World of Warcraft May Soon Have a Free Veteran Edition
World of Warcraft may soon be adding a new free-to-play option, according to datamined files.
MMO-Champion has discovered files in Patch 6.1 making reference to something called a Veteran Edition of the MMO, which seems to be similar in some ways to the currently-available Trial Edition that allows players to hit level 20 without paying a penny.
Restrictions noted in the patch notes include a level and money cap, along with limits on how many whispers they can send and who to. They won't be able to sign guild charters or use the Looking For Group feature either.
But this is where it gets interesting. While we don't know for certain why Blizzard may be contemplating the addition of such a mode, speculation is rife that it could be paving the way for bigger changes regarding WoW's business model. The name of the edition coupled with the fact you can join a guild if you already have characters in it suggests this isn't created to lure new people in, but rather lapsed players who've left for pastures new... or could it be something more?
Toukiden: Kiwami Heads to PS4 and PS Vita this March
Toukiden: Kiwami is coming to PS4 and PS Vita on March 27, 2015 in Europe and March 31, 2015 in North America.
The expanded version, as showcased on the PS Blog, includes the original Toukiden: The Age of Demons and a brand new story, new weapons, new Oni, new Mitama – of which there are now over 100 – along with new Slayers, more moves, and twice as many stages.
The aforementioned new story mode aims to reveal the true origins of the Slayers and the Council of Elders. It's also set three months removed from the battle to prevent another Awakening. Joining the player on their travels will be newcomers Reki, Sōma, Horō and other unannounced characters.
Exclusive 12 Monkeys Clip: The Architects of the Plague
We've arrived at our fourth and final exclusive 12 Monkeys clip this week, bringing us the to close of the second act from Friday's premiere episode on Syfy - with a scene involving Cassandra (Amanda Schull) demanding answers from time traveler Cole (Nikita's Aaron Stanford).
If you need to check out the first three clips leading up to this scene, here you go.
WildStar Outlines Plans For 2015 and Next Update
WildStar developer Carbine Studios has unveiled its aspirations for the sci-fi MMO in 2015, promising to create a "more fun, less grindy" game.
A blog post from product director Mike Donatelli reveals how the developer hopes to revitalise the MMO after the original launch of the game was branded too inaccessible.
The three tenets the team is said to be focusing on include listening to all player feedback in pursuit of a more fun, less grindy, game and updates that aim to appeal to both current and potential players with "a multitude of play styles, durations, group sizes and levels."
In terms of how these aims will be realised, the first half of 2015 will apparently see Carbine add new solo and group content, including new shiphands, adventures and dungeons. Customisation systems are set for a revamp, along with an improved Elder game experience that offers "lots of opportunities" for new loot.
The Grand Budapest Hotel Leads Oscar Nominations
The nominations for the 87th Academy Awards have been announced, and The Grand Budapest Hotel leads the way with nine nominations, while Birdman lands eight and Boyhood six.
The films vying for Best Picture are American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything and Whiplash.
Best director is between Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Richard Linklater, Bennett Miller, Wes Anderson and Morten Tyldum.
In the Best Actor category, it's Steve Carell, Bradley Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Keaton and Eddie Redmayne, while Best Actress consists of Marion Cotillard, Felicity Jones, Julianne Moore, Rosamund Pike and Reese Witherspoon.
This Is How Much The Majora’s Mask New 3DS Costs In The UK
Nintendo has announced how much The limited edition Majora’s Mask New 3DS Bundle will cost in the UK when it releases on February 13.
That’s the news coming out of the official Nintendo store, which offers up either the limited edition Zelda-themed New 3DS XL or the standard New 3DS. The bundles available are as follows:
New 3DS in Black + Majora's Mask 3D Standard Edition for £189.99.
New 3DS in White + Majora's Mask 3D Special Edition for £194.99.
New 3DS XL (Zelda-themed) + Majora's Mask 3D Edition for £209.99.
New 3DS in Black + Majora's Mask 3D Special Edition for £194.99.
Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty Heading for PC, Xbox One, PS3
Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty will be available on PC/Mac/Linux, PlayStation 3 and Xbox One from February 25.
Developer Oddworld Inhabitants Inc has also confirmed that all versions of the platformer will "take advantage of the post-launch improvements" made to the PS4 edition, including the "old school" control scheme requested by fans of the series, achievements, online leaderboards, Steam cloud saves and the same QuickSave and QuikLoad functions.
New ‘n’ Tasty will be available on Steam for $20/£15/€20 but if you act quickly, you will be able to secure a 10% discount on a pre-release purchase. Prices for other platforms are yet to be confirmed.
As for a Wii U release? Series creator Lorne Lanning said in October that whilst the team were "having challenges with not having a hard disk
Here’s Why Google Won’t Be Patching the Security Exploit
Google has explained why it won’t patch a pre-KitKat Android operating system exploit.
Recently, a security and data analytics firm by the name of Rapid 7 pointed out a bug which could potentially open up the Android OS to hackers and malicious software. The bug itself is located in the WebView component of Android 4.3 and below.
Will Google be patching it? No. Why won’t Google be patching it? It’s complicated.
“If the affected version
is before 4.4, we generally do not develop the patches ourselves, but welcome patches with the report for consideration,” Google told Rapid 7. “Other than notifying OEMs, we will not be able to take action on any report that is affecting versions before 4.4 that are not accompanied with a patch.”
Dragon Age: Inquisition Players Kill Over 2 Million Dragons
Dragon Age: Inquisition players have killed over 2 million dragons, developer BioWare has revealed.
A tweet reveals that the exact number of wyrms massacred by intrepid adventurers sits at 2,602,377, while also announcing the Fereldan Frostback has the unenviable honour of being the most-murdered.
If you're not satisfied with the current level of genocide and want to do your bit to contribute, we studied every dragon's location, skills, weaknesses and more. Also, check out our complete breakdown of every locale in Dragon Age: Inquisition and ride in style with our guide to getting every mount.
First Images From the Illustrated Harry Potter Books Surface
Bloomsbury UK has announced new, illustrated editions of the Harry Potter books are to be released and released some of the first images we can expect to see.
The illustrations, which you can see below, were done by UK illustrator Jim Kay and come from the new edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (or the Sorcerer's Stone, if you're American). The first book is due out worldwide in October, but the other six titles in J.K. Rowling's series are planned for the next few years, with Kay on board to illustrate them all.
This selection of images show off Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco and Hagrid, along with a look at Kay's imagining of Hogwarts.