Valve is testing DualShock 4 support in Steam’s beta channel
If you never quite got the hang of Valve’s weird touch-pad laden game controller, you’re in luck: the company is testing out Steam Configuration support for the DualShock 4. Steam beta client users can now customize every button on the PlayStation 4 gamepad using the same key-mapping interface Valve uses for its own Steam Controller. This makes the more traditional gamepad compatible with every non-VR title in the Steam library — even those without native controller support.
Why choose the PlayStation 4 controller as Steam’s next officially supported gamepad? Well, it turns out the DualShock 4 and the Steam Controller have a lot in common — in addition to having a standard gamepad layout, the DualShock 4 also features a touchpad and gyro sensor that can be mapped to mouse or joystick movement. Properly configured, this means the DS4 can be used to navigate mouse-only menus and implement Splatoon-like tilt controls in first person shooters.
For now, DualShock 4 support is only available in Steam’s beta client, and even then it needs to be activated in a special menu. Still, it’s a great alternative for PC gamers that want more control options, but weren’t interested in learning how to use Valve’s official gamepad.
Source: Valve
Re-skin Kratos with the offficial PlayStation coloring book
What do you get when you mash up a coloring book for grown-ups with a wildly popular video game platform? The entirely unnecessary, but completely official PlayStation coloring book, featuring colorless artwork from some of video gaming’s most beloved franchises.
“Since the PS one first came into our homes, PlayStation has always been a symbol of quality gameplay, pushing the boundaries of entertainment,” an announcement from Sony EU says, attempting to justify the existence of Art For The Players. “One of the unique factors which has made it such an exciting platform for players is the incredible creativity and eye-wateringly good art at the heart of the games.”
So, what better way to celebrate that boundary-pushing art from games like Bloodborne, Little Big World and Uncharted than to strip it all down to nearly nothing and re-create it with even fewer colors? So, forget the PS4 Pro. And leave your PSVR headset in the box. Next time you’re looking for some PlayStation action, reach for the your PlayStation coloring book and a well-sharpened, old-fashioned set of colored pencils. At least you won’t have to worry about PSN outages.
The book is available for £9.98 from Amazon UK or you can just download and print a couple high-res pages here.
Source: Amazon UK, PlayStation Blog
VRMark will tell you if your PC is ready for Virtual Reality
Oculus and Valve’s own virtual reality compatibility tests will tell you if your PC is VR-ready, but how ready is a bit of a specification guessing game. Will you be able to run games at their maximum settings, or are you just going to scrape past virtual reality’s minimum requirements? Futuremark’s trying to make that question easier to answer with a new benchmarking suite designed specifically for virtual reality.
Think of it as a more comprehensive version of Valve and Oculus VR’s official compatibility tools — not only does VRMark check the system’s hardware against both the Vive and Rift’s minimum recommended specification requirements, but it also runs it through one of two live VR demos to make sure it stays above the target frame-rate. The VRMark ‘orange Room’ is the basic test most users will need to pass for a good VR experience, but the suite also has more advanced ‘blue room’ designed to simulate the highest fidelity VR experiences available today. Both tests will give users a straightforward score and several comparable metrics. A score of 5000 in in the orange test, for instance, meets the minmum requirements for a VR-ready PC. If your machine scores any lower, you risk having a sub-part (and potentially nauseating) VR experience.
If you already have a VR headset, you’ll be able to experience your PC’s performance first-hand, too. In addition to offering straight benchmarks, VRMark has an “experience” mode for each of its tests, allowing you to personally view a virtual reality museum of flying space ships and alien UFOs. Just make sure your PC is up to snuff with the benchmarks, first.
Via: UploadVR
Source: Futuremark
‘Watch Dogs 2’ web app tries to reveal secrets in your selfies
Ubisoft is no stranger to producing poignant on the surface, but ultimately vapid marketing for its hacker-centric Watch Dogs series. And the latest example of that is a selfie analyzer for the upcoming sequel. The pitch is that your self-portraiture reveals a lot of hidden info about you, and uploading a picture to the web app will reveal it. Stuff like your age, what your picture says about you to employers, financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, political organizations and police databases — info based on details in your photos. That’s in theory, of course. In practice the results don’t pan out so well.
A handful of the Engadget crew tried it out and the results didn’t exactly instill a lot of worry. For example, it identified most of us as a “bully” in terms of what an employer might think — something that the sample picture from Ubiblog was classified as, too. It was also hilariously inaccurate at guessing age and how a bank might view you. Uploading my non-smiling byline pic gave me the same result as a photo I took of a friend grinning like an idiot: “Financial institutions see: A million dollar smile. Your selfie is like driving up to a bank in a luxury car. The moneymen could pounce, stopping at nothing to ‘diversify your portfolio’ while emptying your pockets.”
Sure!
It works a bit better than the machine recognition software Microsoft has released to the web, but that isn’t saying much. In a vacuum the Watch Dogs app is kind of neat, but the seams are pretty blatant once you start testing for them. It’s a safe bet that if the government has a version of this (let’s be honest, it probably does), that it’s much more robust. But, for now maybe rest easy about a marketing company making an online ad, starring you, like the one below.
Via: Ubiblog
Source: Ubisoft
Here are the first games optimized for PlayStation 4 Pro
With only a week until the PlayStation 4 Pro launches, Sony wants to make sure everyone knows exactly what they’re going to get when the powerful console arrives. The company is starting with a list of over 30 games that have been optimized to take advantage of the Pro’s 8-core x86-64 “Jaguar” AMD CPU and 4.2 teraflop AMD Radeon GPU. Some are new games, which were released with Pro assets already included, but developers of some more established titles have also worked hard to add new aesthetics and experiences.
Newer titles include Battlefield 1, Bound Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, FIFA 17, Hitman, Mafia III, Rise Of The Tomb Raider, Robinson: The Journey, Titanfall 2 and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.
Also included are Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Driveclub VR, Firewatch, Helldivers, Hustle Kings, inFAMOUS First Light, inFAMOUS Second Son, Knack, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, NBA 2K17, Paragon, PlayStation VR Worlds, Ratchet & Clank, Rez Infinite and RIGS Mechanized Combat League.
The list is rounded off by Smite, Super Stardust Ultra, The Elders Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited, The Elders Scrolls Online: Skyrim Special Edition, The Last Of Us Remastered, The Last Of Us: Left Behind, The Playroom VR, Tumble Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, Viking Squad, World Of Tanks and XCOM 2.
Sony says that another 45 games, including Watch Dogs 2, The Last Guardian and Final Fantasy XV, will get the same treatment by the end of the year. Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, For Honor and Sony’s own titles — Gran Turismo Sport and Horizon Zero Dawn — will, as you’d expect, all be PlayStation 4 Pro ready when they eventually come to market in 2017.
Source: Playstation Europe Blog
HTC wants to bring back the arcade for its VR gear
HTC’s high-end VR gear is expensive and takes up a fair amount of space that most people simply don’t have. That’s why the company is hoping to bring back the old-fashioned arcade in the hope of giving more people access to the future of gaming. At a VR developer conference, HTC announced that two popular titles are coming to Viveport Arcade, it’s licensing platform enabling titles to be played in public spaces. It’s hoped that the program will pave the way for businesses to create “thousands” of new arcades by the end of 2017.
The two big titles that have been added to the platform are The Brookhaven Experiment and Everest VR. The former is a zombie survivor game that our Devindra Hardawar called “the most terrifying VR experience I’ve had yet.” The latter, meanwhile lets un-athletic types scale the world’s tallest mountain from the comfort of sea level or thereabouts.
HTC is basing its assault on the real world in China and Taiwan, allowing shopping malls, theaters, internet cafes and arcades develop VR experiences. The Verge reports that the company will also spread its wings out in the US and Europe shortly afterwards in the hope of spreading the gospel far and wide. It makes plenty of sense, since a couple of bucks makes more financial sense if you’re not yet sold on the standard. Hell, if a UK retailer can charge £5 ($6.22) just for would-be customers to try PlayStation VR for 10 minutes, then HTC’s clearly onto something.
Source: PR Newswire
Peter Molyneux’s new game is about pioneering
Web and smartphone game publisher Kongregate and Peter Molyneux’s 22 Cans are teaming up to launch a new mobile game. The Trail is an Oregon Trail-style adventure title where players strap on a backpack and pioneer their way across an undiscovered wilderness. As they progress, they can collect items that can be used to craft weapons and tools that’ll help them hunt down sources of food. That can then be traded with other explorers to build a fortune that’ll enable you to settle down in a Deadwood-style community. It’s available for Android and iOS devices, although it’s yet to hit the latter’s app store just yet for free, with in-app purchases.
Source: Google Play
The Morning After: Thursday November 3 2016
The past 24 hours of news here at Engadget was a heady mix of Pokémon Go bonuses, GIFs in space, Hulk Hogan and robot-selected wine. Definitely not just another Wednesday. We round it out with Facebook’s big success in mobile and why Russia is dropping Microsoft software. Spoilers: It’s all about politics.
House of CachingNetflix’s worldwide expansion could bring the addition of offline viewing
Streaming video on Netflix is fun … as long as your internet connection holds up. For years the streamer has resisted the urge to offer any ability to download and save videos, but comments by Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos yesterday made it seem more like a “when” than an “if.” Since Netflix is available pretty much worldwide, that could make watching cheaper for viewers in developing markets (and on airplanes or in the wilderness).
Yes, people are still playing“Pokémon Go’s” latest attempt to keep players hooked: daily bonuses
Sooner or later the temperatures will start dropping, so how will Niantic Labs keep players checking in at PokeStops and gyms? Try daily bonuses, with added bumps for seven-day streaks or checking in at the same stop repeatedly.
Well, I’m still not happyApple says SD card slots are clunky and that’s why the new MacBook Pro doesn’t have one
Apple’s senior VP, Phil Schiller, explained in an interview why the company axed the card reader. It was a “bit of a cumbersome slot.” He added that many newer cameras have built-in wireless transfers. (Although anyone who uses that feature knows that transfer is slow. Very slow.)
Everyone loves mobile adsFacebook nearly triples its profits
Facebook recorded yet another blockbuster quarter. Over the past three months, the social network made $2.38 billion in profits, an astounding 166 percent increase over this time last year. That’s largely thanks to mobile advertising, where 84 percent of its ad revenue comes from.
ÜberappThe new Uber is both bigger and faster
Soon you’ll see a redesigned Uber app rolling out. The company claims that it’s faster to use, with shortcuts that figure out where you’re likely headed and suggest destinations right away. It’s also trying to keep your attention with in-app access to features from UberEats, Pandora, Yelp, Snapchat, Foursquare and others.
From: Russia, with LoveRussia is dropping Microsoft because it’s an easy political target
There are a few reasons behind Russia’s plans to get rid of all of its Microsoft software. Vladimir Putin and his team are picking on Microsoft because it’s an easy target for anti-American sentiment. It’s a huge company that rules the tech sector, and it’s not hard to persuade Russians that the firm is collaborating with US spies, despite evidence to the contrary. Any domestic software could foster the local economy — and if Russia makes it, the government has more power to control that software.
The future of VR?Save $50 by pre-ordering Fove’s VR headset now
Why should you choose this VR headset over competition from Oculus and HTC? Fove uses eye tracking for increased realism, and its tech renders only things you can actually see. That means it doesn’t need as powerful a PC to render VR, while its screen has a higher resolution than the Rift. It’s mostly for developers right now.
But wait, there’s more…
- The makers of Vinfusion think this wine-blending machine can satisfy any oenophile’s tastes
- The International Space Station celebrates 16 years through the medium of GIF
- Gawker settles with Hulk Hogan for a reported $31 million
Nintendo reveals ‘Miitopia’ and ‘Animal Crossing’ expansion
Animal Crossing fans starting to get burnt out by the repetitive tasks in New Leaf — hey, it’s been years since it came out — would love Nintendo’s announcement. At the latest Nintendo Direct presentation, the gaming giant has announced a free software update for the old favorite that adds amiibo support and expands its world. If you have any of the 16 previously released Animal Crossing amiibos, scanning them invites the characters into your village, but not in the way you’re familiar with. They come with their own RVs and stay in the brand new RV Campground overseen by a new character named Harvey.
The amiibos will also give you access to a new game within the game: you get Desert Island Escape if you’re playing on the Wii U or Animal Crossing Puzzle League if you’re playing on the 3DS. If you never bought New Leaf and want to try it out, though, you may want to wait for a bit. Nintendo is releasing the Animal Crossing: New Leaf – Welcome amiibo pack on December 2nd for the 3DS. It comes with 50 amiibo cards featuring villagers from old games that you can scan and invite to your RV Campground. Besides these amiibo-related features, the update also gives you a camera mode for in-game selfies, a new storage room and other goodies.
Nintendo has also finally revealed what Miitopia is all about after mentioning it during another Direct presentation a couple of months ago. Turns out it’s a cross between an RPG and Tomodachi Life, where you can choose your class/job and fight enemies. You can be a knight, a mage or what seems to be a cat, and in your downtime, your characters can train together and exchange gifts. Miitopia will be available in Japan on December 8th. Since you might have to wait for quite some time to be able to get it outside the company’s home country, check out the trailer below to get a glimpse of the game.
Source: Nintendo
The $40 ‘Watch Dogs 2’ Season Pass includes new stories, clothes
Watch Dogs 2 is scheduled to hit PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 15th, followed by PC on November 29th, but Ubisoft already has its eyes on your post-game experience. The Watch Dogs 2 Season Pass costs $40 and includes five add-on packs: the T-Bone Content Bundle, Human Conditions, No Compromise, Root Access Bundle and Psychedelic Pack. The first three bundles land on PS4 30 days before hitting other platforms, and the final two are day-one additions for anyone who picks up the complete Season Pass.
Now for the DLC details. The T-Bone Bundle lands on PS4 on December 13th and includes a new co-op difficulty setting, Mayhem, plus the clothes and truck of the original Watch Dogs’ Raymond “T-Bone” Kenney. Next up, Human Conditions lands in spring 2017 and features three new stories set in San Francisco’s scandalous science and medicine industries. Plus, playing through this bundle unlocks co-op missions starring the Jammer, a technologically savvy enemy capable of hunting players down. Also out in spring, No Compromise includes a new story featuring the Russian Mob and an unlockable co-op mode called Showdown.
The Root Access Bundle and Psychedelic Pack offer up a Zodiac Killer mission, and new outfits, cars, skins and weapons. If you’re 100 percent convinced that Watch Dogs 2 is going to be both enjoyable and not long enough for your liking, the Season Pass is available in the game’s $100 Gold Edition or as a standalone $40 purchase.
Source: Ubisoft
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