Play Nintendo’s rarest game on your Wii U
Nintendo World Championships is a game for Nintendo’s first major game console, the NES. It’s notorious for popping up every few years on places like eBay and fetching a ton of dough. You won’t find articles praising its thrilling gameplay or beautiful soundtrack, and that’s because it’s not really a game. Nintendo World Championships is actually pieces of three games — Super Mario Bros., Rad Racer and Tetris — and was used for competitive NES play in the early 1990s. It’s rare because only about 90 copies exist, but now you too can play it on your Wii U. Well, sort of.
Folks who already own NES Remix on Wii U can purchase its sequel in the coming weeks, which unlocks “Championship Mode.” Therein you’ll find a similar challenge to the one immortalized by Fred Savage in The Wizard, albeit with Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros 3 and Dr. Mario. Head below for a video taste of the nostalgia-laced madness in action.
Getting to know Microsoft’s new Xbox lead, Phil Spencer
When Phil Spencer was appointed the new head of Xbox following the departure of longtime lead Marc Whitten, he promised a re-focus on gaming across all Microsoft platforms. That wasn’t a huge surprise, of course –most folks know Spencer as the Microsoft Studios guy; the guy who makes game deals; the guy who speaks at E3 about games during Microsoft’s keynote. While that’s all accurate, Spencer is also a longtime Microsoft employee, starting as a programmer and working his way up. In an interview with Microsoft’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb, Spencer detailed that 26 year history and how it led him to the lofty position he’s in today.
Beyond the history lesson, Spencer teased out at least one juicy tidbit: “we’ve got a game we haven’t announced yet, we’re gonna show on stage at E3.” Unannounced games at E3? Get right out! Joking aside, he said it’s got a “fantastic setting” and a “soulful” feeling (comparisons were made to indie darlings Limbo and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons). Color us intrigued.
Join us below for a bulleted list of quick facts about the man charged with running Microsoft’s gaming division, and the full video interview from Microsoft.
Quick facts about Phil Spencer:
- Joined Microsoft at age 20 as a programmer
- Has never left the company (for 26 years!)
- Worked with Ed Fries and the original Xbox group on creating Microsoft’s game platform
- His favorite game? Voodoo Vince for the original Xbox (yes, really)
- Some major franchises Spencer’s played a key role in: Halo, Gears of War, Forza Motorsport
- The most important “moment” for him in the history of Xbox: the launch of Xbox Live
- His favorite type of games are fun, story-based, and involve group play
- He’s got a pretty killer haircut
[Image credit: Flickr user ‘Criisi’]
One of the iPhone’s original interface designers is leaving Apple
Greg Christie may have played a key role in developing the first iPhone, but he won’t be hanging around Apple for much longer. The company has partly confirmed a 9to5 Mac report that the high-profile interface designer is leaving the company later this year after nearly two decades of working at 1 Infinite Loop. Just why he’s hanging up his badge isn’t certain. The 9to5 story contends that Christie and senior design VP Jony Ive had a “falling out” over iOS 7′s design direction, prompting Christie to head for the exit. An Apple spokesperson, however, says that the executive has been “planning to retire” and notes that he “worked closely with Jony for many years.” If there are any sour grapes involved, it’s not apparent from Cupertino’s official position.
Regardless of who’s right, the departure may have a big impact on Apple’s future design strategy. As the VP in charge of the Human Interface team, he has significant sway over the look and feel of both iOS and OS X. His retirement may be a significant loss similar to that of Scott Forstall in 2012. However, it’s not necessarily a turn for the worse. If Jony Ive will soon have greater control over interface design, as 9to5 claims, Apple’s hardware and software teams may work together more often — a potentially important move when the company has already said that it’s expanding into new product categories.
Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops, Software, Mobile, Apple
Source: Financial Times, 9to5 Mac
Facebook app ditches chat, moves to a standalone Messenger
Facebook has been testing new features inside its standalone Messenger app for months, and now the social network is pulling the chat feature from primary offering. The outfit has included messaging functionality in its main apps for some time now, but late last year Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would eventually pull the plug. For a few months now, users that have both apps installed have been linked out to the Messenger software when accessing chat in the regular ol’ version. The switch will take place over the next two weeks, and TechCrunch reports that Facebook has begun notifying users of the change.
“The reason why we’re doing that is we found that having it as a second-class thing inside the Facebook app makes it so there’s more friction to replying to messages, so we would rather have people be using a more focused experience for that,” Zuckerberg told TechCrunch in November. This means you’ll have to download that Messenger app if you want to keep that direct line of communication open with your Facebook pals, unless you have an Android device that can’t run it, use the mobile site or keep your talks confined to the outfit’s Paper reader.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile, Facebook
Source: TechCrunch
Sprint Updates Tri-Band Capable Galaxy S4 Devices with Wi-Fi Calling
Sprint has begun pushing out an update today for the Samsung Galaxy S4 which will make it the 4th device on the network capable of using Wi-Fi calling. The others are the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, Galaxy Mega and Galaxy Note 3. The update is rolling out now, but is expected to take a couple of weeks to complete.
How will customers benefit?
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Enhanced coverage for in-building coverage or areas with challenging network conditions
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Easy setup: Once activated, everything is seamless and happens in the background
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Unlimited voice calling and messaging on Wi-Fi: All domestic calling and messaging is FREE (standard CDMA international rates apply for international calls)
Be on the look out for the update and let us know how it works out when it arrives. Also kep in mind that this update and the Wi-Fi calling option is only for the tri-band version of the device. (The ones that can utilize Sprint Spark)
Source: Sprint
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[New Game] Mikey Hooks is on its way to Android April 10th
On February 20th Noodlecake Studios brought Android users the fun filled Mikey Shorts games. We heard from Noodlecake that they would be bringing the follow up game, Mikey Hooks, out a few weeks later. Well, it took a little bit longer, but we are happy to report that Mikey Hooks will be making its debut April 10th for $0.99.
Similar to Mikey Shorts, you will run, slide and jump your way through levels except in Mikey Hooks, you will now also be swinging your way over pits and such.
The game will make its appearance for $0.99 and come packed with 36 levels spanning 6 worlds. You get 24 levels in the traditional story mode and another 12 levels in race mode. You will be able to customize Mikey with over 220 disguises including some exclusive Google Play content. It also has Google Play Games Services integrated to race your friends for top spot.
We have the Play Store link ready and waiting down below, but the game isn’t available just yet.
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Google has patched most of its major services from the ‘Heartbleed’ security bug
Now that we know about the Heartbleed bug that allows access to sensitive internet data usually locked down by OpenSSL encryption, Google is of course one of the internet services hard at work applying fixes. The folks in Mountain View announced today that main services like Apps, App Engine, Gmail, Play, Search, Wallet and YouTube are already patched. There’s no need to worry about Chrome or Chrome OS, as those two bits of software aren’t affected by the vulnerability. Android is almost there, as all versions of the mobile operating system are immune to the security flaw save for 4.1.1. For that lone exception, Google says patching details are being sent to its partners for distribution. While the key bits have been secured, there’s on-going work to update other services like Cloud SQL, Google Compute Engine and others.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Google
Source: Google
Firefox OS’ new interface looks both very modern and very familiar
Mozilla promised that Firefox OS was getting a gigantic interface redesign later this year, and it’s now clear just how ambitious that remake will be. Ahmed Nefzaoui and Soren Hentzchel have provided an detailed look at Firefox OS 2.0 that shows off its thoroughly modern style. There are flat surfaces everywhere, and even more transparency than in current versions; both the lock screen notifications and task switcher have taken on a decidedly iOS 7-like (not to mention more useful) layout. The preview also gives a better glimpse at EverythingMe’s contextual search, which produces both app and web results. You’ll still have to wait a few months to see 2.0 reach shipping hardware, but this close-up suggests that your patience will pay off.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile
Via: G 4 Games
Source: Soren Hentzschel (translated), Ahmed Nefzaoui (Twitter)
With R.B.I. Baseball 14, MLB takes a full swing at making its own games
Major League Baseball is bringing back a classic. But while resuscitating an old title could sometimes create a double-edged-sword effect of sorts, that’s not stopping MLB from taking the chance to reboot the R.B.I. Baseball series. Most importantly, R.B.I. Baseball 14 was developed in-house by MLB’s Advanced Media branch, also known as MLBAM, a team that’s behind applications like At Bat and whose tech powers the WWE Network streaming service. Up until now, sport games have been all about licensing, so this shift also lets us know how Major League Baseball views that industry. Sure, the experience in R.B.I. Baseball 14 might not be as full-fledged as with, say, Sony’s MLB 14 The Show, but it’s still interesting to see a professional league leveraging its work as a technology company too.
It’s about being able to deliver content for baseball fans.
One of the things MLB’s new action-based sim game has going for it is that it’s available on a number of platforms at launch, with support for more due in the near future. “It’s about being able to deliver content for baseball fans,” Jamie Leece, MLBAM’s VP, Games, said to us when asked what lead to the development of R.B.I. Baseball 14. “The game works perfectly for both mobile and console; we wanted the experience to go hand in glove with that.” As it stands, the revamped R.B.I. Baseball is available on iOS for $5, plus Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for $20 — we’re told Android, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions are coming “later this spring.”
Can we expect more of these types of games from MLB? The league says the focus right now is looking at how the title is received by fans, as well as getting it ready for current-gen platforms. But there’s a chance: “I certainly see us doing more in this space,” Leece stated.
Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, Mobile
Source: App Store, Xbox Marketplace, MLB
Bizarrely, the next Borderlands game is for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
The hugely popular first-person shooter series Borderlands is getting a new entry in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, a game set between the story of previous two games. Not exactly shocking, but neat nonetheless. What’s shocking is where we’ll play Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel when it arrives this fall: Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Despite the Xbox One and PlayStation 4… ya know, existing, the next major Borderlands game apparently isn’t headed their way. That said, there’s one other platform that fans can snag it on: PC. And given the PC-like architecture of the new consoles, you’ll forgive us if we don’t feign surprise when the game eventually arrives on newer platforms.
The game’s development is being handled by both the series creators at Gearbox Software and 2K’s Australian arm. Thus far, the only footage available is pre-Alpha (read: early), but, well, it looks an awful lot like the Borderlands games you already know and love. Perhaps you don’t already know and love the series? We’ve got a trailer below the break that’ll help get you up to speed.
AIVAnet 