We have an odd relationship with gambling in the UK. You'd be hard-pressed to find a high street or city centre that doesn't have at least a couple of bookmakers' shops mixed into it, offering bets on everything from horse racing and football to whether or not Kate Winslet will cry if she wins an Oscar (yes that was a real thing). But how does esports fit in? According to a recent study by the UK's Gambling Commission, the percentage of British adults who have at some point in their lives placed a bet on esports is 8.5 per cent, with three per cent having placed those bets in the month the study was conducted. That's a surprising statistic for a sport many consider to be still quite niche. And it makes sense most of those bets will be online, given the nature of esports and the audience for it. But it also got me wondering: just how easy it is to walk into a betting shop and wager some cash on an esports event? To find out, I picked three (at the time of betting) upcoming and current … [Read more...] about Here’s what happened when we tried to bet on esports at our local bookies
Have You Played… Doom VFR?
Become the Doomslayer As one of the few people who have enough room for a VR setup in their own home, it seems like madness that Bethesda supported the format as much as they did. While other efforts were ports of existing games, retrofitted to have HTC Vive support, Doom VFR was the only one of the three games to be specifically designed with VR in mind. It’s also one that required your room to be of a certain size. I had a lot of fun with it at the time. Yes, the action was as frantic as you’d expect from a modern Doom game, but it gets around the fast pace by letting you teleport quickly from place to place. It even uses this as a key method of butchering stunned enemies. You warp into them and emerge like an even more violent version of the Alien burrowing out of John Hurt’s chest. Despite the steep point of entry (my VR setup was crammed into a room slightly too small for the requirements) I was able to somehow convince my Vive that the play-space … [Read more...] about Have You Played… Doom VFR?
Razer will give you store credit for mining cryptocurrency (that you don’t get to keep)
Razer has launched a new crypto rewards program called Razer SoftMiner that enables users to put their GPUs to work mining "Silver." It sounds like cryptocurrency mining, and, well, it is: You'll need to download and install the Razer SoftMiner program to take part, and Razer warned that it "uses a substantial amount of your GPU power," and will almost certainly slow your rig down when it's running. But Razer also emphasized that Razer Silver itself "is not a cryptocurrency." "[Razer Silver] is a loyalty rewards program," it explained in the FAQ. "We work with crypto mining technology to harness your computer’s GPU. In turn, we award you with Silver, giving you access to Razer’s ecosystem and suite of rewards." Razer has partnered with GammaNow, which launched earlier this year with its own game-based reward program. Razer presumably keeps whatever actual cryptocurrencies are mined by its users, although it seems to go out of its way to avoid addressing that … [Read more...] about Razer will give you store credit for mining cryptocurrency (that you don’t get to keep)
World War Z trailer showcases six zombie-killin’ classes
On Monday, Saber Interactive announced that the upcoming zombie swarm shooter World War Z would be released on the Epic Store—and perhaps not Steam, although that was entirely speculative on my part. Today it turned the focus back to the more practical problems of dealing with the dead, with a new trailer showcasing the game's six different classes, each of which brings its own unique weapons, abilities, and playstyles to the undead massacre. I'll be honest: The trailer did not help me much in distinguishing between most of the classes. You've got your Ninja and your Medic, but after that it's pretty much Guns, Guns, Guns, and, uh, Guns. Fortunately, there's also a press release that divvies them up with a little more detail. The Slasher is all about melee—melee is quiet, and quiet is good. (Remember this?) The Medic can heal teammates from a safe distance with the "Stim Pistol," which is handy when you're trying to put the brakes on the zombie apocalypse. And on … [Read more...] about World War Z trailer showcases six zombie-killin’ classes
Foxhole’s persistent battlefields get a major overhaul today
Strategic MMO shooter Foxhole is an interesting beast. Clapfoot’s isometric shooter MMO is equal parts Running With Rifles and World War 2 Online, with hundreds of players (over a thousand at peak) sharing a persistent battlefield over the course of weeks. It’s been in early access for a while, but today’s update – Foundation Of War – is the biggest change yet for it. On top of a visual overhaul making it far nicer to look at, the game now features building interiors, more complex urban combat, huge tanks that need up to five players to fully crew and a bunch more. The game is also 40% off – see the update trailer below. Brendy took a jaunt through Foxhole’s battlefields back in August last year, and comparing his screenshots then to the trailer below is eye-opening by itself. While I was initially put off by the focus on the logistical side of war (I’d rather leave ferrying resources to AI units, which there are none in Foxhole … [Read more...] about Foxhole’s persistent battlefields get a major overhaul today