News::Report: Activision buys eSports staple MLG for $46 million

Call of Duty and Hearthstone studio Activision Blizzard has acquired a majority of Major League Gaming's assets in a $46 million deal that essentially dissolves the professional gaming organization, eSports Observer reports. MLG Co-Founder and CEO Sundance DiGiovanni has left his role and is replaced by former CFO Greg Chisholm, the site says. Neither company has confirmed this report, though we've reached out to both and will update as we hear back.

Source: eSports Observer

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News::'Final Fantasy XV' hits the road in 2016

Final Fantasy XV has been in development for what seems like an eternity. But being New Year's Eve (or Day, depending on where you live), changes are afoot: Final Fantasy XV and its all-dude cast will release in 2016.

Developing...

Source: Square Enix

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News::'Final Fantasy IX' is headed to PCs and phones next year

The last Playstation 1-era Final Fantasy is finally getting remastered. Square Enix announced this morning that Final Fantasy IX will make its way to PCs and phones next year, Kotaku reports. There's no release date or Western launch confirmed yet, but the latter is likely since Square has brought over its other remastered Final Fantasy titles. The launch trailer shows off slightly better-looking characters, and it lists a few new features, including auto-save, achievements and a high-speed mode. While it never quite received the fanfare of Square's other PS1 Final Fantasy games, this remaster might be a chance for FF IX to find the audience it deserves.

Via: Kotaku

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News::Hackers get Linux running on a PlayStation 4

In the two years since the PlayStation 4 first went on sale, hackers have enjoyed limited success in their efforts to open up the console. In June, a Brazilian team claimed the first PS4 "jailbreak," which involved the cumbersome process of copying the entire hard drive of a hacked machine using a Raspberry Pi, but it took until this month for a tinkerer to fully circumvent Sony's content protections. With a proper exploit in the wild, homebrew group fail0verflow took on the challenge of installing a full version of Linux on the system. It achieved its goal this week, giving the homebrew community hope that the PlayStation 4 will soon become a worthy tool in their arsenal.

Via: VentureBeat

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News::HTC and Valve's Vive VR system passes through the FCC

Getting certified by the Federal Communications Commission for safe use is a rite of passage for every legal gizmo, and the joint virtual reality project from HTC and Valve, the Vive, recently passed by the regulatory agency. It's a requirement for any product to be sold and typically happens in the run up to consumer release, which backs up HTC's promise of an April launch window for the Vive headset and its Lightroom controller-and-motion-tracking tech. Road to VR writes that certification was expected to face a few challenges given the nature of its laser tracking and possible safety issues. But hey, I wouldn't be writing this if those perceived hurdles hadn't been cleared.

Via: Road to VR

Source: Federal Communications Commission

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News::Steam's Christmas privacy issues affected 34,000 users

On Christmas day, up to 34,000 Steam members were able to view other users' private information, including billing and email addresses, following a glitch triggered by a denial-of-service attack, Valve announced today. On the day of the attack, Valve said that the glitch was the result of a caching issue, and that users were able to view strangers' information, though they couldn't take action on other people's accounts. Valve's update today clarifies the caching issue, attributing it to the DoS attack.

Via: NeoGAF

Source: Steam

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News::'Halo: Reach' runs poorly on the Xbox One

The Xbox One's backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games has largely worked as promised, but there's now one glaring exception. Microsoft has confirmed reports that Halo: Reach (aka one of the 360's biggest titles) runs much slower than you'd expect. While talk of it being "unplayable" is extreme, Bungie's shooter fell from a largely steady 30 frames per second on the original hardware to the mid-teens -- enough to throw you off during intense action scenes. Others report audio glitches, too.

Source: Reddit, Kotaku

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News::Louis Vuitton's 2016 collection, as modeled by 'Final Fantasy'

She might have already been decked in Prada (and er, moogles), but Final Fantasy XIII's often-reheated hero, Lightning, is now the face of Louis Vuitton's incoming collection early next year. This all comes direct from the Instagram account of the fashion house's Creative Director, Nicolas Ghesquiere. Watch Lightning wield an LV purse like a "Blue Steel" Buster Sword in the animated teaser after the break.

Via: Polygon

Source: Instagram

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News::Spend an afternoon with the 'Sonic' charity marathon

The fine folks at Respawn Point are in the middle of a non-stop, seven-day Sonic the Hedgehog marathon, livestreamed on Twitch and benefiting UK charity Special Effect, which helps people with disabilities play video games. The stream started on December 27th and runs through January 3rd. Respawn Point's stream team is playing a lineup of historically significant Sonic games, starting with 1991's Sonic the Hedgehog and including notoriously awful installments like the 2006 Sonic disaster.

Source: Respawn Point

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News::The best gaming headset (for most people)

By Dennis Burger

This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer's guide to the best technology. Read the full article here.

After more than 100 hours spent researching and testing 37 gaming headsets in all, plus more hours of long-term comfort testing than could reasonably be counted, we think the Kingston HyperX Cloud Gaming Headset is the best gaming headset for most people. It's beautifully built, comfortable on a wide variety of heads, and excellent in sound performance, especially for the price. In fact, you won't get find much improvement unless you spend more than double what the HyperX Cloud costs. This model is also incredibly comfortable—you can easily wear it for hours on end without any appreciable cranial distress. It's a clear winner.

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News::'Rise of the Tomb Raider' hits PC in January, Steam says

The PC version of Rise of the Tomb Raider is due in January, according to the game's Steam listing. Square Enix has yet to confirm a date for the desktop launch of its latest Tomb Raider installment, though in July it announced the PC and Windows 10 editions would drop in "early 2016." The PS4 version should release in late 2016. We've reached out to Square Enix for clarification on the Steam listing.

Via: Destructoid

Source: Steam

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News::'Take This' livestream starts today with video game stars, swag

Take This is a non-profit that educates and supports those with depression, anxiety and other mental health issues, with a focus on the video game community. Starting today at 12PM ET, Take This hits Twitch for a two-day livestream starring BioShock creator Ken Levine, popular gaming critic Jim Sterling, Tom Clancy's son and game developer Thom Clancy, and other famous figures of the industry. Donate during the stream for a chance to win sweet gaming swag, including a signed Octodad poster, an IGN gift pack, a remote-controlled replica of Claptrap from Borderlands or a custom Fallout 4 Xbox One.

Source: Take This on Twitch, Donations

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News::Kid opens PS4 on Christmas day, finds block of wood instead

It's always a little awkward when a well-intended Christmas gift is a bit off target. But it's down right cruel what happened to little Scott Lundy from Wakefield, MA. After (we imagine) weeks, maybe months, of anticipation and avoiding the naughty list, Lundy was rewarded with a PlayStation 4 under the Christmas tree. Or so he thought. Instead of unboxing a sick next-gen console (his parents opted for the Teen-rated Uncharted bundle), Lundy found a PS4-shaped bit of wood. What's worse, instead of a quick start guide to read, the malcontent penned a surly seasonal greeting.

Via: GameSpot

Source: Fox25

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News::Japan gets Nintendo's 2DS in limited-edition 'Pokemon' colors

Pokemon will soon be 20 years old. But before you reach for another egg-nog, here's how Nintendo is really going to twist your arm with the strength of nostalgia and bright primary colors alone. It's announced four different 2DSes (two that'll be exclusive) to launch alongside its incoming Pokemon remakes (the Gameboy classics Red, Blue, Green and Pikachu Yellow) for the 3DS (and 2DS, of course). The red and blue see-thru models have already appeared in Europe alongside the launch of the last Pokemon title, but it'll be the first time the 2DS has appeared in Japan at all. Cheaper Nintendo handheld and a Pokemon game bundled in? Sounds like a license to print money to me. Let's just pretend that Yokai Watch doesn't exist. The 2DS bundles will launch in late February.

Source: Nintendo (Japanese)

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News::'Pokken Tournament' Wii U controller coming to US after all

When the Pokken Tournament Wii U controller from Hori surfaced earlier this month our excitement was quickly subdued when Japan seemed like the only place you'd be able to buy it when in launched in March. Well it's time to get excited again because it's going to available to a much wider audience at launch.

Via: Destructoid

Source: Amazon

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News::Valve's gaming platform is experiencing a Christmas disaster

Valve's Steam platform is giving players access to people's private accounts. As per reports, when players log into their accounts for details, they're able to access someone else's information including email addresses, credit card details and previous purchases. What makes this security lapse more critical for the gaming platform today is that the site was in the middle of its winter sale with a large number of people buying online.

Source: Kotaku

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News::The fate of a Picasso is in the Internet's hands

Each holiday, Cards Against Humanity runs a mystery gift club, in which subscribers pay $15 in exchange for... uh... mystery gifts. This year, the presents included socks, socks and socks, as well as a year's membership to NPR and giving a week off to the employees of the factory where the cards are printed. The latest in the series of "Eight Sensible Gifts for Hanukkah," however, asks the promotion's 150,000 subscribers to decide the fate of a signed print of Picasso's Tête de Faune. The people have a simple choice: either they can vote to donate the work to the Art Institute of Chicago, or slice it into 150,000 pieces.

Via: Hyperallergic

Source: Cards Against Humanity

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News::Sony will ensure 'The Banner Saga' comes to PS Vita

Now that Sony has more or less given up on first-party support for the Vita, indie games have become the portable system's lifeblood. It should come as no surprise, then, that when The Banner Saga developer Stoic announced it was putting its Vita port "on the back burner" due to budgetary concerns, Sony took note. It's partnering with indie publisher Versus Evil to continue work on the Vita port, and assumedly absorbing some of the cost (and potential profit). The news comes from Sony's Gio Corsi, who handles third-party developer relations for the company.

Via: Gamasutra

Source: Gio Corsi (Twitter)

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News::'Rock Band 4' devs will wipe the leaderboards next month

In a sign of what's to come for your favorite board game, Harmonix announced it's fixed a "gnarly" Rock Band 4 bug, and next month will deliver a patch that ends a number of scoring exploits. The bad news for players? That also means the games leaderboards will be entirely reset. While players will still have their high scores saved locally, they'll need to go again for online bragging rights. Speaking of online, in a recent blog post Harmonix said that bringing internet multiplayer to the new game is "very much on the table," but it hasn't committed to a timetable.

Via: Polygon

Source: Harmonix Blog

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News::Super Mario Galaxy lands on the Wii U Virtual Console

Nintendo has ported Super Mario Galaxy, one of the most popular Mario Bros games of all time, to its Wii U Virtual Console and will release it on Thursday, December 24th for $20. SMG joins other gravity-defying 3D Mario platformers on the Wii U console including Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Super Mario 3D World.

[Image Credit: Getty]

Via: Venture Beat

Source: Nintendo

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