‘Star Fox’ sets course for Wii U along with smaller projects from Miyamoto
Sure, Star Fox hasn’t seen a home console game of his own since the GameCube, but Nintendo has different plans for the Wii U. Time’s let word slip that the Big N is releasing a game starring the anthropomorphic space canine. While there aren’t many details just yet, players will use the GamePad’s motion controls to aim and fire, while controlling their ship Arwing with thumbsticks. And yes, it’ll still be able to transform into the land tank. In addition to the tried-and-true roving fortress, Nintendo’s baked in a new helicopter-like craft. The aircraft’s movements can be controlled by one player, while another takes control of shooting enemies or directing a small robot that drops down and blasts things independently.
In addition to Fox McCloud’s fresh adventure, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto has been hard at work on smaller projects, two of which are called Project Giant Robot and Project Guard. In Project Giant Robot, gamers take the helm of enormous bots and control their torsos using motion controls, while using the GamePad’s thumbsticks for punching and grabbing. In the second experience, players defend a fortress from baddies by using the GamePad to cycle through posts throughout their base and blasting raiders to smithereens. The Star Fox title is “at least a year away” from seeing the light of day, but the other two projects are still experimental.
While the Star Fox game has a clearer timeline attached to it, Nintendo might go the route of an episodic release schedule. “Honestly I don’t have a clear idea myself yet, but one thing I’m thinking is that with this Star Fox we may take a different approach, so that rather than one big title we have multiple releases that are connected through different missions,” Miyamoto told Time. “If I was to describe the Star Fox series up until now as being sort of a movie series, I guess I’d describe this new approach as something that’s more like a TV series for Star Fox.”
[Image credit: Time]
Source: TIME
Open-world ‘Zelda’ game heading to Wii U in 2015
Last year, Zelda tastemaker Eiji Aonuma told us that he wanted to give players more freedom. “I want them to be able to explore more.” Back then, he was talking about A Link Between Worlds; today Nintendo is talking about the franchise’s first game designed natively for the Wii U. Taking the screen during Nintendo’s Digital Event at E3, Aonuma showed a deep, lush landscape and pointed to the horizon. “You can even reach those mountains in the distance if you walk far enough.” It’s the first truly open-world Zelda game.
Aonuma says the new Zelda game is all about removing boundaries, recalling how the original Legend of Zelda allowed players to wander the land of Hyrule in any direction, almost without restriction. Exploration is the game’s new focus, he says, and the first puzzle the player will have to solve is figuring out what direction they want to wander. Nintendo seems to be breaking a few sartorial conventions too: In a brief action clip, Aonuma showed a young, long-haired protagonist garbed in a light blue tunic, as opposed to Link’s traditional green garb.
That adventure won’t be available until some time next year, but there’s still a Zelda game on deck for 2014: Hyrule Warriors, Nintendo’s mash-up between The Legend of Zelda franchise and Dynasty Warriors. This game breaks a Zelda convention too, thanks to its partner franchise’s multiplayer standards: Players will be able to team up as Link, Princess Zelda, Midna, Impa and possibly others. That experience can be had on September 26th, 2014.
‘Super Smash Bros.’ for Wii U lets you bring toys (and yourself) into the game
Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U isn’t just leaning on your nostalgia to clinch a sale; it also has a few technological tricks up its sleeve. Nintendo’s latest brawler will let you bring the characters from its NFC-based toys (now known as Amiibos) into the game by tapping them on the Wii U’s gamepad. They can fight alongside you or in your place, and they’ll gain abilities as they level up. Other titles (including Mario Kart 8, Mario Party 10 and Yoshi’s Woolly World) should support Amiibos in the future, as well. If you’d rather introduce your own persona, though, you can. Super Smash Bros. has an option to add your Mii, giving it both a character class as well as a handful of special moves.
You’ll still have to wait until sometime during the holidays to pick up the Wii U version and try out all its spiffy new features. If you’re impatient for some fisticuffs, though, you’ll be glad to hear that Super Smash Bros. 3DS will be available a bit sooner — it’s now set to launch on October 3rd. You won’t be locked out of Amiibo, either, as Nintendo is promising a peripheral (sadly, due in 2015) that puts your figurines into 3DS games.
Nintendo teases ‘Mario Maker’ for creating custom Mario levels on Wii U
We had a feeling Nintendo was going to announce something called “Mario Maker,” a game that allows you to create your own levels in Super Mario Brothers — after all, Nintendo Enthusiast found a poster for the damn thing in the company’s E3 booth. Indeed, Nintendo just teased it in a press event, though it only provided a scant few details. In a series of screenshots, we saw someone creating custom levels, with the help of the Wii U’s included stylus. Though you can design the level using old-school 8-bit graphics, as in the screenshot above, you can also go with the sort of modern look found in Mario’s newer titles. No word on exact release date, except that it will hit North America and Europe sometime in 2015.
Oculus nabs co-founder of Uncharted developer
More than a few people (including one absurdly rich 30 year old) think that the Oculus Rift is going to change the world. As it turns out, that list just got a little longer today: former THQ president and Naughty Dog co-founder Jason Rubin is joining the Oculus mothership as its head of worldwide studios. What exactly does that involve? Rubin painted us a picture (with broad strokes, alas) in a post on the official Oculus blog:
“I’m excited to bring together a new division dedicated to building high-quality VR content that helps define the platform and inspire others to do the same.”
It’s a interesting move on Oculus’ part, but maybe not a surprising one. Take a look at some of Oculus VR’s other big-name hires — John Carmack (who was accused of stealing VR tech from his former employer) is the Facebook subsidiary’s chief technology officer, while ex-Valvie Michael Abrash now serves as Oculus’ chief scientist. That’s a considerable amount of brainpower dedicated to fleshing out what the Rift (and its eventual descendants) are capable of, but what about the content? What about the games, the worlds, the universes that this new attainable age of virtual reality could bring to the masses? Rubin — who’s had a hand in creating Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter to name a few — is an experienced hand that should help steer this new generation of media in the right direction. And hey, maybe he’ll tap some of those young VR wizards to help out.
Source: Oculus VR
There’s a new ‘Doom’ coming and you can see it right here
You like fighting crazy demon-robot hybrids and, right? Boy do we have some news for you: there’s totally a new Doom in the works and it’s going to be on display at developer id’s annual Quakecon show in Texas this year. If you can’t make it to The Lone Star state, though, we’ve embedded a teaser trailer for the game just after the jump.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Amazon Kindle app update adds professional narration to existing books
So you’ve got yourself a number of books that you’re reading at home and/or at work on lunch break. The problem, as you see it, is that you’d like to listen to these book in the car or on the train while you heading to and from home. Amazon has your back and has today announced a new feature which adds professional narration to 45,000+ books. Yep, it blends Amazon’s Kindle library with their Audible selection.
Called Matchmaker, it’s a service that lets readers switch instantly between reading Kindle book (where applicable) and listening to the companion audiobook from Audible. And, thanks to the Whispersync for Voice capability, it ensures you don’t lose your place when making the jump to or from audio.
Professional narration is available for more than 45,000 Kindle books and growing. Audio upgrades are available for as little as $0.99, with upgrades to bestsellers like the Outlander series and The Hunger Games series available for as little as $3.99.
Head to Google Play Store or Amazon Appstore today and you’ll find the update awaiting you. Actually, the latest version of the Android app brings about a number of handy changes.
- Switch between reading and listening when you add audio to a Kindle book
- Jump directly to previous locations from the progress bar
- Copy a word or phrase, paste into another program
- Multi-color highlights
- Improved notifications
- Improved cross-device sync
The post Amazon Kindle app update adds professional narration to existing books appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Honeywell debuts Lyric, the smart thermostat with Android operability
Honeywell has introduced its latest smart thermostat, the gorgeously simple Nest-like Lyric. Set to hit retailers in August, the $279 device is already being offered through professional heating and cooling contractors. As you might have already guessed, the Lyric can be controlled via your Android or iOS device.
With the Lyric app, homeowners can adjust their home’s temperature to life as it happens, wherever they are.
The Lyric features a gloss white finish with silver accents and offers shallow depth; it will surely class up any room in our house.
Why the “Lyric” name, you ask? It has something to do with being fine-tuned and better than the competition.
- Using the location of your smartphone, the geofencing feature automatically turns the Lyric thermostat into energy saving mode when a home is empty, and then senses when you are coming home and heats or cools the house to your preferred temperature.
- The Fine Tune feature factors indoor and outdoor temperature, humidity, and weather into its algorithm, enabling it to provide the most comfortable temperature for homeowners. No other do-it-yourself Wi-Fi thermostat on the market today does that.
Learn more about the Lyric at Honeywell’s website.
The post Honeywell debuts Lyric, the smart thermostat with Android operability appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Apple’s Advertising Revamp Include Plans for In-House Team of 1,000 Employees
Last week, it was reported that Apple has begun producing some of its television ads internally rather than relying on longtime partner TBWA, and now Ad Age has an extensive look at the company’s evolving ad strategy that is seeing much more work being brought in-house.
Amid criticisms that it has failed to innovate, Apple is increasingly taking marketing into its own hands. It’s madly building an internal agency that it’s telling recruits will eventually number 1,000 — the size of Grey Advertising. It’s pitting TBWA/MAL against this internal agency with “jump balls” to mine the best creative ideas, a controversial tactic with outside agencies, let alone an internal one. It’s going after some of adland’s boldest-faced names to staff its in-house shop — in some cases, it’s even poached executives from TBWA/MAL. And, in what once would have been seen as a sacrilegious breach of the Apple-MAL bond, it’s been inviting some of the ad industry’s top shops to pitch on major projects.
The report notes that Apple’s hiring efforts have frequently received a “frosty reception”, with some ad executives feeling that Apple has lost its creative energy while others worry about the cost of living in Cupertino.
“Powerful” iPhone 5s ad delivered by TBWA/Media Arts Lab
Still, it’s clear that Apple has been working to shake up its advertising efforts over the past several years, with Apple executives having serious issues with some of TBWA’s work. Apple had reportedly considered dropping TBWA, but the two longtime partners have continued to work together even as Apple has looked to other internal and external groups for new creative sparks.
The lengthy report is an interesting read highlighting Apple’s sometimes controversial tactics with respect to TBWA, as well as an examination of what the future may hold for the relationship between Apple and its longtime ad agency. Amid continued growth by Apple and concerns over the quality of some recent ad campaigns, it’s understandable that Apple has been looking at various strategies for raising its advertising game, but just how things will play out over the long-term remains to be seen.
Kindle for iOS Adds Ability to Listen to Audible Books [iOS Blog]
Amazon has updated its Kindle app for iOS to version 4.3, adding the ability to listen to the Audible version of Kindle books that you own. According to Amazon, there are over 45,000 Kindle/Audible titles eligible for this new in-app listening feature.
The new Audible feature ties into Amazon’s Whispersync technology, which automatically syncs progress between the Kindle and Audible versions of a book. The feature allows Amazon customers to read a book at home and then listen from where they left off when they open the Audible version of the book. In order for his feature to work, customers must own both the Kindle and Audible version of the book title.
Other changes in Kindle 4.3 for iOS version include the ability to download a collection of books, the addition of a sleep timer and new narration speeds up to 2x. Amazon also improved its X-Ray search feature and improved overall performance and stability of the app.
Kindle for iOS is a free app that can be downloaded from the App Store. [Direct Link]
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