Live eSports! In VR! On your face!
ESL and Sliver.tv are teaming up for the first ever eSports VR livestream of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) and League of Legends during Intel’s Extreme Masters Oakland tournament next week (November 19th and 20th). The coverage will be available on nearly every mobile and PC platform, including Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Gear VR and others. It’ll drop you into the middle of the action with a 360-degree birds-eye view and first-person player perspectives, in the case of Counter-Strike.
Viewers will also see real-time stats like kills with different weapons and multi-kill streaks by player and round. “Having a real-time, in-depth look at everything that happens in a CS:GO match is … only possible in a VR environment,” says ESL Product Manager Stuart Ewen.
Having watched highlights from the ESL One New York CS:GO tournament on a Gear VR, I can confirm that it’s an easy and immersive way to follow the action compared to a regular stream. It did choke sometimes and drop to a lower resolution on my Galaxy S6 Edge, despite the fact that I have a 1 Gbps fiber connection. That may be down to a previous-gen smartphone and the fact that I’m in France, but obviously you’ll need an excellent connection to tune it at any kind of a decent resolution.
Sliver.tv is a pretty new startup and isn’t the only company doing VR streaming, but as Techcrunch notes, it made the canny decision to focus on big eSports titles like Dota 2, CS:GO and League of Legends. That’s helping it to gain notoriety, as those three titles alone have around 140 million fans.
If you have a VR headset and are interested in tuning in, you can get the best experience by downloading the Gear VR, Oculus Rift, or HTC Vive apps. You can also download the iOS and Android apps to watch in mobile Panorama 360 or use Google Cardboard.
Nintendo’s mini NES is out today
You may want to ready your wallets and your mouse-clicking fingers for the NES Classic’s launch today. Some fans who attended the midnight event at Nintendo’s New York offices were already able to get one, but don’t worry: you can grab your own from several retailers. Amazon, for one, has sent out emails informing customers that it’ll start selling the retro-console in “very limited quantities” starting at 2PM PT/5PM ET later. The online shopping giant warns that it expects demands to be high and that “there’s no guarantee that it will remain in stock for long.” If you’re looking to buy from Amazon, make sure to bookmark the device’s page and set an alarm.
Amazon isn’t the only place where you can grab a NES Classic, though. Best Buy and Target have product pages up and running, but both websites indicate that you can only get a unit in store. You’ll have to go to one of the big-box stores’ locations to actually buy the device. GameStop’s website wouldn’t let us put one in our virtual cart either, but you can try ringing up a brick-and-mortar outlet to ask if they have any for sale. In the UK, stores have little to no stock and marketplace sellers are already offering the console at more than double its recommended retail price.
The NES Classic is a tiny version of the old console we’re sure a lot of you played as kids. It comes pre-loaded with 30 games, including several Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy and Zelda titles. And, yes, you can save so you can pick up where you left off later. The console will set you back $60/£50, but since it only comes bundled with one controller and you can buy another separately, you may have end up spending a bit more money than that.
The Morning After: Friday, November 11, 2016
It’s Friday: Do you know where your virtual reality headset is? We have reviews of Google’s Daydream View and the new Surface Book laptop, plus a “perfect” mobile game called “RunGunJumpGun.”
Childhood nostalgia incomingThe NES Classic Edition has arrived
Nintendo’s miniaturized NES emulator is officially on sale today. The $60 hunk of nostalgia will be sold on Amazon at 2PM ET, so set a reminder if you can’t stop by a local Best Buy, Gamestop or Target to pick one up. Even if you don’t buy one immediately, expect more impressions from us soon.
The laptop to beat doesn’t come cheapReview: Surface Book (2016)
This year’s Surface Book has very few flaws. It’s well-crafted and has a comfortable keyboard, a vibrant screen, fast performance and even longer battery life than last year’s model. As ever, you’ll pay dearly for the privilege, and the relatively heavy weight and imbalanced weight distribution make it less portable than lighter systems. With that heft, though, comes incredible battery life and no shortage of port options.
It doesn’t completely reinvent mobile VR, but it’s a good stepReview: Google’s Daydream View VR headset
Google’s Daydream View is here, and it’s a solid first attempt at a mobile VR headset from the company that gave us Android. Importantly, it’s comfortable, and VR experiences look great. The only problem is there aren’t many apps available for it yet — and we need more Daydream-compatible phones. At the moment, users are limited to Google’s own Pixel handsets.
Daydream streamerYouTube’s VR app is Daydream-only for now
Now that Google’s VR platform is available, it’s launched the official VR app for YouTube. You’ll need the new phone and headset to access it, since it’s not on any other platforms yet, but now you can watch anything from the streaming site in its virtual confines. That includes 360-degree videos, or just regular stuff projected on an imaginary screen, along with voice search and all your existing subscriptions.
Didn’t see that one comingTrump’s win shows our polling industry needs a lot of work
Election 2016 sparked discussion for a number of reasons, but one of the biggest shock came to pollsters. So did Nate Silver and everyone else just forget how to do their job, or was something else at work? We took a look at the methods and results of polling data to present some possibilities for why the predictions ended up being so different from what we got.
Please exit the country on the left coast, watch for the closing doors …Hyperloop’s co-founder is funding a campaign for California to secede
Billionaire Shervin Pishevar’s family escaped being marked for death by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, and he’s not waiting around to see what happens with Donald Trump. Asked yesterday about his comments in support of a so-called Calexit, Pishevar said he was serious, and to expect announcements soon.
The real spectacle is how rare they areSnapchat’s hard-to-get shades will be available only via vending machine
If you want a pair of Snapchat’s circular video-recording sunglasses, you’ll need to find a SnapBot machine. So far there’s only one, located near the company’s headquarters in LA. It’s already run out, and pairs are already selling for $900 on eBay. The best way to get a pair is probably by watching the Spectacles Twitter account, or hitting the home page that lists where bots are available.
Two buttons, a world of possibilitiesA “damn-near-perfect” mobile game?
ThirtyThreeGames programmer Logan Gilmour says, “We weren’t out to just make an infinite runner mobile game that’s run-of-the-mill,” and Aaron Souppouris agrees. “RunGunJumpGun” is out for iOS and Android, with challenging gameplay built around two inputs: shoot and jump. According to Aaron, “it’s perhaps the most challenging, rewarding and downright fun mobile game of the year,” and it’s available for $3 on iTunes, Steam and Google Play.
But wait, there’s more…
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Bungie gives ‘Destiny’ streamers a signal boost
While it’s never been easier for PC and console players to stream their Destiny exploits, finding players who provide insight and entertainment in equal measure isn’t easy. Twitch provides a listing of top channels, but Destiny streams don’t always figure in amongst popular League of Legends, DOTA 2 and Hearthstone broadcasts.
To fix this, Bungie has taken Twitch’s API, worked out when streamers are playing Destiny and will soon incorporate Twitch streams directly into its Companion website. Viewers can browse based on following, whether a streamer is trending or undertaking a specific raid or quest that might be particularly hard to beat.
Just like on Twitch, watchers can engage with streamers and fellow viewers in Twitch Chat, but also see exactly what the player has equipped at any given moment. It’s useful not only to see what gear they might be missing out on, but also to see how a particular load-out might help dispatch a particularly difficult boss. It also means the streamer doesn’t have to waste time explaining their roll, allowing them to get on with the important tasks at hand.
The new feature isn’t just aimed at top streamers who play games for a living. When Bungie’s Twitch integration goes live, any Destiny player will be able to host their own stream on their profile page. Anyone hosting more than 77 non-consecutive hours on a channel linked to their Bungie.net account will get a “Can’t Stop The Signal” emblem, showing the rest of the Destiny player base they’re kind of a big deal.
Source: Bungie
Oculus is bringing VR to lower-end PCs today
The term “asynchronous spacewarp” might sound like a meaningless jumble of techno-jargon, but it’s a big deal if you’re into virtual reality. It’s the new technology from Oculus, which is officially launching today, that’ll let you run the Rift VR headset on much lower-specced hardware than before. Typically, you’d need a beefy rig to run games at 90 frames per second, which is necessary for ensuring a smooth VR experience. Using frame interpolation techniques, aysnchronous spacewarp is able to deliver similarly smooth gameplay when you’re running at just 45 frames per second.
So what does this mean for you? If you’ve got an aging gaming rig, there’s a chance that you can actually run the Oculus Rift today. While the company previously required an NVIDIA GTX 970 or AMD Radeon 290 GPU at the minimum, now you can run any NVIDIA 900 or 1000 series GPU (including the GTX 960), or any AMD RX 400 series card.
Still, Oculus is making it clear the feature isn’t a complete replacement for a decent rig; it’s positioning it as more of a stopgap for gamers who have yet to upgrade. Once you’ve got a more powerful system, you’ll probably never end up seeing asynchronous spacewarp in action. Developers will also have to ensure their games continue to run at a smooth 90FPS on Oculus’s recommended computer specs.
In other news, the company also revealed that you’ll be able to create Oculus Avatars starting on December 6th to coincide with the launch of its new Touch controllers. You won’t need that new gear to design an avatar, but lucky Touch owners will be able to use their new virtual selves in Sports Bar VR and Kingspray. Developers will be able to integrate the avatars into their games on December 6th, as well. Oculus is also launching a new retro experience, First Contact, that will give you a few ways to learn about the Touch controllers.
Source: Oculus
Nintendo’s big Miitomo update adds chat and room customization
Nintendo is trying to get back all the Miitomo players it lost by releasing features a quasi-social network should have had from the start. The biggest addition that comes with its huge November update? Chat. Players can now send messages to each other in app by sending Mii characters as cute, little avatar messengers. They can now customize their rooms, as well, using wallpapers and flooring from the Miitomo Drop game and posters created from their own photos.
The third big feature that comes with the November upgrade is the ability to display outfits that other players can vote on. Those in the mood to connect with other players can head over to Answer Central, which is sort of a forum where they can reply to people’s questions. Finally, they can create Mii sidekicks that look like anyone they want to become the Robin to their Batman. While those make up the biggest new features, players will also get Mario and Luigi items, among other freebies. We guess we can only wait and see if all these are enough to lure players back into the game.
Source: Nintendo (1), (2)
‘RunGunJumpGun’ is a damn near-perfect mobile game
Fast-paced, reaction-based, “twitch” games have always been my thing, but rarely have they ever been this simple. RunGunJumpGun blends the brutal level design of a twitch game, the accessibility of an automatic runner and one of the most intuitive control schemes ever conceived. I first played it in early September, just after it launched on Steam. Despite having just two inputs — shoot and jump — there’s an awful lot more to the game.
Ostensibly, it’s an automatic runner — think Canabalt or the upcoming Mario iOS game — but with a wealth of gameplay mechanics and ideas added on top. You’re always just running, gunning or jumping, of course, but through intelligent level design and a masterful difficulty curve, it stays fresh and taxing throughout its 120 levels.
Today, RunGunJumpGun is out for iOS and Android, and it’s perhaps the most challenging, rewarding and downright fun mobile game of the year. Before its release, I spoke with the team behind the title, ThirtyThree Games, to find out how they managed to get so much game out of just two buttons.
“We weren’t out to just make an infinite runner mobile game that’s run-of-the-mill,” said programmer Logan Gilmour. “We were hoping it would stand more among PC games than mobile games, but then play equally well on mobile.” ThirtyThree Games set out to emulate the rush of games like Super Meat Boy, VVVVVV and Hotline Miami, and they nailed it. The game has the same fast pace and “live, die, repeat” mentality, for sure. But its control scheme and structure make it a very different experience overall, and one that stands alone without the need for comparisons.
At its core, RunGunJumpGun is about balancing the two inputs. “Jumping,” in this game, is actually more like flying — your character aims their gun downwards and will ride upwards while you hold down the button. You also need to shoot enemies and obstacles in front of you, but as soon as you do, you start to lose altitude. Several times per second, you’ll be deciding which button to press, but you never move your fingers apart from to push down. One button, one finger.
Removing all the other controls completely strips away everything between you and the game. “It lets you fall into a trance, and that’s kind of a big thing for the game, getting people lost in it,” said music and story designer Jordan Bloemen. “[Players] aren’t focusing on what they’re trying to do with a controller, they’re just trying to manage two buttons … Beyond that everything can just kind of wash over them.”
“It lets you fall into a trance, and that’s kind of a big thing for the game, getting people lost in it.”
Stripping away controls has its issues, though. You’re removing a lot of the tools that gamers are typically given to overcome to the challenges placed in front of them. It’s easy for that to become annoying, but although you will certainly be frustrated by RunGunJumpGun at points — some levels had me dying maybe 30 times in a row — you’ll be frustrated at your lack of skill, not at the game itself.
That sense of fairness is key to twitch games. When one hit can kill, developers getting something wrong is difficult to stomach. Take Furi, a boss rush game released earlier this year. It’s generally superb, but there are several moments where it seems the game is unfair — maybe a parry timing is off, a hit box not quite right. As a result, I constantly put it down for weeks at a time in frustration. As mentioned, I struggled massively with some levels in RunGunJumpGun but I never once felt the urge to stop. I always knew it was my fault I was dying.
I struggled massively with some levels, but I never once felt the urge to stop. I always knew it was my fault I was dying.
A lot of work went into making RunGunJumpGun, its levels and each second of gameplay, feel fair yet challenging. There are small things, like making levels “concave,” so your character can’t get caught in a cove and die, or ensuring that the automated movement “is always the speed you want to go at,” but the truly interesting tweaks are invisible.
ThirtyThree Games used analytics and testers to analyze every second of gameplay. “We let a lot of people play the game, and we could see these big spikes where everyone was dying,” explained Bloemen. The team then acted on that data in different ways. Some levels were simply reordered for a smoother difficulty curve, but others were changed on a second-by-second level. “We collected the actual position where every person died,” said Gilmour. “So we could see where everyone was being killed by one hazard, and then just take the hazard out.”
The team would iteratively re-order and smooth out the levels, then bring in a new group of testers that hadn’t played before and see what the new data looked like. Their own little live, die, repeat loop, as it were. The importance of curving difficulty, according to the team, is paramount. “Especially the first world, that’s kind of make-or-break, said Bloemen. “That’s where you’re going to piss someone off and they’re not going to play anymore.”
It’s tough to find a better example of a difficulty curve done right.
While the first world (there are three, each containing 40 levels) hooked me; the second made me fall in love. It’s there that the developers start throwing a bunch of new elements at you, and it’s tough to find a better example of a difficulty curve done right.
Take the first ten minutes or so of world two: It starts by introducing a new mechanic — screen warping, which allows you to fly out the top of the screen and appear at the bottom, or vice versa. Then, it asks you to use screen warping to navigate a complex level. Then, it makes you do that with pin-point accuracy — one false move and you’re dead. Finally, you’ve nailed it. Of course, before you have time to relax, turrets are added. Then force fields. Then spaceships that shoot at you. Finally, fire turrets — the barrage of new elements feels like it never ends.
Removing the deaths, the section amounts to maybe three minutes of gameplay. In that time, you’ll have learned and mastered multiple new mechanics and hazards. Although the deaths will come thick and thin, no single level transition is too challenging, But if you skipped any given minute, the leap in difficulty would be near insurmountable.
Later in the game, some of these new mechanics take a little longer to get used to. The addition of water in particular threw me off for a while, because the movement physics are completely different. The final few levels are also an exception, as the difficulty is pretty much just ratcheted up to 11. But the general curve, and the way new ideas are introduced, is nothing short of perfect.
While data obviously had huge impact on defining the game’s structure, it wasn’t always enough. The team had their own thoughts on how enjoyable or challenging each level was, and there’s not a linear line of difficulty from beginning to end. “It’s important to have a little bumpiness in that curve,” said Gilmour. “Sometimes when we bring in a new mechanic, we make the first version of that a little harder. But you overcome it, and then the next time it’s easier, and you get a nice win, it feels like you’re getting some mastery.”
It also helps that playing the game feels great. The pixel art is bright and easy to follow, while the EDM soundtrack mixes menacing bass with light melodies that reminded me of another twitch favorite of mine, Electronic Super Joy. Like ESJ, rather than taking itself seriously, RunGunJumpGun is filled with humor. Some of this comes through dialog — there’s a story told through one-liners before each level — but a lot is down to the game itself. I lost track of the number of times I fell into an obvious trap, or a spinning disc bounced up at just the right moment to kill me — there’s a deviousness to the level design that, when coupled with the quick and colorful restart animation, actually makes dying as funny as it is frustrating.
There’s a final piece to RunGunJumpGun I’ve neglected to mention, and it’s perhaps the thing that’ll keep you coming back: Atomiks, the game’s name for the 10 tokens scattered throughout each level. Taking the “Atomik path” will bring you closer to death than any other path through a level, essentially making it “the nastiest way to play,” according to Gilmour. A tone chimes when you collect an Atomik, increasing in pitch each time to form a satisfying musical scale.
They’re almost like false waypoints, tempting you off the safer path at every opportunity. But collecting Atomiks is also the way you unlock more worlds, and “completing” the game is collecting them all. The path to victory is littered with near-endless death.
I played RunGunJumpGun a lot on PC, and grew deeply attached to it. As such, I was a little worried about how the game would handle on mobile. There’s a tactile immediacy about hammering away on a keyboard that’s just missing from a phone or a tablet. But my concerns were unfounded. The simplicity of the layout — tap the left side of the screen for jump, the right side for gun — means that you don’t miss the tactile feedback too much. I do think the game controls a little better with a keyboard, but being able to play it anywhere more than makes up for that.
“Personally, my favorite way to play it is on iPad,” said Gilmour. “It’s killer, the screen is really responsive, and you’re holding this thing, it reminds me of playing a Game Boy when I was a kid.” I have to agree. It’s great to jump into for a couple of minutes at a time, or to completely zone out with for an hour. I’ve handed the game to a few friends, and even those that don’t typically enjoy twitch games had a good time.
RunGunJumpGun is out now for iOS and will be released imminently for Android, priced at $2.99. There’s been some talk of a PlayStation Vita port in the future, but that’s very much in the “research to see if it makes sense” phase, according to Bloemen. Oh, and if playing on a PC or Mac is more your speed, the price of the Steam version of the game is going to drop down to $2.99 temporarily as well. In case it wasn’t clear, whatever your platform of choice, I can’t recommend this game enough.
Google’s Daydream View VR headset is promising, but just a start
It was only a matter of time until Google moved on from Cardboard and started taking virtual reality seriously. Say hello to the Daydream View, the company’s first mobile VR headset. Much like Samsung’s Gear VR, it’s powered by Android. But the big difference is that this $79 headset will work across a wide variety of Android phones that support Google’s Daydream platform; it won’t just be stuck on Samsung’s hardware. It also stands out from the competition with a more comfortable design made from cloth instead of plastic. There’s a lot riding on this headset and Daydream in general, but can Google really compete with VR companies that have been developing hardware for years? For the most part, it turns out it can.
Hardware
There are so many mobile VR headsets out there now that they’re starting to feel a bit boring. The Gear VR, built by Samsung in collaboration with Oculus, set the stage with its original design. It turns out when you’re doing mobile VR, you really just need a comfortable way to hold the phone to your face and some decent lenses to refocus the screen. The Daydream View changes up the formula a bit, though, with its soft cloth-covered case. That might seem a bit odd at first, but it makes a lot of sense. VR headsets are basically wearables, and fabric simply feels more comfortable than plastic. (We saw something similar with the PlayStation VR, which uses a soft cloth material around its eyepiece.)
Hooking up a phone to the Daydream View is also simpler than any other headset I’ve seen. You just need to open up the front latch, drop the phone in with the screen facing the lenses and then close up everything and secure it with an elastic band on the top. It might look a bit clunky, but it’s fairly secure. After that, tighten the headband, slip the Daydream View over your head, and readjust as necessary. Instead of using velcro straps, Google’s headset relies on a band that’s more like a messenger bag strap. It’s fairly comfortable, but adjusting it is a bit tougher than simply dealing with velcro.
Keeping the theme of comfort going, the eyepiece is also made out of a soft and cushiony material. Best of all, you can actually remove the eyepiece for hand washing. Which is a good thing: Based on my experiences with other headsets, you can bet it’s going to get sweaty and grimy quickly. Since it’s relying on fabric on top of a plastic frame, the Daydream View comes in at a feather-light 220 grams (0.48 pounds). The Gear VR, on the other hand, weighs 345 grams (0.76 pounds).
Another way Google aims to differentiate itself is with the Daydream View’s motion controller. Like a vastly simplified version of HTC’s and Oculus’s remotes, you use it to navigate around Daydream’s interface, play games and interact with apps. The motion tracking is generally pretty accurate, though I noticed some issues as its battery life drained down. The remote’s simple layout — touchpad on top, an app-specific button in the middle, a home button on the bottom, and volume controls on the sides — also make it easy to use while your eyes are covered. It charges over USB-C too, which is a nice touch since your Daydream device will likely charge that way as well.
Speaking of compatible phones, for now you can choose from Google’s Pixel or Pixel XL to power the Daydream View. Other manufacturers are currently working on their own entries, though there’s nothing you can actually buy yet. Google says Daydream phones will generally offer high-resolution displays (you can bet they’ll likely be AMOLED, since that works best for VR); “high-fidelity sensors” for head tracking; and “ultra smooth” graphics. You’ll also want to pay attention to resolution differences between Daydream devices. The Pixel XL has a 1,440p (2K) display, for example, while the smaller Pixel has a less impressive 1080p display. In general, the more pixels you can stuff into a screen the sharper your VR experience will be.
In use
I tested the Daydream View with the Pixel XL, likely because Google wanted to show off its VR headset in the best possible light. Since the XL is such a large phone though, it sticks out a bit when it’s attached to the Daydream View. It still fit just fine, but the setup looks a bit unpolished. (Then again, the Gear VR looks even worse with a phone plugged in.) On the bright side, the Daydream View’s single elastic band did a fine job of holding the Pixel XL in place, even when I shook the headset like crazy.
Once you launch the Daydream app and slap the phone into a headset, you’re presented with a fairly typical home screen. It features recently used apps and your own shortcuts up front, and a button on the bottom of the screen leads to your entire library. At launch, Google has a handful of its own VR apps to explore: With YouTube VR, you can view normal videos on a flat or curved plane, or dive right into immersive 360-degree videos. Street View lets you take virtual strolls around famous locations. And Play Movies allows you to you use the Daydream View like your own personal home theater. Third-party apps include the Wall Street Journal, Star Chart VR and games like Mekorama and Hunter’s Gate.
Quality-wise, VR experiences in Google’s headset look and feel just as good as the Gear VR. I had a blast sifting through 360-degree YouTube videos. And I’m pretty sure Mekorama could end up becoming a killer app for the platform. It tasks you with moving a robot around a small 3D space (similar to the hit mobile game Monument Valley), but being able to play it in virtual reality makes it truly addictive. The Wall Street Journal’s app places you in an expensive Midtown NYC apartment, where you can explore its VR content, watch videos, and, for some reason, read articles. (I’ll save words for my boring old non-VR screens, thank you very much.)
As with most VR headsets, games looked better than interactive videos, with sharp graphics and no noticeable slowdown in the apps I tested. Videos looked fine, but they’re still mostly held back by the lack of high-quality VR cameras on the market. And while I’m sure some people will enjoy watching traditional 2D videos in VR, that’s something I only find valuable when I’m stuck in a boring hotel room. The Pixel XL also warmed up quite a bit after my virtual reality sessions, so you should definitely keep battery life in mind. (In general, it burned through around 20 percent of battery life for every hour I played.)
The competition
If it isn’t abundantly clear by now, Daydream View is going squarely against the $100 Gear VR. I’m still a big fan of that headset, and if you’re a Samsung phone owner, it’s your only option. But moving forward, the mobile VR landscape is going to get more complicated. If you want the freedom to chose between different phones, rather than just Samsung’s, then you’re better off investing in the Daydream ecosystem.
Daydream’s big problem at the moment is its small selection of apps. There simply isn’t that much available on Google Play for the platform yet. Google says that’s going to change by year’s end, though, with the addition of Netflix, Hulu, and the New York Times, along with plenty of other apps. This is one area where the Gear VR has a big head start, since it’s been around for years and has a lot of content help from Oculus and Facebook. Still, Google is flexing its brand muscle a bit; it already has an exclusive VR experience for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the upcoming film set in the Harry Potter universe.
Wrap-up
While the Daydream View doesn’t completely reinvent mobile VR, it’s a solid first step for Google. It’s ideal for testing the waters of virtual reality without being locked into Samsung’s ecosystem. But its success depends on more Daydream phones being released, consumers being willing to pay for a headset and developers jumping on the platform.
The ‘Game Fnatic’ finale crowns a new ‘League of Legends’ pro
And then there was one. The final five episodes of Engadget’s behind-the-scenes video series, Game Fnatic, follow four League of Legends players as they vie for a single spot on one of the world’s leading eSports organizations. The second half of Game Fnatic kicks off with an elimination, followed by a dramatic day of go-kart racing and even more League of Legends skill challenges, until just two candidates compete head-to-head in a tense two-part finale.
The first five episodes introduced the challengers, four semi-pro and amateur players with the in-game talent to go pro. But after a series of tests, it’s clear only one of them has the stamina and demeanor that Fnatic demands. Playing professional League of Legends takes more than dexterity and focus; it also means you have to play well with others — literally.
Catch up on Game Fnatic and watch the brand new episodes (including the finale and its surprise twist ending) right here.
The Morning After: Thursday, November 10, 2016
It’s Thursday morning and we’re looking at how a Trump presidency could affect Net Neutrality and environmental policy, Google’s recommendations against some fast-charging devices, and a brief taste of the Wu-Tang Clan’s single-copy album.
Trump added an anti-regulation crusader to his transition teamThe FCC’s Net Neutrality rules will likely be gutted under President-elect Trump
With a Republican-controlled House and Senate behind Donald Trump, things are going to change — a lot. One of the things that might be on the chopping block early in his administration is Net Neutrality. Trump is set to appoint Jeffrey Eisenach — a man who’s made a career out of crusading against industry regulation — as the point man for telecom issues on his transition team.
Less preaching to the choirClinton urges supporters to speak outside of closed Facebook groups
The Democratic nominee recognizes that you need public discussion on social networks to make a difference. In Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign concession speech, she indirectly thanked “secret, private” Facebook support groups like Pantsuit Nation, a three-million-strong outfit she’d messaged (through her digital team leader) on Election Day. But she wanted them “coming out from behind that” to make sure their “voices are heard” — beyond an audience that was already supporting her. The power of social networks was a real force in this election.
It wants all USB cables and chargers to work togetherGoogle “strongly recommended” that Android devices shouldn’t support proprietary charging tech
Google isn’t a big fan of non-standard approaches to fast-charging Android phones over USB-C, and it’s bent on having manufacturers fall in line. Its newest Compatibility Definition document (for the latest version of Android, Nougat) recommends avoiding proprietary charging technology that modifies voltages beyond standard levels, or otherwise creates “interoperability issues” with standard USB charging. That means you, Qualcomm.
Thanks, TrumpWu-Tang Clan’s ultra-rare album gets streamed (a little)
Martin Shkreli (the infamous pharma exec who jacked up prices on an HIV/AIDS pill) bought the Wu-Tang Clan’s one-copy 2015 album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, promising to release it if Donald Trump won the presidency. He fulfilled the promise, partially, livestreaming both the intro to Wu-Tang’s album and one of its tracks. Sure, they weren’t intended as permanent copies, but this is the internet — listeners ripped the video feed and now it’s out there for listening.
Repealed regulations, international agreements torn upPlanet Earth might be the biggest loser under President Trump
Donald Trump rejected the scientific consensus on global warming during his campaign, but that’s just the start of big changes that could be coming to the USA’s environmental policy. An oil company co-founder is the front-runner for secretary of the interior. In that position, Forrest Lucas (no puns) would be in charge of national parks and wildlife refuges, and have serious influence over policies regarding offshore oil drilling, fracking and endangered species. Trump has also threatened to pull out of the Paris Agreement, aimed at globally reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
But wait, there’s more…
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