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Blink 182 to Play at Blizzcon

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BlizzconStage2
(Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

In a recent press release from Blizzard Entertainment we now know that Blink 182 will be officially closing out Blizzcon 2013. Blizzard canceled their plans for a 2012 Blizzcon last year due to an intense internal schedule but in 2011 they had a fantastic show and closed it all out with legendary rockers The Foo Fighters.

“After two days of hard work watching games and playing games and talking about games, we can’t think of a better way to kick back and relax than to have your face melted by Blink-182,”  “We’re thrilled to have such an awesome band helping us bring BlizzCon to an epic conclusion.” – Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment.

“Nothing beats touring and playing in front of a live crowd,” said Tom DeLonge, Blink-182 guitarist and vocalist. “Our roots are in Southern California, so playing at BlizzCon will be like having a show in our own backyard—only with a couple thousand more orcs and elves in loincloths and bikini armor.”

Get Creeped Out by Slender: The Arrival

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slenderSS

It’s getting closer to Halloween and what could be better then playing a game that’s really creepy? Slender: The Arrival is just that game, it’s a survival horror game that’s an official “re-imaging” of the original game Slender: The Eight Pages which was created by Mark Hadley in 2012.

Slender is filled with creepy sounds and strange places and it’s enough to really freak you out, especially if you play in a room with all the lights turned off. What’s to fear besides the creepy environment? “Slenderman” he is a tall, thin and faceless man who wants to capture you and telepathically destroy your brain.

You’re on your own. No one to come for you. No one to help you. No one to hear you scream. Slender: The Arrival is the official videogame adaption of Slender Man, developed in collaboration with Eric “Victor Surge” Knudson, creator of the paranormal phenomenon that has been terrifying the curious-minded around the world since its inception, with Mark Hadley and Blue Isle Studios.”

The game is originally $9.99  but is currently discounted on Steam until November 4th for $7.99. You can use the widget below to check out the game and or purchase. (This is not a sponsored post!)

Featured App: Evoland

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If you’re a fan of adventure RPG games then you will appreciate everything that Evoland has to offer. As the title of the game suggests, you begin to evolve as you play but it’s not just your character that’s evolving, it’s the entire game. You start off in a black and white heavily pixelated world and slowly progress through new technologies like adding sound and going from 8-bit to 16-bit gaming. Upon starting the game it’s apparent that your playing something that someone put some love into and you immediately feel rewarded for progressing, you can’t wait to see what will evolve next.

Evoland Classic (the first version of the game) was originally created by Nicolas Cannasse for a Ludum Dare competition in about 30 hours. Turns out the game won the first place (out of around 1400 games) and quickly reached over 300 000 players within a couple of months.

You can play Evoland Classic for free on the Evoland website but Shiro games took Evoland Classic and built a more complete game that you can now enjoy for $9.99. You can download it for Mac or PC from the Evoland website, Steam or GOG.com.

BlizzCon 2013 Getting Closer

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BlizzconStage

This years Blizzcon is set to begin a little later this year then it has in the past with the first day of the convention beginning on Friday, November 8 and the second day on Saturday, November 9 from 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m on both days. Blizzcon 2013 will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center, 800 West Katella Avenue, Anaheim, CA 92802.

Tickets to attend the event in-person have long since sold out but you can still join in on the fun from home by purchasing a Blizzcon virtual ticket. The virtual tickets are being sold for $39.99 and will allow you to see the full event streamed live on the Blizzcon website with multiple channels so you can pick the content you want to see.

Here’s a list of what to expect from the live streaming event:

  • Developer Panels: Get the latest news and firsthand developer insight into the creation of your favorite Blizzard games.
  • Exclusive Interviews: Dig deeper into the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo universes in exclusive interviews with Blizzard executives and developers.
  • Costume and Talent Contests: Get a great view of the creativity on display in the legendary BlizzCon Costume contest and the brand-new-for-2013 Talent Contest.
  • Closing Ceremony: Be there for the closing festivities on Saturday night, celebrating two full days of Blizzard gaming and eSports action.

When you buy a virtual ticket you will also receive some cool in-game goodies which for 2013 include:

  • World of Warcraft Pet: Murkalot
  • StarCraft II Portrait & Decal: Tearin’ Stitches & Stitches’ Hook
  • Diablo III Banner: Mark of Death (PC version only)
  • Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Card: Mystery Minion

For complete details on the event and/or to purchase a virtual ticket, head to the official Blizzcon website.

 

 

Nvidia Eliminates Screen Tearing with G-Sync

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Nvidia gsync-module

Screen tearing, stutter and input lag have plagued gamers for  years, but now Nvidia claims that they have found a solution to this issue. Nvidia has created what they call G-Sync to completely eliminate all of the aforementioned issues. G-Sync is a module that forces your monitor to have the exact same refresh rate as your GPU, which is the opposite of what happens in current systems.

The biggest problem is that GPU’s don’t render at a fixed speed and by having the monitor keep up with the GPU all of your screen tearing issues will go away instead of making the graphics card compensate for a fixed refresh rate. There have been many attempts over the years to correct these issues including the introduction of VSync, which did help, but it’s not perfect as VSync often stutters and fails to make gameplay as smooth as it should be and it can also be pretty taxing you your system.

By the time PCs came to market in the early 1980s, CRT TV technology was well established and was the easiest and most cost effective technology for utilize for the creation of dedicated computer monitors. 60Hz and fixed refresh rates became standard, and system builders learned how to make the most of a less than perfect situation. Over the past three decades, even as display technology has evolved from CRTs to LCD and LEDs, no major company has challenged this thinking, and so syncing GPUs to monitor refresh rates remains the standard practice across the industry to this day.”

For complete details on this new module head over to Nvidia’s official blog. I’m surprised that its taken us this long to fix this problem, especially since monitors have evolved so much over the last decade.