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How to buy tech gifts for other people’s kids
Gift giving for kids has gotten a lot more complicated over the past two decades or so. Gone are the days when you could just buy a doll or toy truck and know that it would be enjoyed by the child and fairly noncontroversial with the parents. A lot of that recent complication comes from how tech-heavy toys have gotten, from robot kits to drones to AR-enabled playsets. And that's before you even consider video games and consoles like Xbox or PlayStation. When it's your kid it's a little easier: After all, you should know what they like, what they'll take care of and what rules you've set for them. But what about your best friends' kids, your nieces and nephews or young cousins? While there's no silver bullet gift since every kid is different, there are some general guidelines you can follow when purchasing a tech gift for kids, one that won't have the other adults glaring at you or the kids tossing it to the side in favor of something shinier.
The first five 'Call of Duty' esports teams include New York and Paris
Activision Blizzard has announced the first five global cities to take up the Call of Duty esports franchise, at a reported cost of $25 million per team.
'Overwatch' Workshop adds more custom options for heroes and modes
Overwatch fans have long been able to set up custom games (Ana Paintball, anyone?) and now they're getting a lot more options to flex their creative muscles. A new feature called Workshop, a scripting mode for custom games, is live on the PTR.
'Overwatch' travels to Havana for its latest map
Overwatch's Storm Rising brawl kicked off this week in a new locale: Havana. As with last year's edition of the Archives event, which saw the debut of Rialto, Blizzard is bringing its gorgeous take on the Cuban capital to the standard modes. It's the second map to join the team shooter this year, following Paris.
The FTC will hold a public workshop on loot boxes in August
The Federal Trade Commission pledged in November to investigate loot boxes, and it's set out the timeline for the first steps in the process. It will hold a public workshop on August 7th to look into consumer protection issues linked with them.
ESPN's college esports show debuts tonight at 9 PM ET
The line between esports and other competitions continues to blur, and the latest sign is a new show from ESPN that's about to air. College Esports Championship: Countdown will run every week, starting tonight at 9 PM ET. It's all leading up to the very first ESPN Collegiate Esports Championship (CEC) in May, as various schools compete in Overwatch, Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, Hearthstone, StarCraft II and Heroes of the Storm. Viewers can watch on ESPN3, as well as Twitch, YouTube and Twitter. The show will be hosted by Alex "Goldenboy" Mendez and LeTigress, as they cover the week's collegiate esports action and its growing presence on campuses. It's not quite the March Madness you're used to, but who knows, maybe one day students will be standing behind esports commentators holding weird signs supporting their university. A YouTube stream for the show is embedded below.
Philadelphia Fusion will open the first US arena built for esports
The Overwatch League's Philadelphia Fusion will build a $50 million esports arena to host its matches and is expected to be playing in the new building by early 2021. The 3,500 seat arena will be notable as it's the first dedicated, purpose-built stadium for esports in the Western Hemisphere. (By comparison, the esports arena in Arlington, TX was a repurposed section of the city's convention center.) Comcast, which owns the Philadelphia Fusion, plans to break ground on the 47-acre site this summer. The Fusion Arena will be located in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, which is already home to the city's NFL, NBA, NHL, and NCAA teams.
'Overwatch' endorsements reduced toxic behavior by 40 percent
Blizzard has been waging a war against toxic players for a while, but how is it faring, exactly? Quite well, it seems. The company's Natasha Miller has revealed that the number of matches with "negative behavior" has dropped 40 percent since the addition of endorsements, the "looking for group" feature and penalties for prematurely quitting matches. Players were not only encouraged to play as a team and stick through the entirety of matches, but could find teammates who were more likely to complement their skills and gameplay styles.
Battle medic Baptiste officially joins 'Overwatch'
Overwatch has a new entrant: support medic Baptiste. After a couple of months of battle-testing on the game's public server, the newbie is now live with the latest patch. Not only does the Haitian add a dose of diversity to the online shooter, but he also brings his own unique loadout and skill set, including a three-round burst gun that doubles as a long-distance healing device for protecting allies. Baptiste also packs some rugged kicks that let him leap over obstacles and the ability to generate an immortality field to protect nearby teammates.
Overwatch League teams will play in their home cities next season
The Overwatch League is going on the road next season, as all teams will be playing in their home cities, according to commissioner Nate Nanzer. Last year's inaugural season took place entirely at the Blizzard Arena in Los Angeles, save for the finals, which were held in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. In 2019, a few "homestand" events will take place with teams competing in Dallas, Atlanta and LA (at a different venue).
'Overwatch' healer Baptiste debuts on March 19th
Baptiste, the Haitian combat medic who grew up an orphan, will make his Overwatch debut next week. The game announced on Twitter that Baptiste would be coming out on March 19th. Last month, we learned some details about Baptiste in a revealing trailer and letter, and he's been playable on the game's public test server ever since.
The next 'Overwatch' hero is a battle-scarred combat medic
Overwatch fans only have a handful of options for healers, but they're about to get one more. Blizzard has revealed that the game's next hero is Baptiste, a Haitian combat medic who grew up an orphan during the Omnic Wars and learned hard lessons about helping others and choosing sides. There are precious few details in the preview, but an earlier teaser letter hinted that Baptiste's hallmark is an "adaptability to new situations." He may be closer to Ana (who can play an offensive role in a pinch) than more support-oriented heroes like Mercy and Zenyatta.
'Overwatch' action figures and Monopoly are coming this spring
Hasbro is about to give you many, many ways to flaunt your Overwatch fandom beyond the occasional Nerf gun. It's launching a series of toys and games themed around the character-driven shooter, including Monopoly Overwatch Collector's Edition. The $50 board game turns maps into properties, cards into loot boxes and player pieces into familiar characters like D.Va and Winston. However, that's really just the start of the collection -- the action figures in particular stand out.
Overwatch League's premium pass wasn't ready for its debut
If you tuned into opening night of Overwatch League's second season, you likely noticed some changes to the production from last year. For instance, each player's status bar at the top of the screen handily shows when a hero is hacked, stunned or firing off their ultimate ability. The biggest update for 2019, though, is the Command Center spectator option on Twitch, which lets you switch between the main broadcast stream, pros' perspectives and an overhead map whenever you like. However, the Command Center, which costs $15 for the season as part of an All-Access Pass, faced plenty of teething issues on opening night.
Overwatch League lets fans choose how to watch the action for $15
The second season of Blizzard's Overwatch League (OWL) kicks off in a couple of weeks, and this time around, fans have far more flexibility in how they can watch matches on Twitch. Following the success of a tool that let viewers check out the Overwatch World Cup finals from any angle, you'll be able to view OWL matches from more perspectives than in the past.
'Overwatch' heads to Paris in latest map
The newest Overwatch map replaces team-chat whine with fine wine. The Paris map is live right now for PC players in the PTR program, allowing battles to break out along the Seine. It's an Assault map, and it features a few notable spots, including a cabaret, bakery and a grand palace in the heart of the city. After some time in PTR, it'll hit PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC for all players.
Overwatch League will air on live TV in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
The new season of Overwatch League (OWL) will be broadcast live on pay TV channel ESports1 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland starting February 14th. The newly-announced deal between Blizzard and German broadcaster Sport1 -- which recently launched ESports1 as a dedicated eSports channel -- spans two years and also hands it the rights to the Overwatch World Cup and digital card game Hearthstone.
Blizzard hopes to improve the quality of 'Overwatch' esports chats
Blizzard isn't just interested in improving the professionalism of its players... it wants to improve the experience for the audience, too. The developer is testing a chat moderation system for its Overwatch Contenders feeder league that will require linking your chat in the Twitch channel to your Battle.net account. While it's not clear how this will clean things up, it's implied that unruly behavior in Twitch chat could have ramifications for your Battle.net standing. You'll want to be polite while you cheer on would-be pros, then.
Blizzard announces player discipline tracker for Overwatch League
The upcoming 2019 season of the Overwatch League will include a new wrinkle designed to help keep track of penalties handed down to players for bad behavior. Blizzard announced the launch of a discipline tracker that will list all infractions committed by Overwatch League gamers and any punishment enacted against them. Seven players have already been penalized according to the tracker, even though league play isn't scheduled to start until February 14th, 2019.
Overwatch League events expand beyond LA in 2019
To date, Overwatch League matches have taken place in Blizzard's own venue in Los Angeles. It's a special experience, but likely off-limits if you live on the other side of the continent or another country. For the 2019 season, though, you might not have to travel quite so far... or travel at all. Blizzard has announced that the new season will include home games in the form of Homestand Weekend series. Atlanta Reign, Dallas Fuel and LA Valiant fans can watch their teams play as part of a series of matches in two-day events.
