Using ‘Dark Souls 2’ mods on PC? That’s a dealbreaker
The Dark Souls series’ relationship with PC gamers has been contentious at best. The vanilla versions of the first two games weren’t unplayable per se, but if it weren’t for the enterprising community of modders around the franchise it’d look and run kind of, well, crappy. This apparently extends to the recently released Scholar of the First Sin as well. But there’s a twist this time: Players installing the popular “DS2fix” softmod that addresses weapons durability glitches and save corruptions have found that they aren’t able to easily summon other players into their game for help or adversarial combat. As Kotaku reports, the players aren’t hacking in a nefarious way, they’re just using a patch that makes the game work better on their platform of choice. Instead of pulling “undead” (how the series refers to its protagonists) from a general population, it’s grabbing them from a comparatively smaller pool of other players that’ve been deemed cheaters for using DS2fix.
It’s a “softban” versus prohibiting people from playing outright. Souls developer From Software’s response to fans is that by using soft-mods you’ve violated the mandatory end user license agreement that requires consent for online play, and basically you’re on your own here. A company representative says that the best way to avoid softbans is to not install any mods at all, explicitly calling out DS2fix.
On one hand, that’s technically correct, but it’s a blanket policy that sounds like it could use some serious oversight or revision. That’s doubly true when the games have relied on community modifications to fix issues that From either isn’t worried about or simply doesn’t care to address. The problem is that there really isn’t a way to prove that players only have DS2fix installed exclusively. A possible way to sidestep that would be for From to issue a patch that recognized the helpful mod and whitelist it. If that’ll actually happen is anyone’s guess at this point. For the developer’s full response, head over to Kotaku and for our playthrough of the PlayStation 4 version, check out the video below.
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Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Kotaku
Hulu is reportedly making a TV series based on ‘Myst’
It’s a good day for point-and-click fans. After the news that you can now play Grim Fandango Remastered on your morning commute, it seems like the ’90s classic Myst is getting its own TV series. According to Deadline, a drama series that explores the origin of the game’s eponymous island is coming to streaming service Hulu. For those that don’t know, Myst was a huge hit in its day; its innovative storytelling methods and stunning graphics made it the best-selling PC game of the decade.
The show is being reportedly being developed by Legendary Television, with Evan Daugherty (writer of Snow White and the Huntsman, Divergent and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) handling the script and Matt Tolmach (who’s responsible for the most-recent Spider-Man movies and the upcoming Sinister Six) producing. Those names — or more specifically the projects they’ve worked on — might not fill you with confidence, but if there’s a love for the source material, this might turn out okay.
Source: Deadline
Oculus Rift goes mainstream early 2016
Quarter one 2016. It’s the answer to a question we’ve asked basically every time we’ve spoken with Oculus VR since 2012: “When does the consumer version of the Rift come out?” Aside from that revelation, we’re also getting our first look at the final design of the headset, but that’s it! No word on price or launch games, experiences or Facebook apps, either. Come to think of it, “no” probably fits as an answer to any other question you might have at this point. Oculus teased that they’ll have more to share soon, specifically hinting at June’s Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3), but for now we’ll just have to make do with these morsels. If Sony hoped to have early 2016 to itself in terms of VR for the masses with Project Morpheus, those dreams have effectively been dashed.
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Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Oculus
‘Grim Fandango Remastered’ comes to Android and iOS
The classic point-and-click adventure Grim Fandango has made its way to iOS and Android. Originally released by LucasArts, Grim Fandango was remastered by creator Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Productions for PlayStation 4, Vita, PC, Mac and Linux earlier this year. Unlike many mobile ports of traditional games, Grim Fandango‘s point-and-click gameplay should lend itself to extended plays on iPad and Android tablets quite nicely, although playing on smaller phones may prove problematic. The mobile version of the critically acclaimed game includes the re-release’s improved graphics and audio along with additional features like an optional director’s commentary.
Grim Fandango is priced at $9.99 in both Google Play and Apple’s App Store for one week only, after which it’ll be sold at $14.99. If you don’t have that kind of equipment but are still keen to play it, Double Fine is applying the same 33% discount to the game on both Steam and the PlayStation Store.
Filed under: Gaming, Mobile, Apple, Google
Source: Double Fine Productions, (Google Play), (App Store)
The clone that won’t disappear: ‘Threes’ vs. ‘2048’ on Google Play
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Google removed the quirky puzzle game Threes from the Play store on Tuesday. Its removal was unceremonious and sudden, but that’s not exactly why Threes creator Asher Vollmer found the situation frustrating. That came down to two reasons:
- A robot informed Vollmer that his game was removed from Google Play in a cold, automated message.
- Threes was removed from Google Play because it used “2048” as a keyword — and 2048 is a blatant, known clone of Threes.
Google — probably a human there, not a robot — reinstated Threes after just a few hours offline and following a stream of articles and Twitter activity around its removal. Of course, 2048 remained live on Google Play the entire time, alongside a bunch of other Threes clones. This string of events highlights one of the biggest differences between Google and Apple, and how they approach their app stores. “Apple’s policies are preventative and Google’s policies are retroactive,” Vollmer says. “You can probably figure out which one I prefer.”
Vollmer spoke with a few of his Android developer friends during the Threes blackout and they said his situation was fairly common.
“Google has bots that crawl over their store and look for instances of ‘keyword stuffing’ and then automatically take down the app,” Vollmer explains. “You then have to appeal to get the app back on the store, which can take two to three days. On the Apple app store every app goes through an approval process for a few weeks before it shows up on the store. On Google Play you can publish a game instantly, but you are at risk of Google pulling it at any moment.”
Vollmer has tried to fight against the wave of Threes clones, which popped up at a ridiculous rate starting just 21 days after the original game’s release. Threes took 14 months and more than 500 emails between Vollmer and artist Greg Wohlwend to plan and perfect, and these games took the idea and ran with it, often with a price tag of “free.” Threes, on the other hand, costs $1.99. At first, the developers tried to get rid of the clones whack-a-mole style — and then 2048 showed up.
“There was technically nothing wrong with it,” Vollmer says. “It didn’t steal our art or our name and the creator of the web version was so far removed from the game scene that he had never even heard of Threes. He cloned a clone without knowing.”
Google Play has taken Threes off the store because we used “2048” as a search keyword 😡
– Asher Vollmer (@AsherVo) May 5, 2015
The studio behind 2048 is a notorious clone-making machine, and it’s able to stay in business because it’s not technically breaking any rules.
“My copyright on Threes only covers the look and feel of the game, and 2048 looks very different,” Vollmer says. “My trademark only covers the icon and name, and 2048 has neither. My only hope of legal action would be to patent the game mechanics, which I will never do for a thousand different reasons. All I can do is treat 2048 like a healthy competitor — one that wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for me.”
According to Google Play, Threes has been installed 100,000 to 500,000 times, while 2048 has been installed 10 million to 50 million times.
Clearly, today, Threes was placed on the Google Play support fast-track once people there realized the mistake. This saved Vollmer a few days of not only inactivity, but of potential customers being directed to clones of his game. It was a mistake and at least it was handled quickly, but Google Play’s “publish now, pull later” philosophy remains. The Apple app store has its own issues as well, including oversaturation and pricing standards that feel like a race to the bottom. However, with the ironic removal of Threes, the oddity of Google Play’s app policies are currently on full display.
“I want Google to rely on humans and not on robots to make these decisions,” Vollmer says. “I want Google Play to at least issue warnings before they take these kinds of actions…. This was a completely tone-deaf move.”
‘Portal’ turning into a game of hyperdimensional pinball
Developer Valve legendarily has a hard time counting to “3” but that doesn’t mean getting your hands on some new Portal action is too far out of reach. It just might not be in a place you’d expect. The long-running Zen Pinball series is taking a Newell-blessed trip to the test chambers with the “Aperture Science Heuristic Portal Pinball Device” table. As you might expect, there are plenty of nods to the series, with GLaDOS passive aggressively taunting while Chell jumps through the eponymous ingresses and co-op robots ATLAS and P-Body handling multi-ball duties. It’s $2.99 for consoles, Mac and PC and $1.99 on mobile come May 25th.
If you favor Lego bricks to steel balls there’s a game for you too. As Eurogamer reports, Walmart accidentally listed a Portal expansion set for the upcoming Lego Dimensions over the weekend. None of this adds up to Portal 3 proper, sure, but it’s a triumph in its own right nonetheless.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Zen Studios, Eurogamer
‘Star Wars’ teams up with ‘Disney Infinity 3.0’ in the fall
Disney Infinity 3.0 is the latest edition of Disney’s Skylanders-style video game series, and it’s scheduled to hit stores in the fall, complete with figurines from the Star Wars universe. That’s a relief, since we were worried there wouldn’t be enough Star Wars stuff to go around this year. There will be three Star Wars Play Sets for Disney Infinity 3.0: Twilight of the Republic (featuring Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Darth Maul figurines), Rise Against the Empire (with Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Darth Vader) and a third based on December’s film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. That play set will launch in the winter, probably alongside the movie.
Also in store for Disney Infinity 3.0 is a new Marvel Play Set including, in part, Hulkbuster Iron Man and Ultron. Plus, there are new Tron and Pixar figurines on the way. Accessories from previous versions of Disney Infinity will be compatible with the new game, Disney says. The Disney Infinity 3.0 Starter Pack, including Ahsoka Tano and Anakin Skywalker figures, costs $65, with pre-orders live now. If that sounds pricey, just think of it as “the price to see a movie with four-ish friends” or “the price to see a movie alone and with lots of popcorn.”
Source: BusinessWire
The ‘Mirror’s Edge’ sequel is due to launch in early 2016
The sequel to the beloved 2008 parkour game Mirror’s Edge is scheduled to release in early 2016 for consoles and PC, EA’s quarterly financial presentation reveals (PDF). EA announced a new Mirror’s Edge during E3 2014, but didn’t provide any information about the release window, platforms or gameplay details, so this is the best we have so far. EA’s financial presentation suggests the game will launch on consoles and PC within the same window, from January 1st to March 31st next year. Keep the Faith, folks.
There are a few other treats in EA’s financials this time around: A new Need for Speed (subtitle to be announced) is due on consoles and PC during the 2015 holiday season, alongside Star Wars Battlefront, which has a November 17 launch date. A new console and PC Plants vs. Zombies game (name also TBA) is scheduled to drop between January and March 2016.
Source: EA (PDF)
‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater’ returns this year and adds… projectiles?
Get ready to Ride again. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 is heading to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 later this year, with Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions slated to launch shortly afterward, Game Informer‘s June cover story confirms. The game is published by Activision and it’s in development at Robomodo, the studio behind 2009’s Tony Hawk: Ride, 2010’s Tony Hawk: Shred and 2012’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 may bear the series’ classic numerical name, but it has a few fresh additions, including power-ups and “the ability to shoot projectiles for specific missions,” the site says. Players will be able to create and share skate parks, and the game features online co-op and competitive play. We learned in 2014 that Activision was back in the Tony Hawk game, though details remained vague until today. Considering those details included “projectiles,” the veil of mystery makes sense.
Source: Tony Hawk on Facebook, Game Informer
JXE Streams: Blasting robot dogs in ‘Wolfenstein: The Old Blood’
One year ago, Machine Games did an unbelievable thing: it made Wolfenstein relevant again. id Software’s 1992 original is still fondly remembered; it was, after all, the only game in town where you could eat a bowl of dog food before blowing up Robo Hitler. The series had grown stale over the decades, though, a relic rather than an enduring institution. Wolfenstein: The New Order was a monumentally impressive resurrection with solid action on PS4 and Xbox One alongside a surprisingly moving, if simple, story. Now Machine Games is back with Wolfenstein: The Old Blood and we’re playing it for your viewing pleasure on today’s stream.
Join us here in this post, at Engadget.com/gaming or over on Twitch.tv/Joystiq for a solid 90 minutes of Wolfenstein: The Old Blood starting at 3:30PM ET. What was old B.J. Blazkowicz getting up to before napping his way into the ’60s? We’ll find out together.
If you enjoy our streams, please follow us on Twitch.tv/Joystiq and bookmark Engadget.com/gaming.
[We’re playing Wolfenstein: The Old Blood on PlayStation 4, streamed through an Elgato Capture HD via OBS at 720p.]
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