News:: Grab the Xbox One S Battlefield 1 bundle and get an extra free game

Yesterday we reported that Microsoft is running a promotion with a free game of your choice when you buy an Xbox One S. The caveat is that the offer only works for in-stock consoles, so you were out of luck if you wanted the Battlefield 1 bundle. This changed today (cue dramatic music).

At Dell, you can now pre-order an Xbox One S console bundled with Battlefield 1 and get a free game of your choice. This offer works on either the 1TB "Military Green" Early Enlister Deluxe Console for $349.99 or the 500GB "Plain Old White" Standard Edition Console for $299.99. While there are other Battlefield 1 deals currently online, these two bundles are in our opinion the best picks yet.

Battlefield 1 Xbox One Bundle plus Free Game

• Xbox One S Battlefield 1 Special Edition 1TB Console Bundle + Free Game — $349.99
• Xbox One S Battlefield 1 500GB Bundle + Free Game — $299.99
• Note: Scroll down in this page and pick an Xbox One game you want for free

Dell doesn't hold your hand on getting a free game. You'll need to manually seek out an in-stock title priced $59.99 or less to get the deal (pre-orders won't work). This list is chock-full of recent Xbox One games such as The BioShock Collection, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and more. Xbox One download-code titles also qualifies. Once both the Xbox One game and Xbox One Battlefield 1 console are in your cart, the cost of the game will automatically be free.

During checkout, do yourself a favor and also sign-up for the Dell Advantage Rewards. For the price of handing them your email address (which you need to do anyway if you want to complete checkout), this gets you free two-day business shipping on your brand new Xbox One S.

Battlefield 1 Game-Only Deals

• Battlefield 1 Early Enlister Deluxe + $10 Gift Code (Xbox One Download) — $79.99
• Battlefield 1 Early Enlister Deluxe + $25 Gift Card (Xbox One, PS4) — $79.99
• Battlefield 1 + $10 Gift Code (Xbox One) — $59.99
• Battlefield 1 + $25 Gift Card (Xbox One, PS4) — $59.99

Don't need a console? Dell is also offering a $25 eGift Card as an incentive if you purchase the game. Or head over to the Microsoft Store for more instant gratification. Microsoft is selling Battlefield 1 download codes (email delivery) and it's tossing in a $10 gift code with every pre-order.

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News:: Some UFC Guy Tries To Diss Conor McGregor, Walks Straight Into Huge Burn

News:: Today in Tencent acquisitions: Clash of Clans

Let's take stock of Tencent's current lineup, shall we?

The Chinese megacorporation currently owns Riot Games and games outlet/guide database Zam.com, has sizable investments in Paradox Interactive and Epic Games, and has previously worked with Activision and Capcom. Now, it owns Supercell -- the folks behind Clash of Clans, Boom Beach, and Clash Royale. If you're not up on the mobile scene, those are some of the most popular games running.

Although the deal will officially close in the third quarter, it seems likely that Tencent will continue its expansion into the Western games market. This all went down over the summer, but it's important you all understand the business side of things. Every time I write one of these articles, I tell you all that we need to be paying attention to Tencent. One day soon -- it may not be tomorrow, or the day after -- there will be a Tencent booth on the floor of E3 and it's going to have something big.

Deals like this don't matter in the short term. It's not like Tencent is suddenly going to interfere with Clash of Clans; the game is enormous and any potential changes are just going to affect hardcore players as opposed to a developer's artistic vision. However, when you look at the long-term implications of mergers like this or the inevitable Ubisoft/Vivendi marriage, you're looking at a large amount of development teams owned by a handful of corporations, stifling competition. That's not good for anybody. 

Tencent Seals Deal to Buy ‘Clash of Clans’ Developer Supercell for $8.6 Billion [Wall Street Journal]

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News:: Ubisoft acquires 2048 publisher Ketchapp

The release of 2048 was a flashpoint; the low-budget free-to-play Threes! ripoff became more popular than the game it stole from, starting a conversation about the viability of paid games in the mobile space. Fun fact: the version of 2048 on the App Store wasn't made by the original developer of 2048. Actually, let me break this down for you even further: Threes' first clone was 1024, which itself was later cloned by two separate versions of 2048. The one you probably know was developed by Gabriele Cirulli, but the one you probably downloaded on the App Store was brought to you by Ketchapp. The current 2048 site makes it seem like Cirulli is involved with the iOS port, but that wasn't always the case.

Ketchapp is the definition of a con trying to go straight after being released from prison. Look at its current output, and it all seems harmless -- a lot of platformers featuring rudimentary shapes, a couple games with icons and titles that seem to evoke viral sensation Flappy Bird -- even if the full games themselves don't bear any resemblance. But look at this image from two years ago, sourced from a Giant Bomb story on 2048. Grabby Bird. Flappy Fish. Kitty Jetpack. 2048. Boy, those sound familiar!

Recently, Ubisoft looked at this company's history of putting out cheap knock-offs and thought "Yeah, we'll buy that." If you look at the press release, there's the usual waffle about how gosh-darn awesome Ketchapp is and how amazing its games are, but there's a few interesting points that jump out.

For one, with this acquisition, Ubisoft is now apparently the fourth-largest mobile publisher "in terms of downloads." I can buy that -- looking at its official portfolio on iOS, there are a lot of games and apps that put recognizable IP on a phone, a combination that appeals to casual gamers. Second, I don't think Ubisoft is buying Ketchapp just for 2048 and its ilk. Ketchapp has experience with free-to-play advertising; Ubisoft isn't just acquiring some profitable free-to-play games, it's also investing in its future on mobile platforms.

Anyway, none of this matters because Ubisoft will just be gobbled up by Vivendi in a handful of years.

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News:: Weapons Nerfed After Elite: Dangerous Players Protest With In-Game 'Terrorism'

“This game deserves a better class of criminal,” a member of Elite: Dangerous’ player-run Smiling Dog Crew wrote in a plea for a nerf of the game’s heat weapons. “We hope to fix that with this operation,” they added, calling their plan “terrorism.” The plan’s name? Operation SpicyBois.

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News:: PC platformers and pixels of the past

If you grew up playing games in the late '80s or early '90s, you remember that Mario dominated the discussion on playgrounds and after school. By some estimates, Nintendo controlled up to 90% of the home console market, and it's no wonder that this dominance affected other sectors of the game industry. It took longer than you might think to offer Mario style-experiences on home computers at the time though, primarily because they were never intended to scroll action as smoothly as the NES did.

3D Realms was one of the earliest companies around to try and create side scrolling platformers on personal computers, and they've released a new video that talks to some of the pioneers of PC gaming, and how they were playing catch up with the consoles of the day. It's interesting to look back on a time when PCs were unquestionably the inferior gaming machine and see how much has changed. 

Back then, PC gamers had few options, but could usually try a game out before buying it by sharing disks or connecting to Bulletin Board Services (BBS) and downloading the shareware versions of games created by 3D Realms, Apogee, and Epic Megagames. The video interviews industry notables like Cliff Bleszinski, John Romero, and Tom Hall, and each of them tells a bit about what they were thinking when they were working on games like Jazz Jackrabbit, Duke Nukem, and Commander Keen.

Without Commander Keen, PC gaming may have taken a much different path. It was a PC version of Super Mario Bros. 3 programmed by Romero and John Carmack that brought them to the attention of Scott Miller, founder of Apogee Software. Commander Keen was Apogee's breakout title, and Romero and Hall's work on the series led to the licencing Id Software made its fortune on.

I learned a few things from the video, apart from the fact that John Romero has a fabulous black manicure. In discussing Commander Keen, he mentioned how they wanted to take the lessons they'd learned from playing Mario, but apply them to a game with more vertical space, in which scrolling in all directions was necessary. Ironically, it was Romero and Carmack's later creation, Doom, that ended up wiping out platforming games on the PC for many years.

Bleszinski points out that modern games tend to be more thoughtful and "emo" than games 20 years ago, which featured wisecracking main characters. The video ends by bringing up the recent resurgence of platform games on the PC, with titles like Shovel Knight, Ori and the Blind Forest, and Inside all launching more or less simultaneously with their console versions. 

Forerunners: The History of the PC Side-Scroller [YouTube]

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News:: Active pre-load Gears of War 4 right now

Digital pre-orders for Gears of War 4 on Xbox One are available for pre-loading right now! The official Gears of War Twitter account let the details loose around an hour ago along with some information on the file size.

Good news! #GearsofWar4 pre-load for XB1 digital pre-orders begins later today at 5pm PDT (12am UTC). Expected download size will be 54.6GB.

— Gears of War (@GearsofWar) September 27, 2016

The PC version is not up for pre-loading currently, but is scheduled to be ready before launch. At 80 GB on PC, I would definitely prefer the game files be ready on launch instead of waiting roughly two hours for a download. Some people might also be waiting about 12 hours (since the US has crappy internet).

Gears of War [Twitter]

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News:: Overwatch characters, re-imagined as crappy, off-brand Halloween costumes.

Overwatch characters, re-imagined as crappy, off-brand Halloween costumes. Artist Nina Matsumoto has been drawing characters like Tracer, Genji, and Reaper in the grand tradition of costume manufacturers trying to get around pesky ol’ copyright laws. Who doesn’t love characters like “Futuristic Tea Time Cop” and “Blue Balls Zen Lover”?

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News:: Report: Lego Dimensions Wave 6 content inaccessible on Xbox One and Wii U

According to a tip from long-time reader JVB and many, many posts on Lego Dimensions-centric social media forums, Xbox One and Wii U players have been unable to access any of the Wave 6/Year 2 level packs until very recently, including Harry Potter, Ghostbusters, and Mission: Impossible. The issue lies in the game's content distribution system -- players have to both purchase the relevant toys-to-life figures and download the content in the form of a patch.

Here's the catch: you can purchase the characters in stores, but the patches have only just started downloading for some Xbox One players, and remain missing for Wii U players. So you can mess around with your new Voldemort figure in the game, but you're out of luck if you want to play the Harry Potter levels; the actual meat of your not-insignificant purchase. JVB got in touch moments before publishing to let us know that his content finally started downloading, but we're still seeing angry comments from other Xbox One users.

This isn't an issue exclusive to JVB. We found many instances of this issue across the internet -- from Reddit, to Facebook, to Twitter. If this issue persisted into the early morning, potentially screwing over hardcore fans waiting in line for midnight releases, that would be one thing. At time of writing, it's late afternoon on the west coast and evening on the east coast. Wave 6 has fully launched, yet Xbox One players were left in the dust well into the evening, with Wii U players still in the lurch.

We've reached out to Warner Bros. Interactive for comment and will update the story if we get a response.

[Thanks again to JVB for the tip!]

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News:: Drunken Robot Pornography developer talk show, live from Boston

Tonight! A special event! I will be hosting a live stream talk show at Laugh Boston, starting 7:30pm EST. It'll be a part of their regularly Player 1/2 event, but if it gets enough views, the show will become a reoccurring thing? That's the plan anyway. 

We'll be playing one of these three games, as determined by polling the viewers in Twitch chat as well as the live audience. That's just one of the many ways we'll be integrating viewer feedback into the show. 

Our guest for the night is Ichiro Lambe, co-creator of Drunken Robot Pornography. He's got some interesting stories about Gabe Newell that I found shocking. I was shocked.

Tickets for the live event are still available here. The Twitch stream can be found below. Do you think I should wear a mesh tank top?

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News:: You Should Read Head Lopper

On October 5, the first volume of a comic called Head Lopper will be released. If you missed its 2015-16 run, and have any interest whatsoever in cool and interesting things, I suggest you check it out.

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News:: Playing Pinball With Marvel Comics' Women Of Power

Today the pinball wizards at Zen Studios released a pair of new digital tables featuring just about every major female superhero in Marvel Comics’ current continuity. Yes, that includes Squirrel Girl. Yes, I wanted to headline this post SQUIRREL GIRL in all caps.

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News:: Destiny 2 reportedly 'a totally new game,' set for PC release

Sources at Kotaku have confirmed that the previously confirmed Destiny sequel will forgo any connections to the original game, "leaving old planets, characters, and activities behind" in favor of a brand-new experience. Insiders compared the change to Diablo II, another loot RPG that moved away from the trappings of the previous game. The outlet's sources also state that Destiny 2 will release on PC, and will completely leave previous-generation consoles behind. Long-time Destiny players will reportedly be rewarded for their loyalty, but there is currently no word as to what those rewards will be.

A post on NeoGAF from user benny_a that directly preceded Kotaku's report contains many of the same details, including the involvement of Activision-owned studios High Moon Studios and Vicarious Visions. Kotaku news editor Jason Schreier corroborates the post in his report, having heard similar things in the past few weeks.

Destiny 2 will reportedly be under the purview of The Taken King creative staff -- specifically, director Luke Smith and executive producer Mark Noseworthy will be reprising their roles for Destiny 2. The sequel will resemble more traditional RPGs, populating Destiny 2's world with "more interesting" quests and activities, along with more towns and outposts. According to one of Kotaku's sources, "D2 is a completely different game. The Taken King was a reboot for Destiny 1 to fix small things. This is the overhaul to fix big things."

Although Kotaku's report makes no specific mention of whether Destiny 2's overhaul extends to its character system, Bungie has previously addressed the issue. Back in 2014, Bungie community manager David Dague told IGN that the studio "intends" to allow players to carry their characters into Destiny 2. "The idea is that the Guardian you have created is something you can bring along with you on that adventure," Dague said.

Sources: Destiny 2 Coming To PC, Aims To Feel Like A Totally New Game [Kotaku]

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News:: Careful, there be spoilers in the Dishonored 2 achievement list

Below is the achievement list for Dishonored 2 -- which I'll be playing tomorrow -- with the achievements helpfully separated into a general category, and story-related ones that you might consider to be spoilers. If you do, don't read those ones! You might not even want to scroll down any further, lest you be betrayed by your own peripheral vision.

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News:: New Hitman Level Snarks About Donald Trump

News:: PlayStation Experience is back, but this time it's in Anaheim

Like a free spirit or a wandering nomad, PlayStation Experience is on the move once again. In 2014, the inaugural PSX was in Las Vegas. Last year, Sony took over part of the Moscone Center in San Francisco. This year, it'll take place in Anaheim.

On December 3 and 4, the third annual PlayStation Experience will take place in the Anaheim Convention Center. A registration page is up, but it doesn't seem as if tickets are available just yet. Last year's prices were $40 for a one-day pass, $75 for Saturday and Sunday, and a $60 early bird option for access on both days.

Things were looking kind of grim for the prospects of another PlayStation Experience. the 2015 show was announced on August 14, and we're well past that date. However, it is worth noting that the first PSX wasn't revealed until mid-October.

Now that we know PlayStation Experience still exists, we'll surely find out more in the coming days. Tickets should go on sale soon. In the meantime, remember that tickets to Disneyland are always on sale.

PlayStation Experience 2016 [PlayStation via NeoGAF]

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News:: Review: Hitman: Colorado

I've never been to Denver outside of an airport layover.

I'm sure it's a lovely place, but Bat Dad has ruined it for me (sorry Brett).

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News:: eSports powerhouse Team Liquid picked up by new investor group

While 2016 has been a great year for eSports exposure — several championships have gotten screen time on ESPN networks — it's also been a great year for money. Not only is it estimated to grow to a $500 million industry this annum, but traditional sports conglomerates like the Philadelphia 76ers and German soccer club FC Schalke 04 are buying pro gaming teams outright. But the latest news isn't just another purchase deal. An odd assortment of entertainment and investors created aXiomatic, an ownership group dedicated to scooping up eSports teams, and are starting off by purchasing one of the more famous ones: Team Liquid.

Source: Deadline

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News:: Mankind Divided's System Rift DLC Is Surprisingly Full Of Character

News:: Hyper Light Drifter rolls out 60 FPS support and a Newcomer mode

The already good Hyper Light Drifter is getting even better with a substantial update, out now in beta form on Steam, that enables 60 frames-per-second support and adds two modes.

The first is Newcomer mode, meant for "folks looking for a less intense challenge." I know you're out there! The second, Boss Rush mode, unlocks after clearing the game on the standard difficulty.

Speaking about the new 60 FPS toggle, the developers say they "worked through over 115 thousand lines of code the past several months in order to make this happen, manually changing timings of each object and enemy, fixing the dozens upon dozens of little problems that arose when changing frame timing, optimizing the game and testing the bits out of it internally." We appreciate it. Really! This patch is the pick-me-up we needed after the unfortunate Wii U and PS Vita port cancellation.

"The combat and movement often left me slack-jawed and giddy, a perfect homage to the '90s RPGs that obviously inspired Heart Machine, while still feeling completely fresh and constantly surprising," Nic said in his Hyper Light Drifter review, which you should read because he is great and handsome.

The 60 fps Update - Smooth as Butter, Rushing Bosses [Steam -- Thanks, Fuzunga] [Image]

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News:: Sources: Destiny 2 Coming To PC, Aims To Feel Like A Totally New Game

Destiny 2, the currently unannounced 2017 sequel to Destiny, is coming to PC, according to several sources. The first game was exclusive to consoles, much to the dismay of Destiny fans with beefy computers. We also hear that Bungie aims to make Destiny 2 feel like an entirely new game rather than a Taken King-style expansion—even if that means leaving old characters behind.

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News:: Adequate Man Lamp Switches, Ranked | The Slot Here’s Why Donald Trump Hates Rosie O’Donnell | Gizmod

News:: Shadow Warrior 2's theme is by the guy who made "The Touch" (yes, from Transformers)

How's your Tuesday going? I'll be honest, mine wasn't going great

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News:: Figma Makes Good-Looking Twilight Princess Toys

Normally I’d pick fancy dress-wearing Zelda fover plain old green elf any day, but the DX version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess’ Link, packed with everything from the Ball and Chain to the Hawkeye mask is making it hard to decide.

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News:: Studies show our large, unemployed sons are playing hella video games to feel better

Young, "less-educated" (which apparently includes people with associate's degrees; gotta keep tricking kids into going into $50,000 in debt for the Bachelor's), able-bodied men are apparently still not working, or not working full-time, in "unusually large percentage[s]," according to a Washington Post report on new research from Princeton, University of Rochester, and the University of Chicago economists (which has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal).

The culprit? These young men are living at home with parents or family, not looking for work, and playing a shit load of video games, apparently.

"As of last year, 22 percent of men between the ages of 21 and 30 with less than a bachelor’s degree reported not working at all in the previous year — up from only 9.5 percent in 2000," The Washington Post reports. "Overall, only 88 percent of men between the ages of 25 and 54 are working or looking for work, the third-lowest among 34 developed countries, according to the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers."

So while national unemployment numbers look better (partially because of all the people who have completely stopped looking for work coupled with people getting by on all combinations of contract and part-time work -- it's like Uber, for finding a loophole to withhold health insurance from would-be employees!), younger men are not doing too hot.

"Young men without college degrees have replaced 75 percent of the time they used to spend working with time on the computer, mostly playing video games," according to the study. Pre-recession, young, unemployed, degree-less men played games for 3.4 hours per week. From 2011 to 2014, that group played 8.6 hours of games a week.

Researchers don't seem to think the relationship stems from, "weak demand for their services," but rather that a portion of the change is the "result of the appeal of video games." Basically games are too good to choose being a mistreated, underpaid wage-slave. And often cheap, with games like League of Legends, an engaging way to drop 3,000 hours, being completely free. And when you live at home -- and more 18-34 men live with parents rather than partners for the first time since 1930 -- the need to take shit jobs (absent the kind of 40-year-career options their parents had with just a high school diploma) decreases.

And you know what? These folks are digging the lifestyle -- look how much happier they are:

This is a great time to link to a great -- and very appropriate -- piece from communinty blogger WryGuy: Games aren't too expensive, you're just broke. "Unfortunately, the world is a harsh place right now. For about 40 years now, funnily enough since about as long as video games have existed, things have slowly been turning topsy turvy. Wages have gone completely flat. Costs have gone sky high. Most of us are fucking broke. Ironically despite how much we might complain about the cost of them, video games are one of the few things we have left in this world that aren't (completely) trying to fuck us over."

Why amazing video games could be causing a big problem for America [The Washington Post]

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News:: Dragon Quest Builders has a demo out for PS4 and Vita

I can't remember the last time I downloaded a demo, but I'll happily take the time to nab the trial for Dragon Quest Builders (PS4 here, PS Vita here). I'm so curious about this game. What initially looked like a me-too sandbox construction title has come into focus as something far more compelling.

We're rapidly approaching October (What the? How!) which means we're not far off from Builders. It'll grace PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita on October 11 in North America, and October 14 in Europe.

I can't for the life of me seem to finish a main-series Dragon Quest, whether console-bound or portable, but spin-offs like Dragon Quest Heroes (and hopefully Dragon Quest Builders)? They put a spell on me.

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News:: Ubisoft Buys Ketchapp, The Studio Behind Mobile Clone 2048 And Other Games

Mobile game publisher Ketchapp is an absolute force on the App Store. Since 2014, they’ve released a salvo of arcade-y hits like 2048, ZigZag, Stack, Stick Hero, Twist, and Jelly Jump. However, they’ve also been accused of cloning games on a handful of occasions.

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News:: Hitman's Colorado militia compound is open now, watch the manhunt begin

Agent 47 has been all over the world, but today he comes to the good old US of A

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News:: More Call of Duty titles land on Xbox One via backward compatibility

A lot of Call of Duty titles remain the most-requested games for Xbox One backward compatibility, but that list may soon change. Last week, Call of Duty 3 was given functionality and this week, Call of Duty: World at War has been added.

In addition to more CoD, E4: Every Extend Extra Extreme, Funtown Mahjong, and Encleverment Experiment will be coming to the backward compatibility service, bringing the games to over 260! Woooo....though that is pretty awesome.

The more interesting tidbit is that the Call of Duty titles seem to have improved functionality. No new features are present, but the performance is smoother and any instances of screen tearing have disappeared. Playing Call of Duty 3 on the Xbox One is the best way to play it; now there just needs to be an actual reason to play it.

I'm still holding out hope that Activision can find some way to make DJ Hero work. I would run out and get an Xbox One if I could have Daft Punk digitized onto Microsoft's new box.

Major Nelson [Twitter]

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News:: Ubisoft is one step closer to releasing October’s sweeping 1.4 patch for the promising but faltering

News:: Winston has one cool trick for protecting his team against Dva’s exploding mech.

Winston has one cool trick for protecting his team against Dva’s exploding mech. In a feat of extraordinary bravery, /u/VaporTsunami discovered that Winston’s barrier can contain the blast.

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