Opera GX is the world’s first gaming browser released by Opera. Try it out for free and enhance your gaming experience.
Opera has always been a cool browser – a turbo mode to speed up page loads, and a free integrated VPN for shielding your activity. The list goes on. It’s great at what it does, there’s no doubt about it, but today it pulled a rabbit out of its hat with Opera GX – the world’s first gaming browser.
Much like the Opera browser is made with user customization in mind, GX is designed for the meticulous gamer. “Opera GX is built for people who love games, and spend a lot of time building their setups,” said Krystian Kolondra, EVP at Opera browsers. “We want to give them a browser to perfectly match their beautiful machines.”
It’s true – every PC gamer worth his salt is proud to run a rig capable of flashy graphics, smooth FPS, and generous RAM. Serious enthusiasts will even opt for multiple GPU integration, water-powered cooling, or glowing keyboards that make you feel like you’re in “The Matrix.” Decking out your hardware is par for the course, but if Opera GX offers new levels of customization through a gaming browser, that’s exciting indeed. “I have a strong feeling this browser will resonate with the gaming world,” said Kolondra. Check out how it aims to do so:
Twitch integration: Follow your favorite channels
GX Control: Limit browser’s CPU and RAM usage
GX Corner: Latest gaming news and deals
Video pop out: Watch video on top of other tabs and applications
SFX: Game-inspired sound effects
Gaming design: Advanced customization and gaming hardware support
Control your gaming experience
“From the startup sounds to the look of the browser’s speed dial, Opera GX was designed to feel at home on any gaming setup,” said Opera GX product director, Maciej Kocembra. Right upon booting it up, GX is visually stunning with crimson streaks, an elegant UI, and dark shadows. As you’d expect, the color palette can be changed to 10 different suggested colors (and 16 million other possibilities courtesy of the extended color picker). GX is about far more than just looking cool, though (we have to admit we do love the aesthetic)! GX is also about being able to comfortably keep a browser up and running while you’re deep in the game, something that until now has always come with the risk of FPS drops and lag.
Choose a variety of different color schemes and wallpapers
“Running a game might require a lot of effort from your machine. Even more so if you are streaming while you play,” said Kocembra. “Before Opera GX, gamers often shut down their browsers in order to not slow down their gaming experience.” Memory-hungry browsers (like Chrome) are notoriously bloated, sapping a lot of power to function at high speeds. “We came up with the GX Control feature to make people’s games run more smoothly,” said Kocembra, “without requiring them to compromise on what they do on the Web.”
The main hub for this is the new GX Control panel, which allows users to choose how much of their computer’s CPU or RAM they want to dedicate to their browser vs their game. There’s a pair of dials (one for RAM, one for CPU) that you can toggle to decide what percentage of your computer’s resources you want to use for each. Trying to play while keeping a strategy guide open? Crank down the dials. Trying to improve your streaming quality? Dial them back up! Opera GX adjusts to stay within whatever constraints you set.
Adjust how much RAM and CPU you want the browser to use.
Smooth streaming
Twitch streaming isn’t the future anymore; it’s the present, especially for younger gamers. Streaming is a lucrative business too, which could make GX a preferred tool for the rising number of professional streamers. Twitch is integrated right into Opera GX, and the browser even lets users log right into their accounts directly from the sidebar. It also notifies you whenever a streamer you follow is going live. It’ll let you keep tabs in real time, and comes with shortcuts to sites like necessary sites like Discord, YouTube, and Reddit.
Seamlessly keep tabs on Twitch, Discord, Reddit, YouTube, and even Netflix.
For gamers and non-gamers
There are over 65 million Opera users, and not all of them are gamers. Like we said before, there’s a lot more draw to Opera than just playing Fortnite. As such, GX includes all the features that brought the browser under the spotlight in the first place: Integration with WhatsApp, Facebook, and Telegram right in the sidebar for easy access. Fans of Opera will also be happy to know that GX retains the popular Video Pop Out function, which will be more handy now than ever since you’ll want to fine-tune and manage your browsing while you’re in-game. You’ll also get the same powerful built-in ad blocker and VPN to keep your browsing session safe, distraction-free, and fast.
There are 1.2 billion PC gamers, and from the sound of it Opera GX is a promising choice for anyone looking for more control and convenience over their experience. Download it here while it’s in Level 1 early access to provide the Opera team with feedback and wish lists. Will you be giving it a try? Let us know in the comments below if this sounds like a browser you’ll be switching to!
What makes Kojima’s boss fights stand out from the crowd of button-mashing, grindy, soul-crushing antagonists like Shao Kahn or Gill is that the fight isn’t made difficult because of triple health bars, invulnerability shields, or one-hit K.O. moves. Instead, they’re the highlight of the game for different reasons. We had a top 10 prepared, but Kojima always dials things up to 11, so we thought we’d go even one step further than that. Here’s our pick for the top 12 boss fights in the Metal Gear franchise:
Nothing says Metal Gear quite like two giant mechs ramming into each other in a high-tech battle for combat supremacy. Lasers, Gatling guns, missiles, and a ton of metal smashing against metal, the fight is only enhanced by the fact that it’s behind the mechs it’s the classic Snake vs Liquid, just to raise the stakes even more. To top it all off, Liquid is in “the more advanced model,” so Snake’s the underdog before the battle even starts.
“Don’t you know that the majority of the world’s greatest assassins are women?”
Following her murder of one of the title’s protagonists, Sniper Wolf wants to prove her marksmanship against the one and only Solid Snake. “I always kill what I aim at,” says Wolf before the two face off in a snowfield sniper duel. The fight was the first all-out sniper battle in the series, but it wouldn’t be the last either. What also makes the battle memorable is the conversation with Wolf after she’s defeated – her relation with Big Boss, the tragic thing that she was truly searching for, and her wish to be at peace.
“The path you walk on has no end … you shall have no peace.”
The boss fight with Raven was one of Kojima’s favorites: A duck-and-cover shootout in a warehouse full of boxes against a lumbering foe who decided to bring flock of birds and a Gatling gun to a pistol fight. “He never kneels down,” said Kojima in an interview. “I think that added a lot of character to him.” True enough, his final words raise more questions than answer them, cluing Snake in to the greater schemes of the game’s plot.
His suit gives him camo, but drains his stamina very quickly.
The second member of The Boss’sCobra Unit, The Fear is a mutant acrobatic contortionist who dons a stealth suit and fires poisoned darts at Snake with a crossbow. While he’s leaping from tree to tree Snake is running around a forested area laden with pitfalls, snare traps, and venomous creatures. Aside from the awesome battleground, the fight is also memorable for the many ways it can be won.The Fear can be lured, fooled, poisoned, and even blinded. If you manage to beat him by depleting his stamina, you’ll even get the reward of his uniform and its outrageous camo index.
How Hideo Kojima created the characters of Metal Gear
What do you get when you make a near-perfect clone of Big Boss, make him President of the United States, have him be a master swordsman, and give him metal tentacles like Doctor Octopus? If you answered “A Metal Gear boss” you’d be right. This time it’s Solidus Snake duking it out on top of Federal Hall. Raiden was Solidus’ former protégé, adding an extra layer to the already epic fight.
The Sorrow was a casualty of war, forced to be killed by his loving wife.
One of our favorite fights on this list (and another of Kojima’s own top 5), The Sorrow was a surprise boss fight late in the game. “This character was very different from all boss battles I had tried up to that point;” said Kojima in an interview, “it’s a boss that doesn’t exist, he’s a ghost.” While the Metal Gear franchise doesn’t veer away from the occasional step into fantasy territory, an encounter with a spirit is pretty far removed from the typical genre.
The experience takes Snake through a mangrove populated by zombies – corpses of all the enemies that the player has killed in their playthrough. The stream can even be empty if they’ve done an no-kill run! Since the encounter is more or less happening in Snake’s head, the sequence can be skipped entirely by using the life pill when defeated.
Big Boss confesses the loneliness of a post-war soldier.
“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain,” says Batman in “The Dark Knight.” Such is tragically true for Big Boss, who turns out to be the mastermind behind the cruel, warmongering events of Metal Gear 2. Snake is forced to fight his ranking officer in a battle that redefines what it means to be an underdog. Armed with a hairspray can and a lighter, Snake creates a makeshift flamethrower and dukes it out with the legendary hero.
The battle with Psycho Mantis was the first fight that set the Metal Gear boss fights apart from others of the time, and one of the best boss fights of all time. To prove his telepathic might before the fight even starts, Mantis starts telling you your game stats so far: How many traps you’ve stepped in, how many fights you’ve gotten into, and how often you’ve been detected so far. He then takes it a step further and starts even listing off other games you’ve played on the system, a total fourth wall break that’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
Since Psycho Mantis has telepathic powers, he can’t even be defeated like a regular boss; he can read your every thought and therefore predict your moves. The guy can even make your controller vibrate at will, and tells you when he’s doing it! The only way to really defeat him is to take out the controller completely and plug it into a different port! How’s that for thinking outside the box?
“There is nothing more for me to give you. All that’s left for you to take is my life.”
The final boss battle of Metal Gear Solid 3 is against The Boss herself, the famed WWII hero who trained Snake since the very beginning. The fight against her takes place in a field of beautiful lilies, and is the classic master vs. apprentice as the two fight in a CQC battle for the title of Big Boss. There’s no gimmicks, there’s no spectacular fireworks or gaudy effects, just a one-on-one with a woman torn between her duty and her love.
Like all the best fights in cinema, it’s not the effects or the choreography that make it so memorable – it’s the two people that are locked in combat. When the fight ends it’s the player that has to pull the trigger on her; it’s not done in a cutscene. The lilies turn red to symbolize the shift in Snake’s character, and the blood that is now on his hands. The Boss was almost like a mother to Snake, and even after her defection she unsuccessfully tried to save Snake from the same path the she walked – a path of endless violence and warfare.
Revolver Ocelot was one of the major recurring characters of the Metal Gear franchise – sometimes a friend, sometimes a foe. He was the first fight for Big Boss, and poetically the final fight for Solid Snake. Metal Gear Solid 4 takes these characters to the end of their competitive journey, and has them fight on the ocean in front of a rising sun. “The war is over,” says Liquid, “but we are not yet free.” The two begin a fight for the ages, in a conflict that both of them knew would happen one day, and that one of them would not survive.
The boss fight itself is one of the series’ best. It takes the player through flashback pictures of Ocelot and Snake as they grew up together over the course of several games, and even a nostalgic comeback of the original games’ soundtracks and HUD. It really feels like a culmination of their arc, and both characters are physically and emotionally exhausted by its end.
“Let me linger in this world just a little longer.”
While other picks on our list are by and large better moments, there’s no actual battle that tops The End: The best sniper duel in gaming history. He’s a legendary sniper from the Cobra Unit who’s over a century old and saving the last of his strength for one final hunt. That hunt is Snake. The End wears a full-on salad suit and blends in nearly perfectly with the forest, making him hard to spot, and even harder to spot before he sees you and hits you with his tranquilizer-loaded Mosin-Nagant. Worse still, The End has photosynthetic powers, allowing him to regenerate stamina if it falls below a certain threshold. Combine that with the fact that the boss fight goes between three separate locations, and it’s a tug-of-war with who’s predator and who is prey.
That high-tension moment when you finally get the drop on The End.
Like all the best boss fights in Metal Gear, The End has multiple weaknesses that clever players can exploit. Kojima wanted the boss fight to last a long time, to really drag out the exhaustive snipe-off between the two characters but, as with Psycho Mantis, there’s ways to make the fight much easier, like following his footprints with thermal vision, catching his pet parrot and following it to his location, or even setting your console calendar forward a week just to watch him die of old age! Crafty players who get their hands on a sniper rifle early enough can even shoot him in his wheelchair long before the fight ever starts. It just goes to show how outside-the-box thinking can outwit and defeat even very difficult opponents.
Top 5 most memorable boss fights in video game history
Arm yourself with a curved lightsaber and put on your best Christopher Lee impression as you boot up EA Star Wars Battlefront 2 this week! The infamous Count Dooku is now a playable villain you can unlock and use to dominate the battle. The Count comes with entirely new combat animations, abilities, emotes, and victory poses (though some of the Star Cards are duplicates of other heroes) and is in the game as of January 23.
How much is Count Dooku?
Like all the new heroes and villains (such as the recent General Grievous and Obi-Wan Kenobi) Count Dooku can be purchased with 35,000 in-game credits.
Drop 35,000 credits and you can roam the battles as Darth Tyrannus!
Credits are earned by simply playing online matches, and can be boosted by opening daily crates (500 credits a pop), completing daily challenges, and attaining milestones.
What are his abilities?
Count Dooku comes with three unique abilities, each of which can be further upgraded with Star Cards, which are unlocked and improved as you reach higher levels with the character.
Dooku’s three abilities make him especially good at 1v1.
The abilities are Lightning Stun, Duelist, and Expose Weakness:
Lightning Stun
This ability is a quick burst of Sith lightning in a small conical arc in front of Dooku. The amount of damage the lightning does bears refreshingly no impact from equipping different star cards. Rather the ability does more damage the fewer targets are caught in the blast radius.
Lightning Stun will deal more damage to fewer targets.
This makes it equally useful against small clusters of troops or against a single enemy hero. Lightning Stun also knocks enemies off their feet, leaving them helpless as Dooku finishes them off with his blade.
Duelist
Darth Tyrannus was famed for being a master swordsman, and this is highlighted by his Duelist ability. When active, Dooku will strike faster and his hits will deal more damage (more still with certain star cards equipped). This is particularly useful against Enforcers since they have extra health and Aerial units since they can evade before you can land too many successive hits. However, the ability really shines when you’re sparring one on one against an enemy Jedi.
Dooku is a master duelist – more than capable of dispatching harder foes.
While it does not break their block, the speed with which Dooku attacks is difficult to maneuver against, and the added damage reduces the effectiveness of their block.
Expose Weakness
In line with Dooku’s role as a strategist comes his knack for analyzing flaws in an opponent’s attack pattern – the chink in the armor. This ability debuffs one target with slower movement as well as increasing the amount of damage they receive from all sources, including from himself.
Expose Weakness helps your teammates deal extra damage to a target.
Expose Weakness is particularly useful in Galactic Assault matches when leading a small team, or in Heroes vs. Villains matches when you can afflict the enemy target. If you are able to eliminate the opponent you debuff with Expose Weakness, the ability is recharged, immediately available to be used again.
Count Dooku’s victory poses and emotes
Like all the other heroes and villains, Dooku comes with four emotes and four victory poses. Each is available for 2,000 credits or 50 crystals.His victory poses are:
‘I am superior’‘You should reconsider’‘Unimpressed’‘Not worth the effort’
And his emotes:
Foolish: “Brave, but foolish.”
Looking forward: “I’ve been looking forward to this!”
Powerful: “I’ve become more powerful than any jedi.”
Control: “The Sith control everything!”
What game mode is Dooku in?
Count Dooku can be played in Galactic Assault, Heroes vs Villains, and Hero Showdown. In Galactic Assault, he is available at 4,500 battle points during clone matches, and for 6,000 any other era.
Dooku joins the roster of other infamous Star Wars villains
If you’re planning to choose him, best of luck; he’s still brand new, so everyone wants to give him a try!
Dooku will be receiving a new Dark Ritual appearance on January 30, and fans of the Clone Wars series will be especially excited to see it – it comes from The Lost Missions season of the animated series. He’ll also be getting one more costume in February.
Here’s what you can expect in the coming month.
February will be an especially big month for Battlefront fans since we’ll be getting Anakin Skywalker, new Coruscant Guard and 501st Legion skins for clone troopers, and a new capital ship game mode. Stay tuned for more updates, and we’ll see you on the Battlefront!
This Fortnite vulnerability left players open to invasion of privacy.
Fortnite is a true global phenomenon. The popular online game is played by over 80 million people and enjoys a reach so wide that it has also creeped into regular popular culture. You’ll see kids on every street wearing Fortnite T-shirts and hoodies, and you’ll also see major sports stars celebrating their wins and goals with celebrations taken directly from the game. Even Netflix pegs Fortnite as their greatest competition.
As fun as it all is, we have to remember everything that is online is vulnerable to exploitation. Also, anything as popular as Fortnite is likely to me a magnet for attention from all the wrong people. Hackers and cyber-criminals will see Fortnite as a cash cow and target Fortnite players, often young children. This has already started happening.
This Fortnite vulnerability left players vulnerable to invasion of privacy
Researchers at Security consultant firm Check Point recently discovered a Fortnite vulnerability that allowed hackers to steal Fortnite’s virtual currency and even read private conversations online. According to Check Point the vulnerability wasn’t too complicated and was easy to exploit. All they had to do was send a malicious link to the Fortnite player over social media. Once clicked, the link would register the player’s Fortnite authentication token allowing access to their account without the need to enter their login details.
The high numbers of young children playing Fortnite makes this vulnerability all the more shocking. Oded Vanuu, who is the head of products vulnerability research at Check Point, said, “Fortnite is one of the most popular games played mainly by kids. These flaws provided the ability for a massive invasion of privacy.” Children are more vulnerable to further exploitation since the malicious link also asks questions relating to their account, including any financial information that might be connected to the account. They’re much less likely to be able to spot something out of the ordinary, meaning they’re more likely to hand over the information.
The key here is that, essentially, the vulnerability relies on unsuspecting users falling for a phishing attack. The malicious link is presented as a legitimate communication from Epic Games and the victims believe it. It is always very important to think carefully when you are contacted and asked to click links or hand over your details. For more information on avoiding these types of scams follow our tutorial on how to detect fake or scam emails, websites, and social media posts. Another key way to protect yourself from these types of scams on Fortnite is to turn on two-factor authentication for your account.
Fortunately, Check Point reported this bug to Epic Games, and it was fixed last month. This doesn’t mean, however, that there aren’t other vulnerabilities out there and that you can now let your guard down. On the contrary, this bug only indicates that it is more important than ever to remain vigilant when you’re doing anything online.
MAGFest 2019 just ended and we’re still getting used to walking down the street and not seeing Rick and Morty casually chatting up Samus Aran and Kylo Ren. The four day-long event is a celebration of gaming, music, community, panels, and all things nerd. The convention welcomes all walks of life and all types of fans, be they Windows or Mac, PlayStation or Xbox, Call of Duty or Halo. Think of the whole event as one giant post-game lobby where everyone’s excitedly talking about their favorite moments of the match. It’s a bonding experience.
Everyone deserves to experience MAGFest at least once.
If you’re an avid gamer – or even if you’re just a casual fan of something like Undertale, Mario Kart, “Lord of the Rings,” or “Dr. Who” – that doesn’t necessarily equate being a convention-goer. A quiet evening with Mass Effect is pretty far removed from being caught up in a tide of rabid cosplayers foaming at the mouth at the first note of the Legend of Zelda intro music. Not everyone’s an extrovert, not everyone has money to burn, and not everyone lives close to the National Harbor, where the event takes place. So what is the biggest draw of MAGFest? What’s the logic behind putting down the cash, hopping on the road, and suiting up a Tracer costume? Here’s why
10 reasons why every gamer should attend MAGFest
1. The Arcade
Enjoy an endless arcade with unlimited plays
The definition of “gamer?” You play games. From the brainy Hearts of Iron IV strategist to the trigger-happy Gears of War fanboy to the anime-loving Doki Doki Literature Club enthusiast, at MAGFest you all fall under the wide umbrella of “liking video games.” A word to the wise: If you’re the Halo loyalist type who swears all Call of Duty players are a blight on the galaxy, or a “Star Wars” fan who bites his thumb at the Spock cosplayers, here’s a secret: All the fandoms are awesome in their own right. Furthermore, the creators of your favorite show or game are probably heavily inspired by the competition. Did we mention that Stan Lee was a huge Superman fan?
Every sound in this room spikes your nostalgia
The arcade at MAGFest is a retro gamer’s dream, with everything Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghosts and Ghouls, Pac-Man, Dance Dance Revolution, and practically half the room filled with old pinball machines. And did we mention practically all the machines are set to unlimited play? You could sink hours of time into Konami’s X-Men arcade game from 1992 and not spend a cent. At MAGFest you don’t have to ‘pay to win’ or ‘pay to lose!’
It’s not just video games either; MAGFest also has mmultipletabletop gaming rooms where you can play Pathfinder, Munchkin, GURPS, Cards Against Humanity, or Magic: The Gathering. Think you’ve got the best deck around? Sit down and see how you stack up to the competition!
Tired of video games? Grab a board game table!
2. LAN Parties
LAN teammates were swapping in and out all weekend.
It’s not just ye olde arcade games at MAGFest either. They’ve got monitors and controllers set up all around the convention set to plunk you right into a raging Call of Duty LAN party, a speedrun through Crash Bandicoot, Pokemon, or Spyro the Dragon. We shouldn’t even need to mention that there’s a King of the Hill tournament where Super Smash Brothers experts can clash in front of a cheering crowd. The list goes on.
LAN party? Drop in, drop out. Dominate.
You can happily pass the time playing Star Fox at your own pace. Or you can waltz into a group of ranting Halo players, pick up a controller, and make some new friends while you’re pwning the enemy team.
3. Buy and trade games, consoles, and controllers
For the more thrifty or forward-thinking gamers, MAGFest is a great opportunity to pick up some phat loot. If you’ve got an old Xbox 360 or unused Nintendo cartridges sitting around there’s a kiosk set up where you can make some profit by trading them in; something Gamestop probably wouldn’t give you more than a couple bucks for. On the flip side of the coin, there are literal boxes full of used games from which you can can peruse and choose at your leisure. We even saw a retro mouse next to a couple old Xbox memory cards.
The holy relic of retro gaming
If you’re concerned about spending money at a convention, entering the event arms laden with things to sell and trade for profit is a good compromise!
4. Legendary and hilarious panels
Comic-Con has them, MAGFest has them too. When you’re done pounding away at an arcade machine or spent all the money on merch that you’re willing to part with for the day, you can sit back and relax with some truly memorable panels. Voice-A-Palooza featured a handful of famous voice actors such as Jan Johns, Alexander Brandon, and Wes Johnson all dubbing over famous movie scenes with their various characters. If you’ve ever wondered what Luke Skywalker talking to Rey in The Last Jedi sounds like if Luke was Popeye and Rey was Sean Connery … well scratch that – you probably never wondered that, but it happened anyway:
This year’s MAGFest had over 80 indie developer companies showcasing their products in varying stages of completion, ranging from playable concept, to beta testers, to soon-to-hit-the-market games. From side-scrolling platformers to JRPGs to shooters, there was something for everyone, and every booth felt professional and polished. It’s a special experience being able to talk to the folks who designed a game as you’re sitting there playing it, enjoying the fruits of their labors and providing constructive feedback while they type away transitioning you between levels or punching in cheat codes.
Indie games of today are the top sellers of tomorrow
Many of the indie development teams handed out business cards and discount coupons for their games, meaning that when they hit the market on Steam you can get it for cheap, knowing you might have been part of the game-building process! Check out the full list of indie booths right here!
6. All the merch you could want
8-bit Bob Ross draws a happy little tree
The vendor hall at MAGFest was so ridiculously jammed with cool stuff we’re positive we didn’t see it all. Ranging from 10-cent bags of dice to brand new unopened board games to the more pricy hand-crafted leather works or painted posters, toys, and models, the whole huge room was a cornucopia of games, artwork and assorted knickknacks for every variety of game enthusiast.
Just take my money. Plz.
Walking around the various vendor kiosks at MAGFest was like window-shopping at a nerdy bazaar. In one direction a set of handmade stuffed Koopalings, in another direction nerf guns, still another direction some life-sized paintings of Lara Croft, Geralt of Rivia, or Link. Geeky squeals of delight around every corner as people unbox a chibi Garrus Vakarian or Little Sister from Bioshock.
7. Live video game music
The Triforce Quartet plays the Portal theme for a crowd
If listening to a video game track is awesome, then just wait until that track is performed by a live string quartet, or a jazz combo taking requests. MAGFest has a live performance every few hours, and no two bands are the same. If you’re craving something a little more wild and unrehearsed they’ve got that covered too: There’s a Jam Room where anybody can go and bring an instrument and play with whoever else happens by. We saw a trumpeter jamming with a rhythm section on what may have once been Rainbow Road.
Musicians are welcomed. Musicians are encouraged.
8. Crazy Cosplayers
Costume game on point
Looking for a good place to show off your Han Solo costume? Maybe bring a Fellowship of friends, or strut the halls as One Punch Man? You couldn’t ask for a better place to do it. MAGFest is teeming with cosplayers sporting costumes of all shapes, sizes, genres, and corners of the world. Enjoy the view or suit up yourself and prepare to be bombarded with people asking for a picture!
If you’re in costume, expect people to want pics with you!
We get that this aspect is NOT for everybody, and feel it’s a good time to mention that it is wholly unnecessary. Cosplaying is added fun, but there were certainly a ton of people out of costume just quietly wandering around playing video games or sitting in on panels. MAGFest even has an ‘AFK Room‘ set up for the con-goer who feels to socially bombarded. It’s a quiet room off to the side where people can zone out, pull out their laptops, sneak a nap, or even fill in a coloring book. When you’re feeling rejuvenated you can head back out and greet the colorful masses.
9. Advertise your own game!
MAGFest is a beacon for any indie game developers, and if that’s you, you definitely need to consider getting a booth to show off your stuff! The convention had numerous tables laden with indie board games and video games and is an excellent place to look for feedback in a crowd comprised of your exact audience: Gamers. You might even pick up a new member for your development team!
Mush alert: Amidst all the indie booths, posters and games to buy, arcades to play for hours on end, LAN parties to jump in whenever you like, and live performances and panels MAGFest is a huge community of people who share a passion and excitement for nerd culture and video games. From the hardcore Final Fantasy guru who cosplays as Vivi to the casual Persona fan, to the musician aspiring to compose for a big game company one day, know there’s a place for you at MAGFest.
Amazon sells millions of video games worldwide. It also owns Twitch, which is largest video game live-streaming website in the world. It seems though, all that is not enough for the online retailing giant. Amazon wants more of the video game industry and is currently working on a big new project to make it so. If you’re a gamer, there is a very good chance you’re going to love this.
The report claims that the Amazon service will run similar to Sony’s PlayStation Now service. PlayStation Now gives users access to select titles to play as much as they like during the period they’re available. There is no need to buy or download the titles, users simply play them. Apparently, Amazon has begun talking to publishers about bringing their games to the new service, but still has a lot of work to do. It looks like 2020 is being touted as the earliest possible release date for Amazon’s new service.
There has been no official word from Amazon about the service, but there is plenty of evidence that points toward this report being credible. First of all, there is the fact that Amazon already opens a global cloud computing service (Amazon Web Services) of the kind that would be needed to pull off something like an online video game streaming service. Other giveaways include job listings spotted by The Verge, including one that specifically mentions an unannounced AAA games business.
What are the best selling video games of all time?
All of this points to the fact the video game streaming market is about to get very interesting. With services already on offer from Microsoft, Google, and Sony we know what we can expect from a new video game streaming service. None of the above, however, have cracked streaming video games quite like Netflix did with movies and TV shows. We’ll have to see if Amazon can take video game streaming services to the next level or if they’ll just become another face in the crowd.
Test your wits with these great free trivia games!
Ever throw a party for different groups of friends? Worried your cousins won’t like your roommates and your improv team and the dudes from your fantasy football league? A great way to break the ice and get everyone comfortable is to play a party game. Skip the board games and get everyone’s brain humming with a battle of trivia!
Top 4 fun trivia apps
1. Trivia Crack
One of the most popular trivia apps to date, Trivia Crack is really fun and easy to use. Connect on Facebook or let the app choose a random player to play against. Then, spin the wheel to choose one of six categories: Science, Sports, History, Entertainment, Art, and Geography. If you answer correctly, you can keep answering until you lose, and then it’s your opponent’s turn. You can play more than one game at the same time, but your game expires after one day of inactivity.
There’s also the Triviathon option. Answer as many questions as you can non-stop. When you get a question wrong, you have to start over. The length of your winning streak determines how many in-game coins you’ll get which you can use to customize your profile picture. You can play for hours without realizing it because this app is so addicting. Available for iPhone and Android.
You can now play the game from the famous television show. Choose topics worth different amounts of money and if you win, you get the game cash and choose the next clue category.
In the World Tour version, you can go to locations in the app like Los Angeles and Australia to compete against other players. For each location that you win, you’ll get in-game cash that allows you to advance to other levels. You can also connect on Facebook to play against friends. Once you get to level two, you won’t have to deal with any ads during the game. Available for iPhone and Android.
HQ is the leader in the new wave of trivia games. Every night HQ broadcasts a live trivia game. A fun (and sometimes cringy) host asks a total of 12 multiple choice trivia questions ranging from easy to really, really hard. If you get all 12 questions correctly you win real money! It’s not very much since you split the jackpot with all the other players all over the world that win, but there are a few people on the leaderboard who have won hundreds of dollars.
What makes Quiz Up cool is that it offers a ton of topics – the most we’ve ever seen in a trivia app. Start with choosing the three that interest you the most, like Harry Potter, sports teams, or U.S. Presidents and you can add more topics over time. Play on your own or against a friend or random player a choose the right answer from multiple choice questions.
Like most trivia games, the questions are timed, and if both players and answer correctly, the player who answers the most quickly gets a few more points. If you lose you can move on to another topic or request a rematch. Another feature is the opportunity to use in-game coins to enter tournaments, and if you win, you’ll get featured at the top of the app. Available for iPhone and Android.
If you only use Bing occasionally, you may not know that the search engine offers lots of free games that you can play. To access the games on Bing, simply go to the menu (three horizontal lines) in the upper-right corner and click Fun & Games. From there, you can play a game, work on a puzzle, or take one of the quizzes.
The games on Bing aren’t rejects, either. Bing has plenty of beloved classics you’re sure to enjoy. Before you play, it’s worth noting that Bing often changes the games that are available on the site — so if you don’t see a particular game anymore, it may have temporarily been replaced with another one. Also, many of these games play music. However, you can easily mute this feature if desired. Here are some of the classic games you can play on Bing right now:
5 classic games on Bing you can play now
1. Matching cards
This game lets you pick from a variety of different themes, such as animals, houses, or vehicles. Once you pick your theme, you can then choose your difficulty level (easy, medium, or hard). Your game will be timed, and you’ll be given a score based on your performance once you’ve successfully finished the game.
2. Crossword
The crossword puzzles on Bing are a lot different from The New York Times crossword puzzles. Bing’s crossword puzzles start out fairly short, with about 10 questions. They are timed and organized by a specific theme. For example, you might be faced with a series of puzzles that revolve around movies or another element of pop culture. If you find that the current puzzle is too hard, press the refresh button to give another puzzle a go. You’ll also have the option to easily reveal any answers that have stumped you for too long. Don’t see it as giving up — think of it as building your knowledge base!
3. Chess
This version allows you to select from three difficulty levels: easy, medium, or hard. The game also clearly displays a list of how many (and which) moves are made. So if you’re a beginner and you want to learn how to play chess, this can be a great way to start. And if you’re not satisfied with the way the game is going, it’s very easy to start over and try again.
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This classic puzzle is also available to play in easy, medium, or hard versions. There’s even the option to “write” your answers in pencil or pen. The pencil is used to make a note of a number you think is correct. The pen is used to write in a definite correct answer. Like the other games mentioned, this game is timed.
5. Jigsaw
If you didn’t think you could do a jigsaw puzzle online, think again. First, you’ll choose an image that you want to make into a puzzle. You can choose from a variety of categories and images such as animals, national monuments, movie posters, world wonders, and art, among many others. Next, you’ll choose your difficulty level (easy, medium, or hard), and the computer will then create and scramble your puzzle for you. Just like a real puzzle, you’ll “pick up” (or, technically “drag”) the pieces and put it together.
Imagine Fortnite with magic. Here’s why Spellbreak could be the next big thing in Battle Royale.
2018 is the year of the Battle Royale game. From Fortnite to Call of Duty: Blackout to PUBG, it’s a defining year for the genre. With such a crowded field of entries, it can be hard for new games to stand out from a crowd that feels increasing stale. Fortunately, Battle Royale fans have something entirely new to look forward to: Spellbreak, an upcoming Battle Royale game that plays like a beautiful cross between Fortnite and Skyrim.
Playable Classes
Pyromancer class concept art
Most gamers are familiar with the basic elements of Battle Royale: a group of players are dropped into a single large map and then fight to be the last one standing. In most entries in the Battle Royale genre, players drop in totally naked (sometimes literally naked), and have to gather supplies that are scattered around the map.
Though there are elements of this in Spellbreak, players won’t be dropping in totally equipment free. All players will pick from a selection of classes, and this class controls the magic they can utilize in combat. This class-based combat system also brings other RPG elements into play. At the start of each match, players can choose two magic classes. Within each class, players have access to a passive ability and three scrolls that you choose and level up as a match progresses. Currently, 11 playable classes have been confirmed, including:
Fire
Ice
Lightning
Stone
Wind
Poison
Spellbreak’s imgur page has showcased two of the game’s classes so far: the Pyromancer (fire) and Conduit (lightning), though we’ve also seen glimpses at Ice and Poison abilities.
Magical combat and abilities make up the core of Spellbreak’s PvP experience, but it’s not limited to simply casting spells and hoping to kill your opponents. Passive abilities play a huge role in Spellbreak, and each class has a unique passive ability. For Pyromancers, that ability is Phoenix’s Rebirth, which allows players to revive at half health after their first death. For the Conduit, Lightning Fast increases your movement speed. These abilities shake up the way a Battle Royale is traditionally played, and means that players will have to think a little harder and strategize before they attack.
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The different magic classes interact in different ways to make for lethal and unique combinations that can suit any play style. For example, poison magic and fire magic react in explosively. Casting a poison cloud then hitting it with a fireball creates a massive neon green inferno reminiscent of the infamous Wildfire from “Game of Thrones.” Players can also cast a fireball on puddles of poison to ignite them, potentially creating a wall of flame that can block other players in or cut them off.
With 11 playable classes currently, the potential for casting combinations is huge and ripe for experimentation. Duos and Squads have also been confirmed, which means that coordinating magic combos with your team is going to be a big part of playing.
Spellbreak’s map is expansive, the lush green forests and rocky landscapes looking like something out of Skyrim. Of particular note is the ruined castles littered around the map. They’re a focal point for the game’s combat. Wander inside one of these ruins and you’ll find intricate mazes of corridors and battlements. Head up to the castle towers to ambush opponents from above, or lose pursuers in the tangle of crumbling halls within. Castles in-game range in size from small ruins to massive fortresses, breaking up the battlefield with multiple levels and providing ample opportunity for cover and concealment.
The game’s graphical style also sets it apart. The cel-shaded visuals are gorgeous and definitely bring the hit Legend of Zelda game Breath of the Wild to mind. The almost cartoonish look makes the game’s combat colorful, chaotic, and over-the-top, deepening the sense of frantic battle.
Spellbreak is currently available in pre-alpha on Steam. Players can apply for the pre-alpha on the official Spellbreak site, where so-called Founder Packs are also available for purchase that grant access to Alpha Keys and other development-stage goodies, as well as other items available at launch. For more info, you can also check out Spellbreak’s imgur or Reddit page where you can find behind-the-scenes looks and more in-depth examinations of combat. Spellbreak is setting itself apart in a crowded Battle Royale field, and it’s certainly shaping up to be a unique and incredibly cool looking addition to the genre.
