Decal stickers can help hide the lightbar on your DualShock 4 controller!

You don’t need to have a glowing controller with these hacks to hide the PS4’s DualShock 4 lightbar.

Plenty of gamers prefer to play their games in a dim or darkened room so that they’re more immersed in what is going on in front of them. However, PlayStation 4 players have been a bit aggravated by the lightbar on DualShock 4 controllers. Thankfully there are some neat and easy ways to hide this bar so it doesn’t get in your way while playing.

Your DualShock 4 controller is going to glow

On every DualShock 4 controller, there is a lightbar that glows when the controller is powered on. It’s located on the top of the controller, and depending on the game and battery level, it will either glow blue, green, yellow, or red.

While there isn’t a way to turn off your light bar, you can hide it so that it isn’t quite so aggravating. There are a few ways to do this, but the easiest — and the most fun — method involves finding yourself a sweet decal online. That’s right, industrious gamers have created a variety of decals that can hide most or all of your lightbar.

Decal stickers from Flaming Toast

You can pick up a decal sticker that has a custom name on it, pick from a variety of geeky logos, or even completely block out the lightbar — although this last option might be a bad call since your lightbar will glow red when the battery is getting ready to die.

It’s a simple vinyl sticker that just gets attached to the lightbar, and can be removed if you get tired of them. Best of all they are available for less than $5 each, which is a serious steal. With options like the Batman logo, Assassin’s Creed symbol, Biohazard, and even an Arc reactor, the nerdier stickers have something for most of us.

Of course there are also total black out stickers, as well as ones you can get customized with your name or gamertag, and even patterns, photographs, and fonts that can be used. There are over 250 options, which gives you plenty of leeway to find the perfect sticker to cut down on the light emitting from your controller.

See at Flaming Toast

Have you covered the lightbar on your controller?

While the lightbar on DualShock 4 controllers isn’t particularly bright in a well lit room, it can definitely become aggravating if you are playing in a dim or dark room. Thankfully there are a few things you can do to hide that light, and have a bit of fun while you’re at it. Have you covered up the lightbar on your DualShock 4 controller? Be sure to drop us a comment and let us know about it!

PlayStation 4

• PS4 vs. PS4 Slim vs. PS4 Pro: Which should you buy?
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• Playing PS4 games through your phone is awesome

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Deal: Switching to Sprint gets you free unlimited for a year!

This Sprint deal seems too good to be true, but it isn’t.

We often tease Sprint for its desperate attempts at getting customers on other networks to switch over, but this latest deal is a doozy, and well worth investigating.

Until June 30, 2017, customers on T-Mobile, AT&T, or (especially) Verizon get up to five lines of free unlimited service by switching over to Sprint. There are a few caveats, which we’ll get to in a moment, but as long as you’re a new Sprint customer, the deal is very enticing. The service is not some limited version of Sprint’s regular unlimited plan, either: up to five lines get Sprint’s full unlimited package, which includes calls, texts and up to 23GB of high-speed 4G LTE (and unlimited data at slower speeds after that) just by switching over.

Sprint claims that customers bringing five lines over can save over $2000 in the first year if switching from Verizon.

Now here are the caveats:

• The offer is open to new customers only.
• After the first year, which technically ends July 31, 2018, service will cost $60 for the first line, $40 for the second, and $30 for each subsequent one.
• The offer is only open to customers bringing their own unlocked, eligible phones.
  • These include devices like the Google Pixel, Nexus 6P, Moto G5 Plus, iPhone 7, and Galaxy S8. Check out the full list.
• You will have to buy SIM cards through Sprint for $2.99 each and activate them on the company’s online portal.

Along with the unlimited calls, text and data, users get 10GB of hotspot data per line and HD video streaming at 1080p.

So while there are a few hoops to jump through, it’s definitely worth pursuing for the insane level of savings. If Sprint has even decent LTE service in your area, you can’t beat this kind of deal.

See at Sprint

You can back up and sync everything to your Google account starting June 28

You’re already backing up apps and documents with Google Drive, so why not backup everything else, too?

Beginning June 28, you’ll be able to back up all of your files and folders from a Mac or PC to your Google Drive. It’s called, very simply, Backup and Sync, and once installed, it will help you keep things in check even when you’re not checking them.

From the official blog post:

On June 28th, 2017, we will launch Backup and Sync from Google, a tool intended to help everyday users back up files and photos from their computers, so they’re safe and accessible from anywhere. Backup and Sync is the latest version of Google Drive for Mac/PC, which is now integrated with the Google Photos desktop uploader. As such, it will respect any current Drive for Mac/PC settings in the Admin console.

Since its inception, Google Drive has required that you manually sync any data stored on your main computer, or move files and folders so that they’re saved directly to the cloud account. But once the new app goes live, you’ll be able to choose which files and folders to stay synced. It’ll also be integrated with the current Google Photos Backup tool for Mac and PC.

On the mobile side, this means you’ll have access to those files and folders from any tablet or smartphone that has access to Google Drive. It also means you won’t have to two different desktop apps installed to keep Photos and Drive synced at the same time.

Google suggests that if you’re planning to use the backup feature for your work-related G Suite account, you should use the Drive File System instead because it allows for larger data uploads. Also, not all G Suite users will automatically be upgraded to the ability — managers of the G Suite account will need to turn on the option for employees to utilize the backup feature for them to get access to Backup and Sync.

South Park The Fractured But Whole gameplay preview: Rude, crude and sometimes lewd

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is no ordinary turn-based role-playing game. It’s one for the fans. Within 30-seconds of our E3 gaming expo presentation back in 2016, our presenter – playing The New Kid (AKA Douchebag from previous game The Stick of Truth) – is tapping in guesses to break Eric Cartman’s (AKA The Coon’s) keypad to access his secret lair (in Mrs Cartman’s basement, obviously). “F*ck Donkey Poop”. Nope, that didn’t work, so it’s time to go and hunt down the real password (“F*ck You Mom” as it transpires).

For 2017 we were given the chance to go hands-on with the game, to experience the new combat system first hand and how dramatically it differs from the previous The Stick of Truth game.

• E3 2017: All the games, major announcements and what to expect from the world’s biggest games show

The tie-in with South Park the series is strong: it’s all about superheroes, in an obvious but amusing piss-take of the current glut of Marvel and DC Comics movies that are spilling into cinemas. From Mysterion (Kenny) to TupperWear (Token) and beyond, all your favourites are there.

Our game begins after breaking into The Peppermint Hippo – South Park’s strip club – playing the sidekick of Captain Diabetes. Yep, kids in strip clubs. This is South Park being South Park: it enjoys walking the line of offensive, and offend it no doubt will.

• The best PS4 games to look forward to in 2017 and 2018
• The best Xbox One games to look forward to in 2017 and 2018

The first addition to gameplay is the ability to throw firecrackers and farts. In the original game the latter was used more for amusement, in the sequel it’s got purpose: firecrackers can set things on fire and farts can ignite them; furthermore firecrackers can knock down hard-to-reach objects, which can be useful for the new crafting system.

We wander the club, collecting items, talking to characters, before playing a VIP dance minigame which involves hitting buttons and rotating control sticks correctly to trigger farts on a gross-out meter. It’s all in the name of gathering information, but the very premise of kids lap dancing drunk guys is ridiculous. South Park will inevitably get some flack for such scenes.

Ubisoft

Anyway, information gathered and suitably bemused/disturbed, we venture onward and the story necessitates that a variety of objects are collected and combined in the crafting system to make a spiked gin and tonic for the club DJ.

Some ingredients can only be found by navigating rooms and platforms in a puzzle game style – in what South Park calls “fartcour” – meaning in-level verticality for the sake of exploration, which adds an additional dynamic beyond the more simple search, collect and buy/sell of the original game.

The first major combat scene against the club’s strippers shows just how different The Fractured But Whole is compared to The Stick of Truth: it’s a lot more complex than before; more chess-like. Different characters have different reaches across a play grid, with differing abilities, attacks and defences meaning hiding behind objects and other characters won’t always be helpful – sometimes it’ll be counter-intuitive – and quick response counters are essntial to keep your health from depleting.

Ubisoft

To the top left of the screen is a ultimate meter level-up bar, which when maxed out means you can unleash an ultimate attack with devastating effect. There are the usual potions and specials which can cause rage, bleeding and so forth to make things extra tough – either for you or your opponent.

There are more dynamics than that too: The stripper Spantaneous Bootay is like a mini boss who will slowly (and we mean ever so slowly, given her mass) move one square across the play grid every time a timer elapses. So you’re forced to make snap decisions to escape being eaten up by those giant cheeks.

Which makes for a pretty complicated stuff for an apparent simple toilet humour show. The Fractured But Whole embraces being a proper turn-based game, while not shying from its duties as a South Park title. It’s crude, it’s rude, it’s pretty gross out and if you’re a South Park fan then you’ll probably love it. 

Ubisoft

However, it’s definitely not going to be a game for all tastes. Given how close to the mark The Stick of Truth went – some scenes were censored by the in the UK, which is a rare occurence – we suspect The Fractured But Whole will try and push things even further. It’s like a naughty kid that can’t help itself.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole will be released for PS4, Xbox One and PC on October 17 2017.

E3 2017: All the games and announcements that matter

E3 2017 is upon us. With all the major conferences done and dusted, here are all the major announcements and games from the world’s largest games show.

Microsoft announced that its new 4K super console, the Xbox One X (originally codenamed Project Scorpio), will be arriving in November. That muzzled Sony somewhat, with the company showcasing its latest titles – including Days Gone and God of War gameplay – with little additional comment. Nintendo, meanwhile, quietly announced some explosive titles – including a Pokemon RPG for Switch – in its live-stream.

With the doors to the show open to the public from midday Tuesday 13 June at the LA Convention Center, we’re sure that public reaction and appreciation will dictate which company won E3… although, with hardware and software coming out of our ears, we’re all winners.

Xbox at E3 2017

Major games

• Forza Motorsport 7
• Minecraft in 4K
• Crackdown 3
• Sea of Thieves
• State of Decay 2

Microsoft arguably stole press conference day at E3 2016, with the announcement of the Xbox One S and, more surprisingly, its next games console, codenamed Project Scorpio.

• Xbox One X: Release date, price, specs and everything you need to know

Its 2017 conference on Sunday 11 June, finally showed more of the console, now named the Xbox One X. It is due for worldwide release on 7 November for £449 in the UK, $499 in the States.

Xbox One fans were also presented with a healthy line-up of games, many exclusives, and, of course, many optimised for true 4K playback at 60fps thanks to Xbox One X.

• The best Xbox One games to look forward to in 2017 & 2018: Crackdown 3, Forza 7, Sea of Thieves and more

Top among its titles was the unveiling of Forza Motorsport 7, which will be released October 3 2017 – more than a month ahead of the new console. Crackdown 3, however, will arrive on 7 November, in tandem with Xbox One X.

Deep Silver’s Metro Exodus, the latest in the post-apocalyptic open-world shooter series, was also shown off in terrifying 4K glory. It will be released in 2018.

Minecraft is also coming in full 4K thanks to Xbox One X.

PlayStation at E3 2017

Major games

• Days Gone
• God of War
• Spider-Man
• The Last of Us 2
• Death Stranding
• Detroit: Become Human
• Gran Turismo Sport
• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

In the usual “call and reply” head-to-head between Xbox and PlayStation, we had expected Sony to pull the wraps off a major new title. That wasn’t precisely the case, however, with the company using its pre-E3 conference at the Shrine Auditorium to let the games talk.

• The best PS4 games to look forward to in 2017 and 2018

The two most important Sony exclusives for 2017 are God of War and Days Gone.

God of War really looks as though Santa Monica Studio has struck an interesting balance between Kratos and his son – both of whom you will command as player in their journey – in a mix of storytelling and no-holds-barred fighting. The game will be released in early 2018.

A slew of virtual reality titles were also revealed, showing ongoing support for PlayStation VR. Skyrim VR from Bethesda; Star Child; The Inpatient; Monster of the Deep (which is a Final Fantasy fishing game… yes, really); Bravo Team; and Moss (in which you play a mouse knight… again, yes really) show the diversity of what Sony’s VR platform can offer – and as Microsoft wasn’t talking VR whatsoever with Xbox One X, it’s the PS4’s one leg-up.

Other big-hitters included Shadow of the Colossus, from Japan Studio, which is a reimagination of the PlayStation 2 original. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and Horizon: Zero Dawn’s DLC The Frozen Wilds also roused interest.

Detroit: Become Human – Quantic Dream’s latest, in which Android police live among us in society – was also on display, setting the benchmark for movie-like games.  

The PlayStation event was closed out with a PS4 exclusive: Spider-Man. Perhaps an unexpected closing title – no Red Dead 2, no Last of Us 2, no Death Stranding – it’s a title Sony is keen to show-off, given its exclusive status. It looks similar to Arkham City in some respects, except played out in daylight, with added web-slinging thrown in for good measure.

Nintendo at E3 2017

Major games

• Super Mario Odyssey
• Xenoblade Chronicles 2
• Untitled Pokemon RPG title
• Metroid Prime 4
• Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild DLC (The Master Trials / The Champions Ballad)
• Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
• Splatoon 2
• ARMS

Nintendo doesn’t hold a press conference during E3 – those days are long gone – but it hosted a Nintendo Spotlight: E3 2017 video presentation on Tuesday 13 June. And it was all about the Switch.

It’s fair to say Nintendo is often seen as the underdog compared to the other big two. It’s also fair to say it announced some really big-deal titles, from a new Kirby and Metroid Prime 4, to an as-yet-unnamed Pokemon RPG game due in 2018/19.

The Switch’s biggest title, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, also has The Master Trials and The Champions Ballad DLC content coming this holiday period. There’s new armour, the Korok Mask, a Master Mode (super hard mode), plus Hero’s Path to track every step you’ve been on the map.

New Zelda Amiibo are coming too: the four champions from Breath of the Wild – Mipha, Daruk, Revali, and Urbosa – will all be available to buy and use in Breath of the Wild and its DLC.

Nintendo wouldn’t be Nintendo without Mario, so obviously the company showed off more of its upcoming Super Mario Odyssey. In the game it appears Mario can almost possess other enemies and objects, from a taxi to a Tyrannosaurus, or Goomba to Bullet Bill. How’s that for a major twist in Mario’s development?

Beyond Nintendo’s own announcements, it’s great to see other developers getting on board too: from Skyrim to FIFA 18 and beyond, the Switch is a console that’s getting a far stronger foothold than its Wii U predecessor.

Ubisoft at E3 2017

Major games

• Beyond Good And Evil 2
• Assassin’s Creed: Origins
• Far Cry 5
• Skull & Bones
• The Crew 2
• Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
• South Park: The Fractured But Whole
• South Park: Phone Destroyer (mobile app game)
• Starlink: Battle For Atlas
• Rayman Legends Definitive Edition for Switch
• Steep for Switch

Ubisoft always hosts its press conference on the Monday prior to the show doors opening and that was no different this year.

Its press conference kicked off by rolling out Mario creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, to confirm that Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle isn’t just a rumour game, but a reality. Described as “unlike any Mario game ever made before”, this exploration meets turn-based battle game, which is exclusive for Nintendo Switch and released on August 29, certainly looks like a unique take.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins, which is set in ancient Egypt for this latest release, is a game that’s garnered a lot of attention ahead of E3 2017, plus it will be optimised for the highest 4K graphical fidelity on Xbox One X. Unlike previous Assassin’s Creed titles, Origins ditches the mini map and towers approach, instead opting for an eagle to scout and tag enemies.

Online racer The Crew also has a sequel incoming: The Crew 2. It takes racing up a notch, with street racing, boats, planes, off-road and more. This looks like Ubi’s title to take on Forza and Need For Speed.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole finally gets a release date, too, after being delayed from last year. The turn-based RPG will be available October 17. Not content with just one game, however, there will also be a mobile app game, South Park: Phone Destroyer, also released this year.

Fancy playing “the ultimate pirate experience”? Skull & Bones shows that Ubisoft isn’t finished with pirates after Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, with this all new online player-vs-player and single player game of the seas.

Starlink: Battle For Atlas is a space exploration game for PS4, Xbox One and Switch, all of which feature physical toys-to-life starships that connect to the controllers and provide interaction.

Far Cry 5 was also shown off in more detail, with some in-game action finally revealed. Set in fictional Hope County, Montana, Far Cry’s fifth outing is set in the modern day, where a fanatical cult has overrun the area – leaving it up to you to raise hell with your guns for hire to put things right. We played the game ahead of E3’s doors opening and it feels every bit Far Cry: brutal, open-world fun that you can take on in any tactical way that you please.

• Far Cry 5: Release date, trailer, screens and everything you need to know

The biggest reveal of the lot, however, was Beyond Good And Evil 2 – the sequel that’s almost 15 years in the making. It’s a game that tugs on a lot of heartstrings, and it’s easy to see why – just watch the jaw-dropping trailer above, because BGE2 looks rather special.

EA at E3 2017

Major games

• Anthem
• Star Wars: Battlefront 2
• A Way Out
• FIFA 18 (including The Journey: Hunter Returns story mode)
• FIFA for Switch
• Madden NFL 18 (including Long Shot story mode)
• NBA Live 18
• Need for Speed Payback

Electronic Arts was the first to kick off the pre-E3 announcements, ahead of all the major conferences listed above, with its pre-show at the Hollywood Palladium.

Biggest among all its announcements was a teaser of BioWare’s newest game, Anthem, which Xbox showed off in far greater detail.

EA Sports has a strong series of sports games franchises, with FIFA, Madden NFL and NBA each getting their 2018 updates. Madden features Long Shot, its story mode, while FIFA 18 will continue player Alex Hunter’s story in The Journey: Hunter Returns. We’ve got a full feature detailing the game (link below).

• FIFA 18: Release date, what’s new and everything you need to know

The game to arguably steal the showcase, however, was A Way Out. This EA Originals title, by Swedish studio Hazelight, is a split-screen two player co-op game – and that’s the only way it can be played.

Whether online or with a friend in the same room, the split screen dynamic is always in play – with player one on the left, player two on the right, adding a dynamism of the two points of view. It looks like a really clever take on multiplayer.

Bethesda at E3 2017

Major games

• Wolfenstein 2
• The Evil Within 2
• Skyrim for Nintendo Switch
• Doom VR
• Fallout 4 VR
• Quake Champions

Like Microsoft, Bethesda’s conference happened on the Sunday before the show. It was set off-site in a theme-park style “Bethesdaland”, before a standing only presentation.

We weren’t expecting heaps of announcements from Bethesda this year, which rang true: Doom VR (well, VFR, if you can work out the nod to BFG there), Fallout 4 VR, DLC content for Dishonored, a community mods system for Fallout 4 and Skyrim on consoles, the beta announcement of Quake Champions, and Skyrim unveiled for Nintendo Switch.

It was the final two announcements that got the crowd worked up all the more: The Evil Within 2 and Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus head up the company’s sequels march.

Best of all, everything announced by Bethesda will be released within 2017.

Activision at E3 2017

Major games

• Call of Duty: WW2
• Destiny 2
• Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy

Activision opted for a low-key E3 in 2016, with its only presence at the show being behind closed doors. There will be a bigger showing this year though, with Destiny 2 and a return to the second World War for Call of Duty: WW2 at the very least.

The remastered Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy will also be at the show surely, considering it comes out later in June.

• Destiny 2: Release date, screens, formats and everything you need to know

What other games companies will be at E3 2017?

Hundreds of publishers and developers show their wares at E3 each year, either on the show floor or behind closed doors (BCD) in private rooms. This year’s event will be no different. As well as the companies above, there will be plenty of other games publishers and hardware manufacturers, including:

• Bandai Namco
• Capcom
• Deep Silver
• Focus Home Interactive
• Konami
• Oculus
• Nvidia
• Razer
• Rebellion
• Sega
• Square Enix
• Take-Two
• Warner Bros

E3 2017 games

Alongside the games from the major publishers, these are the games rumoured to be shown, even playable, at E3 2017. There are likely to be plenty more as the show goes on.

• Agents of Mayhem (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Borderlands 3 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Call of Cthulhu: The Official Video Game (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Formula One 2017 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Kingdom Hearts 3 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Metal Gear Survive (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Micro Machines World Series (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Middle-Earth, Shadow of War (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• NBA 2K18 (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)
• PES 2018 (PS4, Xbox One)
• Project Cars 2 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Project Sonic (PS4, Switch, PC)
• Rogue Trooper Redux (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Sonic Forces (PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch)
• Strange Brigade (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• WWE 2K18 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Vampyr (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

There will also be plenty of virtual reality games for PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

What else we’d like to see at E3 2017

While we always learn about certain games ahead of E3, there are several we hope for even though the chances are slim. The same applies to hardware. Here then is what we are hoping for at E3 2017.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Rockstar had already confirmed Red Dead Redemption 2 for a Q4 release in 2017, but that looks like being 2018 now. The developer rarely attends E3 so we doubt there’ll be a major insight this year. But here’s hoping it’ll try and steal the show by throwing out a new trailer during the show itself, just to ruffle some feathers.

Oculus Rift 2

With Oculus Touch now in everybody’s hands – literally – the next phase for the company could be an all-new version of the headset. Maybe we’ll even see something announced during E3.

More SteamVR headsets

HTC might also soon announce a HTC Vive 2 device, but considering Valve’s exclusive may be running out soon, we might be about to see other manufacturers jump on board. Asus, for example, has recently revealed that it is to invest heavily in VR this year.

We’ll add more to our wishlist as they occur to us. If there are games or hardware you would like to see announced or shown at E3 this year, let us know in the comments below.

Super Mario Odyssey gameplay preview: Aces and oddities

Everyone loves Mario. The Italian plumber returns to his 3D platformer roots in Super Mario Odyssey, due for release on Nintendo Switch on Octover 27, 2017. And we got to play two levels for 10 minutes a piece at E3 2017.

But Odyssey isn’t a straight-up Mario game as we know it. Sure, there are some core elements true to Mario, but Odyssey’s introduction of “hats” – thrown and used to take-over and control objects and enemies in the game – turns out to be a new gameplay ace. Taking over a Bullet Bill to navigate to a new area works a treat.

However, some of Odyssey’s settings and characters are downright oddities. Playing as Mario runing around a pseudo New York (called Metropolis) with shonky looking human characters feels like a step away from the other-wordly wonder of what Mario is all about; it’s a step too close to Bob Hoskins in the 1993 Mario Bros movie. Using hats to effectively become taxis, dinosaurs, even electricity in Odyssey is just, well, not very Mario.

How much that will distract from the full game we’re yet to see. Because playing the Sand Kingdom felt like true, classic Mario. It’s got the look, the feel, the level design that makes it oh so Mario. With added maracas.

Nintendo

Controlling Odyssey on Switch makes full use of the Joy-Con controllers. We held one in each hand, with a physical flick motion being critical for Mario to sling his hat: flick both in tandem in the same direction and the hat circles Mario, defending from surrounding enemies; flick up and there’s verticality; flick in a single given direction and the hat can be used to specifically target. It took a little getting used to, but works well, without feeling like an overly fussy control system.

Navigating the Sand Kingdom also exposed one of Odyssey’s other interesting features: Mario can change into different clothing and hats, with the explorer outfit available in this demo. Later, in the Metropolis demo, we were able to collect enough coins to buy a hard hat and overalls from an inter-city shop. All manner of other outfits are available too. There are purple coins in addition to the usual gold ones.

Nintendo

There’s also no small Mario. Instead it’s a three-strike system before you’re defeated and teleported back to the previous save flag.

One excellent homage to the earlier Mario titles is the ability to enter green pipes which paste a 2D Mario across a wall; a mirror of the original game, adding a different point to play. Switching in and out of these sections is seamless, which makes for a clever dynamic.

As per all classic Mario games, Odyssey throws in mini games and has hidden gems – moon shards in this instance – hidden around levels that will require exploration to locate them all. That ought to add some replay value.

Nintendo

At the heart of Super Mario Odyssey is a classic Mario title – one that seems to have gone a little overboard in its use of some settings and characters, but one that we’re sure we’ll come to love when the full game is released.

Super Mario Odyssey is released exclusively for Nintendo Switch on October 27, 2017.

‘Project Cars 2’ takes simulated driving to a whole new level

With the likes of Forza and Gran Turismo getting their share of stage time at the big E3 events, it can be easy to overlook some of the other options. Bandai Namco and Slightly Mad Studios’ Project Cars is one of those and the second installment of the franchise is set to arrive September 22nd. The duo is showing off the hyper realistic racing sim here at E3 and it didn’t take long to get wrapped up in the tracks of Project Cars 2.

The crowdfunded game centers on making the virtual racing experience as real as possible. With a feature called LiveTrack 3.0, Project Cars 2 amps up the detail in a number of ways. Beyond just weather, ambient temperature, track temperature, altitude and other atmospheric conditions all have an impact your car’s performance. We’re talking things like engine performance, aerodynamics, brakes and tires.

Project Cars 2 also employs fluid dynamics, so when you’re driving in a rainstorm, the track conditions react more like they would in the real world. For example, if it’s raining so hard that the ground can’t absorb the water faster enough, it will pool, run downhill and create a tricky puddle situation. LiveTrack 3.0 also spreads loose dirt and gravel on the track when you run off course, an addition that Slightly Mad Studios says makes this game even more like racing in real life. Based on my few minutes of play time, they’re not overstating it.

Here at E3, Bandai Namco is offering three very different demos of Project Cars 2 and I was able to test drive two of them. The first one I attempted was a Honda Civic rally car at Ioheac in France. You get a real sense for the level of detail of the game rounding tight turns and flinging dirt. It’s also immediately apparent how sensitive the controls are in the game.

My first few minutes behind the wheel of that Civic were not pretty, but I managed to improve (slightly) after some time. That being said, steering cars around the courses in this game is no easy feat. It’s also not surprising, either, since Slightly Mad is including eSports from the jump — so professional drivers will be able to literally get behind the wheel. This also means there’s easy access to streaming tools and watching live games.

The second demo I played was a McLaren 720S on the Bannochbrae road circuit that’s set in Scotland. This is the course Slightly Mad built as part of a Project Cars DLC a while back and it gives you the feel of zooming through the UK countryside. Again, steering here takes some skill and I’ll have to admit I destroyed that luxury automobile pretty quickly. However, the visuals on this course are really good and Project Cars 2 will join other driving games like Forza and Gran Turismo that will greatly benefit from 4K. I caught myself taking my eyes off the road a couple times to check out the views. Everything is so sharp and crisp, so you can see the level of detail that goes into these games even better.

With Project Cars, Slightly Mad Studios surprised everyone with a racer that could compete with Forza and Gran Turismo on realism. With its sequel, the developer is doing it again. That’s seriously impressive when you consider the budget and team size it’s working with. The game is meant for a specific kind of racing fanatic, one that wants the utmost realism with how a car controls. If you’re that sort of gearhead, there’s a lot to like here — just don’t expect to take a hairpin turn first time in a Ferrari 488 GT3.

Follow all the latest news from E3 2017 here!

How violence in video games changes with the times

Violence is the default mechanic in the video game world. But, as video game graphics become more realistic and virtual reality headsets make games more immersive, developers are taking greater care with the way they portray murder and gore. The independent scene is a driving factor in this space, with an influx of games that eschew traditional tropes in favor of other forms of tension.

Dim Bulb Games founder Johnnemann Nordhagen helped create BioShock 2 and Gone Home, two diametrically opposed first-person games, at least when it comes to the use of violence. He’s now working on Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, a narrative-driven story that dives into the rich folklore of the American South. Just like Gone Home, there’s no combat in this new game. Instead, it’s driven by the story itself, the music, and the humid, star-speckled environment.

Meanwhile, Nathanael Weiss of Wizard Fu is building Songbringer, a procedurally generated hack-and-slash game that looks like a classic pixelated experience — swords, slaughter and all. But, for Weiss, there’s a big difference between violence and gore, and as slashy as Songbringer is, it doesn’t celebrate killing.

On the Engadget stage at E3 2017, Nordhagen and Weiss shared their thoughts on the evolution of violence in video games, from the original Doom and Mortal Kombat to Where the Water Tastes Like Wine and Songbringer.

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The Grammys take voting online at last

Say what you will about the Grammys and its problems, but at least the Recording Academy has been making an effort to catch up with the times. After making streaming-only albums eligible for awards this year (allowing Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book to take Best Rap Album), the academy’s next move is to ditch paper votes in favor of online submissions. According to the LA Times, the goal is to make voting more flexible and convenient, and therefore appeal to a broader range of members, including artists who are on the road during the voting period.

A big issue in moving to digital was security. The academy’s senior vice president of awards Bill Freimuth told the LA Times that ensuring its auditors “were happy with their ability to still tabulate the ballots correctly” was key. There were also concerns over becoming a “target for hackers.”

But going online has important benefits, including the potential for more accurate and representative voting. This could help the academy avoid the cultural bias it has been accused of in the past. In previous years, award winners like Macklemore and Adele have even called out other artists (Kendrick Lamar and Beyonce, respectively) they felt were more deserving, which is telling of the sense of injustice that has permeated the show recently.

Voting for the 2018 Grammys begins in the fall, and the ceremony is set for Jan. 28, 2018. We’ll have to wait till then to see if the new system will result in significant changes to the list of winners.

Via: The Verge

Source: LA Times

‘Wolfenstein II’ starts with a wheelchair, Nazis and a machine gun

A little over four months away from launch, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus already feels finished. The game takes place almost immediately after the events of 2014’s Wolfenstein: The New Order, with protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz waking up from a coma aboard a German U-boat, confined to a wheelchair, his legs lame. The Nazis have long since won the war, and in 1961 they’re taking their goal of world domination even further. They’re afraid of the game’s one-man army hero, too. And really, after 35 years of Wolfenstein, shouldn’t they be?

Blazkowicz has since earned a few pet names from his prey (“Terror-Billy,” for instance), but years of combat and the horrors of war have left him broken with battle scars — both physical and mental. Not even his “schmeckle” works, apparently. Masculine fragility is a conceit that’s rarely explored in testosterone-driven big-budget video games.

These battle wounds meant that in a demo this week at E3, I was left guiding Blazkowicz around the warship almost entirely as an invalid. Allow me to explain. Being wheelchair-bound meant that I was very vulnerable. My hands — usually reserved for holding instruments of mass murder — were relegated to pushing the wheelchair. Once I found a gun, my movement speed seemed to drop a bit because at that point I was only pushing with one arm while the other held my weapon.

There were even a few brief sections where I was knocked out of the chair and immediately felt helpless. And of course, wheelchairs can’t go upstairs, which meant as I went deeper below deck the area immediately behind me became inaccessible.

It’s an interesting way of keeping the player on a linear path without it feeling restrictive or claustrophobic. That’s not to say I didn’t find myself getting frustrated and traversing the same section over and over because I couldn’t figure out how to progress. Once I realized that I needed to wheel myself onto a set of gears that would lift me to the next area, and learned how to “read” the environment, though, making my way around the ship got easier.

My biggest takeaway is that based on the intro section I played on a PC (it’s also coming out on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One), it feels like the team at Machine Games has been working on this sequel since shipping the last game. Demos can be misleading — especially at E3 — but given how The New Order and its expansion The Old Blood turned out, it feels safe to hope that the rest of the game will play this well come October 27th.

Follow all the latest news from E3 2017 here!