News:: Twitch gains the exclusive Overwatch League broadcast rights

If you're hotly anticipating the debut of the Overwatch League, you'll have one way to access it. The popular streaming service, Twitch, has brokered a deal with Activision Blizzard to gain the exclusive broadcasting rights for the Overwatch League. They will be simulcasting streams in English, French and Korean to reach the largest audience possible with the inaugural stream happening tomorrow.

All of this was done for a reported $90 million dollars (thanks Sports Business Daily), which is equivalent to one season of professional soccer. Through that insane amount, you'll be able to view the first two full seasons of the league on Twitch and even have an opportunity to engage in a "viewership reward system" that give kudos to active viewers. These rewards will consist of in-game "Overwatch League" inspired loot with additional items being detailed as they become available.

For the first season of the league, which will run until June with playoffs in July, all games will take place at the Blizzard Arena Los Angeles (located in Burbank, California). Games will be every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and fans can purchase tickets to individual games right now.

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News:: Hit the open waters when Sea of Thieves hits closed beta in two weeks

Sea of Thieves is leaving the port just a bit early. You know, to take a quick test run around the harbor real quick -- all to get it ready for its real voyage.

Rare and Xbox announced today that Sea of Thieves is getting a closed beta from January 24 through January 29. The beta is available to anyone who has pre-ordered the game or who had joined the Sea of Thieves Insider program before the beginning of December. 

Aside from this being a prime opportunity to plunder and do pirate stuff, there's one detail worth paying attention to. Unlike previous alphas/betas, this event isn't under any sort of NDA. That means Rare is likely pretty comfortable with this version representing the final game. We're so close to finding out if this really is the treasure we think it might be.

Sea of Thieves Closed Beta Coming January 24-29! [Xbox Wire]

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News:: Samsung knows exactly how to sell mobile VR to the public

Mobile VR has a reputation as being a sort of cheap and underwhelming experience. Samsung is rolling into CES trying its hardest to discourage that preconception. In the Grand Lobby of the Las Vegas Convention Center (right next to Engadget's gorgeous stage) the company has the Samsung Galaxy Experience Zone. Here you can ski or snowboard down a virtual mountain, hurtle down a skeleton track or even fly through the air with dinosaurs. Each station was paired with additional paraphernalia to bring the experience to life like a lateral ski trainer or rows of flight-sim seats.

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News:: Subnautica exits Steam Early Access in two weeks

The end is in sight for Subnautica's run on Steam Early Access.

The aquatic alien survival game appeared on Steam in December 2014, and the team at Unknown Worlds has been making steady progress ever since. It's rare that I get all that into Early Access titles these days, but Subnautica has been handled really well. Its production had a nice momentum to it.

The 1.0 launch on PC is set for Tuesday, January 23 and the festivities will also entail a live-streamed event at the wonderful Monterey Bay Aquarium. The team plans to debut the game's cinematic trailer, chat with developers, show real sea creatures, and push the "Big Red Launch Button."

I hope they show off the flamboyant cuttlefish. Always loved those little guys.

Subnautica PC 1.0 Launch Livestream [Unknown Worlds]

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News:: The Humble 'Staff Picks' bundle contains an odd collection of titles

If you're looking for an eclectic collection of titles to kick start the new year, this latest Humble Bundle is sure to tickle just about any fancy you could find. Called the "Staff Picks" bundle, this collection of titles spans so many different genres that I'm surprised there is even a recognizable name in the bunch.

For $1, you can nab Punch Club, Tempest and LiEat which is actually pretty damn good for the price. At the "Beat the Average" tier (currently sitting around $6), you can get BioShock Infinite, Beholder and Aragami, which is also not a bad deal. The final $12 tier gets you SHENZEN I/O and a $2 Humble Monthly credit, though you need to be subscribed to Humble Monthly to receive the last bit.

While I can't see every person actually enjoying all of these games, you'd be hard pressed to find a more broad collection for the same price. It is always good to try new things, so why not give this bundle a shot?

"Staff Picks" Bundle [Humble Bundle]

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News:: Gundam Pixie and Efreet coming to Gundam Versus in February

The latest issue of Famitsu Weekly has revealed the next DLC suits that will arrive for Gundam Versus. Those suits are Gundam Pixie and the Efreet as they appear in the game Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: Missing Link. They'll be arriving in early February and will be going for the usual price tag, however other details are unknown at this time.

Needless to say, it's a step in the wrong direction.

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News:: Here are Destructoid's most anticipated games of 2018

Looking at the history of video games there are certain years that stand out. 1997, 2010, 1994 are three of the best years ever for the medium, and now that we’ve moved into 2018, I feel confident adding 2017 to that list. It was almost too good, from beginning to end with some amazing titles showing up so late in the year they’ll have to be included on next year’s GOTY nominations *cough* Gorogoa *cough*. The Switch had its meteoric rise, Japanese titles dominated, PUBG ignited a battle-royale frenzy and Cuphead proved some games are more than worth the excruciating wait.

So how the hell is 2018 going to top this? By giving us those titles developers and publishers have been teasing for years! 2017 may have been the year of the Switch but 2018 looks like it just might belong to Sony and its PS4. That system has so many highly anticipated titles coming from eastern and western developers that wallets around the world will be crying this year.

But in reality, the wallets of all console and PC owners will be tearing up in 2018 because, as you'll see below, there are so many (hopefully) good damn games hitting the market over the next 12 months.

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News:: Xbox One adds do not disturb mode for distraction-free gaming

Just over four years later and Microsoft is still adding features to the Xbox One that existed on its predecessor, the Xbox 360. Next up is a do not disturb mode that will "suppress" notifications and tells your friends list you don't want to be bothered, according to a post on Xbox Wire. This should be especially nice for when you just want to kick back and watch a movie or video, or hell even play a game, in peace.

Source: Xbox Wire

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News:: Take a fresh look at Devil May Cry HD Collection

Did you remember that Capcom is working on Devil May Cry HD Collection? It slipped my mind!

The package will include the original game, its sequel, and Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition when it releases in March for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. $30 isn't a bad price, either.

Several screenshots surfaced on the game's website this week. They're, uh, they're not great. That said, I wasn't expecting much more than a bump in resolution for this collection, so I'm not exactly dismayed.

Having never picked up the PS3 or Xbox 360 collection, I'll likely nab this new one.

[Via ResetEra]

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News:: The Huawei VR2 is a stunningly comfortable standalone headset

Huawei started off CES by getting a bit of bad news from AT&T. But the company isn't letting the fact that it's phones won't be featured in American stores rain on its parade. It's still showing off its latest wares in a giant shiny booth located dead in the middle of the Las Vegas Convention Center. One surprise we found there was the Huawei VR2 headset. It was announced this past October in China, but CES 2018 appears to be its American debut.

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News:: Hands-on with NVIDIA's giant gaming displays and GeForce Now on PC

Nobody expected NVIDIA to get into the big screen TV world, but that's precisely what it's doing with its new Big Format Gaming Displays (BFGD). They're 65-inch 4K screens oriented more at games than movie viewing, with heaps of technology that players will appreciate, like low latency, G-Sync and NVIDIA's Shield built-in. We got a look at Destiny 2 being played on HP's set (more are coming from ASUS and Acer), and I can confirm that it delivers one of the smoothest gaming experiences I've seen yet from a big-screen TV.

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News:: The Red Strings Club mixes pottery, cyberpunk, and overthrowing corporations

The follow-up effort from the Gods Will Be Watching developer, Deconstructeam, is almost ready to be unleashed upon the world. Devolver Digital revealed today that The Red Strings Club is set to release on January 22.

The Red Strings Club is another narrative adventure, and I have not yet seen a combination of words that gives me even the slightest grasp as to what it's actually about. So, I'm going to take the easy way out and copy/paste the description from the press release:

Read more...

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News:: 1982 arcade game Front Line now available on PlayStation 4

Retro-enthusiasts HAMSTER have added another title to the Arcade Archives range. The ever-expanding catalogue is designed to release arcade classics of yesterday onto today's consoles, with HAMSTER recently stating that they hope to put out over 800 titles in all.

Yesterday saw the release of Taito's 1982 arcade Front Line, brought screaming into 2018 on the PS4. The predecessor to Capcom's far superior Commando (1985), Front Line is a vertically scrolling shooter where you guide a one-armed dude in a red helmet as he rushes the battlefield, gunning down soldiers, lobbing grenades and riding tanks.

Look at his legs! What's going on there?

Front Line costs $8, which is too much for a game that can only be played today for novelty's sake. I am 100% behind the Arcade Archive range. But HAMSTER have to get realistic about pricing. You can't charge the same price for Front Line as you do for Garou: Mark of the Wolves, or even Bubble Bobble.

Surely some of these more dated titles should retail for half that? Another option would be to bundle two "lesser" titles together. But if you have $8 to spend, and you want something from the ACA range, there's so much more value available elsewhere in their catalogue.

Front Line is available to download now on PS4. It also has a "T" rating!

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News:: Rock out with Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal opening movie

Next month sees the latest release in the Senran Kagura series, as Burst Re:Newal launches on the PS4 in Japan. Developers Marvelous have released the opening video for the former Nintendo 3DS title.

Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newel takes the 2013 game and reinvents it from a 2D side-scroller to a full 3D adventure, bringing the visuals and mechanics up to speed for the PlayStation 4. At its heart, it remains the same game, but new missions, playable characters, gameplay elements and other features have been added to boost its content.

The opening movie features a catchy, upbeat J-Rock song and a lot of fast-paced, colourful action scenes. It's actually pretty demure by regular Senran standards, though no doubt the game will remain packed the brim with what I believe you hip kidz call "fanservice".

Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal launches on PS4 in Japan on February 22. While no Western date has been confirmed, it isn't impossible given last year's localisation of Peach Beach Splash.

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News:: 'Blade Runner: Revelations' is built for Lenovo's new VR headst

The newly-launched Lenovo Mirage Solo is the first-ever standalone Daydream headset, so Google wants to make sure you've got stuff to do with it. Partnering with Alcon Media Group, it has unveiled Blade Runner: Revelations, a VR experience set in the Blade Runner universe. You'll play the role of seasoned blade runner Harper solving the mystery behind some kind of replicant plot, using resources like a flying spinner, blaster and Esper image reconstruction.

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News:: PUBG's new update will allow for reporting of cheaters through replays

With any mega-popular game comes an abundance of cheaters and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is no stranger to hackers. For awhile now, the only way to report a player was to be killed by them and suspect them of foul play, but the latest update to the "battle royale" smash hit will change that.

In a post over on the Steam community forums, PUBG Corp. has stated that, "Starting with the current test build, you will be able to report players directly from the replay feature of our game. This means that you no longer need to be killed by a suspected cheater for you to be able to use the in-game reporting tool." The post then goes on to further detail how to utilize the new feature.

Another update coming to the game pertains to the in-game loot boxes. PUBG uses crates to distribute cosmetic items and there will now be a few new options getting added in. Normally, players will open up crates and be given some random crap, but now there will be a locked crate that can contain items specific to the "Gamescom" and "Desperado" sets.

The rest of the fixes are mostly quality of life changes that should make for a smoother playing experience (such as four man squads now having colors that aren't derivative of each other). While it is all rote and to be expected, at least cheaters should be having a harder time existing on servers.

PC 1.0 Update #2 [Steam Community]

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News:: Street Fighter V live stream to show off Sakura today

Capcom Unity will be holding a live stream later today to reveal some more information regarding the upcoming expansion Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition. We will also get to see schoolgirl slugger Sakura in action, ahead of her addition to the game's roster.

Sakura has been one of the most-demanded characters to be added to the game since launch. Y'know, like Alex was, before he came out no-one picked him up? Hopefully Ms. Kasugano will see more success, and is already showing off her trademark, tightly-framed combos.

Perhaps we'll also get official confirmation of some of this week's minor leaks, such as the frame-explaining colour guide and Training Mode's "Version Select". The Unity team also plan to demo more of the new V-Skills, of which each character will be receiving new variants.

The live stream is scheduled to begin at 15:00PT/18:00ET today and can be watched on the Capcom Unity channel here. Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition launches on PC worldwide on January 16. The PS4 release launches in North America on January 16 and in most other territories on January 19. All existing SFV owners will be able to download the update on January 16.

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News:: Someone opened a tourism site for Zelda: Majora's Mask's Clock Town and it's adorable

Even if you don't like Majora's Mask, Clock Town is one of those places you can instantly remember on a whim. It's not just one of the biggest towns in Zelda history, it also has a giant moon looming above it -- so it's kind of tough to forget.

One fan created an awesome "official" looking tourism site for it, complete with vendor advertisements, recreational activities, and some Easter eggs. It's not just a fun read, it's also semi-educational, as it exhaustively covers what you can do in the town -- and might even be fun to read during a replay to ensure you don't miss anything (even little details like times are helpful).

When I have time I'll have to boot up my 3DS copy again!

Time to Take a Trip [Visit Clock Town]

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News:: Alienware's control hub redesign folds in your game library

It's "New year, new me" for Dell's Alienware Command Center. The software control hub that comes preinstalled in Alienware computers now has a unified gaming library that pulls all your titles regardless of source, so you can see them all in one place. You can also set profiles for specific games, tailoring your system's thermals, power management, overclocking, lighting and peripheral controls to your favorite first person shooter or RPG. Those who have been curious about overclocking but worried about breaking their computers can also experiment with the redesigned tool that lets you toy with clock speeds and voltage. Before you can save your custom overclocking profiles, Alienware's system will test your settings and won't let you use your new setups unless they're safe.

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News:: Telltale's Batman: Episode 4 arrives this month

After a short hiatus, Telltale Games' Batman: The Enemy Within returns with its penultimate chapter at the end of the month. Episode Four: What Ails You, arrives on January 23.

Bruce Wayne, his cover in jeopardy, will be forced to act fast when The Pact, led by the notorious Harley Quinn, put their horrendous scheme into action. Will Wayne be able to rely on his shaky allies -- The Catwoman, Amanda Waller and bestie John Doe -- or will he be forced to take drastic measures to ensure the safety of Gotham City?

After Episode Three was relatively action-free and feature a lot of reused locations, it might be time to don the cowl and step it up. This series has had interesting elements, and an excellent, intriguing performance from Anthony Ingruber as John Doe, but it has become messy in recent episodes, and hopefully Telltale can regain focus to deliver a brilliant, dramatic conclusion.

Batman - The Enemy Within: What Ails You launches on PC, PS4 and Xbox One on January 23.

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News:: Overwatch League’s first two seasons will air on Twitch

Blizzard has been putting a lot of work into its upcoming Overwatch professional league it introduced in late 2016. The company spent all of 2017 building it up, announcing teams based in large cities in the US, England, South Korea and China. Days before the league's first-ever match on January 10th, the publisher announced it's formed a partnership with Twitch, which will broadcast every match of the first two seasons.

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News:: De Blob 2 is coming to current generation consoles fairly soon

De Blob is making a comeback, sorta. It's a re-release comeback so far, as the original two de Blob games arrived on Steam by way of THQ Nordic -- and now the second is set to drop on current generation consoles. Accompanied by a new trailer de Blob 2 will arrive on February 27 on PS4 and Xbox One.

It seems like Nordic isn't completely ready to release these ports on Switch by default just yet. We got Sine Mora EX, Battle Chasers: Nightwar, and This is the Police from their publishing arm, but their in-house studio has yet to deliver. One day, maybe!

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News:: Nearly six million PlayStation 4 units sold this Holiday season

Sony have released figures for their PlayStation sales over 2017's Holiday period, and it looks like it was a very Merry Christmas for the industry giants.

The PlayStation 4 manufacturer managed to sell through 5.9 million of the little black boxes, bringing the grand total of PS4 units sold to date to an almighty 73.6 million units (as of December 31, 2017).

In terms of video games themselves, 55.9 million games were sold through high street retail and digital storefronts, with December 2017 seeing the PlayStation Store reach it's all-time sales record. Sony has also stated that online service PlayStation Plus currently stands at over 31 million subscribers.

"Thanks to the continued support from our fans across the globe, we are honored to announce remarkable sales during the holiday season," said John Kodera, President of Sony Interactive Entertainment. "We promise our unwavering commitment to bring(ing) more amazing experiences to our fans, including exclusive games and innovative network services, as PS4 continues to flourish as the best place to play."

The PS4 currently stands eleven million sales away from outselling two of last generation's stalwarts; the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

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News:: Mario movie possible by 2020, announcement might be soon

I'm still not quite sure what a Super Mario Bros. movie looks like, but in Nintendo's new quest to monetize its IP better we're definitely going to be getting one. The real question is when and what it will even look like. Can you imagine sitting through an entire film of Mario speaking? I cringe.

The when part of that question may actually turn out to be sooner than you think. In an interview, President Tatsumi Kimishima said that Nintendo is working to iron out the details with a film studio as we speak, and if those details done get ironed then we could hear about the film very soon. He also said that that would put the movie on track for a 2020 release, which is far sooner than I thought... but I thought this would never get made in the first place so anything is far sooner than I thought.

The rumors still swirl that Illumination Entertainment, the folks behind Despicable Me and the Minions, would make the film with Nintendo heavily involved. Sadly, that probably means we won't get anything as weird as the last attempt at doing this, but it could turn out to be a quality film none the less. Even if you hate Minions the studio has done some great animated work over the years. Of course that's all still up in the air until we get any sort of actual confirmation on anything. 

Super Mario Bros. movie should be ready for 2020! [Japanese Nintendo]

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News:: Roster unveiled for Dragon Ball FighterZ beta, Goku Black gets trailer

Bandai Namco have released the eleven characters who will be playable in the open beta of their anime fight-fest Dragon Ball FighterZ, which goes live this weekend.

Come Sunday, players will be able to jump online and test out the tag-team battle action with Goku, Vegeta, Nappa, Krillin, Cell, Android 18, Piccolo, Freiza, Beerus, Gohan and Kid Buu. Pretty cool selection, and based on my time with the game thus far, I'm definitely gunning for Beerus and Vegeta first.

In related news, yesterday saw the release of a short trailer for the monstrous looking Goku Black, who's uber-edgy design and devastating attacks look set to make him one of the most commonly encountered characters in the game's early online days. You can check the video out below.

The Dragon Ball FighterZ beta launches January 14 at 0:00PT/03:00ET/09:00CET until the same times on January 16. Eager Saiyans who have pre-ordered the game will be able to access the beta from January 13.

Dragon Ball FighterZ launches January 26 on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

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News:: Xbox One is testing a 'do not disturb' feature

The Xbox team seems to be in a constant state of adding and revising when it comes to the Xbox One dashboard -- so much so, it can be hard to keep track of everything at your disposal. This week, a new system update is out for "Alpha ring" Xbox Insider testers that brings a few user-friendly features.

• With this update, you’ll be able to use the “Next Achievements” feature in the Guide, which enables you to view and sort a cross-games list of upcoming Achievements. Easily see which Achievements you are closest to, and quickly launch the game to obtain them. Sort filters allow you to prioritize next Achievements by closest, most common, rarest, most common rare, and highest Gamerscore.

• Mini Game Hubs will soon be available right in the Guide. With this feature, you’ll be able to access great content for the games you’ve played recently from a Game Hub without ever having to leave the action. Mini Game Hubs provide an easy way to see friends who are currently playing, upcoming Achievements, Looking for Group posts, and more.

• Sometimes all you want to do is avoid all distractions and focus entirely on your game. We’ll be including a “Do not disturb” online status, which will suppress notifications and let your friends know that you’re not available for another game or activity right now.

• We’re tweaking the community feed to make it easier to view comments. You’ll soon be able to see a peek of the most recent comment on community posts while viewing the activity in full screen. Comments are also being rearranged to place those that are most recent at the top. You’ll also be able to see who has liked your comments.

• To address user feedback, we’re adding additional inactivity shutdown options to the Power mode & startup menu. In addition to shutting down the console after one or six hours of inactivity, you will be able to select options for two, three, four and five hours.

Having online and community-centric features baked right into consoles is nice, don't get me wrong, but sometimes you just want to play a game (or watch a movie or show) without being bombarded. It's a seemingly small quality-of-life extra, but I'm very into this "Do not disturb" option.

New Year, New Xbox One Features Coming Your Way [Xbox]

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News:: Project Linda is a laptop dock for the Razer Phone

It's CES, and that means Razer is in Las Vegas with another one of its concepts. As the company recently released its first smartphone, it's not too surprising that the Project Linda hardware ties into that: It's a laptop dock for the Razer Phone.

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News:: The Morning After: Tuesday, January 9th 2018

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Now that the big press conferences are over, the CES show floor will open today. Before we dive into the mess of gadgets and people, however, you should check out these highlights. (And, get ready for the live stream from Engadget's CES 2018 stage starting at 1 PM ET.)

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News:: Corsair's wireless gaming keyboard has a 75-hour battery life

If Logitech's no-lag wireless gaming keyboard converted you into a fan of no-wires gaming, you'll love Corsair's new offerings. The peripheral-maker has launched a handful of devices at CES 2018, including a wireless gaming keyboard of its own, as well as a (huge) mousepad that doubles as a Qi charger. Corsair used CHERRY MX Red mechanical keys for the K63 keyboard and equipped it with a battery that it says can keep it running for 75 hours despite its adjustable blue backlighting. If it truly can last 75 hours, then you don't have to worry about running out of juice in the middle of a game.

Source: Corsair (1), (2)

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News:: Merge is the closest thing we have to an AR Nerf gun

The folks at Merge picked a fitting name for their augmented-reality company, considering that their latest product combines the fun of Nerf guns with the fantasy of first-person shooters. The 6DoF Blaster is a lightweight plastic gun with four clickable buttons, including the trigger, and a space for a smartphone to rest horizontally across its top. The game plays out on the screen, with players ducking, walking and shooting as if the action were taking place in the real world.

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