News::'Hearthstone' update brings drastic changes to the card game

Hearthstone is undergoing some changes in the interest of keeping the digital-trading-card game fresh. But in introducing the "Whispers of the Old Gods" -- expansion out on the 26th -- developer Blizzard is tweaking a bunch of cards and, based on the 5,000-plus comment Reddit thread, this isn't exactly for the better. Fan favorite cards like Molten Giant have gotten a casting cost increase up to 25 from 20, while the Knife Juggler card has had its attack decreased by a point.

Via: Polygon

Source: Blizzard (1), (2)

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News::VLC media player is coming to Xbox One

The promise of Windows apps on Xbox One has been hanging out there for quite a while, but now that it's really happening we're seeing some results. One of the big names that will arrive on the console this summer is VLC, a popular desktop media player that already has versions for other connected TV platforms. Maintainer Thomas Nigro says that making it a UWP app means a beta version will hit Windows 10 Mobile next week before its official debut in May and an official version for Windows 10 desktop is due in mid-May.

Source: Thomas Nigro

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News::'Rocket League' basketball update lands on April 26th

Rocket League's quest to include every major sport continues. Psyonix has revealed that its game's promised basketball mode, Rocket League Hoops, will arrive as part of a free update on April 26th. For the most part, it's exactly what you'd expect: instead of shooting horizontally to score (as with the existing football/soccer and hockey modes), you have to toss the ball down into a giant hoop. That definitely changes the game mechanics, though, as those fanciful aerial and wall shots are now much more important. The only catch is that it's a two-on-two mode, so it won't be quite as wild as you might like.

Source: Rocket League (YouTube)

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News::Latest 'Division' exploit delivers unlimited damage

Just days after The Division community was warned they could be banned from the game for exploiting shoddy code comes one doozy of an exploit for Ubisoft's hit game. Due to a bug in the "Competent" talent, players can build up a short burst of obscenely high damage in the 1,000,000-plus DPS range.

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News::PlayStation Network is adding two-factor sign-ins

It's about to get much harder for someone to compromise your PlayStation Network account. Sony has confirmed that it's working on two-factor authentication for PSN, preventing intruders from getting into your games (or worse, going on a spending spree) simply because they have your password. It's unclear just what that second identifying factor will be, but the odds are that you'll get an SMS-based code to type in the first time you sign into a device or website.

Source: Polygon

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News::Watch the 'Star Fox Zero' animated short here at 6PM ET

Ahead of the launch of Star Fox Zero on Wii U, scheduled for April 22nd, Nintendo this week teased an animated short with ties to the game's story. Titled Star Fox Zero: The Battle Begins, the film will be premiering worldwide today at 6PM ET/3PM PT, featuring the fabled characters you've come to love from the franchise. You definitely won't want to miss it, so make sure you're tuned into Nintendo's stream at the times mentioned above -- link is right here.

Source: Nintendo

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News::'Exploding Kittens' is now on Android

Exploding Kittens, the most-funded game ever to cross Kickstarter's funding goal line is now available on Android. The multiplayer card contest, illustrated by The Oatmeal, works a lot like another classic party game: Russian Roulette. Each of the up to five players takes turns pulling cards from a central deck. Whenever someone pulls an Exploding Kitten card, they have to use another card from their hand to defuse it before the cat goes kablooey. Whoever is left standing last, wins. The game is available for both iOS and Android for $2 and can be played across platforms.

Source: Kickstarter

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News::'Shadow Complex Remastered' hits the PS4 on May 3

Sony announced on Wednesday that is bringing the last-gen hit sidescroller Shadow Complex into the modern gaming era and release a remastered version of it on May 3rd for the PS4. For those not familiar with the title, Shadow Complex follows the exploits of one Jason Flemming who must rescue his girlfriend (guh, cliche much?) from a faction of high-tech soldiers in a secret underground bunker. It utilizes the same sort of 2.5D gameplay as Super Metroid, wherein the environment is 3D but the player can only move in two dimensions -- enemies are not, however, similarly restricted and can attack from anywhere.

Source: PlayStation Blog

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News::Microsoft stops making the Xbox 360

It's the end of a gaming era: Microsoft has stopped making the Xbox 360, a little over 10 years after the console first reached shelves. As the company explains, the problems of making a decade-old product are "starting to creep up" -- it's just not worth the effort to keep the venerable system around. Microsoft will continue to sell consoles and games while supplies last, and Xbox Live support (including perks like Games With Gold) will carry on for the foreseeable future. However, it's reasonable to say that it's almost exclusively about the Xbox One from here on out.

Source: Xbox Wire

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News::The Pico Neo is a dumb VR headset with a smart controller

We're still not sure what the future of VR looks like. Oculus, HTC and Valve are focusing on systems based around powerful gaming PCs. Sony will use its PlayStation 4 as a standardized base for PSVR. Samsung wants you to slot a flagship phone in front of your eyes. Chinese company Pico has a different idea. Its Pico Neo is an all-in-one system that offers an Oculus-like headset, but gets all of its computing power from a controller.

Via: Liliputing

Source: Pico, GeekBuying

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News::Lian Li's first standing desk is also a computer

Lian Li is no stranger to building desks with computers crammed into them, but this is the first time it's playing to the standing desk crowd. After all, you can justify more of those late night raids if you're also standing up and, therefore, kinda exercising. Much like its predecessors, the DK-04 is a large chassis that'll let you build your dream water-cooled PC with support for eight expansion slots. It also has an electronically-controlled motor that'll let you push the table to heights between 67.5 and 116 centimeters. The other big change is to the underside of the chassis, which now tapers to provide bigger and better legroom than the originals. If this is the desk of your dreams, you can pick it up in Europe in early may for £1,269.99 and in the US for $1,499.

Source: Lian Li

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