Watch this fish play ‘Pokemon’ live on the internet (currently in betta)
The world record holder for longest consecutive Pokemon gameplay might just be a fish. Grayson Hopper, a bright orange betta, has been “playing” the game for 135 hours and counting, with the event broadcast live on the internet from a “tiny dorm room.” Before you get too excited, the aquatic creature’s owner mapped out a video feed of an otherwise ordinary bowl, and, to the best of our knowledge, Grayson’s entirely unaware that he’s become the latest Twitch sensation. As of the last update, the fish had defeated his first opponent and even managed to acquire a Pokemon. Mr. Hopper has paused to rest throughout the experiment, so he should be in good shape to continue until his owner relocates the rig later this summer.
Filed under: Gaming
Via: Kotaku
Source: Twitch
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Xbox One TV Tuner lets Europeans get their television fix
When Microsoft launched the Xbox One, prospective buyers outside of the US wondered how its TV features would work in countries, like most of Europe, that still predominantly used over-the-air transmissions. The long, slightly awkward silence that followed has now been broken, with the company producing the Xbox One Digital TV Tuner. The gear is reasonably simple, converting coaxial signals at one end to a USB port that connects to the console on the other. The gear will enable people who don’t have HDMI-enabled cable boxes to watch HDTV, pause broadcasts and even use voice commands — assuming, that is, that you have a Kinect. It’ll launch towards the end of October, priced at £25 in the UK and €30 in France, Italy, Germany and Spain.
Filed under: Gaming, HD, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
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Amazon lets Fire TV and Android gamers work together in two-player mode
If you heard that Amazon was launching an app on Google Play, you’d be entitled to hope that it’d be the long-awaited Instant Video for Android. Prepare to be disappointed, since the company’s actually released Sev Zero: Air Support for tablets that don’t have the words “kindle” and “fire” in their name. It’s a companion piece to the Amazon-made Sev Zero game that debuted on the Fire TV, enabling a second player to join in on the tower defense-cum-fps-style fun. Still, maybe next time on that whole video app, please Jeff?
Filed under: Gaming, Tablets, HD, Google, Amazon
Via: Android Police
Source: Google Play
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Library of Congress finds unreleased ‘Duke Nukem’ code lurking in its catalog
When a video game studio cancels a project, the code tends to stay with the developers or else disappear into the void. Either way, you’re unlikely to ever see it. However, the Library of Congress’ Trevor Owens has unearthed a rare gem. While sifting through a stack of games destined for the archives, he found code and media assets for an unreleased PlayStation Portable version of Duke Nukem: Critical Mass. While Sony’s many proprietary file formats made it tricky to poke around, homebrew tools were enough to uncover 3D models, music and textures, including those for Duke himself (shown here). And in case you’re wondering, this is a first-of-a-kind discovery; to Owens’ knowledge, every other game in the Library has shipped.
Both the original disc and its code will be preserved separately, so this take on Critical Mass will be readily available to researchers and curious Duke Nukem fans. With that said, Owens believes that the find underscores the problems of preserving video games. You shouldn’t have to resort to community-made utilities just to see everything that went into a given work, the technician contends. He hopes that the revelation will lead to a set of more accessible preferred formats for future game submissions, and that more companies will hand over their source material (even if it’s unfinished) in addition to any polished products. To Owens, it’s like getting the film negatives for a movie that never hit theaters — sometimes, the creative process can be as interesting as the content.
Via: Gamasutra
Source: Library of Congress
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Twitch won’t store your full game broadcasts forever, and it’s muting ‘unauthorized’ audio
You might not want to count on revisiting that favorite League of Legends match or Playdate stream in a few years’ time — not as long as it’s hosted on Twitch, anyway. The game video service has implemented new policies that delete the full copies of past broadcasts after a fixed period. You’ll keep them for two weeks if you’re a free user, and 60 days if you’re either a Turbo subscriber or one of Twitch’s partners. Only highlights (up to two hours each) will stick around indefinitely. Your clips are safe for the three weeks following this post, but you’ll want to quickly move them elsewhere if you’re bent on keeping them for posterity. The site is also starting to mute audio (in recordings, not during live streams) that you don’t have the rights to play, so you may not want to blast tunes in between rounds — it’s using the same tech that YouTube does, which adds a little more weight to those Google acquisition rumors.
Twitch explains the new time limits as necessary for tackling many of the limitations of its current video on demand system. The company wants to allow on-demand streams on mobile devices, simplify video exports and make backups more secure, but it would simply be too costly to offer those and preserve every video ever made. Something has to give, Twitch says. It also argues that you probably won’t notice the difference, since 84 percent of views happen within those first two weeks. The claim likely holds water, unless you’re a die-hard spectator.
IM DEAD pic.twitter.com/STP80SAQSD
– Xkeeper (@xkeepah) August 6, 2014
Competitors like Hitbox.tv or Azubu.tv may pick up a few streamers unhappy with the new policies, although some users have already noticed that just pausing and resuming the video defeats the muting system. The technology likely needs some tweaking though, as even Twitch’s own archives have fallen victim to the Audio Magic silencer. However you feel about all the new changes, it’s evident that Twitch is no longer a one-stop shop for game videos; you’ll probably have to divide your attention between multiple sites if you want to watch classic tournaments or other long gaming sessions.
Source: Twitch Official Blog (1), (2)
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Android smartphones are about to get multi-user support
If you have an Android tablet and kids, you’re probably a fan of the OS’ multi-user feature: it lets you add passwords and lock specific apps based on who is using the device. The feature launched exclusively on tablets last year, coupled with the explanation that Google hadn’t quite figured out how to handle incoming phone calls with multiple users. Now the company seems to have figured it out, explaining in a response in the Android issue tracker that multiple user support will be available “as a a part of the next public build.”
The straightforward (and slightly vague) statement explains that the feature has been implemented for the next build, but doesn’t specify if it’s coming in a iterative update, or with Android L — the mobile OS’ next major version. The response doesn’t completely answer everything in the issue tracker’s feature request either, but it does come form a verified Google employee, so there’s little doubt multiple user support for smartphones is on the way. Check out the issue tracker and Google’s full (but short) response at the source link below.
Via: Android Police
Source: Google
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Dictatorship simulator cuts too close to the bone for Thailand’s dictator
In Tropico 5 you play El Presidente, the dictator of a small island, given free reign to build the world according to your whim while violently suppressing your opponents. Unfortunately, tongue-in-cheek games about that sort of subject don’t go down so well with an actual military dictatorship, like the one running Thailand right now. The junta, which has already censored the internet and banned Facebook and Bitcoin, has now outlawed sales of the game. The only reason given is that Tropico 5′s content might have somehow affected peace and order in the country — possibly by showing the wider population how dictatorships work. Stefan Marcinek from the game’s developer says that the move sounds like it “could have come from one of El Presidente’s own edicts.” Between this and Manuel Noreiga’s decision to sue Activision, it’s time the military dictators of the world learned the meaning of that phrase about glass houses and throwing stones.
Filed under: Gaming
Source: ABC News, New Era Thailand
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GameStop now offers 20 percent more cash for your old titles
Between pre-orders, promotions and credit offers, it feels as if you need a PhD in economics just to trade-in used games. Thankfully, GameStop has decided to simplify its arcane pricing structure and, best of all, increase the price of each trade by 20 percent. According to documents leaked to Kotaku, you’ll get the “optimal value” for each title, the only difference being if you take credit and/or have a Power Up Rewards subscription. In the example, an untitled game that you could swap for $29 in cash would be worth $37.70 if you took credit and were part of the rewards program. According to the slides, the new rules will start on August 18th, and you’ll know the staff have been given the new details if they ask you “when’s the last time we bought some of your items?” The correct answer, of course, is to wink, pause a moment and then say “In London, April is a spring month.”
Filed under: Gaming
Source: Kotaku
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New Xbox One bundle gives you ‘Madden 15’ for free
Microsoft is all about football at the moment. Shortly after outing its Sideline Viewing System for pro players and coaches, as well as a new NFL app for Xbox One and Windows 8, the company has now revealed how it plans to tackle the arrival of Madden 15. Surprise, surprise: it’s an Xbox One bundle. Now don’t expect a unique console or anything like that; instead, the Surface maker wants to lure you in by including the game free as part of this “limited edition” deal. So, in exchange for $399, you get an Xbox One without Kinect and a digital download of EA Sports’ latest addition to the popular football franchise, plus three Pro Packs to use in Ultimate Team mode. The Madden 15 Xbox One bundle is set to hit shelves on August 26th, though you can pre-order right now from some online retailers, including the Microsoft Store.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
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The original BioShock is headed to iOS this summer
If BioShock Infinite‘s brief stopover in Rapture wasn’t enough to sate your Randian desires, 2K Games’ China studio is currently in the process of moving the original BioShock from last-gen consoles and PC to iOS. Like XCOM: Enemy Unknown before it, BioShock is a “premium” iOS game and thus carries a “premium” price — that price is unknown thus far, but we’d put it somewhere in the $10 – $30 range. As one 2K Games rep told us in an interview late last week, “It is a seven year old game.” So perhaps on the lower-end of that scale, then.
Other than that, well, it’s BioShock. Would you kindly head past the break if you’d like to know more?
Yes, BioShock doesn’t look as good on iOS. It’s the truth. In-game lighting and shadows are cut down pretty dramatically, as are art assets. The grandeur of Rapture is distinctly less grand, which sucks some of the life out of one of my personal favorites. The first thing you’ll notice is “iOS fire.” The game’s opening — a plane crash — puts main character Jack in the ocean surrounded by some hideously ugly fire animations. It’s the first hint that the iOS version of Rapture has been shrunken down to fit within Apple’s app store file size limitation, and it’s a nagging issue that I couldn’t shake in my hands-on time.
But maybe you haven’t played BioShock before and you’re not overloaded with lofty expectations (like me). First things first, you’re in for a treat! Second, even without my lofty expectations, you should probably play this on a couch with an Xbox 360. BioShock is a great example of world-building in video games, and the iOS experience is a subpar representation. Simply put, between the lessened scale and the delivery medium, BioShock iOS is distinctly less immersive.
The good news is that it plays perfectly fine, even with touch controls. Admittedly, the touch control situation is not ideal. Like Grand Theft Auto‘s mobile ports, virtual buttons appear contextually on screen. Also like Grand Theft Auto‘s mobile ports, I found myself scrambling to figure out which virtual button to push as a gang of enemies descended on me. “But Ben,” you ask with a hint of hesitation in your voice. “Why not use a bluetooth controller?” Well, you can. And I tried that with a MOGA bluetooth controller. That totally works.
Here’s the thing: I don’t carry a bluetooth gamepad on me. Do you? Does anyone? Okay, does anyone who isn’t a crazy person? You can play BioShock iOS with a gamepad. But will anyone?
In terms of nuts and bolts, BioShock iOS doesn’t have any of the extra downloadable content that the console/PC version has. It requires a newer iOS device — iPad Air, iPad Mini 2, iPad 4, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C or iPhone 5 — and straight up won’t run on earlier devices (says 2K). It’ll arrive sometime this summer at an unknown, “premium” price.
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Handhelds, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Apple
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AIVAnet 