$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.

New PSN Flash Sale Has Begun

Get your co-op fix this weekend.

A new Flash sale is now underway for the weekend on the PlayStation Store. It discounts a number of PS4, PS3, and Vita games, with a focus on co-op titles.

PS4 has by far the most games on sale in this promotion, which doesn't require a PlayStation Plus membership. Among the highlights are Resident Evil 5 and 6 for $8 each, Sportsfriends for $4.49, and Helldivers: Ultimate Edition for $16. Some other noteworthy PS4 deals:

• 7 Days to Die -- $10.49
• The Jackbox Party Pack Trilogy -- $24
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1 and 2 -- $16 each
• Nidhogg -- $5
• Tropico 5 -- $9
• Videoball -- $2

PS3 deals include the first two Borderlands games for $4 each, Sportsfriends for $4.49, and Guilty Gear Xrd Sign for $12. Vita, meanwhile, has a fairly limited selection, although Helldivers ($16) and Nidhogg ($5) are also available on there, as is Earth Defense Force 2 for $6.

This Flash sale runs from now until 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET on Monday, June 26. You can see everything in the sale here. This all coincides with the ongoing weekly PSN sales, which include discounts on a bunch of Metal Gear Solid games.

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.

The People's Republic of China has strict censorship laws regarding media in all formats for the sole purpose of protecting national security and maintaining social stability. While it has made some strides in regards to lifting gaming bans, Reuters reports these laws are now targeting a different form of communication: livestreaming.

China has reportedly contacted three major social media and news websites to take down all video and audio streaming services due to politically charged social commentary. China's Twitter-esque social media website Sina Weibo, video-sharing and game streaming platform ACFUN, and news website Ifeng.com are being affected by the ban.

The move is due to the presence of politically charged material that violates China's censorship laws within these websites' livestreaming content. User commentary is also inciting "negative opinions."

Because of its censorship laws, China's government regularly combs through its social media websites for potentially harmful comments and content. This includes, but isn't limited to, politically charged comments, anything that slanders and insults others, promotion of cults or superstitions, mockery of China's culture and traditions, and the showing of drug use and violence. While pictures and written comments that include these things can be deleted, it's harder to regulate livestreams, videos, and audio content.

Foreign social media websites like Facebook and YouTube are banned in China entirely. Videogame streaming platform Twitch is banned; even Google is banned. Although China in 2015 lifted its videogame console manufacturing and ownership ban made in 2000, while its laws regarding content censorship remained in place. To this day, the content of video games is subject to the government's censorship for the same reasons as its internet and media censorship: national security and stability.

Sina Weibo has acknowledged the notice issued by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) of the People's Republic of China and is in the process of evaluating who the ban will affect from the staff to its major influencers. But what's most interesting is that the SAPPRFT notice states that Sina Weibo does not have the proper licenses for internet livestreaming services, in addition to its content violations.

Sina Weibo, like other livestreaming social platforms like Momo and YY, is part of a booming livestreaming market in China, which grew 180% in 2016 alone, according to Technode. The same story includes a report from the China Internet Network Information Center, stating that there were over 344 million livestreaming users in China in 2016, which constitutes about 47 percent of all of the internet users in the country. Video game streaming was the largest part of this market to grow, led by gameplay streaming platform Douyu and gaming and social media giant Tencent.

Without question, this ban will have effects on that livestreaming market, and the bans on Sina Weibo, ACFUN, and Ifeng.com could just be the beginning.

It is currently unclear when these livestreaming services will be taken down from the websites under the ban.

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.

Watch Dogs for Xbox One

Hello everybody Now you can grab you watch dogs copy for free on xbox but For Xbox Live Gold members only, Microsoft Store offers downloads of Watch Dogs for Xbox One for free. That's the lowest price we've seen and $13 under the best deal we could find for a physical copy. Deal ends July 15.