How to use a Google Play gift card

Google Play is not only the largest app store in the world but also a music subscription service, a bookstore, and a video store. Google Play gift cards make an excellent gift (hence the name), but that’s not the limit of their use. Since Google restricts underage user accounts from Google Wallet, Google Play gift cards might be the only way for your munchkins to purchase content. Here’s where to find them and how to use them.

Google Play gift cards are available in brick and mortar stores in a plethora of countries. Here in the United States, they are available at Target, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, GameStop, and a host of others you can find right here. Google Play gift cards start at $10 and are available in amounts up to $100.

How to use a Google Play gift card

Once you have a gift card, you have to get that code hiding under the silver foil into your account. Here’s how:

Open Google Play on your phone or computer.
Tap or click the three-line menu button in the top left corner of the screen.

Tap Redeem.

Input the 16-digit code found under the SCRATCH TO REVEAL CODE strip on the back of your gift card.
Tap Redeem.

Tap Confirm .

Once you accept that this is indeed the intended account, the card’s amount is added to your balance as Google Play credit. As a small reminder, Google Play gift cards cannot be used towards physical items like devices and accessories in the Google Store; they are only available for digital purchases of digital goods in the Google Play Store.

While we wish that you could send Google Play gift cards through an email, which Google Play removed recently and which other major online stores like iTunes and Amazon have allowed practically since their inception, anything that lets us avoid directly putting our credit card into our kids’ IAP-riddled accounts is welcomed.

Questions?

Let us know in the comments below.

Everything we know so far about Skyrim VR

What do I need to know about Skyrim VR?

A surprise trailer for Skyrim VR was shown during the Sony presentation at E3 2017. Arriving on the heels of the Fallout 4 VR trailer, many fans were left with a bunch of questions regarding Bethesda’s move to take their beloved fantasy RPG into VR. To help spread the word, here’s everything we know so far.

Read more at VR Heads!

How many Pixels has Google actually sold since its debut?

The sales number remain a mystery to all of us, though there are a few theories floating around.

With all the fervent rumormongering regarding the next batch of Pixel smartphones, it seems an appropriate time to take a look at several of the theories making the rounds about how many millions of Pixel and Pixel XL units Google has actually sold.

The phone launched eight months ago and has remained a strong seller at Verizon, where it was marketed as an exclusive (it’s not; it’s also sold unlocked in the Google Store). Regardless, that was certainly a winning strategy, as 7.5% of all phone activations on Verizon late last year was for a Pixel or Pixel XL. (Sadly, thanks in part to a disjointed marketing strategy, other carriers only ranked in at 2%.)

So, we know the phone is selling relatively well with the help of the carrier that was heavily marketing it as an exclusive. But how well did it sell for Google? According to Ars Technica, it just barely hit a million units:

Unlike just about every hardware manufacturer on Earth, Google doesn’t share official sales numbers for the Pixel phones, choosing to bundle the income under Alphabet’s “Other Revenues” during earnings reports. We do have one very solid signal for Pixel sales, though: the Play Store, which shows install numbers for apps. If there was an app that was exclusive and install-by-default on the Pixel phones, like say, the Pixel Launcher, the install number would basically be the number of sold activated phones.

This calculation is complicated by the fact that Google Play doesn’t show exact install numbers; it shows installs in “tiers” like “100,000-500,000.” So most of the time, we won’t have an exact Pixel sales number—except when the Pixel Launcher crosses from one download tier to another. So guess what just happened? The Pixel Launcher just crossed into the “1,000,000-5,000,000” install tier (you can see some third-party tracking sites, like AppBrain, still have it listed at 500,000). So for this one moment in history, eight months after launch, we can say Google finally sold a million Pixel phones.

Since there aren’t any official sales numbers offered by Google (or Alphabet, as it were), the guesstimate is based on the number of downloads of the Pixel Launcher in the Play Store. The result paints a rather grim picture, however, which didn’t seem to be the case when we initially pored over Verizon’s Q3 2016 finance reports:

Let’s look at Verizon’s Q3 2016 earnings report, where we can see it activates roughly 8 million phones per quarter. If you assume Verizon activates a similar number in Q4, that’d average out to 600,000 Pixels activated at Verizon in the first three months…

Last year, the company had a record of activating roughly 8 million phones a quarter. If we assume Verizon maintained a consistent number of Pixels activated per quarter — 7.5% of 8 million, which makes it about 600,000 units — then that puts the number at close to two million units since the initial debut. The result then gives less credence to the idea that only a measly million units were sold.

Overall, we don’t know how Google actually calculates its hardware sales numbers, but we certainly can’t make the inference based on how many times an app was downloaded or installed. There are many factors that play into that particular number, anyway, not to mention that side-loading is a heavy practice in the Android world, which can mess with those results.

What we do know is that Google still has a long journey ahead of it before its branded smartphones sell as well as Apple’s iPhones. There are sure plenty of Android users in the world, but only a small fraction of them are on the Pixel or Pixel XL.

Google Pixel + Pixel XL

• Google Pixel and Pixel XL review
• Google Pixel XL review: A U.S. perspective
• Google Pixel FAQ: Should you upgrade?
• Pixel + Pixel XL specs
• Understanding Android 7.1 Nougat
• Join the discussion in the forums!

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Google’s new Local Guides points system makes leaving reviews worth your time

Whether you’re a traveler or a homebody, the Google-led app rewards handsomely for leaving recommendations.

Google Local Guides were introduced in 2014 to help foster a giant community of local reviewers who just know where all the best stuff is. When you sign up to be a Local Guide, every contribution helps you rack up points towards unlocking other elements of the service inside Google Maps. Over the next few days, Google will introduce a new points system to Local Guides to help unlock other types of goodies and hopefully encourage the proliferation of more reviews.

Certain kinds of contributions that have a higher impact for Google Maps users—like being the first to add a place to the map or leaving a review—earn you more points. In addition, Local Guides now earn points for rating places and checking facts from other community members. All points earned are shown immediately after each contribution, and are visible in the “contribute” tab.

Google has also added five new levels to Local Guides, in addition to adding badges for those who are heavy contributors.

We’ve added five new levels to Local Guides, bringing the total number from 5 to 10. For levels 4-10, we’ve designed unique badges, giving guides at higher levels a new way to be recognized for their contributions, and helping users quickly identify the Local Guides who contribute the most. These badges will appear next to each Local Guides’ profile picture in Google Maps.

If you’re a Level 2 Local Guide, you can enjoy early access to the new features. In select countries, Level 4-10 Local Guides can redeem a three-month Google Play Music subscription and 75% off digital rentals in the Play Movie store.

Far Cry 5 gameplay preview: Politically charged and unflinchingly brutal

Far Cry is back with a bang. The fifth game in the main series is a politically charged and unflinchingly brutal first-person game, set in fictional present-day Montana.

And it’s rather brilliant.

That’s perhaps no surprise, as when Far Cry is at its best, it’s one of those unstoppable games. The sheer unpredictable evil of lead villain Pagan Min in Far Cry 4 will live on in our minds for years to come. And with only Far Cry: Primal to sate appetites in 2016, it felt as though that raw, evil core always at the heart of Far Cry’s bad-guys had been somewhat washed away.

In Far Cry 5 it’s a return to form: the setting alone, “Hope County”, has political resonance in modern day America. It’s been overrun by a cult, The Project at Eden’s Gate, led by the so-called Father, who is hell-bent on using his political facade to rule.

You play Joseph Seed, one of the resistance, whose job it is to liberate the local community from the cult; a group that will stop at nothing, it seems, to pursue power. The forced baptisms (slash drownings) and litany of bodies are clear evidence of that.

• Best Xbox One games to look forward to in 2017 & 2018
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Our game begins with the goal of overthrowing a town. Before diving into first-person combat – patriotic stars ‘n’ stripes baseball bat in hand – we get to select from one of three support characters: Nick, a pilot who can rain down a hail of bullets; Grance, a sniper who can be positioned for long-stance head-shots; and Boomer, a dog, who can wander the town undetected, tag enemies on the fly and be used as an attack dog too. We choose Nick, having watched the previous two players use the other two characters.

Ubisoft

From the off, Far Cry 5 goes to show how play style affects the game. Stealth is a real important factor in the game. Although, try as we might to crack skulls and stay out of sight, it’s not long before we’re seen and all hell breaks loose. Then it’s a change of tactics: run, shoot like mad, lob dynamite and cross fingers that you’ll be able to hide out of sight successfully until things settle. Backup rolls into town in cars, so we aim our sights onto an explosive gas tanker and get Nick to fly in and watch the fiery results with glee.

Far Cry 5 is one of those games that is wide open to play styles. Mastering its stealth, but being quick enough to engage its combat system to remain undetected is the best way. But if you’re feeling nutty, then a bit of body armour, some fast legs and heavy weaponry can get the job done in extra loud fashion. Or, if you’re feeling particularly heinous then a ride-on combine harvester can take your foe down in, well, a bloody horrible mess.

• E3 2017: All the games and major announcements that matter

Of course, we’ve only seen a smidgen of the expansive world on offer – something that fans have been calling into question, given real Montana’s relative flatness. Not to worry: in this fictional world there are planes to fly, cars to drive, mountains to traverse and plenty more secret nuggets besides, we’re sure. The usual character building will strengthen your ability to progress too.

Ubisoft

After some hectic running around, making the most of rooftops, lots of healing when in the bushes, and melee attacks, we managed to overthrow the town. It’s rewarding to play the beacon of hope in such a messed up world… a message that, we’re sure, will resonate with many in today’s twisted world.

A pan shot finishes off our experience, passing the Spread Eagle bar. So long as you know what  you’re fighting for, eh? God bless America.

Far Cry 5 will be released on February 27 2018 for PS4, Xbox One and PC.

Watch Ubisoft’s E3 event in under 10 minutes

Ubisoft gave us the rundown on its library of upcoming games yesterday at E3 and there was a lot of news packed into the briefing. If you missed it, don’t worry. We’ve trimmed down the event into a much shorter clip so you can catch up in less than 10 minutes. There’s plenty of Far Cry 5, Assassin’s Creed Origins, Mario + Rabbids and Beyond Good and Evil 2 news to catch up on. Spoiler alert: Skull & Bones makes doing battle on the high seas very fun.

Follow all the latest news from E3 2017 here!

Mario Kart is drifting into a Japanese VR arcade

Few things in life are as uniquely stressful as pulling into first place in Mario Kart, only to hear a Blue Shell hurtling at you from behind. There’s no escape — all you can do is close your eyes and accept your inevitable defeat. That experience is going to get infinitely more dreadful for players who visit the VR Zone in Shinjuku, Japan: Bandai Namco has developed a version of Mario Kart for the HTC Vive, complete with the tiny pseudo-cars for players to plop down into.

At this point we don’t know a whole lot about the game: it appears briefly in the trailer above, where players use wrist-mounted Vive trackers to hurl items at opponents. Meanwhile, an official listing on the VR Zone website says “the course is filled with the well-known Mario Kart traps and tricks,” which is about the least illuminating thing anyone could say about the same. Given how well racing titles like Project Cars fare in virtual reality, though, we’re pretty confident that this version of Mario Kart is going to be a damn good time. And for what it’s worth, Japan Times reporter Kazuaki Nagata seemed to enjoy playing an early version of the game.

While this is the first major Nintendo property to take the leap into VR, it’s not clear to what extent Nintendo actually worked on this. True fans will remember that Bandai Namco developed the Mario Kart Arcade GP series in the mid-2000s; Nintendo mostly handled the publishing. In any case, it’s not hard to look at this as a VR test balloon for one of the world’s most prominent video game companies. Sony has already marked its territory with the launch of PlayStation VR, and Microsoft has dumped considerable time and effort into its alternate reality work… even if it doesn’t seem like the powerful new Xbox One X will support VR soon.

In any case, it was smart of Nintendo to let one of its most social franchises dive into VR first. As we recently learned after a trip to HTC’s Viveland arcade, social VR experiences can be far, far more fun than immersive games where you’re basically left to your own devices.

Source: UploadVR

Watch Sony’s E3 2017 event in under 15 minutes

Between us, I’m nearly heartbroken about Sony not sharing any details about The Last of Us: Part Two at its E3 2017 keynote yesterday. That said, the company did make some interesting reveals at the event, including the PlayStation 4-exclusive Spider-Man game, a new HD remake of the classic title Shadow of the Colossus and the next God of War. You’ll notice that a lot of the games announced last night aren’t slated to launch until 2018, which is kind of unfortunate because I (selfishly) want to play them right now. But that’s life: Sometimes you don’t get what you want. Either way, you can relive all the highlights from Sony’s E3 2017 event in the video below, in case you want to get hyped over the new titles coming “soon” to your PS4.

Follow all the latest news from E3 2017 here!

Google hires designer behind Apple’s mobile chips

Google wasn’t shy about targeting its Pixel phones at iPhone users (it even helped them migrate), and now that similarity could extend to the processors under the hood. Variety has discovered that Google recently hired Manu Gulati, a key chip designer at Apple, to become its lead system-on-chip architect. While Gulati’s LinkedIn profile doesn’t say much about what he’s doing, sources claim that Google hired him with the goal of designing its own CPUs for Pixel phones. It’s looking for more chip experts, too, and has posted job listings or a “mobile SoC CPU architect” and similar roles.

We’ve reached out to Google for comment and will let you know if it can elaborate on the hire.

It’s not completely shocking that Google would go this route: there were rumblings in 2016 about Pixel phones eventually adopting custom processors. The big concern is whether or not it’s practical. Apple, Huawei and Samsung can all justify in-house CPUs because they sell many millions of devices every quarter. Google hasn’t divulged Pixel sales, but it’s safe to say they’re nowhere near as large as more established rivals with wider availability and bigger marketing budgets. If Variety is accurate, Google is betting either on the Pixel line’s continued growth or is willing to take the likely financial hit that comes with making chips in smaller batches.

The custom chip strategy could also make Google’s Android partners nervous. They’ve had to accept Google as a hardware competitor for years, to varying degrees, but they’ve also known that Nexus and Pixel phones were using off-the-shelf chips that reduced their ability to stand out. If Google can give itself a performance advantage through custom processors, that would change the game. The Pixel line would have an edge over the sea of Snapdragon-based phones on the market, and it might fare better against Huawei and Samsung phones. Apple wouldn’t have as much to worry about (it’s the only choice for iOS, after all), but it might sweat a bit if Google can brag about its hardware brawn.

Source: Variety, LinkedIn

E3 hasn’t forgotten about PC gaming

While consoles hog the bulk of the spotlight at E3, PC gaming is still a big part of the convention. Intel held its first-ever E3 event yesterday, where it announced the VR Challenger League, an esports competition dedicated solely to virtual reality games like The Unspoken and Echo Arena. It’s partnering with Oculus and ESL to make that happen, so it actually has a shot at making VR esports a thing.

During E3’s PC Gaming Show yesterday, we saw some long-awaited upgrades for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (vaulting and weather, oh my!), and Microsoft unveiled Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, a completely remastered version of its classic RTS. Additionally, we caught glimpses of Battletech, the new strategy game in the MechWarrior universe; Cliff Bleszinski’s multiplayer shooter LawBreakers; and Total War: Warhammer 2.

As for hardware, Alienware unveiled some speedy gaming monitors as well as several new keyboards and mice. Logitech also announced its PowerPlay and Lightspeed tech, which brings low-latency and wireless charging to cordless gaming mice. And not surprisingly, Logitech also has two new wireless mice compatible with those offerings. Be prepared to shell out at least $200 to jump on the PowerPlay and Lightspeed bandwagon, though.

Follow all the latest news from E3 2017 here!