This week on The Shift, guest host Martin Strong and I talked about a Marvel Contest of Champions tournament coming to Vancouver, a Ukranian drone pilot, Zoom’s terms of service update, and Google’s account deactivation policy.

Vancouver will be home to a mobile game tournament this fall, video games are great training for drone pilots, getting a Steam Deck at a discount.

Vancouver will host Marvel game competition this fall for Battlerealm Brawl players

Marvel Contest of Champions is a free-to-play mobile game developed by Vancouver’s Kabam that is features arcade-style, one-on-one fighting and featuring the ranging pantheon of Marvel superheroes and supervillains.

First released in 2014 and available on Android and iOS, Kabam has kept Contest of Champions fresh with seemingly unending updates, adding characters and game modes.

In celebration of the game’s success, Kabam is hosting an event in Vancouver this October.

The two-day event starts on October 20 and will include early looks at future game updates and an opportunity to meet the developers.

Battlerealm Brawl also includes a tournament which culminates in a best of five finals competition between two top players.

The tournament kicked off today, August 9. Players of Gladiator’s Circuit of Battlegrounds: Season 10 are in competition and the top eight players will be invited to Vancouver to participate in the final brackets.

The top four players will be the first to get a new champion added to their roster.

Tickets for Battlerealm Brawl are free and the entire event will be broadcast on Kabam’s Twitch channel.

Ukrainian soldier credits video games with ability to pilot drones

Reuters reports on a Ukrainian soldier who is a drone pilot and credits playing video games.

From the article: “Every time I put on my goggles and take the joystick, I think about my mother telling me those video games won’t do me any good,” he says with a smile. “Well, if this isn’t useful, then what is?”

Valve is selling refurbished Steam Decks

The Steam Deck is Valve’s a portable gaming computer. First released in February 2022, you can now get your hands on one for at decent discount.

Valve’s been refurbishing units that have been returned to the company, and is now selling them.

Here’s what the pricing looks like:

• 64 GB: $499 new, $399 refurbished
• 256 GB: $659 new, $529 refurbished
• 512 GB: $819 new, $659 refurbished

Valve says the decks meet or exceed “the performance standards of new units” although they may have “minor cosmetic blemishes”.

Zoom’s latest terms of service update rang some alarm bells and Google’s cleaning up its user list.

Zoom conferencing service changes terms of service, appears to be asking for sweeping permissions from users

Last week, Zoom published an update to its terms of service under which users of the application agree to abide.

It appeared to give the company wide-ranging rights to train artificial intelligence using the content created by customers

Within days, Zoom’s chief product officer, Smita Hashim, posted a clarifying article to “confirm that we will not use audio, video, or chat customer content to train our artificial intelligence models without your consent.”

The implications are profound. Doctors who use video conferencing services when attending to remote patients need a service that is compliant with government regulations around privacy and security of personal information.

And insurance companies. And post-secondary institutions. And courts of law.

Not to mention people and companies working in creative industries where rights to materials are carefully controlled.

While Zoom has amended section 10.2 and added a qualifying clause to 10.4 – the two sections that were most problematic – anyone using Zoom should be rethinking that subscription fee.

Back in 2020, Zoom was in hot water for sharing, against the rules and without customers knowing, information with Facebook.

There are other video conferencing services available, including

• Discord
• Evercast
• FaceTime
• Google Meet
• Signal

Google’s going to start deactivating accounts that haven’t been used in two years

Some of you may remember when Google was first getting going, when you had to get an invite to sign up for a Gmail account.

Well, Google has lots of users these days. Maybe too many, if a recent campaign is an indication.

Google’s letting people know about its policy about deactivating “inactive” accounts, which is an account that has not been used for two years.

A support article makes it clear what you need to do to keep your account active. And the company won’t actually deactivate your account without first trying to let you know that your account is in an inactive state.

But if you let things go for too long, Google reserves the right to delete your account and the data associated with it.

This week on The Shift, Shane Hewitt and I talked about the games Pikmin 4 and Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes, the update to the Razer Nexus app, and new products from Samsung, including new flip and folding phones.

Pikmin 4 has you controlling an army of tiny plant-like creatures, Clash of Heroes has you controlling armies of soldiers, and an update to the Razer Nexus software makes it easier to stream your favourite games to your mobile handset.

Pikmin 4 is a charming game that is all about being a manager

The latest charm offensive from Nintendo is Pikmin 4, a Nintendo Switch game that is perfect summer fare.

You play as a novice explorer on a planet – it looks a lot like Earth – where your fellow explorers have gone missing. Your main mission is to find the crew and parts of the space ship that needs to be repaired so you can all return home.

You accomplish this with the help of pikmin, small, plant-like creatures that you collect, assemble, and direct to do your will. These tiny little workers will attack dangerous creatures, knock down obstacles, carry heavy objects to your ship, and so much more.

The fun comes from collecting these pikmin, which come in different types that are suited for different tasks, and knowing which types to take with you when you go exploring (you can have three types with you at any time).

There’s a time limit of sorts that’s in play here, although not as draconian as in the original Pikmin. The daily time limit serves to constrain exploration without providing the panic of a race against the clock.

While figuring out how best to deploy your pikmin, you’ll also be looking to keep the little creatures alive. They can be replaced, but it’s time consuming to do that.

You also have the assistance of a companion, the dog-like Oatchi, which can carry you and your army of pikmin as well as attack on your behalf.

Pikmin 4 is available now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. Rated everyone 10+.

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes debuts on the Nintendo Switch

One of the best games I’ve ever played, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes. Originally developed by Toronto’s Capybara Games and published by Ubisoft back in 2009 for Nintendo’s DS handheld, it’s recently been remade by Dotemu and I arranged to get a copy for our Nintendo Switch.

The game is just as good as I remember. You play your way through a melodramatic story about lost children going up against a demon lord with the world at stake.

What makes this game so intriguing is the puzzle mechanic that makes up the turn-based combat. You need to arrange and order troops to battle against opponents, creating groups of three that can become attacking units or can turn into defensive ramparts.

The trick is finding out how you can damage the enemy while keeping enough in reserve to protect yourself against attack.

This new definitive edition features new artwork and is also available for PS4, PS5, and Windows.

Razer updates Nexus software for Kishi controller and Edge portable

Kishi is Razer’s controller for mobile handsets. Available in models for Android devices and iPhones, Kishi provides the kind of gaming controls you’d expect on a console controller.

The idea is that you can stream games to your handset from your Nvidia, Playstation, Steam, or Xbox library, and the Kishi controller makes it a better experience.

And paired with the Razer Nexus software, which was recently updated to version 3.0, you can easily launch into your games, too. The Nexus software allows you to add games from your various streaming accounts, providing you with a single library of games you can play on your handset.

The Nexus software is also at the core of the Razer Edge portable, a purpose built Android system with a 6.8-inch AMOLED touchscreen display that comes with a Kishi V2 Pro controller.