Daily Roundup: Nintendo and indie gaming, HTC's attempt at VR and more!
In today's Daily Roundup, we take a look at Nintendo's relationship with indie game makers, find out how Valve wants to change VR and chat with HTC's chief designer. Head past the break to get caught up on all of the day's top stories.
It's complicated: Nintendo's relationship with indie gaming
Independent games are a cornerstone of Sony's PlayStation 4 messaging, and a contributing factor to the system's blockbuster success. They are not for Nintendo -- neither for the Wii U, nor the 3DS. An unsurprising strategy given the Japanese company's reliance on Mario and Zelda, its familiar, first-party franchises. And yet, independent games have had a presence on the company's digital software channel, the eShop, for almost a decade.
HTC's Vive made me believe in VR
It's almost as if I'm in the Matrix. I'm in that same expanse of infinite white space that was also Neo's training grounds in the movie. A pattern of hexagonal tiles appears underneath me. They start to rise and fall randomly and rapidly. Hesitantly, I step forward, slowly walking across the field of unstable tiles, trying to get a feel for this strange, foreign environment. Suddenly, I encounter a gridded wall. It seems the space isn't so infinite after all.
Valve is solving virtual reality's input problem
Among the handful of announcement Valve made at this year's Game Developers Conference was a subtle and hugely important one: Lighthouse. What in the world is Lighthouse? It's the "base stations" referenced in Valve's VR headset announcement, and it's even more important than the incredibly impressive headset. Valve president Gabe Newell compares it to USB and expects it to fundamentally change how people interact with virtual reality.
HTC's design lead on the One M9, criticism and the promise of VR
The story of HTC's recent fortunes is one of the more bizarre tales in modern technology. What other company releases award-winning flagship after award-winning flagship, only to see revenues and market share drop? For a while, HTC's phones truly stood out in terms of design and build quality (since 2012 there's been the One X, the One M7 and the One M8). The One M9 represents another iterative step forward for HTC, in a product cycle that has (debatably) seen rivals Apple and Samsung make huge leaps forward.
Security flaw from the '90s leaves Apple and Android users vulnerable
A team of cryptographers have discovered that a security flaw from way back in the '90s still leaves users today vulnerable to cyberattacks. They've dubbed it "Factoring attack on RSA-EXPORT Key" or FREAK, and it renders everyone who uses Safari on Mac and iOS devices or Android's stock browser susceptible to hacking when they visit certain "secure" websites.
Tesla warns Model S hacks could injure drivers and its brand
Every year, all publicly traded US companies are required to notify investors of the unique risks to their business. Elon Musk's Tesla abides by the same rules, and its list of risk factors makes for interesting reading. While many of its concerns are to be expected, like worries over the safety of lithium ion batteries used in its cars or the high manufacturing costs of Model S, the company also tells investors that customers intent on pimping their rides could put a considerable dent in its electric car empire.
Sony unveils four much-needed lenses for the full-frame A7-II camera
We like Sony's full frame Alpha mirrorless A7-II and light-vacuuming A7s cameras, but the downside is a narrow range of full-frame lenses. It's now resolved the problem significantly with four new models, including a walk-around zoom and fast prime from Zeiss.
