Tyler Blevins, more widely known as Ninja, is currently one of the most popular streamers on Twitch, but that is about to change. Blevins revealed in a video on Twitter that he is now streaming exclusively on Microsoft’s Mixer.
In the video, he makes the announcement to a room full of press and then takes on the role of several reporters asking questions about the news. One reporter even asked if his hair would be changing colors, but the jury is still out.
In a more casual video linked to the announcement, Ninja confirmed that his content will not be affected by the move. In both videos, he emphasized getting back in touch with his “roots.” We’re not quite sure what that means, but we’ll find out in due time.
Many viewers associate Ninja’s channel with Epic Games’ Fortnite: Battle Royale, but his career started as a professional Halo player. Pairing up with Microsoft’s Mixer just a year or so prior to the next Halo release could be the streamer’s way of getting back to basics. As for right now, we fully expect Fortnite to remain a staple on his channel.
The next chapter,https://t.co/lvn9KBjEYq pic.twitter.com/tljVgyM3bG
— Ninja (@Ninja) August 1, 2019
Despite being far smaller than Twitch, Mixer is gaining popularity. According to StreamLabs, hours watched on the platform have risen by 357 percent since the last quarter, and the total hours streamed has risen by 43%. The average viewer per channel is currently around 10, but that number will likely go up after Blevins starts gaining traction on the platform.
YouTube is also a larger streaming service than Mixer, but Mixer has features that other streaming platforms do not. It promises the highest quality streaming with almost no latency, and it offers ways viewers can interact with your game to make the experience more engaging for viewers.
In the last few years, Microsoft has given away free games and downloadable content to viewers who watch the Xbox press conference on Mixer. With Twitch having such an enormous lead over the competition, however, only something as huge as partnering with one of the most popular streamers in the world could rapidly change that.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.