Ninja Leaves Twitch, Will Stream Exclusively On Mixer
Streamer Ninja, whose real name is Tyler Blevins, is ditching Twitch for rival streaming platform Mixer. The super-popular streamer announced the news in a fake press conference video today.
He stated that nothing will change in terms of content. "It's the same me, just a different platform," he said. Intriguingly, Ninja also said he plans to "get back in touch with my roots" as it relates to streaming. That's noteworthy because Ninja started out as a popular Halo streamer before going on newer titles; he is most recently famous for streaming Fornite. Microsoft's next Halo game, Halo Infinite, launches in Holiday 2020.
Master Chief even makes an appearance in the announcement video, which further suggests Ninja coming to Mixer may be related to Halo and specifically helping to promote Halo Infinite.
Ninja was far and away the most-followed Twitch user, with some 14.7 million followers. Microsoft is surely hoping that a portion of Ninja's audience moves with him to Mixer. Ninja's Mixer page is already incredibly popular, picking up 100,000+ subscribers in its first day.
Ninja is offering free subscriptions in August; that gets you 22 Ninja-themed emoticons and no ads. Just like on Twitch, Ninja said he plans to stream from 9:30 AM CST to 6 PM CST every single day.
Microsoft's signing of Ninja comes not long after the company laid off content creators and producers at Mixer and Insider Xbox, according to GameDaily.
A 1987 NES Game Just Sold For $9,000 After Sitting In An Attic For 30 Years
If you happen to have any old Nintendo games stored away in your attic, you might want to dig them out and check what their value might be today. You might just end up being $9,000 better off.
Scott Amos of Reno, Nevada recently found an old, 1987 NES game in his attic after looking through his childhood possessions. The game in question was Kid Icarus, still in the bag it came in with the receipt also correct and present. The receipt tells us that it was bought in December 1988 for $38.45 (just over $80 today according to an online inflation calculator), but has been completely forgotten about ever since.
Speaking to the Reno Gazette Journal, Amos says, “All the family has been trying to come up with a hypothesis. [My mom] thinks she put it there and never got it back out, and then it ended up in the attic.”
It just so happens that Kid Icarus finds itself at the rare end of the scale for sealed NES games, resulting in something of a jackpot for Scott and his family. The game was put up for auction online at Heritage Auctions, where it just sold for a mouth-watering $9,000.
A screenshot of the auction at Heritage Auctions
If we had a sealed copy of a game like that we’d struggle to give it away for any kind of money, but what an amazing find. As we said above, it might be a good idea to get searching those attics and garages!
Steam Proposes Linux Kernel Changes To Improve Game Performance
The game distribution company, Steam, has proposed changes to the Linux kernel to gain access to extra core functionality they need to improve performance of gaming on Linux. Steam recently released the first build of Proton 4.11, a WINE based tool that can run Windows games on Linux. They observed that the performance can be significantly improved if the proposed changes are made to the kernel. Steam has built a Linux-powered gaming platform that competes with Windows 10 and game consoles like PS4 and Xbox One. (Source: Tom’s Hardware, Steam, GitHub)
Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka with Love is a satirical point-and-click inspired by the classic adventure games. It smuggles you out of your comfort zone and throws you into the middle of a Cold War spy intrigue ? where there?s an even bigger game being played?
Pokemon Go surpasses 1 billion downloads worldwide
Newsbrief: Niantic’s mobile AR game Pokemon Go has officially been downloaded more than 1 billion times since its launch a little over three years ago, according to a Japanese trailer spotted by Serebii.
At least half of those downloads came during Pokemon Go’s first few months out in the wild. Niantic previously said that the game cleared 500 million downloads back in September 2016, just months after its mid-July launch.
While the back half of its now 1 billion downloads took a bit longer to collect, more recent posts from Niantic suggest that the game still maintains a strong following. While Niantic has been quieter about numbers since, the developer did note last year that new features and in-game events helped it boost active player counts by 35 percent in just a few months.
EA expects The Sims 4 to deliver net bookings on par with Apex Legends
Electronic Arts ran a week-long promotion in May that gave The Sims 4 away for free on its digital game store Origin. Now, EA says that the promotion led to 7 million downloads of the base Sims 4 game, a push that comes in the same quarter as a 55 percent year-over-year jump in add-on purchases.
The Sims 4 was, alongside Apex Legends, one of the notable earners called out in Electronic Arts’ most recent financial reports.
Put in context, EA expects The Sims 4 to bring in net bookings on the same level as its battle royale game Apex Legends moving forward, saying that it expects both games to “each deliver net bookings in the $300 million to $400 million range” in the future.
While the May promotion saw the base game given away for free, it’s likely the arrangement sought to create more potential buyers for the troves of paid add-on content EA-owned Maxis has released for the game in the 5 years since its first release.
Those add on packs, broken down into $40, $20, and $10 tiers based on the amount of in-game content offered, require the base game to use and, though optional, amount to about a $560 purchase for those who pick up the current library at full price.
“I think we’re doing really, really well attracting Sims players,” notes EA CEO Andrew Wilson in the Q&A. “As we said, we did the promotion in the last couple of months and brought in 7 million new Sims players that we expect will engage in that community on a platform that is really tailored to user-generated content, creativity and customization.”
July 24th : New Preview Alpha Ring 1908 Update (1908.190722-1945)
Starting at 2:00 p.m. PST today, members of the Xbox One Preview Alpha Ring will begin receiving the latest 1908 Xbox One system update (Build: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1908\18362.6049.190722-1945).
New Features:
Today we will be enabling this new feature for flighting in Alpha:
Home
50% of users will begin to see and experimental version of the dashboard. For more information on this experiment, please review the blog post on the Xbox Insider Blog here.
Note: This experiment is randomly selected and the Xbox Insider Team cannot assist with users who do not see it.
DETAILS:
OS version released: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1908\18362.6049.190722-1945
Available: 2:00PM PDT 7/24/19
Mandatory Date/Time: 3:00 AM PDT 7/25/19
Fixes:
Community
We’ve fixed an issue where the Dashboard reloaded when navigating to the Community tab for some users.
Known Issues:
Audio
Users who have Dolby Atmos enabled and console display settings set to 120hz with 36 bits per pixel (12-bit) are experiencing loss of Dolby Atmos audio in some situations.
Workaround: Disable 120hz or set Video Fidelity to 30 bits per pixel (10-bit) or lower.
Guide
Some users have reported that the icons at the top of the Guide have sometimes appeared distorted, blocky, or with ghostly outlines.
For more information about this issue, refer to the post on the Xbox Insiders subreddit located here.
Profile Color
Sometimes users may encounter the incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.
This week at Bungie, things are heating up for Solstice of Heroes.
The next big beat for Season of Opulence is almost upon us. Solstice of Heroes is bringing new Moments of Triumph to complete and a new title for Guardians to earn. You’ll also be challenged to upgrade a Solstice of Heroes armor set by completing various objectives throughout Destiny 2. If you missed our Solstice of Heroes 2019 announcement article yesterday, make sure to check it out. We have a cool trailer to go with it!
If you have what it takes to fully upgrade your armor set to the Legendary tier, you’ll also find an armor 2.0 version of you Solstice of Heroes set at the Gunsmith when Shadowkeep launches.
While the event begins next week, Lord Saladin didn’t want you sitting idle. The Iron Banner is in full swing, bringing Power-enabled PvP combat back into the fold. If you’re hunting advanced perks on Legendary armor, be sure to complete Saladin’s bounties and quest line. A few changes are coming next week for both that quest and a certain wolf-themed weapon, so let’s get to it.
Commemorative
Sometimes there are weapons that bring a bit of chaos to the meta. The weekend of Prometheus Lens, otherwise known as “Laser Tag Weekend,” is a great example. Lord of Wolves also falls into this category. Next week, Destiny 2 Update 2.5.2 will reign in the wolves a bit by reducing the amount of ammo Guardians pick up and toning down the effective range of the weapon. As promised last month, we’ve created an emblem and Triumph for those who braved the wolves during the Season of Opulence. Next week, qualifying players will receive a “Lost History” package at the postmaster, which will unlock a unique Triumph. Once the Triumph is claimed, the emblem will be granted.
To qualify for the “Wolves Unleashed” emblem, players must have finished an Iron Banner match between 10 AM PDT June 18 and 10 AM PDT June 25 2019 or between 10 AM PDT July 23 and 10 AM PDT July 30 2019.
Additionally, we’ve created an emblem for those who embraced the madness back in 2017, when skulls were melted during the reign of Prometheus Lens.
To qualify for the “Prismatic Inferno” emblem, players must have finished a Crucible match between 10 AM PST December 8 and 10 AM PST December 12 2017.
While we don’t intend for these chaotic micro-events to happen, it can be an exciting time when things get a little crazy. We hope these emblems bring fond memories of the battlefield. Who knows—maybe a new weapon will dominate the Crucible come Shadowkeep. Only time will tell.
Two Five Two
As mentioned above, Destiny 2 Update 2.5.2 will be released next week, kicking off Solstice of Heroes and bringing some balance to Lord of Wolves. There will also be a few more changes and fixes within the update that have been highly requested by the community. Here’s a quick preview of what’s to come:
Lord of Wolves
Reducing the amount of ammo Shotgun scavenger perks can give to Lord of Wolves when in the Release the Wolves state
Decreasing the effective range on Lord of Wolves
This decrease is more aggressive when in the Release the Wolves state
Tribute Hall
Tribute Hall Triumphs for “The Emperor’s Gladiator” and “Scoundrel in Uniform” will no longer require a full set of Leviathan gear equipped to progress
Players will earn more points based on the number of gear pieces worn, similar to other Triumphs
Iron Banner
Iron Banner quest objective values will been adjusted for future events
Reducing grenade kills required by 50%, and ally grenade kills will be worth as much as your own
Reducing Sword kills required by 25%, and ally sword kills will be worth as much as your own
Menagerie/Chalice
Heroic Menagerie will drop a Sword for first time completion (100%)
Subsequent completions will have a moderate chance to drop a sword (25%)
General
Fixing an issue where completion notifications did not appear after completing bounties
This will also fix an issue where players would sometimes not spawn during a Crucible match
There will be additional bug fixes and general updates, so stay tuned to @BungieHelp for patch notes when the download becomes available next Tuesday.
Patch Prep
Some call them detectives, others see them as bug exterminators. Destiny Player Support is on the case, bringing you vital information to keep you up to speed when downloading and installing Destiny 2 Update 2.5.2.
This is their report.
Destiny 2 Update 2.5.2
Next Tuesday, on July 30, Update 2.5.2 will roll out to all players in Destiny 2. This update will mark the beginning to Solstice of Heroes, and is required in order to access Destiny 2 once it has been deployed. Listed below is the release timeline for this update.
Tuesday, July 30:
9 AM PDT (1600 UTC): Destiny 2 maintenance will begin. Destiny Companion features will be taken offline.
9:45 AM PDT (1645 UTC): Destiny 2 will be taken offline. All players will be returned to the title screen.
10 AM PDT (1700 UTC): Destiny 2 will be back online. Maintenance will be ongoing. Update 2.5.2 will begin rolling out across all platforms and regions.*
11 AM PDT (1800 UTC): Maintenance will conclude. Destiny Companion features will be back online. Solstice of Heroes will begin.
*Players on console who are taking an abnormally long time to receive this update should try updating manually. Follow the links below for instructions on how to accomplish this:
Players who still do not see this update may wish to try power cycling their console hardware. To do this, players should:
Completely power down the console. Ensure that the device is not in rest mode.
Unplug the console from its power source.
Wait five minutes.
Plug back in and try again.
If the update is available, it should begin downloading automatically after power cycling the console hardware. If not, players may wish to try manually checking for this update once more before resorting to another power cycle.
For live updates, players should follow @BungieHelp on Twitter or monitor our support feed at help.bungie.net. For patch notes when they become available, players should stay tuned to our Updates page.
Vital Information: Emperor’s Gladiator Triumph
This week, Iron Banner has returned and bonus Valor is active in all Crucible playlists.
Players should be aware that the Tribute Hall Triumph “Emperor’s Gladiator,” which requires players to earn Valor from the Crucible while wearing Calus gear, does not gain extra progress while bonus Valor is active.
Players will continue to earn progress toward this Triumph; however, progress will be applied at its normal rate.
Destiny 2: Season of Opulence Known Issues
Listed below are the latest player-impacting issues discovered in Season of Opulence, as reported by players to the #Help forum.
Crucible Invisibility: We have identified an issue causing some players to appear nearly invisible intermittently during Crucible matches. This issue is expected to be resolved in Destiny 2 Update 2.5.2 next week.
Strike Loading: We have identified an issue causing players to sometimes get stuck with “Loading” on their screen during strike activities. This issue is expected to be resolved in Destiny 2 Update 2.5.2 next week.
One Last Wish—No Wait, Maybe One More…
Life’s greatest questions have always been: Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? What you are about to watch probably won’t answer those questions, but they may inspire you to slay an Ahamkara.
MOTW: Solo Riven, but this time only one floor
Honorable Mention: Rivens’ Last Array
If you’d like to put your name in the hat for Movie of the Week, make sure to post your content to the Community Creations page on Bungie.net, or throw a video to myself or Cozmo on Twitter.
This week, another promise was kept. During the GuardianCon Charity Marathon, one of our donation goal incentives was for me to get a tattoo. Not only did you smash that goal, but you more than doubled it. While I wasn’t surprised, I was more than overjoyed to know that this community was at the ready to donate for the little lights out there. As such, I doubled down on the commitment. Many thanks to our friend Ingrid at Damask Tattoo for helping us to fulfill the goal.
Dry Drowning is a psychological investigative visual novel set in a futuristic dystopian city. Follow the story of Mordred Foley, unscrupulous private detective haunted by his dark past, and look into a series of macabre serial killings inspired by Greek mythology.
