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New ‘Tetris’ apps are ready to replace EA’s mobile games
One day after EA announced that it's shutting down its mobile Tetris games, N3TWORK's Tetris app is available for download. For now, the free app comes with a traditional solo gameplay mode, but N3TWORK says it has "so much more in store." You can find the app in the App Store or Play Store -- outside of China and New Zealand -- and you'll be able to play both online and offline. Local high score tables are available now, to make sure things stay competitive, and players can choose from five themes and 50 avatars.
What's coming to Netflix in January: 'Kimmy Schmidt' and Star Wars
Most of us will have a couple of days off at the start of the year before getting back to work after the holidays, and Netflix hopes to keep us occupied with a slew of show and movie additions. January 1st brings the final season of A Series of Unfortunate Events, along with stand-up series Comedians of the World and Tidying Up with Marie Kondo -- perfectly timed to inspire a start-of-year clear out.
'Solo' is Star Wars’ toothless confrontation of robot rights
Major spoilers for Solo ahead. The most interesting character in Solo is a robot. L3-37, voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), is a free-thinking, loudmouthed droid who introduces an entirely new concept into the Star Wars universe: robot rights. From the beginning, droids like R2-D2 and C-3PO were presented as beings with thoughts and personalities of their own. But they also served masters and faced blatant anti-droid sentiment, such as from the barkeep who refused to serve their kind in Episode IV. And they were forced to obey humans through restraining bolts, which limited their cognitive functions. We've been empathizing with Star Wars' droids for decades, but the films haven't asked us to consider their place in the world until Solo.
'Solo: A Star Wars Story' trailer reveals Han's roots
Wondering how Lucasfilm and Disney would handle that long-in-the-making Han Solo movie? You now have an idea of what to expect. They've released the full teaser trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story... and it's definitely Han. Alden Ehrenreich may not sound that much like Harrison Ford, but the clip otherwise gives a good feel for how the iconic smuggler got started -- yes, he was always an overconfident troublemaker saved by his talent, luck and good intentions.
Electrameccanica's Solo is a single-seat EV commuter car
If you're looking for an electric vehicle but don't need the extra seats (or long delivery times) that a full-sized Tesla Model 3 demands, you could always take a shot with the Solo. This electric vehicle from Canadian startup ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp, boasts a 100 mile range and a $15,500 price tag.
A 3D-printed autonomous car, and more in the week that was
3D printing and autonomous cars are two of today's hottest emerging technologies -- so why not combine the two? That's the idea behind Local Motors' latest vehicle, which features a 3D-printed body, a windshield video screen and no steering wheel. Meanwhile, OX launched the world's first all-terrain flat-pack truck, which can be quickly shipped anywhere in the world. Cannae Corporation announced plans to test an "impossible" zero-exhaust microwave thruster that could revolutionize space travel. And Electra Meccanica launched SOLO, an affordable three-wheeled electric vehicle for one.
3DR's Made for Solo program does 360-degree video on a budget
When 3DR announced its Made for Solo program last October, we knew it was working with Kodak to bring 360-degree video to its Solo drone. Today at CES, 3DR is showing off a prototype model of that integration, which adds a hyper-wide-angle lens to both the top and bottom of the drone, along with some early footage captured with the kit.
3D Robotics: The future of drones needs to be smart yet simple
Quadcopters, drones, UAVs. Whatever you want to call them, they are an unavoidable part of our future according to 3DR CEO Chris Anderson. He should know, his company is the largest drone maker in America. Smart features that help enterprise and industry are pushing the limits of what's possible (and where it's possible). These are features that will trickle down the the drones you see on shelves. We spoke with him on stage to find out what likes ahead in the future of our skies.
Watch the premiere of 3DR's drone-shot series 'Life after Gravity'
For the most part, consumer drone videos are without narrative; beautiful sweeping views of the world. That's no bad thing, but 3D Robotics thinks we're missing the full potential that quadcopters have to offer. When it revealed its Solo "smart drone" earlier this year, it gave special attention to the camera-specific features -- such as a virtual cable cam, orbit mode and other cinematic options. In case you weren't convinced, 3D Robotics is driving the point home with an original sci-fi mini-series called Life after Gravity shot entirely with the Solo (and a GoPro, naturally). Each episode is accompanied by a blog post that talks you through the production, and details on how key shots were achieved. We're exclusively revealing the first episode right here.
3D Robotics' Solo drone is about to get a lot more useful
When 3D Robotics announced its Solo quadcopter, one of the more intriguing features was an accessory bay. Instead of opening up the Solo and wiring in, or screwing on an accessory (as is common with hobby drones -- including the ubiquitous Phantom 2), you would simply "plug and play." Until now, that's all we really knew, but today the company is announcing "Made for Solo" -- a program that will standardize, and encourage the development of third-party accessories for the self-proclaimed "smart drone." If you make infrared cameras, for example, you could make a version just for Solo and have it work seamlessly with the drone's GPS and smart flight modes. Basically, any gadget, sensor or product that could squeeze into, and be lifted by, a quadcopter could be integrated into the Solo as if it were native to the product.
3D Robotics takes on DJI with Solo 'smart drone'
If you're in the market for a camera drone, things just got real. Last week, DJI updated its ubiquitous Phantom series with a 4K video version. Today, 3D Robotics (makers of both consumer and professional craft) ups the ante with Solo -- a stylish "ready to fly" quadcopter that challenges the Phantom (on the 'copter side of things) in quite a few ways. You'll need to bring your own camera though.
The Soapbox: Of course I care what you're doing in MMOs
I mulled being positive about the MMO industry as a new year's resolution. Then I remembered that new year's resolutions are silly because if it takes an arbitrary date and a contrived occasion to do something, that something is probably not worth doing! With that in mind, let's kick off the 2015 Soapbox season with a mini-rant about one of the nuttier MMO-related misconceptions of all time. I ran across this gem on a forum very recently, and while it's not a new notion, it's a dumb notion and therefore it's worth blowing up. What's the notion? Here, let me just quote the poster. "Why do you care what other players do in an MMORPG? It doesn't affect you."
The Daily Grind: What's the last team-oriented goal you accomplished in an MMO?
MMORPGs have gotten pretty solo-friendly over the years, but a few of them still boast challenging content for groups, raids, or whatever you'd like to call a team of players. I tend to play solo more often than not, but all of my memorable gameplay moments from the past 15 years happened while I was part of a team. What about you, Massively readers? Do you have any favorite teamplay anecdotes? What's the last team-oriented goal you accomplished in an MMO? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: What's the best MMO for solo play?
One of the comment tropes we see repeated over and over below our articles is this idea that if you're soloing in an MMORPG, you're in violation of the rules of the genre. I despise that idea so much that I even wrote a whole rant about it. The fact that a game is massively multiplayer does not mean that you need to be playing directly with other people at all let alone all the time, and it definitely doesn't mean you need to be grouped up performing completely arbitrary combat activities, which is usually how the argument goes. MMORPGs without groups and without combat debunk that construct handily. The genre is way bigger than that limited definition; the options are what make it great, not the requirements. A lot of MMO gamers solo for so very many reasons: don't like other games, don't want to hold anyone back, don't want to be held back, might need to AFK, feel too shy, don't speak the language, or just prefer solo challenges and want to be measured for them against that massively multiplayer backdrop. That leads me to today's question: Which MMORPG is the absolute best for a gamer who likes to solo but wants to do it "alone together" alongside lots of other people? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Carbine's Donatelli and Moore on WildStar's population and philosophy
Two weeks ago, Carbine Studios offered us the opportunity to interview product director Mike Donatelli and creative director Chad Moore regarding the state of WildStar and what future updates would bring to the game. We have their thorough answers in their entirety for you today; Carbine assures us that there was no animosity or conspiracy in the delay, and we thank the studio for that. So let's get to it: Read on as the duo discuss WildStar's current population, business model, development strategy, and plans for the near future.
Soloing the Black Temple with Blizzard
Daxxari is back with another guide to soloing old raids, this time, The Black Temple. Whether it's transmog loot you're looking for, a chance at a warglaive, reputation with another faction (The Ashtongue Deathsworn) or just giggles, Black Temple has it all from Tier 6 sets and lookalikes to some of the coolest scenery the game's ever seen. Black Temple is by far one of my favorite raids. It's quite soloable by a max-level character -- the hardest fight is the Reliquary of Souls because you can easily do enough damage to yourself and the interrupts get brutal -- and it has some really awesome looking loot, cool fight mechanics, and some big lore deals like Teron Gorefiend and of course Illidan himself waiting for you. Daxxari explains the fight mechanics and how they work for a solo player, so head over to the official site and read up before heading into the Black Temple.
Working As Intended: There's nothing wrong with soloing in MMORPGs
A Massively community member recently wrote into the podcast to tell us that he prefers to solo, to craft for himself, to avoid group quests, and to skip guilds. Still, he told us, he loves MMOs and doesn't want to leave them to play single-player RPGs. "What the hell is wrong with me?" he asked. Nothing. Nothing at all. There's nothing wrong with soloing in MMORPGs.
How to solo dungeons for fun and profit (but mostly fun)
Lots of people who hit level 90 are stuck wondering what to do next as the game offers a plethora of choices but no clear must-dos once you've finished the leveling grind. One of our favorite options is soloing old content. If you never had a chance to raid or run dungeons earlier in the game, now you can do many old world raids completely solo. It's a fun way to check out content you've never seen, experience new bits of the game's story, gain reputation (useful for that Beloved title), and pick up pets, mounts, and great transmog gear. Oh, and did we mention money? Even though most of the better loot you'll find in these dungeons is bind on pickup -- meaning you can't toss it on the auction house -- it will sell for gold to vendors. That means if you clear out your inventory so you're prepared to pick up and vendor everything you come across, you can make a pretty decent profit grinding through old dungeons. It's not the most time-efficient way to make gold, but it can be a lot of fun. So if you want to try your hand at some solo content -- whether you're level 90 or not -- keep reading for the tips you need to succeed with soloing.
Raegwyn caps MoP content with solo Dark Animus kill
Just when you felt like you were getting the last scraps of Mists of Pandaria under your belt and handling that business, along comes Raegwyn the death knight to make you feel yet light in your boots. Raegwyn's recent solo kill of Dark Animus in Throne of Thunder makes the rest of us feel like real underachievers. "This is probably the hardest boss of this expansion (at least p1) and a pretty good ending of the MoP soloing in my opinion," Raegwyn noted on his video of the boss take-down. So what's the master soloists's trick? As it turns out, practice. "Practise, Practise, Practise..." he wrote on the Blizzard forums, outlining the determination that led him to put in some 70 to 80 attempts at Dark Animus phase 1 and another few trial runs on phase 2. "I remember a time when i also was a noob as DK and then i soloed Hellfire Ramparts when i reached 60 on wotlk releaseday. ;D jk But for real im doing this kind of stuff since 2007. practise is the way to perfection and perfection isnt as hard to reach as you may think." As Raegwyn claims: "And remember... What doesnt kill you gives you Vengeance."
Drama Mamas: When you need some breathing room in game
WoW players -- can't play with 'em, can't play without 'em. Most of us would agree that Azeroth is best when shared with a congenial group of others, but what if you find yourself saddled with overly needy or intrusive game buddies? Or perhaps you get along just fine for the most part, but things get sticky whenever you decide you'd like to chill out with some uninterrupted solo time. Isn't there a nice way to tell someone to buzz off without hurting their feelings? There absolutely is -- so let's head off the drama before it happens with these techniques for friendly disengagement.
