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Plex Android app updated with remote control from mobile devices, new transcoding
While it was exciting to hear that XBMC is making its way to Android, the Plex media center has been on the platform since last year and was recently updated with a few new features. Version 2.2.0.5 of the $5 app adds the ability to accept remote control commands from any of the company's other mobile clients, so if your phone or tablet is dangling from the TV, you can still control playback or browse media without getting up. Also new is the "QuickSilver" media transcoder from the latest Plex Media Server release which we're assured we will hear more about in the future, it's currently expected to provide improved video quality, particularly on the Kindle Fire. Since the feature is still experimental you'll have to specifically enable it in the settings menu, hit the official blog for more details on how to get it running, the full changelog and newly expanded list of devices that support HTTP Live Streaming.
Warhammer Online's 100% RvR city siege outlined in development notes
Since its inception, Warhammer Online's greatest strength and selling point has been its Realm vs. Realm (RvR) gameplay between the forces of Order and Destruction. With the upcoming 1.3.5 patch, RvR is poised to claim its rightful birthright with 100% RvR city sieges (in the past, city sieges have been a mix of RvR and PvE). Yesterday, Mythic posted a slew of "In Development" notes pertaining to 1.3.5, specifically outlining their plans for the new edition of city sieges. WAR's new city sieges now have a maximum battle time of two hours, feature a respectable 24v24 population, and offer plenty of rewards, including a PQ-style chest roll for the winners. Once a player joins the fray, they'll be automatically put into a warband and pointed toward the battle. City sieges take place over three stages, each with specific objectives and a time limit. In stage one, the invaders will attempt to breach the palace gates while the defenders try to stave them off. This is accomplished on both sides by waging war over linked control points that function as a tug-of-war between the forces. Moving on to the second stage, each side has the win condition of either escorting their warlord to the palace gate or defeating the enemy warlord. Depending on how stage two ends, stage three will take place either in the palace or at the city's gates, and involves killing the enemy's king. One of the neatest parts of this final stage is that four players on each side will be chosen to be "Champions" -- highly buffed characters with a special new ability. The new city sieges sound streamlined, dynamic and -- dare we say it? -- a bloody good time for all. You can check out the proposed development notes for this patch on WAR's forums.
Warhammer Online community claims contribution system a sham
One of the first and often touted systems being developed by Mythic for Warhammer Online was contribution. Anyone who's played a through a few Public Quests or Keep captures knows the contribution system is supposed to monitor how everyone plays and then dole out a proper score before a dice roll is applied to give it all a twinge of randomness. Well, a post over at Wizards & Wenches claims that they've discovered the secret formula to contribution: it doesn't exist.The claim -- which has discussions threads at forums, along with screenshots -- is that when a player enters a zone, they are given a dice roll that applies to them until they leave the zone or log out. This means that a player who gets first will continue to do so, no matter what, until another player with a higher roll comes along.
WAR's first city siege: The king is dead. Long live the king.
It was only the other day when we reported that the first Warhammer Online city siege endgame had begun. Initial reports indicated that a relatively small group of players, in average gear, managed to capture Altdorf on the EU server Karak Eight Peaks, partially due to bugs in the game. However, rumors of the death of Emperor Karl Franz have been exaggerated. More details have come to light since then; Electronic Arts contacted MMO blogger Tobold, and set the record straight. As it turns out, Destruction didn't fully capture Altdorf. Rather, they put it in a contested state, and the would-be conquerors on the Destruction side were ousted by Order before they could complete enough public quests to reach the final battle against Emperor Karl Franz. Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Warhammer guides: Massively's Character Creation Guide and our WoW Player's Guide to Warhammer. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
American PC Store releases for September 18th
Europe's PC Store update was sadly non-existant today, but America actually has the first decent update in a little while. Two full games are available from D3 Publisher, following their announcement of releasing a decent number of games onto the PSN Store over the next few months. Here's the full list: Cube full game($9.99) PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient full game ($9.99) NBA 09 demo NBA 09 trailer
'Classic' PSP games coming to PlayStation Store
While it doesn't quite fulfill our wish list of PSP games we'd most want to purchase by download and run from a single Memory Stick, D3 Publisher's "classic" catalog is coming to PlayStation Store (the PC one) this September. Props for being ahead of the curve. Up for digital delivery will be: Cube ($9.99) Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords ($14.99) WTF: work time fun ($9.99) PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient ($9.99) PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient 2 ($14.99) Dead Head Fred ($14.99) Once a true PSP Store is in place, we'd love to see all publishers follow suit. Now tell us that wouldn't send a chill up your spine GameStop!
D3 Publisher bringing Puzzle Quest, Dead Head Fred, more to PS Store
Finally! D3 Publisher, we applaud your decision to bring your PSP catalog to the PLAYSTATION Store. You're not bringing just one obscure game onto the Store -- you're making available a number of games, from big-budget releases to obscure cult classics. Best of all, you're making them available for cheap! Here are the releases:September 18, 2008 Cube - $9.99 Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords - $14.99 October 2, 2008 WTF: Work Time Fun - $9.99 PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient - $9.99 October 16, 2008 PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient 2 - $14.99 Dead Head Fred - $14.99 To find out more about each of these titles, simply click on their names. You'll find all our news, previews and reviews of these games.
Massively goes to WAR: How to get your Public Quest loot
Over the last week or so we've already talked about some of the most innovative features of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. We've covered the Tome of Knowledge, the game's one-of-a-kind crafting system, and today we had a lengthy look at their approach to classes and races. Friday will be our last day of hands-on WAR coverage (for the time being), and between now and then we'll talk about RvR scenarios, keeps, and siege gameplay. But we're missing something in all this, one of the most unique elements to the game. That element is the Public Quest. There's a great explanation of what Public Quests are over at the official Warhammer site, but there aren't a lot of gorey details. What's it like to complete one, for example? How long does it take to fill up your influence bar, and how do you get loot after the PQ finishes? We had the chance to play through two early-level Public Quests during our time at EA Mythic, and we're here to report back. Read on below for details on all of the above, plus a reflection on the question "Why Public Quests?"
WAR "home movie" shows some new assets
Mythic treats us a little badly sometimes, delaying Warhammer Online months before it's release and touting extraordinary beta application numbers while the vast majority of us are still barred from playing. And even so, we're still enthralled by every new tidbit of information that comes our way, like this latest "home movie" showcasing a decent chunk of new footage from the closed beta.Something still seems kind of funky to this blogger about the way the game looks. Maybe the textures aren't complete or the lighting just hasn't been implemented yet, but it all has some strange unrealistic quality to it that we can't quite pin down. Maybe they just need to turn the gamma down on their demo machines, who knows? We do know the huge PQ NPCs look cool though.[Via Gamebunny]
IGN and Gamespy preview WAR's Elven starting areas
Partners-in-crime IGN and Gamespy recently visited Mythic to get some hands-on time with a couple of the starting areas in Warhammer Online. IGN ended up with the High Elves, taking Swordmaster as their class, and Gamespy chose the Dark Elves and picked Sorceress. One of the things that Gamespy commented on was the close proximity of the High Elf and Dark Elf starting areas to each other. They also noted that some of the newbie quests deliberately brought the two races together, within striking distance, giving players the choice to either scowl menacingly, or jump straight into PvP. There was unfortunately no mention of a meet-up and subsequent rumble with their noble High Elven counterparts though. Both teams ended their playtime by participating in a public quest, and you can read all about it from either IGN's or Gamespy's perspective.
Survey says HD PQ trumps content, and real life
First Motorola tells us people prefer HDTV football over being at the game, now comes news they'll watch uninteresting programs in HD. That's right -- a recent survey by Moto found that HDTV owners are so blown away by the picture quality that they'll watch HD programming whether they're interested in the content or not. We can look past the finding that people are watching more nature programming on their HDTVs than they did in third grade; there's a lot more nature programming available now. But when 12% of people say they watch sports in HD even though they don't like sports, you're seeing HD magic in action. What's even crazier is the finding that 20% of respondents find real life blurry compared to their HD window to the world. Scary. On a good note, the movie respondents most wanted to see in HD was seasonal fave "It's a Wonderful Life." Maybe people are getting wise to the evils of stretch-o-vision, eh?
Looking for closure with Puzzle Quest
For all its charms, Puzzle Quest is not a game that ends well. Once you've completed every mindless fetch mission and julienned the anticlimactic final boss, you're dropped back into the worldmap with hardly any ceremony save some brief epilogue text. The landscape appears just as you left it, unaffected by your victory or valor.The New Gamer laments in its review, "I keep hoping that, finally, my character will have some complete and utter impact on the lands, that all those I've interacted in will pronounce the lands free of evil, free of conflict and that they can finally live their lives in peace." But your deeds are quickly forgotten by the townspeople you've saved, and there's little to indicate that you've had an impact on the kingdom of Etheria. In short, it never feels like the Challenge of the Warlords has actually been completed.Though this lack of finality isn't exclusive to Puzzle Quest, we really expected more from an otherwise fantastic game. Hopefully, Infinite Interactive will take pains to address the issue before putting out its next puzzle/RPG hybrid, Galactrix. Until then, we'll be haunting Etheria's dusty roads, matching gems against any soul that stumbles across our path, sighing no matter what the outcome.
PSP Fanboy hands-on: PQ2
If you listened to our last fancast, you would've heard our ramblings on a little-known title called PQ2. The premise is ridiculously simple: get to the exit. However, to get to the end, you'll have to test your brain by navigating environments, moving boxes around in clever ways.Certainly, a box-shoving puzzle game can't be too interesting. Incorrect. Our preview build of PQ2 features some incredibly slick presentation, with fantastic music and some really sleek menus. We really appreciated the tutorial system which breaks down each aspect of the game quite thoroughly. It may seem daunting at first, but the game tells you only what you need to know. For example, after passing a dozen practice challenges, the game tells me that I can easily pass the first ten levels of the game. The first ten puzzles focus only on the skills developed by the tutorial so far -- afterwards, we're allowed to go back into the tutorial to explore more complicated procedures.The puzzles themselves progress very well in difficulty. As we continued through the game, we found the title to become increasingly challenging, with one or two puzzles giving us a real hard time. So far, we're very impressed by the quick load times, impressive presentation, and fun puzzles. We'll explore more of the game, such as the exciting level editor and infrastructure options, in our final review of the game. Until then, check out screenshots from the game in our updated gallery. Finally, don't forget to try out the Japanese demo to get a small taste of the title.%Gallery-3244%
PQ2 downloadable demo
The Japanese demo invasion continues with PQ2, a puzzle game where you must guide your hapless character to the exit. Sounds easy? Wrong. Pick up boxes, and watch out for traps -- this will certainly test your brain.1. Download the demo zip file.2. Extract the contents of the zip file.3. Connect your PSP to your computer using a USB cable. 4. Go to the PSP/GAME folder.5. Copy ULJ00087 folder into the GAME directory. Check out our new demos site:demos.pspfanboy.com [Thanks, windmaker! Via PSPimages.net]
DS Fanboy Favorites: Eric's top five
All this week, the DS Fanboy staff is letting you in on a few of their favorite titles. Each day, a different member of the staff will present their personal top five DS games along with a snapshot of their gaming paraphernalia and habits, in an effort to provide our readers with a little more information on the tastes and personalities of our writers. When my afternoons aren't busied by hours of photoshopping cat heads onto pictures of my friends, I pass the time with puzzlers and plumbers on my DS Lite. But those kitten-free days are few and far between, so I end up being able to only fit either the most polished or the most eccentric games into my packed schedule. Wario: Master of Disguise? Sorry, I've got things to do and feline faces to retouch. Lost in Blue 2? I'll have to pass -- I'm already lost in trying to get these whiskers to look perfect. My collection is a mishmash of AAA titles and niche releases, their cases piled atop one another like a Jenga stack of mismatched blocks, threatening to topple over at any moment. Just pulling a game from the middle of the shaky structure is an act preceded by hours of anxiety and self-doubt. Having my wife provide commentary during the ordeal, remarking "Oh god, it's going to crash this time for sure, I just know it. Why'd you even try, Eric?! Game over, man! Game over!" as I tug out my copy of Advance Wars DS doesn't make the challenge any easier. So when I do manage to put aside the pussycat photos and secure a game to play, it better damn well be worth it. Journey forth and read which of those titles have captured a place not only on my top five list, but in my heart.
PQ2 coming to US
Game Stooge has up a press release from D3Publisher of America stating that PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient is coming to the US. For those not familiar with the series, it has you use an avatar to get out of block stacking mazes as quickly as possible and your intelligence is graded on how well you did. Given that, I'm sorta pissed at my college and pre-college education, because not once did I get a course on block stacking and that's why I'm such a dummy now. To help educate myself, I may have to pick up PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient when it arrives in non-Japanese form in the US. PQ2 will have more than 250 puzzles and will support Infrastructure mode so you can beat you friends in a video game and use that hollow victory to point out how stupid they are and by proxy how much of an idiot you are for hanging out with them. The game is a PSP exclusive, which obviously means PSP owners will be the smartest of all console owners after the game comes out. [ Thanks Jonah! ]
Intelligent License 2 to make you feel dumb
The first Intelligent License (known as PQ in the US) was the "BEST GAME ON THE PSP," according to enthusiastic PSP Fanboy reader hotcarl. The game has you trapped in a terrifying world where you must construct elaborate paths with various boxes to find an exit... an exit that only leads to yet another terrifying room of death. It's a lot like the "classic" film, Cube. The sequel throws even more puzzles at you, and they seem even more intricate than last time. Surely, your brain will shatter due to the complexity of this game, leaving you to simply wallow in your own filth, while contemplating how truly unintelligent you are.Check out this video, and be prepared to be shamed. The game assaults Japanese audiences in November. Americans are spared from the brain-drain... for now.
Sleepy Hollow HD DVD review roundup
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and nowhere does that appear to be more true than in reviews of Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow as released on HD DVD by Paramount. One thing that seems to be shared by all the reviews we read is that in this case the source material, with dark, largely colorless backgrounds and very present film grain. It's not the kind of movie that you look at in high definition and it practically jumps off the screen in 3D at you, making it a difficult choice for the format. However in the three reviews we found plus a discussion on AVS Forum, reactions to the quality of Paramount's 1080p VC-1 encoded effort varied widely.
MovieBeam Review: A second opinion
When MovieBeam was first announced we were really excited and as soon as we had an opportunity to check one out we took advantage of it. After spending a few days with one we wrote a review and as most of you know we were less than excited with it's HD performance.Jeremy Toeman of LIVEdigitally spent some time with the service and wrote a very comprehensive review that included many aspects that we at HD Beat left out, mostly because we have a one track mind. Of course when I read this I went straight to the good parts and was not surprised to see that Jeremy agreed with us in regards to PQ. He did cut them a little slack because he believes so many consumers can't tell when they don't have HD never the less judge different quality levels between sources. So if you are like us and can't get enough reviews of MovieBeam shoot over and check out his review.Thanks Jeremy
