Month: May 2018

Legendary Zero pilot Saburo Sakai was Japan’s most recognized ace, but few knew the man behind the legend 

By Barrett Tillman @ Aviation History Magazine

Saburo Sakai is probably Japan’s best-known pilot of World War II, with the possible exception of Captain Mitsuo Fuchida of Pearl Harbor infamy. In a seven-year combat career, Sakai survived horrible injuries and impossible odds, and almost got a chance to kill Lyndon Baines Johnson. The fact that Sakai never made a combat launch from an aircraft carrier in no way detracts from his significance as a naval aviator and Japan’s third-ranking fighter ace.

Read on…

Tripwire Interactive and Antimatter Games Announce Massive Incoming Update for Award-winning First-person Shooter

As part of its continued commitment to support its active community with regular and significant free updates, Tripwire Interactive and Antimatter Games announced today that the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) update for Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is scheduled to launch soon on May 29, 2018 via Steam.

Over one million Vietnamese served in the ARVN over the course of the Vietnam War, with over 250,000 lost in action. Largely equipped with older US military equipment and trained by foreign military advisors, ARVN soldiers bore the brunt of frontline fighting throughout the war both prior to the escalation of US military involvement and after the US began reducing its troop presence.

With the release of the ARVN update on May 29, 2018 for Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, players will be able to play as soldiers in the ARVN faction for the first time with new weapons and five brand-new maps.

Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Weapons:

• M1 Garand
• M1D Garand Sniper Rifle
• Thompson M1A1 SMG
• M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR)
• M1919A6 .30-cal Browning LMG
• Douglas A-1 Skyraider ground-attack aircraft

New Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Maps:

• Quang Tri: Set during 1972, Quang Tri is a daytime supremacy map set in the citadel of the provincial capital, pitting the new ARVN forces with limited US helicopter support against NVA main-force units.
• A Sau: Set on an airfield and fortified camp in the A Sau valley, this nighttime territory attack map finds ARVN forces defending against attacking NVA main-force units. Visibility is limited under the cover of darkness with occasional flares lighting up the battlefield.

New Community Maps:

• Made by fans for fans, the following player-made maps from Tripwire Interactive’s recent RISING STORM 2: VIETNAM $40,000 Modding Contest will also be officially introduced to the game with the release of the ARVN update.
• Firebase Georgina: Daytime attack by main-force NVA on a series of positions held by the US Army.
• Borderwatch: Australian forces attack territory held by the NLF (Viet Cong), pushing through jungles and across open fields to the VC’s final hidden base.
• Resort: US Marines stage a heliborne assault from the sea on a resort area held by Viet Cong guerrillas.

Available now on PC, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is the sequel to Rising Storm, PC Gamer magazine’s 2013 ‘Multiplayer Game of the Year’, published by Tripwire Interactive and developed by Antimatter Games. Command your team to victory in massive 64-player battles with authentic weapons, aircraft, and maps that pit conventional military forces against guerilla forces.

Stay up-to-date with the latest Rising Storm 2: Vietnam news and information at www.rs2Vietnam.com.

Eugen Systems announced today that ‘First Blood’, the free anniversary update for Steel Division: Normandy 44, will be available on May 17th and will feature 2 new FREE divisions and unlock 2 ace models.

Let’s focus today on the most famous and dreaded division of the Waffen-SS, 1. SS-Panzerdivision “Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler“.

ORIGINS

LSSAH traces its origin back to Hitler’s Stabswache (staff guard), his small group of bodyguards, back in 1923 when the Nazi party was still in its infancy and mostly involved in brawls with communists. It was their leader, Julius Schreck, who resurrected for them the old Totenkopf (Death Head) symbol & black uniform of the elite Totenkopfhusaren from Frederik the Great & Napoleon’s wars. Disbanded in 1923 after Hitler’s failed coup in Bavaria, it was recreated in 1925, expanded and reorganized several times that same year, until finally being known as Schutzstaffel (roughly “Protection Squadron”), more commonly referred to as SS.

Among the new members of that reformed SS was Heinrich Himmler, who in under two years was to rise as deputy-commander of the SS, and two more years later as its supreme commander. From a battalion-size unit when he took command, Himmler was to build an organization of a bit under a million men by the end of the war, with control over the army, the entire State security apparatus (from intelligence services to police and concentration camps) and a large part of the economy, etc.

But prior to the beginning of WW2, the SS was still a modest force. Membership started to rise in the early 30’s, concurrently with the Nazi party’s political successes. In 1933, when Hitler rose as Germany’s chancellor, his bodyguard had expanded to a regiment, 1. SS-Standarde, which provided the nucleus of the new chancellor’s guard. This new elite unit went on by several names before being finally named Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler in April 1934, under the command of Josef “Sepp” Dietrich for most of the war, throughout its expansion.

Read the rest of this blog post HERE.

Source: VideoGamer

Intrepid Battlefield 1 players appear to have discovered the reveal date for Battlefield 5 via a new Easter egg in buried in the depths of 2016′s acclaimed World War I shooter.

The Room, as it’s called, is a pretty complicated affair though rewards gamers with a special dogtag featuring morse code that spells ‘Secrets Revealed.’ However, it goes just beyond that. Once the tag is unlocked, it’ll cue a special music track, as well as a barely-discernible sound of dripping water coming from the hidden room.

This isn’t just any odd dripping water coming from a leaky tap though; it’s rhythmic, and later discovered to be morse code. When translated, fans discovered it points to this website.

Read more…

The redde rationem has arrived. The HMS Queen Elizabeth and its Type 45 destroyers’ escort group has joined the Indian carrier Vikrant.

Together they are ready to retaliate against Pakistani forces, after the recent deaths of several British visiting officers killed by a rocket strike coming from the Pakistani border.

But Islamabad won’t just sit down and wait for the unavoidable attack. Intelligence is reporting that Beijing has been more than willing to provide anti-ship missiles and hardware to Musallah Afwaj-e-Pakistan (Pakistani Armed Forces), specifically conceived to kill supercarriers.

Who will prevail?

Command LIVE: Commonwealth Collision, the eighth installment in the Command LIVE series, has been released! This new episode explores a scenario in which the supremacy of carriers in modern naval conflicts will be put to a decisive test!

Watch the just released Command LIVE: Commonwealth Collision News Report video HERE.

You can purchase Command LIVE: Commonwealth Collision from its official Product Page. The game is also available on Steam.

Source: IGN

The upcoming Battlefield V will include “compelling single-player stories”, seemingly pointing to a continuation of the campaign style introduced in Battlefield 1.

While Battlefield’s traditional competitor, Call of Duty has apparently dropped a single-player mode for this year’s Black Ops 4, it seems DICE and EA will not be following suit.

As part of yesterday’s earnings report, EA CEO Andrew Wilson described the upcoming game:

“With our next Battlefield game, the team at DICE is bringing the intensity of combat to life in new and unexpected ways. Every battle is unique, and every mode brings its own challenges – from the way you interact with the environment around you, to compelling single-player stories, to the next level of large-scale multiplayer that spans across multiple maps and modes.”

Read more…

Obsidian’s Critically Acclaimed RPG Sequel Now Available For Purchase in Digital and Boxed Editions

Obsidian Entertainment, developer of genre-defining role-playing games, in partnership with powerhouse publisher Versus Evil, have announced the launch of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. Role playing fans will rejoice in Obsidian’s continued success in creating a rich and compelling narrative delivered in the grandest of RPGs. Deadfire’s deep progression mechanics, enhanced companion system, tactical combat and new exploration across land and sea, is an upgrade from this multi-award winning RPG studio.

“Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is the first sequel we’ve made to one of our own games. Building on the incredible foundation of the first Pillars of Eternity, we’ve been able to create an even more dynamic world with systems such as our open world approach to the Deadfire,” said Obsidian Entertainment CEO, Feargus Urquhart. “What’s been even more gratifying is the incredible support our community has given us over the years. Without them we would not have been able to create this amazing RPG.”

“Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire exemplifies the sheer dedication and passion from the team at Obsidian Entertainment in crafting what will surely be one of the biggest RPG’s in 2018,” said Steve Escalante, Versus Evil’s General Manager, “Today, fans of the studio and the original game will be able to experience all the improvements, additions and upgrades to this classic RPG. We’re very excited to help realize Obsidian’s vision with their release today and look forward to seeing RPG fans around the world explore the Deadfire!”

Consumers can now purchase the Standard, Deluxe, and Obsidian Editions through Steam, GOG.com, Obsidian.net, VersusEvil.com, and at their other favorite, digital retailers. The physical Standard and Obsidian Edition of the game, which includes additional in-game content and physical items for gamers to enjoy, is available to buy at major gaming retail stores, published by THQ Nordic, such as Amazon.com, Best Buy, and other retailers around the globe.

For more information on Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, visit the games official website.

Source: TechPowerUp!

NVIDIA today released GeForce 397.64 WHQL drivers. The drivers come game-ready for recently released titles Conan Exiles, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, and Destiny 2′s new expansion, Warmind. NVIDIA also added support for Microsoft Surface Books while providing updated SLI profiles for Kingdom Come: Deliverance and GRIP. More importantly, this driver release contains specific fixes for Grand Theft Auto V, Starcraft 2, and GeForce GTX 780 Ti owners who run a SLI configuration. The rest of its fixed issues is consistent with the 397.55 hotfix driver release.

You can download the new GeForce 397.64 WHQL drivers from GeForce Experience and GeForce.com.

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

• Cougar Launches Panzer EVO RGB Chassis
• Kingmax Intros Zeus Dragon RGB DDR4 Memory Series
• Mushkin Launches Their Pilot Series of M.2 NVMe SSDs
• Antec Powers Up with New High Current Gamer Bronze Series PSUs
• Cooler Master Introduces the MasterBox MB510L Chassis

Today UBISOFT revealed first details of “Operation Para Bellum”, the major update of Season 2 of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege Year Three.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege Year 3 Season 2 content seeks to enrich the community experience with two new Italian operators specialised in defense and the nineteenth map of the game.

Operation Para Bellum will also introduce the Pick & Ban system that provides an extra layer of strategy between teams, as each side tries to counter their opponents’ picks during the banning phase.

The full reveal of Year 3 Season 2 content of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege will be made on May 19th – 20th during the Pro League Finals.

For more information about Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege, please visit: https://rainbow6.ubisoft.com.