In an attempt better connect with America’s youth, the U.S. Army is standing up an esports team. The effort comes during a period in which the Army is having difficulty meeting its recruitment targets. As first reported by Stars And Stripes, an independent news organization which operates from within the Department of Defense, the Army esports team is currently accepting applications from active duty personnel, reservists and veterans. An online form indicates that there is interest in fielding teams for Fortnite, Call of Duty, Tekken, League of Legends, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Overwatch, FIFA, the Madden series and the NBA 2K franchise. In an interview for an Army recruiting station in Slidell, Louisiana, staff sergeant Ryan Meaux said the goal was to use esports in “furthering the Army’s brand” and boosting recruitment. According to Meaux, that will begin in December with an internal Tekken 7 tournament. The winner will represent the Army at PAX … [Read more...] about The US Army wants to attract more soldiers by fielding a Fortnite team
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Low-income, minority students tell their life stories through games
Here’s Your Change is a game set in a small store in a low income Oakland neighborhood. It’s a first-person game structured like Papers, Please, which its designer Rogelio Lara cites as a key inspiration. The player stands behind the shop’s counter and serves a series of customers, all of whom bring small stories of struggle and frustration. Some of the customers are friendly, others less so. As the game progresses, the store’s clientele begins to shift, reflecting a rapid gentrification of the neighborhood. It’s a short, nicely illustrated game that tells a powerful story. Lara created Here’s Your Change with help from other students at an educational initiative called Gameheads in Oakland, California. The game was recently demonstrated at the Intentional Play Summit in San Jose, and at Gameheads’ own annual showcase. Gameheads is an initiative designed to build a pipeline into game development for low-income students and people of color. It … [Read more...] about Low-income, minority students tell their life stories through games
The Game Awards 2018 nominees led by God of War, Red Dead Redemption 2
Organizers of The Game Awards, Geoff Keighley’s annual video game award show now in its fifth year, announced the nominees for this year’s show on Tuesday. The list of nominees is led by Sony Santa Monica’s God of War and Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption 2, both of which garnered eight nominations across 23 gaming categories. Both titles were nominated for Game of the Year, along with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Celeste, Marvel’s Spider-Man and Monster Hunter: World. Fans can vote for winners through a variety of online platforms, including Twitter, Facebook Messenger, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Discord. The Game Awards 2018 will air on Dec. 6 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. Viewers can watch the show on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, Mixer, Steam TV, PlayStation 4 and Xbox Live. Polygon will also host a broadcast of the show. The full list of nominees for The Game Awards 2018 is below: Game of the Year Assassin’s Creed Odyssey … [Read more...] about The Game Awards 2018 nominees led by God of War, Red Dead Redemption 2
Researcher receives $20,000 from Valve as a reward for discovering a Steam exploit
Artem Moskowsky is a security researcher who was awarded $20,000 as a result of discovering a critical Steam bug. Valve awarded Moskowsky the bounty after the vulnerability was fixed, and it seems to have been a critical one. The bug was discovered “randomly” in the Steam partner portal, which game developers use to create keys and manage their games published on Steam. By making a simple API request, Moskowsky was able to get valid game keys for many Steam games. In fact, upon finding the exploit, Moskowsky entered a “random string” into the request and ended up with 36,000 keys for Portal 2. This could, obviously, easily be exploited by those looking to sell those keys on shady sites. Considering the staggering number of developers with access to this tool, it’s not hard to imagine one of the makers of the many fake games on the platform would be interested in the idea. “To exploit the vulnerability, it was necessary to make only one … [Read more...] about Researcher receives $20,000 from Valve as a reward for discovering a Steam exploit
Forget The Sunset Overdrive PC Announcement, Gamers Are Already Playing It
Sunset Overdrive has been in the news lately due to leaks and rumors about the PC version. While Sunset Overdrive isn’t confirmed yet but, some gamers already have access to it and are playing it. Recently, list of achievements and trophies for Sunset Overdrive PC leaked online. Trueachievements has compiled the entire list of leaked achievements for the PC version. According to the site, there are “12 tracked gamers” who have this game. This not only indicates that Sunset Overdrive PC is real but, gamers are already playing it. These gamers could be the developers or the testers working on the PC version of the game. Prior to this, the PC version of the game popped up in Steam Database confirming the PC release. While I was expecting the announcement at the X018 but, I was disappointed. However, if the leaked listings across the internet are any indication then Sunset Overdrive PC will launch on November 16, 2018. Furthemore, the PC version of the game was also … [Read more...] about Forget The Sunset Overdrive PC Announcement, Gamers Are Already Playing It