Xbox One’s new Comedy Central app delivers ‘South Park’ and ‘The Daily Show’
Not going to be home to catch the South Park season premiere this week, lack a DVR but have an Xbox One? We realize those conditions might narrow the field just a bit, but you shouldn’t worry either way: the Comedy Central app is now available for Microsoft’s newest gaming console. With it comes access to current shows the day after they air and a trove of past seasons and catalog programming, too. The Daily Show network notes on Xbox Wire that there’s a bunch of stand-up specials and digital shorts available on the app (similar to its Xbox 360 counterpart) as well. The difference between this and Hulu Plus, of course, is that accessing the shows is free with your existing cable subscription. It’s even more of a deal in the wake of Microsoft not requiring an Xbox Live Gold membership to access media apps. With enough time, the Xbox One could even start to pay for itself — assuming you only watch Comedy Central, that is.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Xbox Wire
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Tilt Brush is a virtual reality app that lets you paint with light
We’ve seen some pretty nifty uses for virtual reality since the Oculus Rift hit the scene (bird-simulator, anyone?), but nothing quite like Tilt Brush. At its core, the app is a 3D painting program. Boiling it down to that is a little disingenuous, though. Making art with the Rift looks absurdly cool and you aren’t limited to making a two-dimensional scene with Roy G. Biv — Tilt Brush allows for painting with light, smoke and stars too. As The Creators Project points out, you can even export your masterpiece as a GIF. We aren’t entirely responsible for the one above, that actually came from the video we’ve embedded just after the break. Considering that Oculus recently released the source code from its first development kit to the public, we can only hope more excellent VR applications like this are on the horizon.
Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Via: Kotaku
Source: Tilt Brush
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Blizzard cancels its next-gen online game despite seven years of work
Have you been anticipating Titan, Blizzard’s first online role-playing game since World of Warcraft? Unfortunately, you’re going to have to pin your hopes on some other title. The studio tells Polygon that it has cancelled Titan despite pouring seven years of effort into the project, which was never officially announced. As Blizzard’s Mike Morhaime explains, Blizzard just “didn’t find the fun” during a reevaluation — the game was extremely ambitious, but it “didn’t come together” as a cohesive work that you’d want to play. The developers were also nervous about defining themselves as an online RPG company. They want to build “great games every time,” even if that means switching genres.
In a sense, it’s not surprising that Blizzard would give Titan the axe. The company has a history of cutting games that it doesn’t think will fly, even when they’re relatively close to completion — see StarCraft Ghost and WarCraft Adventures for examples. There’s no mention of where the cancelled game’s team will focus its attention, but it’s safe to say that their future work won’t bear much resemblance to WoW or other massively multiplayer experiences.
Filed under: Gaming
Source: Polygon
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Xbox One UK pricing drops again to £330
Wherever you look, the PlayStation 4 is outselling the Xbox One by a considerable margin. In fact, Sony sold twice as many consoles in the UK as Microsoft in Destiny’s launch week, leaving its rival with another considerable hill to climb. One way Microsoft could claw back some of its lost market share is to drop the price of the Xbox One, again, which is something it’s decided to do today. To little fanfare, Microsoft slashed £20 off the price of the Kinectless Xbox One on its official store, meaning you’ll now pay only £329.99. Amazon has reacted to the price cut too, but has gone one better by offering Sunset Overdrive White Xbox One bundle pre-orders for the exactly the same price. It means that in the space of 10 months, the console has undergone three price reductions, saving late-adopters at least £100 in the process. For the time being, the Xbox One is officially cheaper than the £349.99 PlayStation 4 (which is also the subject of some seriously good deals), but as both consoles have already dipped below the £300 mark, we’re pretty sure Sony won’t be too worried by today’s discount.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Via: Eurogamer
Source: Microsoft Store, Amazon
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Xbox One to launch in China this month after all
Having just discovered that Halo’s Master Chief is actually Chinese, we were about to call out the irony of the Xbox One’s delayed launch in mainland China, but now we have some good news. According to our brethren over at Engadget Chinese, Microsoft has just confirmed that its latest console and Kinect sensor will be on sale in China on September 29th, which means local gamers will be able to enjoy them over the week-long national holiday commencing on October 1st. Alas, only 10 games — including Forza Motorsport 5, Dance Central: Spotlight and Neverwinter — have been approved by the authorities in the first batch, but the company claims that over 70 titles are already “in development.” There’s still no word on what caused the original delay; our guess is Microsoft initially felt there aren’t enough approved launch titles, but there’s always the grey market, of course. Sony, your move now.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Source: Engadget Chinese
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The fun and weird moments of Tokyo Game Show 2014
The annual Tokyo Game Show has just wrapped up, and while there weren’t any major console announcements, we still had our fair share of memorable moments on the show floor. On top of trying several different virtual reality demos, we also watched Japanese girls giggle away at a romance simulation booth, and we even bumped into Japanese porn stars without realizing who they were at the time. Check out our list of TGS highlights in the gallery below.
Filed under: Gaming, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo
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Valve makes finding your next Steam game easier
When Valve debuted game-recommendation tags not long ago, it was apparently a precursor to something much bigger. Today the PC game-sales juggernaut has revealed a new look for its store that aims to put games in front of you that you didn’t even know you wanted. By utilizing the tags, your gaming history and a few other aspects, Valve has redesigned the homepage so that it’ll apparently make finding games you’re interested in a lot easier. The Discovery Queue gives you a chance to browse through suggested releases, wishlist them or skip updates on titles completely. Valve says that the list will refresh daily, giving you a chance to possibly find the next killer indie before anyone else.
Presumably these ratings, as well as the ability to follow “curators” that act as tastemakers for gaming, will go to further establish a taste profile (similar to what Netflix does). Oh, and as you can see in the image above, the app now sports a blue color scheme. Almost makes you want to buy something, no?
All Store changes on one handy page. Lots of stuff! http://t.co/bDpGnL370A
– Steam Database (@SteamDB) September 22, 2014
The new Steam Store is here. And yes, it’s blue. Told you so. http://t.co/4YniHgR7Hh
– Steam Database (@SteamDB) September 22, 2014
Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
Source: Valve
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Activision hires Rudy Giuliani for Manuel Noriega’s Call of Duty lawsuit
If you think that ex-dictator Manuel Noriega’s lawsuit over his appearance in Call of Duty: Black Ops II is more than a little ridiculous, you’re not alone. Activision has filed a motion to dismiss the former Panamanian leader’s complaint before it ever reaches a courtroom, citing a California statute that prevent lawsuits threatening free speech. As attorney Rudy Giuliani (yes, that Rudy Giuliani) explains, it’s “absurd” that a ruler convicted of crimes against his own citizens would demand compensation from a company that’s exercising its civil rights. If Noriega won, he could set a precedent where historical personas and their families could ban appearances in any media format.
Activision’s response to the lawsuit is a bit hyperbolic, but the company has a point. Noriega isn’t a celebrity that makes a living from his looks; he’s a political figure (from outside the US, to boot) that just happened to fit into Black Ops II‘s plot. It’s accordingly hard to see the court sympathizing with his arguments, even if his case isn’t dismissed out of hand.
Filed under: Gaming
Source: Activision
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PlayStation TV launches October 14th in US and Canada
Sony will be releasing its PlayStation TV here in the US and in Canada on October 14th. What’s more, as it looks to get people amped up for it, the company also let it be known that the mini console is set to have nearly 700 playable games from day one, giving interested folks Stateside and in The Great White North something to look forward to come launch day. That amount of games, naturally, is made possible thanks to the PlayStation TV’s flexibility — it provides access to a variety of content in different ways, including through PS Vita titles, PlayStation Now and via Remote Play with a PlayStation 4. The PlayStation TV is going to be available for $99 (system-only), or you also have the option to get a $140 bundle which includes a DualShock 3 controller, 8GB memory card and The Lego Movie Videogame.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony
Source: PlayStation Blog
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Almost all the sci-fi spaceships you know are on this massive chart
If you regularly follow geek culture, you’ve probably seen early versions of Dirk Loechel’s spaceship comparison chart, which shows the relative sizes of vehicles from science fiction games, movies and TV shows. Well, it’s finished — and it’s even more authoritative than the last time around. Get the full-size version and you’ll see Babylon 5‘s Vorlon Planet Killer, Mass Effect‘s Normandy and seemingly everything in between. The chart even includes a real vessel, the International Space Station — at 328 feet long, it seems downright puny next to its make-believe counterparts. Some story franchises have better representation than others (EVE is full of colossal ships), and you won’t see moon-sized spacecraft like Star Wars‘ Death Star, but it’s otherwise hard to imagine a more complete view of sci-fi transportation.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Alt
Via: Kotaku, Geekologie
Source: Dirk Loechel (Deviantart)
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