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'Fall Guys' update adds new levels, game modes and nicknames
Fall Guys Season 2: Medieval Knockout is available now.
'Roblox' announces limited-run 'Doctor Who' collaboration
Roblox has seen an impressive range of crossovers since its arrival in 2015. The game-slash-development platform has linked up with Jurassic Park, Dr Seuss and Star Wars. Now it's getting the Doctor Who treatment.
'PUBG' gets limited-time 'Horizon: Zero Dawn' outfits on PS4
It's been two years since Horizon: Zero Dawn was released, and to mark the occasion, Guerilla Games is partnering with PUBG Corporation to bring themed outfits and weapon skins to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds on PS4. You'll be able to earn or buy the cosmetics between March 5th and April 5th.
Netflix’s ‘Kiss Me First’ is a VR thriller landing June 29th
VR cautionary tale Kiss Me First finally has a release date and an official trailer. The sci-fi gaming drama is coming to Netflix June 29th. From the creators of UK television series Skins, Kiss Me First revolves around a lonely woman who connects with a "party girl" and discovers a virtual world full of excitement... and murder.
It's now safe to skin your Nintendo Switch
When it became clear that vinyl wraps and other stickers were damaging the Switch, you could practically hear the wailing from console customizers everywhere. How were you supposed to add a personal touch to Nintendo's machine without giving it a permanent paint scheme? At last, there's light at the end of the tunnel. Dbrand is now offering Switch skins that it promises are "100% safe" for the system's plastic housing. The company said it spent a year working with 3M to create a "unique" adhesive that won't wreck the design.
'PUBG' developer considers region locking for smoother gameplay
PlayerUnknown's BattleGrounds came out of beta last December, and earlier this month creator Brendan Greene promised a much slicker game going forward. It's no secret the game has suffered from hacking problems in its short lifespan, so now the team -- despite earlier rebuttals -- says it's considering region locking after all.
'Stranger Things' invades 'Minecraft' with new skin packs
Minecraft players who love the upside down of Stranger Things have a new skin pack to acquire. It's available now in concert with the new season of the hit retro-horror show on Netflix. It looks like the whole cast is represented as a Minecraft character, including Hopper, Mike, Eleven, Dustin, Lucas and Will.
Washington state orders Valve to end 'Counter-Strike' gambling
For Washington state, it's not enough for Valve to distance itself from gun skin gambling in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive -- it wants the company to put an end to the practice. The state's Gambling Commission has ordered Valve to "stop allowing the transfer" of gun skins for gambling through Steam. The gaming giant has until October 14th to explain how it's obeying Washington gambling laws -- if it ignores the request or can't prove that it's squeaky-clean, it might face "additional civil or criminal action."
League of Legends retires skin codes to fight scam artists
Riot Games is retiring skin codes released prior to April 2014 in an effort to curb third-party re-selling and fraud, according to Community Coordinator Ben Forbes, AKA Riot Draggles. If you're just tuning in, skins in League of Legends change a character's visual look, so that a pirate might become a cowgirl, or a hamster-looking creature might don a spacesuit. So what does this mean if you're a League player with your eye on that sweet new skin for your favorite champ? Nothing, actually - skins sold through the League of Legends client will still work just fine. The new policy affects codes that are printed onto cards and given out at events such as PAX, Gamescom and Anime Expo, and only those created before April of this year. These skins, due to their limited availability, are sometimes considered rare, and thus have been sold through third-party sites at a hefty markup. Forbes wrote on the game's forums that Riot found one skin selling for more than $1,000. If you find yourself stuck with a legitimate skin code that you haven't yet redeemed, you have until July 23 to submit a ticket to League of Legends customer support with info verifying authenticity. Visit the skin code FAQ page to learn more. [Image: Riot Games]
Engadget giveaway: win a OnePlus One and custom skins courtesy of dbrand!
We had a chance to test the OnePlus One a couple of months ago and it was one sweet piece of tech. The only downside, really, has been the incredibly limited supply. That's what makes this week's giveaway a bit of a standout. The folks at dbrand happened to have one on hand and they've passed it along so that one lucky Engadget reader can break away from the everyday smartphone crowd. The company has also included 16 of its custom OnePlus One skins to make it even more unique. You can even use the company's interactive preview tools to help personalize a variety of smartphones, tablets and game consoles with dbrand's selection of custom skins. As for the phone, the One boasts a 13-megapixel camera, 64GB of storage and runs CyanogenMod, letting users customize the OS almost as much as the exterior. This is an unlocked global version (supporting LTE, GSM and WCMDA) so users on T-Mobile, AT&T and various other carriers should be good to go. Just head on down to the Rafflecopter widget below for up to three chances at winning this OnePlus One and dbrand skins. Winner: congratulations to Daryl J. of Hudson, OH.
SMITE patch introduces Footballer skins and Hercules revamp
In honor of the upcoming FIFA World Cup, this week's SMITE patch will feature two new football- (soccer-) themed skins for X'balanque: the Jaguar Footballer and Football Star 2014. If you buy the Jaguar Footballer skin before July 12, you get the Football Star 2014 skin for free. In addition, a makeover is in store for Hercules, Champion of Rome. A new official video showcases Hercules' lore, abilities, and gameplay strategies. Check it out, along with one showing off the new X'balanque skins, just after the cut below. [Thanks to Soren for the tip!]
The surprising importance of visual improvement
Before the introduction of transmogrification, I had no idea why anyone wanted it. Back then, I was a pretty involved raider (still am, but probably a step or so less) and almost all of my effort in-game was dedicated towards improving my gear's stats. I didn't give much thought to how it looked. Occasionally I'd make fun of myself for looks like the one above, when I simply couldn't get a hat or shoulders to drop in the first tier of Cataclysm raiding and had to settle for ones from Zul'Gurub or Zul'Aman. I wore them, because they were the best I could get, and every week I cursed the bosses in Blackwing Descent and Bastion of Twilight for not dropping better. But I always thought it was the stats that were important, not the fact that I looked like some demented tauren clown pretending to be a murloc to scare tauren children. It took me a long time to understand how important a feature that allows you to customize your character's look can be to get you invested in that character. My groaning bank and void storage, filled to bursting with transmog items, can certainly attest that I quickly learned that lesson. But it shouldn't have been so surprising to me, considering I played in vanilla -- and back in vanilla, it was the fact that the tier raiding sets were such stark visual improvements that was half the motivation in pursuing them.
Latest Heroes of the Storm blog post details heroes, mounts, and more
Want more information on Blizzard's upcoming MOBA Heroes of the Storm while waiting for your technical alpha invite? The latest blog post dishes details on the availability of heroes, a try-before-you-buy feature, leveling, earning in-game currency, acquiring new skins, and mounts. Every player starts with a basic horse mount. For the free-to-play crowd, five heroes will be available to play each week, with the list rotating every Tuesday. Players can buy other heroes at any time using cash or with in-game gold that is earned after reaching level 5. Various skins with tint slots can also be bought. For more info or to apply for alpha, check out the official site. We've got the video first look of the alpha after the break.
The Slipstopper will help your iPhone get a grip
There aren't many unique iPhone accessories these days, with most cases and skins being improvements over existing designs, but the Slipstopper manages to carve its own small niche. It's probably the most literally named accessory of all time, with its primary function being its ability to prevent your device from slipping, and in that regard it's a pretty impressive product. Design There isn't much to the Slipstopper: It's a thin gel skin that fits to the back of your iPhone via an adhesive backing. The Slipstopper comes in colors to match the various iPhone 5s, 5c and 4s iterations, with a single slot cut out for the camera lens and flash, and a vaguely apple-shaped hole to show off your phone's logo. The package also comes with a screen protector, which is important since the Slipstopper prevents you from equipping your phone with a case, bumper or other skin. Functionality The Slipstopper is remarkably grippy on just about every type of surface you can imagine. I tried it out on a car dashboard, the edge of my couch, various chairs, desks and countertops, and as long as the surface was relatively clean, it was always able to grab on. The key to using the Slipstopper on a glossy or hard surface is to make sure you've brushed any dust aside ahead of time. If not, the sticky skin is just going to grab the dust and slide on down. You don't need to whip out a bottle of cleaner every time, but at least brush the surface with your hand ahead of time. You can remove and replace the Slipstopper several times, or at least I have been able to without issue. The adhesive backing remains sticky through multiple uses so if you happen to replace your phone, you should have no problem swapping it over. Conclusion One thing to remember with the Slipstopper is that while it offers protection for the back of your phone, the sides are very much still at risk of a drop. If you're someone who drops your phone frequently, you might find that a case that offers full coverage is a better bet for you, as you could still conceivably damage your device quite badly with the Slipstopper installed. However, if your biggest gripe about your iDevice is that it can't hang on for dear life when you set it down, the US$19.99 Slipstopper performs admirably. Rating: 3 out of a possible 4 stars
Heroes of the Storm Developer Q&A highlights
Yesterday, Senior Community Development Manager Kevin Johnson sat down with Game Director Dustin Browder and Senior 3D artist Phil Gonzales to answer the community's questions on Blizzard's upcoming Hero Brawler. They covered several key topics, and provided some nuggets of new information. If you'd like to watch the interview in full, you can check out the video on WoW Insider. But let's go through and summarize the key points they covered. This isn't in the order it happened in the video, because it seemed more logical to categorize it by topic. Overall Design and Philosophy It is going to be free-to-play! Beta is not ready yet, they're working to get it out as soon as they can. There isn't an exact date yet. Internal testing is ongoing. One of the biggest defining qualities for Heroes is the importance of the different maps. This is something that separates it from other MOBAs, you'll want to take different heroes and different strategies and so on. Also, there's heroes with extensive lore behind them, that's a hugely important element, and they aren't afraid to challenge any aspect of the design to make it fun.
The time for variant skins is now
With the upcoming character model redesign for Warlords of Draenor, and with no announcement for any new races or classes, a question I've heard asked a lot is is that enough? And while I think it is enough, considering how massive a task it is and how much it will change the game for people, I do think the focus on character models means that now is absolutely the time to introduce another level of character customization. I don't expect (based on what we've seen) to see many new options like a height slider. So I think the old idea to give us variant skins based on sub-groups like the broken draenei, Mag'har orcs, Dark Iron dwarves, Grimtotem tauren and so on should finally become an option. In some cases this would be easier than in others. Giving draenei a playable broken appearance (seen above) would require a lot of work - as you can see, the model is outdated and is even on the wrong skeleton for a draenei. (It's built on top of the current tauren skeleton.) But allowing a player to choose a Dragonmaw, Blackrock or Mag'har orc is as simple as giving them more options in skin tone.
Evil Controllers now offering custom PS4, Xbox One peripherals
Third-party peripheral manufacturer Evil Controllers is now offering customized PS4 and Xbox One controllers through its online store. The store currently holds 18 PS4 controllers, ranging in price from $84.99 to $109.99. Evil Controllers also has seven Xbox One game pads, priced from $89.99 to $109.99. The peripherals are official Xbox One and DualShock 4 controllers, so the buttons, analog sticks and other components won't differ from the game pads Microsoft and Sony pack in with their consoles. There are a few versions of Evil Controllers' modified peripherals that include the custom controller brand's trademark bullet-style buttons, though.
Limited edition League of Legends skins making a comeback
Thirty-four vintage League of Legends champion skins that had been removed from the in-game store will be making a comeback, developer Riot Games has announced. The entire set will be made available over the course of several months, with previously-retired Halloween skins coming this month, Christmas and winter skins in December, Winter Olympics skins in February, and soccer World Cup skins in June. Of the 34 vintage skins, the most common, Bewitching Nidalee, appears once every 971 games in North America. The least common, Ice Toboggan Corki, appears once every 116,586 games in North America. "We think it's important to solve this, especially since we believe skins are primarily about self-expression and fun, not exclusivity," the company stated in its announcement. Players who already own the skins will be compensated in several ways: they'll receive a number of Riot Points equal to the amount they originally paid for the skin, a special visual effect on their champion's image during match loading, and an exclusive summoner icon. To see all the skins which will be re-entering the Fields of Justice, check out the official post. If you have any questions you want to ask Riot regarding the skins, they'll be holding an AMA on Reddit October 15, starting at noon, Pacific.
You can now turn your iPhone into the iFruit from GTA V
Grand Theft Auto V does a great job of skewering modern tech culture, as well as Apple itself, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the "iFruit" smartphones that are seen in the game. Now, with the help of a handy skin from Mobile Fun, you can turn your iPhone 4, 4s, 5 or 5s into an iFruit too. The covering is pretty basic, with the key changes being the name "iFruit" replacing the "iPhone" moniker on your smartphone's backside, along with the fruit bowl logo. The skin is made of vinyl and retails for a reasonable US$12.99. [via Inventor Spot]
Liquipel debuts Skins to protect your phone from physical damage
We've highly regarded Liquipel for its clever "watersafe" nanocoating, which has been known to give phones the same protection from liquids and other materials as an IPX7-certified device. That doesn't prevent physical damage from occurring, however, so the company's announcing Skins, its answer to drops, hammers and plenty of other things that cause blunt force trauma. Even better, Liquipel claims that it requires a three-step dry installation process that doesn't involve squeegees, water bottles or bubbles; once you're done, you'll enjoy a "literal shock absorber" for your trouble. Skins for the iPhone 4S and 5 should be available today for under $20 on the company's site, while the Samsung Galaxy S4 will soon follow (it's currently listed as "out of stock") and other models will be ready in the coming months. Check out the video and press release after the break.
