For those of you who have played any of the main stream MOBAs you will know that they like to routinely release special game modes to mix things up a little for players, well recently Riot announced they would be releasing a game mode called “Doom bots of doom”. This game mode takes the standard AI and apparently ramps it up to 1,000 giving them new abilities and functions within the game mode. Sounds cool right?

As players progress within this game mode they will unlock increased difficulties making those doom bots even more menacing and for challenging them once Riot has said players will be given a special icon. According to riot at the higher difficulty levels these bots will take on qualities from champion’s including sometimes their ultimate’s. This seems like a nice little curve ball to throw into the mix to keep things fresh.

They will launch this limited time game mode reportedly on July 17th until the 27th.

Steelseries a popular computer product company has announced it is making a special edition DOTA 2 mouse. Steelseries make everything from headsets to keyboards -I personally own one of their headsets- and their products are in high demand.

The mouse is said to have been developed with the help of professional DOTA players from teams Na’Vi, iG and Team Fnatic. Along with up to 16.8 million illumination options, the special edition Rival optical mouse comes with an exclusive in game item for the hero Doom. The mouse is reportedly the only way to get this item. Steelseries have a reputation for making very precise and robust products and it seems this mouse is no different.

(Editor’s Note: I don’t even LIKE DOTA2, and this mouse looks awesome.  ~Digm)

The weekly deals for Xbox Gold subscribers has been announced today and a few prominent titles are among the games reduced this week.

The most noticeable are the two Xbox One games: Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare (40% off) and the One version of the new Wolfenstein game with 33% off the normal price. In the line-up for the Xbox 360 are a selction of games including many Bioshock titles with varying reduction levels and the original two Doom arcade titles, both 50% off.
 
 

Xbox One
Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare: Xbox One Game (40% off)
Wolfenstein The New Order: Xbox One Game (33% off)

Xbox 360
BioShock Infinite: Games on Demand (57% off)
BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea Episode 1 Add-on (33% off)
BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea Episode 2 Add-on (33% off)
BioShock Infinite: Clash in Clouds Add-on (50% off)
BioShock Infinite: Columbia’s Finest Add-on (50% off)
BioShock: Games on Demand (75% off)
BioShock 2: Games on Demand (75% off)
Quake Arena: Arcade (50% off)
Wolfenstein 3D: Arcade (50% off)
Doom: Arcade (50% off)
Doom 2: Arcade (50% off)

Oculus have had enough it seems. There’d been rumours of overseas buyer snapping up many copies of their Development Kit 2, the prototype to the second version of the Rift they were to bring out, and then going online to sell the DK2s to the highest bidders with prices marked up above what Oculus were asking. Seems that they’re not just rumours though.

Today the company, known for their popular VR headset, have not only made their unhappiness at these sorts of buyers well known, they warn to all people who buy their DK2s second-hand: you’re on your own when it comes to customer support.

“We don’t allow resale of the development kit.” Oculus community manager cybereality wrote online. “We also don’t provide warranty on second-hand sales, so if you buy on eBay you are on your own.”

The new version of the Oculus Rift is promised to be a step-up from the original version, providing better quality and comfort for users. The company had planned to make kits available to developers to help them develop games for use with the headset. Given the first version’s popularity though, it’s sad to see people taking advantage of this to try and cash in on the craze.

Recently Riot, the company behind League of Legends,  has made a big announcement: they are no longer going to make skin codes. For those of you who play League of Legends you will be aware that Riot (like many other companies) create exclusive content that can only be acquired by attending conventions – in this case skin codes. Skin codes are rare, expensive and very difficult to acquire. Many people who play League of Legends and some of the other large MOBAs like to collect all of the cosmetic products in these free to play games, and there is a very high demand for the convention skin codes.

Skin codes and other similar collectables are big business and it would seem that this has attracted fraudsters. Riot have decided that the skin codes are causing a problem and have decided to end their production in the hopes of reducing fraud within the League of Legends community. We’ll see if this pays off, personally it seems like a step in the right direction. Riot has also announced that any skin codes that have been claimed will not be revoked. It is not a surprising move and Riot had this to say on the matter:

“”We are working with multiple payment processors to inform them of the situation and recommend they no longer process fraudulent payments from these sites, additionally we will be deactivating all previously issued skin codes starting today [July 11, 2014]. If you have a skin code that you acquired legitimately please send a request to Player Support and include proof of ownership. We’d be happy to help redeem the content to your account, but please note after 23/07/14 we will no longer be redeeming codes for any reason.”

Is it the correct move to entirely kill this market? We will have to see but it is certainly a very direct approach to the matter.