Valve releases a kit for making virtual reality apps
Eager to build a game or 3D modelling tool that takes advantage of HTC’s Vive and other SteamVR-friendly virtual reality headsets? It’s time to get cracking. Valve has released a software development kit that lets apps use SteamVR hardware, including Valve’s controller and room-scale Lighthouse tracking. On top of that, the platform now works nicely with both the Unity game engine (through a plugin) and Unreal Engine 4. It’ll be a long while before you can actually run programs built on this code — the VR devices have yet to reach many developers, let alone the public — but this at least gets the ball rolling.
Filed under: Displays, Gaming, Wearables, Software, HTC
Via: VentureBeat
Source: Steam Community
These surrealist games melt more than clocks
Some say surrealism was the most influential art movement of the past century and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s had an effect on video game developers too. The games you’ll find below weren’t made by Salvador Dalí or M.C. Escher, but the influence those mind-bending artists had is unmistakable. And it’s not just limited to endless staircases or clocks melting off the side of a ledge (although those make appearances) in indie games, either. Dream-like visuals and landscapes have dotted the world of blockbuster games too — not even God of War 3 was immune when it released in 2010. Let’s take a mind-bending trip together in the gallery below, shall we?
JXE Streams: Acid Nerve teaches us how to topple ‘Titan Souls’
Welcome to the new masochism! For a decade now, games have held our hands and walked us patiently through their soft hallways. Playing BioShock Infinite? Try easy mode, darling. Rollicking your way through New Super Mario Bros. U? Fail too many times and the game will play itself. No more! The new breed of punishers like Bloodborne have brought out the gleeful self-flagellator in everyone. Acid Nerve’s Titan Souls is another banner carrier for the new masochism. Don’t let its old-school adventure, Zelda-meets-Shadow of the Colossus facade fool you; this is one tough cookie. That’s why we’re having Acid Nerve, its creators, come on to JXE Streams to teach us how to play.
Titan Souls designer and programmer Mark Foster as well as composer David Fenn will join us live on today’s stream! Tune in to Twitch.tv/Joystiq, Engadget.com/gaming or right here in this post starting at 3:30PM ET to chat with the developers and check out the PS4 game.
Dig the stream? Follow us on Twitch and bookmark Engadget.com/gaming to keep track of upcoming shows.
[We’re playing Titan Souls on PlayStation 4 streamed through an Elgato Capture HD via OBS at 720p.]
Steam hands developers the power to ban cheaters
Cheating in multiplayer games isn’t big or clever, but people still think they can successfully get away with it. That’s a problem for the folks at Valve, who are constantly trying to ensure that Steam is a nice place to play. It’s one of the reasons that the company has now revealed that it’ll hand the power to police users straight to the developers behind each game on the service. Now, rather than Valve staff racing to deal with each incident, the teams that made the title can rule on what they consider to be fair and unfair practices.
Developers can now set game bans on Steam accounts if players cheat in their games. http://t.co/6OkIgkGh3p pic.twitter.com/V2iK2Wlnh0
– Steam Database (@SteamDB) April 29, 2015
The process of banning, itself, will remain in the hands of Valve staffers, but now all a developer has to do is say the word and it’ll be done. Of course, a cursory glance at the responses to the announcement on Twitter has revealed that plenty of gamers are worried that developers will abuse this power.
@SteamDB Yeah, like that is not going to be abused by some devs.
– Foxhack / Dave Silva (@Foxhack) April 29, 2015
For those who play within the rules, there are some perks, as Valve has also revealed that it’s widening the number of people who can join in the testing on Steam Guard for mobile. Another 1,000 people will be asked to authenticate their Steam devices using their smartphone, and the app sign up process has been updated as well.
Via: VG 24/7
Source: Steam, Steam Community
Play classic MS-DOS games without even leaving Twitter
Although they went live at the very start of the year, it was like all of our Christmases had come at once when Archive.org added 2,400 playable MS-DOS games to its website. Retro titles like Maniac Mansion, Oregon Trail and Doom are all available, with the only downside being that you have to visit each specific game’s page to play them. However, the eagle-eyed folk at Wired noticed these have recently started working on Twitter, meaning you can get all of your social networking done while simultaneously saving Sandy Pantz from the evil Dr Fred. Thanks to Twitter’s Cards platform, all you have to do is tweet the URL of the game you want to play and it’ll take care of the rest. You can even embed the tweet (and thus the game) inside a webpage, exactly like we’ve done below.
Okay, this is pretty cool. https://t.co/UrngX0VYrr
– Matt Brian (@m4tt) April 30, 2015
Filed under: Gaming
Via: Wired
Source: Archive.org
Daily Roundup: Windows 10 plans, Apple Watch issues and more!
In today’s edition of the Daily Roundup, Microsoft kicked off its annual Build developer conference by showing off some of the tools developers can use to get their Windows 10 apps up and running. We also learned the official name for the company’s Project Spartan browser and witnessed some of the HoloLens headset’s new tricks. One tidbit we didn’t learn, however, was a release date for Windows 10. Of course, Microsoft wasn’t the only company making headlines today. Hulu snagged streaming rights for Seinfeld and some Apple Watch users are discovering dark tattoos can mess with the device’s heart rate sensor.
Microsoft invites Android and iOS apps to join Windows 10
Today was the start of Microsoft’s annual Build conference and the company unleashed a slew of new details for the future of its cloud services, Office suite and, perhaps most notably, upcoming Windows 10 operating system. One of the biggest reveals was that the Redmond giant is making it easier than ever for Android and iOS developers to port their apps over to Windows 10. For more from today’s Build keynote, click here.
Windows 10’s web browser is called Microsoft Edge
Another notable tidbit from today’s keynote was the announcement of Project Spartan‘s official name. Up until this point, Microsoft’s upcoming Internet Explorer replacement had been discussed under its temporary, Halo-inspired codename. Today, though, we know what we’ll be calling it when Windows 10 launches: Microsoft Edge. The company also showcased a video highlighting Edge’s minimalist look, annotation features and slick tabbed interface.
Hillary Clinton wants all police to wear body cameras
Law enforcement accountability has been in the news a lot of late, so it’s no surprise to see presidential hopefuls discuss the matter as we head toward next year’s election. Candidate Hillary Clinton used a speech today to call for every police department in the US to issue body cameras to officers in an effort to improve both accountability and transparency.
Hulu’s the exclusive online home of ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Fear the Walking Dead’
What’s the deal with watching Seinfeld online? Well, Hulu provided the answer today, announcing it had secured exclusive streaming rights for the popular sitcom. While it wouldn’t discuss exact numbers, rumors suggest the company may have paid as much as $1 million per episode for the show. Hulu also shared several other content announcements, but the show about nothing was clearly the biggest news.
Dark tattoos can throw off Apple Watch’s heart rate sensor
Various versions of the Apple Watch have been slowly reaching consumers’ hands and wrists, but some early adopters are apparently running into a few issues with some of the wearable’s features. iMore looked into the matter and found that those with dark tattoos on their wrists (especially those with solid colors) may have trouble reliably using the Apple Watch’s heart rate sensor. If you haven’t ordered one already, it might be a good idea to try one on in person to make sure all its features work on your particular wrist.
Your Apple Watch is late because of bad haptic feedback parts
Of course, if you already ordered and Apple Watch and are wondering what’s taking so long to get it to your doorstep, The Wall Street Journal might have an idea. According to the paper’s sources, Apple ran into issues with parts related to the Watch’s Taptic Engine, the vibrating unit that provides input feedback. As a result, a supplier switch may be to blame for the long waits some consumers are experiencing.
You can buy your own smell-o-vision VR headset, if you wanna
If revamped PC operating systems and fancy wearables aren’t exciting enough for you, perhaps the promise of actual smell-o-vision will do the trick. FeelReal is taking to Kickstarter to fund its virtual reality attachment, which can pump air, water and a variety of scents right into your face to amp up the immersion factor. The company expects dev units to be available in the summer, with a consumer version to follow later in the year.
[Image credits: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan (Hillary Clinton); Michael Lovell @ YouTube (Watch tattoos); iFixit (Taptic Engine); FeelReal (VR headset)]
Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Laptops, Peripherals, Wearables, Internet, Software, Apple, Microsoft
Math explains why beating ‘Tetris’ is basically impossible
You’re never going to beat Tetris. Sorry. You might be asking why I’m so pessimistic and even though that’s perfectly natural, PBS‘ Game/Show will back me up here. While the seven multicolored falling bricks (officially called “tetrominoes”) all fit together pretty nicely, they only occupy a space that’s eight tiles wide when fully combined. Coupled with the size of the playing space — the “well,” as it’s called, is ten tiles wide — there’s always going to be room for screw-ups that are out of your control. There’s a ton of math, studies of probability and statistics to explain it all, too. As host Jamin Warren tells it (citing a research paper from 1996), failure is due in no small part to how the “bag” randomly generates pieces that’re dropping.
Over a long enough game, the bag’s going to screw you over and drop tetrominoes that make gaps that you won’t be able to fill. Specifically, a nasty run of “S” and “Z” shaped pieces that’ll ruin your up-to-that-point ideal flow is pretty much inevitable — and even playing a game exclusively with the aforementioned pieces would hit a fail state in 70,000 turns. It’s a cruel joke, sure, but that hasn’t stopped the game from appearing on countless platforms, sides of buildings or T-shirts for almost 31 years.
[Image credit: Getty Images/alengo]
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: PBS Game/Show (YouTube)
Unreal game engine will support HTC’s virtual reality headset
The crew at Epic Games has made a point of welcoming virtual reality with open arms, and it’s not about to shy away any time soon. The studio recently updated its roadmap with indications that Unreal Engine 4 will support Steam VR (and by extension, the HTC Vive headset) no later than May. Also, Epic isn’t wasting much time getting up to speed with Sony’s newer Project Morpheus gear — there’s promises of silky-smooth 120Hz visuals, among other things. This wider support won’t matter until you can buy both the VR hardware and titles based on UE4, but it suggests that there won’t be a shortage of immersive gaming when everything lines up.
Filed under: Displays, Gaming, Wearables, Sony
Via: Road to VR
Source: Epic Games (Trello)
You can buy your own smell-o-vision VR headset, if you wanna
Aside from the anguished cries of our loved ones begging us to go to work, there are two things that are left out when we play games in virtual reality: our senses of smell and taste. After all, we can see, hear and sometimes feel the action in the FPS realm, but we won’t be truly satisfied unless we’re getting artificial blood, sweat and seawater in our faces, too. That’s what FeelReal’s smell-o-vision headset is all about, which sits beneath a VR headset and pumps air, water and various scents into your face in an attempt to add a little more realism to your gaming.
Essentially, the face mask contains a pair of fans that can blow hot and cold air, a water mister and an odor generator that can vaporize certain smells right into your nose. Then, the idea is that when you walk past the sea in a game, you’ll be able to feel the sea mist on your face and the smell of seagull poop in your nose. If you’re walking past some fire, by comparison, you’ll feel the warmth on your face and burning sulfur in your nostrils.
Naturally, this innovative product is making its debut on Kickstarter, where pre-ordering a single unit will set you back $300 and a pair of kits priced at $500. The company, however, is also tempting users by letting you know that it’s also working on a full-face helmet that combines virtual reality and, er, smells in a single package, called the Nirvana. If you’re prepared to wait for one of those to arrive, you can also get an early prototype for another $500.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/feelreal/feelreal-vr-mask-and-helmet/widget/video.html
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Wearables
Via: VR Focus
Source: Kickstarter
Marilyn Manson released his latest album on early PlayStation CDs
The ’90s are back in style, in more ways than one. Kill Screen has revealed that Marilyn Manson released his latest album (The Pale Emperor) on the black CDs used for original PlayStation games, made in the same Sony plant. No, they’re not meant to rekindle two of your fondest teenage memories. Manson’s art directors chose these discs because they help underscore the album’s themes of darkness and light. They start out pitch black, but a newly-added thermal layer turns them white when you play them — clever, isn’t it? With that said, you’ll probably have a hard time appreciating this thematic trick. While you might still be a Marilyn Manson fan, the odds are that you ditched CD-based music a while ago.
[Image credit: Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images]
Filed under: Gaming, Storage, Sony
Source: Kill Screen
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