Activision bought the ‘Candy Crush’ developer for $5.9 billion
Say what you will about the quality of Activision’s output, but the company makes incredibly smart business moves. Like the announcement that it purchased Candy Crush studio King Digital Entertainment for a cool $5.9 billion. For comparison’s sake, Amazon paid a paltry $970 million for Twitch while Facebook spent $2 billion on Oculus VR and $19 billion on messaging platform Whatsapp. Oh, and Minecraft only set Microsoft back $2.5 billion. Bobby Kotick and Co. definitely think this is a big deal, and considering just how many people play the mindless puzzler this is likely a smart investment.
Source: (2)
What’s on your HDTV: ‘That ’70s Show,’ ‘Call of Duty,’ ‘Master of None’
This week is all about Call of Duty, as this year’s edition arrives on consoles Friday with all single player missions unlocked from the start — unless you’re on Xbox 360 or PS3. If you want Black Ops 3 first them you can of course try downloading it, but if you prefer a disc some Amazon is adding midnight delivery as an option next to the standard midnight release. Also this week, Mill Creek Entertainment is releasing the entire run of That ’70s Show on Blu-ray, which isn’t cropped or zoomed (like The Wire) since it was originally shot in widescreen on film (like Friends and Seinfeld). Better yet? It’s currently available via Best Buy and Amazon for $60. Netflix premieres Aziz Ansari’s series Master of None, while the first two season of Game of Thrones are being re-released on Blu-ray with Dolby Atmos surround sound — check after the break for a trailer explaining how important the new audio is. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
Battlezone’s PSVR reboot is the ultimate fan service
It could be argued that Atari’s 1980 arcade classic Battlezone was the first virtual reality game. In a simple duel of tanks, players looked through a small opening in the cabinet to maneuver their lumbering vehicle, firing at a single enemy and avoiding being struck by projectiles. The game’s wireframe design was graphically simplistic, but stenciled in thin green lines on the horizon was a single object that drew the attention of fans: an erupting volcano. Rumors swirled of a secret route that would lead players to the volcano’s crater where a castle lay awaiting brave explorers. “Of course, none of this was true,” Atari engineer Lyle Rains pointed out in Van Burnham’s 2001 book Supercade. But that didn’t stop the dreamers. In one case, a fan even wrote to Atari to tell the company he’d reached the mythical castle.
After decades of speculation, developer Rebellion, best known for the Sniper Elite series, is rebooting Battlezone for Sony’s PlayStation VR and taking players into the heart of the volcano.
Battlezone’s PSVR reboot is the ultimate fan service
It could be argued that Atari’s 1980 arcade classic Battlezone was the first virtual reality game. In a simple duel of tanks, players looked through a small opening in the cabinet to maneuver their lumbering vehicle, firing at a single enemy and avoiding being struck by projectiles. The game’s wireframe design was graphically simplistic, but stenciled in thin green lines on the horizon was a single object that drew the attention of fans: an erupting volcano. Rumors swirled of a secret route that would lead players to the volcano’s crater where a castle lay awaiting brave explorers. “Of course, none of this was true,” Atari engineer Lyle Rains pointed out in Van Burnham’s 2001 book Supercade. But that didn’t stop the dreamers. In one case, a fan even wrote to Atari to tell the company he’d reached the mythical castle.
After decades of speculation, developer Rebellion, best known for the Sniper Elite series, is rebooting Battlezone for Sony’s PlayStation VR and taking players into the heart of the volcano.
Gfinity needs more cash to build its UK eSports empire
Although demand for eSports continues to rise every day, helped by Twitch and YouTube, making money from competitive gaming can be hard (unless you’re a successful player). It’s a struggle that UK eSports events company Gfinity knows all too well after it revealed it lost £3.6 million in its first full year. Given that the company invested heavily in getting its business off the ground, which includes the launch of the UK’s first dedicated arena, the loss doesn’t come as a surprise, but it does highlight the need to quickly convert its growing audience into paying customers.
Via: Gamesindustry.biz
Source: Gfinity (PDF)
EVE Online’s new minigame puts players to work, for science
EVE Online is probably best known as the hardcore space sim where huge quantities of real money (say, about $1,500) can be lost at the drop of a hat. It’s a pretty unique accolade, but developer CCP is working on a better one — if everything goes as planned, EVE Online will soon be known as the hardcore space sim where players devote thousands of man-hours to science by contributing to the Human Protein Atlas.
Warner Bros. offers refunds for ‘Batman: Arkham Knight’ on PC
The failure of Batman: Arkham Knight’s PC port is finally complete — after being removed from digital stores for being completely broken at launch, going through a four month overhaul and returning with too many lingering issues to forgive, Warner Bros. has finally thrown in the towel. If you bought the game on PC, you’re eligible for a refund between now and the end of the year.
Via: Kotaku
Nuka-Cola Quantum available in time for ‘Fallout 4’
No one really knows what’s in those bottles of Fallout Beer, but they likely won’t hit US shores. What will however is Nuka-Cola Quantum. The folks at Fallout developer Bethesda have teamed up with the purveyors of funky fizzy drinks, Jones Soda, to put the “irradiated” refreshment on Target shelves just in time for Fallout 4‘s launch. Come November 10th, you’ll be able to start slugging down what looks like the company’s Berry Lemonade (a picture’s embedded after the break) in preparation for what we’re affectionately calling “Vault Day” here at Engadget. You know, what everyone else is referring to as November 10th, a.k.a. Fallout 4‘s release date.
Via: Technabob
Source: Jones Soda Co. (Instagram)
ICYMI: Halloween Spooktacular and some tech news too
Today on In Case You Missed It: Chinese state-run media announced the country will begin building the world’s largest super-collider, with an ETA of 2020. Realm Pictures just pulled off another live action shooter game, this time with an alien version and we are all tempted to get Chatroulette accounts. And Tokyo’s auto show just wrapped this week and beside the totally Jetsons cars, we were struck by the cool factor of many of the cars’ head and tail lights, which are made of lasers.
Find life on Mars and kill it in ‘The Techromancer’
Miss the character decision-driven science fiction epic of Mass Effect, but wish it had a little more of a melee focus? Pay attention to Techromancer — it could be the spiritual successor you’ve been looking for. The game’s developer, Spiders, doesn’t exactly bill it as a Mass Effect clone, but the similarities are hard to ignore: an action RPG with a robust leveling system, forking story paths based on player choices and the ability to befriend and romance your teammates? That sure sounds familiar.
Source: Focus Files
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