Ninja is perhaps the most famous video game streamer in the world, moving from Twitch to Mixer and still managing to grow a huge following on the smaller platform. If you’re ever wanted to be like Ninja, we don’t know what to tell you, but you can now be Ninja in Fortnite with the help of a new player skin.
Beginning on January 16 at 7 p.m. ET, you’ll be able to get a Ninja skin from the Fortnite item shop. It looks just like the famous streamer, with his bright teal hair and a yellow headband. Alongside the outfit, the item shop will also offer Back Bling, a custom emote, and the Dual Katanas Pickaxe. We’re not sure how effective a katana, or even two, would be in crafting and destroying structures in real life, but in Fortnite, they will do the job.
I've dreamt of having a skin in Fortnite since I started playing the game. Today, my dream becomes reality. Get the Ninja Fortnite Skin in the Epic store Thursday 6 p.m. CST-Sunday 7 p.m. Don't forget to use code NINJA! #NinjaSkin #EpicPartner pic.twitter.com/xTn9UlbkGI
— Ninja (@Ninja) January 15, 2020
The thought of seeing Ninja coming after you in a battle royale match is terrifying, though perhaps a little less so when less-skilled players start making use of the skin and get eliminated at the very beginning of a match.
Ninja collaboration with Fortnite is the first in what Epic Games is calling its “Icon Series,” which will feature additional partners such as Loserfruit and TheGrefg. Other creators will come from the entertainment industry, and the series is building on what was previously done with Marshmello and the trio Major Lazer.
Ninja, whose real name is Tyler Blevins, reportedly made $50 million when he signed a deal with Microsoft to stream exclusively with Mixer. He was later joined by former professional gamer Shroud — real name Michael Grzesiek — as Microsoft continues to challenge Twitch for streaming dominance.
Alongside the Ninja skin news, Fortnite also introduced a “sidegrading” feature into battle royale with the latest update. This allows players to turn the Assault Rifle weapon into the Heavy Assault Rifle with a special machine on non-competitive playlists. iOS controllers now support clickable analog sticks, as well, bringing the experience closer in line with that on traditional consoles. You can check the update out now on all supported systems, including Mac, PC, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, Xbox One, and PS4.
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.