Archived News:

Monday, May 23, 2016 Victoria Day (Canada)

Overwatch Launches

As promised, Overwatch is now live, offering the worldwide launch of Blizzard's new multiplayer shooter. In a couple of related tidbits, PCGamesN has a confirmation that the game's loot boxes will be offered for sale via microtransaction. They also note that in a Facebook Q&A, Jeff Kaplan confirmed that competitive mode will be added by an upcoming update they hope to release by the end of the month. You can keep an eye on the Overwatch website for more details.

Overwatch Video Drivers

The GeForce website now offers new version 368.22 WHQL-certified drivers for GeForce graphics cards, saying these are the game-ready drivers for Overwatch as well as upcoming updates for War Thunder and World of Tanks. Here's word: "Our new GeForce Game Ready 368.22 WHQL drivers are optimized for the official Overwatch release, as well as forthcoming updates for War Thunder and World of Tanks. To download and install, simply fire up GeForce Experience and click the "Drivers" tab. Likewise, a new AMD Radeon Software Crimson Edition version 16.5.3 hotfix is now available, offering support for Overwatch as well as Total War: Warhammer and the Vulkan edition of Dota 2.

Total War: WARHAMMER Trailer

A new 360° trailer from Total War: WARHAMMER, celebrates tomorrow's release of Creative Assembly's fantasy-themed strategy game. This will allow you to drag your mouse to change your viewpoint during the video, and they also offer a 2D version of the clip in case the other one poses problems or just seems too much like witchcraft. Word is: "Through a marriage of award-winning Total War game mechanics and the incredible depth and complexity of Games Workshop’s World of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, critics have judged Total War: WARHAMMER as one of the best strategy games ever made." Continue here to read the full story.

On Sale

Evening Crowdfunding Roundup

  • Disobey - Revolt Simulator by Tunnel Vision Studio — Kickstarter. "Disobey is a hybrid between a real-time strategy and a third-person action videogame. The game is simple: you’re the Leader of the Revolt and you have to take down the Government. How to do it? Blowing down the Government Palace of course! But none can do it alone, you’ll have to coordinate squads of rioters to get weapons and medical kits by destroying strategic buildings, to find the better route to the Palace and to overcome policemen formations or tanks blocking your path. But remember: every action causes an equal and opposite reaction. The police will not stay just looking at your moves…"

Into the Black

Link of the Day: Game of Moulds.

Overwatch Launch Details

The official simultaneous worldwide launch of Overwatch is tomorrow, but that is as early as this afternoon in some territories. This post on Battle.net has the details on when to expect the release, which will be at 7:00 pm EDT, saying: "Similar to the Open Beta, Overwatch will launch in all gameplay regions across all platforms at the same time globally. To find out when Overwatch will be available in your region, check out the reference guide below."

U.K. Sales Charts

DOOM continues to spell doom for the competition on the GFK Chart-Track PC top 30 chart for the week ending May 21st. Football Manager 2016 remains at number two, and there are no new entries in the top 20. On the all platforms chart Homefront: The Revolution debuts at number three and there are a few other new entries, including a couple of Fire Emblem titles. Here's the summary of all the activity:
Sony take a second week at No1 with ‘Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End’ (-78%).

Bethesda’s ‘Doom’ remains at No2 for a second week and sales only decline -35% over the debut week, putting it close to the No1 in terms of units sold this week. This week’s big new release debuts at No3 in the form of Koch Media/Dambuster Studio’s ‘Homefront: The Revolution’ for PS4 and Xbox One. This is the sequel to THQ and Kaos Studios ‘Homefront’ which debuted in week 11, 2011 at No1 (both original publisher and studio have ceased to exist). Activision’s ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops III’ (+0%) drops 1 place to No4 and Nintendo’s pair of 3DS ‘Fire Emblem Fates’ titles sees ‘Birthright’ debut at No5 and ‘Conquest’ at No11. Also new this week and debuting at No6 is Sega’s PS4 ‘Valkyria Chronicles Remastered’, which is the original PS3 version+DLC, released in UK during November 2008.

Morning Interviews

Game Reviews

Hardware Reviews

Out of the Blue

Looking forward to getting to the eye doctor today, hoping that my previous experience holds true, and that I'll be able to walk out of there with a couple of pairs of sample contact lenses. This relates to the first definitive thing I'd like to say about the Oculus Rift, which is that I do not believe the talk of being able to use these with glasses, as I was able to dig out a very small old pair, but using them with the headset was still extremely painful. It got to the point where I couldn't put on the headset yesterday, as even thinking about doing so made my face hurt (Does your face hurt? Because it's killing me!). Anyway, based on my experience, trying to use a Rift with glasses is not practical.

Practical Links: Thanks Ant and Acleacius.
Play: Detective Sir Biscuit.
Science: Ancient meteor strikes sent ice-rich tsunamis across the surface of Mars.
Media: This is what a ZERO star-rated car looks like in a test.
Dad Makes Nice Save. Like a boss.
The Single Most Uncomfortable Moment in TMNT.
The Funnies: Motivational Tools.
Socially Awkward « EXTRALIFE.
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