From Machop to Machamp: Surviving London’s 5K Pokérun
One had escaped earlier, but not again — this time, Squirtle, you’re mine. I yanked at the peak of my cap, and began to spin the Pokéball patiently as the target area grew smaller, and smaller still. A good throw, but not a direct hit. The ball shook for what I thought was the last time, then poof… Before you could say “Mew,” it was gone. No time to dwell. “Make that Pokéball your last! It’s time to get moving,” our leader bellowed. Eyes stinging, I dragged an already soaked T-shirt sleeve across my brow. It’ll only be another 10 minutes of pounding the pavement, I thought, before respite at the next Pokébreak. I groaned quietly as my legs kicked into a light jog. This, fellow trainers, is the Pokérun.
It hasn’t taken long for a huge, devoted community to form around Pokémon Go. It’s phenomenal popularity has inspired thousands of fans to meet up and stare at their phones together all over the world; there’s even a dating app specifically targeted at companionless trainers. Not only is the game just good fun, it’s also being praised for benefitting both mental and physical health, since you actually have to get out and about to play. The latter is what gym chain Virgin Active wanted to focus on when it organised the “world’s first” Pokérun, a workout that promised to turn participants from “Machops into Machamps” while also bulking up their Pokédexes. No, seriously.
Scheduled on one of the hottest days of the year in London — because of course it was — the Pokérun sounded like it might be a fun little outing. Something different, you know? I even bought a crappy Ash hat in excitement before immediately regretting it. (Luckily, Virgin Active reps were giving out themed caps to other runners on the day, so I didn’t look like the only hyper-nerd in attendance.) The route of the 5km run covered multiple terrain types, including city streets, parks and bridges across the Thames, because how is Professor Willow expected to make Magikarp candy without food for the Pokéblender?
The run also featured six stops at Pokémon hotspots. Piece of cake… right? Closer to Pokérun day, however, it slowly dawned on me: I exercise once in a blue moon and I’ve never run 5km in my entire life. Oh, and those six breaks during the run were as much for interval training as bagging Drowzees. What on earth had I signed myself up for? As it turned out, a whole lot more running and a lot less Pokémoning than I had anticipated. But hey, I scored an Electabuzz, an Eevee and (almost) a Lickitung in one session. Totally worth four weary days of recovery.
‘Pokémon Go’ update kills battery-saving mode, footprint tracking (updated)
Pokémon Go’s first substantial update adds tweaks for overpowered Pokemon (those consistently at the top of Pokemon gyms: cough, Vaporean, cough), where the critters can be found, and a raft of bug and text fixes. Niantic has decided to drop the footprint tracking system that didn’t even work in the debut iteration of the game; you’ll have to make do with the vague list of nearby Pokémon. And pray. The update also nixed the battery-saving feature (update: on iOS only), although this editor and others found that feature often made the app unresponsive. Your mileage may have varied, but regardless, battery-saving mode is no more. So turn that screen brightness down, and definitely bring your portable battery pack on your Pokémon hunts.
Smaller changes include the ability to customize your trainer again and relocated buttons for transferring Pokémon. Each time you load the app, it’ll remind you to take care when playing, not to trespass, and other common sense nuggets. Because people can’t have nice things.
Favoriting your strongest monsters will protect them from being accidentally sent to the glue factory professor, which is certainly useful. Since the update, some users are noticing that Pokémon have to be much closer to appear “nearby” on the map, although the refreshed app has arrived at the same time as many Pokémon map scanning services have been indefinitely terminated.
PokeVision, one of the more popular services, said it’s respecting Niantic and Nintendo’s wishes by taking its map down for the time being. Tracking just got trickier — and the wearable is still delayed.
Hey guys. We wish we had some news for you
At this moment, we are respecting Niantic and Nintendo’s wishes.
Will keep you guys posted
❤
— Pokevision (@PokeVisionGo) July 31, 2016
Source: Pokemon Go (iTunes)
Ben Heck’s Nintendo PlayStation prototype teardown, part 2
In part 1 we took a close look at the amazing SFX-100 Nintendo PlayStation console for a teardown of the hardware and an analysis of how the chips function together. After looking inside, Ben discovered a few post-production bodge jobs that were seemingly intended to fix the prototype — but do they, really? Join Ben again as we look inside this rare hardware to see if we can whip it into a functioning state and get the CD-Rom tray finally working. Finally, what better way to test out a console than a beat-em-up showdown? Join Felix and Ben as they duke it out on Super Streetfighter 2. Let us know what you think of the Sony Nintendo PlayStation over at the element14 Community, where you can also interact with The Ben Heck Show team and watch past episodes.
AMD’s sub-$200 gaming video cards launch in early August
AMD said that the Radeon RX 480 would be followed up by lower-cost models this summer, and it’s acting on that promise in a timely fashion. Both the RX 470 and RX 460 (not pictured above) are now slated to arrive on August 4th and August 8th respectively. While AMD hasn’t outlined the specific pricing, these newer boards should cost significantly less than the $199 RX 480 — the RX 460 should sit closer to the coveted $100 mark.
The imminent launch is also shedding some light on details of the cards themselves. The RX 470 may not be VR-friendly like its more advanced sibling, but it’s surprisingly close. You can expect up to 4.9 teraflops of computing power (versus 5.8 for the RX 480), and you’re still getting 4GB of RAM on a healthy 256-bit memory interface. Think of it as the “good enough” card — you can play many new games at 60 frames per second, just at 1080p instead of 1440p.
The RX 460, meanwhile, is really a budget counterpart to last year’s Radeon R9 Nano. It’s much less powerful than the other RX cards (just 2.2 teraflops) and starts with 2GB of RAM on a 128-bit interface, but it’s also far smaller and more power-efficient — it uses less than 75W. The desktop card is ostensibly aimed at eSports gamers who only need brisk frame rates in titles like Overwatch or Rocket League, but it’s also built for small form factor desktops and even laptops.
Both cards help fill out an AMD strategy that’s very different than in past years. Rather than take NVIDIA head-on in the graphics arena, it’s trying to carve out a niche by offering a lot of bang for the buck. This is partly dictated by its own limitations (NVIDIA has generally led the high end for a while), but it could pay off if it gives AMD a relatively uncontested audience. Mind you, NVIDIA’s newer graphics technology is becoming increasingly affordable — it’s entirely possible that the green team will encroach on AMD’s turf.
Via: VentureBeat
Source: AMD (1), (2)
Curt Schilling’s defunct game studio won’t face criminal charges
Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios has run into plenty of trouble since declaring bankruptcy in 2012, not the least of which is an SEC lawsuit this year. However, criminal cases won’t be contributing to its headaches. The Rhode Island State Police have determined that they won’t file charges over the failed $75 million loan for Project Copernicus, the massively multiplayer online game that was to have followed Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. There were “no provable criminal violations” in the way the developer secured its cash, the police say. The decision isn’t completely shocking (federal officials decided against charges back in 2012), but it eliminates what chances were left of staff facing prison time.
Not that 38 Studios is getting away scot-free. It already agreed to a settlement that partly compensates burned creditors, and Rhode Island law enforcement is quick to stress that this doesn’t affect any civil lawsuits like those from the SEC. The fallout from the ill-fated government-game creator partnership isn’t over — however, it is starting to settle down.
Via: WPRI, Gamasutra
Source: RI.gov
Xbox One’s Cortana update arrives at last
After months upon months of delays, Cortana is finally ready for your Xbox One. Microsoft has started rolling out its promised summer update with Cortana’s smarter, richer voice control as its centerpiece. You can use your headset or Kinect to search games, invite friends to play and otherwise accomplish tasks that required either stiff commands or (gasp) your gamepad. This also represents another step toward tighter integration of the Xbox and Windows 10 experiences, such as platform-independent party chat and streamlined shopping that lets you redeem Xbox credits.
Even the not-quite-headline-worthy updates are fairly substantial. You can play background music from supporting apps (Pandora is first) when a game’s soundtrack just won’t do. It’s easier to sift through your game collection, and you can set your language independently of where you live — handy if you’ve moved to another country. No, the software doesn’t fulfill all of Microsoft’s promised Xbox One changes for this year (you’ll have to wait until September for Play Anywhere), but it’s undoubtedly one of the biggest updates in a long while.
Source: Xbox Wire
‘Uncharted’ movie discovers another writer for its script
The Uncharted movie has been in development hell since, oh… forever. There’s a new glimmer of hope, though: Sony has asked filmmaker Joe Carnahan to write the latest script, according to Variety. What drew him to the project was an interest in archaeology and how staggeringly popular the franchise is.
“Archaeology today is in itself an antiquity, but that world has always fascinated me,” he said. “Especially when you go to a museum today and wonder how a piece got there to begin with.” That almost seems like a reference to Uncharted 3’s opening, to be honest.
Carnahan is perhaps best known for his work writing and directing 2002’s Narc with Jason Patrick and Ray Liotta, and The Grey from 2011 — the movie where Liam Neeson fought wolves with booze bottles taped to his fists. Really.
The movie still needs a director, but even with Carnahan’s talent behind a camera, it can’t overcome his schedule at the moment. Among other projects, he has Bad Boys 3 on his plate and said that if he was going to direct, production would have to be pushed back. Considering that the film is already at least two years behind one of its promised release dates, what’s a little more time?
Via: Slashfilm
Source: Variety
Host other people’s Twitch streams from your mobile device
The line between using Twitch on mobile and desktop is getting even more blurry. The live-streaming juggernaut recently announced that now, you can host another channel’s broadcast from the mobile app. Twitch writes that all you need to do is tap the gear button in the app, hit “Host” and you should be good to go. It’s available for everyone on iOS at the moment, and will be rolling out slowly for Android. Need to update? Hit the source link below if your iDevice hasn’t updated yet.
Source: iTunes
‘Disney Infinity’ goes offline in March 2017
Disney Infinity is done and it’s nearly time for Avalanche Software to pull the plug. The game will wind down in stages, starting today with the discontinuation of in-game purchases in the PC, iOS, Android and Apple TV versions of Disney Infinity 2.0, though in-game purchases are still available (for now) in the Steam edition of Disney Infinity 3.0.
On September 30th, the PC, iOS and Android versions of Disney Infinity will disappear from their respective stores and current players will no longer be able to log into the game. Apple TV players will still be able to access the game, but it will be removed from the actual App Store. Disney Infinity 2.0 and 3.0 will remain available on Steam, though online and community features will be disabled. Most importantly, Toy Boxes will be no more — the Community team will cease reviewing and accepting new Toy Boxes across all console, mobile and PC versions. However, Apple TV and Windows 8 or 10 players will be able to download existing Toy Boxes through March 3rd.
In-game purchases will disappear from Windows 8 and 10 editions on January 3rd. And then comes the big shutdown: On March 3rd, Apple TV and Windows versions will no longer be playable or available, and all online services for all installments will be discontinued. Console versions of Disney Infinity games will still function, though they won’t have access to online or community features.
Disney Infinity was Disney’s final stab at making video games in-house, and the series was a success overall — just not enough of one. Infinity single-handedly turned Disney’s gaming sector around, making the division profitable for the first time in years. But, it seemed Disney was betting against the series from the beginning. Add to that Disney’s long history of selling off its gaming properties and the huge influx of cash from licensed franchises like Star Wars: Battlefront, and it feels like Infinity didn’t stand a chance.
Source: Disney Infinity
Blizzard’s next ‘Heartstone’ adventure is a magical disco party
Even though Blizzard’s light-hearted digital card game, Hearthstone, just got a new expansion back in April, rumors of new content just around the corner have been proven true. At an event in Shanghai, China, the studio announced a new adventure, One Night In Karazhan, that will add hours of single-player content and 45 new cards to the mix when it launches on August 11th. Best of all, the first prologue mission is free for everyone.
First, specifics: as the game’s adventures have gone, Karazhan won’t be as full-fledged as a proper expansion like April’s Whispers Of The Old Gods, which added 100 cards and made quite a few changes. Instead, the upcoming content addition will introduce a new single-player experience released in weekly episodes, known as “wings.” Every Thursday, players who have paid admission (in real-world money or in-game gold) get a new slew of mini-bosses that, if defeated, award cards.
Like the previous adventures, Karazhan is a multi-person dungeon raid from World of Warcraft. In the MMO, players explored the spooky, abandoned tower of the treacherous-but-now-redeemed wizard Medivh. In Hearthstone’s upbeat side universe, gamers are invited to a disco-infused dance party, but strange things are afoot for them to investigate.
To keep the game fresh, Blizzard introduced new competitive rules with the last content addition, Whispers Of The Old Gods, splitting constructed player-versus-player into two modes. Standard only allows cards released in the last year, and as the de facto mode for tournaments and professional play, keeps top-line competitive play fresh. Wild, on the other hand, is a catchall of every card from the beginning set, two full expansions, and three adventures released to date — a total of 832, not including Karazhan.
Each new content release’s cards typically adhere to a unique synergistic theme, but aside from an intriguing handful of new additions featured on Polygon’s post, it’s unclear how Karazhan will change the face of Hearthstone. Entire decks seen in professional play have been built around single cards released in the last expansion, last year’s League of Explorers, so it’s a good bet that the new ones will shake up the deck balance that’s been settling since Whispers dropped in April.
But best of all, everyone can try out the first level of Karazhan for free. The prologue and first wing will be playable on August 11th, with each of the three others becoming available on subsequent Thursdays. Players can buy the entire adventure for $20, or each wing for $7 or 700 in-game gold, with Blizzard promising a money-saving bundle should folks purchase them piecemeal. And lest you think you’ll skirt the adventure and just drop dollars on a few packs…you can’t. The only way to get all the new cards is to earn them by buying a new section and beating it. Good luck, and may the groove be with you.
Via: Polygon
Source: Blizzard
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