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Apple dropped the price on several expensive Mac upgrades
Apple's iMac updates weren't the only changes the company made today. With less fanfare, it also lowered the cost of SSD upgrades for the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini. It lowered the cost to upgrade the 2013 Mac Pro RAM, too. These changes were first spotted by MacRumors. While they make the priciest SSD upgrades less expensive, the more reasonable upgrades -- the ones most people might actually buy -- haven't changed.
Microsoft: No more Windows 10 upgrades for some Atom-based PCs
Everyone knows that technology goes obsolete quickly, but Microsoft and Intel are taking that tenet too far for some folks. Owners of three- to four-year-old "Clover Trail" Atom-based PCs like the HP Envy X2 laptop noticed that they were unable to upgrade to the latest version of Windows 10 Creators Update. Instead, they were greeted with a message saying "Windows 10 is no longer supported on this PC," and told to "uninstall this app now."
Windows 10 has already been installed on 200 million devices
Making Windows 10 a free upgrade for the majority of users out there appears to have worked like a charm for Microsoft. The company announced this morning that Windows 10 is being used on more than 200 million devices around the world in the less than six months since it launched. That's up from the 110 million devices that Microsoft announced just about three months ago, so while adoption has slowed ever so slightly, Windows 10 is still going strong.
Will running five player content be viable in Warlords?
I actually really enjoy five player dungeons. One of my disappointments in Mists of Pandaria was that we never got any five mans beyond the start of the expansion and that they basically became just a means to farm some valor - since no new fives were introduced, they couldn't be tuned to in any way keep up with gear from Throne of Thunder much less Siege of Orgrimmar. They became laughably easy unless you were running them as Challenge Modes, ultimately. And this bothers me because I'm one of those people who feels like five player content never really had lived up to its promise in World of Warcraft. Especially now that raid dungeons have become so accessible, with LFR and flex making it easier than ever for almost all players to get some level of raiding if they want it, I've always felt like fives need a refocusing. Having normal and heroic difficulty fives really separate with better rewards for fives is a good start, but where Challenge Modes didn't grab me was in their completely cosmetic rewards. I always felt like CM's should offer gear on par with at least normal mode raiding - a group that decided to focus exclusively on Challenge Modes or some other form of very hard five player content should be able to progress their character not just visually, but actually as well. Why do I feel this way? Well, I'll tell you.
Captain's Log Supplemental: A look at Star Trek Online's history with lead designer Al Rivera
Star Trek Online is a game that's got some history, not just by virtue of the franchise that's been running for half of forever but because the game itself has a rather madcap development history. Cryptic Studios got the license to develop the game at the eleventh hour, and the caveat was that the game needed to be shipped in the same timeframe as the original developer had promised -- leaving almost no time for development. I sat down and talked with lead designer Al Rivera about the game's history, its development ethos, and where the game is going with the upcoming release of the second expansion, Delta Rising. It's been a long process, but Rivera shed some light on how the game is designed by its modern team, why things launched the way they did, and what players can expect as the game continues toward its five-year anniversary.
Sound off! How often do you upgrade your phone?
Like clockwork, Apple's latest iPhone is almost here. Of course Apple isn't the only company that releases new phones on a regular schedule -- in fact, it seems like some unveil new models every month. With the latest and greatest always on the horizon, it's easy for us to feel pretty claustrophobic locked into a two-year contract and the threat of hefty early-termination fees hanging over our heads. How do you plan your upgrade cycles to get around these obstacles? Share your story in the Engadget forums.
Final Fantasy XIV updates with sightseeing, weapons, and poses
Final Fantasy XIV is going to have a big week at E3 next week. That's not speculation; Naoki Yoshida is running two live letters from the show floor, and players have been promised big announcements. But a big patch has just dropped for the game, and patch 2.28 brings plenty for players to enjoy all by itself. The promise of more in the near future is just icing on the cake. Owners of Animus weapons can now continue advancing their weapons to Novus incarnations, with larger Mythology tomestone rewards making the road to Animus a bit less onerous. The patch also includes the new sightseeing log, challenging players to find the scenic vistas across Eorzea. It also improves the existing posing system, with new poses for each race and a memory of what pose you were in when you move. You can read through the full patch notes to get an idea of everything contained therein, and take a gander at the Ramuh preview for an idea of what's coming next in patch 2.3.
The Mog Log: Whispers of what comes next for Final Fantasy XIV
When I find myself in times of trouble, friends of mine will comfort me, speaking words of wisdom: "There are more patches coming to Final Fantasy XIV." And it's true! While I'm not as happy with 2.2 as perhaps I would like to be, as odd as that statement sounds, it's not the end of the world. In fact, there's a lot of stuff around the corner that should make me a lot happier. We've heard rumblings about what we'll see at E3 next month, we're hearing discussion of what's next on the docket for patch 2.3, and there are tantalizing hints about what's going to be arriving beyond even that. Some of these are things that I've discussed elsewhere; some I haven't had the opportunity to chat about yet (we only got the live letter announcement on Friday, after all!). So let's go ahead and dive into what's on the horizon for the game.
T-Mobile will allow Jump users to upgrade anytime, but it may require opening your wallet
Starting February 23rd, T-Mobile is allowing Jump customers to upgrade their smartphone or tablet whenever they want, rather than just twice a year. There's just one (gigantic) catch: your device has to be at least halfway paid off before you make the switch. Currently, Jump customers can get the phone of their choice for zero money down, and pay off the full price of the device over the course of two years. If you get a new phone every six months (as Jump currently allows), you would have only paid off a quarter of the device when you make the swap. While the new policy lets you upgrade more often, if you're making a change earlier than a year in you're going to have to pay a bit out of pocket. The idea brings Jump more on par with Verizon's Edge program, which also requires you to have your device halfway paid off to upgrade, and AT&T's Next program that offers upgrades once a year. Requiring 12 months of payments on a device minimizes the loss on these plans for carriers and puts the extra financial burden on the hard-core enthusiasts who want to upgrade faster than the traditional one-year lifecycle of most flagship devices. Existing Jump users can stick with their current plans, and can continue to upgrade every six months.
The Daily Grind: What MMOs have surprised you with their growth?
The picture above is of my kitten. Yes, kitten; he's only nine months old, despite being enormous. I have pictures of him on Twitter of back when he was so tiny I could hold him in one hand. And he's still my dear little kitty, he still loves cuddling up to me when I hold him and flopping in front of me on his back like a baby... but it amazes me how much he's grown over the months. Kittens are not the only things that grow, though. Even though there have been some notable missteps, I'm dazzled by how much Final Fantasy XIV has grown over the past few months, and while I'm not playing Star Wars: The Old Republic at the moment, I'm similarly fascinated by how many ways that's expanded. What about you? What MMOs have surprised you with their growth, adding on strange or unexpected elements or just becoming bigger in ways you wouldn't have expected at launch? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
AT&T is veering away from subsidized phones, and it's paying off
The wireless industry in the United States is in the midst of some rather significant changes. Ever since T-Mobile implemented its Jump program early last year, the carrier has turned subscriber loss into massive gains. The company's success is rubbing off, too. AT&T's Next program is very similar to Jump, which lets customers pay off their phones in monthly installments and become eligible for upgrades earlier, and is just one example of a major transformation taking place throughout the industry. According to AT&T's earnings report, the company saw more than 1 million Next sales, which accounted for 15 percent of all smartphones sold in the quarter. AT&T CFO John Stephens elaborated in today's investor call, saying that Next accounted for 20 percent of total sales in December alone. This doesn't sound like much right now, but the big picture shows a different story. Next is actually growing at an incredibly fast pace, and it's unlikely that AT&T will change course anytime soon.
World of Warcraft to award instant level 90 characters with Warlords of Draenor pre-purchase
It's easy to kind of get stuck in the pre-expansion doldrums in World of Warcraft right now. Yes, you really want to have one more character up at the level cap, but you can't bear the thought of leveling any more. So what are you going to do? Well... you could just pre-purchase the expansion and get your instant level 90 character immediately, thereby saving you any more work leveling through the expansion and letting you just catch up a bit before its launch. All right, you can't do all of that right now, but the development team has confirmed that digitally pre-purchasing the expansion will give you your instant 90... instantly. No word yet on launch dates, but players can opt in for the beta testing right now via the Battle.net account management page. The company is also testing the idea of adding in the level 90 boost to the game's store, allowing you to bring as many characters as you want up to the cap without any fuss.
Anki Drive update offers new upgrades and weapons for its robotic slot cars
One of the most exciting aspects of Anki Drive's robotic race cars is that much like a video game, each vehicle can be upgraded with different boosts and items over time. Now, thanks to Anki's first major software update, the cars can get more goodies than ever. Indeed, the update lets each miniature racer get up to 20 upgrades across four different dimensions -- engine, combat, energy and chassis -- along with weapons and swappable items. Some of the latest tricks include a Reverse Drive that prompts the car to turn around and drive against the flow of traffic, a Kinetic Brake that brings it to a screeching halt sending the car behind you flying past, an electromagnetic pulse that'll send out a blast radius and a simple horn that pushes cars out of your way. Additionally, you need not worry about being stuck with an upgrade you didn't think was so great -- the new update also lets you swap out upgrades if you so wish. This way, you can explore many different progression paths. There's a little bit of a penalty when trading a skill back in, so you'll likely need to keep earning points to try out all the different possibilities. Still, the upgradeability of Drive is what sets it apart from ordinary toys. "It's been a great holiday season for us," Anki co-founder Mark Palatucci tells us. "Over 42 million laps have been driven on the Anki track in the US and in Canada... [With the update,] we're able to make the game significantly more fun, much more strategic and add many more dimensions to the gameplay." So if you're one of the lucky ones to score an Anki Drive over the winter break, go on and head on over to the App Store to get the first of many software updates that Anki hopes will keep the game fresh and exciting. As a gentle reminder of what Anki Drive is, we've included Anki's promo video after the break.
8bitMMO develops desktop version, looks to crowdfunding for server upgrade
Who says all games must be awash in millions of pixels and near life-like graphics? 8BitMMO proudly boasts over 100 pixels and over the last two years has grown from one to over 75,000 registered users. The game also has a desktop version currently in beta, which includes a new leveling system, new swords, and new monsters. With so much growth (as well as an upcoming Steam launch), this sandbox is looking to upgrade its servers. Enter the MEGA-OCTOBERBIT-FUNDRAISER. Creator and one-man-development-team Robby Zinchak has joined the crowdfunding bandwagon by turning to the community for help in raising the funds needed to get the server upgrades that will let more players in, allow for faster load times, and reduce latency. Also, the stretch goal includes the equipment to make a Mac edition of the desktop client. If you are interested in seeing what this game is about or want to hear about the expansion plans straight from the source, watch the fundraiser trailer after the jump.
Call of Duty: Ghosts PS4 upgrades will run $10, says Activision
During its Gamescon 2013 event, Sony said that upgrades for Playstation 4 games would come at a "significantly discounted price," though it didn't offer any details or actual numbers. Now, Activision has said that Call of Duty: Ghosts will cost $10 to upgrade from the PS3 to the PS4, mirroring a similar deal from retailer GameStop for the Xbox One. Based on Sony's statement, such discounts might be coming for other lynchpin titles for the new console for a limited time period, as well. Meanwhile, if you can't wait the ten days between the game's November 5th PS3 launch and the Playstation 4's November 15th US release, hit the PR after the break.
Mac 101: Upgrade to SSD
If you are looking for a way to get more out of your MacBook or MacBook Pro, consider a solid-state drive (SSD). SSDs offer faster data read and write speeds, fast file transfers, speedier boot times and will save you some battery life. In the past, SSDs were considered somewhat pricey upgrades and out of reach for many users. Today, prices are dropping and quality drives can be had for a song through retailers like Amazon and OWC. Today I will show you how to install an SSD, specifically the Samsung 840 series into a June 2012 MacBook Pro. The proceedure in this tutorial video will work for any SATA-based Mac notebook with a few monior adjustments to the physical installation of the disc. Keys to Success Remember: before doing a full hard-disc transplant, make a full backup of your computer. Rather than restoring from a backup to a new drive, I used Carbon Copy Cloner and a Seagate Thunderbolt Adapter to clone my internal drive's contents before installing the new SSD. If you don't have a Seagate Backup Plus drive you can pick up a universal drive dock or Notebook Hard Drive Upgrade Kit for about US$30. They're nice to have around anyway. This whole upgrade process is super easy and you should be able to complete it in a few hours depending on how much data you need to transfer. Now go forth and do yourself a solid. Disclaimer: Note that opening a new MacBook Pro won't void your warranty, but replacing stock parts with your own third-party parts will void the standard Apple warranty.
Heroes and Castles updated to version 3.0
Foursaken Media's Heroes and Castles has been updated yet again, with lots of new content to play. The game, which allows you to level up a hero by defending a town and its various resources against an army of invading minions, has been popular for Foursaken already, and the team told me during GDC that they were planning on adding plenty of extras to the game this year. They've reached version 3.0 now, and the latest update adds three new heroes: an Assassin, a Barbarian, and a Druid, each with their own abilities and weapons. There's also a brand new campaign for the game that must be unlocked to play, with new maps to fight over, and new allied units to join you in battle. You can upgrade buildings and units even further, the graphics now boast real-time shadows, and the game's performance has been upgraded overall. Finally, there are new achievements to earn in the game, which the best players can go after for Game Center glory. That's a sizable update that adds even more value to this excellent $1.99 game. Heroes and Castles can be downloaded right now. [via Touch Arcade]
Verizon confirms 12-month Device Payment Plan for phones is launching April 21st
Look: we know many on Verizon aren't happy that the carrier has revealed plans to lengthen its upgrade intervals right as smartphone update season is hitting full stride. However, there may be a consolation prize. As of April 21st, "some devices" in its smartphone range, not just the existing tablets, will qualify for a Device Payment Plan that spreads out the full costs over the course of a year, letting those who crave the latest mobile hardware (presumably, you) upgrade without either having to sign a contract or pay everything up front. Sounds like a very UnCarrier thing to do, doesn't it? Not quite, unfortunately. The carrier tells us that these payments sit on top of existing service plans, not inside them -- the base service rate won't go down in year two. T-Mobile will remain the better bargain for anyone constantly replacing handsets, then, but those on Verizon will at least have a degree of freedom.
Verizon upgrade eligibility extends to a full two years, New Every Two credits expire April 15th
Verizon subscribers, we hope your device habits don't revolve too closely around that 20-month upgrade cycle: it's about to get longer. Big Red has confirmed that upgrade eligibility will now start only after the two-year contract is up. Those who have an existing contract that expires in January 2014 or later will have to wait four more months before they can get hardware at a discounted rate. Ostensibly, the shift is to let customers count on a lone upgrade date for all of their connected devices, but let's not beat around the bush: the longer intervals are bad for any subscriber whose desire for a new phone or tablet doesn't perfectly dovetail with their contract length. There are a few other changes afoot. Those on multi-line accounts can still share their upgrades as long as it's within the same device category, but they won't have the option to transfer a hotspot or tablet upgrade. It won't be as easy to upgrade to that Galaxy Note 10.1, unfortunately. Likewise, anyone who's been hoarding New Every Two upgrades since the program ended in 2011 may want to use them this weekend -- the credits expire on April 15th. While these last two changes won't affect as many of us, they reinforce the notion that Verizon would really prefer that we hold on to the gear we've got.
Breakfast Topic: Drops vs. tokens or points
I'm a fairly methodical player. I dodge entire swaths of the game (pet battles and holiday events, I'm looking at you) because I don't have time to get sucked into the inevitable completionism. But despite a fondness for checklists and planning, I'm dissatisfied in a system centered on buying gear with tokens, points, or other currency systems. I'm a fan of throwing my fates to the wind and diving into an instance to see what luck may bring me. I like not knowing if or when a particular piece might come my way, and I'm fully open to the possibility that it might not ever come at all. (Although I reserve the right to grouse about it. That's part of the fun.) For me, this bit of RNG design is part of what keeps the parameters of a game world feeling larger than the sum of my ambitions. The envy of seeing someone in town stroll by wielding the massive two-handed staff that I've always admired, the unchecked line item on my gear list ... I like knowing that there exist parts of this world that I can't manhandle into submission. After all, my dream gear list wouldn't be very dreamy if it were merely a shopping list. We do need alternatives. We need ways to fill in holes for things that never drop, and we need drops for players who prefer not to run dungeons and raid content. (I wish more of that were based on player-made items, frankly -- but that's another Breakfast Topic.) Most assuredly, we need a selection of rewards for players whose souls crave predictable, regular infusions of upgrade juju. I appreciate WoW's current mix of methods, although for my own tastes, things have slid a little too far to the predictable side of the equation. Knowing what my upgrades will be and when I will get them feels dully inevitable. I'd welcome a little more reliance on the RNG, with the opportunity for a little more chaos surrounding any given drop (and therefore a little more passionate hope beforehand and a little more unbridled joy afterwards). As Matt Rossi puts it, "loot is the carrot; not getting loot is the stick." Open country vs. mapped road -- where do you stand? Do you prefer plotting your path to purple glory with gear that lies reliably in your path, or do you wish there were a little more crazy RNG splashed into the mix? Should the mix of gear acquisition methods balance differently in different areas of the game, and if so, do you think the game already does so with success? And most importantly, how has the mix of predictable vs. unpredictable gear upgrades worked out for you?
