Batman v Superman content added to mobile version of Injustice: Gods Among Us

Fans of the free-to-play mobile version of the superhero fighting game Injustice: Gods Among Us will be able to access new content based on the long-awaited movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The updates should be available in the Google Play Store version soon.

Publisher Warner Bros Interactive states:

Fans can play to unlock the Superman and Wonder Woman characters from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in a series of Challenge Modes. Fans who want to get their hands on these characters immediately can purchase Early Access Packs starting today, which also include character gear and Power Credits.

Also available today is the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Gold Booster Pack, which gives players the chance to receive the Batman character in the game. Additionally, players can buy the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Gear Locker containing character accessories inspired by the film, including Batman’s Cowl, Clark Kent’s Glasses and Wonder Woman’s Golden Lariat.

You can download Injustice: Gods Among Us now in the Google Play Store.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits digital on April 1

If you’ve been waiting for Star Wars: The Force Awakens to become available for you to purchase, you won’t have to wait too much longer. The digital copy will be available on April 1, with the DVD and Blu Ray versions becoming available on April 5. After shattering box office records with more than $926 million domestic and $2.05 billion worldwide, many have been anxiously awaiting the chance to purchase it to watch at home.

Select retailers will have special editions available as well. Those include:

• Target – The Target Star Wars: The Force Awakens Blu-ray Combo Pack comes with exclusive packaging and an added 20 minutes of bonus content, including never-before-seen interviews with Daisy Ridley and John Boyega and a deeper look at the movie’s costumes and weaponry
• Walmart – The Walmart Star Wars: The Force Awakens Blu-ray Combo Pack comes with exclusive BB-8 packaging and an exclusive Star Wars Galactic Connexions trading disc
• Best Buy – The Best Buy Star Wars: The Force Awakens Blu-ray Combo Pack features exclusive SteelBook Packaging

Will you be purchasing the digital and physical copies, or just one of them? Let us know in the comments!

• Pre-order at Amazon
• Pre-order at Target
• Pre-order at Best Buy
• Pre-order at Google Play

Source: Star Wars

Palmer Luckey on why there’s no Oculus Rift for Mac

Oculus founder Palmer Luckey had some harsh words for Apple products when he spoke to ShackNews at a recent Xbox event. When asked whether the company’s forthcoming Rift VR headset will ever be compatible with the MacOS, Luckey stated, “That is up to Apple. If they ever release a good computer, we will do it.”

Specifically, he is referring to Apple’s general reticence in utilizing high-end GPUs in its products, which instead rely on the Intel chipsets’ integrated GPU capabilities. “You can buy a $6,000 Mac Pro with the top of the line AMD FirePro D700, and it still doesn’t match our recommended specs,” Luckey continued. “So if they prioritize higher-end GPUs like they used to for a while back in the day, we’d love to support Mac. But right now, there’s just not a single machine out there that supports it.” In short, while the graphics on modern Macs are good enough for a majority of normal (and even power) user applications, these machines just aren’t built to be gaming rigs — even if they are priced equivalently.

Via: Business Insider

Source: Shacknews

Intel augmented reality headset to merge worlds, real and virtual

Intel is reportedly working on its own augmented reality headset that could be the biggest jump forward yet. The lines between the virtual and real worlds are about to blur.

According to sources of the Wall Street Journal, Intel is working on an AR headset that will set the trend for manufacturers. It plans to incorporate its 3D RealSense camera tech which should mean accurate detection of objects as well as hand gestures.

This could finally be the key to finding the Holy Grail of AR, where virtual objects can be manipulated physically as if they were really there. Yes, just like Iron Man does.

Intel’s plan is reportedly to offer the headset design tech to other manufacturers to build. Commenting on this, Intel’s VP, Achin Bhowmik, said: “We have to build the entire experience ourselves before we can convince the ecosystem”.

Intel bought Recon Instruments in 2015, which has specialised in head worn displays for years now. Another source claimed that Intel was also working with Microsoft which is working on its similar HoloLens AR headset.

Now we just need to hope Magic Leap gets involved and the future of gesture controls of virtual objects could be close – just like this video shows.

READ: What is Magic Leap and why might it kill all screens?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens will come to Blu-ray and more on this date

Disney has announced when Star Wars fans will finally be able to watch The Force Awakens from the comfort of their own homes.

During The Walt Disney Company’s annual shareholders meeting, Robert A. Iger, CEO, said the latest installment of the Star Wars space saga will be available to own 5 April as a Blu-ray Combo Pack or DVD. If you want the Digital HD version or would like to watch through Disney Movies Anywhere, you can get access to it earlier on 1 April. The 3D version will be available later this year.

The film shattered box office records, grossing over $926 million domestic and $2.05 billion worldwide. Disney has apparently decided to reward fans for their loyalty, as it will package the in-home release of The Force Awakens with bonus content, including a documentary, featurettes, table reads, never-before-seen deleted scenes, interviews, and behind-the-scenes pre-production stuff.

The Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD, for instance, include footage that show how filmmakers brought the newest BB-8 droid to the screen. Target, Walmart, and Best Buy will also offer a “uniquely packaged, collectible version” of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens Blu-ray Combo Pack. Target’s will include special packaging, plus bonus content like a deeper look at the film’s costumes.

Disney

Best Buy Exclusive Blu-ray Combo Pack

Walmart’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens Blu-ray Combo Pack comes with fancy BB-8 packaging, while the the Best Buy version features SteelBook Packaging. According to Blu-ray.com, the standard Blu-ray has a list price of $29.99, but Amazon is offering a pre-order deal of $19.99. You can also watch it through Amazon Instant Video, with the streaming price starting at $14.99.

Google Play Movies is also offering a streaming pre-order for $14.99, though that’s just in HD and not Blu-ray. The choice is yours. But to celebrate all the in-home entertainment releases of The Force Awakens, Disney has cut a fresh trailer, which you can devour below.

Stir now sells just the bases for its sit-stand desks

Every time we write about Stir’s kinetic standing desks, we always point out how damn expensive the things are. In a world where you can buy a manually-operated standing desk from Ikea for a couple of bucks, spending three grand on a smart one can seem excessive. Thankfully, Stir knows this and is now offering a way for folks to just buy the legs without spending big on the top. The Base L1 is, as you can guess, a height-adjustable desk base that’ll let you attach any topper of your choosing. Should you want to get in on the action, it’ll set you back between $1,000 and $1,500 depending on what you can haggle with your local dealer. Plus, obviously, the price of a base on top.

The company has already started fitting L1s in offices across America, including kitting out Live Nation’s HQ in California. Since the music promoter wanted an all-walnut finish, it offered up the legs and let contractors cut holes for the touch panel. It’s certainly not a new phenomenon, since companies such as UpDesk and Humanscale already offer standalone frames for custom tops. Then again, we can’t think of another desk that offers built-in fitness tracking and can learn your habits, too.

‘No Man’s Sky’ $150 edition comes with a model spaceship

Sure, No Man’s Sky finally has a price and release date, but can a game truly claim to have made it without its very own exorbitantly priced special edition? Presenting the No Man’s Sky “Explorer’s Edition,” a limited-run (10,000) version of the game sold exclusively by iam8bit. In it you’ll find a hand-painted cast metal space ship, an enamel pin, a “diorama display backdrop,” and a “mystery item” with a $10 value. Oh, and a PC game code for Steam or GOG. The price for all this goodness? $149.99. That’s pretty high, but iam8bit says the individual components are worth $210.

If toy space ships aren’t your thing, there’s a pretty wide selection of other merch, including a vinyl soundtrack ($35), an Atlas t-shirt ($23) and pin ($10), an art card set ($20), a poster ($25) and a collection of gilcée prints ($50-$65). iam8bit describes this collection as “the first wave” of merchandise, and it’ll ” introduce new products in a way that reacts to in-game dynamics and fan requests.” If none of this interests you at all, then you can just mark June 21st off in your calendar and begin the countdown.

Source: iam8bit

A few stiff drinks saved ‘No Man’s Sky’

I’m alone on a freezing planet blanketed in snow; pine trees the color of rusted metal hang heavy with white powder. It’s -163 degrees Celsius (-261 degrees Fahrenheit), but my suit keeps me warm. For now. The thermal meter in the bottom-left corner of the screen slowly ticks down, warning me to find shelter or make some with the grenade attachment I recently crafted onto my gun. It shoots orbs of energy that blast through stone like warm butter, sometimes revealing massive underground cave systems dotted with spiky red plants rich in minerals for me to mine.

Or, I could simply leave the planet. I could hop into my ship and blast off into the inky, star-studded universe. I could find a more hospitable planet occupied by strange, dinosaur-like creatures. I could find a more luxurious star system, a more dangerous galaxy, a more exciting adventure. The universe is mine.

Actually, it’s Sean Murray’s. He’s the mastermind behind No Man’s Sky, the creator of this digital universe packed with 18 quintillion planets, each one unique and begging to be explored. No Man’s Sky has captured the attention of the gaming world and beyond — in the past year alone, Murray has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, met privately with Elon Musk and accidentally ignited a conspiracy theory involving Kanye West. Three years after its announcement, thousands of people around the globe are impatiently waiting for the game to finally launch. And it will, on June 21st.

All of this — the media attention, the anticipation, the entire universe — started with four developers working out of a tiny English office in 2009, building a game called Joe Danger.

Life on the edge with Joe Danger

“Actually breaking away and doing your own thing was a stupid thing to do at the time,” Murray says, recalling the early days of Hello Games. Murray, Grant Duncan, Ryan Doyle and David Ream all ditched stable gigs at established studios like Criterion Games and Electronic Arts to go independent in 2009, which was a huge risk at the time. A stupid one, even.

“There was no PSN or XBLA, or they’d just started,” Murray says. “I think like Warhawk had been announced or something like that. People didn’t really understand what that was, that digital, downloaded game kind of stuff…. And there were indie studios, but there were hardly any indie games on Steam.”

Murray worries that this story makes him sound ridiculously old, but this was all only seven years ago. Since then, independent games have become an ingrained, exciting part of the gaming ecosystem and it isn’t odd to hear about AAA developers starting their own studios.

“We were doing it before it was cool,” Murray says. “We were the original hipster indie developers.”

Hello Games’ first project was Joe Danger, a cartoonish, 3D sidescroller about a lovable dirt bike daredevil. For months, Hello Games happily worked on Joe Danger and tried to secure a publisher. Emphasis on tried.

“Everyone turned us down,” Murray says. “Sony turned us down, and Microsoft and so many places.”

Murray attempted to find a publisher for nine months, until the studio ran out of money.

“We actually decided to quit,” Murray says. Resigned to giving up their independent dreams, the Hello Games team went out for drinks. It was the end of an era and a strange kind of celebration – indie development was hard work and after nearly a year in that world, they were done with it. Now, they would get “normal” jobs and move on with their lives.

And then Murray, Duncan, Doyle and Ream got drunk.

“We came up with this stupid idea,” Murray says. “I had a house, and so I sold my house to pay for the rest of development.”

Even once he sobered up, Murray didn’t mind selling his home in the name of remaining independent. “The way I looked at it was like, I had bought that house because I had worked at EA, so it was like blood money. Like a blood diamond. You gotta sell that, that’s bad karma.”

Nine months and loads of debt later, Joe Danger came out – and it sold extremely well. Hello Games released a sequel, Joe Danger 2: The Movie, in 2012, and the studio built up its relationship with major distributors like Sony, Microsoft and Apple. And then in 2013, seemingly out of nowhere, No Man’s Sky appeared.

It was vastly different than Joe Danger, a stylish science-fiction exploration game that promised to be as big as the universe itself. Its planets were each unique and filled with fantastical landscapes — tall red grasses, roaming stegosaurus-type creatures, vicious horned goats and towering purple cactuses.

When Hello Games revealed No Man’s Sky during the 2013 VGX show, it was hard to believe this massive, gorgeous project had spawned from the same team that created a series as lighthearted as Joe Danger. But for Murray, No Man’s Sky had always been the goal.

Australian galaxies

Murray started programming when he was 5. His formative years were filled with sci-fi novels and video games set in space; he devoured the renowned 1984 title Elite. And as a child, he had plenty of time to absorb these interstellar fantasies.

“When I was a kid, my parents traveled around a lot,” Murray says. “I was born in Ireland and I lived in Australia for a good while when I was young. My parents were really eccentric and we lived in the outback for a while on this like million-and-a-quarter acre ranch that we were managing. It was totally cut off from the rest of the world.”

Murray didn’t create No Man’s Sky when he was a kid, but he fantasized about a game like it. One day, he thought, someone would build a game as big as the universe itself. It would be mind-blowing.

“You’re playing Elite and you’re looking up at this incredible sky that you get in Australia at night, and you’re thinking surely these two are going to merge, and I’m going to be able to visit these planets in Elite,” Murray says. “I’m going to be able to land on them. And that seemed really simple to me at the time. I thought that would happen in the next couple of years.”

It did happen, eventually, but only because Murray decided to make it.

The real game

Murray is definitely on to something here. Fifteen minutes into my hands-on demo of No Man’s Sky, I click the center pad of the DualShock 4 controller and the game quietly shifts. The screen zooms out from my tiny spaceship to shows a Galactic Map of the surrounding star system, planets glowing among neon clouds of interstellar dust. A thin line marks a path toward the center of the universe, the place that every player will try to reach. The place that very few people, if anyone, will ever actually find.

That’s all perfectly fine. I scroll through the stars, at first following that thin line before abandoning it to soar freely across new solar systems, breaking through the clouds of purple, blue, green and pink galaxies light-years away from my ship, one right after the other on an infinite journey. I focus my view on a nearby sun and the game’s music crescendos into a rich, deep ringing sound that vibrates beautifully through my chest. This is it. This is the real game, right here: Flying through a digital universe as vast as our own and letting its inconceivable beauty consume you. That’s the heart of No Man’s Sky.

‘No Man’s Sky’ finally takes off on June 21st for $60

No Man’s Sky, the stylish space-exploration game that’s roughly as big as the actual universe, will reach PlayStation 4 and PC on June 21st (June 24th in the UK), and pre-orders are live today. It even gets a physical Blu-ray edition on PS4. No Man’s Sky is an independent title built by a team of 10 or so developers at Hello Games — but it’s absolutely massive, innovative and highly anticipated, which are a few reasons it’ll cost a full $60 (£40 on PC and £50 on PS4). There’s also a $150 “Explorer’s Edition” courtesy of iam8bit, along with a slew of other game-related goodies.

$60 is the standard price of a blockbuster game like Call of Duty or Star Wars: Battlefront, and No Man’s Sky promises at least as much replay value as those titles. It has 18 quintillion unique planets to explore, after all. Plus, No Man’s Sky has a better name than most AAA games, according to creator Sean Murray.

“The thing I was really going for was something that felt like it could be the name of a book or an album or a band, or something like that,” Murray tells Engadget. “Because games — games are all just called the same thing.”

For example, there’s currently an influx of games named things like Battleborn, Bloodborne, Battlefront, Battlefield and Battlecry, Murray says.

“They all blend into one, and there’s almost a formula and you can just generate them,” he continues. “I find all of them a little bit embarrassing to say out loud…. And I don’t feel that way about games. I’m super proud of them.”

Early in development, Murray had to fight to call this game No Man’s Sky. The Hello Games team has a system for choosing names: Write ideas on a whiteboard and cross out the ones no one likes until there’s a clear favorite. No Man’s Sky was almost called Voyager, White Space or Horizon, to name a few rejected options. Even Sony warned against naming it No Man’s Sky, largely because of Twitter. The name wouldn’t go over well in hashtags, the company argued.

“We were told by so many people, by people at Sony and stuff, ‘Do not call it No Man’s Sky,’” Murray says. “Do not have anything with an apostrophe in it because, they were like, that will kill Twitter.”

Murray glances over at the Sony PR person sitting just across the room. He drops his voice to a faux-whisper. “We trended on Twitter for three days straight. Take that.”

Device lets doctors see inside arteries to treat blockage

One of the best treatments for patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) is an atherectomy, where doctors use a cathetar to gouge out plaque inside blood vessels. The problem is that so far, doctors have only had X-rays and their own sense of touch to guide the delicate tools, and a wrong move can damage a blood vessel. However, the FDA has just approved a new type of atherectomy device from a company called Avinger that will help surgeons to literally see inside blood vessels. The “Pantheris” has a built-in camera that lets doctors image arteries in real-time, then use the device to shave away plaque with more precision than ever before.

The tool uses “optical coherence tomography” to image the structure of blood vessels and any plaque inside. “For the first time, we are able to see exactly where we are removing the plaque, and are better able to leave the healthy artery alone,” says Dr. Thomas Davis from St. John Hospital in Michigan. He added that the device should also reduce physician and patient X-ray exposure. For those who suffer from blocked arteries, treatment with the device should ease the cramping, discoloration and numbness of PAD while reducing possible side effects. Also, who doesn’t want to have a video of their arteries being unclogged for their grandchildren? Judging by the video below, ew, not me, actually.

Via: MedGadget

Source: Avinger