6 reasons why you should still buy a Nintendo Wii U

Although there have been recent rumours that suggest otherwise, Nintendo has firmly denied that it is halting manufacture of the Wii U console.

Even the most die-hard Nintendo fan will have to admit that it’s been an unmitigated flop in comparison to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. And the company can’t escape the fact that, by the end of the Wii U’s run, it is unlikely to have even sold as many units as it did its last reported “flop”, the GameCube.

However, production, says Nintendo, will continue throughout 2016 at least. And we are thrilled at the news.

Why? Because it is still one of our favourite consoles and exclusively sports some of our favourite games.

So, if you haven’t yet got yourself a Wii U, you might consider altering your stance and here are six reasons why.

You never know, enough support and it might rise like a phoenix from the flames…

Price

You can get a Premium version of the Wii U – one with 32GB of on-board storage – for less than £240 these days. And that invariably includes a game or two as part of the bundle, even Mario Kart 8 or Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Considering it was £300 at launch without a game (well, it did include Nintendo Land, but that barely counts), it now represents far better value. You can also get a Basic Wii U, with just 8GB of internal storage, for around £180 without a game or even cheaper if you shop around. And if you already own a Wii, all the accessories, including the Wii Remotes, and the games are compatible.

At that price, therefore, it is attractive to families, especially those who already invested considerably in the Wii.

READ: Nintendo Wii U review

Rivals

Admittedly, with price drops and retailer incentives, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are much closer in affordability to the Wii U. However, that is generally without a game and it is worth considering that with both, you also need to pony up an extra monthly amount online gaming through Xbox Live and PlayStation Plus.

Online Wii U games do not need a subscription.

In addition, the games that are available for both are more geared to an older, more hardcore player. There are fewer family oriented games, we feel.

Also, a lot of the brilliant original games are being rereleased under the Nintendo Selects badge, which means they cost just £20 a pop.

Nintendo

Mario Kart 8

It might be older than some Wii U titles, but Mario Kart 8 is still a family fave and one of the best multiplayer driving/party games out there.

And although we’ve seen some excellent triple-A homegrown games for the console from Nintendo over the last couple of years, including other older titles like Pikmin 3, Super Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Super Smash Bros and Hyrule Warriors, none have resonated across family groups quite as much as the return of the greatest kart racing franchise of all time.

READ: Mario Kart 8 review

The game is, quite simply, brilliant. In our review, we said that it is “a gorgeous looking, incredibly fun racing game that lives up to its 20-plus years of heritage. It is almost as great in simple single-player mode as it is when you’ve got mates around to share the fun”, and we stick by that today.

Backwards compatibility

While other console manufacturers might scream and shout about backwards compatibility with some former games, or charge a monthly fee to play them streamed over the internet, Nintendo has offered backwards compatibility on the Wii U from the beginning. You can play any older Wii title using Wii accessories without compromise.

In addition, the online Nintendo store, accessible through the Wii U, hosts many classic games from the manufacturer’s past. They include Mario games for NES, SNES and beyond, and many many more. More recently, N64 classics like Wave race 64 and 1080 Snowboarding have been added to the playable list of games you can buy and download.

Nintendo

The Legend of Zelda

We might still be waiting for the Wii U-specific Zelda game (with some rumours suggesting it might be switched to the forthcoming Nintendo NX instead) but there have been two fantastic remasters of older Zelda games that are well worth owning.

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD is a superb remake of the game originally available for GameCube and it is always surprising to us to find out how few people played the first release. With it now available on Wii U, that can be rectified.

Also, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD has more recently been released and it is an excellent remaster.

The two RPGs above show why Nintendo is held in such high regard for its role-players.

Super Mario Maker

The craze for creation games continued with gusto thanks to the release of Super Mario Maker, which gives Wii U owners the tools and incentive to build their own retro 2D Mario platform game levels.

It has been hugely successful since being released last year as part of Mario’s 30th anniversary celebrations, having sold a staggering 3.34 million copies by the end of 2015. Considering there are just over 12.5 million Wii U consoles in circulation, that means more than one in four Wii U owners have bought Super Mario Maker.

If Mario games are your bag, and have been since the beginning, this is an ideal opportunity to play thousands of fan created levels.

Yes, we have rose-tinted spectacles at times, but no other games console can offer that opportunity.

READ: Super Mario Maker review: Build it and they will come

Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens preview: Best Star Wars game ever?

There have been plenty of Lego games over the years, but we have fondest memories for the very first. The 11-year-old Lego Star Wars might have been based on the least popular collection of films but it kicked off a mighty franchise of platform puzzlers that always delight no matter the subject matter.

We’ve had Lego games based on the Harry Potter films, Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, Jurassic World, both major comic book universes, Indiana Jones and even Pirates of the Caribbean, but it is the return to where it all started that has us most excited.

Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens is, much like the movie on which it is based, a love letter to the series. It is crammed with references and rewards that transcend episode seven itself, and thanks to modern games systems, seems to be the Lego title TT Games has always wanted to make.

READ: Lego Marvel’s Avengers review: A Marvel-lous return to form

Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens: First hour of play

And that’s based on the fact we’ve played a good 45 minutes to an hour of the game already.

At a London preview event, we played three levels based on and around Jakku – basically the sections near the beginning of the film. We also got to hear what will make this Lego game stand out amongst its forebears, including the only recently released Lego Marvel’s Avengers. And it’s all great stuff for fans young and old.

Part of the reason is that the developer has pulled a few new game features out of the bag to make The Force Awakens feel a little different to the multiple other Lego games out there already. There are still the familiar gameplay tropes, with two or more characters on screen at once, brick collection, hidden secrets and the cunning blend of platform and puzzle action, but one Lego staple has been enhanced and a couple of new modes make the experience more rounded.

For starters, the game now features multi-builds. In usual Lego games, to solve and conquer certain puzzles, you need to destroy some of the surroundings and rebuild them into a set, useful item. In The Force Awakens, some of the flashing, dancing bricks can be built into different objects.

Warner

Sometimes this is purely aesthetic, giving a similar outcome but different, fandom-serving animation, while others need to be rebuilt in several different ways to solve different parts of the puzzle.

A new gameplay mode entirely involves flight. TT Games added flight sections to Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars but they were linear and fairly basic. This time flight levels are based mainly in large, open arenas, so you get the feel of a genuine Star Wars dogfight.

Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Combat

The last major change that Warner and TT Games are willing to talk about now concerns blaster battles. We didn’t actually get a chance to try one out in our gameplay session, but the idea is that they add an all-new aspect to combat. Rather than just rely on the button mashing as per usual, you can duck and cover, interact with the scenery and built turrets to take on waves of enemies. We look forward to seeing that in action as we head closer to the release date.

For now, we got to start our session in a section called “The Scavenger”. This is based on the part of the film when Rey first encounters BB-8. It not only shows a new side for a Lego game, with stunning backdrops both inside and outside a crashed Star Destroyer, but you get to play as the new droid, who is just as charming here as in the movie.

Warner

We especially like the fact that the main cast members reprised their roles to record some exclusive game audio, so Daisy Ridley provides plenty of additional dialogue not just lifted from the film. John Boyega also adds his voice to proceedings when he appears later.

Next for us was a section that kicked off with a hilarious skit about Kylo Ren and his adoration for Darth Vader. We won’t spoil it here, but it reminded us of the excellent “Emo Kylo Ren” spoof Twitter account (@KyloR3n).

Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Millenium Falcon gameplay

We then got to try the flight mechanics for the first time, by flying around the skies of Jakku in the Millennium Falcon (of course). Save for the obvious Lego references, it actually felt quite Star Wars Battlefront in control style. And as we had to dispatch 16 Tie-Fighters before we could progress, it was stylishly similar too.

Warner

The last section we played, on the Nima Outpost, had us control Rey, Finn and BB-8 through a mainly combat centric level. The First Order Stormtroopers were everywhere and needed to be blasted to kingdom come, but it was actually the smaller things in the backgrounds that we found ourselves admiring most – like troopers on sun loungers making the most of the sandy environment, or playing beach volleyball.

First Impressions

That just about sums up all the Lego games, not just this or the previous Star Wars titles. The humour is spot on.

It parodies the subject matter just enough without over-egging the point and from what we’ve seen so far, there is also enough lip-service to the franchise to keep fans happy.

You can tell that the development team are all fans themselves, with more than 200 playable and customisable characters included, and more than 40 vehicles and creatures from the films adapted for the game.

There are also 18 levels in total in the finished game, of which seven are made up of content that you have never seen before – such as how Han and Chewie acquired the Rathtars you see on their ship in the film.

Of course, there’s still plenty of time before the game is out – 28 June 2016 – so we hope to see much more of it before then, but on this showing it is shaping up to be one of the best Lego and Star Wars games to date.

World’s first live Minecraft concert will be limited entry, here’s how to get in

The alt-universe of Minecraft is massive with myriad worlds to explore and people from all walks of life, there’s even music. But now, in a claimed world first, there is a going to be a full on concert held in the Minecraft domain.

While Minecraft might be limited graphically by its blocky nature, there’s no reason music can’t be experienced in all its intricate glory. There have been gigs before that use Minecraft as the venue. This fact has not escaped the organisers of Norwegian tech festival, The Gathering.

From 20:00 (GMT) on Wednesday 23 March musicians from the UK and Norway will open the festival with a live gig. While the real world event happens it will also be taking place in the Minecraft universe. A team of gamers will recreate the band’s movements using their Minecraft avatars, live, so anyone can enjoy it from home.

When we say anyone we mean one of the first 3,000 people to get in. Since the servers running the event are limited, if you turn up as guest number 3,001, you won’t get in.

So armed with the knowledge of the event’s opener, ahead of time, you can get in there early so you’ll be ready to take part in a little bit history in the making.

If you don’t make the Minecraft cut, don’t fret too much, you can still enjoy the live event via the livestream online too. Check out the video below for a taste of what to expect at the Minecraft concert.

READ: Best tech Easter eggs: Hidden secrets of Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and more

LG G5 review: Modular misfire?

LG has its foot firmly on the gas. Its G5 flagship totally shake-ups the top-end phone market by introducing a module-based design so that additional accessory units can be added for new features and operation.

But while that’s a fun feature – one that makes the G5 among the most interesting phones we’ve seen for years, including Samsung’s edge series – perhaps LG should have taken that foot off the gas to avoid turning a design corner at such pace. Because the LG G5 is at risk of skidding off the road of reason.

Why? We simply can’t see modules being bought or used by, well, anyone really. Think about it: “oh, darn it, I forgot the battery/camera controls module that makes my phone three times the size.” Not going to happen. It’s added cost, it’s added bulk, it’s added hassle that undoes what a phone should be – a single item to slip into a pocket.

Additionally, somehow – and we’re kind of baffled how – the G5’s metal body looks and feels entirely plastic; the “cut” line towards the bottom as a result of the modular design looks odd; and the rear is probably the least attractive derrière we’ve seen on a flagship phone for ages.

But the G5 claws back points in other all-important areas: it has a ridiculously good camera, a decent Quad HD resolution display, oodles of power under that metal skin from a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, and quirks like a rear-positioned fingerprint scanner that doubles-up as an action button. So ignore the modules feature and there are plenty of stand-out positive features.

So should LG have hit the brakes on its modular design concept, or is that merely a distraction from all that the G5 gets right? Having spent a working week living with the G5 is it the flagship shake-up success we’ve been waiting for or not?

Pocket-lint

LG G5 review: Full metal jacket

We’ve long criticised LG for sticking to plastic designs while its competitors have gone all premium with metal and glass. Last year’s G4 had an optional leather back which went some way to offset that, but it wasn’t enough to convince the public. With the G5 it’s all change, featuring a full metal design – and it’s the only metal phone to feature a removable battery. That might sound like a winner but, like we say, the finish somehow looks and feels entirely plasticky.

But there are its design perks. The first is the display’s soft curve to the top of the handset, which tapers away vertically as if folding off the end of the phone; it’s ever so subtle but gives the G5 that little something extra.

The second is that the rear button control – which has come to define LG’s flagship handsets in recent years – now incorporates a fingerprint scanner. It’s a bit small and doesn’t work as well as the larger indent in a device like the Huawei Mate 8, leading to read failures more than on most modern flagships, but we like how it doubles as a click-to-press button control. LG watchers will also note that the volume controls are now more conventionally positioned on the side of the handset – not the rear, as per the G4.

The third is that LG hasn’t needed to include the normal reception bands of plastic that transect many competitor devices. The company says that it has achieved this by “micro-dizing”, leading to a seamless look in the main body section. So there aren’t the large plastic side stripes as per, say, an iPhone, but the G5 does have two subtle “openings” positioned symmetrically to its top side – around the 3.5mm jack and opposite – and we’ve found reception to be as good as any other top-end handset (which, given our use of Three network, is admittedly hit and miss).

Nonetheless, putting so much effort into hiding antenna bands is counteracted by the large horizontal “cut” line to the base of the unit required for the modular design. There’s a little movement between main body handset and this modular bottom section if you tug them, but the two parts will only come apart if the small button to the side of the handset is pressed. Although hard to convey in photographs, we’ve spotted an open gap between these joining sections increasingly throughout use.

LG G5 review: About those modules

Which brings us to the modular design concept’s advantage. It means the LG G5 can accommodate a battery swap as needed – a feature that no other metal-bodied handset can boast. That option is certainly welcome, as the 2,800mAh one inside isn’t the highest capacity going.

Throughout use we’ve found the G5 will just about scrape through a day on one charge – we’ve been managing around 13-hours from full charge before hitting the 15 per cent “danger zone” (which prompts battery saver mode activation) – but it begs the question, why not just put a more capacious battery in there in the first place? We suspect without the modular design there would be more room to squeeze in a larger battery capacity.

But it’s about more than just batteries, of course. What we’re calling modules, LG calls Friends. Cute, eh? At present there’s the LG Cam Plus camera controls/battery module; the LG Hi-Fi Plus with B&O Play, for a Hi-Fi DAC and amp for 32-bit high-res playback (sounds great, but the G5’s built-in headphone socket already supports 24-bit audio, as well as offering aptX HD); and the LG 360 VR, a virtual reality headset.

To be clear: we haven’t handled any of these so-called Friends modules for this review. So our thoughts about them are based on their concept rather than any physical experience. Reviewing a phone minus some of its core feature kit might seem backwards, but at the same time it’s allowed us, to a degree, to not be distracted by these modules and use the phone as exactly that: a phone.

Ultimately it’s these modules that are going to split the crowd. Will LG continue to support them beyond the G5? Will there be additional ones in coming months (the LG 360 Cam, a 360-degree camera with back-to-back wide-angle lenses, is due)? Will anyone buy them? It’s all an open book for now – and one that’ll raise a lot of ongoing discussion.

Pocket-lint

LG G5 review: Going hard on hardware

With the LG G4 the company made an interesting (and ultimately savvy) decision to not use the out-and-out most powerful chipset on the market. It was a blessing in disguise, as the selected Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 didn’t run as hot as the beefier Snapdragon 810 did in many other flagship handsets, such as the now-defunct Sony Z3+.

With the G5 LG has stepped things up a notch by selecting the Snapdragon 820 chipset, backed by 4GB of RAM. That loadout is just about as powerful as things get right now. It almost goes without saying that this translates to slick and fast operation, whatever you happen to be doing. And it doesn’t get fry-an-egg hot either; sure, there’s some heat with more intensive tasks, but it’s always manageable within this particular metal skin context.

Such a processor can hit hard on battery life when used to the maximum, though, and we’ve seen some sharp drops in battery life when running more intensive games and apps. The saving grace, perhaps, is that the G5 supports Qualcomm QuickCharge 3.0 – the company’s fastest recharging tech yet – via the USB-C port to the bottom.

And QuickCharge 3.0 is quick. Despite receiving third-party cables from Anker and a US rather than UK plug to go with our US-sourced handset, we still managed to boost the G5’s battery from 15 per cent to 68 per cent in a mere 25-minutes or so, as one example. The top-end of the battery charge is slower to recoup, but quick battery top-ups can go a long way with the G5.

There’s 32GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot available to expand this further if you wish. The latter is housed in the rather large tray on the side, which also handles the SIM card in a separate slot. It’s worth noting, however, that this microSD slot isn’t using Android Marshmallow’s adoptable storage feature, which can make said card like part of the hardware storage. So in the G5 it’s not seamlessly integrated and can only be used as a removable card. Not a major issue, but – and just like with the Samsung Galaxy S7 – a point to note nonetheless.

Pocket-lint

LG G5 review: Quad HD display

The phone market has changed quite a lot within a year, with phone sizes at the larger end of the scale being accepted as the norm (probably the result of the iPhone 6S’s acceptance en masse). So while the G4 was no small phone, and the G5 is ultimately similar in size – although slimmer, with its maximum 8mm thickness – despite downsizing the screen size from 5.5-inch to 5.3-inch. Again, that’s the product of the module-based design: the detachable section to the bottom of the handset ultimately eats-up what could have been additional screen real-estate.

But as 5.3-inch screens go there’s plenty of good in the G5’s IPS LCD display. It sticks to a Quad HD resolution, delivering 2560 x 1440 pixels (554ppi) over that surface. Because it’s not AMOLED it avoids screen burn, and as the handset has an always-on at-a-glance display – the clock, plus alert icons from apps pop-up on the screen without you needing to touch anything – it doesn’t need to cycle the position of anything on the display, which is altogether neater than the approach Samsung has to take with its Galaxy S7.

LG has told us that the display has been redesigned to accommodate this always-on feature, only drawing 0.8 per cent of the battery over an hour. We can’t specifically measure this, and while we’ve not found overall battery life to be all that great in the G5, the always-on screen doesn’t seem to have a significant standing on battery drain. Plus, as the feature operates without waking the application processor, the phone doesn’t fully awake for all notifications, so those precious Marshmallow Doze functions work their magic, saving battery while you still get to see basic details on the display. 

Overall, we’ve found the G5 display to be of high quality. Auto-brightness works well (and with up to 900-nits it’s super-bright), there’s ample punch from colour and contrast (albeit the cast is a little cool/blue sometimes), while the IPS designation ensures decent viewing angles. That subtle curve to the top shows off the screen’s gloss coat but doesn’t cause excess issues with reflections either, unlike the hyper-gloss finish of the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge.

Pocket-lint

LG G5 review: A ridiculously good camera

Flip the LG G5 around and, yes, it’s not very pretty. But the dual sensor camera on the rear doesn’t half take ridiculously good pictures.

We’ve seen dual sensors on the rear of a smartphones before now, including on LG handsets. So while the G5 isn’t the first to offer such a feature, LG isn’t going to be offering 3D capture again, instead paring a 16-megapixel main camera with an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera – you simply toggle between the “single tree” and “triple tree” icons within the app to pick which one best suits. It’s very cool.

The 16MP camera is the better of the two in a sense, as it’s supported by the laser autofocusing system that’s on board. Which sees the G5 have super-fast and super-accurate autofocus whatever you point it at, aided by a bright f/1.8 aperture for low-light shooting. We’ve shot in nightclubs, out on the street, in all manner of conditions and, without doubt, the G5’s camera is up there as the best performer we’ve yet seen in a flagship phone.

Switch to the 8MP wide-angle camera and things get very wide-angle. It’s all too easy to catch fingers in the frame, though, so you’ll have to keep an eye on those edges. There’s a fair amount of distortion from the 135-degree field of view too, but that’s to be expected. It means you can get loads in the shot, ideal for tight spots, panorama-like frames and landscapes. Plus the f/2.4 maximum aperture here still means there’s ample light getting to the sensor for decent shots.

The camera comes with three modes: simple, for basic point-and-shoot; auto, again for point-and-shoot but with a variety of modes available such as panorama, “popout” for processing-based enhanced blurred background, plus more options; and manual, for full control over all the shooting controls, from manual/autofocus, to shutter speed, ISO sensitivity, exposure lock, white balance and even raw/JPEG capture. Plenty of detail here to cater for all possible user levels.

The overall quality is really rather impressive too. We’ve been shooting frames hand-held in dim scenarios that some dedicated cameras would struggle with. Sure there’s some image noise – those mottled dots/colours – in the shadow areas, but it’s not especially bad, unless it’s very dark. In terms of actually getting the shot, though, the G5 is a true flagship. Better light yields even better results, in part thanks to that wide-open maximum aperture – which, with some specific focusing, can make for great blurred backgrounds in shots.

As cameras go in flagship handsets, LG’s dual offering is a storming performer with some great features that’s easily up there in among the mix for best of the bunch. It’s very impressive – to the point it’s almost made us forget about our not-so-hot view of the module-based design.

LG G5 review: Software

We’ve been using a US-sourced G5 ahead of final release software, so can only review the handset under those conditions, hence not yet awarding it a final score.

Even so, we’ve found the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and LG software re-work build to be stable. Glitch-wise it’s only been the inability to use LG Backup to transfer out from a previous phone and a random one-off alarm going off at 15:00 (still haven’t figured that out) that have been small points to note.

Pocket-lint

The G5 certainly doesn’t offer a pure, untouched Android experience, with the company making some fairly hefty changes. That ranges from the reworking of the settings, through to redesigning app icons. But the biggest change in this handset is removing the apps tray – something that’s common to manufacturers like Huawei, and we’ve always felt it makes things a lot more like the iPhone, with homepages full of app icons. Whether that’s you or not is, well, down to you – we don’t actually mind, but it divides team Pocket-lint.

Otherwise the G5 actually simplifies LG’s software approach, ditching a variety of features in older G-series phones such as Q Slide – those quick-launch overlays for multi-tasking – and dual-window support too. There are smart settings, though, with auto-responses to specific actions, such as Google Music opening when earphones are plugged in. Oh, and Knock Code – the ability to unlock the phone with a series of taps – is still present, but less useful, we suppose, considering the presence of the fingerprint scanner.

The overall G5 experience isn’t bogged down with pre-installed bloatware either, thus delivering a stripped-back approach that – ignoring the lack of app drawer – makes for a clean and approachable Android experience.

Verdict

The LG G5 is a flagship that’s going to split the crowd; it’s certainly had us bouncing from pillar and post. That module-based design is such a radical shake-up of the flagship market that we want to be excited, we really do, but we’re just not. Because we just can’t see that primary feature and the 360-camera/hi-fi/VR units ever getting explicitly used.

So, with modules axed from our brains for a moment, let’s hypothetically pretend they don’t exist. In that context the LG G5 has some really standout features: the dual-camera is something special, the Quad HD screen looks the part, and with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB RAM and QuickCharge 3.0 to boot, there’s all the power you could need. It’s good to see LG on board with the fingerprint scanner too, ensuring Android Pay is a reality.

But it’s still not a clean-cut result. The G5’s metal body looks and feels plastic despite being metal, and while all the “micro-dizing” and subtle screen curvature sells might sound the part, they don’t add-up for a phone that’s especially stunning; that fingerprint scanner also feels strangely small and isn’t as isn’t as foolproof as many current competitors (despite clever rear positioning); and the battery life is so-so given the 2,800mAh cell.

And so back to our opening gambit: LG has got its foot firmly on the gas, going full speed ahead for innovation and point of difference, but turning a design corner so steeply with the G5 is going to cause a collision of opinions, good and bad.

YouTube’s iPad app gets Split View and Slide Over features

Productivity and YouTube don’t always make a great pairing, but Google’s giving iPad owners a chance to make it work. The latest version of YouTube for iOS includes support for Slide Over and Split View — two of iOS 9’s tablet-specific features. The former lets you jump into other apps temporarily, while the latter — as the name suggests — lets you run two side by side. Of course, the benefit of these features is all in how you use them. If you’re planning on watching an Instructables video at the same time as making notes, productivity goes up. If, however, you’re really just watching FailArmy while trying to rush your homework, there’s no helping you.
The updates couldn’t come at a more opportune time, of course. You may have heard that Apple just announced a new 9.7-inch iPad, and the message was clear: the new Pro is about multitasking just like you’re used to on your laptop. Except, it’s not quite the same. You’ll still need for Slide Over and Split View to be enabled in both the apps you’re wanting to use. Oh, and if you thought iOS 9’s picture in picture mode made perfect sense here, that somehow isn’t enabled, at least not in this version.

Source: iTunes

‘Battleborn’ beta launches April 8th on PlayStation 4

If you haven’t noticed, episodic gaming is all the rage these days. The developers at Gearbox have taken notice and are structuring Battleborn’s story mode in such a fashion. A press release says that the game’s prologue and eight episodes work as a season that tell a collectively bigger narrative, while each episode will focus on a self-contained story about the game’s 25 characters.

The dialogue will change depending on who you’re playing both as and with in terms of those 25 characters, too. So, it sounds like there will be more of a reason to replay the episodes aside from getting new loot. More than that, Gearbox says it’s planning to release more characters and story episodes after initial release with a quintet of additional episodes for $5 each.

And that open beta launching first on PlayStation 4? It starts April 8th, with PC and Xbox One coming online five days later on the 13th. The test period includes two episodes from the campaign (playable in split-screen co-op for two players on a couch, and up to five total players online) and Gearbox says each will offer a sense of the game’s progression system for unlocking new characters, skins, gear and other bits.

Adversarial multiplayer will be on offer in the beta as well, featuring two distinct game modes: Incursion and Meltdown. The former has you working to destroy a pair of the enemy’s sentry drones while defending your own, while the latter tasks players with sending AI-controlled minions to throw themselves into an incinerator; the team with the most destroyed minions wins.

Sounds pretty cool, yeah? Maybe best of all, this isn’t tied to a pre-order of any sort and you don’t need a PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold subscription to play these; it truly is an open beta. That the game isn’t afraid to use color — unlike another multiplayer shooter — is pretty welcome, too.

Amazon organized a secret robot, AI and space conference

Amazon brought a number of AI, robotics and space exploration experts together for a secret conference this week, according to Bloomberg. It was called MARS, or Machine-Learning (Home) Automation, Robotics and Space Exploration conference. Apparently, Jeff Bezos himself attended this very exclusive, invitation-only event in Palm Springs. He mingled with guests from various robotics companies, automakers like Toyota, research institutes like ETH Zurich and educational institutions, including MIT.

The conference’s details remain a secret — Amazon hasn’t even confirmed it yet. But Bloomberg says the guests attended seminars, including one that talked about giving robots human values. iRobot co-founder Helen Greiner also tweeted that she went to the conference, saw “old roboticist friends” and met new ones.

Seeing old roboticist friends and meeting new cool machine intelligence and space people @ MARS conference sponsored by @amazon

— Helen Greiner (@helengreiner) March 21, 2016

Amazon focused on these particular fields, most likely because they’re all relevant to its interests. It has robots working in its warehouses, and it even held a robotics challenge last year to develop machines that can find items and fulfill orders. Its Amazon Echo speakers come with Alexa, its voice assistant that can read ebooks aloud, control the lights and give you election updates. Finally, Jeff Bezos is in personally invested in the future of space exploration as Blue Origin’s founder and backer.

What I’ve been doing with my time over the last couple of days, https://t.co/K48hxWHL8n. #amazon #mars

— Alasdair Allan (@aallan) March 23, 2016

Source: Bloomberg

Apple Continues Pro-Environment Message With Three Exclusive iOS Wallpapers

After spending a portion of its “Let Us Loop You In” media event on the topic of environmental protection, Apple today decided to reward fans who use its Renew program (and those who don’t) with a set of exclusive iOS wallpapers.

As discovered by 9to5Mac, the company is giving out a URL on physical cards in retail stores when users trade in old devices for something new, but anyone can visit the site and download the art for themselves regardless of whether or not they’ve taken advantage of Renew.

Each wallpaper was created by Anthony Burrill, a renowned graphic artist, and was “inspired by nature and people coming together to help the planet.” The three pieces of art are called “Nature in Balance,” “Nature in Harmony,” and “Nature in Us,” and come fitted for the screens of the iPad mini, iPad Air, iPad Pro, iPhone 5, iPhone 6/6s, and the iPhone 6/6s Plus.

Users can download the wallpapers on a desktop in a zip file that includes different size versions of each piece of art, but it’s easier to navigate to the company’s website and save the image directly from the iOS device you wish to use the wallpaper on. That way all that needs to be done is a simple long press to save the image, then visit Settings > Wallpaper > Choose a New Wallpaper, and select one of the new environmental images.

Tag: Apple environment
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Android Pay UK launch confirmed, but Barclays isn’t on the list

Google has broken its silence on Android Pay in the UK, taking to its blog to confirm that launch in the UK is coming in the next few months.

Google details that it is talking to banks and retailers to get everything into place, so it can bring the Apple Pay-rivalling service to the UK.

Naming banks that are supported, there’s a notable absence of Barclays. Like Apple Pay, it seems that Barclays isn’t throwing in its lot with Android either.

However, Google confirms that Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards will be supported, naming the following: Bank of Scotland, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, M&S Bank, MBNA and Nationwide Building Society. 

Android Pay will work through the existing and well-established contactless payment system that is already in place in the UK, so you’ll be able to pay for things pretty much as you do now with contactless payment cards you probably already have. 

Google names Boots, Costa Coffee, Waitrose, as well as Transport for London as notable examples.

Android Pay will also work within apps too, for example for JD Sports, Deliveroo and YPlan. That means you won’t have to tap in your details during the checkout process.

What’s missing right now is a concrete date that the service will go live. That’s understandable given the number of different pieces involved in the Android Pay puzzle. Google says it will be in “the next few months”, but by summer you should be able to use Android Pay in the UK, at least with a few banks.

READ: Android Pay: How does it work and where is it available?