Microsoft xCloud Out on Sept 15th

xCloud will be included with Game Pass and run on Android devices.

Microsoft had just announced more details surrounding their new xCloud gaming service. In addition to being able to play any game in their game pass library for a monthly fee, the cloud service will be free for Ultimate Game Pass holders. The ultimate game pass subscription costs just $15 per month.

Microsoft states that most titles in the library will be available on xCloud which includes popular games such as Gears of War, Halo, Grounded, Destiny 2, and upcoming games like Tell Me Why. Microsoft revealed a few weeks earlier that all their upcoming games will be immediately available on Game Pass.

xCloud will not be available for PC at launch and will only support Android phones and tablets. They have not yet addressed the situation of iPhones or iPads.

Microsoft also has some hardware displayed on their website that is designed to transform your phones into a full gaming experience by adding proper controls. This includes the Razer Kishi that mounts your phone and their mobile gaming clip that hooks your smartphone onto an Xbox controller.

Razer Kishi

Microsoft xCloud details can be found here

Review: Pwnage Ultra Custom Wireless Mouse

Bonus unboxing footage too.

There’s been a lot of buzz around the Pwnage branded mouse as they capture a market that seemingly is untapped for the most part by bigger brand names.

Pwnage brings us their “Ultra Custom Wireless Mouse” – a lightweight, wireless, and color customizable mouse with easily replaceable parts. I received mine recently, so lets talk about what you get with it – Mouse in white or black, extra back cover, extra primary button covers, extra rubber dpi buttons, USB C cable, USB wireless receiver, and button spacers. You also have the option to order an extra set of colored pieces if you wish!

The $90 base mouse still comes with an entire extra set of panels in the opposite base color.

The mouse comes in at only 69 grams using the honeycomb shell, while the solid shell bumps it up to 73 grams. hardcore users can use no cover at all, or even take out the battery and use it in wired mode only – but I think we can agree that defeats the appeal of this mouse. To put this weight into perspective, the 2 most popular big brand wireless mice right now are still both heavier – Razer Viper Ultimate (74g) and the Logitech G Pro Wireless (80g). However, the most impressive part is that the Pwnage is lighter WHILE being slightly bigger and more ergonomic. The G Pro and Viper are both ambidextrous, so some people find them less comfortable than an ergo mouse. I personally found the shape of the Pwnage to be suitable for medium to large hands, smaller hands might want to look elsewhere.

So the Pwnage so far on paper is more appealing than its main competitors, but how does it perform? The sensor in the Pwnage is the PAW3335, which is a high performing, low power consumption sensor. I also own a Logitech G305 and comparing them side by side, I can say the Pwnage works almost identically to the G305 Hero Sensor – at least from what a human can detect. The DPI levels match very closely after I set them both to 800. The mouse does go up to 16,000 dpi, but i don’t know what sane person would game at such an absurd dpi.

All the buttons have the perfect click and resistance; I often found myself doing a lot of misclicks on other mice, this was probably the first mouse I pulled out of the box and didn’t have to re-learn how to not accidentally click all the time. The side buttons are placed perfectly as well, no complaints. The scroll wheel includes an RGB effect and the rear has a RGB strip that lights up along with the Pwnage logo itself, which is visible only with the honeycomb shell, the solid shell will hide it.

How I set my Pwnage mouse up.

Overall, I am very happy with my purchase. The features beat out the more expensive brand name mice, while having a sensor that is just as good. You simply get more accessories/features for less money. At the time of writing, I purchased my Pwnage for $90 plus shipping, while the G Pro and Viper Ultimate are going for around $150, although I’ve seen those prices flex by about $20.

Also Pro Tip: I used a Gen X USB C magnetic charging tip and cable to make charging this mouse effortless. The magnetic cable just snaps into place. You can find them on amazon here.

Valorant: New Agent Killjoy Analysis

Valorant Act II is just around the corner and it’s bringing a new Agent with it.

Along with an overhauled ranking system, that I’m hyped for – Killjoy will be introduced. Her skill set details have been released:

  • Alarm Bot
    • Essentially a landmine version of Raze’s boombot. You can throw it down and it will go dormant, if someone enters its range, it will walk up to them and explode in the fasion of Raze’s boombot.
  • Turret
    • Self-explanatory turret, you throw it down and it covers a 180 degree cone and will shoot any enemy that enters that field of vision.
  • Nanoswarm
    • Looks like an AOE damage grenade. You can throw it like a grenade and then activate it to create a circle area of damage that lasts for a few seconds.
  • Lockdown
    • Looks like you place it down (can’t throw it) and it needs to wind up for about 10 seconds. Once it winds up it will cause a slow effect on anyone within a *very large radius*. The slow lasts for 8 seconds and also disarms them.

Thoughts

Killjoy is looking to be a very viable hero. Her defensive capabilities and even offensive both look strong af. I can sense a cross between Cypher and Raze.

On defense, her turret can quite literally cover an entire extra angle for you. The Alarm bot can work just as well as a Cypher trip wire to alert you when an enemy is entering and Nano swarm can slow a push from the enemy team. Not to mention lockdown can help push enemies off an entire site or force them to try to look for the device to shoot down, pushing them out of position. If you crossfire with your turret, enemies will have to choose between shooting you or the turret, either way you can deal some damage to them before they push the site.

Offensively, once again, lockdown can defend a site for an entire 10 seconds once you have the bomb down, or you can use it to push even. Grenades are always useful, so nanoswarm and even the alarm bot can clear deep corners if you don’t want to wide peek them. The turret remains useful for covering the bomb as well, so if you are the only player left, you get an extra set of eyes.

I get the feeling everyone will call Killjoy broken. Reyna definitely was overpowered on release, and she has since received some ninja nerfs making her more in line with the rest of the roster.

Check out the ability videos below:

Valorant Act II Gets New Ranking System

Valorant released details on the new ranking system and new agent leaks

Ranking has been the root cause of much tilt and anger among all Valorant players. Understandably, deranking stresses everyone out and tough games against hackers and smurfs doesn’t help any. Riot has released details on their latest overhauled ranking system which introduces a ton of interesting features and mechanics.

Big changes:

  • They will display Act Ranks which are essentially a summary of your games for the season
  • You will have a badge that acts like a heat map that shows your best wins of the season at the highest level you have reached
  • A new “proven skill” concept will be shown which is the 9th best game you had of the season
  • Games at higher ranks will push out your lower ranked games
  • Act I may not get this new badge according to Riot’s post
Your act rank will be a compilation of your wins at the highest levels you played at

This new concept should help curve the smurfing problem as people will be motivated to keep playing on their mains since losses will be scrubbed out as you win more games at higher ranks. Many people are achieving a rank that they are happy with and preserving their accounts while creating new ones to stomp on lower ranked players. At the end of it all, only your highest ranked and best game wins will matter and be displayed.

BONUS for you guys, the new agent has leaked – Killjoy. More details to follow soon. Stay tuned.

Is Shroud Going Pro in Valorant?

Shroud may be forming a new Pro Valorant team with “mOE”.

Ever since the shut down of Mixer and merging with Facebook Gaming, many big time streamers have been in limbo leaving many viewers in dark about their plans. Some embraced Facebook Gaming and kept their contracts from Mixer, while others have gone quiet or explored streaming on other platforms like YouTube.

Ninja did a stream on YouTube and people went nuts over it, but no formal announcements were made. Now we are hearing news about Shroud’s move. Supposedly Shroud did not accept a contract with Facebook and is currently not regularly streaming anywhere.

On a recent live stream from mOE Assad, he casually mentioned that he was starting a Pro Valorant team with Shroud and Just9n. He said he was speaking it into existence. Could this statement hint at the future for Shroud going Pro in Valorant?

Shroud mentioned before about how being a full time streamer and going Pro directly conflicts with each other. If he wanted to do one, he could not do the other. He goes into detail on how streaming his play style and tactics, would give competitors a blatant advantage as they can study everything that he does.

So that being said, now that Mixer is gone and he is out of a streaming contract, this opens up the avenue and opportunity for him to take a break from streaming and focus on going Pro. Shroud does have a big announcement coming soon, so we’ll see what he truly wants to do going forward.

Catch mOE slipping the news below:

The Upcoming Call of Duty: Warzone and Modern Warfare Season 5

Season 5 for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and its popular Warzone mode is almost here. And it couldn’t come soon enough for some fans.

To get things started, we’ll begin with the date that all of this is supposedly going to kick off: August 5.

In a brief teaser sent to Twitch streamer NICKMRCS and later picked up by outlets such as Gamestop, the Season 5 teaser hints at trains, the inside of the stadium, and even a nuclear explosion.

What does all of this mean?

For one, people are somewhat certain about the start date for the new season. Given that the current battle pass ends on that date it is safe to assume that the next round will begin on or around that same time frame.

Though the clips released so far don’t really give us much solid information to go on there is one salient feature that is being picked up on but most fans and that is the fact that you can see inside Stadium, something you can’t currently do.

This has speculation about an open arena running wild and it is something that is not only widely wanted but likely coming our way this season. Another event in the trailer, the nuclear explosion, has some imaginations wandering off into Fortnite territory and speculating that this could be evidence of a permanent “terrain altering” event. The likely candidate is Verdansk and what this means for that is just another area where we can all speculate but no one knows exactly what the devs have up their sleeves. Whatever it is, it looks exciting.

Of course, this is starting to become almost standard for Warzone and Modern Warfare. They keep knocking these updates out of the park and we can’t get enough.

Even though it isn’t a lot to go on, we won’t have to wait long to see what Infinity Ward has waiting for us.

What do you think? What are some of the features that you would like to see in Season 5? What about moving forward? Let us know your thoughts on this in the comments section below.

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