift. In the meantime, the company continues to expand and bring more people into the fold. Today, Oculus VR announced that it has acquired Nimble VR, 13th Lab, and has hired Chris Bregler. While Oculus VR has been expanding, it is amazing how quickly it has picked up Nimble VR. The company was developing the Nimble Sense camera, which Online Managing Editor Jimmy Thang was able to see in person, and seeking funds on Kickstarter. The Kickstarter project passed its goal of $62,500 and was currently at $135,511 until the project was cancelled today in the wake of the acquisition.  In addition to Nimble VR, Oculus also picked up 13th Lab, a small company that has developed software capable of mapping and creating real-time 3D constructions of the real world. Along with the two new companies, Oculus also hired motion capture expert Chris Bregler whose most recent credits for visual tracking includes The Lone Range and Star Trek Into Darkness. But Oculus VR isn't done yet and is looking to hire more people stating on its blog, "We're always on the lookout for more phenomenal engineers and researchers interested in tackling the unsolved CV problems that move us closer to consumer VR." Question is, when are we going to see a consumer version of the Oculus Rift and what else is the developer working on? Have any theories?  Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Valve Launches Steam Holiday Auction Event Posted: 11 Dec 2014 05:39 PM PST Going once…going twice…sold! As Steam users wait for the inevitable Winter Sale that will drain their wallets dry, which is allegedly starting December 18, Valve has come up with a way to empty out their Steam inventories too. Valve has launched a new event called the Steam Holiday Auction where users can recycle unused items in their inventory for gems which are then used to bid on games up for auction. The Steam Holiday Auction will let users recycle items such as trading cards, backgrounds, and emoticons, from their inventory, and receive Steam Gems to use for bidding on the games they hope to get. Auctions will be held in rounds with the first round kicking off today and ending on Monday, December 15 at 7:45AM Pacific.  In order to win, the Steam User needs to have the highest bid at the end of every round which is 45 minutes. At the end of the allotted time, each top bidder will receive their title and the remaining bids will carry on to the next round. Users will able to track their current bids, top bids, and winning bids in the My Bids section of the Holiday Auction page.  The event will end on December 18 at 10AM Pacific. After that, those who didn't win on the final round of auctions will have their gems returned. According to Valve, the gems will not be removed from everyone's inventory and can then be used to create booster packs. There will be 100 copies of almost 2,000 titles up for auction that includes both games and software on Steam that was donated by developers and publishers. Among the vast assortment of titles up for auction are newer games such as Alien: Isolation and Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth. However, the most expensive item, that we see so far, is not even a game or software title. It is a 2014 Holiday Profile that will customize a user's profile with the current bid set at 250,100 gems. Will you be participating in this bidding war? If you are, what games or software will you be bidding on? Sound off in the comments below! Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Newegg Daily Deals: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1866, SanDisk 240GB SSD, and More! Posted: 11 Dec 2014 03:21 PM PST Top Deal: What used to be one of the most expensive parts of a PC is now one of the cheapest. That part? The RAM! There was a day when an enthusiast kit would run several hundred dollars, and that was for a mere 1GB! And now? Well, check out today's top deal for an 8GB (2x4GB) kit of Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1866 Desktop RAM for $78 with free shipping. This is a high frequency kit with 9-10-9-27 timings and great looking heatspreaders. Other Deals: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5-inch Internal Hard Drive for $50 with free shipping (normally $55 - use coupon code: [ESCWHWW22]) SanDisk Ultra II 2.5-inch 240GB SATA Revision 3.0 (6 Gb/s) Internal Solid State Drive for $100 Intel Core i7-5820K Haswell-E 6-Core 3.3GHz LGA 2011-v3 140W Desktop Processor for $375 with free shipping (normally $390 - use coupon code: [EMCWHWW22]) Antec HCG M 850W ATX12V 80 Plus Bronze Certified Modular Active Power Supply for $70 with free shipping (normally $110 - use coupon code: [EMCWHWW25]; Additional $30 Mail-in rebate)

How Logitech Is Reinventing the Mechanical Keyboard Posted: 11 Dec 2014 02:54 PM PST We get an inside look at Logitech's testing facilities in Switzerland Logitech was once the premier PC gaming peripheral brand, but over the better part of a decade, the company shifted gears and started focusing on console accessories and other endeavors. In the years since, companies like Corsair, Razer, and SteelSeries have swooped in to take thunder away from the Switzerland-based company. With PC gaming being as big as it is today, Logitech tells us its wants to win back the hearts (and hands) of PC gamers everywhere.  The new Roemer G keys feel closest to Cherry MX Brown switches.  To show us its commitment to the PC market, Logitech invited us to its testing facility in Lausanne, Switzerland. The location is a vital part of the design process, as the company works with EPFL—one of the top engineering universities in Europe—which is located right next door. In addition to working with students from the university, Logitech is also working with professional gamers from League of Legends, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike. The logic here is that if it's good enough for the pros, then it's good enough for the Joes.  Logitech worked with League of Legends eSports team TSM and CS:GO's Cloud 9 to design its new peripherals. At the facility, we toured the company's keyboard and mouse labs. This article focuses on the company's testing and design philosophies as they pertain to redesigning the mechanical keyboard. Stay tuned for the mouse write-up! If you're unaware, Logitech recently released its G910 Orion Spark mechanical keyboard, which is a unique offering in that unlike 90-plus percent of all other mechanical keyboards out there, it doesn't use Cherry MX switches. Instead the company opted to design its own switch.  We sat down with Logitech to discuss its new Roemer-G switch type. The problem with Cherry MX switches, asserts Logitech, is that they were designed over 25 years ago and were meant for typing. With that premise, the company thought the formula could use some tweaking for gaming. According to Logitech, for instance, Cherry MX keys take four milliseconds of travel time to execute a command. While that isn't a huge delay, the company set out to lessen it. Logitech worked for two years with Japanese company Omron to design an exclusive switch, and dubbed it Roemer G. Logitech says the Roemer G is 25 percent faster, taking only three milliseconds to execute.  Another problem that Cherry MX keys face pertains to LED backlighting. If you're sitting in front of an LED-backlit keyboard with Cherry MX switches, you may notice that only the top character of any given keycap is illuminated. This is because the lighting feature is generally tacked on above the Cherry MX switches. Logitech admits that this isn't a huge problem with English-language keyboards, but that it can ruin the experience on Korean-language keyboards, which often use both the top and bottom halves of the keycaps to display a character. To remedy this, rather than placing the LED light above the switch, Roemer G keys integrate the lights directly on top of the t-shaped center of the switches themselves. The result is a much more uniform lighting experience, which is able to highlight all parts of a keycap evenly.  The Roemer G keys provide an even lighting experience.  Speaking of keyboard lighting, the G910 Orion Spark only requires one USB cable to power both the keyboard and its RGB lighting. This is a bit of an anomaly, considering Corsair's similar K70 RGB requires two separate USB cables, as do others. Usually, getting enough power from one USB cable to power both elements is tough. Many gamers like having the option of getting ample light out of their keyboards, but that often ends up requiring lots of power, especially when you throw multicolored keycaps into the mix. And though it's not something users might realize off the bat, inconsistent lighting can really taint a keyboard. Things start looking like a jumbled mess if some keycaps are brighter than others. According to Logitech, achieving an extremely bright keyboard uniformity is pretty much impossible, given the constraints of a single USB port, which the company was adamant about delivering. It's much easier to achieve uniformity at dimmer levels, but there's a point where it gets so dim that users are dissatisfied. Logitech admitted that it had to play the balancing game between both spectrums, but feels it achieved a happy medium with its solution. Logitech uses machines to test its keyboard for up to 70 million clicks. One area in which Logitech hopes its customers are happy pertains to its rigorous testing methodology. The company guarantees its keyboards for up to 70 million cycles (clicks), which it claims is about 20 million more than its competitors. It does its testing using high-speed machines that can press keys 13 times a second (the limit of these robots). The machines do this for 62 days and, voilà! That's where you get your 70 million clicks. What aids in the durability of its new switch types is dual-redundancy actuators. So if you spill Coke on your keyboard and one actuator gives out, there is a second actuator that acts as a backup.  We're not entirely sold on the new indented keys, but Logitech says they're optimal gaming tactility.  Another modification that Logitech incorporated into its Roemer G keys is the implementation of indented keys. We're not sure how we feel about these keys yet, as there is a definite period of adjustment moving from the more traditional flat-facing keycap designs. Logitech says its internal surveys show that these indented keys provided a greater sense of tactility when gaming. The company claims that you really know when you click down on a button, as a result. Though initially too aggressive with the depth of its indentation (users reported that it hindered word-processing experiences), the company scaled back the depth a few millimeters. In the video above, a truck runs over Logitech's G910 keyboard and all the LED lights still seem to work.  Beyond all the work that Logitech is doing on the hardware side, the company is also pushing its Arx Control mobile app. Compatible across Android and iOS devices, Logitech is working with game developers such as Valve, with the goal of allowing users to one day view in-game minimaps on their mobile devices. The app will also allow you to view your PC's temperatures. The company's G910 keyboard conveniently has a slot up at the top that allows you to drop in your phone or tablet of choice.   Logitech gives us a demo of what it's Arx Pax software can potentially do.  The G910 Orion Spark is available now. Expect a full review of the keyboard in the magazine in the near future.

Seagate Preps 8TB Hard Drive for Shipment, Bargain Priced at $260 Posted: 11 Dec 2014 11:12 AM PST Mass storage at just 3 cents per gigabyte Solid state drives (SSD) are where it's at in terms of performance, but the reason they can't shove mechanical hard disk drives (HDDs) out of the market is because of price. Even after NAND flash memory took a nose dive, the price-per-gigabyte of an HDD is far superior to that of an SDD, and when Seagate's 8TB ships, that fact will be will be underscored, highlighted, bolded, and everything else. According to ExtremeTech, the 8TB drive will launch with a price of $260, presumably MSRP. Folks, that breaks down to mere pennies per gigabyte -- just over 3 cents to be exact. On top of that, you get a three-year warranty, low power consumption, NCQ support, self-encryption, and other goodies. The drive is really intended for cloud storage chores. It uses Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) technology, has a SATA 6Gbps interface, S.M.A.R.T. monitoring, 128MB of cache, and a 5,900 RPM spindle speed. It's being billed as an "Archive Hard Drive," which essentially trades performance for reliable and cheap storage. Though they're intended for cloud chores, retailers will soon offer them to home consumers. As it stands, it looks like they'll be available to purchase next month. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Razer's Seirēn Microphone Promises Studio Grade Recording for Podcasts Posted: 11 Dec 2014 10:06 AM PST A plug-and-play digital microphone for superior recordings It's been interesting to see Razer evolve over the years, branching out into new product categories rather than getting too comfortable in a singular category. Of course, gaming mice are still the company's bread and butter, but its product line has grown in multiple different directions. The latest product from Razer is the Seirēn, a plug-and-play digital microphone that's supposed to offer studio-grade recordings. The microphone features a multi-pattern USB digital connection that's capable of four different recording pattern configurations with three custom-tuned 14mm condenser capsules. According to Razer, this is what makes the Seirēn a perfect fit for professional musicians, streamers, and YouTube stars who need superior recording quality than what they're getting from the chintzy microphones picked up on a blue-light special in K-Mart. By rotating the main control knob, users can switch between four different recording patterns -- Cardoid, Stereo, Bidirectional, and Omnidirectional. There's also a built-in headphone amplifier for zero latency, real-time accurate monitoring of recordings to ensure things sound the way you want them to. In terms of the technical details, here you go: Power required / consumption: 5 V / 500 mA (USB) Sample rate: 192 kHz Bit rate: 24 bit Capsules: 3 x 14 mm condenser capsules Polar patterns: stereo, cardioid, omnidirectional, bi-directional Frequency response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz Sensitivity: 4.5 mV / Pa (1 kHz) Max SPL: 120 dB (THD: 0.5% 1 kHz) Headphone amplifier Impedance: > 16 Ω Power output (RMS): 130 mW THD: 0.009% Frequency response: 15 Hz – 22 kHz Signal-to-noise ratio: 114 dB The Razer Seirēn is available to pre-order for $180 and ships December 19th. You can also purchase a stock mount accessory ($50) and pop filter accessory ($50), both of which are Razer Store exclusives. Alternately, Razer is selling a professional bundle for $230. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Microsoft Bets on Bitcoin, Begins Accepting Cryptocurrency Posted: 11 Dec 2014 09:29 AM PST You can now add money to your account using Bitcoin After spending all that time collecting hardware and setting up virtual coin mining machines, you're now ready to cash in, but where can you spend your cryptocurrency? We've seen a rise in the number places accepting Bitcoin over the past year, and believe it or not, Microsoft has now jumped on the bandwagon as well. Sort of, anyway. You can now use Bitcoin to add money to a Microsoft account, and in turn buy apps and other digital goods from its online stores. The always attentive folks at Reddit brought attention to a help page on Microsoft's website that talks about Bitcoin. The way it works right now is you can't use Bitcoin directly to make purchases, though Microsoft does let you add money to your Microsoft account (Microsoft wallet or digital gift card) by redeeming your Bitcoin currency. Just go to Payment options > Microsoft account > redeem Bitcoin and follow the instructions. Microsoft says that most Bitcoin transactions should process immediately, but if it doesn't for whatever reason, it asks that you wait up to two hours for the transaction to complete before contacting support. You should also note that Bitcoin redemption on Microsoft (through Bitpay, it appears) is only available in the U.S. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Digital Storm 'Eclipse' Shines Light on Slim Form Factor Gaming PCs Posted: 11 Dec 2014 09:00 AM PST A toned down version of the Bolt II Boutique system builder Digital Storm today unveiled its new Eclipse small form factor (SFF) gaming PC. It's essentially the poor man's Bolt II. Checking in at about half the price of a Bolt II, the Eclipse is intended to "offer a premium gaming experience at an affordable price," and to accomplish that, Digital Storm took a more value-oriented approach to the system's component selection. "Eclipse fills a gap in the PC gaming market," said Harjit Chana, Chief Brand Officer, Digital Storm. "There are multiple high-end SFF systems like our own Bolt II, but fewer mainstream options focused on an affordable HD gaming experience." Pre-built Eclipse systems start at $699, which gets you a Level 1 (Good) configuration consisting of an Intel Pentium CPU that's unlocked, H97 chipset motherboard, 8GB of RAM, AMD Radeon R7 260X graphics card, 1TB HDD (7200 RPM), and Windows 8.1. A Level 2 (Better) system runs $899 and upgrades the CPU and GPU to an Intel Core i3 4350 and AMD Radeon R9 270X, respectively, while the Level 3 (Best) system bumps both up to an Intel Core i5 4590 and Nvidia GTX 760 for $999. Final, the Level 4 (Ultimate) configuration runs $1,299 and kicks things up a notch in nearly every area, including an upgrade to a Z97 chipset motherboard. It also features an Intel Core i5 4690K CPU, GeForce GTX 970 graphics card, 120GB Samsung Evo SSD, 1TB HDD, and DVD burner. The Digital Storm Eclipse is available now. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Cougar 500K Gaming Keyboard Takes Swipe at Membrane Market Posted: 11 Dec 2014 08:35 AM PST Pro gamer functions of the Cougar 700K at a lower price Cougar today announced its 500K Gaming Keyboard. In doing so, the company piled on the hype pretty high as to why its new membrane plank is roughly on par with mechanical keyboards that have become so popular today, but at a lower cost. One of the reasons Cougar makes that claim is because the 500K is supposedly "one of the extremely few real N-Key Rollover membrane keyboards" available. "When it comes to features and functionality, the 500K is the best membrane keyboard currently available. For a start, being an N-Key Rollover membrane keyboard it outclasses all the non-NKRO keyboards and competes directly with high end mechanical keyboards. Apart from doing away with the precision gap between membrane and mechanical keyboards, the 500K also includes a whole set of premium gaming-oriented features," Cougar explains. I'm pretty big on mechanical keyboards myself, though I'm not ready to dismiss Cougar's claims outright. While few and far between, there do exist higher end membrane planks that rival the feel of mechanical key switches. Whether or not this is one of them is something only a hands-on evaluation can determine. In any event, the 500K sports the same layout as Cougar's 700K, which includes 6 fully customizable G-keys and dedicated keys for recording macros. Other features include profile switching, backlight control, Windows key lock, and a detachable palm rest. No word yet on price or availability. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

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MMORPG News

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• DC Universe Online: Play as Batman, The Joker or Superman
• ArcheAge: Red Dragons to Wing Their Way into Game
• Guild Wars 2: New Daily Achievement Tracker Debuts with Wintersday
• The Settlers Online: Holiday Events Return
• Marvel Heroes 2015: Chatting All Things Magneto with Ryan Collins
• DC Universe Online: GU 43 Live Stream Preview
• Fortnite: New Video Diary Discusses Art & Enemy Design
• Shards Online: Housing Shown in New Video

DC Universe Online: Play as Batman, The Joker or Superman Posted: 09 Dec 2014 04:08 PM PST Thanks to the addition of the new "Legends PVE" game mode, DC Universe Online's users can now play as one of several iconic characters in several of the game's group instances. Prior to this time, players could only take on the persona of these characters during Legends PvP.

ArcheAge: Red Dragons to Wing Their Way into Game Posted: 11 Dec 2014 04:30 AM PST ArcheAge players have a lot to look forward to with the December update as the Red Dragons will be making a return to Erenor. The ArcheAge site has a short lore perspective on the dragons' return that is sure to pique interest in the next update.

Guild Wars 2: New Daily Achievement Tracker Debuts with Wintersday Posted: 11 Dec 2014 04:26 AM PST A new blog post has appeared on the Guild Wars 2 site that reveals the brand new Daily Achievement tracker that has arrived with the Wintersday update. Dailies are now divided into PvE, PvP and WvW tabs and, most notably, rewards will be 'thematically tied' to the type of daily that is completed. In addition, a new 'log in rewards' program has started that combines rewards from daily and monthly achievements along with some brand new things to give players incentive to log in every day.

The Settlers Online: Holiday Events Return Posted: 09 Dec 2014 04:03 PM PST Players in The Settlers Online have a new round of festive holiday events in which to participate thanks to the most recent update. Players can get into the holiday spirit by decorating their islands and even stepping into Santa's shoes in a winter wonderland.

Marvel Heroes 2015: Chatting All Things Magneto with Ryan Collins Posted: 08 Dec 2014 08:06 PM PST We recently had an opportunity to chat with Marvel Heroes creative designer and community mananger Ryan 'Ryolnir' Collins about the game's latest playable character, Magneto, the Master of Magnetism.

DC Universe Online: GU 43 Live Stream Preview Posted: 08 Dec 2014 04:19 PM PST DC Universe Online has been pumping out large and fun updates for a long time now, and that shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. The Legends PvP mode has been really popular among players - who wouldn't want to play as the big, famous, iconic heroes and villains they know after all? By using that as the starting point, the latest update, GU 43, is aimed at expanding the Legends gameplay to include PvE.

Fortnite: New Video Diary Discusses Art & Enemy Design Posted: 10 Dec 2014 08:33 AM PST The Fortnite team is celebrating the commencement of the alpha with a new video that shines the spotlight on a pair of design elements. Watch it to find out more about the design philosophy behind the art and enemies in the game. See what you think!

Shards Online: Housing Shown in New Video Posted: 10 Dec 2014 08:29 AM PST With three days left in the Shards Online KickStarter campaign, the team has put together a short video to show off housing. Check it out and let us know what you think.

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