The best PlayStation VR games at E3 2016: Farpoint, Resident Evil 7, Star Trek, Battlezone and more

PlayStation VR is almost upon us, with its release date set for 13 October, priced £349. And at this year’s E3 gaming expo Sony has been pushing the product hard, with a variety of games that have blown our minds.

There’s even a new gun-shaped controller, called the PS Aim Controller, which will coincide with the release of Farpoint, a first-person shooter-slash-exploration game designed to make the most out of the peripheral.

READ: E3 2016: All the launches, games and consoles at the show

PS VR doesn’t rest on Sony’s development shoulders though, with lots of third-party support titles emerging from Capcom, Ubisoft, Rebellion and beyond. Scare yourself silly in Resident Evil 7, play Captain (Kirk) in Star Trek Bridge Crew, or float around and shoot the tanks to pieces in Battlezone.

That’s the exciting thing about virtual reality: it can be applied to so many genres and styles of games with different effect. And given that all you really need to get going with PS VR is a PlayStation 4 console (and camera), it’ll be the most accessible high-quality VR setup available – it’s a lot more affordable than HTC Vive or Oculus Rift.

It feels as though we’re on the cusp of a VR revolution, and having scoured the halls at the E3 gaming expo and played as many demos as possible, these are our favourite PS VR titles from the show floor, with running commentary about what we made of each experience.

VIEW: The best PS VR games of E3 2016 gallery

Best E3 2016 gaming headsets: Astro A50, Turtle Beach Stealth 350VR, LucidSound LS40, and more

For hardcore gamers, headsets are a big thing.

They often want surround sound, tuned drivers, different EQ modes, software so that they can customise their listening profiles, crisp microphones that can be muted, and a design that either matches their consoles or simply makes them look stylish while out and about. Luckily for them, there are a thousand different brands of gaming headphones on display at E3 2016, and Pocket-lint looked at the best ones available.

Astro

A50 (Astro website)

Pocket-lint

Astro has updated its A50 gaming headset. Aesthetically, the latest version looks very similar to the last. The main difference between the two is that the A50 comes with mod kits ($50 each), allowing you to switch out core pieces of the headset. Astro said it also took everything it learned from last year’s A40 TR launch and applied it to the new A50, meaning both now share the same digital platform.

The A50 works with Astro’s Command Center software, so you can adjust inputs, outputs, noise gate, side tone, microphone levels, chat audio, Aux channels, custom EQ profiles, and more. The headset comes with three preloaded EQ settings to boot. Also, not only does the A50 have a fully customisable audio experience, but it has a new wireless charging base. It acts as both a display stand and charging dock for the headset.

Pocket-lint

The dock has spots carved into that allow the headset to stand up, and in those divots you’ll see a set of power contacts. You can plug this base station into a PC, Xbox One, or PS4 – depending on which version of the A50 you own (the Xbox One edition has green aluminium accents, while the PS4 has blue). The headset connects wirelessly to the base over a 5GHz frequency, and Astro has promised a battery life of 15 hours.

Astro said its A50 wireless gaming headset will release later this summer for $300 apiece. Check out the gallery above to see more pics.

Turtle Beach

The Turtle Beach booth at E3 2016 featured a number of products, including the new Elite Pro line for eSports (starts at $199.95) and all-new Stealth 350VR headset ($79.95).

Elite Pro (Turtle Beach website)

Pocket-lint

The Elite Pro is the first gaming headset designed for eSports athletes. It has 50mm Nanoclear speakers, a Pro Gaming microphone with TruSpeak technology, Turtle Beach’s ComforTec Fit System (an “adjustment system for truly personalised comfort”), AeroFit Ear Cushions, and ProSpecs Glasses Relief System for gamers who wear glasses. The unique thing about this headset is its size adjustment system.

With this system, tournament goers can choose the proper size as well as desired tension for around their ears and head, and the grooves can be adjusted into the cushions to provide a more comfortable experience to anyone who wears glasses. Turtle Beach’s Elite Pro sells for $199.95 USD and is compatible with the Xbox One, Playstation 4, PC, and phones.

Stealth 350VR (Turtle Beach website)

Pocket-lint

Turtle Beach also came to E3 2016 with the 350VR. It’s an amplified gaming headset designed to give extra clearance for VR cables and headbands. It packs a 30+ hour rechargeable battery, variable bass boost, and two 50mm Neodymium speakers. There’s also a removable noise-canceling mic with a “Mic Monitoring” feature that allows you to hear your own voice. The headset’s audio cables are detachable too.

The Stealth 350VR will land this autumn with a $79.95 price tag.

LucidSound

LucidSound, which is comprised of a bunch of veterans and experts formerly from Mad Catz, is trying to break into the saturated market of gaming headsets with an interesting angle: gaming headsets don’t need to look like they’re aimed at 14 year olds. LucidSound said it wanted to introduce headsets that not only impress gamers, but also allow gamers to go and about with their headsets doubling as stylish headphones.

That means you won’t see any tacky green or blue accents or something that looks like it could be out of a Tron movie. The company showed us three headsets (the LS20, LS30, and LS40). While the LS30 is its signature wireless model reminiscent of Sennheiser or Audio-Technica headphones, we were really impressed with the two newest headsets, the LS20 and LS40.

LS20 (LucidSound website)

Pocket-lint

The LS20 retails for under $100, and LucidSound emphasised that it’s hard to find a quality gaming headset at that price point. This model, which is the smallest of the three, has on-ear cups and focuses on console and mobile gaming. Although it doesn’t have discrete chat volume and wireless functionality, gamers will love the detachable boom mic and volume controls located on the outer ring of the right ear cup.

The headset also works in a powered-down mode and provides 20 hours of sound. We liked all these features, but the design is what really caught our eye. It didn’t have unnecessary buttons all over the ear cups, and it sported a very soft pleather-like material in the colours white and gold. It looked and felt fancy. It was also incredibly light and comfortable, so gamers and audiophiles alike won’t get headaches wearing the 20s.

LS40 (LucidSound website)

Pocket-lint

The LS40 is the highest-end model of the three. It costs $200 and looks just like the LS30 in terms of size. In terms of colour scemes, it comes in white and gold just like the LS20 but also offers a brown and black design. The LS40 comes with DTS 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound in addition to stereo. It’s wireless and offers a detachable mic, too, so you take phone calls and utilise commands through Siri or Google Now.

Both the LS20 and LS40 are due in September. They work with PCs, PS4, Xbox One, and smartphones. 

Want to design games for a living? Nab the Mega Game Course Bundle (over 90 per cent off)

Whether you grew up daydreaming of disappearing into your own video game world, or you’re looking for a new frontier for creative expression, you can master the popular and ever-evolving world of gaming with The Mega Game Design Bundle.

This premium learning resource is now over 90 per cent off from Pocket-lint Deals.

This bundle of online courses aims to set you up with a strong foundation of game design with over 128 hours of content, guiding you from the building-block basics to high-level game design. You’ll dive into artwork and graphics, character animation, modeling and GUI, as well as choose from a wide variety of themes with which to quickly craft games: cartoons, space shooters, and more.

Learn how to animate characters and model 2D and 3D images as you come to master the basics of 3ds Max, and utilize it to create real-life projects. You’ll make custom 2D game art in Inkscape, and get familiar with the Unity 3D game engine, even if you have no prior coding experience.

Here are the courses included in your bundle:

• Game Design Assets from GameArt2D
• Professional Video Game Art School Course
• Assets from Simirk Graphics
• Create Original Vector Game Art for Free with Inkscape
• Game Programming with Unity
• 2D Video Game Character Animation for Beginners
• Designing Gamification
• Learn the “Hand-Painted” Texturing Style for Video Games
• Learn to Model and Texture 3D Assets for Mobile Games

Start designing the games you’ve been dreaming of playing, and make your mark in the industry with the Mega Game Design Bundle, now £33.86 ($49) from Pocket-lint Deals.

DrinkMate: The smallest breathalyzer in the world

Why take chances with your health and safety? Whether at a social gathering, sporting event or simply out and about, if you’re enjoying adult beverages the DrinkMate Breathalyzer is your best solution in monitoring your Blood Alcohol Content (BAC).

Plugging directly into your smartphone, DrinkMate determines your BAC with a custom-made, semiconductor-based sensor to keep you informed and safe every time. Pick up your own, and enjoy peace of mind for just £22.44 ($31.99) for the iOS version, or £21.08 ($29.99) for the Android version.

Designed from scratch, the DrinkMate device is small enough to fit easily in your pocket or bag, and doesn’t require batteries. Just plug it into your iPhone or Android, and once the companion app auto-launches, you’ll blow into the end to see your BAC displayed immediately on-screen. The mouthpiece is compact and hygienic, keeping your DrinkMate protected and free of germs.

Your results will display at an accuracy of +/- 0.01 per cent BAC, at a BAC of 0.02per cent. It maxes out 0.20 per cent BAC, eliminating any doubt as to when you should pass on the next round. You can even connect with friends to share your readings, keeping your circles responsible and your social adventures safe. You’ll enjoy the peace of mind of knowing you and your friends are having fun responsibly, without risk and severe costs of DUIs, or the numerous pitfalls of excessive drinking.

Stay responsible while having fun with DrinkMate, and take it with you on any adventure with compact ease. You can pick up one of your own for 20 per cent off from Pocket-lint Deals (view the dropdown to swap between the iOS and Android versions).

New algorithm aims to predict ISIS attacks

A physicist from the University of Miami has created an algorithm that can scan the Islamic State’s social media posts and may eventually be used to predict the group’s next terrorist attack. In the journal Science today, Dr. Neil Johnson and his team described their method of searching through roughly a year’s worth of posts on the Russia-based social network Vkontakte, looking for pro-ISIS statements in multiple languages. The resulting data allowed Johnson and team to build out “a statistical model aimed at identifying behavioral patterns among online supporters of ISIS.”

Rather than trying to sift through the flood of social media, looking for nuggets of information about a potential attack, Dr. Johnson’s model actually looks at how small, self-organized groups pop up online in advance of real-world campaigns. As the New York Times explains, these groups “reflect groundswells of new activity and, if followed, can potentially point to where that activity is going.” The model won’t predict incidents like San Bernardino or Orlando, where one or two individuals acted alone, but it could be used to stop these groundswells before they gain enough steam to become a full-scale terror attack.

Dr. Johnson’s study observed about 100,000 members of 200 different small groups on Vkontakte, where Islamic State supporters were sharing everything from declarations of extremism to drone attack survival tips. According to the findings, individually radicalized people are never a “lone wolf” for long and tend to seek out and join online groups within weeks. Although these small groups are constantly shifting as they are shut down or blocked by social networks, they tend to merge with larger groups to expand their range of influence.

On the other hand, terrorism and communications experts questioned the utility of Dr. Johnson’s model. After retroactively analyzing the data leading up to terror attacks in 2014 and 2015, the only attack that it would have accurately predicted was the unexpected siege of Kobanî, Syria in 2014. That attack was a large-scale, military-style operation, so according to terrorism expert J. M. Berger, “it makes sense” that extremist groups would use social media to gain support and disseminate propaganda prior to an attack. So, even though it may not have prevented an attack carried out by a small, secretive group like the one in Paris, the model could still be useful for predicting the incidents where ISIS operates more like an established military than a terrorist sect.

Keep your sheet music organized with Gvido E Ink reader

Sheet music can be difficult to corral if you don’t have some sort of system. Take it from a high school saxophone player with a chronic case of disorganization. That’s where the gorgeous E Ink device known as the Gvido comes in.

Created by Japanese firm Terrada Music, the elegant and slim (650 grams, about half of what your MacBook Air weighs) Gvido is comprised of two 13.3-inch E Ink displays with 8GB of internal memory and a microSD card slot.

You don’t have to make a big production out of turning pages like you do with sheet music, instead utilizing a touch panel on the device to do so with ease. It’s also compatible with Wacom pens in case you want to do any special notation on the music you’ve got in front of you.

The Gvido’s price doesn’t seem to have been announced yet, but it’s an interesting innovation for musicians and those looking for an alternative to paper. You can see it in action in the promotional video below.

Via: The Verge

TestFlight Updated With Support for Testing Apps in iOS 10, watchOS and tvOS Betas

Apple today announced the debut of a selection of new features and resources available to developers to help them test, optimize, and analyze their iOS, watchOS, and tvOS apps.

Apple’s TestFlight beta testing platform has been updated with support for iOS 10, watchOS 3 and tvOS 10, so developers can begin testing apps incorporating new features like SiriKit immediately and providing betas to beta testers.

The update, originally released on June 13, adds features like a 3D Touch Quick Action to all apps so beta testers can get feedback on new features quickly.

Apple has also updated its App Analytics feature with data on App Store Impressions, allowing developers to tell how many times an app’s icon has been viewed in App Store search results, the Featured section of the App Store, the Top Charts, and the App Store product page.

Today’s developer news also highlights a new support page outlining how to optimize for App Store search, with tips like choosing accurate keywords, using a simple and memorable app name, correctly using App Store categories, and more.

iOS 10, watchOS 3, tvOS 10, and macOS Sierra will be released to the public in the fall following an extended beta testing period.

Tag: App Store
Discuss this article in our forums