Microsoft E3 2014 Xbox liveblog!
Microsoft’s annual E3 press briefing on its Xbox business is, if nothing else, never a dull affair. Heck, last year, a car rose out of the stage! And one year, some of The Beatles showed up. What’s gonna happen today? That’s the question! We get the feeling that our friend the Master Chief will make an appearance in at least one Halo game announcement, the couch-sized men of the Gears of War universe are likely to show up, and we’ve got our fingers crossed for a hovercraft or some madness rising out of the stage this morning. We’ll get started shortly after 9AM PT/12PM ET.
Microsoft now selling Kinectless Xbox One for $400
One way Microsoft can stimulate Xbox One sales is to drop the price to match its better-selling rival, the PlayStation 4. After it confirmed exactly that by announcing a Kinectless Xbox One last month, the company has now opened sales — hours before E3 2014 kicks off. You can pick one up for $399.99/£349.99 via Microsoft’s online store, which lets you concentrate on gaming instead of repeating that frustrating “Xbox on” command. If you decide later that you do want the sensor-packed accessory, a standalone version will be available this fall. Microsoft will also continue to sell the “premium” bundle with Kinect. Today’s launch is meant to be about gamers that “just like to play games with a controller in their hand,” because, you know, everyone else totally wanted a Kinect to begin with.
Filed under: Gaming, HD, Microsoft
Via: The Next Web
Source: Microsoft Store (US), (UK)
Feedback Loop: must-play video games, Netflix woes and more
June is here! Let’s get this summer started with a fresh edition of Feedback Loop. Kris finds a list of video games we must play before we die; Netflix tries to shame ISPs; Tetris hits the big three-zero and we discuss whether everything announced at WWDC was innovative enough. All that and more past the break!
Must-play video games
Quick, think of a classic video game that someone needs to play at some point in their life. You probably thought of something like Super Mario Bros., Pac-Man or even Tetris. Kris recently found a fun book that listed 1,001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die. There are some classics in there, as well as more obscure stuff. She went through the list and found she’s played 120 of them. Head over to the forums to take a gander and then share how many of the games you’ve played.
Netflix streaming woes
Net neutrality is a complex subject and sometimes it’s hard to know which side we should be rooting for. Earlier this year, Netflix signed a deal with Comcast to get more bandwidth. This week, Netflix is publicly shaming Verizon. It’s getting messy out there! Have you seen a message from Netflix pinning poorly streamed videos on your ISP?
‘Tetris’ turns 30!
Speaking of classic games, Tetris hit a crazy milestone as it celebrated its 30th birthday! Have we been meticulously organizing falling blocks that long? John talks about his earliest Tetris memories. I remember sitting in the back of class playing Tetris on my TI-82. What are yours?
Thoughts on WWDC
On Monday, Apple kicked off its World Wide Developers Conference by showing off iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite. We discussed some of the newly announced features and talked about whether or not they were interesting, innovative or uninspiring. What did you think of the announcements?
That’s all this week! Do you want to talk about your favorite gadget or have a burning question about technology? Register for an Engadget account today, visit the Engadget forums and start a new discussion!
Razer’s CEO is sorry for ‘screwing up on anticipating demand,’ wants to do better
If you pre-ordered Razer’s new 14-inch Blade laptop the day it was announced, there’s a good chance you still don’t have it. Frustrated? Don’t worry — your voice has already been heard; Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan says he’s sorry. “We suck at this,” he said in a heartfelt Facebook post today. “I suck at this.” Unfortunately, Razer has made a habit of underestimating customer demand, and Min’s team is struggling to find a solution that won’t keep customers waiting. “We’ve tried different things,” he said. “We’ve tried doubling / tripling / quadrupling manufacturing capacity, we’ve ramped back to phasing in launches by geography… we’ve pushed back launch dates, and still we end up disappointing our customers.”
Frustrated, Tan admitted that this isn’t the first time he’s apologized for this. “Every time we launch a new product, demand just far outstrips the supply.” Naturally, the young CEO wants Razer’s launches to be smooth, and pledges to continue to tweak and change the company’s distribution plans for future product launches. How, exactly, he plans to do this isn’t clear, but it sounds like he’ll be trying something new soon: “We’ll have more news on this shortly,” he concluded. “Which of course also means we will be shipping something new very soon.”
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Filed under: Gaming
Via: Slashgear
Source: Facebook
This cover of the ‘Game of Thrones’ theme was made with an NESkeytar
Enjoy this for what it is: a bitchin’ chiptune cover of the theme song to the nerdgasm, soft porn fantasy-fest that is HBO’s Game of Thrones. And, yes that is a “keytar” with a Nintendo Entertainment System attached that YouTuber Theremin Hero is deftly fingering to play the show’s epic opening theme. Dude’s even rocking Think Geek’s 8-bit tie. Clearly, he’s committed. The full video is after the break.
(Full disclosure: I’ve tried reading book one of Game of Thrones at least twice on a plane ride and failed to get hooked. Same goes for season one of the show. I just don’t get it.)
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment
Via: LaughingSquid
Source: YouTube (Theremin Hero), ThereminHero
Engadget Daily: life with self-driving cars, the world’s largest video game collection and more!
Today, we investigate the pros and cons of self-driving cars, uncover some of the most intriguing devices from Computex 2014, celebrate Tetris‘ 30th birthday and learn about the world’s largest video game collection. Read on for Engadget’s news highlights from the last 24 hours.
What you need to know about self-driving cars
Self-driving cars have the potential to make our roadways safer and more efficient, but what does a world full of AI-controlled vehicles really look like? Read on as our own Sean Cooper explains the reality of life with autonomous cars.
Baby steps toward better wearables at Computex 2014
Between the multitude of knock-off, e-ink and prototype devices at Computex 2014, it’s obvious the evolution of wearables is just beginning. Read on as our own Sarah Silbert investigates such gadgetry from this year’s conference.
Cable companies are reportedly funding fake consumer groups to attack net neutrality
It’s no secret that cable companies could benefit from prioritizing web traffic, but they may be using nefarious means in an attempt to squash the open internet. Vice is reporting that several providers are funding fake consumer groups to battle net neutrality.
The world’s largest video game collection just went up for auction
What you’re looking at is just a glimpse of the world’s largest video game collection, which includes (brace yourself) over 11,000 titles. The best part? It’s currently up for auction.
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Here’s the world’s ‘most powerful and lightest’ 13-inch gaming laptop
Following the impressive Razer Blade we reviewed last month, Gigabyte also wants a piece of the portable gaming laptop action with its new Aorus X3 line, a sub-14-inch Windows 8.1 device that claims to be the world’s “most powerful and lightest” in its class. In terms of weight, it starts from 4.12 pounds (1.87kg) which is more attractive than the new Blade’s 4.47 pounds (2.03kg). The smaller X3 has an impressive 13.3-inch QHD (2,560 x 1,440) LCD, whereas the larger 13.9-inch X3 Plus lets you choose between a QHD panel and a sweeter QHD+ (3,200 x 1,800) version.
Both variants of the gaming beast come with Intel’s Core i7-4710HQ (2.5-3.5GHz), 8GB of DDR3L-1600 RAM (with a spare slot for another 8GB) and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M with 6GB of GDDR5 memory. You can have a pair of 256GB or 512GB SSDs configured in RAID 0, meaning you get super fast access to a maximum of 1TB space. Together with the macro keys plus Gigabit LAN connection or 802.11ac WiFi, online gamers should have no problem entertaining themselves with these machines — at least until the 74Wh battery has been drained while gaming on the go.
As you can imagine, these gaming laptops don’t come cheap: Both the X3 and the X3 Plus will go from $2,099 when they launch in Q3 this year, with one-year global warranty plus one-year local warranty included.
The world’s largest video game collection just went up for auction
Meet Michael Thomasson. He’s a 31-year-old video game historian who holds the Guinness World Record for the largest video game archive. Now he wants someone else to have it. Thomasson admits that he’d rather not sell his 11,000+ game collection, which includes full catalogues for platforms including Dreamcast, Saturn, Virtual Boy and Lynx, but due to family commitments he’s decided to offer it up to the highest bidder. It went up on auction site Game Gavel a couple of days ago with a starting bid of $1, and it’s already reached $50,000 ahead of the June 15th deadline. If you’re dying to become a world record holder and have the necessary space to store it all, the collection is said to be worth somewhere between $700,000 and $800,000. We wonder if he’ll accept installments.
[Image credit: Techspot]
Via: Kotaku
Source: Game Gavel
Happy 30th birthday, Tetris
It’s been 30 years since Alexey Pajitnov crafted the world’s most popular game of all time, while as an employee of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in Moscow. Tetris spent the next 10 years bouncing onto every computer and arcade machine, including selling 33 million copies on the Game Boy alone. Pajitnov, however, saw almost none of the success of his creation, since the rights to his game wouldn’t revert back to him until 1996. But by that point, Tetris’ place in world history was secure, and the title has since gone on to sell 100 million copies, not to mention popping up in some rather unexpected places.
GOG is launching its own PC game platform and client, but it’s optional
Anyone who’s ever bought a game on Steam or Origin is familiar with the concept of a desktop client, but what if managing your game library through a piece of software was merely an option instead of a necessity? That’s the question GOG is exploring: the retro PC game seller just announced GOG Galaxy: a new PC gaming platform that promises to provide customers with auto-updating games, a player communication portal and the ability to play multiplayer games with both GOG Galaxy friends and users on other platforms. Oh, and like everything else in GOG’s library, the client and every game that uses it will be completely DRM free.
GOG touts the new platform as completely optional — you won’t need to be online to launch or play your games, and you don’t even need to use it if you prefer downloading games from the company’s website — but there are a few restrictions. Naturally, gamers who want to play online will need to be connected, and tracking achievements or chatting with friends will of course require a profile, but the company stresses that those are optional features. You’ll never need it to play your games, but if you want it, it’s coming. Check out the teaser video below and stay tuned: GOG says it will announce more details later this year.
Filed under: Gaming
Source: GOG
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