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ICYMI: Surprise volcanoes, jetpacks and new Nike shoes
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-821419{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-821419, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-821419{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-821419").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: Marine biologists in Australia discovered an enormous, 12-mile long chain of (happily extinct) volcanoes under the sea that no one knew about. Controlling a jetpack is looking easier and easier, and I don't care if flight only lasts 30 seconds y'all, this stuff is happening! And Nike unveiled a new line of shoes for people with disabilities and it's the best use case for a non-gym basketball shoe that we've ever seen. Good job guys.
'Halo' dart guns are perfect for the galactic war in your backyard
Need something to take your Master Chief Collection frustrations out with? Then these Halo branded Nerf foam-dart guns from BOOMco might be right up your alley. For $30 you get toy versions of the sci-fi series' M6 Blaster pistol and and the alien Covenant Plasma Overcharge Blaster, a target, foam ammo and a gun case modeled after those you'd find in-game. As reseller MattyCollector writes in the product listing, these are apparently accurate up to 70 feet too. You can pre-order them through the site right now, but the catch is you have to pick them up in San Diego at Comic Con this year. A number of the armaments will be sold at the Mattel booth as well. You've already gotten your tickets and booked a hotel, right? If not you can try your luck for the "limited" supply that's going to Toys R Us' website after the show, sans the SDCC-exclusive case pictured below.
Nerf's higher-powered foam guns are meant for older fans
Nerf guns can be fun if you're a grown-up -- just ask the legions of people who modded the Maverick revolver. They're not really intended for an older audience, however, which is why Hasbro just unveiled a range of Nerf blasters meant for high schoolers (and adults) who take their plastic weapons seriously. The highlight is the Rival line you see above, which shoots foam balls at nearly 70MPH -- they won't sting like paintball rounds, but you're definitely going to feel the blow. You can get the $50 Zeus MXV-1200 if you insist on fast motorized reloads, or the $25 Apollo XV-700 if you're content with lever action.
Guild Wars 2 to nerf might, buff confusion
There will be a few small but significant balance changes coming to Guild Wars 2 with its January 27th patch as outlined in a new dev diary today. The devs declared that the might boon is "exceptionally strong" and will see a nerf with the patch, bringing down the amount of power and condition damage that might stacks emitted. On the flip side, confusion will hit for 33% more, but in PvE combat only. Other patch balance changes include nerfing a few items and tweaking professions due to the might nerf. "The profession-specific updates this time around will be a bit more focused on the general usability of certain skills, with targeted reductions on outlier skills," the team said.
The Secret World nerfs Tokyo mobs and buffs rewards
Players struggling to progress through The Secret World's Tokyo zone will now find it a more pleasurable experience, thanks to today's hotfix that makes mobs easier to kill while increasing rewards across the board. Mobs in Kaidan will now have reduced damage and health, making them easier to kill. Better yet, TSW is increasing AEGIS XP from containers, lowering the cost for memory expansion modules, and giving AEGIS peripherals as part of the Issue 9 and 10 story missions (and will retroactively award these to players who have completed them). [Thanks to Tyler for the tip!]
Destiny nerfs Suros rifle, tweaks exotic upgrades
Bungie may not have made an MMO with Destiny, but it's aping traditional MMO nerf/buff cycles with the game's latest patch. Version 1.1 bumps up the usefulness of the Thorn and Bad Juju guns while nerfing the popular Suros Regime auto rifle. Destiny's gear system has also been tweaked, as exotic armor and weapon upgrades no longer need ascendant materials. Instead, you'll need exotic shards, which you can get from deconstructing exotic gear or buying them outright from an NPC vendor. Click through the links below to read the full patch notes.
Super Smash Bros. 3DS patch nerfs Rosalina, hitstun cancels
CLASH Tournaments has released a detailed breakdown of the changes introduced in this week's Version 1.0.4 patch for Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, revealing a host of balance changes and tweaks affecting several characters. Notably, the respawn time for Rosalina's partner character Luma has increased from 8 seconds to roughly 13 seconds, putting Rosalina in greater peril when Luma is knocked out. Peach, Link, and Toon Link no longer have toss canceling abilities, and Diddy Kong and Mega Man are now unable to cancel out of a stunned state by using specific moves. The patch additionally blocks playback of replays recorded using earlier versions of Super Smash Bros. for 3DS. Other listed tweaks affect Falco, Greninja, Yoshi, and Mr. Game and Watch. Shoryuken details all of the discussed changes here. Our review of the upcoming Wii U version of Super Smash Bros. went live today, and we'll have a final score once online play activates. [Image: Nintendo]
EVE Evolved: Features coming in Oceanus and beyond
It's been almost four months since EVE Online switched from publishing two major expansions per year to releasing ten smaller updates, and so far it looks like the new schedule has been a huge success. Rather than forcing the industry overhaul out the door in Kronos before it was ready, CCP was able to push it forward to the Crius release window seven weeks later and the extra development time meant the feature launched in a very polished state. It may be too early to tell if the new schedule's success can be seen in the concurrent player graph for Tranquility, but the numbers have remained steady for the past few months in what is typically the annual low-point for player activity. The Oceanus update is scheduled to go live in just two day's time, adding several graphical upgrades, more difficult burner missions, an experimental new notification feature, and other small improvements. The scale of the update seems to be on par with the recent Hyperion release, consisting of mostly small features and minor iterations on gameplay. While we're told that CCP is still working on large projects behind the scenes, the new release schedule means they won't be rushed out the door and so we may not see them for some time. In this edition of EVE Evolved, I summarise everything we know about Tuesday's Oceanus update, and take a look at what's to come in further releases.
Embrace a lack of productivity by scoring big in Nerf Hoops
Nerf Hoops is a free game for iPhone and iPad geared around getting a basketball in a hoop despite all obstacles. Perhaps that's an oversimplification, but that's not a bad thing because as Flappy Bird once demonstrated the simplest games can be the most addictive. Indeed, Nerf Hoops is one of those games you take out in a waiting room or just when you need to keep yourself occupied as the clock keeps ticking. Your objective in Nerf Hoops is simple: score. The game places your basketball toward the bottom of the screen and you have to flick with your finger to get it into the distant hoop. The easiest level sets you in a messy college dorm room with the hoop pretty close in proximity to you. The hardest - or as Nerf Hoops exaggerates, "Impossible!" - is on the streets where you face a number of additional challenges outside the realm of college life. The three obstacles you face in Nerf Hoops are wind, zombies and cars. The laws of physics clearly don't apply to this game as the wind somehow manages to blow a full-sized basketball in a completely different direction while it's in mid-air. Wind is the only challenge you're up against in the first two levels of the game, but it requires you to strategically flick your finger so that the ball still lands in the hoop despite interference from Mother Nature. In this regard, Nerf Hoops plays very similar to Paper Toss. With each shot, the wind varies in strength and direction. A number generally between one and six indicates the force of the wind while the arrow underneath points in its corresponding direction. I found that it's a bit difficult to score with any number past five because with the design of the iPhone and the angle you need to flick your finger, it doesn't leave much room. The iPad version remedies this situation a bit though. Moving forward to level three, you start to encounter wind plus zombies. In level four, zombies are out of the streets and cars are in, moving by quickly as you try to aim. Neither of these affect the ball in any way, they just serve as mere visual distractions. It's not like a car will drive by and block the basketball from entering the hoop. The graphics are at least nice enough though. The game also features a Challenge mode to send a friend your high score and let them try and beat it. Obtain high scores by scoring as many times as you can until you miss. Then the score drops to zero and it's time to begin again. This format is what makes the game so addictive and truly fun, too. All minor criticisms aside, Nerf Hoops for iOS is a free and worthy alternative to Paper Toss. It's not so challenging that you get frustrated with it, but it's just challenging enough to keep you wanting more when you fail. I imagine Nerf Hoops probably springs to life mostly in a waiting room or on a subway, but hey, as long as you aren't being productive you might as well have fun with your time.
EVE Evolved: Wormholes should be more dangerous
When unstable wormholes began forming all over the EVE Online universe in 2009's Apocrypha expansion, players approached them with extreme caution. The promise of riches in the form of new loot and Tech 3 cruiser components was balanced by the incalculable risk of facing a powerful new enemy in untested circumstances. Between the Sleeper AI that had been reported to melt players' ships in seconds and the player pirates taking advantage of the hidden local chat channel to sneak up on unsuspecting victims, we had no idea whether any ship we sent into a wormhole would ever make it back out again. The risk of venturing into something truly unknown made wormhole exploration the single most exciting thing I've ever been a part of in an MMO, but the past five years have completely eroded that danger. Farmers now know exactly what to expect in every wormhole site and can efficiently farm Sleepers with the minimum of effort or risk, and PvP alliances can rapidly cycle through systems to find weak targets to attack. We've mapped and tamed all of the wormhole frontier, systematically reducing the risk to the lowest possible levels under the current game mechanics. Tuesday's Hyperion update aimed to shake things up with a few disruptive changes designed to keep wormholes dangerous, and I think it's a definite step in the right direction. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at some of the changes in Hyperion designed to keep wormholes dangerous and ask what more could be done to keep things interesting.
Path of Exile removes Snapshotting
Wondering what the folks developing Path of Exile are up to these days? A new dev blog from Grinding Gear Games details some major changes to the game as the Snapshotting mechanic is being removed. Snapshotting allows players to lock in the benefits of a specific set of items, passives, or gems and quickly swap them to another configuration, giving the combined benefits from both sets. While not technically illegal in the game, the devs say that it has hindered game balance for too long and needed to be removed. Check out the video after the cut to get a better idea of what Snapshotting is (was!), and be sure to read through the entire dev article for more information on how the game will be balanced moving forward.
The Daily Grind: Do you resent PvP balance tweaks for impacting PvE?
For a good long while I was downright antagonistic to all things PvP, whereas today I do my best to peacefully ignore the fact that PvP happens in MMOs. A big reason for my former hostility wasn't because PvP is a different style of gameplay that I didn't enjoy, but because I'd often see my PvE skills nerfed or negatively tweaked because they were considered overpowered and unfair in PvP. My teeth grated at the injustice of my PvE experience being dinged because of what happened over there in PvP-land. Not all MMOs handle balance issues between the two worlds this way, as some create different skill sets for each, but that's unfortunately not always the case. It's also possible that devs have gotten a lot better at melding the two worlds when it comes to skills and talents that are carried between them. I'm still wary, however. So do you see this happening, and if or when it does, do you resent PvP balance tweaks for impacting PvE? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
NCsoft relents on Lineage II's hero coin prices
The outrageous -- and expensive -- Lineage II hero coin program is receiving a nerf in favor of the players. NCsoft announced today that it has reduced prices on "top-tier prizes" in the hero coin store by 40% or more. As an example, the Dark Amaranthine Weapon Pack has been reduced from 375,000 hero coins to 100,500 as a result of this change. NCsoft also said that it will be giving players a hand with affording these items: "For those of you who might still be lamenting your inability to afford the reward items of your choice, take heart. We'll be introducing some special promotions both this month and in the future designed to help you increase your hero coin balance." The launch of the hero coin program earlier this year was met with strong resistance and criticism for its exorbitant nature. Hero coins is a bonus currency that is given whenever a player spends real money in the game's store.
EVE Evolved: Mining is broken, but it can be fixed
Mining has a reputation for being the most boring activity in EVE Online, but it's always filled a niche role as a low-effort way to make ISK and play with friends casually. When there's no PvP going on and you can't give your full attention to smashing NPCs in missions or anomalies, mining fills that downtime with something more lucrative and social than spinning your ship in a station. The problem is that mining has slowly become obsolete over the years; alternative mineral sources now supply much of the market's needs, and the risk of flying a defenseless barge just isn't worth the mediocre payout. It's currently more efficient for an individual to buy minerals with ISK made via some other form of PvE, such as level 4 missions or incursions. And on the macroscopic level, such huge quantities of minerals hit the market from alternative sources such as reprocessing loot that the economy could potentially function with no miners at all. CCP has tried to make mining more appealing over the years with buffs and new ships, and the devs recently announced plans to nerf mineral compression as part of a campaign to make mining worthwhile, but I think it'll take a lot more than ISK to get people mining again. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at how mining and reprocessing are at odds and suggest some ideas for new mining features that could revitalise this long forgotten profession.
New Elder Scrolls Online API changes affect UI mods; devs post an AMA
Modding and The Elder Scrolls series have long been a match made in gamer heaven, but ZeniMax's latest API changes to The Elder Scrolls Online has the fantasy MMO's modding community up in arms. In a nutshell, the new version of the API removes the ability to track what others are doing to your avatar. You'll still see various effects, but you'll no longer see which spell was cast. The impetus behind the changes seems to be to level the playing field between those using the standard UI and those using add-ons like Foundry Tactical Combat. [Thanks Andre!] [Update: Tipster Vinicius let us know that the ESO team has also posted a fresh Ask Me Anything on Reddit. The devs discuss beta wipes, load capacity, bug fixes, and more.]
EVE Evolved: Rubicon 1.3 and repainting ships
EVE Online's recently released Rubicon expansion was an important first step toward a truly player-run universe for everyone, allowing corporations to wage empire wars over planetary customs offices and introducing a series of new personal deployable structures. The initial release was a little light on content, but developers have since expanded on it significantly with three major point releases. Rubicon 1.3 went live this week, and the changes seem pretty good all around. This release overhauled the directional scanner, buffed the SoE Nestor battleship's capacitor recharge rate and remote repair range, and nerfed remote sensor dampeners into the ground. Large corporations like EVE University were pleased to hear that the limit on the size of corporations has been increased to 12,600 thanks to changes to the corporation management skills. And in response to an emerging trend in fleet warfare involving hordes of drone ships assigning their drones to an interceptor, developers have also limited the number of drones that can be assigned to another ship to 50. The 1.29 GB patch also included several overhauled ship models and new ship shaders, but the new feature I see the most potential in is the ability to finally repaint our ships. This could eventually help corporations establish their own visual identities and might even link into gameplay or EVE's spying metagame. In this edition of EVE Evolved, I look at some of the Rubicon 1.3 changes and how repainting your ship could become more than simply a cosmetic upgrade.
DUST 514 jacks up its arsenal but nerfs damage output
DUST 514's small-arms arsenal is getting a few new options with Uprising 1.8. The patch will add three new guns and reduce damage to allow for longer fights. The new guns include the Caldari Bolt Pistol, a high-DPS, small-clip handgun; the Caldari Magsec SMG, a semi-automatic with higher damage than other SMGs; and the Gallente Ion Pistol, a plasma-shooting beast that punches right through enemies' armor and shields. The devs said that they will be tweaking time-to-kill in 1.8 by reducing the power of high-level damage modifiers, taking one grenade away from what players could previously hold at a time, reducing base damage for several weapons, and applying weapon proficiency skill bonuses against either shields or armor.
Warlords of Draenor is making big changes to WoW's number game
When World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor hits, players will be adjusting to more than just a new continent and gussied-up character models. With the expansion, Blizzard is looking to squish stats across the board, bring racial traits into parity with each other, prune excess abilities among the classes, and nerf a bunch of the game's crowd control skills. The stat-squishing in particular is something that the developers address at length in a new "watercooler" post: "It's important to understand that this isn't a nerf -- in effect, you'll still be just as powerful, but the numbers that you see will be easier to comprehend. This also won't reduce your ability to solo old content. In fact, to provide some additional peace of mind, we're implementing further scaling of your power against lower-level targets so that earlier content will be even more accessible than it is now." The post goes into detail about the reasoning behind the changes and how the devs expect each of them to improve WoW as a whole, so give it a read if Warlords of Draenor is on your wish list this year.
Recommended Reading: Jawbone on the rise and the indie gaming bubble
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books dealing with the subject of technology that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Jawbone Is Now the Startup Apple Should Fear Most (978 words) by Marcus Wohlson, Wired Pocket!function(d,i){if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement("script");j.id=i;j.src="https://widgets.getpocket.com/v1/j/btn.js?v=1";var w=d.getElementById(i);d.body.appendChild(j);}}(document,"pocket-btn-js"); In case you hadn't heard, there are reports that Jawbone is securing a massive round of funding that would fuel the company's IPO. The Bluetooth gadget outfit has given us a range of wireless speakers and it's line of Up fitness trackers, but more capital could mean new product categories -- things like smart clothes and improved wrist gadgets. As Wired's Marcus Wohlson notes, those new categories are "a move Apple has struggled to make in recent years." And of course, there's always the chance Google could nab Jawbone up before Cupertino has a chance to.
Newest NERF blaster has baked in camera for capturing your foam firefights
Honestly, who cares about CES? It's always the same parade of TVs and in-dash infotainment systems that only a very small portion of the population is going to buy. The good stuff -- the really good stuff -- is at Toy Fair. Every year, Hasbro brings its A-game to the convention, and 2014 is no different. The event itself is still a few weeks away, but the company's reps were kind enough to swing by Fort Engadget ahead of time with a prototype of their big-ticket item for the year, the (deep breath) N-Strike Elite NERF Cam ECS-12 Blaster (phew...). While we can't say we're enamored with the name, we are pretty stoked about the blaster itself. The concept is simple, so simple in fact we can't believe Hasbro hasn't thought of it before. The ECS-12 is your standard, semi-auto NERF blaster with a small camera mounted on the barrel and a tiny screen on the stock. The screen does allow you to line up your crosshairs on a target, even while taking cover, but more importantly it lets you capture your foam dart battles in a first-person view.
