sharpshooter
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Blizzard is trying to patent ‘Overwatch’ highlight replays
The Play of the Game highlight at the end of Overwatch is arguably one of the best bits of the game. Now, nearly two years after starting the application process, Blizzard has finally confirmed it wants to patent it. Submitted in December 2016 and made public just two weeks ago, the patent describes the algorithm behind the feature, which lead designer Jeff Kaplan described last year as being "about 70 percent of where we want Play of the Game to be."
Assassin's Creed 3 'Sharpshooter' available through NOS energy drink
Assassin's Creed 3's Sharpshooter multiplayer character is going to require a NOS Energy Drink investment. Until January 31, 2013, the only way to obtain the Sharpshooter for AC3 is by purchasing a can of NOS and entering the code under the tab at the drinknos.com site.The Sharpshooter requires only one NOS point to unlock, much like a similar promotion last year for Batman: Arkham City's Batman Beyond skin. Turns out AC3 and Batman have more in common than just their combat systems.
DARPA calls on Cubic Corporation to develop frighteningly accurate One Shot XG sniper rifle
Sighting in a target through the scope of a high-caliber rifle can be a bit more complicated than it sounds -- snipers have to account for cross-winds, range and a whole host of external factors that could put their projectile off course. It isn't easy, and the required calculations can seriously slow down a shooter's time to trigger. The solution? High tech laser-equipped sniper scopes, of course. DARPA has actually been working on this problem for quite some time, and calls its' project One Shot. Previous iterations of the targeting system helped shooters increase their chance of hitting their mark by a factor of four, but suffered from short battery life, range finder accuracy errors and overheating problems. DARPA is putting its faith into Cubic Corporation to overcome these faults, awarding the firm with a $6 million contract to develop a "compact observation, measurement and ballistic calculation system" that it calls the One Shot XG. Like its predecessors, the XG is designed to give the shooter a offset aim point to counteract the environmental conditions that would impact bullet trajectory. DARPA is hoping to see ten weapon or scope-mountable field devices within 15 months. Consider this fair warning, Segway bots.
Star Wars: The Old Republic Q&A talks story, balance, and species experimentation
Another installment of BioWare's weekly ritual of enlightening the masses is up! The first question of this week's community Q&A touched on the selection of races available in Star Wars: The Old Republic. If the future introduction of the Cathar is successful, the team would like to introduce a broader spectrum of species for player characters, balancing things out by adding "clear positives and negatives" for playable species. On the story side of things, lead writer Alex Freed addressed a question about the timing of storylines. Class stories have roughly the same timing across the board, but aren't completely in-step, while world stories are split up by faction and can have much more significant time differences. For the most part, it's best not to worry too much about ordering individual world events unless they actively reference one another--and if they contradict one another, you can assume that we won't be writing future stories that depend on one faction's participation at the exclusion of the other. Senior designer Austin Peckenpaugh tackled some class and skill questions. Recent patches have made some fairly substantial changes to the Marksmanship and Sharpshooter trees; Peckenpaugh says these tweaks are intended to bring the specs closer to the team's original vision and encourage playstyles better fit to the peculiarities of those trees. He also talked about the delicate balance of player control and kiting and anti-kiting in the game. He says that "given the amount of skills and abilities that break and cleanse roots and snares at the moment," the team is not "very concerned" about the possibility of chainable roots.
New PS3 and PS Move bundles leaked by box manufacturer, Black Friday deal evidently in tow (update)
There may be a healthy selection of new PlayStation kits coming your way in the near future. Images of unannounced bundle boxes have surfaced over at Slickdeals, courtesy of Scream777, who claims to work at a package production facility that makes 'em. Those include a previously unknown Mayhem Edition PS Move kit with a Sharpshooter peripheral and the newest Resistance and Killzone titles, while a Complete Entertainment Bundle packs a 160GB PS3 Slim with a free month of PlayStation Plus and the latest Little Big Planet and Ratchet and Clank. Gaming blog Gimme Gimme Games claims that the CEB will be $250, with Scream777 noting that its order invoice lists it as a Black Friday special. Adding credence to the leak, said poster also threw in box shots of the 320GB Uncharted 3 bundle and Goldeneye 007: Reloaded Sharpshooter set -- both of which are currently available for pre-order. Here's to hoping it all proves true, but in the meantime, you'll find more details in the links below. Update: We've received a few comments noting the typo of "stereoscopic" on the box. While all of the pictures in the source do seem like they could be valid (as we mentioned, the latter two can currently be pre-ordered), it's certainly worth raising an eyebrow to.
PlayStation Move peripheral(s) knocked down 50% 'while supplies last'
If that headline caught your attention, we'll assume you've been waiting for just such a deal before dedicating a chunk of your gaming budget to Sony's motion peripheral(s). GameStop is offering 50% off the Move Motion Controller, the Move Navigation Controller, the Move Charging Station, and the Move SharpShooter. That means you can snag the Move/Nav combo for under $50 with shipping, depending on your local tax! The discount doesn't seem to apply to in-store pickups, and it's only good until October 2 or "while supplies last." Something tells us the latter will happen before the former, so get clicking. If games are more your thing, GameStop also has about a dozen Move titles on fire sale for $9.99.
PlayStation Move Sharpshooter hands-on: a first-party SMG peripheral coming in February
This isn't the first PlayStation Move peripheral to replicate a firearm, but the Sharpshooter is brought to you by Sony itself, so you expect a higher degree of quality than from the third-party deluge. And if you're the sort who like to accessorize, it's a pretty good offering. We had a chance to check it out this morning over a brief round of Killzone 3, which Sony says was the inspiration (along with the upcoming SOCOM). Overall, it's pretty light and sturdy. The Move controller slides into the front, and the buttons then become mapped around the gun: RL is under the grip, the Move button is just under the trigger, start and select rest on opposite sides of the barrel, and Square / Triangle are mirrored above the trigger, making it easier to reach regardless whether you're right- or left-handed. There's a cradle under the stock for the Navigation Controller to rest, the butt is adjustable, and the top has a mount for a scope (no details on that peripheral of a peripheral). There's additionally a lock button and what seems like burst-fire mode that won't be used by Killzone 3; the reps told us they spoke with various other developers to make sure the accessory fit their needs as well but couldn't elaborate more. So, how did it handle? We'll say the buttons were all easy to get to, but this accessory is fundamentally not for us. Having to move the entire submachine gun (or your whole body, as it were) to aim felt more unwieldy than simply twisting a wrist like you would with the first-party Shooting attachment (or the Move controller by its lonesome). Speaking of which, the Sharpshooter is lacking in retro aesthetic, something we really liked in the "1950s laser pistol" replica that came out last month. We get the feeling this wasn't made with us in mind, anyway. Sharpshooter should hit store shelves in February (same month as Killzone 3) for a penny under $40. Looking for something more traditional? A jungle green DualShock 3 is also coming in February for $55. Press release after the break. %Gallery-110228% %Gallery-110247%
Sharpshooter lets you rename newly taken screenshots
Do you like using Mac OS X's built-in screenshot key commands? If you do, chances are that you don't like the files that it outputs on your desktop: "Picture 1.png"? What was I thinking when I took this screenshot? What is the screenshot of? If these questions bother you, then you might like Sharpshooter. Sharpshooter is an application that chimes in when you take a screenshot using command + shift +3 and gives you options for setting the file name, save location, and the format. You can even move the screenshot directly to the trash. Overall, Sharpshooter looks like an awesome addition to any Mac OS X system in which users are constantly dealing with screenshots using the built-in utility. Sharpshooter is available from the developer's website for an introductory price (until October 2008) for $12 US. Regular price is $15. A free 30-day trial is also available.
