Original Xbox One drops to $249
Just want an Xbox One for the lowest price possible, and aren’t dead set on getting the sleeker, slightly more powerful Xbox One S? Microsoft is about to make your day. It’s lowering the US price of the original, 500GB Xbox One system to $249 “for a limited time” — no doubt to move units before the 500GB Xbox One S arrives later in the year. This includes any bundle, too. You can find the discounted console at Amazon right now, and GameStop is sweetening the deal further with a $30 gift card.
Starting today and for a limited time in the US: All 500GB Xbox One Consoles will be $249 https://t.co/Byg74z1lvo pic.twitter.com/XITBD8C260
— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) July 24, 2016
Source: Larry Hryb (Twitter), Amazon
Ben Heck’s Nintendo PlayStation prototype teardown, part 1
It was originally thought to be a rumor: a games console that combined Sony and Nintendo hardware. Now Ben Heck proves it does exist. Thanks to Terry and Dan Diebold, who approached The Ben Heck Show team with the console, Ben was able to give you an exclusive teardown of the elusive Super Nintendo / Famicom and Sony PlayStation hybrid console. While taking apart the device, called the SFX-100, Ben guides us through the post-production alterations made to fix the prototype and gives us a tour of all the components on the board, including a custom audio chip and standard Sony integrated circuits. We also compare the system to similar consoles at the time, such as the PC Engine / TurboGRAFX-16 and the Sega MegaCD. The real question is, can we get it working? Let us know what you think of the teardown over at the element14 Community, where you can also interact with The Ben Heck Show team and learn more about Nintendo and Sony’s history.
‘Gears of War 4’ will have plenty of PC-specific features
The history of Microsoft-backed Xbox One games coming to the PC isn’t exactly stellar. When Remedy’s Quantum Break reached Windows, it was saddled with limitations that were partly dictated by the Universal Windows Platform’s own limits, such as frame rate issues and an overall lack of features. You shouldn’t run into those problems when Gears of War 4 rolls around, though. As part of a Eurogamer interview, The Coalition has revealed that the cover-based shooter will have ample PC-specific features. You’ll get much deeper video settings that include dynamic resolutions, so your ultra-wide display won’t go to waste. It’ll also take advantage of many-core PC processors, higher-resolution textures and UWP’s recently unlocked frame rates, offering a distinct visual advantage to playing on a brawny computer.
Other perks? There’s a benchmarking mode to make you feel good about your hardware upgrades, and you have full control over the keyboard and mouse input. In short, this should feel like a PC-native game even though it’s likely to be the definitive Xbox One title for 2016. That’s still not going to make everyone happy (developers have railed against UWP’s closed ecosystem for years), but it beats having to deal with console-like limitations just to play some big Xbox hits on your Windows gaming rig.
Source: Eurogamer (1), (2)
Ben Heck powers on the Nintendo PlayStation’s CD drive
When we got our hands on the legendary “Nintendo PlayStation” prototype last November, the device worked fine as a Sony-branded SNES console sans audio, whereas its CD drive — the part that eventually led to the birth of the PlayStation — failed to be recognized by the system. The device has since been handed over to hacking maestro Ben Heck, who has just revealed that he finally got the CD drive to power up. First of all, Ben cleaned the contact pins on the Super Disc driver cartridge to get its 256KB of extension RAM talking to the console, then he removed one of the mod wires on the logic board, which got the CD drive to make a ticking noise and even pulling its tray back in.
It was a nice “wow” moment for everyone, but the ticking noise suggested that the CD drive was struggling to move its optical head, plus the screen was flickering. Ben figured this was to do with a power glitch caused by three leaky electrolytic capacitors on the logic board, so he replaced those with modern ones, and boom! The CD drive is alive! The diagnostic software gave all the green ticks, and the CD player’s control panel appears to be working. As a bonus, the audio function has also been restored since that’s part of the CD drive’s decoder, so we can now fully enjoy SNES games on this super rare device as well.
What’s left to do now is to find some compatible disc games and see if they’ll run on the Nintendo PlayStation — prototype owner Terry Diebold believes he may have one in the boxes he bought from that fateful auction. We also came across a homebrew game called Super Boss Gaiden based on the Super Disc cartridge’s software dump, so here’s hoping they can get that to work on the device.
Source: The Ben Heck Show (YouTube)
Recommended Reading: Social media’s effect on the truth
How technology
disrupted the truth
Katharine Viner,
The Guardian
Stories spread around Facebook and Twitter before they’re even confirmed to be true. By the time they are or aren’t, it doesn’t matter. The news already made its way around the internet. Facts are often overlooked and confirmation is something sought only after a tweet is fired off. This piece from The Guardian takes a look at how we got here.
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How to fix flying There are a lot of headaches when it comes to air travel. This series from Popular Mechanics looks at possible solutions to the most pressing issues. |
Obsidian Entertainment: Survival, success and independence CEO Feargus Urquhart discusses a 13-year career in game development that includes work on Fallout and Knights of the Old Republic. |
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Harley Quinn breaks out in ‘Suicide Squad’ We’re still a couple of weeks away from the debut of the next DC Comics film, but The Wall Street Journal takes a look at how Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn makes the leap from The Joker’s lady to “a franchise player.” |
‘Sonic Mania’ looks like the 2D sequel fans deserve
Sonic The Hedgehog is more than just a trash-talking Twitter account. To celebrate the franchise’s 25 year anniversary, Sega is taking the series back to its 2D roots. Sonic Mania looks like it’ll strip away all the extraneous bloat that’s barnacled itself to the core gameplay since the Blue Blur’s glory days, with a focus on what always worked so well. Namely, going fast, collecting rings and moving from left to right.
Introducing SONIC MANIA! A new 2D Sonic platforming adventure experience! https://t.co/6uZ4J0Pcok #Sonic25
— Sonic the Hedgehog (@sonic_hedgehog) July 23, 2016
From the trailer below, Mania looks unapologetically old school, replete with chiptune music and the series’ trademark hyper-colorful pixel-art style. Three playable characters are on tap (Sonic, Tails and Knuckles) and in addition to a new move like the drop dash and new levels, Mania will apparently put a couple of twists on old stages as well. The only problem is that despite Sonic’s expediency, Mania will be late to the series’ anniversary party with its “spring 2017” release window.
But hey, with how the more recent games have turned out, fans would probably rather that developers Christian Whitehead — who has worked on ports and remasters of the franchise in the past — and Headcannon, along with PagodaWest Games, take their time to get it right.
Source: Sonic the Hedgehog (Twitter)
‘Project Sonic’ is coming to Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo NX
While Sonic fans will celebrate the series’ 25th anniversary with a 2D throwback game in Sonic Mania, the official Sonic Team is working on something new. Tonight Sega dropped this teaser trailer for “Project Sonic,” which is due for the 2017 holiday season on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo’s NX. Everything in the trailer is CG, but it does indicate that we can expect both a “Modern” and “Classic” Sonic to make an appearance.
Source: Sonic the Hedgehog (YouTube)
3D-printed ‘Pokémon Go’ cover aims for you, obscures screen
Catching monsters in Pokémon Go sounds deceptively simple: find a creature, and throw an imaginary ball at it by swiping up on your phone screen. The reality is a lot more frustrating — if you don’t flick your finger in a perfectly straight line, the throw will curve to the side and miss. There are two solutions to this. You could practice, or, you could 3D-print a ridiculous phone-cover that takes away all of the challenge. Jon Clever chose to do the latter.
We tease, but Clever’s Pokéball Aimer is actually a clever little tool. The custom phone cover fits over an iPhone 6 and creates a trench that guide’s the player’s finger up the center of the screen for the perfect Pokéball throw.
Unfortunately, it also obscures a good deal of the screen — offering only cut-outs for on-screen controls. There’s a Pokéball shaped window that allows the player to see the target, but the case is only really useful on the game’s capture screen. This means it has to be removed for battles, menus and the game’s GPS-guided walking mode. It also makes advanced moves, like the curve ball, impossible. Still, tedium is a small price to pay for catching Psyduck. Want your own? You can get the plans for free on My Mini Factory.
Via: Gizmodo
Source: My Mini Factory
Deconstructing the legendary dungeons of ‘Ocarina of Time’
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is one of those games that practically everyone has played and regards fondly. The landmark 1998 game was incredibly influential, and when folks put together lists of “best games of all time,” it’s usually within the top ten. Ocarina also marked the long-running franchise’s move from a top-down view to full 3D thanks to the leap in power that the Nintendo 64 provided. But how do its dungeons stack up to previous games in the series? Specifically, A Link to the Past and Link’s Awakening? YouTuber Mark Brown answers just that with a smart and thoughtful examination of the game.
In the video above, he breaks down how Ocarina’s nine temples are structured in terms of flow and design, noting just how linear they are compared to A Link to the Past (another fan favorite in the series) and whether or not that actually works to the game’s advantage. And yep, a healthy portion of the video is dedicated to Ocarina’s devious water temple. The video is part of a larger series examining the franchise on a game-by-game basis, so, if you like what you see, maybe throw a subscription Brown’s way.
Source: Game Maker’s Toolkit (YouTube)
TBS is giving ‘Overwatch’ its own $300,000 tournament
Esports are taking over mainstream broadcast networks as an Overwatch tournament is coming to TBS.
Turner Broadcasting System’s Eleague organization, in conjunction with FaceIt, announced today the two are partnering for a special Overwatch tournament, offering a $300,00 prize pool for winners. Currently it’s set to begin on July 23rd with online rounds for both North American and European teams alike.
The Grand Finals are set to be broadcast via TBS and Twitch on September 30th, with the winning team taking home $100,000 as the grand prize.
This isn’t the first time Eleague has set up a special tournament for a popular online game, with May’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive bringing in viewers and showing off yet another way that esports are infiltrating our everyday media. With Overwatch’s overwhelming popularity across the gaming sphere, it seems like a no-brainer to invite viewers and participants.
Via: VentureBeat
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