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Valve’s Official Steam Machine Hardware Specs

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If you’re not already aware, Valve is creating it’s own hardware to run Steam to try and create the ultimate gaming experience.

This hardware is just a prototype and the final product isn’t due until 2014, but 300 lucky Steam users will get to beta test the system sometime this year.  Currently, there are no images of the prototype hardware but in a recent post from the company they have provided us with some pretty serious specs.

Here are the specifications for Valve’s 300 prototypes:

  • The 300 prototype units will ship with the following components:
  • GPU: some units with NVidia Titan, some GTX780, some GTX760, and some GTX660
  • CPU: some boxes with Intel i7-4770, some i5-4570, and some i3
  • RAM: 16GB DDR3-1600 (CPU), 3GB GDDR5 (GPU)
  • Storage: 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD
  • Power Supply: Internal 450w 80Plus Gold
  • Dimensions: approx. 12 x 12.4 x 2.9 in high

As a hardware platform, the Steam ecosystem will change over time, so any upgrades will be at each user’s discretion. In the future we’ll talk about how Steam will help customers understand the differences between machines, hardware strengths and weaknesses, and upgrade decisions.

We aren’t quite ready to post a picture of our prototype – just because they’re not finished enough. Before they ship we’ll let you know what the prototype looks like. And we expect people to redesign the machine, too. Both from a technical perspective, deciding on different components, and from an industrial design perspective, changing the enclosure in interesting ways.”

First Person Goomba (Video)

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Since the early days of Super Mario Bros we have been squashing Goombas with out any consideration as to what their story is. In this awesome video from pipocaVFX, we see life from a Goomba’s perspective and Mario doesn’t quite seem like the “superhero” we are used to.

GTA 5 Sales Hit $1Billion

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According to a Take-Two Interactive press release, it looks like company estimates have Grand Theft Auto 5 sales hitting $1 Billion in the first three days of it’s availability.

Grand Theft Auto 5 features an open world environment for players to freely roam as they live an alternate life in Southern California. Not only is there work to be done, like going on heists, but there’s plenty of leisurely activities for you to participate in as well, including everything from yoga to taking chances on the stock market. GTA V also features amazing updated graphics and a solid storyline.

The Grand Theft Auto franchise has forever solidified it’s place in the video game world as it continues to deliver a better experience with each release. The Original GTA was released in October 1997 and offered a top-down view of Liberty city as you pursued your criminal career.

Grand Theft Auto is a cultural phenomenon and Rockstar Games continues to redefine what can be achieved in interactive entertainment,” said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two. “We are incredibly proud of the extraordinary critical and commercial response to Grand Theft Auto V.”

Blizzard to Shut Down Diablo III Real Money Auction House

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D3RMAH

Blizzard Entertainment has sent out emails to Diablo III owners with a notice that they are going to be shutting down the real money auction house on March 18, 2014.

The new feature initially received quite a bit of criticism but seemed to be holding it’s own during the first few months of the games release. Over time, Blizzard has changed it’s view of how the real money auction house impacts the game and has decided that it “ultimately undermines Diablo’s core game play: kill monsters to get cool loot.” Below is the official notice. Your can also read Blizzard’s blog post about the closure.

“We are writing tell you about an important change to Diablo III: we’re going to be removing the gold and real-money auction house system from the game.

When we initially designed and implemented the auction house system, the driving goal was to provide a convenient and secure system for trades. But after much review and player feedback, it became increasingly clear that despite the benefits of the AH system and the fact that many players around the world use it, it ultimately undermines Diablo’s core game play: kill monsters to get cool loot.

We’re working out the details of how the auction house system will be shut down, but we wanted to share the news as soon as we made the decision in order to give everyone as much advance notice as possible. Please note that the final shutdown will occur on March 18, 2014. We will keep everyone informed as we work through this process, but feel free to check out our blog post on the subject, and stay tuned to Diablo 3.com for further details.

– The Diablo III team

World of Warcraft Siege of Orgimmar

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Hey Warcraft fans, if you have been out of the loop or have been unsubscribed for a while you may have missed that earlier this week Blizzard went live with patch 5.4, Siege of Orgrimmar. This patch packs in a lot of new features and enhancements including:

  • A repeatable solo scenario for level 90 players called the “Proving Grounds”
  •  Flexible Raid Difficulty
  • Connected Realms- which will permanently link two realms together for a better overall experience for less popular realms.
  • A new pet battle tournament called the Celestial Tournament
  • A new land called the Timeless Isle
  • New Shiny Amor Sets

The tensions stoked by Garrosh Hellscream’s arrogance have reached a boiling point with the devastation unleashed upon the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Now it’s time for leaders of the Alliance and Horde to lay siege to Hellscream’s capital and topple the ruthless Warchief once and for all!”

For complete feature overview on patch 5.4, head over to Blizzard’s official page.