‘Monument Valley’ is the latest game soundtrack going vinyl

Monument Valley was one of the most interesting, unique and beautiful games released in 2014 on any platform. Forget that fact that it’s “just” a mobile game — developer UsTwo build an extremely memorable experience, and the game’s music contributed heavily to that experience. If you want to immerse yourself in the game’s soundscape, the geeky art purveyors iam8bit have just the thing for you — the soundtrack for Monument Valley will go up for sale on vinyl tomorrow.

The $40 package gets you two LPs of music by Stafford Bawler, OBFUSC and GRIGORI; one of those records is entirely unreleased songs from the game’s expansions Forgotten Shores and Ida’s Dream. The other consists of music already released, but this marks the first time you can get any of these songs in a physical package.

As with other iam8bit releases, that package is almost worth the price of admission alone. The gatefold album artwork features some appropriately mesmerizing new designs on the inside along with an eight-page “story booklet.” The records themselves come in a stunning blue and slightly less striking cream. And, as a nod to the fact that most of us still listen to digital music, the package will come with a code to download the soundtrack on MP3.

This is hardly the first game soundtrack iam8bit has released on vinyl, and iam8bit is not the only company working on such releases lately. With vinyl sales continuing an unexpected resurgence, catering to fans who love excellent gaming music and other beloved genre works is a smart niche to go after. You can pre-order the Monument Valley soundtrack from iam8bit tomorrow; it’s expected to ship in Q2 of this year.

Source: iam8bit

Death Star map coming to ‘Star Wars: Battlefront’ this fall

Get ready, Star Wars: Battlefront buffs — there’s a ton of downloadable content coming your way. For starters, following the release of the Battle of Jakku in December, DICE will add more DLC content to its game tomorrow, January 27th. This includes the ability for player’s to create private matches, support for new multiplayer modes in the Tatooine Survival map, and Battle of Hoth-themed character clothing for Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. While that’s all fine and dandy, we know what you’re here for: the Death Star.

In a blog posted earlier today, developer DICE revealed that a Star Wars: Battlefront Death Star DLC is scheduled to launch fall 2016. Not many details were discussed beyond this, but at least now you’re aware that the title’s getting one of the most iconic locations from the Star Wars franchise. Separately, Star Wars: Battlefront Outer Rim and Bespin are also set to arrive in March and sometime in the summer, respectively.

Of course, DICE says these pack are going to be available for free to Season Pass holders when they launch, while other users can buy them as a standalone downloads for PS4, Xbox One and PC (Origin).

Source: EA

‘Destiny’ player matching focuses more on good connections

Destiny‘s Crucible multiplayer mode can be a blast… up until you’re lumped into a match so laggy that you may lose simply because your rivals keep jumping around. That might not be a problem after this week, though. Bungie is trying out a matchmaking update that puts more of an emphasis on connection quality. The move should not only give you a better chance at pulling off that kill streak, but speed up the matchmaking process itself — you’ll spend less time twiddling your thumbs while Destiny finds a final player for that Control game. Skill will still matter in match-ups, but it won’t be quite the be-all, end-all factor that it was before.

The game studio is taking a cautious approach to pushing the update. It’ll debut the new matchmaking on January 27th at 1PM Eastern in the no-holds-barred Iron Banner Rift mode, which kicks off a day earlier. Bungie is hoping that the gap will give it some comparison points and help it tweak the matchmaking system before it reaches other, more forgiving modes. This isn’t going to address the bigger gripes you might have with Destiny (more fresh content, anyone?), but it should help you avoid those barely-playable Crucible rounds that hurt your record.

Via: Polygon

Source: Bungie

‘Five Nights at Freddy’s World’ removed from Steam

Five Nights at Freddy’s, the jump-scare franchise depicted above that YouTubers love to make reaction videos to, has just joined company with Afro Samurai: it’s had a release pulled from Steam due to poor reviews. Developer Scott Cawthon writes on the Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 Steam listing that even though Five Nights at Freddy’s World might have had a “very positive” rating at 87 percent, he’s removing it because he wasn’t happy with the reviews and ratings it’d been garnering. He’s also requested that Steam-owner Valve remove the time limit from purchase refunds, so that no matter how long has passed between purchase and return, customers will get their money back.
Previously, that expired once two weeks had passed. “It may take them awhile to set that up, but it will be in place soon,” Cawthon writes. “I’m still going to work on FNaF World and polish it up.”

Cawthon says he’s polishing the game (Kotaku says that the original version was “kind of terrible”) and will add a 3D overworld to the distinctly light-hearted role-playing game and that once he’s finished, it’ll be free. “I appreciate your support, and I encourage you all to refund your Steam game (even if you enjoyed the game), and download the new version when it becomes available on GameJolt.” he writes. So there you have it: a game developer admits in earnest that he or she released an unfinished product and wants to make it up to the fans immediately. Refreshing, no?

Via: Kotaku

Source: Steam

‘Dangerous Golf’ is a crazy game from the creators of ‘Burnout’

The co-founders of Criterion Games, Fiona Sperry and Alex Ward, left the EA-owned property last year to start their own company. We now know that venture as Three Fields Entertainment, which today is introducing its first game ever: Dangerous Golf. As the name suggests, it isn’t your average take on a sports title, with a story that lets you create chaos on over 100 holes across four different locations — all insane in their own right.

Aside from being able to take a swing inside a medieval castle, you can also smash some inferno-looking balls at a gas station and set it on fire; the more you wreak havoc, the better it is for your destructive powers. Unfortunately, you’ll have to contain your excitement a bit, since Dangerous Golf won’t launch until May on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Store and Steam.

Source: Three Fields Entertainment

ICYMI: California water woes, VR arcade life and more

Today on In Case You Missed It: California adjusted the details in the project to address the water crisis in the state by diverting water, called WaterFix. VR gaming is being visualized at Sundance as a multiplayer theme park paradise. And a new smart mirror designed to simply take photos of full outfits has us feeling a little crazy. Which is where this Japanese product to capture bad guys comes in for the laugh relief.

Please share any interesting science or tech videos, anytime! Just tweet us with the #ICYMI hashtag to @mskerryd.