Author - Jerry Paxton

QuakeCon 2014 Dates Announced

2014/01/30
Jerry Paxton
Geek News, News

quake-2014

The good people at id Software, Bethesda Softworks, Zenimax Media, and a plethora of other sponsors have announced the dates for this year’s QuakeCon gaming convention/LAN party/tournament. QuakeCon 2014 will run from July 17 through July 20, 2014 at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, TX. Check out the official detail blub below for more information – including where to get hotel rooms!

WHAT:

QuakeCon® will once again host thousands of gamers from across the globe for the ultimate video game festival featuring North America’s largest BYOC (Bring-Your-Own-Computer) LAN Party. QuakeCon 2014 is open to the public and attendance is FREE thanks to the support of id® Software and Bethesda Softworks®, the QuakeCon volunteer staff, and the 2014 event sponsors and exhibitors.

WHEN:

QuakeCon will take place Thursday, July 17 – Sunday, July 20, 2014.

WHERE:

The Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas.

You can make room reservations at the Hilton Anatole Hotel by calling 1-800-Hiltons or 1-800-445-8667 or going online to:  https://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_ei_new&eventID=10750560. Special room rate of $159.00 per night when you reference QuakeCon 2014!

WHY:

In its 19th year, QuakeCon is a non-stop celebration of games and the people who play them, where thousands of gamers join together to play on a world-class network, culminating in North America’s largest BYOC (Bring-Your-Own-Computer) LAN party.

And, of course, QuakeCon also offers plenty of excitement for those who don’t bring their own computer. Bethesda will be showing some of their upcoming games and will offer attendees the chance to go hands on with some of their most anticipated titles for the first time. In addition, the world’s leading technology companies will be on site demonstrating their latest hardware and software developments. Each day of QuakeCon is packed with game presentations, contests, entertainment, announcements, panel discussions, parties and more!

QuakeCon welcomes a wide array of companies showcasing the industry’s most influential games, hardware and services. For information on becoming a QuakeCon exhibitor or sponsor, please email sponsor@quakecon.org.

For more information visit www.quakecon.org.

SEGA Announces VF 5 Final Showdown Tournament

2014/01/30
Jerry Paxton
Geek News, News

sega-cup

SAN FRANCISCO– January 30, 2014 – SEGA® of America, Inc. today announced that it will once again host a Virtua Fighter™5 Final Showdown Tournament this year, continuing its partnership with Alex Valle and Level|Up. The 2014 “SEGA CUP” tournament will take place in Los Angeles at the Super Arcade on April 26, 2014. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top 16 players. Once again, the version for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system will be used for the competition.

Last year’s tournament celebrated the legacy of the popular “fighting game fan’s fighter” for the first time and saw player Fuudo, who previously won the Virtua Fighter EVO 2012 and Street Fighter IV EVO 2011 tournaments, emerging as the winner.

Based on the latest arcade version of the celebrated Virtua Fighter 5 series, Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown launched in June 2012 for PlayStation®Network (PSN) and on the Xbox Live online entertainment network for the Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from Microsoft.

Details about how to participate in the “SEGA CUP” will be announced at a later date.

For more information on the “SEGA CUP” please visit http://sega.com/segacup

ROCCAT Now Shipping Kave XTD 5.1 Digital Gaming Headset

2014/01/30
Jerry Paxton
News, Tech News

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Hamburg – January 30, 2014 – ROCCAT™ Studios, German manufacturer of high-quality gaming peripherals, announces the availability of the Kave XTD 5.1 Digital gaming headset, the flagship version of the new Kave XTD series. The Kave XTD 5.1 builds upon the foundations laid by the original Kave headset, improving existing features and adding even more impressive innovations to refine the tried and tested feature set that made the original model a worldwide success among gamers.

Smart improvements for smart gamers

The Kave XTD 5.1 Digital includes a fully-equipped desktop remote with a built-in premium 5.1 sound card. Also included in the feature-packed remote is ROCCAT Smart Link, a patented technology that lets users pair their smartphone to the remote via Bluetooth, allowing them to make and receive calls through the headset while gaming.

ROCCAT Smart Link technology eradicates the problem of overlapping conversations during gaming sessions caused by talking on the phone with the headset still on.  The patented technology automatically mutes the chat software when a call is picked up, giving you complete privacy and preventing you from disturbing your teammates.

The Kave XTD 5.1 desktop remote comes with comprehensive headset and system audio controls and boasts 5.1 speaker ports, letting users connect to their existing speaker system, easily toggle between headset and speaker output and eliminating the need to crawl under the table to re-plug audio cables.

Supreme surround sound and comfy build

Like the original Kave, the Kave XTD 5.1 Digital delivers true, rich 5.1 surround sound.  However, the new Kave XTD 5.1 also features three individual drivers per ear cup aligned at a 12-degree angle for incomparably immersive and crisp sound, comes with a completely redesigned head band for superior comfort and weighs 25% less than the original model.

The Kave XTD 5.1 Digital is also engineered and manufactured using new materials to enhance its comfort and durability, making it suitable for extended hours of gaming.  The detachable microphone will also come with a mute LED indicator, but has also been redesigned to improve sound quality and reliability.

The Kave XTD 5.1 Digital was nominated for the “Best Hardware” award at gamescom 2013 and is now available for USD $169.99.

Links:

ROCCAT Homepage
ROCCAT Kave XTD 5.1 Digital website
ROCCAT on Facebook (global)
ROCCAT on Facebook (German)

Randal’s Monday to Release in Q3 of This Year

2014/01/30
Jerry Paxton
News, Windows PC News

randal-monday-17

Hamburg, Germany / Alicante, Spain; January 30, 2014 – Adventure gaming experts Daedalic Entertainment and Nexus Game Studios are teaming up to bring the upcoming comic humor point & geek adventure Randal’s Monday to a world-wide audience. Both companies schedule to release the game later this year digitally for PC.

Randal’s Monday, developed by the Spanish team Nexus Game Studios, centers around geek and pop culture references from the 1990s and early 2000s, and gives a pretty authentic insight into how hard it is to overcome these stupid days of each week.

Randal is the best main character one can ever imagine: he’s a kleptomaniac, a sociopath and an awful friend above all. After his friend Matt’s engagement party, waking up on a Monday morning with a massive hangover, Randal finds Matt’s wallet in his pocket. Inside the wallet, the precious engagement ring.

It doesn’t take Randal long to sell the ring – triggering a fatal curse. Matt commits suicide, and Randal is now supposed to live through the same fateful Monday again and again, doing whatever is needed in order to fix the horrible situation. Randal must recover the one ring and his life, before the situation worsens… or the universe collapses.

Randal’s Monday features cynical humor, geek culture references and classic point & click adventure gameplay at its best. The game pays tribute to a generation of gamers, readers and viewers of subculture media products. Players will find countless items and references to things they grew up with. Retro video gaming consoles, anyone? Your favorite movies and TV series from the 80s, 90s and 2000s? It’s all in there! Take your time and pixel-hunt each screen for everything that’s in there – whereas the adventure gameplay takes care to use all of today’s comfort features, of course.

Randal’s Monday is developed by the Spanish team Nexus Game Studios, who teamed up with the adventure gaming experts at Daedalic Entertainment to prepare the world-wide release. The PC point & click adventure game is scheduled to be released in Q3 2014.

FEATURES
• 7 great chapters – gameplay time will depend on how much time you spend in front of the TV in your childhood.
• More than 40 different environments carefully hand-crafted.
• More than 50 characters including repulsive mothers, retired priests and talking skulls.
• Jillions of references and homages to geek culture.
• No zombies (which is a feature nowadays). Whoops, in fact there are some of them… well, ZOMBIES!

http://www.randalsmonday.com

About Daedalic Entertainment
Daedalic Entertainment is a Hamburg-based indie-studio that develops and publishes high-quality games worldwide, focusing on the projects with strong narratives. Over the last few years, Daedalic has collected 21 German Game Developer Awards (incl. “Studio of the Year 2009, 2013”), five German Computer Game Awards (incl. “Best Game 2011”), and more.

http://www.daedalic.de/en
http://www.facebook.com/daedalic
http://www.twitter.com/daedalic

The Elder Scrolls Online: Imperial Edition Announced

2014/01/29
Jerry Paxton
Mac PC News, News, Windows PC News

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January 29, 2014 (Rockville, MD) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company, today announced that it will release The Elder Scrolls Online Imperial Edition — a premium collector’s edition for the highly-anticipated The Elder Scrolls Online. The Elder Scrolls Online Imperial Edition will be made available in digital and limited physical formats. Both standard and collector’s editions are now available for pre-order through participating retailers and pre-purchase from the newly launched, online store (store.elderscrollsonline.com).

In addition to the highly-anticipated game, The Elder Scrolls Online Physical Imperial Edition includes:

  • Molag Bal Statue. A 12” statue featuring Molag Bal, Daedric Prince of domination and enslavement.
  • The Improved Emperor’s Guide to Tamriel. A 224-page illustrated guide annotated by the Imperial scholar, Flaccus Terentius.
  • Physical Map of Tamriel. A 21” x 26” printed map detailing Alliance-controlled zones and the ultimate conquest: Cyrodiil.  
  • Steelbook™ Packaging. A limited edition steel case decorated in the color of the Imperials.
  • Exclusive Collection of Digital Content.
    • Play as an Imperial: Become an Imperial and play in any Alliance. Gain unique bonuses, crafting styles, gear, and more.
    • White Imperial Horse: Summon this Imperial mount and journey through Tamriel with speed.
    • Mudcrab Vanity Pet: Explore Tamriel with a mudcrab pet scuttling along by your side.
    • Rings of Mara: Complete the Ritual of Mara with a friend and receive an experience bonus when you play together.

The Physical Imperial Edition is extremely limited in quantity and available for pre-order now through participating retailers for $99.99.

The Elder Scrolls Online Digital Imperial Edition includes the base game and all digital content outlined for the Physical Imperial Edition above and retails for $79.99.

All those who pre-order or pre-purchase either the Imperial Edition or the Standard Edition in physical or digital formats will also receive The Explorer’s Pack bonus at launch, which includes: Scuttler vanity pet, four bonus treasure maps, and the ability to play as any of the nine races in any Alliance.

Early Access bonuses will also be offered to those pre-ordering or pre-purchasing a PC/Mac version. A five (5) day early access bonus will be offered to those who pre-purchase the Digital Imperial Edition or the Digital Standard Edition through The Elder Scrolls Online Store. Additional early access programs are also available through participating retailers.

The Elder Scrolls Online, developed by ZeniMax Online Studios, is the latest chapter of the award-winning franchise and will bring the legendary experience online for the first time. Players can choose their own style of play as they embark upon an epic adventure across all of Tamriel, playing alone on heroic quests as in previous Elder Scrolls games, exploring the huge, rich world with a few friends, or joining with hundreds of others in massive PvP battles to save the Empire.

The Elder Scrolls® Online will be available worldwide on April 4, 2014 for PC and Mac users. Versions for the PlayStation®4 system and the Xbox One® will be arriving on retail shelves in June 2014.

The Elder Scrolls Online has been rated M for Mature by the ESRB.

Economic Crimes Unit Raids Funcom Offices

2014/01/29
Jerry Paxton
Geek News, News

tsw_euevent_5 (1)

Looks like the folks at Funcom have hit some rough water as Norway’s National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime agents raided the game developer’s offices this morning. The trouble doesn’t end their as Funcom’s stock ceased trading on the Oslo stock exchange as well. All of this went down because Funcom is accused of breaching the Securities Trading Act. Allegedly, Funcom did not follow official and legal disclosure requirements related to their Lovecraftian MMORPG, The Secret World, from August 2011 until two months after the game’s release in July 2012.

What does this mean for gamers who play Funcom MMOs? Well, the developers offices are officially shutdown for now and we have reached out to our Funcom press contact for official comments. Until then, stay tuned!

Razer Announces Warranty Functions in Synapse 2.0

2014/01/28
Jerry Paxton
News, Peripherals News

synapse

January 28, 2014 — CARLSBAD, Calif. – Razer™, the world leader in high-performance gaming hardware, software and systems, today announced the addition of a warranty function to Razer Synapse 2.0, allowing gamers to quickly register and monitor their warranty period in a single convenient location through Razer’s cloud-based hardware configurator.

The new opt-in Warranty function allows for quick registration of Razer’s Synapse 2.0-supported products, and also allows users to register other Razer gear, such as analog headsets and mouse mats.

Specific to North America, Razer is also removing proof-of-purchase requirements in its product return policy, if the guarantee can be verified automatically with the serial number.

“Razer offers the very best and most innovative gaming equipment in the world; now, we offer the most functional and easily accessible warranty system of its kind,” says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director. “One of the biggest reasons why we integrated a cloud-based software into our line of hardware was to continue to add value to products after purchase. Synapse 2.0’s new warranty utility is the latest example of that, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to showing what our software is truly capable of.”

As with all aspects of Razer Synapse 2.0, the warranty function only requires a connection at the time of registration and is fully functional in offline mode. Warranty registration through the website will also be available for non-Synapse 2.0 users.

More About Razer Synapse 2.0:

Set up instantly from anywhere with the world’s first cloud-based settings network for gamers. With Razer Synapse 2.0, gaming preferences for all your Razer devices are locked and loaded any time you need them from any location in the world.

Instantly store your custom settings and Razer add-ons with Razer Synapse 2.0 to completely eliminate the painstaking process of reconfiguring your peripherals each time you log into a new computer. Spend less time in a pause menu and more time dominating the competition with Razer Synapse 2.0.

Price: Free to download

Availability:

Windows – Now

PC – Now

For more information about Razer Synapse 2.0, please visit www.razerzone.com/synapse2/.