HP, Intel Sign on for Multiyear Sponsorship of the Overwatch League™
IRVINE, Calif.—November 2, 2017—Tech leaders HP Inc. and Intel today joined forces with Blizzard Entertainment in major Overwatch League™ sponsorship deals that represent an extended investment in the groundbreaking professional league. As part of the multiyear agreements, Intel will sponsor future Overwatch® competitive events in addition to the Overwatch League.
Players taking part in these events will be equipped with cutting-edge gaming hardware from both HP and Intel. HP, and more specifically, its OMEN by HP gaming PCs and displays will be used exclusively for Overwatch League games, with PCs powered by Intel® Core™ i7 processors.
“We’re thrilled to be joining forces with HP and Intel to ensure that the teams competing professionally in Overwatch are equipped with top-end technology,” said Pete Vlastelica, president & CEO of Blizzard Entertainment’s Major League Gaming division. “Multiyear collaborations such as this illustrate the momentum behind the Overwatch League as well as a long-term commitment by us and our partners in what we see as the future of esports.”
“Working with Blizzard Entertainment as a global technology partner of the Overwatch League is the perfect way to celebrate esports talent and showcase our hardware within the competitive gaming arena,” said Alex Craddock, global head of marketing, personal systems at HP Inc. “OMEN hardware has been widely adopted by many of the world’s top esports professionals, and we’re thrilled to help power the gameplay for the Overwatch League.”
“For more than 12 years Intel has consistently supported the esports community and we’re always looking for ways to help improve how they play, watch, and compete. We’re proud to sponsor the Overwatch League and equip all competition PCs with Intel® Core™ i7 processors to contribute to a great experience for fans and competitors,” said John Bonini, VP and general manager of the VR, gaming, and esports group, Intel. “The Overwatch League will be a great showcase for esports, and we’re excited to be a part of it with Blizzard.”
The Overwatch League represents a unique opportunity for sponsors, with a city-based structure that supports engagement and a deeper connection to local fan bases around the world. Esports have already captured the attention of more than 280 million people[1] worldwide—a community that includes some of the hardest-to-reach and most sought-after demographics, including a share of millennials two to three times higher than any of the “Big Four” US sports.[2] The Overwatch League is based around Blizzard Entertainment’s blockbuster hit Overwatch, which quickly became the company’s fastest-growing game following its release last year and recently reached a new milestone of 35 million players.
The inaugural season of the Overwatch League begins with the first regular season match on January 10, 2018, and runs until June, with playoffs and finals scheduled for July. Preseason play will begin next month, on December 6, with a series of exhibition matches featuring the inaugural 12 teams. All Overwatch League preseason and regular-season games for 2018 will take place at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles, a state-of-the-art live-event venue in Burbank, California, custom-renovated for Blizzard Entertainment esports events. Information on Overwatch League ticket sales will be announced in the coming weeks.
About the Overwatch League™
The Overwatch League™ is the first major global professional esports league with city-based teams across Asia, Europe, and North America. Overwatch® was created by globally acclaimed publisher Blizzard Entertainment (a division of Activision Blizzard—Nasdaq: ATVI), whose iconic franchises have helped lay the foundations and push the boundaries of professional esports over the last 15 years. The latest addition to Blizzard’s stable of twenty-one #1 games,[3] Overwatch was built from the ground up for online competition, with memorable characters and fast-paced action designed for the most engaging gameplay and spectator experiences. To learn more about the Overwatch League, visit www.overwatchleague.com.
About HP®
HP Inc. creates technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere. Through our portfolio of printers, PCs, mobile devices, solutions, and services, we engineer experiences that amaze. More information about HP Inc. is available at http://www.hp.com.
About Intel
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) expands the boundaries of technology to make the most amazing experiences possible. Information about Intel can be found at newsroom.intel.com and intel.com.
[2] Esports audience demographic from Blizzard Consumer Insights survey of 5,000 global esports viewers, 2016; US professional sports demographics from Barclays ‘Future of Sports: Aggregator of Platforms’, September 2016
[3] Sales and/or downloads, based on internal company records and reports from key distribution partners
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Blizzard Entertainment’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, including statements about the dates and features of the Overwatch League and the sponsorship arrangements with HP and Intel for Overwatch esports, are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Blizzard Entertainment’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Blizzard Entertainment and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Blizzard Entertainment nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Blizzard Entertainment or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.
“Do you hear that? Love beckons. And when love beckons, who among us can say no?” —Lord Shaxx
Crimson Days returns on Tuesday, February 12. This year’s event will be similar to the one from last year, but we have changed a few things up and added a few new rewards.
Crimson Doubles is the 2v2 Crucible playlist at the center of the event. The combat scenario is 2v2 Clash with a round-based twist. Stay in close proximity to your partner and your abilities will recharge at a faster rate. Stray too far, and your enemies will be given a waypoint leading to your location. If you can’t find a partner, don’t worry, we’ll play matchmaker and find one for you. To sweeten the deal we will be turning on Valor bonuses throughout the event for both Crimson Doubles and all other Crucible modes.
You will start out by speaking with Lord Shaxx in the Tower, who will give you the Fire of the Crimson Days emblem. He will have five Crimson Bounties available for you. Crucible not your cup of tea? The Bounties will send you to both PVE and PVP activities. There will be four daily bounties and one weekly bounty which calls for you to duo Nightfall with your partner.
The Rewards
Last year there was a series of rewards for completing specific activities. The rewards are returning, but the way you earn them has changed. Shaxx will be giving out Confectionery Hearts for completing Crimson Doubles matches and turning in Crimson Bounties. You will use those to purchase the rewards.
Some of you may have some or all of the rewards from last year, so we have added two new rewards for you to earn.
Similar to Horror Story in the last Festival of the Lost, a max power weapon will be available during Crimson Days. Shaxx will be offering a new bow, “The Vow”, in exchange for Confectionery Hearts.
The Vow comes fully masterworked and is the first bow available to all players of Destiny 2 and will be Power 650 for Forsaken players. Here it is in action.
While you are playing Crimson Doubles you will be earning 7 Confectionery Hearts with every win and 5 for every loss. Each daily bounty will reward you with 15 Hearts, and the weekly Nightfall Duo bounty will give you 75! Here are the Confectionery Heart costs for each reward Shaxx is offering:
Tirastrella Legendary Ghost Shell – 25
Undeterred Exotic Sparrow – 50
The Vow Legendary Bow – 100
Wardcliff Coil Ornament – 125
Flaunting Dance Legendary Emote – 150
Warmhearted Gift Package – 15
If you are still looking to spend your extra hearts, Shaxx will also be offering a Warmhearted Gift Package that will give you a chance to receive Enhancement Cores, weapons, mods, gear, and resources.
That’s not all. Along with these reward there will be a set of Crimson Days Triumphs for you to complete. We don’t want to spoil all the treats and reveal the Triumphs just yet, but we will let you know the sweet reward for completing them all.
If you complete all of the Crimson Days Triumphs, you will earn the Sugary Ghost Shell.
Double Drops
Double drops are back. A Crimson Engram will drop with every Bright Engram a player earns. Crimson Engrams will also be available for Silver. The contents of the Engram have not changed, so if you didn’t get everything you wanted last year or are new to Destiny, this is your chance to grab some of these items.
The Tiny Bow Emote and the Shot through the Heart Ornament for The Vow will also be available for direct purchase in Eververse bundles.
Crimson Days will begin next Tuesday, February 12, and conclude on the weekly reset at 9 AM PST on Tuesday, February 19. Start looking for a partner to be your Crimson Bond and get ready for a fun week of hearts, sweets, and fun.
Showing some Love
When earning the legendary bow from Lord Shaxx, The Vow, players will receive a discount code to unlock The Vow Hoodie for purchase from Bungie Rewards.
In addition, every purchase comes with a Bungie Foundation pin and the Bungie Store will donate $7 for each pin distributed during Crimson Days directly to support the Bungie Foundation’s granting of technology wishes for Make-A-Wish in honor of you.
Make sure you’ve opted-in for email notifications on Bungie.net to receive your discount code. Players will have through February 19 at 9AM Pacific to redeem this Bungie Reward offer.
Ever wanted to create a HTPC from old computer laying around. Or just have some spare time and want to try something new. This article could be just for you. It will show you the step by step process to convert a Fedora Silverblue to a fully fledged HTPC.
What is Fedora Silverblue, Kodi and HTPC?
Fedora Silverblue is a system similar to Fedora Workstation. It offers an immutable filesystem (only /var and /etc are writable) and atomic updates using an ostree image, which offers reliable updates with ability to rollback to previous version easily. If you want to find out more about Fedora Silverblue visit https://silverblue.fedoraproject.org/ or if you want to try it by yourself you can get it here.
Kodi is one of the best multimedia player available. It provides plenty of features (like automatic downloads of metadata for movies, support for UPnP etc.) and it’s open source. It also has many addons. So if you are missing any functionality you could probably find an addon for it.
HTPC is just an acronym for Home Theater PC in simple words a PC that is mainly used as an entertainment station. You can connect it to TV or any monitor and just use it to watch your favorite movies, TV shows or listen to your favorite music.
Why choosing Silverblue to create an HTPC?
So why choosing Fedora Silverblue for HTPC? The main reasons are:
Reliability – you don’t need to fear that after update everything stop working and if it does, I can rollback easily
New technology – it is a good opportunity to play with a new technology.
And why to choose Kodi ? As stayted before it’s one of the best multimedia player and it’s packaged as a flatpak, which make it easy to install on Silverblue.
Conversion of Fedora Silverblue to HTPC
Let’s go step by step through this process and see how to create a fully usable HTPC from Fedora Silverblue.
1. Installation of Fedora Silverblue
First thing you need to do is to install Fedora Silverblue, this guide will not cover the installation process, but you can expect similar process as with standard Fedora Workstation installation. You can get the Fedora Silverblue ISO here
Create only the root user during the installation with some password. We will create a user for Kodi later without password.
2. Booting to terminal
This part will be a little tricky. You need to bypass GNOME and end the boot sequence in terminal. Otherwise you will end up in GNOME initial setup process, which will not allow you to create user without password.
To bypass the GNOME you need to press the ‘e’ key in GRUB menu to edit the GRUB entry. When editing the GRUB entry just look for the line starting with linux16 and add 3 to end of this line. Then continue the boot sequence with CTRL + x. Don’t worry about the changes, they are used only for this session.
GRUB menu GRUB entry edited
You will end up in terminal where you need to login as root.
3. Creation of user for Kodi
When you are in the terminal logged as root, you need to create a user that will be used by Kodi. This can be done using the useradd command.
useradd kodi
4. Installation of Kodi from Flathub
To install the Kodi in flatpak you first need to add a Flathub remote repository.
The last thing that will prevent for autostart to work correctly is the GNOME initial setup. To disable it just create a gnome-initial-setup-done file in .config directory of kodi user.
You can now switch back to root for the next steps.
exit
6. Set autologin for kodi user
This step is very useful together with autostart of Kodi. Every time you restart your HTPC you will end up directly in Kodi and not in the GDM or GNOME shell. To set the auto login you need to add the following lines to /etc/gdm/custom.conf to the [daemon] section
AutomaticLoginEnable=True AutomaticLogin=kodi
7. Enable automatic updates
For HTPC automatic updates you will need a cron job. But because cron is not part of the standard Fedora Silverblue installation you need to install it first. In this step I also recommend to do upgrade of the Fedora Silverblue first before layering the cron package.
rpm-ostree upgrade
rpm-ostree install cronie
After this you need to reboot your computer, to apply the new updates.
reboot
To be able to setup cron in this phase you need to do the second step again and log in as root. After this you need to edit the crontab.
This will create a new cron job, which will update any flatpaks (Kodi in this case), update Silverblue and does a restart to apply the changes.
This job will run at 4 AM on Wednesday. It is recommended to set this to a time when nobody will use the HTPC.
Restart the computer now.
reboot
8. Disable GNOME features
There are few GNOME features that could be annoying when using Fedora Silverblue as HTPC. Most of these features could be setup directly in Kodi anyway, so if you want them later it’s easy to set them directly in Kodi.
To do this exit Kodi and open the terminal. Press Super key (this is the key between ALT and CTRL) and type terminal. Once the terminal will be open and you need to type the following commands.
# Display dim dconf write "/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/power/idle-dim" false
# Sleep over time/ dconf write "/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/power/sleep-inactive-ac-type" 0
The RISC-V Foundation will be hosting a free, Getting Started with RISC-V event in San Jose. This 1 day event will showcase innovative RISC-V implementations from members of the Foundation.
The half-day San Jose event on April 4 will feature engaging presentations, demos and networking opportunities.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 03-06-2019, 03:11 PM - Forum: Windows
- No Replies
New research: Leaders at successful companies embracing AI
The race is on The survey results show that high-growth companies are not only more than twice as likely to actively use AI compared to lower growth companies, but they also have bigger plans in a much shorter timeframe. Of the double-digit growth companies surveyed, while almost all (94%) intend to use in AI for decision making within the next three years, more than half plan to do so over the next 12 months. In comparison, the majority of low-growth companies are only looking to invest in decision-making AI in the next three to five years.
“What’s striking about the research is the difference between double-digit growth companies and those with lower growth,” says Susan Etlinger, Industry analyst with the Altimeter Group. “Double-digit growth companies are further along in their AI deployments, but also see a greater urgency in using more AI. They are looking at a one to three year timeframe – often really focused on the coming year. Lower growth companies are looking at more of a 5-year timeframe. What this says to me is that the more you know, the higher your sense of urgency is.”
Crucially, it’s not too late for those companies and leaders who are further behind in their AI journeys to start now, to increase their chances of remaining competitive.
Start small, learn fast and scale The research findings have shown that AI is successfully utilised by leaders to invest more time in humans, while helping them create and execute new strategies. In addition, we have seen how leaders value AI’s ability to help them grow their own skills.
Evidence showing that the fastest-growing companies have invested – and will continue to invest – in AI also highlights the importance of ensuring that business, inspired by their leadership, progress on their AI journey sooner, rather than later, before they run the risk of losing their competitive edge to more progressive companies.
In Microsoft EMEA President Michel van der Bel’s words: “Start small, but start with intention. This will help teams build trust, learn from feedback and build confidence. In a nutshell, this is what will help get your AI journey off with a strong start.” Progress today, and reap the benefits for both yourself as a leader, and your company as a whole, tomorrow.
For more information on progressing your AI journey, please feel free to visit our AI business resources. .
If you weren’t aware, Visual Studio subscribers have free monthly Azure credits, that are ideal for experimenting with and learning about Azure services. When you activate this benefit, it creates a separate Azure subscription with a monthly credit balance that renews each month while you remain an active Visual Studio subscriber. If the credits run out before the end of the month the subscription is suspended until more credits are available. No surprises, no cost, and no credit card required for any of it!
The table below shows you how many Azure credits you get based on your type of Visual Studio subscription:
Visual Studio subscription type
Monthly Azure Credits
Activate Credits
Visual Studio Professional (standard subscription)
Now that you know how many Azure Credits you get every month for free, you are probably wondering what you can spend it on! We have put together the following simple table to help you get going:
Azure Service
Tier
Estimated Monthly Cost
App Service
Shared
$9.49
Storage
General Purpose V2 (1GB)
$1.06
SQL
Single DB (5DTUs, 2GB)
$4.90
CosmosDB
1GB
$23.61
Functions
Dynamic
First 1M executions free (up to 400K GB-s)
Monitor
Application Insights
First 1GB free
Key Vault
Standard
$0.03 (per 10k operations)
Service Bus
Basic
$0.05 (per 1M operations)
Redis
Basic (C0: 250MB Cache)
$16.06
Hopefully, you found this information helpful and you are on your way to make use of your Azure credits. If you are interested in the cost of an Azure service you didn’t see in the table above, try the Azure price calculator. If you have any questions or problems just leave us a comment below.
This week’s update is a bit wordier than usual, mainly because the usual format didn’t seem to fit what limited information, I have to share this time around. Before we get on to the main event, one bit of news I will share because it came in my Inbox today.
Feral Interactive are currently hard at work porting Tropico over to iPhone. Things seem to be coming a long well, because yesterday they shared a few screenshots over twitter. We really enjoyed Tropicowhen we reviewed it last year, and hopefully iPhone users will get to enjoy it soon as well.
Meanwhile, in the world of el presidente mobile games…
Out Now
There’s actually nothing definitive I want to highlight this week. Perhaps I’ve not been as in-touch as I normally would have been (had some days off), but nothing seems to have jumped out at me.
A few of the other sites seem to be talking about Immortal Rogue, which to be fair does look good and will be going on our ‘To Do’ list. The only thing is, according to the App Store page the game was released at the end of January. Google Play doesn’t give me enough information to determine when that version was released, so it’s possible this week marks the appearance of that version.
On our end, I’ve got people reviewing Knights of the Card Table, Wars Across the World and the digital adaptation of the Gem Rush board game.
Addendum: This completely slipped our mind, but Shieldwall Chroniclesfrom PT favourites Wave Light Games released on iOS today. We’ve got this on our review list as well, so stay tuned!
Updates
Star Traders: Frontiers has updated again this week with lots of tweaks and balances – if you’re interested, they’re actually working towards the eventual release of Carrier-class ships in the game, with accompanying fighters. Again, even if you don’t use Steam, we highly recommend keeping an eye on the official Steam page, because a lot of information as to the current road-map and what goes in every update is posted there.
Other than that, Evolution has had a few updates and tweaks since launch. A lot of major issues, especially on Android, have been solved one way or another (the minimum specs for Android devices has been raised for the moment, for example), and they’re working through the rest of the outstanding issues as well.
A previous candidate on our Best Board Games list, Elder Signs is now down to a buck on iOS, a little bit more on Android. Note that there’s different app entries for the iPhone and the iPad version of the game, so make sure you buy the right one.
One of our favourite action RPGS and Diablo-like games is enjoying a small reduction, if you’ve yet to give It a try yourself. Please note that it has been cheaper in the past, typically $3.99 but in 2017 went as low as $2.99.
This is a simple and engaging card game adapted from a physical game of the same name. It’s down to just a buck – not the most ‘serious’ of experience, but good for some casual fun.
A more serious war game, the base game for this is currently down to just a buck, although we’re unclear as to how much content you actually get. At the time of writing there’s ten IAPs consisting of individual scenarios. We’ve actually got a review in progress if you want to wait, but so far, our reviewer has been quite impressed with what he’s played.
Seen anything else you liked? Played any of the above? Let us know in the comments!
New Godot 3.1 Tutorial Series! Creating a Complete 2D Game Step by Step
We just published a brand new 18 part text tutorial series over on DevGa.me, Getting Started with Godot Step by Step Tutorial Series. This tutorial walks you through the entire game creation process using Godot 3.1, from creating your initial project, to publishing your game with details step by step instructions and screen shots. Even better it’s got professional quality art assets from Game Developer Studios and is completely open source!
If you need more detailed information on any subject we cover, be sure to check our existing Godot 3 Tutorial series, that goes into much more technical detail. There will be a step by step video version available shortly. There is also a 70pg PDF version of this tutorial available for Patreons.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 03-06-2019, 07:07 AM - Forum: Lounge
- No Replies
Epic Game Of Thrones Season 8 Battle Scene Teased, And It Sounds Brutal
We've known for a while now that Game of Thrones Season 8 will have an epic battle scene, and now the producers have shared more details about it. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, episode director Miguel Sapochnik, who previously directed the Battle of the Bastards episode, confirmed this new episode will feature a battle between familiar living characters and the Night King and his army. The showdown has been teased since the show's beginning, and now it's finally coming.
In the episode, which chronicles the Battle of Winterfell, familiar characters like Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, and Brienne of Tarth are outnumbered as they fight against the supernatural foes. According to EW, it's the "longest consecutive battle sequence ever committed to film." At 40 minutes, the Helm's Deep battle from The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers was the longest battle sequence that Sapochnik said he could find in cinema history.
Co-executive producer Bryan Cogman spoke about the epic battle scene, calling it unprecedented for TV or film.
"What we have asked the production team and crew to do this year truly has never been done in television or in a movie," he explained. "This final face-off between the Army of the Dead and the army of the living is completely unprecedented and relentless and a mixture of genres even within the battle. There are sequences built within sequences built within sequences. [Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss wrote] an amazing puzzle and Miguel came in and took it apart and put it together again. It's been exhausting but I think it will blow everybody away."
Filming the episode took 11 weeks of night shoots. According to the report, up to 750 people worked all night for almost three months in sub-freezing temperatures and enduring cold rain, mud, and heavy wind.
Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark, told EW that "nothing can prepare you for how physically draining" it was filming the battle scene. "It's night after night, and again and again, and it just doesn't stop," she said. "You can't get sick, and you have to look out for yourself because there's so much to do that nobody else can do… there are moments you're just broken as a human and just want to cry."
The actor who plays Ser Jorah Mormont, Iain Glen, said filming the battle was the "most unpleasant experience I've had on Thrones."
"A real test, really miserable. You get to sleep at seven in the morning and when you wake in the midday you're still so spent you can't really do anything, and then you're back," he added. "You have no life outside it. You have an absolute f**ked bunch of actors. But without getting too method [acting] about it, on screen it bleeds through to the reality of the Thrones world."
The entire interview at EW is incredibly in depth and fascinating--check it out here.
