Author - boothby

Wargaming’s New Chief Human Resources Officer Hails from Riot Games

2016/02/08

February 8, 2016 — Wargaming today announced the hiring of Jerry Prochazka as the company’s Chief Human Resources Officer. Prochazka brings more than 15 years of human resources operations and leadership experience in the video game and publishing industries. In his new role, he will lead all corporate efforts in regards to Wargaming’s cultural growth and innovation in employee engagement and retention strategies.

“With a global team of over 4,000 employees, the company has a tremendous responsibility to its people,” said Victor Kislyi, CEO of Wargaming. “The addition of Jerry to the leadership team highlights our commitment to further developing engaged professionals and an environment where people continue to thrive.”

Prior to joining Wargaming, Prochazka was director of talent at Riot Games and was instrumental in implementing talent management strategies that drove business performance and played a pivotal role in setting the cultural tone of the company. He has also served in various executive management positions with MediaTec Publishing, vVv Gaming and Accenture, as well as nine years of proven leadership experience in nuclear engineering with the United States Navy.

To learn more about Wargaming, please visit:

http://www.wargaming.com

World of Warships Six Month Anniversary Events

2016/02/05

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Geek News, News, Windows PC News

February 5, 2016 —Wargaming is proud to announce that World of Warships is officially six months old! To mark this half-year milestone, the North American World of Warships team has created a special series of events for February.

Beginning today, February 5 and running through the end of the month, the “World Tour” event guides captains to far-flung ports of call. Participate as either “hunter” or “hunted” with the week’s featured nation. Participants will be able to earn signal flags, type 1 camouflage, discounts on ships from all nations, and premium time.

Official dates and featured nations for the tour are as follows:

Feb 05-08 United States
Feb 12-15 Germany
Feb 19-22 Russia
Feb 26-29 Japan

More information and details for the “World Tour” will be available February 5: http://worldofwarships.com/en/news/common/world-tour/

In addition to this whirlwind global tour, February features two additional events to capture the attention of World of Warships commanders. Events like the “Kaiju Hunter;” giving captains the opportunity to win a free Tachibana destroyer, and “The Big Game,” an event that offers a whopping x3 first-win XP boost during this year’s Super Bowl 50. “The Big Game” event kicks off Sunday, February 7 at 3:30 PM PST.

More info on “Kaiju Hunter” can be found here:
http://worldofwarships.com/en/news/common/kaiju-hunter/

Information on “The Big Game” will be featured on Friday February 5:
http://worldofwarships.com/en/news/common/x3-XP-during-big-game/

For the latest information, visit the official World of Warships website:

http://worldofwarships.com (North America)

We Are the Dwarves Gameplay Trailer

2016/02/04

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Geek News, News, Trailers / Videos, Windows PC News

February 4, 2016 – The Dwarven stars are slowly dying — putting the race at the edge of extinction. Hope lies in the depths of the Endless Stone, and 3 dwarven astronauts are sent on a perilous mission to find new life for their race. We Are The Dwarves explores the depths of space, and a mission gone wrong, helmed by brave dwarven explorers – Smashfist, Forcer, and Shadow. Explore worlds and battle alien lifeforms in 3rd person action reminiscent of classics like Commandos and Dawn of War II.

Launching on February 26 for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Whale Rock Games have released an in-depth look into the gameplay of their upcoming tactical adventure, We Are The Dwarves. Smashfist, Forcer, and Shadow all have a key role to play in your journey, and come together to form the dynamic balance between control, support, and stealth. In this video, Alexey Moskovchenko, project lead on We Are The Dwarves, shows just how crucial this understanding is, by showing each of the three dwarves abilities, and their implementation using the tactical strategy element of active pause.

Green Room Trailer

2016/02/03

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Geek News, Halloween, Movie News, News, Trailers / Videos

Here is the world premiere trailer for the highly anticipated thriller GREEN ROOM from writer/director Jeremy Saulnier.

Saulnier’s follow up to the critically-acclaimed revenge thriller BLUE RUIN is a white-knuckle siege film, set in one of the scariest environments imaginable with Patrick Stewart in an instantly iconic role as a cooly terrifying villain.

GREEN ROOM opens in NY/LA on April 15 and nationwide on April 29.

Nordic Games Acquires Rights to Imperium Galactica and More

2016/02/02

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Geek News, Industry News, News

Vienna/Austria, February 2nd, 2016 – The classic game IP imperium is on the brink of collapse, especially when it comes to preserving franchises which left their mark in video games history. In these dire times, a young and promising alliance from the distant planet of Scandinavia (solar system Europe) holds the future of many of said IPs, which are threatened by the fate of being lost and forgotten, and thus, proved themselves worthy of protection.

After some life-sustaining measures, said alliance, also known as Nordic Games Licensing AB with its base of operations Karlstad, Sweden, managed to acquire and preserve the following list of IPs:

Titles	Platforms
Bang Bang Racing	PC, XBL, PSN, Android
Black Knight Sword	XBL, PSN
Skydrift	PC, XBL, PSN
Sine Mora	PC, XBL, PSN, PSVita, iOS, Android
Imperium Galactica	PC
Imperium Galactica II	PC, iOS, Android
Liberty Wings	iOS
Ubrain	iOS
Scarabeus: Pearls of Nile	iOS

The alliance places their trust in the brave warriors of the Nordic Games GmbH, in their colony of Vienna, Austria, to take control of the IPs and to handle the day-to-day business (sales and distribution, evaluation of sequels & new content etc.).

2016 Nickelodeon’s Kid’s Choice Award Nominees and Categories

2016/02/02

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Geek News, News

Santa Monica, Calif.–Feb. 2, 2016–Nickelodeon today announced the nominations for the 2016 Kids’ Choice Awards, the ultimate fan celebration of the best of everything kids love in pop culture. The nominees reflect the entertainment that audiences see, play, listen to and read in droves, from movies like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World and Pitch Perfect 2, to a host of television shows, music, gaming, books and more. Highlights from this year’s list of nominees include Adele, Justin Bieber, Jennifer Lawrence, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Chris Pratt, The Weeknd, John Boyega, One Direction, Sofia Vergara, Daisy Ridley, Chris Hemsworth, Nickelodeon’s very own Kira Kosarin, Jack Griffo, Jace Norman and more. Hosted by Country music superstar and coach panelist on NBC’s The Voice Blake Shelton, Nickelodeon’s 2016 Kids’ Choice Awards returns to the “Fabulous” Forum in Inglewood, Calif., live on Saturday, March 12, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT).

Said Shelton, “The nominees are out now and I can’t wait to see who wins. We’ve got categories for everybody – TV, movies, video games, actors, singers, everything you can think of. It’s all in there. Make sure you get out there and vote, and we’ll see you at the show.”

Beginning today, kids can cast their votes across 22 categories on Nickelodeon’s digital platforms including Nick.com and the Nick app on iPad, iPhone, Kindle, and select Android devices. Users will be able to vote on Nickelodeon’s Twitter feed using #KCA and the hashtag of their favorite nominee. Fans also can join in on the slime-fest by going to Nick.com/kca16, the official destination for everything Kids’ Choice Awards, for hilarious videos, quizzes, photo galleries and get the latest KCA news on this year’s show and nominees.

Stiff competition ignites the television categories as last year’s favorite Modern Family finds itself neck-and-neck with The Big Bang Theory, garnering four nominations each. Modern Family grabbed its nods for “Favorite Family TV Show,” Rico Rodriguez for “Favorite Male TV Star – Family Show” and show favorite’s Sofia Vergara and Sarah Hyland battling it out for “Favorite Female TV Star – Family Show.” The Big Bang Theory is in contention with nominations for “Favorite Family TV Show,” Kaley Cuoco for “Favorite Female TV Star – Family Show” and Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki rivaling the “Favorite Male TV Star – Family Show” title. Meanwhile, the new “Favorite Cooking Show” category heats up, pitting the popular MasterChef Junior and Chopped Junior againstHell’s Kitchen, Cake Boss, Cake Wars and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

The music categories, which span an eclectic mix of genres, finds vocal powerhouse Adele against Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran for “Favorite Song of the Year,” and new kids on the block, Shawn Mendes and Alessia Cara competing for “Favorite New Artist.” Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez are all tied with three nominations each, while artists Drake, The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar follow closely behind with two.

In the movie categories, Jennifer Lawrence will face off against Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson and Scarlett Johansson for “Favorite Movie Actress,” while Jurassic World, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 and Star Wars: The Force Awakens compete for the title of “Favorite Movie.”

The nominees and categories for Nickelodeon’s 2016 Kids’ Choice Awards are (*new categories):

TELEVISON:

Favorite TV Show

Austin & Ally

Girl Meets World

Henry Danger

Jessie

Lab Rats: Bionic Island

The Thundermans

Favorite Family TV Show

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Modern Family

Once Upon a Time

The Big Bang Theory

The Flash

The Muppets

Favorite Male TV Star – Kids’ Show

Aidan Gallagher – Nicky Harper, Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn

Casey Simpson – Ricky Harper, Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn

Jace Norman – Henry Hart, Henry Danger

Jack Griffo – Max Thunderman, The Thundermans

Ross Lynch – Austin Moon, Austin & Ally

Tyrel Jackson Williams – Leo Dooley, Lab Rats: Bionic Island

Favorite Male TV Star – Family Show

Anthony Anderson – Andre ‘Dre’ Johnson, Black-ish

Ben McKenzie – James Gordon, Gotham

Grant Gustin – Barry Allen, The Flash

Jim Parsons – Sheldon Cooper, The Big Bang Theory

Johnny Galecki – Leonard Hofstadter, The Big Bang Theory

Rico Rodriguez – Manny Delgado, Modern Family

Favorite Female TV Star – Kids’ Show

Debby Ryan – Jessie Prescott, Jessie

Dove Cameron – Liv Rooney, Liv and Maddie

Kira Kosarin – Phoebe Thunderman, The Thundermans

Laura Marano – Ally Dawson, Austin & Ally

Lizzy Greene – Dawn Harper, Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn

Zendaya – K.C. Cooper, K.C. Undercover

Favorite Female TV Star – Family Show

Chloe Bennet – Daisy “Skye” Johnson, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Jennifer Morrison – Emma Swan, Once Upon a Time

Kaley Cuoco – Penny Hofstadter, The Big Bang Theory

Ming-Na Wen – Melinda May, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Sarah Hyland – Haley Dunphy, Modern Family

Sofia Vergara – Gloria Delgado–Pritchett, Modern Family

Favorite Talent Competition Show

America’s Got Talent

American Idol

Dance Moms

Dancing with the Stars

The Voice

Favorite Cooking Show*

Cake Boss

Cake Wars

Chopped Junior

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

Hell’s Kitchen

MasterChef Junior

Favorite Cartoon

ALVINNN!!! and The Chipmunks

Gravity Falls

Ninjago

Phineas & Ferb

SpongeBob SquarePants

Steven Universe

Teen Titans Go!

The Amazing World of Gumball

FILM:

Favorite Movie

Ant-Man

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Cinderella

Daddy’s Home

Jurassic World

Pitch Perfect 2

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2

Favorite Movie Actor

Chris Evans – Steve Rogers/Captain America, Avengers: Age of Ultron

Chris Hemsworth – Thor, Avengers: Age of Ultron

Chris Pratt – Owen, Jurassic World

John Boyega – Finn, Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Robert Downey Jr. – Tony Stark/Iron Man, Avengers: Age of Ultron

Will Ferrell – Brad Whitaker, Daddy’s Home

Favorite Movie Actress

Anna Kendrick – Beca, Pitch Perfect 2

Daisy Ridley – Rey, Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Jennifer Lawrence – Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2

Lily James – Cinderella, Cinderella

Rebel Wilson – Fat Amy, Pitch Perfect 2

Scarlett Johansson – Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Avengers: Age of Ultron

Favorite Animated Movie

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip

Home

Hotel Transylvania 2

Inside Out

Minions

The Peanuts Movie

Favorite Voice From an Animated Movie

Amy Poehler – Joy, Inside Out

Jennifer Lopez – Lucy, Home

Jim Parsons – Oh, Home

Justin Long – Alvin, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip

Sandra Bullock – Scarlet Overkill, Minions

Selena Gomez- Mavis, Hotel Transylvania 2

MUSIC:

Favorite Music Group

Fall Out Boy

Fifth Harmony

Imagine Dragons

Maroon 5

One Direction

Pentatonix

Favorite Male Singer

Blake Shelton

Drake

Ed Sheeran

Justin Bieber

Nick Jonas

The Weeknd

Favorite Female Singer

Adele

Ariana Grande

Meghan Trainor

Nicki Minaj

Selena Gomez

Taylor Swift

Favorite Song Of The Year

Bad Blood (feat. Kendrick Lamar) – Taylor Swift

Can’t Feel My Face – The Weeknd

Hello – Adele

Hotline Bling – Drake

Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran

What Do You Mean? – Justin Bieber

Favorite New Artist

Alessia Cara

DNCE

OMI

Shawn Mendes

Silento

WALK THE MOON

Favorite Collaboration*

Bad Blood – Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar

Downtown – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee and Grandmaster Caz

Good For You – Selena Gomez feat. A$AP Rocky

Like I’m Gonna Lose You – Meghan Trainor feat. John Legend

See You Again – Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth

Where Are Ü Now – Skrillex, Justin Bieber & Diplo

OTHER CATEGORIES:

Favorite Book

Diary of a Minecraft Zombie

Diary of a Wimpy Kid series

Harry Potter series

Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need To Know

The Hunger Games series

The Maze Runner series

Favorite Video Game

Disney Infinity 3.0

Just Dance 2016

Minecraft: Story Mode

Skylander SuperChargers

SpongeBob HeroPants

Super Mario Maker

Nickelodeon’s 2016 Kids’ Choice Awards will roll out in international markets within hours of airing live in the United States, Canada and Australia, giving kids around the globe the opportunity to tune into their local Nickelodeon channel to enjoy the show.

Sponsors of Nickelodeon’s 2016 Kids’ Choice Awards include Amazon Fire Tablet, Fruit by the Foot™, Yoplait® GoGurt®, Lucky Charms, Hot Wheels®, McDonald’s® USA, Skechers, and Toyota.

Nickelodeon’s 2016 Kids’ Choice Awards is produced by Nickelodeon Productions. Elizabeth Kelly, Michael Dempsey, Shelly Sumpter Gillyard and Jay Schmalholz are executive producers.

Quick Review: The DJI Osmo 4K Camera

2016/02/01

boothby

News, Reviews, Tech News, Tech Review

Recently, DJI loaned us out one of their new Osmo 4K cameras for a brief evaluation period. At first, its $649 dollar price point scared us – especially considering that it depends on a smartphone app to control its recording functions. The Osmo comes with rechargeable battery, charger, a smartphone clip which attaches your iPhone or Android device to the unit, as well as a case and some charge cables.

From a user friendliness angle, the DJI Osmo has a very comfortable grip and a well-designed iOS app for controlling its functions. After using it for a while, I would not have any issue with purchasing one of these for my own usage. Everything worked as it should and I never had any issues controlling the camera.

Official Specifications

Fully stabilized 4K, 12MP camera optimized for ground use
Slow motion and audio recording
Tripod-free long exposures
Remote camera control
Secure grip
6-hour standby time
1 hour of video shooting

The Osmo is capable not only of steadying the camera to shoot while moving but, also, it allows you to manually move the camera around in a smooth manner. The thumb slider joystick control is smooth and only takes a short while to get the hang of (it is pressure sensitive). The Osmo uses the Zen Muse X3 camera, the same unit designed for use on the Inspire 1 drone aircraft. The camera features a Sony EXMOR 12-million-pixel, 1/2.3 inch sensor and the ability to shoot in up to 4K resolution. If you are still not ready for 4K video recording, and not many are at the moment, the Osmo can easily record in 1080p in up to 120 frames per second mode.

Overall, the DJI Osmo is an expensive, but incredibly useful handheld stabilized camera for your film making needs. Not only is it very light and comfortable to hold for long periods of time, but it also delivers on bring a very good 4K camera in the middle ground between cheap and expensive stabilizing camera units.

Logitech An Official ESL Partner in 2016

2016/02/01

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Geek News, News

February 1, 2016 – ESL and Logitech are set to partner on numerous events throughout 2016: spanning across global ESL One events and multiple ESL National Championships, the partnership marks one of the largest that the leading esports company has ever made with a peripheral company. Logitech will provide all the latest gear for professional gamers and all ESL staff at the following offline events (and will have demo stations and products for purchase at events):

ESL Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Pro League
ESL One Manila
ESL One Frankfurt
ESL One Cologne
An additional (unannounced) ESL One event!

The ESL Pro League and ESL One tournament series showcase the best in competitive gaming to an ever-growing global audience. ESL Pro League, set to kick off its 2016 season on February 9, has this year seen a prize pool increase of 50%. Continuing to build on over 100 million online viewer sessions and almost 30 million hours watched in 2015, the coming two seasons are expected to herald steady growth. The ESL One series, which caters not just to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, but also to the massively popular Dota 2, experienced record-breaking events at each and every one of its stops last year.

“This is a great day for both Logitech G and ESL: two industry leaders are joining forces to bring esports to the next level. Logitech G is an absolute premium brand and we are happy to welcome them as an important partner of ESL,” said Nik Adams, Senior Vice President Global Sales & Business Development at ESL. “Not only our global tournaments such as ESL One, ESL Pro League and several ESL National Championships will profit from their support but also fans and pro-players. We here at ESL are really looking forward to this cooperation.”

Logitech plans to, with their partnership, bring these events to the next level in 2016. Plans extend also to the following National Championships:

ESL Meisterschaft (Germany)
ESL Championnat National (France)
ESL UK Premiership
ESL Nordic Nationals

“This is a great opportunity for Logitech G to be the exclusive gaming gear for ESL, one of the world’s most successful eSports organizations,” said Ujesh Desai, vice president and general manager of gaming, Logitech. “We are looking forward to an exciting year of global eSports events.”

Get and Keep Fractured Space for Free this Weekend

2016/01/29

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Geek News, News, Windows PC News

Guildford, 29^th January 2016. Edge Case Games, developers of the tactical space MOBA, Fractured Space, today announced that it is celebrating the game’s progression toward launch with a Free Weekend on Steam. Players who download the game this weekend will keep it forever with no additional cost required. Edge Case also today unveiled a visually dazzling new trailer showcasing Unreal 4 engine capabilities.

This week’s Fractured Space update delivers performance and gameplay enhancements and resets the game’s Tech Tree to its final version—all ships, experience and credits unlocked from this point forward will be reflected in the final game, planned for full release later in 2016. The reset puts all players at level one as they start building a fleet of the game’s gigantic capital ships by successfully engaging in team-based online battles.

“Today’s update brings us one step closer to the full release of Fractured Space and we want to celebrate the game’s progress by giving everyone a chance to play and own the game for free,” said James Brooksby, CEO of Edge Case Games. “Whether you have played in the past or not, this is a great moment to start your adventure with Fractured Space, with a chance to make your mark as a new Captain on equal footing with all players.”

Fractured Space is a team-based space combat game fought in gigantic capital ships with the intensity of a shooter and the big-picture-thinking of a strategy game.

Originally launched on Steam Early Access in November 2014 to critical and commercial success, Fractured Space has attracted over 400,000 users as the game continuously evolves using an open development model where the community is encouraged to talk directly to the development team, highly influencing the development of the final game.

For updates on Fractured Space please follow us on Twitter at @FracturedSpace or on Facebook.

Biostar Announces Racing H170GT3 Gaming Motherboard

2016/01/28

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Geek News, Hardware News, News

January 28^th, 2016, Taipei, Taiwan – BIOSTAR proudly introduces the latest addition to its new flagship gaming series with the BIOSTAR RACING H170GT3. Meeting the needs of gamers’ by providing features perfect for an all-around gaming system. Like all BIOSTAR RACING series motherboards, the H170GT3 features improved features dedicated for gaming and entertainment with the RACING H170GT3 focusing on a balance of features and accessibility for light-purpose machines to heavyweight muscle rigs.

Balanced and Tuned

The BIOSTAR RACING H170GT3 simplifies decision-making for gamers by providing a platform which can scale with the gamer. Supporting the latest 6^th-generation Intel Core processors, the RACING H170GT3 enables gamers to have the latest technology powering their systems for the best experience when they play. Support for high-speed storage via M.2 and SATA Express enables high-speed access to data so games load faster so you can get to the action quicker. Gamers will also be able to show-off their personal style via VIVID LED DJ and 5050 LED FUN features allowing customizable lighting for gamers who want a color-themed rig.

The BIOSTAR RACING H170GT3 supports dual-GPU configuration via AMD Crossfire for upgraders looking to get more FPS in their systems with another AMD Radeon GPU which supports AMD Crossfire technology. The motherboard has optimal spacing in-between the PCI-e X16 slots for maximum airflow so both cards operate at optimal conditions.

With upgraders in mind, BIOSTAR has placed legacy PS/2 ports in the RACING H170GT3 to allow players who prefer legacy peripherals to still use their devices on this motherboard. Support for dual HDMI output and DVI are also available on this motherboard together with plenty of USB3 ports for your high-speed devices.

Super 5 Design

Biostar has built the RACING series motherboard from the ground up, taking into consideration the ever-changing needs of gamers and enthusiasts. The new BIOSTAR RACING Series is proud to introduce the Super 5 Design Concept:

Super Face – all new RACING design theme for visual appeal
Super Power – powerful hardware design
Super Sound – signature BIOSTAR HI-FI audio experience
Super Easy – User- friendly design and accessible touch control
Super Fun – unique DIY concept for enthusiasts and modders

BIOSTAR 6+ Experience

The new BIOSTAR RACING Series will carry on the exclusive BIOSTAR 6+ Experience feature set which delivers the best BIOSTAR has to offer: Speed+, Audio+, Video+, Durable+, Protection+ and DIY+.

For more information on the RACING H170GT3 go to http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=824

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