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ArcheAge patches in Divine Gifts and land expansion certs today
Following today's ArcheAge patch you'll want to keep a close eye on the bottom left of the game's UI. You'll see a little icon light up to indicate that you have a new gift awaiting you, and then... you get free stuff. That's it. That's all you have to do. The newest patch will offer these Divine Gifts to players regularly, allowing you to open as many as 10 in a given day for rewards like Lunarites, bonus food, and Hereafter Stones. Players will also be able to craft land expansion certificates (which will also be available from the Marketplace in a future update) and larger storage chests. That's in addition to new rewards for maxing skill trees and new portals leading directly to Serpentis and the Sea of Drowned Love. Whatever your focus is in ArcheAge, you'll have plenty of opportunity to take part in it when today's patch goes live.
Engadget's back to school guide 2013: fun stuff!
Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! Today, we're talking fun stuff. Head to the back to school hub to see the rest of the product guides as we add them throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back; in early September, we'll be giving away a ton of gear, including some of the picks in our guides. If we may paraphrase a tried-and-true saying, all work and no play makes one a very dull boy or girl. While laptops, tablets and smartphones are all essential pieces of study-time equipment, it's important to remember to cut loose and have a little fun every once in a while. To beat the midterm blues, check out top gadget picks below the break.
LCD and E-ink dual-screen prototypes show up at IFA, one vendor already said to be on board
Well hells bells, it was only yesterday that the idea of an e-ink / LCD screen mash-up device was the stuff of patent dreams, and now it's a reality. The chaps at Stuff were shown the prototype handsets at a closed meeting at IFA, as expected with a regular screen on one side, and the e-reader-style display on the other. E-ink was apparently tight lipped about possible vendor interest, but they did confirm that one firm was working with the concept already. We're not about to make any leaps, but if we'd applied for the patent, we'd also want first dibs.
Enjoying the spoils of progress
I enjoy a lot of aspects of World of Warcraft, and one of those aspects is the actual playing of the game. I like combat, whether I am tanking or DPS, the active working through of encounters and even the unfolding of trash pulls. I like learning what new mechanics do, how fights unfold and how they can be successfully completed. I love all of that -- but what I also love is the period after mastering content. I shamelessly admit it here. I love when content goes on farm. I was ecstatic as Firelands went from hard to easy. I love feeling my gear improve, seeing my DPS or health go up, looking at my avoidance and mitigation and realizing that yes, I actually can get passive unhittable just through gear. (I'll miss that when the two-roll combat system comes out.) I like going back, months down the road, and tearing Baleroc in half like wet tissue paper. Remember me? Part of this is simply because I like WoW best when I'm killing stuff. I don't like to sit idle in Stormwind or Orgrimmar, and I'm not terribly moved to stand around hawking my crafting wares or playing the Auction House. These are fine activities, to be sure, but they're most certainly not what I like to do in the game. No, the reason I played seven years ago is the reason I play now, because I like to hit things in the face with the largest possible things I can. And taking their stuff -- I mustn't forget how much I like taking their stuff.
Phat Loot Phriday: Tattered Hexcloth Sack
For our last piece of Phat Loot before the huge influx of Wrath items onto the live realms, we're going utilitarian, with the easiest big bag you can get these days.Name: Tattered Hexcloth SackType: 20 slot bagArmor: N/AAbilities: Has 20 slots, holds your stuff. You might laugh that we're including a bag in phat loot, but let this be a lesson to you: the bigger the bags you can get, the better your character will do. The more you can hold, the more money you can make, and the more money you have, the better items you'll have overall, which means your character will be better. The best thing you can do for a character in terms of making money is get bags as big as possible, period. It looks like Blizzard is topping off the bag space around 20, too -- while there are a few 22-slot bags floating around in Wrath, and there are a few other 20 slot bags just like this one to get, we're not seeing the huge increase in bag space than we saw near the end of the Burning Crusade. Then again, once Wrath has a content patch or two under its belt, maybe we'll see bag slots jump up again. Plus, if you haven't run Zul'Aman yet, you should, it's a great instance. %Gallery-33600%
Stuff brings new Guitar Hero: World Tour tracks
It seems to us a strange choice of a publication, but apparently Stuff Magazine (UK edition) has secured an exclusive feature on the upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour. Apparently, the article features nine confirmed tracks along with five additional confirmed artists but with no specific song listing. Some of the tracks have been known for some time, but there are five new songs and three new artists announced. Who are they? We got a list for you after the jump, courtesy of our friends over at Joystiq:[Via Joystiq]
Stuff magazine reveals Guitar Hero World Tour tracks
For those about to rock, we present you with tracks from the upcoming Guitar Hero World Tour. Stuff's online site shows that the latest issue of the magazine has Guitar Hero: World Tour featured, revealing tracks and artists from the upcoming game (some confirmed previously, some new). So, what are these tracks that are revealed? Head past the break for the info.%Gallery-23491%
Stuff Magazine reveals new Guitar Hero World Tour tracks
Ready to "beat it" with fire-lit butterfly wings? (Note to self: That came out wrong.) The latest issue of Stuff Magazine (via Guitar Hero Community) has a Guitar Hero World Tour preview, which lists nine confirmed tracks and five more confirmed artists. Although we already knew a few of those songs, five of them are new, including The Doors' "Light My Fire," Smashing Pumpkins' "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" and -- yes, really -- Michael Jackson's "Beat It." Additionally, two of the listed artists with "unknown" track contributions already have confirmed songs (Foo Fighters' "Everlong" and Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher"). Newcomers include Muse, Beastie Boys and Nirvana. We've compiled a list of confirmed GHWT tracks after the break.
DS Daily: Bonus GET
We hinted in the Phoenix Wright covers post that we're completely in the thrall of the preorder bonus. Sometimes, a free thing that we don't really want will help tip the scales in favor of buying a game. We were totally going to get Gyakuten Saiban 3 anyway, but now we're feeling more pressure to get our preorder in expediently. Have you felt this way? Are you drawn to free stuff that isn't really that great, because it's free, and because it's got pictures of characters from games you like? Does it influence your decision to purchase the game? Really cool stuff we understand, but we're talking about a 'meh' bonus that drives you to change your purchasing habits. We'll put it another way: Who's got the Pokemon stylus holder?
Capcom wins at packaging
This is simply the coolest limited-edition box in recent memory. Forget the European Resident Evil 4 box. This Japanese Biohazard box is the business. For 3,675 yen, which is a suspiciously low $30, you get an awesome 20-DVD-capacity Umbrella Corporation biohazard storage box (itself inside an Umbrella Corporation shipping box), two keys, warning tags, and caution tape to seal it up. With a case this cool, who even needs a game? You could always buy this and RE4 Wii Edition and build your own limited edition set.[Via The Tanooki]
Breakfast topic: Can I have your stuff?
Let's face it, one day we're all going to stop playing World of Warcraft. Sure, maybe that day is later for some of us than others (the phrase "pry it out of my cold, dead hands" comes to mind), but whether it's to a new game, a new relationship, or any of a multitude of reasons, our time with WoW will come to a close. What I'm curious about is what you all plan on doing when you go. Will you give away all your hard earned loot, or maybe even your account? Will you make a video of removing all your gear and deleting your toon? Will you just let it expire and sit on a shelf somewhere? I've seen people in my guild leave the game before, but more often than not they come back to it after a few months. I've never actually known anyone to do anything shocking, or give away large sums of gold. Well, there was that one guildie near the end of beta who gave me 20g, but that doesn't count. Share your personal vision of what you want to happen when you leave WoW, and any stories you may have of people who've left the game and what they did, in the comments below.
Japanese hardware sales, Feb. 12 - Feb. 18: Cool stuff edition
Perhaps naught ever changes in the land of the rising sun, but this week felt especially mired in consistency. Christmas-colored arrows would tell you otherwise, but in fact the only changes in rank were the Game Boy Micro and the GBA SP swapping out the number seven and eight slots, respectively.So, what to do without our usual fountain of inspiration from which to draw? Part of our jobs include scouring the internet for days, nay, weeks straight, searching far and wide for things to make you, our readers, feel cool and well-informed. In our trek across digital lands we find many awesome things that may not relate to the Wii directly, and yet, we wished we could share them with you regardless. Now's our chance! You may have seen these three web-gems before, but for those who haven't, we do hope you enjoy. Now click that "Continue reading" link. Do it. - DS Lite: 136,846 64,331 (31.98%)- Wii: 63,618 14,932 (19.01%) - PSP: 34,505 2,330 (7.24%) - PS3: 20,676 2,755 (11.76%) - PS2: 16,192 159 (0.99%) - Xbox 360: 5,210 399 (8.29%) - Game Boy Micro: 953 69 (7.81%) - GBA SP: 843 137 (13.98%) - Gamecube: 347 36 (9.40%) - DS Phat: 153 32 (26.45%) - GBA: 40 4 (11.11%)[Source: Media Create]
Stuff magazine promotes Wii-kini sports
In a move that one would expect from the folks at Stuff magazine, they decided that Wii Sports: Bowling just wasn't interesting enough. Their solution? Get a hot chick in a bikini to play it and film the whole thing, obviously! Keep in mind that some employers could consider this video NSFW, so watch the embedded video past the post break at your own risk.
