$30,000!!!!

If you’ve got an extra 30 grand to spend, forget about housing payments for a couple years, round trip flights to Europe every two weeks, or a BMW 3-series—follow your heart, and put all of it into a single gaming desktop. 

8Pack OrionX

the $30,000 8Pack OrionX looks like it just came out of a top secret lab. The monstrous machine is actually composed of two diverse systems packed inside a single Phanteks Enthoo Elite ($900) case. The higher-end system is powered by the 10-core Intel i7-6950x processor, which will run you about $1,600. The secondary system operates on a more budget-friendly Intel Core i7-7700K processor, the same chipset you’ll find in many new high-end consumer desktops.

After Angering GTA 5 Fans,

Rockstar and Take-Two won't take action against single-player mods, but it's not quite that simple.

Update: A new update for OpenIV has now been released, seemingly with Rockstar's blessing. It's unclear what exactly about it has changed to abide by the rules outlined by Rockstar and Take-Two below, but this appears to be a positive move for the modding community.

Original Story: The recent legal shutdown of Grand Theft Auto V mod tool OpenIV angered fans, to say the least. Developer Rockstar Games has now released a new statement addressing its stance on mods, and while there is some good news, it still likely isn't what many people are hoping for.

In a post on its website, Rockstar reveals that it's spoken with its parent company, Take-Two, and convinced it to avoid pursuing legal action against certain types of mods. "Rockstar Games believes in reasonable fan creativity, and, in particular, wants creators to showcase their passion for our games," the statement reads. "After discussions with Take-Two, Take-Two has agreed that it generally will not take legal action against third-party projects involving Rockstar's PC games that are single-player, non-commercial, and respect the intellectual property (IP) rights of third parties."

There are, of course, other restrictions as well: "This does not apply to (i) multiplayer or online services; (ii) tools, files, libraries, or functions that could be used to impact multiplayer or online services, or (iii) use or importation of other IP (including other Rockstar IP) in the project," the statement continues. "This is not a license, and it does not constitute endorsement, approval, or authorization of any third-party project. Take-Two reserves the right to object to any third-party project, or to revise, revoke and/or withdraw this statement at any time in their own discretion. This statement does not constitute a waiver of any rights that Take-Two may have with respect to third-party projects."

All of this started when Take-Two issued a cease-and-desist to the developers of OpenIV, which is a tool that is used to power numerous GTA V mods. Take-Two and Rockstar subsequently explained that this wasn't intended to specifically target single-player mods and that "malicious mods that allow harassment of players and interfere with the GTA Online experience for everybody" were the real problem. The companies also said they were investigating how to "continue to support the creative community without negatively impacting our players." Despite this, there was an outcry from fans, who sunk the game's average user review score on Steam. Additionally, a petition calling for OpenIV to be left alone has attracted nearly 77,000 signatures as of this writing.

Today's statement doesn't totally clarify what the future of GTA V mods looks like. OpenIV would seemingly still be disallowed by these rules, despite not directly targeting GTA Online. Rockstar told Motherboard that it's spoken with OpenIV's developer about allowing it to continue, but at this point, it remains unclear where things go from here.

Hitman Episode 1 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC

PlayStation Store offers downloads of Hitman Episode 1 for PlayStation 4 for free. (Microsoft offers it for Xbox One and steam offers it for windows.) That's a savings of $15 and the first time we've seen any part of this highly-rated game for free. Episode 1 features the ICA Facility location and includes two story missions (including all cut-scenes), two Escalation Contracts, more than 40 challenges, and 17 achievements and trophies. (You'll be able to keep your progress if you upgrade to the full game.) Click here for more information and to see a trailer for Episode 1.

Overwatch, Hearthstone, Starcraft, and other Blizzard tournaments will be available on Twitch

Twitch announced today that it has signed a deal with Blizzard Entertainment that gives the popular video game streaming site two-year, third-party live-streaming rights to some of Blizzard’s biggest e-sports events in popular games like Overwatch, Starcraft, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm.

The deal doesn’t seem to include total exclusivity for Twitch, just third-party streaming-platform rights, so Blizzard will still be able to offer a first-party stream through its own site. And Twitch only has some of Blizzard’s events, including the Heroes of the Storm Global Championship, StarCraft II World Championship Series, Hearthstone Championship Tour, World of Warcraft Arena Championship, Overwatch APEX League, and Overwatch Premier Series.

That said, it’s still a pretty significant signing for Twitch given the massive popularity of Blizzard’s games, especially in the competitive and streaming contexts. Additionally, as part of the deal with Blizzard, Twitch will be offering in-game loot for Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and Hearthstone for Twitch Prime subscribers, starting with a Golden Loot Box in Overwatch that guarantees a legendary item.

Get your wallet ready for Thursday.

Although Valve itself has still not announced a start date for the Steam Summer sale, it wouldn't feel right if it weren't leaked ahead of time. That appears to be the case with PayPal once again--and the sale is set to begin quite soon.

PayPal's UK Twitter account today sent out a message revealing that this year's Summer sale kicks off at 6 PM BST (10 AM PT / 1 PM ET) on Thursday, June 22. It claims, "It's official," though, as noted above, Valve has still not made an actual announcement itself. Dubious as this may seem, PayPal appears to have a promotion (at least in the UK) where spending £20 on Steam with PayPal during the sale will save you £5. You can read the details of this here.

Deals from a previous Steam sale

PayPal's promotion runs until July 5, which may be the end of the Steam sale. These dates line up with an image that surfaced on Reddit last month, which alleged that the Steam sale would run from June 22 until July 5.

Assuming Valve doesn't implement any major changes, you can expect this to be a fairly straightforward sale. The company has moved away from complex setups where deals are rotated in at regular intervals throughout the day. We'll report back as more details are announced.

Claim your free copy of Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault

If you're in the market for some free gaming (and generally who isn't?) then you'll probably want to head over to Origin, where Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault is currently free as the latest "On the House" offering.

On the House games are giveaways that EA throws out now and then, with nowarning or pattern that I can detect, and no indication as to when the offer will come to an end. Basically it's the Karma Chameleon of digital distribution programs, so grab it while you can. 

To claim your free copy of Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault, just go to origin.com, click the "get it now" button, and do what it says. You will need to have Origin installed, so you'll want to take care of that too, if you haven't already. And if all this strikes you as a little familiar somehow, you're not wrong: Pacific Assault was also an On the House game in March of last year.   

Here's How Diablo 3's New Challenge Rifts Work

Among the features on the way to Diablo III in the upcoming patch 2.6.0 are Challenge Rifts. Blizzard has provided new details explaining exactly how they work, and they sound like a good change in pace from the usual style of play.

Challenge Rifts do away with the normal randomization of Diablo in favor of a set experience. A Challenge Rift challenges you to beat another player's Greater Rift run time. The game takes a snapshot of a Greater Rift run--complete with that Rift's layout and the character's gear and skills--and then tasks other players with finishing it more quickly than the original player.

A new Challenge Rift will be released every Monday, and a selection of crafting materials and Blood Shards are available to anyone who can beat the target time. This reward is available only once per week, but you're free to replay the Rift as much as you want, as you'll be able to compete with friends on weekly leaderboards.

As shown in the video above, choosing to take part in a Challenge Rift won't immediately launch you into one. You can first reassign the keys that your skills are assigned to (but not change which skills you have access to) and test the setup out on two groups of enemies: one comprised of a single tough enemy, and one consisting of a bunch of weak enemies.

In addition to patch 2.6.0, the Necromancer Pack is also on the way to Diablo III. This is positioned as a "content pack" rather than an "expansion pack" along the line of Reaper of Souls. Its primary addition is the Necromancer class, which returns from Diablo II. Blizzard recently revealed the Necromancer-specific Legendary effects and Set items that are on the way. You can see the sets in this video or read the details abou-of-diablo-1-in-diablo-3-anniversary-patch" width="468">

SNES-Style Controller For Nintendo Switch Coming This Year

Nintendo Switch players looking for a more retro experience will be happy to know 8Bitdo is making a replica SNES controller built with the system in mind. The SNES30 Pro features Bluetooth, USB-C, rumble vibration, motion controls, and player indicator LEDs--of course, it looks just like a traditional SNES controller. Check it out below.

Compatible with PCs and mobile devices too.

On the right, you'll also see the Super Famicom-style model, if you'd like to capture the classic Japanese design instead. Both are replacements for the Switch Pro Controller, but they will work on PCs and mobile devices as well. They're slated to be released this holiday season.

There are two other new ways to play Switch (and PC) coming from 8Bitdo too. You can get even more old school with the NES30 Arcade Stick (below).

The company is also releasing the set of speakers below called the Twin Cube Stereo Speakers, to boost the audio experience. They're wireless, but have an AUX input. Both the speakers and the NES Arcade Stick are due out sooner than the SNES-style controllers, coming this fall.

Last month, 8Bitdo updated the firmware on its full library of controllers to make them compatible with Nintendo Switch. Not all the controllers will work perfectly with every Switch game, but the company says the new SNES controllers by the end of the year will be perfect fits for Switch's full library of games.

8Bitdo revealed its new controllers at E3, and you can click here to see our full coverage of all the gaming hardware that was released during the expo on day 1 and on day 2.