‘Battlefield 1’ open beta starts August 31st
Eager to play Battlefield 1 but can’t wait until the game’s October 21st release date? Well, good news. Electronic Arts has announced that a 64-player open beta for the first-person shooter will begin August 31st on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
The beta will feature one map called the Sinai Desert, which will include playable dogfights in the sky, and two modes that should be familiar to Battlefield fans: Conquest and Rush. You’ll be able to try three classes — Tank Hunter, Sentry, and Flame Trooper — ride war horses, and control a powerful armored train.
If you sign up for the Battlefield Insider program, which grants you in-game rewards and a sneak peek at news for the upcoming game, you can play the beta three days earlier. Just pick your preferred gaming platform before August 21st to be eligible. Developer DICE will also be hosting a Twitch livestream of Battlefield 1 that you can watch tomorrow at noon PT.
Source: Battlefield.com
Play ‘Minecraft’ on the Oculus Rift today
Minecraft has landed on the Oculus Rift as part of a free update to the Windows 10 Edition beta. Anyone who owns the PC or Mac version of Minecraft is automatically granted access to the Windows 10 beta version; hit up Mojang to sign up and start playing.
We tried out the Oculus Rift version of Minecraft back in March and found it to be absolutely delightful.
“It’s one of the best and more immersive VR experiences I’ve had thus far,” senior editor Nathan Ingraham wrote. “In fact, that lack of fine detail actually helps Minecraft be so successful — the game doesn’t try to mimic reality. Instead, it felt more like I stepped into a cartoon.”
Minecraft is already playable on the Samsung Gear VR, though that’s limited to the features of the Pocket Edition. The Oculus Rift version features support for the Xbox One controller plus keyboard and mouse, and players’ VR-specific settings are saved separately from their traditional Minecraft world.
Mojang developer Tommaso Checchi tweeted on Thursday that the Oculus Rift version of Minecraft would land some time this week, though he didn’t divulge an exact date. Happy Monday, everyone.
Source: Xbox Wire
‘Destiny: Rise of Iron’ PS4 exclusives include a new map
Sony has landed more than a few Destiny exclusives in hopes of selling more PlayStation 4 consoles, and it’s stopping as Bungie’s shooter/MMO hybrid celebrates its second birthday. When Rise of Iron arrives on September 20th, it’ll have a handful of PS4-only extras in a bid to help undecided console buyers. There’s a special Crucible map (Languid Sea, on Mercury) for multiplayer fans, a whole quest line (“Show of Strength,” a look into the Devil Splicers) and a ship (the appropriately blue Timeless Tereshkova). These perks probably won’t tip the balance if you’re only thinking about getting Destiny as one of your new console’s first games, but they’re worth considering if you’re dead set on the title and aren’t otherwise leaning toward a particular platform.
Bungie is also keeping up a more recent tradition: all-inclusive upgrades. Destiny — The Collection will launch with absolutely everything in the Destiny universe, including Rise of Iron, and will give you a consumable to accelerate progress if you’re not willing to reach Rise of Iron Light levels the hard way. The all-in-one pack will cost you $40 if you already have The Taken King (comparable to what TTK cost last year), so it’s not too great an outlay if you’re hooked on the franchise.
Source: PlayStation Blog
Next PS4 update won’t interrupt your gameplay with UI
If Monday’s are a struggle for you, console yourself with the fact that Sony’s teasing a few of tomorrow’s big PS4 firmware beta update features, which includes a significant UI refresh. Pop-up notifications, new system icons and backgrounds, and a few other tweaks promise to bring the dashboard up to date, and the Quick Menu system has also been overhauled to, well, actually be of use. It also won’t cover the whole screen any more, which was never very convenient.
Hitting the Share button on your controller is also a bit less of a time-suck too — it’ll remember the last network you shared to and has support for clips of a little over two minutes. 140 seconds versus the previous 10 seconds.
Version 4 is a significant across-the-board upgrade that puts more emphasis on Trophies and achievements, as well as aiming at making frequently accessed options that little bit more useful.
Perhaps the best update also sounds like one of the most boring, though: you’ll be able to create folders on the content launcher and in your library, so you can keep better track of what you own. There’s also a new tab called Purchased Content, aimed at decluttering your library.
Of course, to get these features from the beta rollout date tomorrow, you need to be registered for the public program and selected as a tester — and it’s too late to apply now. Everyone else just has to wait.
Source: Sony Playstation Blog
‘Final Fantasy XV’ delayed to November 29th
Noctis and friends have put their bromance-filled road trip on hold. Square Enix confirmed today that Final Fantasy XV, the long-awaited JRPG once known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, will now launch on November 29th, rather than September 30th worldwide. The two-month delay will make room for an update that would have been offered as a “day-one patch.” In a video message, director Hajime Tabata says the patch would have been unfair for players with poor internet access, so he’s decided to wait and put both pieces on the same disc. The extra time, Square Enix promises, will also be used to “conduct quality testing” and add “further polish.”
“We need a little more time to deliver on this vision and are confident that this new release date will help us achieve this,” Tabata said. “As the director and lead of this project, I wish to personally apologize for the additional wait. As a team, we want Final Fantasy XV to achieve a level of perfection that our fans deserve. We kindly ask for your understanding.”
In the meantime, fans have the Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV anime to binge-watch, as well as the feature-length film Kingsglaive later this month. Of course, neither are substitutes for the full game, but they should offer some tasty morsels of lore while you wait for the full adventure in Eos.
Source: Final Fantasy XV (YouTube)
‘PaRappa the Rapper’ comes back as an anime series
You sadly aren’t about to see another PaRappa the Rapper game any time soon, but you will get some kind of fix the near future. Fuji TV has announced that it’s airing the pilot episode for a PaRappa anime series, PJ Berri no Mogu-Mogu Munya-Munya, during the variety show Hi Poul on August 18th. More episodes will surface in October. As the name implies, it’ll focus primarily on the DJ bear PJ Berri (at left) instead of the game series’ namesake rapping dog.
Don’t expect a magnum opus: each episode will last just 96 seconds. You won’t hear PaRappa singing about how you “gotta believe,” then. Look at it this way, though: the PaRappa universe hasn’t had much attention since the original game reached the PSP in late 2006. You may have to bend over backwards to see PJ Berri if you’re outside of Japan, but this beats letting a classic game fade into obscurity.
Via: MoCa News (translated), Polygon
Source: Fuji TV (translated)
Fan-made ‘Goldeneye 007’ multiplayer-only HD remake released
Veterans of the Nintendo 64 likely remember Goldeneye 007, a surprisingly great adaptation of the James Bond film released in 1997 that changed shooters forever. After the 2004 release of Half-Life 2, itself a milestone propelling the genre forward, fans started toying with remaking their favorite old game with the graphics engine powering their new one. While they’ve sporadically released versions of Goldeneye: Source since then, the team is finally unveiling its first update in three years, a full overhaul that’s free to download and play.
There have been other reimaginings of the N64 classic, but like this remake of the “Facility” level in the Unreal 4 engine, they’ve all been tech demos rather than wholly updated versions. (As purists, we refuse to consider the 2010 redux for the Wii or its subsequent Xbox 360 and PS3 ports, which merge the old story with Daniel Craig’s likeness and harder style of the current Bond films.) Goldeneye: Source has 25 multiplayer maps, 10 game modes and all 28 weapons from the original game: Fire it up and you can blast your friends just like you did almost two decades ago when it was first released.
Unfortunately, a complete nostalgia trip is impossible, as there’s no single player mode. According to the FAQ, the team just doesn’t have the resources or number of developers to create one — which makes sense, as nobody was paying the team to create this labor of love. But it is the most holistic version of the classic shooter, a great trip down memory lane… And a reminder of how far we’ve come in the 19 years since it first came out.
If that doesn’t make you feel old, scroll down to the bottom of the FAQ, where the team answers why crosshairs aren’t visible — because back in the day, games had auto-aim and you just sort of shot in front of where your character was facing… It was a different time, okay?
Source: The Verge
Upcoming ‘No Man’s Sky’ patch will fix most issues
No Man’s Sky was released for PlayStation 4 last week, but not without its fair share of problems. Developer Hello Games is aware of the game’s many bugs and glitches, and is working on a patch that will solve “the most critical issues” in the “near future.”
It’s not clear what problems the studio is fixing, specifically. But the team does know the pre-order ship, the Domanish S84, leaves some players stranded since it comes pre-installed with a hyperdrive. It negates the need to find a blueprint early on in the game that teaches you how to build a hyperdrive, which is a requirement for all new ships. You then wind up being stuck on a planet if you switch to a different ship. This is arguably the game’s largest issue, and the studio is promising a quick solution.
For now, Hello Games has a few workarounds for minor problems. If you’re stuck somewhere and can’t move freely, you can use your jetpack to help you maneuver if you push against any surface. You can also summon your lost ship from beacons or landing pads found in most buildings.
“The number of people players, and length of average play session, has been far more than our small team could have anticipated,” said studio head Sean Murray in a post on the game’s website. “That said, we’re working quickly to adapt.”
Hello Games has brought in an outside quality assurance group that’s actually bigger than the dev team to help spot bugs, and it’ll complement the existing Sony QA team. Hopefully, the studio is able to continue improving No Man’s Sky which is, for the most part, an engaging and gorgeous experience.
Source: NoMan’sSky.com
‘Maguss,’ the game that definitely isn’t ‘Harry Potter Go’
“It’s a little bit complicated,” Ondrej Tokar says with a laugh.
Tokar is the creator of Maguss, an augmented reality mobile game that transforms players into wizards wandering around a world of spells, potions, duels and fantastical creatures. But let’s get one thing absolutely clear: It’s not a Harry Potter game. Tokar has to emphasize this fact because his team has already been contacted by someone claiming to represent the Harry Potter brand, asking them to distance Maguss from JK Rowling’s world, or else.
Strangely enough, this is precisely what Tokar wants.
Tokar’s dream is to create the Harry Potter Go game that fans have been clamoring for since Pokemon Go busted down the doors of mainstream, mobile AR experiences. Maguss has been in development for two years and it currently occupies an original world of magic. Much like Pokemon Go, it features digital creatures to find scattered around real-world maps, plus it has quests, crafting, the ability to duel other players, factions to join, spells to learn, potions to make and ingredients to hunt down. And, the team is building an actual wand peripheral that connects to the app via Bluetooth, allowing players to flick and swish just like they’ve always dreamed.
Though Maguss is already far along in the development process, Pokemon Go’s success in July presented fresh marketing opportunities. Tokar and his crew began positioning Maguss as the Harry Potter Go solution that many fans wanted. They branded its social media posts with things like, “#HarryPotterGo” and “#Potterheads,” and even wished JK Rowling and Harry Potter a happy birthday alongside Maguss tags.
They knew they were walking a fine legal line. They were careful to never say Maguss was an official Harry Potter game, while still blatantly marketing the idea to Harry Potter fans. This wasn’t just a way to get more people excited about the game: Tokar wanted to get Warner Bros.’ attention, even if it came in the form of a cease-and-desist.
“We think there’s a huge market for it and we also think that we went quite far to get to the point that we are now, and we’re not far from launching,” Tokar says. “We just need Warner Bros.’ permission to make it Harry Potter themed.”
Maguss developers did hear from someone claiming to represent Warner Bros., but it arrived in an unlikely form: a Twitter direct message. The DM came from the @HarryPotter_UK account, whose bio says, “The Harry Potter Film Twitter feed for United Kingdom.” It reads like an official account might, though it isn’t verified.
Tokar isn’t sure if the person who contacted him is truly a legal representative for the Harry Potter brand. They moved the conversation from Twitter to email, where Tokar explained the situation: He wasn’t selling Maguss as an official Harry Potter app, but he would love to talk with Warner Bros. about a potential partnership.
This is where things turned fishy for Tokar. The representative refused to identify herself and, at one point, she told Tokar that he would never have the rights to a Harry Potter game. This set off alarm bells in his head: He questioned whether she had the power to make that claim for the entire Harry Potter ecosystem. Once Tokar raised concerns about her legitimacy as a legal representative, she stopped responding entirely.
Please be all aware, that @MagussWand is not holding any Harry Potter rights nor licenses.Please read our disclaimer:https://t.co/TsZKamz8hL
— MagussWand (@MagussWand) August 1, 2016
But, to be safe, the Maguss team notified fans that it had to stop mentioning Harry Potter altogether, and it added a disclaimer on its website.
“We did all the precautions to be safe, but we are not sure if that is the person that is really legal,” Tokar says.
Engadget has reached out to Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment about its stance on third-party developers and whether it would be open to working with a project like Maguss. We’ll update this story if and when we hear back.
Maguss has been in development for two years. Meaning: It isn’t a knee-jerk reaction to Pokemon Go’s success or the recent online movement calling for a Harry Potter version. It’s a passion project for Tokar, who’s a huge Harry Potter fan in his own right.
In 2014, his girlfriend surprised him with a Harry Potter themed trip around the United Kingdom for his birthday. They visited the studios in Leavesden where the films were produced and rode the Jacobite steam train — or, as fans know it, the Hogwarts Express. During this trip, Tokar, a developer by day, imagined how he could bring this magical world to life. The wand seemed like a good starting point and pairing that with a mobile AR game made the most sense.
Tokar, based in Denmark, teamed up with a colleague from Portugal and they got to work on Maguss, a game steeped in magic and fantasy but completely separate from the Harry Potter brand — or any other fictional wizarding world, for that matter. They launched a Kickstarter campaign in August 2015 that featured a wand peripheral powered by a motion sensor and IR LED, which connected to a receiver shaped like a coat of arms that the player attached to their clothes. The receiver then transmitted players’ movement data to a smartphone. It was an inelegant system — likely one reason that the Kickstarter didn’t receive enough funding. Tokar raised roughly $24,500 of a requested $53,000.
“And we know why,” Tokar says. “It just wasn’t high-quality enough. We know it. And right now, I think we are proving that it’s much, much better.”
Today, Tokar has a full team of artists, developers and marketing professionals helping to build a new and improved version of Maguss. The wand uses Bluetooth, negating the cumbersome coat of arms receiver, and the interface looks better overall. Players don’t have to use the wand either, and can instead trace spell glyphs right on their phone screen.
“That is to target people that are shy to run around swishing their wands, or for people that want to play the game somewhere in public or in public transport, for example,” Tokar says.
Plus, with Pokemon Go’s success this year, the project is a much easier sell. However, this level of awareness also has a downside. Pokemon Go has made mobile AR games more viable in the public eye, but that means other companies are ready to pounce on this fresh industry. A Russian company making a magic-themed mobile AR game already tried to poach one of Tokar’s artists in the last few months.
“Fortunately he told me,” Tokar says.
And then there’s Warner Bros. itself. What if that company, with all of its funding, access and legal rights, decides to develop its own version of Harry Potter Go?
“I have invested lots of money into this project, lots of time,” Tokar says. “On one hand, I would be very happy to see a game like that. On the other hand, we would be happy to be the ones developing the game.”
Maguss is roughly halfway complete. Tokar plans to launch another Kickstarter project in mid-September, hoping to raise enough money so his team can finish it off. Right now, he’s funding the development on his own.
“It’s quite rough, but it’s working out well now,” he says.
There’s a mountain of landmines in front of Maguss, from legal concerns to copycats to official designs, but Tokar isn’t giving up. He still hopes to get in touch with Warner Bros. and talk about turning Maguss into an official Harry Potter Go app, whether that contact comes through the Kickstarter, Twitter, Facebook or articles like this one. Or, perhaps, by magic.
“We would still like to speak with Warner Bros. to make it Harry Potter themed, but we are going our own way right now,” Tokar says. “But still, if we have the opportunity, we will take it.”
The Engadget Podcast returns!
In 2014 we said the Engadget Podcast was going on hiatus to “retool.” Well, we haven’t been sitting on our laurels. Over the last two years we’ve rethought our editorial mission, completely redesigned the website and, now, we’re launching a new and improved podcast.
If you’re looking for the Engadget podcast – we’re currently taking a break to re-tool it and make it more awesome for you. Stay tuned!
— Engadget (@engadget) June 27, 2014
This isn’t simply the old Engadget Podcast with a shiny new logo, no. We’re approaching it in a whole new way, and it will continue to evolve as we hear from you, our loyal listeners, readers and viewers. At its heart this is still a show about tech news, but one that is fast paced, informative and, most importantly, fun. You’ll hear editors debate the news of the week, get a peek inside the machine that is Engadget and enjoy deep dives on the stories that have changed our world (for better or worse).
We’re also making sure that you can enjoy the show in as many ways as possible. We’ve got a beautiful landing page where you’ll find every episode in audio or video format, plus a text transcription for the hearing impaired. You can watch us on YouTube, Facebook Live, listen on SoundCloud or subscribe through your podcast service of choice. You’ll currently find the show on iTunes, Google Play Music, Stitcher and Pocket Casts.
In Episode One: Your Racist Friend, editors Cherlynn Low, Devindra Hardawar and Nathan Ingraham join host Terrence O’Brien to debate iPhone rumors, explore the perks of renting gadgets, and express their utter exasperation at Snapchat’s racist filters.
Relevant links:
- Bloomberg: iPhone 7 gets new home button, drops headphone port
- HP Chromebook 13 review: a great laptop that doesn’t come cheap
- Why the Olympics need GIFs
- Yes, ‘No Man’s Sky’ has a few issues
- Snapchat’s racist yellowface filter lands it in hot water
- Snapchat’s 420 Bob Marley filter is just digital blackface
You can check out every episode on The Engadget Podcast page in audio, video and text form for the hearing impaired.
Watch on YouTube
Subscribe on Google Play Music
Subscribe on iTunes
Subscribe on Stitcher
Subscribe on Pocket Casts
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