Author: Thomas Ortsik

Founder and Kinda-Editor-In-Chief at Twinstiq.
Also known as Dr. Strangethumb

Blade & Soul – Free to Play MMORPG Coming West This Winter

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Korean developers at Team Bloodlust of NCSoft originally released Blade & Soul in 2012. With three years of content updates, tweaks, and gameplay balancing, it's being translated to English, French, and German for release on Windows PCs in NA and EU.
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The "fatigue / vigor" system will not be carried over from the Chinese version, something that was likely put in place due to government restriction of online play. Blade & Soul will also be completely uncensored, and will release sometime this winter.
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  • Choose from one of four races, customize your character, and explore the open world.
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  • PvP is not initially available, but opens up as you get more experienced.
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  • The martial-arts style combat is combo-based, and flows in real-time.
At launch, the first three acts will be made available, with the rest of the six total existing chapters coming later. More could possibly be produced after that.Here is the livestream announcement footage:

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Source: Siliconera

Epic’s Showdown VR Demo Now Runs on Morpheus

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The Unreal Engine 4 powered tech demo is confirmed to be working at 120Hz on Project Morpheus. This is ahead of the 90Hz refresh rate targeted on a Nvidia GTX 980 with Oculus Rift. The smoother the visuals, the more realistic and immersive the experience. Get past the break to learn how they did it!
The Morpheus uses a technique called "asynchronous reprojection," similar to Oculus' Timewarp, which creates new frames in between those being rendered in order to reduce judder.This achievement shows that Project Morpheus could bring a very acceptable modern VR environment to players without having to sacrifice visual quality. Hopefully we'll see if this can translate into actual gameplay experience at this year's E3.

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Source: VRFocus.com

Weekly Webcomic Wrapup: Street”pass”

I am back! And I own a Marth Amiibo now!! And a Pit one too!!! Thinking about giving one away though in the name of Twinstiq. No promises yet, but I’ll look into shipping costs if people show some interest. If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you probably know of my Streetpass struggle. It took me 4 hours of running around like an idiot to get 2 passes. Well, at least Gamescom will get me some.
But there is one thing that’s decent this week: the webcomics!

ActionTrip (Witchers go forth in style)
NerdRage (Course Selection)
Ready Soup (Fist of the Cinnabar Kid)
Penny Arcade (Exile)
MGDMT (MegaLobster)
Awkward Zombie (Faux Paw)

Nintendo @ E3: What We Know

Deciding to skip a traditional E3 press conference yet again, Nintendo will present a digital show, and have a few demonstrations and playable games on the show floor. Check out what we know about this year's appearance at the showroom.

 
  • Iwata won't be at E3 for the second year in a row. His focus at the time will be on the business side of things, while developers such as Shigeru Miyamoto present the games.

 

 
  • A Star Fox game for the Wii U will be playable at E3 in some form, something "that everyone can play" according to its director Shigeru Miyamoto.

 

 
  • Nintendo's Treehouse will hold live streams from the show floor June 16th to the 18th, focusing on "in depth game coverage and behind the scenes info" according to their promotional site.

 
  • Mario Maker sessions will be held at Best Buys around the US on June 17th from 4-9pm and June 20th 12-5pm local time.

 
Tell us if you think Nintendo's strategy of pre-recorded shows is working for E3, and are there any surprises you're hoping for this year? Let us know in the comments!

World of Warcraft’s Selfie Competition: Don’t you look fabulous?

Yes, you read the title, yes it's about selfies, but just don't pass this article over just yet, the rewards are actually pretty darn worth it. Blizzard has announced that for the next few weeks they will be having a new contest for World of Warcraft players. What do you have to do exactly? Well for one, if you already play WoW avidly just go visit this website and follow the directions.
For those of you who are new to WoW or don't play, all you have to do is recreate the image Blizzard posts of a sample selfie. There is an in-game camera the S.E.L.F.I.E. Camera MkII, that players receive after a number of in game missions.
After you get you're selfie camera, you go to what you think if the location already photographed by the Blizzard GM's and put on your best duck face. Step three is to submit what you think is the Bread Winner. Each week the guys at Blizzard decide that which selfies are the best ones submitted; if chosen you may receive one of these prizes:

  • Blizzard gear
  • Battle.net Balance codes
  •  iPhone 6's

For someone that goes above and beyond a grand prize of a Trip for 2 to BlizzCon 2015 will be awarded.

Hurry because the contest is already in full swing, visit Selfie Contest to submit you're entries today!

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Rumblypoots@Cho'gall

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You can see me selfing around Ogrimmar for week one of the contest!

~Tisnight

What Could Be at Sony’s E3 Presentation

Sony's let a lot of first party exclusives slip into next year, hopefully they'll have a few surprises at this year's E3 to keep gamers busy until its other AAA titles come along. We'll examine what we know about the PlayStation E3 2015 experience after the jump!
  • Project Morpheus games could be announced as soon as E3, according to Sony's Shuhei Yoshida: "We haven’t talked about these games yet. We are waiting for the right time. Starting probably at E3, we will start to show the actual games."

 

 

  • Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Battleborn, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, Destiny Expansions, Disney Infinity, Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition, Doom 4, Guitar Hero Live, Hollowpoint, Magic Duels: Origins, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, Rock Band 4, and Star Wars Battlefront are PS4 games that are confirmed by IGN to be at E3 in some form.

 

  • Sony expects for a total of 232 new titles to be in the PlayStation 4 library by the end of the year, and some will be announced and perhaps released during E3. 72 PS3 and 79 Vita titles are also on track for release during the year.

 

  • No Man's Sky will probably show up. Sony has recently said it wants to treat the title as it would a first party game, and "put the full weight of PlayStation" behind it.
  • A price cut to $350 for the PlayStation 4 and $90 for the PlayStation Vita could be announced.

 

Is there anything you're wishing to hear about or see at Sony's 2015 E3 conference? Perhaps The Last Guardian, or a new Jumping Flash? Let us know in the comments!

What We Know About Microsoft’s 2015 E3 Plans

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Microsoft is trying to cater to core gamers with the Xbox One as they leave behind the focus on Kinect and entertainment media. This June, Microsoft will try and push their exclusive lineup, advanced accessories, and still provide surprises that will try to get a lock on the US market once again, according to independent analyst Billy Pidgeon. Here's a breakdown of what we know about Microsoft's E3 presentation so far.
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  • There will be live coverage by Major Nelson, Graeme Boyd / Xbox Live's Acey Bongos, with guest stars from various developers collaborating with Microsoft.


  • Microsoft's E3 presentation will take place June 15th at 9:30am PT / 12:30pm ET, and will last 90 minutes.

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  • Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Battleborn, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, Destiny Expansions, Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition, Doom 3, Forza 6, Guitar Hero Live, Magic Duels: Origins, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, Rock Band 4, and Star Wars: Battlefront are all games for Xbox One that are confirmed by IGN to be at E3 in some form.

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  • There are rumors that Microsoft will launch a hard core controller, going after hard core FPS and driving game fans.


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  • There will be "a lot of surprises," according to head of US Xbox Marketing Aaron Greenberg. The holiday lineup will be detailed, including Halo 5, Tomb Raider, Forza Motorsport 6, Fable Legends, all Xbox One exclusives.


  • You can watch the Microsoft E3 keynote presentation on xbox.com live.

Are there any titles or announcements you're hoping for in particular?

Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- in UK Next Month

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Six months after release in Japan and North America, Arc System Works' fighting game will have a UK digital launch on June 3rd. Guilty Gear fans will be able to download the PS4 and PS3 game via Sony's online store.
The 6-button fighter runs on Unreal Engine 3, and has been praised heavily for its artistic cel-shaded graphics. Featuring a cross platform (PS3/PS4) online versus mode, offline story and multiplayer, battle, and practice modes, you can enter the arena with one of 13 fighters, 17 with all the DLC add-ons.

This game is director/creator Daisuke Ishiwatari's effort to be accessible and wide reaching, so now's as good a time as any to jump in to the Guilty Gear franchise if you've never tried one before.

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Source: Gematsu

New Steam Store Releases: The Witcher 3

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Again we see that the stand-out release on a digital store this week is none other than the The Witcher 3. And it seems to be with good reason, if our own First Look at the game is any indication. Also out this week is an update of a controversial classic, a Minecraft clone with guns, and an old-school cyberpunk adventure game. Track your quarry past the break to see more of this week's new releases.
[Image: CD Projekt RED]

Andrew J Amideo