Leo’s Fortune Review: An absolute platforming/adventure Treasure
Platforming games are a dime a dozen these days. With each passing week, a new platformer is released though many of them fail to inspire the kind of engagement that platformers of old, like Sonic the Hedgehog or the Mario Bros, have achieved. Leo’s Fortune, though, is one new platformer that I think does have what it takes to stand out from the swathes of generic clones, so let’s see what exactly is different.
The premise of Leo’s Fortune is simple: you play as Leopold, who is chasing the thieves you have stolen his fortune. Luckily, the thieves have left a trail of coins for Leo to follow, but to do so, must traverse various challenging landscapes. Throughout the game, there will be cut-scenes and exposition from Leo to flesh out the narrative, and while it is mostly pretty vague, does give you at least a sense of how important the “fortune” is that you and Leo are chasing after.
The game is structured in chapters, each subsequent chapter progresses the story. The good thing about Leo’s Fortune is that there are no IAPs to speak of, so the price of entry is all you have to worry about and all the content you paid for is there.
Playing as Leo, who can most accurately be described as a Tribble from Star Trek with cartoony eyes, you traverse the side-scrolling landscape by way of sliding, jumping, floating and dropping to get around obstacles and avoid traps. The default control scheme in Leo’s Fortune let’s you control Leo’s lateral (side-to-side) movement with your left thumb and vertical movement with your right thumb. It’s a pretty intuitive system that is easy to pick up and very forgiving. If that’s not your cup of tea, there are also on screen buttons and also gamepad compatibility, but I never found the need to explore those as I was perfectly happy with the default controls.
The graphics are easily the highlight of Leo’s Fortune. Chief among the visuals is the detail put into Leo’s model; whatever he is doing, his mop of short hair follows, whether he is sliding around or inflated to float away from danger. This is complimented by absolutely fantastic level design and background landscapes, all of which differ from chapter to chapter, giving each chapter a distinct theme and follows the story laid out by Leo’s exposition.
A close second to the visuals of Leo’s Fortune are the sound effects and music. The background music that plays while you are traversing the various landscapes is majesty and moving, really giving a sense of journey and purpose, and absolutely fits the game without being distracting or overly intrusive. The second part of this is Leo’s voice, which is a fantastic, Russian-accented man’s voice who is somehow just perfect for delivering exposition. During platforming sections, Leo will also make hesitant noises as difficult sections approach and triumphant sounds when you get past said sections, really making him an endearing part of the game.
Leo’s Fortune is right up there with my other favourite mobile platformers, Rayman Jungle Run and Type:Rider, as it really covers all the bases that you need covered from an enthralling platformer. The gameplay is varied and challenging, the character is loveable, the graphics are top notch and the soundtrack is fantastic. It may cost $4.99, but if there’s one platformer you should get in 2014, it should be Leo’s Fortune.
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UK to let driverless cars loose on roads by January
Anxious to start… not driving in the UK? Though late to the party, the government has announced that driverless cars will hit the streets in three UK cities starting in January 2015. The Department of Transport also launched a £10 million ($17 million) fund to spur research and reach the deadline. Once the three cities are selected for trials, two different types of self-driving vehicles will be tested: fully autonomous cars with no driver, and self-driving models that can relinquish control to a human pilot. All of that will be laid out in new road laws now being formulated to accommodate such vehicles.
US states followed a similar trajectory back in 2011 by first passing new road laws, then approving self-driving vehicles for road use, as long as they were accompanied by a human driver. There are now quite a few companies in the self-driving game, which only kicked off in earnest once Google jumped in. New projects have launched from Volvo, Audi and Google (again). A UK company called MIRA specializing in such vehicles told Sky News that though it also had driverless tech, “we lag behind actually getting (it) into some real field trials.” Now, the science minister said, “Britain is brilliantly placed to lead the world in driverless technology.”
[Image credit: AP/Michael Sohn]
Filed under: Transportation
Via: BBC
Source: Telegraph
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Amazon runs the numbers to convince you that e-books should be cheaper
After unsuccessfully trying to charm authors, Amazon is now appealing to its customers during the ongoing war with Hachette. The retailer has revealed the reasons behind the spat, i.e. cheaper e-book prices, and the noble intentions behind it. Using its vast archive of data, the company believes that titles that, surprise, surprise, are priced at $15 won’t sell as well as those that are priced at $10. As obvious as it sounds, the company’s data says that for every 100,000 copies of the book that are bought for the higher price, 74,000 more copies would be bought at the lower figure, making a total profit of $1,738,000. Given that e-books incur no printing, warehousing or transportation costs, Amazon feels that it’s a fair trade off.
The company is also opening up about its proposed revenue split with publishers, saying that both Hachette and the author would receive 35 percent of the profits, or around $60,000 in the example above, with Amazon taking the remaining 30 percent ($52,000 as commission. The Kindle team, however, doesn’t believe that the publishers are playing fair with their talent, keeping a bigger portion of that pot for themselves. Another way that Amazon would like to drive a wedge between publishers and authors is by pointing out that the cheaper books have a much better chance of appearing on the bestseller lists — so authors should be insisting their books are sold for $10. Of course, Amazon didn’t say how many titles in its e-book library regularly make 100,000 in sales, so perhaps this is all a bit of very wishful thinking.
Filed under: Amazon
Via: Werner Vogels
Source: Amazon
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‘Mario Kart 8’ couldn’t save Nintendo from a $97 million loss
Mario Kart on the Wii U is really good. Unfortunately it’s just one game — and it looks like it won’t be enough to rescue the Wii U’s sales. Nintendo apparently agrees, stating that its 9.9 billion yen loss was due to a lack of hit titles outside of the flagship racer. Matter-of-factly, Nintendo said:
“The operating loss was 9.4 billion yen because total selling, general and administrative expenses including fixed expenses exceeded gross profit. “
Which is, well, exactly how you work out an operating loss. The company is now betting on the power of Super Smash Bros. as well as the best-selling Pokemon series to improve results later this year. Wii U console sales have improved in the Americas and Europe: 510,000 units were sold worldwide in the last three months, compared to 160,000 in the same period last year. In Japan, however, Wii U sales have decreased year-on-year. Revenue was 8.8 percent higher than the same period last year and Nintendo is hoping its plans for a series of console-connected toy figurines along the lines of the hit Skylanders series will help to improve that bottom line.
Mario Kart 8 managed to sell 2.82 million copies so far, meaning that relative to Wii U console sales, most players already had the games console to play it on — and that it wasn’t quite enough to convince other consumers to buy what could possibly be a second console.
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Sky’s Now TV streaming app comes to the Xbox One
Well that didn’t take long. Less than a week after it rolled out the app to the PlayStation 4, Sky’s now brought Now TV to the Xbox One. With today’s launch, Sky now has Microsoft and Sony’s new and old gaming consoles covered, as well as a number of smartphones and tablets, giving it a firm footing on which to challenge Netflix. Now that Microsoft doesn’t require a subscription to access Live apps, you only need to stump up the cash for one of Sky’s movie, sport or entertainment packages to get streaming on your next-gen Xbox.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
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Microsoft’s latest Windows Phone update expands Cortana to more countries
More than three months after the first builds of Windows Phone 8.1 hit the scene, Microsoft is ready to tick more features off the to-do list with the OS’s first refresh. Known aptly as Update 1, the download will be available as a developer preview starting next week. Understandably, Cortana is on the top of the release notes, because the beta program will officially expand to the UK and China as promised in April. This means users in both countries can enjoy different voices and more localized options, such as air quality info (in China specifically), local celebrities, specialized suggestions and commute times. Additionally, the Chinese version supports Mandarin and comes with unique animations, sounds and other visual features.
Fortunately, the expansion efforts don’t stop here: Users in Canada, Australia or India will be treated to an alpha English version of the personal assistant, which means it’ll be a bit rough around the edges for now. It’s all opt-in, however, so there’s no pressure if you’d rather wait for the finished product. Finally, Cortana fans in the US also get a few new goodies: In addition to snooze times for reminders, extra natural language scenarios and more Easter Eggs (“do an impersonation”), she can also integrate with your Bluetooth car kit (provided that kit comes with support for phone contacts). While driving, initiate voice prompts and say “Call Cortana” to start doing voice commands. Admittedly, this process can be streamlined even more, but it’s at least a way to let you use the voice assistant safely on the road.
Update 1 also includes folder support, which Microsoft is calling Live Folders. Drag one Live Tile over another and let the magic happen; you can now expand the folders to show the tiles inside, or keep them collapsed for a tile-within-a-tile view. The Windows Phone Store also got a Live Tile which refreshes updates and new titles on your Start screen, and you can also now select multiple SMS messages for faster merging, forwarding and deleting.
Microsoft’s added a new mode called Apps Corner, which makes it possible to give guests access to specific apps and keep them out of the rest of your device. Much like Kids Corner, the feature brings up a sandboxed Start screen with only the apps you want other people to see; you can, however, boot straight into one particular app. This will be most useful for developers who are showing their app to testers, investors and other interested parties; it could also come in handy for retail demos, among other things. There are a few other small improvements thrown into the new update, so check out Microsoft’s blog post for more information.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile
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It’s time to crowdfund the first step towards giant car-juggling robots
A robot that can juggle cars. And without any involvement from Michael Bay. That’s the dream. Well, maybe it’s just our dream, but a new Kickstarter project is trying to make it happen. It’s (giant robot-sized) baby-steps to start with with: the initial prototype, costing $50,000, will only be juggling weights up to a 235lb (107kg) cannonball. This early model will use the same controls and hydraulic components as the car-juggling final model, just scaled down. The robot’s interface is a wearable sleeve and glove, which will control the robot through user movement and provide haptic feedback, offering a “proportional force” when the robot catches heavy weights. If you want an idea of what Dan Granett’s BugJuggler will eventually look like, there’s a car-hurling render video right after the Kickstarter pitch — both are right after the break. And if you’re willing to stump up more than $5,000 you’ll even get the chance to through cannonball hoops with the early prototype.
Filed under: Robots
Via: Gizmodo
Source: BugJuggler (Kickstarter)
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Motorola Nexus 6 is Huge! Galaxy S4 Catches Fire! – ManDroid Quickie
It is Tuesday, so time to talk Android with you quick status. The Motorola Nexus 6 speculation has increased, but man is that phone going to be huge. Hopefully there will be a smaller version when they announce it. Another Galaxy S4 catches fire, but you can’t fully blame the phone for that. Enjoy the video!
Android News
Motorola Nexus 6
Amazon Kindle Fire HDX Snapdragon 805
Galaxy S4 catches fire
Instagram’s Bolt
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Illinois woman perishes after trying to save her smartphone from a burning Home
A lot has been made of our current generation and the fact that many of us cannot survive without a smartphone. You can see it anywhere you go, people who cannot put their phones down, perhaps in fear that they will miss something in their virtual life as real life passes by around them. While that doesn’t have consequences for us on a daily basis, one woman in Illinois has paid the ultimate price for that link to her phone after she tried to save her smartphone from a burning home.
Wendy Rybolt of Bartonville, Illinois, actually escaped with her daughter from her burning home initially, however, it was at this point that Wendy decided to re-enter the home to retrieve her phone. Police and firefighters who arrived on the scene tried to reach her in time, but it is believed the smoke overcame her. As a grim reminder to us all, Chief Brian Fengel of the Bartonville Police Department said:
“Material things can be replaced. You never want to go back in to retrieve anything. In this, there was heavy smoke. Carbon monoxide will get you, and you may not even know it.”
Source: CINewsNow.com via Phone Arena
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Making an indie game for Xbox One costs just over $5,000
So let’s say that you want to quit your day job and start making indie games. It’s a noble pursuit to to be sure, and with Microsoft’s Independent Developers @ Xbox program for Xbox One, it’s supposedly pretty easy. What Redmond doesn’t tell you, however, is just how much it’ll cost you. That’s where Jamie Fristrom, the developer behind Sixty Second Shooter Prime comes in. On his blog, Fristrom breaks how much everything from URL registration and maintenance ($19) to paying to have the game rated in foreign markets ($2,042) costs, with the total coming in at $5,143 — a stark contrast to something like Destiny‘s $140 million price-tag. He notes that even with Redmond giving away free development kits, Xbox isn’t the cheapest indie platform around but that the costs to publish there were “absolutely worth it.” What’s more, he says that if you choose to skip stuff like releasing in other territories, making a game for under $3,000 could be totally feasible. Good to know.
And even though he’s yet to see Prime‘s first sales report, Fristrom estimates that given the game’s leaderboard population he’s more than covered the cost of development and even made a living wage. How’s that two-week notice looking now?
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
Source: Happion Laboratories
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AIVAnet 