ICYMI: Gameroulette, 3D-glass printing and more

Today on In Case You Missed It: An MIT group built a 3D printer that extrudes glass rather than plastic; they believe the technology could be used to make cheaper fiber optic cables. Chatroulette users were treated to a surprise live first-person shooter game that pitted them against creepy zombies. The rest of us totally missed out. A new tech-enabled bartending buddy would sync with its smartphone app and walk you through making the perfect cocktail: All for $39.

And we break down the biggest headlines of the week. Obviously there’s the Ashley Madison hacking mess but more importantly, science is making diamonds! Are these two pieces of news linked, somehow?

If you come across any interesting videos, we’d love to see them. Just tweet us with the #ICYMI hashtag @engadget or @mskerryd.

Finally, the housekeeping: I’m on vacation all next week, so please be kind to the fill-ins!

Filed under:
Misc, Gaming, Networking, Science, Internet

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Tags: 3DPrintedGlass, 3Dprinting, AshleyMadison, AshleyMadisonhacked, Chatroulette, Chatroulettegaming, diamonds, engadgetdailyshow, engadgetvideo, fi, fiberopticcables, firstpersonshootergame, hacked, hacking, icymi, InCaseYouMissedIt, livegame, MIT, video, Zombiegame

10 people will get to play a 24-screen game of Minesweeper

I’m not quite keen on playing a massive game of Minesweeper when a tiny one is enough to make me go nuclear. But hey, if you’ve aways dreamt of playing it on 24 high-definition displays, you can send in an application to participate in the Minesweeper Super Challenge by a company called Cinemassive. To celebrate Minesweeper’s 30th anniversary, Cinemassive is having 10 people compete on a gargantuan screen. Because, obviously, nothing quite celebrates pushing gamers everywhere to the edge for 30 years than having to clear 38,799 mines. The project page says you’ll be able to play “from the comfort of your home,” so we’re assuming you’d be able to control the company’s setup remotely if you’re chosen. Before you apply, note that you get three tries before you’re out, and you only have 12 hours to beat the game. I’d definitely understand, though, if you ragequit somewhere in the middle.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/135286899?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0

Filed under:
Gaming

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Via:
Boingboing

Source:
Cinemassive

Tags: minesweeper

Tinder gets a lo-fi makeover in ‘Millenial Swipe Simulator 2015’

If you’ve been using Tinder for long enough chances are that you’ve opened the app in the morning with some rather surprising matches. Brainlessly swiping right on whoever fits the bill for you in the hopes that they’ll do the same and you’ll potentially have a love connection is part of the experience. It’s this sort of activity the web-based Millenial Swipe Sim 2015 aims to replicate. In the “game” you have to keep swiping (regardless of direction) to keep your boredom meter from filling lest you die. Seriously. Funnily enough, developer Will Herring (a Buzzfeed creative director and former GamePro (R.I.P.) editor) managed sneaking some of the app’s quirks in. Like people in group photos and the same profiles that keep popping up repeatedly, for example. What’s missing though are wedding shots from the altar or church steps and profiles consisting entirely of photos of one’s children. Maybe in the next update?

Herring tells Motherboard that the concept of app-based dating is something he’s still trying to wrap his head around given the weird dichotomy of people not taking it seriously despite it becoming “the standard” for how people meet and start relationships. I mean, if a literal piece of meat can do it, that’s saying something. How many swipes can you hit before departing this mortal coil? My record is 19 and not once did I see someone holding their newborn in the delivery room or lounging at a rooftop bar in a bikini.

Filed under:
Cellphones, Gaming, Mobile

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Via:
Motherboard

Source:
Millenial Swipe Simulator 2015 (Dropbox)

Tags: 8bit, appdating, buzzfeed, gaming, hope, humanity, indiegame, love, lowfi, mobile, mobilepostcross, onlinedating, tinder, willherring

‘Half-Life 2’ plus ‘Hotline Miami’ equals ‘Half-Line Miami’

What’s better than a pixelated, top-down gorefest set to frenetic synth music? A pixelated, top-down gorefest set to frenetic synth music with a gravity gun. Half-Line Miami is an unapologetic mix of Half-Life 2, Valve’s massively popular 2004 first-person shooter, and Hotline Miami, the ultra-violent top-down action franchise from Dennaton Games. Both games have secured their places in video game history and they’re now together at last in one free PC game, complete with a level editor.

Half-Line Miami comes from developer Thomas Kole, with music by Sung. Kole created Half-Line Miami at Belgium’s Digital Arts and Entertainment, a school for video game development and visual effects. In the release trailer’s YouTube description, Kole adds, “I made this game as a declaration of my love for these two games, and as an experiment in game design.”

Filed under:
Gaming, HD

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Via:
Kotaku

Source:
Half-Line Miami

Tags: HalfLife2, halflinemiami, hdpostcross, HotlineMiami, Indie

NVIDIA is testing online game sharing for GeForce Experience

You know that awesome PlayStation 4 feature that lets you digitally “pass” your controller to a friend over the internet? Soon you’ll be able do that on a PC, too. The next big update to NVIDIA’s GeForce Experience software includes something called GameStream Co-op — a feature that pipes your games audio, video and controls to a friend over a low-latency stream. It’s basically the same thing as PS4 SharePlay, and it sounds just as spectacular.

Here’s how it works: the next version of GeForce Experience’s early-access beta will include a new in-game overlay interface that can be accessed without minimizing your PC game. Within this menu, there will be a new “share” option to invite your friends to watch you play your game live. When they do, the host will be able to give watchers control over the game remotely or add them as a second player to a local multiplayer experience. It sounds like a great way to play great couch games (like Duck Game or Towerfall) with your friends online.

You’ll have to wait a little while before these features go mainstream, though: NVIDIA has only announced them for the next version of the GeForce Experience early access beta. That’ll drop sometimes in September, and presumably the features will roll out to regular users after further testing. Check out the company’s official post on the updates at the source link below.

Filed under:
Gaming, NVIDIA

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Source:
NVIDIA

Tags: nvidia, nvidiagamestream, nvidiageforceexperience, pcgames, shareplay, streaming

‘Gunjack’ producer on making virtual reality work for mobile

“Mobile VR doesn’t have to mean [physically] moving around, but rather something you can access as easily in a café or a plane as you can at home. It was a choice made from day one: to create a fun and accessible experience by being static.”

JC Gaudechon, executive producer at CCP, the Icelandic developer famous for the massive space MMO EVE Online, is speaking about Gunjack, a demo turned fully fledged game for Gear VR, Samsung’s mobile virtual reality headset. Gaudechon has spent the last six months shifting the project into a downloadable Gear VR title as CCP’s betting big on the second coming of VR. With its upcoming blockbuster Valkyrie dogfighting sim, the studio’s positioned as a major launch partner for both the Oculus Rift and Sony Morpheus headsets next year. But Gunjack is not Valkyrie. Built from the ground-up for mobile, it required a totally different approach from its better-known stablemate. It required learning how to make VR work on the smallest scale.

Gunjack‘s origins can be traced to the EVE Fanfest, CCP’s annual gathering in Reykjavik for all things EVE Online. There, attendees were offered a Samsung Gear VR demo called Project Nemesis, which gave a short taste of what it’s like to control a single turret on one of the EVE universe’s giant spaceships. At the time, it was unclear if anything would come of Nemesis — it was just one of multiple demos at the event. But then at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, this month, the company showed off the near-final game, complete with a new name.

When I first met Gaudechon at EVE Fanfest, he explained how his team translated the company’s enormous universe to the small screen: “First, focus in on the concept. Don’t try to go outside what the hardware or the game can give you. … Embrace the limitations.” In practice, that means working with the Gear VR’s sole input: the touchpad. Mounted on the right side of the headset, the touchpad’s capable of acting like four buttons, as well as accepting swipe gestures. For Gunjack, which requires the player to remain seated while controlling the in-game turret with head movement, the entire touchpad functions as a single button to fire projectiles and take out enemies. It’s a far cry from the experience of piloting an entire spaceship in Valkyrie, but it has to be.

Samsung’s Gear VR has limited input options.

The only other control is a simple swipe to reload. “The point is not to go into a very complex experience, putting multiple inputs on different parts of the panel to shoot at stuff,” Gaudechon said. “Just have one button; make it fun; and put a smile on [the player’s] face after five seconds.”

“VR has a long way to go to become something that doesn’t make half the world dizzy.”

— JC Gaudechon, CCP

For all its good looks — and it does look surprisingly gorgeous for a game powered by a smartphone — Gunjack plays out like an old-school arcade shooter: Waves of enemies fly around firing projectiles at you, and you need to destroy them all. Speaking at Gamescom, Gaudechon revealed that missions have been pared down to allow for shorter play sessions, something key for a mobile experience, and for VR in general. “That’s to make sure it’s not too tiring for you,” he said. “We experimented with how much we can put in your eyes before it gets too much.” The average Gunjack mission lasts between three to five minutes, after which the player can decide if they’re up for another challenge, or need to take a break. “VR has a long way to go to become something that doesn’t make half the world dizzy.”

What CCP has created with Gunjack is a hat trick of sorts: It’s a mobile game, an arcade game and a game that feels like it belongs in VR. The headset provides the immersion, and the visual polish and simplicity of the controls prevent players from being taken out of the experience. Firing by tapping on the panel, reloading with a swipe and aiming with ease (you just tilt your head and look at the enemy) — it all works perfectly. There are over 20 missions planned for the final game, all of which add replayability for perfectionists by rating performances with stars. It’s easily the most fun I’ve had with a smartphone strapped to my head. The question remains, though: How much do you charge for it?

‘Gunjack’ is easily the most fun I’ve had with a smartphone strapped to my head.

Without any obvious in-game, micro-transactional hooks, CCP definitely needs to make some money by charging up front. “It’s quite early for the Oculus Store,” said Gaudechon. “There aren’t thousands of products there. We’re trying to be cautious. It’s got to be within the mobile range. … We can’t expect people to pay [console prices].” Although Gaudechon won’t talk specifics, it seems that a game with such high production values might be able to command $5 or even $10, especially given the lack of quality content for the Gear VR right now.

The content problem works both ways, though. While VR games remain few and far between, so will headset sales at the outset. That’s likely why Samsung and Oculus have been so supportive of CCP’s efforts in the space. If VR is to have a future outside of the home, it will need more than CCP and Samsung on board. Perhaps if Gunjack does well, it may persuade other large developers to start creating similarly focused mobile VR experiences.

Images: CCP

Filed under:
Gaming, HD, Mobile

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Tags: ccp, eve-online, gamescom, gamescom-2015, gamescom2015, gearvr, hdpostcross, mobilepostcross, uk-feature, video