Recommended Reading: The influence of the ‘Super Mario Bros.’ soundtrack
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you’ll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read.
How Video Games Influenced Popular Music
by Hua Hsu
The New Yorker
Andrew Schartmann’s new book, Koji Kondo’s Super Mario Bros. Soundtrack, discusses how Nintendo’s first dedicated sound designer completely changed music in games. Kondo’s iconic music for that title not only provided some of the most memorable tunes of the era, but also influenced gaming and music for many years after. The New Yorker offers a brief glimpse at the book, explaining how Kondo’s work changed video game development, too. “As a result of the collaboration behind Super Mario, during which graphics and audio were developed in tandem, games became more of an all-sensory experience,” notes Hua Hsu.
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How Airbnb is Taking Over Paris Officials in Pairs may have their hands full with UberPOP, but another startup is taking over the city, too. This graphic-driven piece shows how Airbnb is giving visitors more options, but raising concerns among the locals. |
So, You’re Thinking About Flying Your Drone Through Fireworks You didn’t think we’d let the Fourth of July pass without mention, did you? Fireworks are the tradition here in the States after a buffet of burgers and hot dogs. Thinking about using a drone to get a better view? You better use caution. |
[Image credit: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File]
‘Minecraft’ beta for Windows 10 will pit you against mobile friends
Microsoft and Mojang don’t just have a story-based Minecraft game to show at Minecon 2015 — they’re also revealing a beta version of Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition. This release will ditch the less than ideal Java code of desktop versions in favor of native Windows code, and shares some roots with the Pocket Edition you typically find on phones. You’ll even get to build worlds with those mobile players through an update that should hit “soon” after the beta arrives. And to no one’s surprise, the construction title will do a lot to take advantage of Windows 10’s many Xbox tie-ins, such as 8-way multiplayer (both locally and on Xbox Live) and game video recording. The beta will be ready on July 29th, and it’ll be free if you already have the existing PC version. If you’re new to all this, it’ll cost $10 to get in during the test phase.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Source: Xbox Wire
Here’s your first look at Telltale’s ‘Minecraft: Story Mode’ game
The people behind Minecraft just kicked off Minecon 2015 with a bang. At the fan convention’s opening ceremony, Mojang’s Lydia Winters debuted the first trailer for Minecraft: Story Mode, an upcoming title from Telltale Games. Yep, the same developer behind the point-and-click games The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us. As you might expect, Story Mode combines the game’s blocky aesthetic with a branching, narrative-based adventure. Players take control of Jesse, who has to find the fabled “Order of the Stone” with his friends to save the world from destruction. There’s a panel later today with the Mojang and Telltale folks, so we suspect we’ll hear a lot more details then.
Filed under: Gaming
Source: Telltale Games (YouTube)
This is the Nintendo PlayStation that almost was
It might seem crazy today, but in the early ’90s Nintendo and Sony were working together on a video game accessory that’d add CD capabilities to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. There would also be a separate Sony console that’d play SNES cartridge games and titles for the SNES CD system dubbed the PlayStation. As legend tells it, the deal went sour when Nintendo instead announced a partnership with Sony’s competitor Philips for the optical add-on at the same CES that Sony unveiled its Nintendo-centric PlayStation. The rest is history. What you see above might as well be a unicorn, then.
Reddit user Analogueboy recently posted pictures of what looks like a prototype of the original PlayStation, saying that it was in a box of his dad’s junk. Apparently his pops had worked with someone named Olaf who was employed by the Mario company, who then left the console behind in a box of rummage.
As many have reported, this Olaf could possibly be the founder of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson. That may or may not be true, but as far as we can tell this device isn’t a fake. There’s video evidence below and many more photos at the source link if you want to play detective for yourself.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony, Nintendo
Via: Reddit
Source: Assembler Games
Politician against violent games pleads guilty in gun-running case
Oh, the irony. Disgraced former senator Leland Yee has pleaded guilty to charges of taking bribes in exchange for votes, racketeering and promising to smuggle guns into the US from the Philippines. Of course, like so many beautiful twists of fate, Yee was a prominent moral crusader who led a campaign against violent video games. The senator authored AB-1179, legislation that would have outlawed the sale of said titles to California’s teens, which was defeated by the Supreme Court. Way to keep our kids safe, Leels.
As part of the deal Yee has made, he’ll only face punishment for the racketeering charge, with the other offenses dismissed. That doesn’t mean he’s off the hook, however, since he’s still facing up to 20 years in jail and a $250,000 fine, not to mention repaying the money he received as bribes. Yee’s sentencing hearing is pencilled in for October 21st, which is when we’ll find out for sure how long he’s going to have to spend behind bars. Sing it with us, Leland, “It’s like rain, on your wedding day…”
Filed under: Gaming
Source: Department of Justice
N64 controller modded to (sort of) work with the Xbox One
Microsoft has an exorbitant $150 controller coming this year that it hopes will make up for the Xbox One’s middling gamepad, but that won’t make the upcoming Rare Replay feel any more authentic when you play. The folks at Hyperkin — makers of the Retron 5 console — know this and set forth a challenge: mod a Nintendo 64 controller to work with Microsoft’s latest game console. And they succeeded. Mostly. As you’ll see in the video below, the three-pronged paddle can navigate the console’s dashboard and select apps, but, since there’s only one analog stick, that rules out it playing nicely with a vast majority of modern games. The wiring is a bit wonky and certain inputs trigger at random, but, from the sounds of it, the project is far from over.
The plan is to make “an awesome controller” work in time for Rare Replay‘s release. Does that mean Hyperkin will actually sell an N64-styled controller for the game? It sounds like a possibility. We’ve reached out to the company for more info and will update this post should we hear back.
[Image credit: Reintji/Flickr]
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Via: Kotaku
Source: Chris Gallizzi (YouTube)
Bing Pong is a wonderful, terrible distraction from your searches
We hope you aren’t curious about Nolan Bushnell’s game development history… you may find yourself sucked into a time sink. Microsoft has quietly added an option to play Pong in Bing (Bing Pong, get it?) if you search for the digital table tennis classic in your browser. It’s not a novel concept, and it certainly isn’t the most advanced — Google’s Cube Slam experiment is on another level. It’s surprisingly addictive, however, and might offer just the right amount of ’70s gaming nostalgia to tide you over when you’re stuck at work.
Filed under: Gaming, Internet, Microsoft
Via: Microsoft-News
Source: Bing
JXE Streams: An early, eerie look at ‘We Happy Few’
Drugs, check. Dystopia, check. An alternative 1960s English town with a terrifying history, check. We Happy Few ticks a lot of my boxes in its premise alone, plus the art direction seems spot-on and the characters already feel real. Take Uncle Jack for example: He’s a talk-show host with a permanent smile fixed on his painted face, and he says things like, “Of course, none of us had to do anything terrible when the Germans were here. No, no. At least, I can’t remember anything. Can you?” And then he laughs in a way that suggests, yes, everyone in this small English town definitely did something awful. One thing remains unclear about We Happy Few so far: How it plays. We’re going to find out today live on Twitch with a super-early, pre-alpha build of the game. Even though Compulsion still has to add more AI behaviors, world-building elements, combat mechanics and other features, they’ve given us the go-ahead to show off the early world of Wellington Wells. Join us at 3:30PM ET / 12:30PM PT right here, on the Engadget Gaming homepage or at Twitch.tv/Joystiq.
Play ‘Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’ on your Wii U
At long last, you can play one of the best Legend of Zelda games (often considered the best) on your Wii U. Nintendo has released a Virtual Console version of Ocarina of Time for its latest TV console on the eShop, giving you an easy way to relive Link’s classic time-traveling adventure without taking your dusty old Nintendo 64 (or original Wii) out of storage. You might not relish the thought of plunking down $10 for a 17-year-old game, especially if you’ve already bought it twice, but it beats watching a groundbreaking title fade from memory.
Source: BusinessWire, Nintendo
BlueStacks emulator puts Android apps on your OS X Mac
The BlueStacks Android emulator, which already has around 90 million Windows users, has finally arrived on OSX after an extended beta testing phase. The free emulator runs both x86 and ARM-based apps as well as provides full keyboard and mouse support. It even allows for gesture controls like pinch to zoom with a trackpad and takes advantage of your Mac’s Retina display. Users can sync files and data from their mobile devices or pull new apps from Google Play directly to their Mac. You can download the program directly from the BlueStacks website.
Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Internet, Software, Apple, Google
Via: SlashGear
Source: BlueStacks
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