Xbox One’s upcoming overhaul has an opt-in beta
That new Windows 10 Xbox One update sounds pretty great, right? Well, how it works is a little different than folks in the console’s Dashboard Preview Program are used to. Previous updates were pushed out automatically and you had no choice over installing them, but here you can choose as to whether or not jump into this massive overhaul. Xbox spokesperson Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb says that Preview members will get a message in their system’s inbox and you’ll need to register and opt-in from there. But if you’re not quite sure about being even more of a guinea pig that’s totally okay: You can choose to not participate in the double preview and still get the regular dashboard updates ahead of the general public.
Hryb also says that you can expect more builds of the Win10 dash to hit as kinks are worked out ahead of the full launch. Invites for this beta will go out in waves, and Hyrb says to be patient if you don’t see one pop up just yet. Until then? Maybe grind through some more Destiny ahead of “The Taken King” arriving next week.
Filed under:
Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
Source:
Major Nelson
Tags: beta, dashboardpreviewprogram, gaming, hd, hdpostcross, majornelson, microsoft, optin, windows10, xbox, xboxone
Playdate: Building the Mushroom Kingdom in ‘Super Mario Maker’
A lot of games are about wish fulfilment, but what if your dream is to make Nintendo games? Well, now there’s a game for that, too: Super Mario Maker — a video game creation suite that’s exactly what it sounds like. Nintendo’s been hyping this game for over a year, and it hits shelves today. How is it? We’re about to find out. Join me and Tim Seppala for an ad hoc remodelling of the Mushroom Kingdom, starting at 6PM ET (3PM PT) on Twitch.tv/Joystiq, on the Engadget gaming homepage or right here in this post.
http://www.twitch.tv/joystiq/embedWatch live video from Joystiq on www.twitch.tv
http://www.twitch.tv/joystiq/chat?popout=
[We’re streaming Super Mario Maker at 720p through OBS, so rest assured this game will look dramatically better on your Wii U at home.]
Tags: gaming, mario, Nintendo, playdate, streaming, supermario, supermariomaker, twitch, video, videogames, wiiu
‘Dropsy’ the clown wants to hug everything in the world, starting today
Dropsy looks like the kind of game that will produce one of two responses from anyone who plays it:
- People who like clowns will finish Dropsy huddled in a corner, terrified of circuses, suspenders and bright red lips for the rest of their lives.
- People who despise clowns will finish Dropsy with a new-found appreciation for the humanity behind the face paint.
Dropsy is a point-and-click adventure starring a lovable, huggable clown who’s on a mission to solve the mysteries of his past and clear his name after an awful circus fire. He goes about this task by hugging everything and everyone he meets. How adorable (or scary). It’s out today on PC, Mac and Linux via Steam or through the game’s website, and it’s just $9 in a launch sale.
Dropsy is an open-world adventure, meaning players are free to explore the wacky, pixelated landscapes in any way they choose. Plus, it features a twist on standard dialogue: Dropsy can talk to people and animals (yes, animals), but it’s all displayed in visual icons rather than text. As its site says, “Dropsy is a truly universal game.”
Source:
Dropsy
Tags: ajollycorpse, clown, clowns, DevolverDigital, dropsy, hdpostcross, Indie, STEAM, tendershoot
Shovel Knight’s DLC hits consoles and PC on September 17th
Yacht Club Games, developers of the uber-popular platformer, Shovel Knight, has revealed that the game’s DLC will be available starting September 17th. Dubbed Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows, the DLC will offer a number of new gameplay styles including Adventure and Challenge Modes. The game is currently available on PC, Wii U, 3DS, PlayStation 3, PS4, PS Vita, and Xbox One. The DLC will be available as digital downloads on all these consoles. A physical disc version including both the original game and the DLC will be ready in October.
Filed under:
Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Via:
IGN
Source:
Yacht Club Games
Tags: digital, DLC, games, hdpostcross, Nintendo 3DS, Plague, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, shovel knight, Wii U, Xbox, Xbox One, YachClubGames
‘Dota 2’ is the first title running on Valve’s new game engine
If you want a look at just how much PC gaming powerhouse Valve (and gaming as a whole) has changed consider this: When the company launched the original Source Engine back in 2004 it did so with a beta for a new version of Counter-Strike (Counter-Strike: Source) and then went wide a few months later with Half-life 2. The first game running on Valve’s follow-up engine, Source 2? Dota 2. Specifically, Dota 2 Reborn. As Eurogamer points out, the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) has been running in Source 2 in beta since June, but now the game’s sporting a new UI and more game modes on Source 2, including support for 20-person matches.
Valve is responding to its player-base here. In 2004, Counter Strike was the competitive game to play. But while Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is still really big on the scene, MOBAs are where the action’s at for eSports. Does that analog mean we’ll see Half-life 3 coming soon? That’s almost positively not going to happen, but don’t be too surprised if you see Gabe Newell and Co.’s other multiplayer cash-factory Team Fortress 2 get the bump to Valve’s new game toolset next.
We are rolling out the Reborn update over the next couple of hours. Matchmaking is now only available in Reborn.
— DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) September 9, 2015
[Image credit: Wikimedia Commons]
Filed under:
Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Via:
Eurogamer
Source:
Dota 2 (Twitter) (1)
Tags: counterstrike, counterstrikesource, dota2, esports, gaming, hd, hdpostcross, moba, pcgaming, source2, teamfortress2, valve
November’s Xbox One update boosts speed and social
Microsoft has revealed new details on the major update coming to Xbox One this November. The tile-based Xbone dashboard that we’ve grown accustomed to since the days of the 360 will be replaced with a sleeker and faster UI based on Windows 10 and geared heavily towards social interactions. The company initially revealed the update back at E3 in August. The new dashboard will reportedly “get you to popular gaming features up to 50 percent faster,” according to a recent post by Mike Ybarra, Director of Program Management for Xbox.
The high points of the update will include backwards compatibility for 100 Xbox 360 games with the ability to enter multiplayer games with folks still on the 360 (though we already knew that). Additionally, the Home screen and Guide have been revamped to enable players to jump into games and parties without waiting (though we already knew that too). What’s more, the Community section will be rejiggered to allow users to see what their friends are up to through the redesigned Activity Feed (again, nothing new here). What you may not have already heard about is the Xbox’s new OneGuide which lists trending live TV shows and now includes picture-in-picture. The Store has also been re-optimized to help you spend money faster with clear and concise categories as well as a new vertical gallery view.
Filed under:
Gaming, Microsoft
Source:
Xbox Wire
Tags: E3, microsoft, Microsoft Windows, Windows 10, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, XboxOne
Playdate: Chatting with the developers of ‘Tearaway Unfolded’
Want a game with adorable stylized visuals and quirky gameplay mechanics that defy convention? Play Tearaway. Oh, you don’t have a PlayStation Vita? Okay fine — let us introduce you to Tearaway Unfolded, the high definition PS4 remake of Media Molecule’s papercraft platformer. Not only will Tim Seppala and I will be streaming this stylized beauty at 3:30PM ET (12:30PM PT) right here, on the Engadget gaming homepage and at Twitch.tv/Joystiq, but we’ll be doing it with Media Molocule’s Rex Crowle. Join us, as we ask the developer how they folded this Vita game into a PS4 masterpiece.
http://www.twitch.tv/joystiq/embedWatch live video from Joystiq on www.twitch.tv
http://www.twitch.tv/joystiq/chat?popout=
[We’re streaming Tearaway Unfolded at 720p through OBS, so rest assured this game will look dramatically better on your PS4 at home.]
Filed under:
Misc, Gaming, Sony
Tags: mediamolocule, playdate, ps4, rexcrowle, sony, streaming, tearaway, tearawayunfolded, twitch, video
‘GTA Online’ Freemode update adds wild events next week
Grand Theft Auto Online‘s next update adds a series of new gameplay challenges called Freemode Events, and it’s due out on September 15th across PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Freemode Events are randomly triggered modes integrated into the Online world — while in Freemode, an event can begin at any time and players can customize which events they want see. New Events include Hunt the Beast, where one player turns into a werewolf and the remaining team hunts him or her down, and King of the Castle, where players fight to control and defend a designated structure. Another mode, Penned In, appears to be a derby battle with all cars trapped in a fairly small area.
The Freemode update also includes two new Adversary Modes and brings the new-and-improved Rockstar Editor to PS4 and Xbox One. On PC, players will receive updates to the Rockstar Editor, such as a library of ambient audio and sound effects.
Source:
Rockstar Newswire
Tags: freemodeevents, GrandTheftAuto, GrandTheftAuto5, GrandTheftAutoV, GTA, gta5, GtaV, hdpostcross, RockStar, RockstarGames, update
Microsoft is closing its Xbox Live Indie Games program
After nine years, Microsoft has decided to call time on its Xbox Live Indie Games service. In an email to developers, the company says it has begun “the sunsetting process” for the program, which encourages anyone without a studio or dedicated business to create games for the Xbox 360, by locking down new signups ahead of a late-2017 shutdown. What does that mean for you? Well, developers have been told they have exactly a year to get their games ready for publishing. You’ll then get an extra year after that to enjoy their projects (as well as the ones already published), before the indie store is closed forever. You will still be able to download and play the games you’ve bought in the past, though.
When Microsoft introduced the Xbox One and it didn’t feature the Indie Games channel, the Xbox Live Indie Games’ fate was effectively sealed. Xbox One developers are encouraged to sign up for the ID@Xbox program instead, which allows them to work directly with Microsoft to publish new titles to the console. While the Xbox 360 is now considered an old console, 84 million of them have been sold since 2005 and will still be present in living rooms and kids’ bedrooms all over the world. Gamers can maybe find solace in the fact that the majority of blockbuster games for the platform will now cost a lot less.
Filed under:
Gaming, Microsoft
Via:
Gamasutra
Source:
Xbox Forums
Tags: microsoft, xbox, xbox 360, Xbox Live Indie Games. indie, xbox360
AMD spins off Radeon graphics into new division
AMD has formed a new Radeon graphics division and put its highly-regarded CTO, Raja Koduri, in charge. The Radeon Technologies Group will run quasi-independently of AMD with the goal of recapturing market share from NDVIDIA and “staking leadership positions in new markets such as virtual and augmented reality,” according to CEO Dr. Lisa Su. Koduri is a key figure in the graphics industry who developed the first DirectX 9 graphics cards. He later helped Apple build its Retina program during a tenure as graphics CTO before returning to AMD in 2013.
When AMD bought ATI for $5.4 billion in 2006, its aim was to develop all-in-one “APU” chips that do both graphics and CPU chores. That worked out well in some ways, as both the Xbox One and Playstation 4 consoles use custom versions of its 64-bit APUs. However, AMD’s processors and graphics cards haven’t fared well against its main rivals, Intel and NVIDIA, and sales have dropped precipitously since it bought ATI.
So why the split? Under Koduri’s leadership, the company wants Radeon to flourish on its own as a “more agile, vertically-integrated graphics organization,” as Su put it. New technologies like 4K and virtual reality demand the latest graphics technology, and “AMD is one of the few companies with the engineering talent and IP to make emerging immersive computing opportunities a reality,” said Koduri. On the other hand, VR and immersive tech is brand new, so nobody’s making any money from it yet.
It’s possible that AMD is priming its Radeon division for a sale, though it’s also rumored to be getting a private equity cash injection. Either way, the company needs to turn things around quickly — despite the console success, its market share in both discreet and graphics card sales has tumbled. If anyone can turn things around, it’s Koduri, but he certainly has his work cut out for him.
Filed under:
Desktops, Gaming, Laptops
Via:
Games Industry
Source:
AMD
Tags: AMD, chips, Graphics, Radeon, spinoff
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