News:: Best Buy has a CyberPowerPC with Radeon RX 580 for only $679

If you're spotting fewer deals in recent days on GPUs, particularly of the GTX 1070, RX 480, and RX 580 variants... you're not imagining things. Cryptocurrency mining is all the rage with skyrocketing prices on Ether, Bitcoin, et al. and they are inadvertently driving up demand and stock of these high/mid-range GPUs as well.

Today, Best Buy is offloading two CyberPowerPC gaming desktops, one of which is incredibly attractive in pricing. The now $679.99 Gamer Ultra Desktop comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 1400, a Radeon RX 580 (rebranded higher-clocked Polaris GPU), 8GB of RAM, a 1TB HDD, and plenty of ports and outputs you'd expect from a new desktop (USB 3.1, DisplayPort, even an ancient PS/2 port (uh what) are included.

Considering the Radeon RX 580 is currently selling for over $400 on eBay, this is a pretty good deal - whether you keep the GPU or part it for inflated value thanks to the mining craze.

CyberPowerPC Desktop Deal

• CyberPowerPC Gamer Ultra Desktop AMD Ryzen 5 1400, Radeon RX 580, 8GB RAM — $679.99  (list price $680)
• CyberPowerPC Gamer Ultra Desktop AMD FX 4300, 8GB RAM, Radeon RX 460 — $499.99  (list price $550)

Conversely, Best Buy is also offering a FX-4300 equipped desktop with a RX 460 as a budget gaming machine. It's not a bad price but we think you'll get a much better bang for your buck by going with the $680 Ryzen 5 + RX 580 combo.

Supplies appear to be limited, but in general, if you live in a major metropolitan area you should be able to order online and pick-up in store - that's our recommend step to secure a unit before it goes invariably out of stock.

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News:: Pen Pineapple Apple Pen guy leads first real world Layton puzzle

To help promote the upcoming Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and The Millionaires’ Conspiracy for 3DS, Level-5 teamed up with SCRAP (real escape games) to make a "puzzle-solving event that challenges users around the world to solve 50 puzzles that appear on the internet and in special locations in 10 countries, including Japan, the U.S., the U.K., South Korea, and Australia" from June 20 to September 21, 2017.

The first puzzle is about the viral video PPAP (Pen Pineapple Apple Pen). The event has already begun and you can get started from the Layton World website. There was also a regular ole game trailer showing off the game's story and some puzzle gameplay. It looks more interesting than the original Layton games, and not only because it features a talking bloodhound (but that may be one of the larger reasons).

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News:: Twitch and Blizzard partner for broadcasts and 'Overwatch' loot

Twitch and Blizzard are teaming up in a big way this year. First up, if you're a Twitch Prime member you've got some loot boxes coming your way for Overwatch. "Starting June 20th, Twitch Prime members will receive an Overwatch Golden Loot Box containing a guaranteed [note: emphasis is Twitch's] legendary item, along with three additional in-game items like emotes, voice lines or character skins," according to the Twitch blog post. And more on that note, Prime members are going to get 10 more loot boxes this year.

Source: Twitch

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News:: The new Bubsy better suck or I'm quitting video games forever

[Normally I'd pooh-pooh someone hoping for a game to be bad, but Manchild makes too damned strong of a case for Bubsy being butt-garbage that I can't make a reasonable argument against him. If you're going to revive a series, why change what it's all about? So sit back and take in all the shitty platforming nostalgia! Wanna see your work on the Front Page? Write a Cblog, dang it! - Wes]

I've been waiting my entire adult life to write an article about a new Bubsy game. I just never knew it until today.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet. If the new Bubsy doesn't suck ass, I'm quitting video games forever.

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News:: Days Gone's dynamic world sets it apart, but I need more convincing

You probably know Days Gone as "the game with the absurd zombie hordes." Me too.

That was the big talking point a year ago, during last E3, and we covered it in-depth. This year's show brought another hands-off demo opportunity and a different angle. Literally!

Behind closed doors, Sony Bend Studio showed the same mission you saw during the on-stage presentation (embedded below) but played it during a different time of day, with different weather. Those changes had far-reaching repercussions on the mission's ebb and flow and its overall pace.

This year's talking point? The game's dynamic weather isn't just for show (though it does look great).

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News:: New study claims that gaming affects the penis in two different ways

You're gonna want to stick your dick in the popcorn for this one: A new study published in the Medical Journal of Sexytime Medicine suggests that people who "chronically abuse" videogames are less likely to bust a groove prematurely, but overall these guys will crave less sex than their non-gaming bros. In an interview with Vice, the lead researcher (who is a gamer) believes the stress caused by intense gaming makes us less likely to want figure out the vaginal pythagoras after emerging from the man-cave. Hmm.

The study was conducted by scientists in Italy, who definitely know about these things because Sex and City taught us that those guys can fuck like magical ligers. They surveyed a few hundred men who responded to two respected online survey methods, where the findings were then correlated for causation. Here's a data bloop from the study:

From June 18, 2014 through July 31, 2014, 599 men 18 to 50 years old completed the questionnaires. One hundred ninety-nine men reported no sexual activity during the previous 4 weeks; four records were rejected because of inherent errors. The remaining 396 questionnaires were analyzed, with 287 “gamers” (playing >1 hour/day on average) and 109 “non-gamers” providing all the required information. We found a lower prevalence of premature ejaculation in gamers compared with non-gamers (mean PEDT score = 3.57 ± 3.38 vs 4.52 ± 3.7, P < .05, respectively). Analysis of the IIEF-15 showed no significant differences between gamers and non-gamers in the domains of erectile function, orgasmic function, and overall satisfaction. Median scores for the sexual desire domain were higher for non-gamers (median score [interquartile range] 9 [8–9] vs 9 [8–10], respectively; P = .0227).

Interquartile Range sounds like where Squirtle and the fam go on hay rides.

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News:: Agents of Mayhem feels like a boiled down Saints Row

I've been hooked to Volition's Saints Row series ever since it underwent a major tonal reboot with Saints Row: The Third. The series may have been a victim of diminishing returns as of late -- you can only jump over the proverbial shark so many times -- so I was hoping the spin-off, Agents of Mayhem, would be the boost this formula needed. 

Reading Steven's preview a few months ago, I was excited to play the game myself during E3. After spending an hour with it, my excitement has tempered a bit. Despite the admirable reach of its gameplay, Agents of Mayhem feels like an insular experience. 

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News:: Get a free Golden Overwatch box on Twitch Prime

Starting today, Overwatch aficionados can claim a free golden loot box if they're signed up for Amazon Prime. As part of Twitch's Prime Loot program, anyone who's linked their Twitch and Amazon Prime accounts together can claim the loot box, which is guaranteed to contain at least one Legendary cosmetic item for Overwatch.

To claim the loot box, you'll need to click the crown icon on your homepage at Twitch.Tv and click "Get Code." You'll then need to head to Blizzard's code redemption page and log into your Blizzard account. If you're attempting to claim the code for PS4 or Xbox One, you may need to link your console version to Battle.net. The golden loot box is only available for a limited time, though I wasn't able to find a hard end date.

This isn't the first time a Blizzard game has been part of Twitch Prime's promotion, as the program launched with a HearthStone cosmetic item. Twitch's blog page promises that eligible members will also receive five free normal Overwatch loot boxes in both August and October, and additional promotions for HearthStone and Heroes of the Storm are in the works. Unfortunately, the gold loot box won't contain any seasonal items, but I noticed mine didn't have any duplicates for a change. Good luck!

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News:: Yes, you can actually beat 'Threes!'

Just when you thought the deceptively complex puzzler Threes! wasn't beatable, the internet comes along and proves you wrong. Three and a third years later (confirmed by the development team) the folks behind the ThreesPorn Twitter account have captured something special in the GIFs embedded below. It's quite a bit more elaborate as the victory screen for Solitaire on Windows, too. If you're going to strive to beat it yourself now that you know it's possible, don't scroll down. But if you want to know what score you should strive to top here's your target: 1,594,458.

Via: Eurogamer

Source: ThreesPorn (Twitter)

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News:: Put some trust into sci-fi horror Distrust

It's hot in the UK, right now. Damn hot! So even though this is the third wintery game I've played already, right after Kona and The Wild Eight, I'm actually okay with it as long as the illusion keeps me cool.

Luckily, Distrust also happens to be a neat concept that has kept me entertained for hours. Even in its current demo form, Distrust's mix of This War of Mine survivalism and FTL's forceful progression makes for an interesting B-movie horror game.

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News:: Retroid records episode 3 tonight

Hey everybody,

We're rolling along, matching colors and fighting gravity in this week's episode of Retroid. Tonight's topic will be puzzle games, stuff like Tetris, Columns, Puyo Puyo, Dr. Mario, Bejeweled, basically anything where blocks or blobs are shuffled or falling into a container. 

My guests this time are Alex Ryan, Topher Cantler, and Jonathan Holmes. We'll also be talking about some of the retro remakes that were revealed at this year's E3, including Shadow of the Colossus, Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga, and Metroid: Samus Returns.

If you'd like to leave us a question you can do so below in the comments or send them via twitter @RetroidPodcast. And please let us know what other topics you'd like to discuss, as this week's show topic was suggested by a listener.

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News:: Crash Bandicoot mascot suit returns in goofy new workout trailer

Remember those Crash Bandicoot TV advertisements in the 90s, the ones where a guy wears a Crash Bandicoot costume? I do, and so does Vicarious Visions who decided to take a nostalgia trip in the latest advertisement for Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy,  

As many times as I saw those commercials, I never actually owned or even rented Crash Bandicoot when I had the original PlayStation. I mostly used it play 2gether and WWF CDs and occasionally played Spice World and the first level of PaRappa the Rapper (because I couldn't beat it). Some part of me wants to say "they're just doing it as a gimmick to get more press" but sometimes it's best to stop being so cynical and just enjoy things.

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News:: Black Mesa suffers another delay, Xen to be added in December

The development path of the fan made Half-Life remake, Black Mesa, has been rocky. Being greenlit on Steam years before actually appearing on the service, Crowbar Collective, the dev team behind the game, has been promising to add the infamous "Xen" levels from the original title for almost as long as the mod has been in existence. While they are still dedicated to doing that, it looks like we won't be getting them during their originally planned summer window.

According to an post on the Steam community forums, Black Mesa's final content update should arrive sometime in December. The devs shared some screenshots of their work in progress and made note of a few updates coming to the game today.

Most of that is relegated to better lighting and some color correction to unify all of the different chapters of the game, so its not the most exciting read. Its still wonderful that Valve has allowed this game to exist when so many other companies are insistent on shutting down fan projects. Hopefully for Crowbar, they can finally put an end cap on their tribute to one of gaming's most influential titles.

Summer Media Update [Steam Community]

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News:: Discord is interested in working with Nintendo on Switch chat

Any MMO or hardcore MOBA player is probably aware of, or has used, some form of third party voice chat like TeamSpeak or Discord at some point. It seems like every new raid group I jump into has a preference, and Discord is one of the programs that I see pretty frequently.

As you may have heard the Switch voice chat situation is a bit of a mess right now, and Discord wants to step in to provide an app for the system. When asked by a fan a rep responded " I hope so," and that they want users to upvote the concept on their feedback forums, presumably to show Nintendo for leverage.

That said, the idea of having any sort of third-party chat program on the Switch is slim at best given that Nintendo wants people to pay for the service. Yes you read that right, chat options are spliced into their paid online system that's set to go premium sometime in 2018.

For now you can probably just stick to using a third-party app on your smartphone anyway.

Discord [Twitter]

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News:: South Park's E3 demo was somehow the most ridiculous one yet

Last September, I hit rock bottom as a games writer. Against my better judgment, I let Ubisoft strap a fart machine to my face for a demo of South Park: The Fractured but Whole. Bad call. Terrible. Just awful, really. Deals are not my art form.

I saw South Park again last week at E3. This time proved to be less invasive but somehow entirely more ridiculous. When I say that, I mean it kept with the trademark South Park humor in a perfectly on-brand way. "Yeah, Classi with an I and a little dick that hangs off the C which fucks the L out of the ASS." You know, that kind of stuff.

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News:: Could the Switch end up being a shmup machine? Danmaku Unlimited 3 is coming for it

I don't know if I'm being selfish when it comes to what I want to see on the Switch. The fact that so many indie developers flocked to the Wii U and not enough big studios is what ultimately led to its demise (among other Nintendo related reasons). The Switch is off to a much better start so it's way too early to predict how the market will go, but for now, there's a healthy mix of both worlds.

Another genre is set to make a mark on the system soon -- shoot 'em ups (shmups). Developer Doragon Entertainment has announced that Danmaku Unlimited 3 will arrive on the Switch sometime this year, sporting 60fps visuals, an ultra-wide mode, and everything else from the PC edition that's currently on Steam.

Would you believe that Doragon is a Canadian-based operation mostly consisting of one individual? It's crazy how far indies have come, and how well westerners have co-opted genres typically reserved for Japanese studios.

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News:: Frostpunk lets you put kids to work to keep society happy

I've never been too fond of simulator games since I tend to ruin everyone's virtual lives in The Sims, or set out to create death coasters in Roller Coaster Tycoon. God games never quite have enough of an emotional draw to keep me invested for more than an afternoon, so I'll check out completely once I've pushed the game environment to its extremes. 11 bit studios' Frostpunk aims to change that. 

When the virtual environment is already dealing with extremes, Frostpunk asks whether or not you'll get attached enough to care about the remnants of society. While I'm still not sure about that yet, what I did glean from my hands-off time with it at E3 was that I really dig the idea of a game letting me write all sorts of new child labor laws. 

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News:: Hitman's Prologue can be yours for free

If you've been dying to try out Hitman, you'll now get the chance to do so without dropping any cash. IO Interactive has announced that the Prologue chapter will be going free to celebrate their newfound independence. You'll be able to grab it on PC, PS4 and Xbox One, so if you own some form of gaming console or a competent PC, you're in luck.

The CEO of IO, Hakan Abrak, had this to say: "I'm proud to announce that our first hello as an independent studio is to invite all gamers to play the beginning of HITMAN for free. There is a lot of love out there for HITMAN and with this offering we hope that many more will fall in love with the game. We believe that this is Hitman at its best. So jump in and give a try."

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News:: Review: The Mage's Tale

VR is such an untamed wild right now, and a lot of people don't want any part of it.

Where else could you find a first-person dungeon crawler that takes place in the same universe as Bard's Tale, and sort of bridges the gap between the third and upcoming fourth iteration?

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News:: Konami is holding a massive PSN flash sale right now

Konami might not be the same company it once was, but it went out with a bang with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain: A Hideo Kojima Game.

It's also currently half off (now $9.99) as part of a Konami PSN flash sale, which also includes a few other gems like the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection (or all three entries broken up into bits), Zone of the Enders 2 HD (PS3), Metal Gear Rising, and Hard Corps: Uprising.

Among all of the other big budget stars I feel like I need to pitch Hard Corps, which was developed by Arc System Works. It's one of the most beautiful 2D shooters I've played in years, and deserves to be in the general gaming conversation more than it is.

Konami [PSN]

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News:: Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone DX announced for PS4

The latest issue of Weekly Famitsu has revealed Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone DX for PlayStation 4.

Currently set to be released in Japan for November 22, the game will be receiving a physical release, and will contain the songs and modules from Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone along with additional new content.

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News:: 'Fuze Code Studio' will help you design games on Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch had a strong showing its first E3 (Metroid Prime 4!, three new Mario games!), for sure, but nothing quite like what Fuze Technologies is showing off. The company has announced Fuze Code Studio, which looks like a simple way to code your own games for the console on the Switch itself. You can use a USB keyboard or Joycons to enter code, audio and graphics will be packed in, you can make 2D and 3D games and Fuze's language is supposedly simple enough to pick up that you don't need any previous coding experience.

Via: Gamasutra

Source: Fuze

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News:: The Talos Principle VR shows that Croteam gets virtual reality

Lots of people who I just know would dig The Talos Principle slept on it. Whenever puzzle games come up in conversation, I try to sell them on the idea of a philosophical first-person puzzler about AI and eternal life, and the words never seem to flow correctly. They don't quite get the appeal, and I don't blame them. It's one of those games you kind of need to discover for yourself, of our own accord.

I'm hopeful The Talos Principle VR can win over new players. The calm, contemplative, non-linear nature of this game is an inherently good fit for VR, and it's also quite long. We could use more substantial virtual reality titles. Based on my hands-on at E3, things are headed in the right direction.

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News:: Diablo III will finally get the Necromancer next week

While initial fan reception to Diablo III wasn't exactly glowing, people seem to have come around to the game after the release of its expansion, Reaper of Souls. Much to my surprise, the Necromancer class wasn't added to the game for that expansion. How do you leave out such a pivotal player from Diablo? That just feels wrong.

Thankfully next week, on June 27, players will finally be able to raise the dead with Diablo's prematurely greying corpse re-animator. The Necromancer will be priced at $14.99/£12.99 (what the hell?!) and will require the Reaper of Souls expansion on PC to play (PS4 and Xbox One players don't need to worry about that bit). The pack will also grant access to additional character slots, some new stash tabs on PC, a portrait, banner, sigil, accent and pennant, a brand new pet and some cosmetic stuff for your pets.

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News:: Major Nintendo Switch update adds fixes, new features

Ah, system updates. The great flood of "miscellaneous fixes and improvements," that essentially boil down to "we fixed a security exploit." But not this time. No, Nintendo has a real live update for the Switch in the form of version 3.0.

Now you can sign up for a news channel for a specific game (Miiverse is back in an undead PR type of way!), better friend list concessions, a "find controllers" option, more user icons, external audio options, and a fix for a pesky HDMI input change bug.

Take a gander at the full patch notes below if you're not satisfied. As for me, I mostly just want the Virtual Console, a better, faster eShop, and true folders.

Version 3.0 [Nintendo]

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News:: The Crew 2 feels like a do-over in the best possible way

Ubisoft is doing some genuinely cool, surprising things with The Crew 2. As someone who dug the heck out of the flawed but rewarding free-form original, I couldn't be more pleased.

For instance: that world-bending Inception shit from the cinematic trailer? That's actually in the game! (In a limited capacity, as shown in the embedded video starting at 2:53.)

Not only can you drive cars, bikes, boats, and planes, but you can also freely swap between them at any point without pausing or losing your momentum. This sequel's potential as a sandbox built for goofing off with friends or strangers is ridiculous. In terms of story progression, there are headquarters for street racing, pro racing, off-road, and freestyle. You won't need to do them all.

At one point, I flew my plane over a highway, morphed into a car, and went for a sick landing. Things did not go well for me. But they could have! That's the beauty of a game like this. You can get dumb with it.

I went hands-on with the open-ended racer at E3 and it made a great first impression. It's still set in the United States (albeit a redesigned US), and you can still roam from coast to coast with other players, but everything's so much prettier, more fully realized, and faster. It felt like a do-over.

The zoomed-out map looked familiar at first, but closing in on New York City brought out new details with a 3D cityscape to browse through. Picking a spot and then teleporting to it took no time at all. It's a substantial step up. There's an across-the-board feeling that you're always on the move, with little to no downtime between exploring, events, setting up a crew, or swapping out vehicles.

My main takeaway from 15 minutes or so with The Crew 2 is that this is the game fans originally wanted along with some extras they didn't know they needed sprinkled on top. There are still ways it can all go wrong -- nailing the vehicle handling across all the disciplines won't be easy, and the last game's loot system and story weren't too hot -- but man. Man. I'm looking forward to playing this in a real-world setting, because even Ubisoft's "guided tour" style hands-on demo was great fun.

There are a lot of other racing games due out between now and early 2018, but I kinda just want to hold out for The Crew 2. I can't see myself having anything other than a good time with it.

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