port
Latest
'L.A. Noire' is coming to HTC Vive and modern consoles
Red Dead Redemption 2's release might've gotten pushed into next spring, but Rockstar Games has something else to fill that gap: an unexpected HD (and UHD) remaster of its 2011 detective simulator L.A. Noire. This goes beyond the expected gussied up graphics for modern consoles though, as it's also getting a pack of missions cases designed specifically for virtual reality.
Paranormal thriller 'Oxenfree' teased for Nintendo Switch
We love Oxenfree around these parts. The paranormal thriller captures the awkwardness of being a teenager incredibly well, tasking players to uncover the mystery of an abandoned military base while managing relationships with friends along for the ride. It's already available on mobile, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but the developers at Night School Studio have started teasing that it'll appear on Nintendo Switch as well.
Toyota is testing a hydrogen fuel-cell powered semi
Toyota built a larger sibling for the hydrogen fuel cell powered Mirai, a semi truck. The automaker is testing a water-expelling big rig at the Port of Los Angeles that it hopes will yield data to help build a fleet of zero-emission trucks.
Civic-planning sim 'Cities: Skylines' is coming to Xbox One
The civic-planning simulator Cities: Skylines is making the jump to consoles soon, long after Microsoft teased a port back in August 2015. At an undisclosed date this Spring, Xbox One owners will get their own edition of the game, which comes bundled with the After Dark DLC. Delightful as the title is, how gameplay will make the transition from mouse to console controller is anyone's guess.
'Wolfenstein 3D' ported to Game Boy Color on turbocharged cart
Yes, that's a Game Boy Color cartridge sporting the Wolfenstein 3D logo. It's not just cosmetic, because a modder named Anders Granlund has built a playable version of the classic FPS for the ancient handheld console. To give you an idea of the degree of difficulty, Granlund designed and built a custom ARM-powered board to power the graphics, and built it into the cartridge. The final result is playable on any Game Boy Color.
A full 'Pokémon' game could come to Nintendo's Switch
It sounds like a version of Pokémon Sun and Moon could be headed to Nintendo's upcoming Switch console. It'd be akin to Red and Blue's sibling Yellow or Pearl and Diamond's Platinum, according to Eurogamer's sources. Currently the code name is Stars. Now, for a bit of unpacking. Both Yellow and Pearl were similar to their generational predecessors, but offered new features like different legendary-class pocket monsters or starting with the adorable Pikachu at your side.
'Final Fantasy VII' comes to Android
Final Fantasy VII, the classic role-playing game that brought 3D graphics to the series, has finally been released for Android devices. It's now on just about every major platform, as it arrived on Steam in 2013, hit iOS last August, and has been available on the PS4 since December, 2015. While originally intended for the Nintendo 64 console, it was first launched on Sony's PlayStation in 1997 and helped popularize the console.
'Final Fantasy X' re-released again, this time on Steam
Final Fantasy XV finally launches this September, but publisher Square Enix wants you to take a look back in the vaults ahead of that. Final Fantasy X and its direct sequel X-2 got the HD remaster treatment on PlayStation 4 last year and now the double pack is headed to PCs by way of Steam. That means a remastered soundtrack, better-looking graphics and a few bits and bobs from the International Editions like a special boss fight mode for the first. No word on improved voice acting, though. However, there's a quasi-Pokémon feature that allows for capturing and training enemy monsters to use as their own during battles -- something first seen in the second launch of FFX-2 in Japan. It's confusing, okay?
Coder brings 'Counter-Strike' to Android
To be successful at Counter-Strike, you need tremendous reflexes and hand-eye coordination. That's why the shooter has always thrived on PC, where players can use tricked out monitors, keyboards and mice. On the flip side, if there's one platform that's ill-suited for the game, it has to be Android. Still, that hasn't stopped one plucky developer from making a port anyway. It's based on Counter-Strike 1.6 -- Global Offensive will have to wait -- and requires not only a copy of the original game, but also some technical trickery. If you're up to the challenge, you can grab the APK here.
Microsoft is trying to make Chrome extensions work on Edge
Microsoft's very first batch of Edge browser extensions is small, but it seems the company's taking steps to make sure Windows users get more in the future. According to Microsoft Senior Program Manager Jacob Rossi, the tech titan is developing a "porting tool to run Chrome extensions in Edge." It will presumably make things even easier for developers to create Edge versions of their extensions, though Rossi clarified that it doesn't support all APIs. The tool isn't finished yet, as well, but it's not like most users can start installing plug-ins on their browsers anyway. Redmond has just begun testing the feature, and for now, only Windows Insiders in the Fast ring can enjoy it.
Microsoft officially kills its Android app porting tool
Well, that didn't take long. After lots of silence regarding Project Astoria, Microsoft is killing it in favor of its shiny new Xamarin purchase. In case you'd forgotten (entirely understandable!), Astoria was the initiative that'd make porting Android apps to Windows 10 supposedly pretty easy. But with yesterday's announcement that Redmond had purchased Xamarin, a company whose sole mission is multiplatform apps, perhaps the news isn't entirely surprising considering the delay Astoria hit last November. In fact, the Windows Blog post mentions Xamarin explicitly several times, saying that developers can now use that toolset and a pretty big chunk of their existing C# code for cross-platform applications.
Microsoft bought a company that makes porting apps easier
Microsoft is taking its relatively new role as a mobile app maker pretty seriously. So much so that it's bought Xamarin, a company that specializes in cross-platform application development. The platform uses a shared C# codebase to "write the full set of native APIs and mobile capabilities provided by each platform," according to Microsoft's Scott Guthrie. In English, that basically boils down to "apps that run really well across Android, iOS and Windows." Satya Nadella and Co. have utilized Xamarin before, of course, on the likes of the Azure cloud platform and Office 365.
'The Banner Saga' pillages its way to PS4 and Xbox One soon
The Banner Saga's road to a console release has been a bit rocky, but the development team at Stoic has some good news: the excellent viking epic lands on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One this coming January 12th. That's pretty soon! In fact, the team's efforts to make sure this isn't just a quick and dirty console port are what's caused the sequel's delay from its originally promised 2015 launch. And actually, this porting process has worked to get the developers familiar with console hardware for future projects.
Microsoft delays tool that will bring Android apps to Windows
Microsoft has confirmed that a tool that lets Android apps easily run on Windows 10 is "not ready," according Windows Central and other sources. The software giant introduced the Windows Bridge for Android, dubbed "Project Astoria," earlier this year as part of a larger effort to help app-builders easily convert Web, iOS and Android apps to Windows. Developers complained that it still isn't available (unlike the other apps), though Microsoft hasn't said the project is in trouble. However, the Project Astoria forums have gone dark and Microsoft removed the Android subsystem from the last Windows 10 Mobile preview, suggesting it may be killed altogether.
2K Games kills off 'BioShock' for iOS
When 2K Games launched a port of the original BioShock for iOS last year, fans of the adored franchise were ecstatic. But it looks like that joy has, unexpectedly, come to an end for some of them. Much to the surprise of people who had already purchased the mobile title, 2K Games appears to have pulled it from the App store -- if you deleted it from your device, there's no way to get it back. The company had recently cited compatibility issues with versions of iOS 8.4 or higher, bad enough that users couldn't play it, but it said a fix was in the works. Now, however, the developer appears to have given up completely. According to a forum post on Touch Arcade, a 2K Games customer service rep told a fan the removal was "a developer decision."
The adorable 'Kerbal Space Program' will land on Xbox One
Kerbal Space Program's cute little green engineers are coming to Xbox One. Much like the PlayStation 4 version that was announced in June, there isn't a release date listed for the spaceship-building sim on Xbox. But considering the latter has an Early Access-like program of its own we could theoretically see it on Microsoft's latest console before it hits the PS4. Maybe. The port's being handled by mobile-focused developer Flying Tiger, which original developer Squad says will allow them to keep a keen focus on the game's PC version. As Squad tells it, Flying Tiger has helped immensely in the process of upgrading the game to run on the Unity 5 engine and has "deeply simplified Kerbal's upgrade process. Flying Tiger's resume isn't what you'd call impressive, but hey neither was Rocksteady's prior to Batman: Arkham Asylum -- we all know how that turned out. [Image credit: K.G.23/Flickr]
Spy on a vampiric slumber party in the browser port of 'Night Trap'
There's a Night Trap fan group on Facebook. This isn't too surprising, considering Night Trap's storied past in the video game industry and its unabashed, nostalgic charm. It's a full-motion video game (FMV) -- meaning it stars real people, just like a live-action movie -- released in 1992 for the Sega CD and later ported to Sega 32X, 3DO, MS-DOS and Mac OS. Night Trap follows a group of young women at a slumber party that turns deadly when vampiric creatures show up, looking to feast on the girls' blood. Players, viewing the party via hidden cameras, attempt to trap the evil beasties and save the girls. For this unconventional premise, Night Trap holds a permanent seat in video game history alongside Doom and Mortal Kombat: These titles were partly responsible for the creation of the ESRB rating system, following a series of congressional hearings on "violent" video games in the early 1990s. Concerned groups accused Night Trap of encouraging kidnapping and featuring ultra-violent content, although compared with many modern, award-winning games, it's a truly tame experience. So, of course there's a Night Trap fan group on Facebook. It's precisely this Facebook group that Dave Voyles, a technical evangelist at Microsoft, turned to when he was seeking inspiration for his next programming project a few weeks back. Now, Voyles is knee-deep in Night Trap's code, reworking it to run in any browser for a new generation of fans to enjoy.
Macabre indie puzzler 'Year Walk' coming to Wii U this year
While the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One get most of the attention when it comes to indie games, Nintendo's Wii U has quietly built a solid stable of them as well. The latest? Creepy puzzler Year Walk from Swedish studio Simogo. Yeah, it's appeared on a number of other platforms before, but the company promises that the version coming to the Wii U is no lazy port -- it's been entirely rebuilt with the console's unique characteristics in mind by the folks at Dakko Dakko. For instance, the GamePad is used extensively throughout be it for note taking or accessing the game's encyclopedia and map. You can use motion controls in conjunction with analog sticks to look around, and Simogo says that while that might scare some folks off, it's actually pretty chill and the required input movements are subtle.
'Batman: Arkham Knight' for PCs pulled because of glitches
If you've been holding off from buying Batman: Arkham Knight for Windows due to reports of numerous performance issues, low quality textures and glitches, its publisher Warner Brother Games agrees. That's why it's pulling the game from sale "while we work to address these issues to satisfy our quality standards." If you've already purchased it you can still play, but in a forum post the team mentioned people can go to Steam or retail locations where they purchased the game for a refund. A couple of days ago, Warner made some suggestions on how users could get the game to run better, but those don't seem to help much. Right now, the game is showing a "Mostly Negative" review status on Steam with 8,700 reviews logged -- while it's certainly not the first bad PC port, hopefully this embarrassing episode will make it one of the last. (We can hope, right?)
Unreal Engine 4 is (sort of) coming to Wii U and PS Vita
Long-time Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi is currently Kickstarting a spiritual sequel to the series called Bloodstained. Thanks to the overwhelming response to the campaign -- it's now the highest-grossing videogame Kickstarter ever -- the game is coming to PS Vita and Wii U. While that's great news for fans of the genre, the knock-on effect of the port could be huge. Bloodstained is being built using Unreal Engine 4 (UE4), and Armature Studio, the developer in charge of the Vita and Wii U versions, will be the first to port the popular engine to the platforms. Why's that so important? Well, both consoles are currently unsupported, and Armature says it will share its Vita and Wii U code with any developer authorised to create games for the systems, potentially opening the door for many more ports of UE4-powered games in the future.
