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Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2 Bazaar of the Four Winds patch primer
In continuing with its two-week content release cadence, ArenaNet is set to launch the Bazaar of the Four Winds patch today in Guild Wars 2. Yesterday, we teased the new features, but today I want to talk more in-depth about my experiences during the preview event this past weekend. The Bazaar of the Four Winds features a ridiculously beautiful zone called the Labyrinthine Cliffs, where players can trade wares with some unusual and shady vendors. The Zephyrites have docked their floating airship, the Zephyr Sanctum, and seek terrestrial supplies from the land-dwelling inhabitants. Sun, moon, and lightning adepts are scattered around the new area and are eager to teach players special movement powers, which are locked inside sky crystals. These movement skills will allow players to reach special areas in a vertical scavenger hunt and compete with each other in a race called the Sanctum Sprint.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Revamping rewards in Guild Wars 2
ArenaNet has improved the reward systems in Guild Wars 2 this year by adding new features such as world vs. world skill trees, laurel and guild merit vendors, and better loot for world boss encounters. However, many players still feel that there should be more tangible incentives urging them to log in each day and engage in the content that they enjoy. Fortunately, Colin Johanson agrees and has taken to the forums several times to tease an upcoming reward revamp for all areas of the game. This redesign involves adding rewards for hitting certain thresholds of achievement points, creating more uses for blue and green items, and making fighting champion-level creatures more worthwhile. This month, we should expect to hear more about ArenaNet's plans for the second half of 2013, akin to the road map laid out back in January. While we wait for the official word, check out the video edition of the Flameseeker Chronicles for some loot-themed speculation.
Flameseeker Chronicles: The history of weapon and armor skins in Guild Wars 2
The Sky Pirates of Tyria game update for Guild Wars 2 launches today, and if you haven't checked out our video preview, there's no time like the present to catch up. Along with a smattering of in-game activities for players to experience, ArenaNet has added three new armor skins to the gem store. The Aetherblade armor sets will be the first light, medium, and heavy skins to hit the gem store since the game's launch last August, and unlike town clothing, these steampunk-themed items can be worn in combat. Many fans will also appreciate that this new gear is available for direct purchase and not offered as a rare drop from a gambling chest. Guild Wars 2 players realize that ArenaNet needs the financial support of its gem store to sustain the game for years to come. But there has been a rash of negative feedback lately whenever a new weapon skin is offered as a rare drop from a gem store purchase. Whether we like it or not, however, randomizing the contents of a product has been proven to increase profits since the days of baseball cards. In this week's video edition of the Flameseeker Chronicles, I dissect the weapon and armor skin offerings in Guild Wars 2 since launch and analyze the various methods ArenaNet has used to distribute them. Have the gem store weapons been distributed most often through random loot boxes, direct purchases, or through in-game activities? Let's investigate.
Ronimo celebrates a year of Awesomenauts, with more on the way
Ronimo Games has shared this video on the first anniversary of its latest title Awesomenauts, featuring a look at all of the game's iterations over its history. From early alpha builds to the release version and then the various skins and updates, you can watch the awesomeness increase in front of your eyes. Ronimo promises more is coming to the world of Awesomenauts. Update 1.18 is currently in testing, and it will add a balance overhaul and a Leon Pirate skin into the game that will replace all of that character's audio. Admiral Swiggins, the winning character from the "Design Your Own Awesomenaut" contest, is also set to release soon.
SMITE unveils Ne Zha with a video preview
Are you ready to jump into SMITE's deific battles with a new god? Then you'll be happy to know that the game has just added its 34th god, Ne Zha. The Third Lotus Prince gets to show off his stuff in the video preview located just past the break. On the battlefield, Ne Zha acts as a melee assassin, with abilities to enhance his melee damage and pull himself to a distant target as needed. He also has a ranged ability to add a stacking resistance debuff and a passive ability that turns a dead Ne Zha into a healing beacon for nearby allies. As usual, the video closes out with some demonstrations of what Ne Zha can do in various combat scenarios. Ne Zha's addition also sees the inclusion of integrated streaming into the SMITE client, with a special skin available to players who stream more than 5000 minutes of the game. Check out the full list of changes on the official patch notes.
Switched On: Extreme takeover, Home edition
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Facebook's management doesn't see any dichotomy in the phrase, "Go big or go home," at least as far as it might pertain to Facebook Home. After being dogged for years with questions about whether the Land o' Likes would create its own smartphone despite consistent denials, the company explained that its own phone wouldn't give it the reach it would need for its more than 1 billion members. With the exceptions of the iPhone and the Galaxy S series, a successful handset today might sell 20 million units. That's a number that many services would dream of reaching, but it's just one-fiftieth of Facebook's user base. And yet, Facebook Home will start out factory-installed on only one device: the HTC First, a mid-range Android device available exclusively from AT&T. Home is also available as a download from Google Play for a handful of other popular Android handsets, including the Galaxy S III.
Gears of War: Judgment trailer opens up a few prizeboxes
Gears of War: Judgment launches tomorrow and as become the norm, a variety of pre-order items and other unlockables are on offer – both in-game and through this summary video.
Minecraft Halloween Skin Pack hell-raised $770K for charity
The Minecraft Halloween Skin Pack racked up a total of $770,448 for charities, developer 4J Studios revealed today. All proceeds from the spooky add-on, sold on Xbox Live for a month at 160 MSP ($2), are being split between the Block by Block, SANDS Lothians, Child's Play, and Macmillan Cancer Support charities. Based on the price, the figure suggests roughly 385,000 players bought the pack, making it a veritable graveyard smash.4J Studios is hard at work on further Minecraft updates. The next in line, Title Update 7, includes among other things experience points and animal breeding, while Title Update 8 features The End and its Ender Dragon boss.
Minecraft XBLA gets a pack full of skins for Halloween
"The Minecraft Halloween skin pack" sounds like a disgusting bag filled with blocky bits of flesh. The real Minecraft XBLA skins are almost as gross, but in a more charming, less messy way.The Halloween skin pack includes 55 new, creepy character designs donated by developers around the world, and it runs 160 MS Points ($2). All of the proceeds benefit four charities chosen by Mojang, 4J Studios and Microsoft Studios. Bonus side note: For the first time in Minecraft XBLA's history, some of the skins feature capes.The Halloween skin pack goes on sale on October 26 and will be available through November 26, the day following the end of Minecon 2012 at Disneyland Paris. Do the creep-ah.
MediaPortal posts new beta with new look and CableCARD, teases bigger sequel (video)
MediaPortal is a rare veteran spinoff of XBMC -- a testament to its fan base, but also a sign that it needs a fresh coat of paint. A new 1.3 beta might offer just what home theater PC users have been looking for to keep the front end relevant, at least in the short term. It carries a much more contemporary (and less Windows Media Center-like) skin with minor tweaks to the layout and overall interface. CableCARD support also makes its overdue appearance, although the lack of official CableLabs approval keeps the software from recognizing any copy-protected shows. Don't fret if those additions aren't enough, however -- we've been given a hint as to what the long-in-development MediaPortal 2 will offer through a pair of videos. The clips are largely top-level overviews, but they allude to mobile tie-ins, events, extensions, more skin support, video backgrounds and news. With an Autumn Build of MP2 available "right around the corner" for viewers, it might not be long before we learn what those new additions are like through first-hand experience.
XBLA Minecraft's 'Skin Pack 3' features Half-Life and Awesomenauts skins
In addition to the recent 1.8.2 update for the Xbox Live version of Minecraft, there's even more content showing up soon. Specifically, a third character skin pack is set to come to the popular sandbox game. Like the first two packs, this one will contain quite a few new skins for Minecraft characters from other media, including content based on the Half-Life series and Awesomenauts. Sure, you could dig a hole as a dwarf, but why do that when you could do the same thing as a headcrab zombie?There's no information yet, unfortunately, on when the update or the skin pack are coming out; both still need to finish going through Microsoft's certification system. But we'll expect to hear from Mojang and Microsoft as soon as the skins are ready for purchase -- probably in just a few days from now.
Huawei shows off early version of Emotion UI for Android, packs a 'stock' skin too (hands-on)
Huawei didn't have any new hardware to show during its packed press conference, but it did have an early version of its Emotion UI skin for Android devices. Aiming to make its smartphone experience a little gentler for first-timers, while offering up a slightly different flavor of Google's OS, Huawei's been polling its customers, running user experience salons and meeting regular groups of between 40 - 70 consumers to understand what was working -- and what was definitely not. To this end, the company's "driven [itself] crazy" by keeping to a tight schedule and releasing iterative updates every two weeks (at least for beta) and monthly for stable builds. %Gallery-163873%
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron demo available next week, now for GameStop preorders
If you've been waiting to get your hands on the latest Transformers title, the wait is nearly over. Activision has announced that the Transformers: Fall of Cybertron demo should be arriving on Xbox Live and PSN on July 31. Players who download it will be able to play through two single-player missions (High Moon Studios has been showing off two missions starring Bumblebee and Grimlock at various events recently, so odds are it's those two), as well as dip into multiplayer and the in-depth customization system.And if that's even too long for you, you can preorder the game at GameStop. Customers who preorder the game there are getting access to the demo as soon as, well, now. Imagine this one in your best Peter Cullen voice: Autobots, roll out!
Minecraft XBLA Skin Pack also includes Master Chief
What cavalcade of Minecraft skins would be complete without everyone's favorite cyborg? Play XBLA revealed Master Chief as one of the 40 different skins coming to Minecraft on Xbox Live Arcade.As you can see above, Master Chief isn't the only recognizable blockhead in the group. Skin Pack 1 also includes Danklef, a scientist from 'Splosion Man, and Old-School Trials Evolution Guy.%Gallery-159877%
More Minecraft XBLA skins include Ms. Splosion Man, Banjo
Five more of those 40 upcoming skins for the XBLA version of Minecraft have been revealed in all their pixelated glory. Jack of Blades, Clayton Carmine, Banjo, Ms. Splosion Man and a prisoner will all be working towards building a better, blockier tomorrow, as seen in the gallery after the jump.
Minecraft XBLA character skin pack features a few favorites
Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition is getting a DLC pack with 40 character skins, set to drop around the same time as title update 1.7.3, which entered Microsoft certification today. Some of the skins are originals, while five of them in particular are based on popular Xbox franchises.The character pack will include Creeper, 'Splosion Man, Trials dude, Covenant Grunt and King skins, all of which you can see above. Shh, though – don't tell the 'Splosion Man skin that he just looks like a naked dude with jaundice.
Huawei's Emotion UI for Ice Cream Sandwich devices starts rolling out in China
We knew its arrival was imminent, and it looks like the time to shine for Huawei's Emotion UI is right about now -- well, at least in areas near the Great Wall. To celebrate its official debut, the company's launched a new website where it goes into nearly every detail about its novel Android skin, touting fresh features such as a voice assistant, smart contact finder, customizable fonts, smart triggers and an all-new chat application that's very reminiscent of Cupertino's iMessage or Samsung's ChatOn. Unfortunately, the Emotion UI overlay is only available to Huawei devices -- that are running Ice Cream Sandwich -- in China, but word has it coming to the US of A and Europe once the outfit's upcoming Ascend D Quad finally hits the shelves. Update: As it turns out, our dear friends from Engadget Chinese have pointed out that Huawei's website is listing the updates as "coming soon" and "ROM developing," meaning the Emotion UI isn't quite making its way to devices just yet.
Halo 4 pre-order bonuses include Deadeye helmet, Web armor skins
If Master Chief were a superhero in the Marvel universe, he'd probably be called Space-Man and his armor would have seen dozens of disparate artistic interpretations over the years, from 1940s Americana to bloodthirsty zombie. He could have even looked like a melted candy cane, just as he does in one of the Halo 4 pre-order bonus skins revealed for EB Games, Play and Amazon today.EB Games (Canada) has camo-style battle rifle and festive armor suit skins, Amazon gets the "Web" armor skin and Play puts Master Chief in the "Deadeye" helmet skin. GameStop also lists a pre-order bonus, the "Forest" armor skin, but hasn't yet provided an image.
LG shows off UI 3.0 for Ice Cream Sandwich devices, says it's 'unobtrusive and simple'
Love them or hate them, those ubiquitous Android skins aren't going anywhere any time soon. Now the latest one to make an entrance to the overlay game is LG's UI 3.0, which the Korean outfits says will make the overall experience of its handsets easier, speedier and "more convenient." The new UI brings features such as a novel drag anywhere-style lock screen, an Icon Customizer for setting your own photos as icons / shortcuts, a revamped Pattern Lock that lets you preset apps for quicker launch and a Voice Shutter trait for taking snaps via voice commands -- à la Sammy S Voice. UI 3.0 is set to make its debut next week with the launch of LG's Optimus LTE II in Korea, while the Optimus 4X HD will also come sporting the fresh skin once it launches in June.
TERA Europe offers bonus items and skins to prepurchase customers
What with all the hullabaloo about TERA Europe's sex-and-violence-reducing changes to the game, some European players have professed to having second thoughts about whether or not to actually purchase the action-focused title. Frogster, the game's European publisher, announced today a new promotion for players who have purchased (or plan to purchase prior to launch) the European version of TERA. To get in on the promotion, players must have purchased the full version of TERA (not the mini pre-order version, which can be upgraded to the full or collector's edition) prior to the game's May 2nd launch. Any players who fall into that category will be rewarded with the Legendary Legacy item package, which includes an exclusive weapon skin for each class, plus three accessories: a pirate eye-patch, a pirate face-mask, and... a pair of horn-rimmed glasses? What is this, sexy pirate librarian cosplay? At any rate, for the full details, head on over and check out the official post at the TERA EU official site.
