Author - Jerry Paxton

Rise of Industry: 2130 Teaser Trailer

Leicester, UK, 16th August 2019 – Kasedo Games and Dapper Penguin Studios have today announced that tycoon game, Rise of Industry will be heading into the future in its upcoming expansion.

In Rise of Industry: 2130, your idyllic world of profit and loss lay in ruins. Mankind’s endless capitalism and destruction of decades gone by has given birth to a dark and desolate new world.

Now you must construct all-new technologically advanced production lines and rebuild your industrial empire in a bleak dystopian future.

Scavenge materials from ruins of former cities, place over 30 new buildings like the offshore algae farms or thorium mines, and move them to market with new maglev trains and cargo dropships.

2.0 Update

The 2130 expansion is released in conjunction with the totally free Update 2.0 for the Rise of Industry base game and expansion. The new update is full of new features, such as Layouts, which allows you to build your ideal production setups and share with the community or replicate them as many times as you like. The introduction of seasons, a new objective-based ‘helper’ system, ‘The Assistant’ and a host of improvements and fixes completes the free 2.0 update.

Rise of Industry: 2130 will be available in Q4 2019 for Windows PC, Mac & Linux.

The StarCraft II War Chest: BlizzCon 2019 Now Live

August 15, 2019 – The StarCraft II War Chest returns with new skins and a whole new way to earn free goodies as we ramp up to the World Championship Series Finals at BlizzCon 2019. The War Chest is an exciting way to engage with StarCraft II and earn early access to in-game items for all three races at a remarkably low cost. As a bonus, a portion of your War Chest purchase goes toward supporting StarCraft II esports. Read on to learn more about what’s inside, and how you can get in on the action!

To learn more about the latest War Chest, please head over to our blog for more information:

https://starcraft2.com/news/23082786

Knott’s Berry Farm to Celebrate 100th Anniversary in 2020 with Family Reunion

Buena Park, Calif. – In 2020, Knott’s Berry Farm will present “A Knott’s Family Reunion,“ a summer-long event paying tribute to the Knott family’s transcendent history by celebrating the last 100 years of memories in the making.

The Knott family’s American dream began in the berry fields of Buena Park from a curbside berry stand in 1920 and grew into the world-renowned theme park it is today.  What started with a humble farm evolved into a premier destination that has come to witness 100 years of historical and timeless memories shared among friends, neighbors and families from around the world.

To commemorate Knott’s Berry Farm’s milestone anniversary, the park will present A Knott’s Family Reunion,” a summer-long event paying tribute to Knott’s history and legacy of family fun.  Guests will be immersed in a once-in-a-lifetime celebration featuring festive park décor, themed food items, unique entertainment, exclusive merchandise and special surprises along the way, all paying homage to the nostalgia that surrounds the historic theme park. Details about the exciting 100th anniversary celebration festivities will be announced in the coming months.

Background

Nearly 100 years ago, the Knott family settled in the community of Buena Park and began farming 20 acres of land on Highway 39, now known as Beach Blvd.  Around 1930, Walter and Cordelia Knott came upon what eventually Walter named the boysenberry – a cross between a loganberry, red raspberry and blackberry – a new hybrid originally developed by Rudolph Boysen, for whom the berry got its name.  While Boysen had no luck bringing the berry to market, Walter did, acquired it from Boysen and today, the roots of the boysenberry can be traced back solely to Knott’s Berry Farm.

Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner

To make ends meet during the Great Depression, Cordelia Knott started selling jams and jellies made from Walter’s boysenberries and in 1934, served her first chicken dinner meals on her very own wedding china, charging just 65 cents.  Through word of mouth, locals and visitors from around the state began stopping by to enjoy the famous fried chicken dinner meals. To entertain the hundreds of customers lining up at the restaurant for a chicken dinner meal, and to pay homage to the pioneering spirit of his grandparents along with his love of the Old West, Walter built a working Ghost Town, eventually becoming the first of Knott’s Berry Farm’s four themed areas. Slowly Walter brought in relics from other deserted ghost towns and Knott’s Ghost Town as it exists today emerged, becoming the heart and soul of the park.  The Knott’s vision and imagination led to the creation of the themed areas that celebrate California’s vast history and landscape. Through hard work and dedication, Walter and Cordelia, along with their four children, created a special place for families to come together to build lasting memories. The “Knott’s Family Reunion” will be the biggest celebration the park has ever hosted to date.

“The Knott family vision and values led to the birth of Knott’s Berry Farm, and through this milestone celebration it is our opportunity to honor the last 100 years of remarkable memories that have shaped our history,” said Jon Storbeck, General Manager of Knott’s Berry Farm. “The 100th-anniversary celebration embraces the farm’s rich history and signifies the importance of the Knott family’s commitment to building a place for generations of guests to create lifelong memories.”

The best way to enjoy all of the fun offered during the 100th anniversary celebration at Knott’s along with all of the other exciting Seasons of Fun events is with a 2020 Season Pass. A Regular Season Pass includes unlimited admission in 2020 to Knott’s Berry Farm with no blackout dates, and a Gold Season Pass includes unlimited admission in 2020 to both Knott’s Berry Farm and Knott’s Soak City Waterpark with no blackout dates. Knott’s Season passes are now available at the best offer of the year. Regular Passes are $99 or eleven easy payments of $8.00 after an initial payment and Gold Passes are $120 or eleven easy payments of just $9.50 after an initial payment. These offers end on October 27, 2019. Applicable taxes and fees apply. Payment plans are only available at knotts.com.

For more information about next year’s milestone celebration and Knott’s Season Passes, please visit knotts.com. Join the conversation about the newly announced event at Knott’s this year by using #Knotts100 or #AKnottsFamilyReunion.

Borderlands 3 Gets Two New Trailers

August 14, 2019 – It’s a big day for Borderlands 3! Today we’re excited to share the first gameplay footage of our newest Vault Hunter, FL4K the Beastmaster, who joins Zane the Operative, Moze the Gunner, and Amara the Siren in our new cast of badass, interplanetary treasure hunters.

Catch FL4K wasting bots and bandits across Pandora and new planet Eden-6 in two brand new gameplay clips, which you can download right here. You’ll also find two new screen shots of FL4K and their loyal pet companions at that same link.

If you need additional assets, be sure to visit our press site, and if you’d like to learn more about today’s drop, you can find additional details about FL4K and their skill trees right here, as well as more information on Eden-6 right here.

In addition to this FL4K footage, we’re also happy to debut another brand new trailer showcasing all the mayhem that awaits you in Borderlands 3. To see the Borderlands 3 – “The Borderlands Are Yours” Trailer, just click right here.

Finally, be sure to tune into twitch.tv/borderlands on Monday, August 19 at 11 a.m. Pacific Time for a special Gamescom announcement during Opening Night Live.

Borderlands 3 launches on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on September 13.

Creative Labs Sound Blaster AE-7 Review

The last discrete Sound Blaster sound card to be released from Creative Labs was the Sound Blaster AE-5 about two years ago. We applauded its Xamp technology and on-board lighting system while lamenting the lack of Dolby Digital decoding. Now, the Sound Blaster AE-7 has been released and we were able to take a look at it during a two week period of gaming, music listening, and more. Will the new Sound Blaster AE-7 exceed its predecessor? Read on to find out.

Design/Construction

In terms the Sound Blaster AE-7’s design, it is very reminiscent of its little brother, the AE-5. The biggest difference in terms of design is that the Sound Blaster AE-7 lacks the “gaming flair”, instead opting for a more classy, dark gray and gunmetal color scheme. Gone is the “Pro-Gaming” subtitle on the side of the sound card as well as the RGB color lighting. The RGB lighting has been replaced by a heavenly white light. This looks like a much more “grown up” version of the AE-5. The back of the Sound Blaster AE-7 features the same number of ports as the Sound Blaster AE-5 did, including the speaker outputs, microphone input, and TOSLINK optical output jack.

In addition to the sound card itself, the Sound Blaster AE-7 sees the inclusion of the Audio Control Module (ACM) – something that I loved when it was included with the Sound Blaster ZxR series cards. It allows you easy access to connecting microphones and headphones (both of the 3.5mm and 6.5mm varieties) to your sound card. The ACM is robust and well-constructed. I can’t tell you how many times I accidentally knocked the ACM off my desk (I’m clumsy) and the thing took no damage from its fall to the floor.

Performance

The biggest issue we had with Creative Labs Sound Blaster AE-5 was the lack of Dolby decoding technologies. Thankfully, the Sound Blaster AE-7 remedies this situation with the inclusion of both Dolby Digital Live and DTS encoding! The sound quality of the Sound Blaster AE-7 is outstanding. I played numerous titles during my testing of the card and was consistently impressed – both while listening to the audio through my desktop speaker system as well as gaming headphones. By the way – switching from speaker to headphones is extremely simple thanks to the Audio Control Module. I love being able to just plug my headphones into it and immediate divert the sound. Also, the large volume wheel on the ACM makes it super easy to fine tune the audio load on my ears. On my games roster was the new space combat sim, Rebel Galaxy Outlaw as well as older favorites like DCS: A-10C Warthog and Fallout 4. Additionally, I downloaded some high-resolution audio files to test out the Sound Blaster AE-7’s sound reproduction. In my estimation, this is the best sound card yet from Creative Labs (bearing in mind I have not looked at the AE-7’s even bigger sibling, the AE-9).

The Sound Blaster AE-7 still supports Creative Labs Scout Mode and Crystal Voice features, which will help make your multiplayer gaming more efficient, and the AE-7 is fully integrated in the Sound Blaster Command software suite. Creative Labs continues to make the software suite more user friendly and I appreciated the easy method of changing the sound profile to simulate different environments and conditions.

Overall

The Creative Labs Sound Blaster AE-7 is an outstanding sound card that will provide great audio playback from both your games and movies alike. While the design has been made a bit more conservative, the inclusion of the improved DAC, Dolby decoding, audio control module, and Xamp more than make up for it. The Sound Blaster AE-7 retails for $229.99 Dollars, representing the mid-level price point between the Sound Blaster AE-5 ($169.99) and Sound Blaster AE-9 ($349.99). While this may seem expensive, the quality and feature set of the Sound Blaster AE-7 makes it well worth the price of admission.

Images

Techland and Koch Media Team up for Dying Light 2 European Distribution

August 14, 2019 – Long-time partners, Techland® and Koch Media® are happy to announce their Europe and Australia cooperation to distribute the upcoming open-world action RPG game, Dying Light 2. Koch Media covers all retail distribution in the selected territories, as well as supports Techland in Marketing and PR activities with its local teams and expertise. It is also worth mentioning Koch Media has been the distributor of the first installment of Dying Light in Europe.

“We are very excited to be joining forces with Koch Media once again. Our relationship dates back over a decade, and Koch has been our trusted partner since. This is a fantastic opportunity, and we will bring Dying Light 2 to audiences from Europe to Australia.” said Ed Lin, Head of Marketing at Techland. “After officially starting off our cooperation at Gamescom, we will work together to deliver a vigorous campaign, and launch Dying Light 2 in Spring 2020 .”

“We are delighted to announce the revitalization of what has been an extremely successful partnership over the years. Both the teams at Koch and Techland know each other well and have trustful working relationships, forged through the combined work we did for the critically acclaimed predecessor Dying Light and various other titles in our territories. All of our local publishing and distribution teams at Koch Media across Europe are excited to work on the highly anticipated next entry of the Dying Light franchise. Our past experience in working with Techland and the overall quality of the game gives us great confidence that this will be another top hit for both companies. Gamescom 2019 is the perfect time to kick off our collaboration once again. We are all ready to support the game with all our Marketing-, Sales- and PR-expertise across all European markets and Australia”, states Dr. Klemens Kundratitz, CEO at Koch Media.

Dying Light 2 brings to life a unique post-apocalyptic vision of Modern Dark Ages – a brutal, bleak, and unforgiving reality where you are as likely to perish at the hand of a human as you are by the Infected. In this exhausted world, your quick thinking, exceptional parkour abilities, and brutal combat skills are the only things that let you dive into the night and emerge alive. Make ambiguous decisions and witness how they impact the world on multiple levels, transform the shape of The City, and ultimately decide its fate.

Dying Light 2 will be showcased at the Koch Media booth at Gamescom this year.

Powered by the C-Engine, a new generation of Techland’s in-house technology, Dying Light 2 is set to be released on PlayStation®4, the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X, as well as PC.

Related Links

Official Homepage: www.dyinglightgame.com

Official Twitter: @DyingLightGame

Official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DyingLightGame

THQ Nordic Acquires Gunfire Games

Vienna, AUSTRIA, Austin, TX, USA, August 14 2019 – Gunfire is the developer behind the critically acclaimed game series Darksiders®, Chronos® and From Other Suns® and is a long-term development partner of THQ Nordic. Through the acquisition THQ Nordic adds a strong team of RPG experts and award-winning VR developers with an existing intellectual property (IP) portfolio and an exciting new game pipeline.

To put it in THQ Nordic’s words: “We are stoked to have Gunfire on board and are very excited about our collaborative future and the projects we will realise together.”
To put it in Fury’s words: “Welcome to the family, I guess…”

The acquisition includes the development studio that includes a team of 63 creative and technical game developers and all IP rights.

Gunfire, which was founded in 2014 by alumni developers of Vigil Games, is best known for its successful development of action role-playing PC/Console game series Darksiders for THQ Nordic along with Chronos that was awarded Game Informer’s VR Game of The Year. The core team based in Austin, Texas (USA) has worked together for over a decade creating successful games.

THQ Nordic teamed up with Gunfire in 2015 with the publishing of Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition and subsequently with the global hit Darksiders III in 2018. Gunfire will remain an independent development studio under THQ Nordic. The team will continue to create outstanding and unique action adventure games and online/co-op experiences playable on PC/console and VR with full creative freedom and maintained relationships with current publishing partners. Gunfire will continue to be led by CEO David Adams and all active founders will remain in their current roles.

Garmin Unveils Instinct Tactical Smartwatch

Olathe, KS / August 13, 2019 — Garmin International, Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), today announced the Instinct Tactical Edition, a rugged, outdoor GPS smartwatch with tactical functionality. Building on the proven reliability of the Instinct series, the Instinct Tactical Edition adds enhanced features of Garmin’s tactix® series including night-vision compatibility mode, Jumpmaster, dual-position GPS formatting, preloaded tactical activity, and waypoint projection. The Instinct Tactical Edition also includes a new stealth mode for off-grid functionality.

“The Instinct series has quickly proven itself to be the watch for individuals who need a piece of equipment as tough as the conditions they face,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice-president of global consumer sales. “Incorporating tactical features from the Garmin tactix series, the Instinct Tactical Edition combines the best of both product lines to provide tactical and multisport features for people who spend their time outdoors and demand a watch they can depend on in even the most challenging terrains.”

Packed with features for navigation and training, the Instinct Tactical Edition includes multiple features specific to tactical operations including Jumpmaster and tactical preloaded activities, projected waypoints, dual-position GPS formatting, and night-vision compatibility. For airborne operations, use Jumpmaster for three jump types: HAHO, HALO, and Static. Set the watch to dual-positioning mode, and the watch will simultaneously display two sets of coordinate systems, such as MGRS and latitude/longitude, on a single data screen. When night vision mode is activated, the backlight settings of the screen will reduce to a level that won’t interfere with the function of night vision goggles.

Enabling stealth mode prevents storage and sharing of GPS position and disables wireless comms. When operating in stealth mode, GPS location position is visible on device; however, locations are not saved to device memory or shared. This allows for training functionality in areas with location security concerns without revealing the location in the event a device is physically captured or if the recorded activities are shared. Stealth mode also quickly disables all wireless communication to and from the device.

The Instinct Tactical Edition is constructed to military standards (MIL-STD-810G) for thermal, shock and water resistance (rated to 100 meters) with a fiber-reinforced polymer case. It’s built with a chemically strengthened and scratch-resistant display that’s easy-to-read, especially in direct sunlight. Plus, the fully vented silicone bands include two independent, removable keeper loops to ensure a secure fit.

While in the field, feel confident exploring new paths thanks to the Instinct Tactical, which features multiple GNSS satellite networks to help track a user’s location in more challenging environments than with just GPS alone. Before venturing out, use the Garmin Explore™ app to plan the trip in advance and when it’s time to head back to camp, the TracBack® feature on the watch can navigate the same route back to the original starting point.

Whether camping, training or in day-to-day activities, the Instinct Tactical Edition keeps track of heart rate, steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned and more1. Hiking, running, biking, swimming, kayaking, and skiing are just a few of the activities supported on the device. When paired with a compatible smartphone, Instinct Tactical Edition users can leave their phone packed away and protected while they receive smart notifications like texts, emails, and other alerts right on the wrist. The Instinct Tactical Edition is also compatible with other Garmin devices including inReach Mini and dog devices.

The Instinct Tactical Edition features a battery life of up to 14 days in smartwatch mode, up to 16 hours in GPS mode, and up to 40 hours in UltraTrac™ battery saver mode. It is available now for a suggested retail price of $349.99.

The Instinct Tactical Edition is the latest solution from Garmin’s expanding outdoor segment, which focuses on developing technologies and innovations to enhance users’ outdoor experiences. Whether hiking, hunting, trail running, mountain biking, golfing, diving or training dogs, Garmin outdoor devices are essential tools for outdoor enthusiasts of all levels. For more information about Garmin’s other outdoor products and services, visit www.garmin.com/outdoors.

For decades, Garmin has pioneered new GPS navigation and wireless devices and applications that are designed for people who live an active lifestyle. Garmin serves five primary business units, including automotive, aviation, fitness, marine, and outdoor recreation.

PC Building Simulator Console Launch Trailer

LONDON – August 13th, 2019 – PC Building Simulator started as a free tech demo on Itch.io before it went on to sell more than 750,000 copies as a fully-fledged title from publisher The Irregular Corporation. Now Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch owners can build and repair PCs with real licensed parts when the game arrives on August 13th. What a world we live in.

In PC Building Simulator you’re the ultimate PC builder: run your own PC repair workshop and take care of everything from simple diagnosis and upgrades, to creating bespoke, boutique creations that anyone would love to own.

In story mode, you take over your Uncle Tim’s PC workshop after he mysteriously skips town. You’ll need to successfully repair and upgrade customers’ machines just to keep the lights on. Start small, then go big as you master some of the most technical elements of PC building, creating some seriously impressive machines in the process.

Builders are also given free rein to create artful, powerful or downright mean machines in the game’s Free Build mode. Using the most prestigious brands in the PC market: choose your case, build it out and pimp it big with LEDs and colour-coded cables – your work is your art, after all.

PC Building Simulator incorporates over 1000 real world parts from manufacturers including Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, ASUS, Deepcool, EKWB and NZXT. The game also features realistic BIOS and OS simulation, licensed 3DMark benchmarking and simulated overclocking, resulting in an incredibly extensive list of options and configurations for players looking to simulate real-world builds as closely as possible.

For more information on PC Building Simulator, please visit http://www.pcbuildingsim.com/. Follow PC Building Simulator on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook for the latest news and updates.

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The Irregular Corporation is a British games publisher, based in London. Founded by industry veterans based in the UK, their focus is on creating and supporting original games for niche markets and communities. They have recently released the full version of PC Building Simulator after a short period in Early Access.

Find out more at: https://theirregularcorporation.com/ and follow them on Twitter for more updates: https://twitter.com/irregularcorp

Biomutant Special Editions Revealed

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN / VIENNA, AUSTRIA  August 13th, 2019 – Everyone who paid attention in physics class knows that atoms are the smallest basic unit of an element with an nucleus containing protons, neutrons and electrons. But what has that got to do with Biomutant? Well, there are a couple parallels to our…

Biomutant Atomic Edition:

The Atomic Edition is the biggest basic unit of every Biomutant fan.
The Atomic Edition is packaged in an (almost!) indestructible shell via a premium box.
The Atomic Edition is special to the core, and is containing the following components:

  • High Detail Diorama – 60cm/23″ long, 25cm/10″ width, 30cm/12″ height
  • Game Biomutant
  • Steelbook
  • T-Shirt in L/XL
  • Oversized Mousepad 80cm/31″ x 35cm/14″
  • Artwork on Fabric A1 size
  • Soundtrack
  • Premium Box

The Biomutant Atomic Edition will be available at selected retailers for an SRP of € 399.99 | $ 399.99 | £ 349.99.

Pre-order here: https://biomutant.com/

Biomutant Collector’s Edition

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APHjytr3aNs[/embedyt]

Mutate your living room! The Biomutant Collector’s Edition will be available for an SRP of € 109.99 | $ 109.99 | £ 99.99 for PC and € 119.99 | $ 119.99 | £ 109.99 for consoles. The genetic code of this edition has the following sequence:

  • Game Biomutant
  • Game hero figurine
  • Artwork on Fabric A1 size
  • Soundtrack
  • Premium Box

Pre-order here: https://biomutant.com/

Stay up to date with Biomutant and visit the game’s website or follow the social media channels.

Website: https://biomutant.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/biomutantgame/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/biomutant