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'Gunjack' producer on making virtual reality work for mobile
"Mobile VR doesn't have to mean [physically] moving around, but rather something you can access as easily in a café or a plane as you can at home. It was a choice made from day one: to create a fun and accessible experience by being static." JC Gaudechon, executive producer at CCP, the Icelandic developer famous for the massive space MMO EVE Online, is speaking about Gunjack, a demo turned fully fledged game for Gear VR, Samsung's mobile virtual reality headset. Gaudechon has spent the last six months shifting the project into a downloadable Gear VR title as CCP's betting big on the second coming of VR. With its upcoming blockbuster Valkyrie dogfighting sim, the studio's positioned as a major launch partner for both the Oculus Rift and Sony Morpheus headsets next year. But Gunjack is not Valkyrie. Built from the ground-up for mobile, it required a totally different approach from its better-known stablemate. It required learning how to make VR work on the smallest scale.
Nick and Aaron on Gamescom: a conversation
Last week, two Engadget editors braved the sweltering Gamescom floor in Cologne, Germany, to bring you all the news. Now that the show is finally over, Aaron Souppouris and Nick Summers look back on a week at the world's largest public games conference, breaking down their highs and lows from Gamescom 2015.
Two indie pretenders to the 'XCOM' crown
2012's XCOM: Enemy Unknown was a revelation. I'd never played the '90s original or its successors, but I was immediately drawn in by the reboot's story, world and, most of all, combat mechanics. At its heart, XCOM is a turn-based strategy game that pits your team of four soldiers against an alien invasion. As anyone who has played it at all will tell you, though, it's so much more than that. A sequel is coming this November, but in the meantime, a pair of independent developers are readying their own takes on the genre, and they both have the potential to be truly special games in their own right.
'Mirror's Edge Catalyst' is make or break for Faith
Even now, after seven years, Mirror's Edge is a unique and exhilarating parkour thriller. It's littered with flaws -- a paper-thin story, some frustrating level design and unnecessary gunplay -- but the clean, dystopian world and fluid motion still impress. The game didn't sell particularly well, so it was a surprise when EA first announced that it was giving developer DICE another roll at the franchise. Mirror's Edge Catalyst is a complete reboot for Faith, but it could also be the team's last chance to prove the series has a future. If the game can't find a larger audience this time around, it's unlikely that EA will green-light another.
'Star Wars Battlefront': a fine line between authenticity and fun
The Star Wars Battlefront franchise has a simple goal: to put players in the middle of huge, sprawling battles ripped straight from the films and wider fiction. Whether that's battling the AT-AT walkers on Hoth or an X-Wing squadron above Sullust, you're made to feel small -- just one of many soldiers fighting for the Rebel Alliance or Galactic Empire.
'Mighty No. 9' producer: 'We feel bad. Really, really bad.'
Mighty No. 9 is one of the most successful video game Kickstarters of all time. It's also been delayed. First until September, and then, earlier this week, it was pushed all the way to 2016. In the months between the two delays, the studio announced it's working with Armature and Microsoft on the Xbox-exclusive ReCore, and its developer Comcept launched two more crowdfunding campaigns for other projects. Backers are upset. So upset that the campaign for the new game failed to reach its goal. We sat down with Mighty No. 9 producer Nick Yu to ask why the game has been delayed, what Kickstarter is for and whether he feels bad. (He does.)
A game about a dude and his dragon is my Xbox One must-have
PlatinumGames is on a roll. The Japan-based studio is less than a decade old, but already it's put out a string of critically acclaimed titles such as Bayonetta, Vanquish and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. It's built a reputation on fast-paced action and deep, rewarding combat, and now it wants to prove it can deliver a compelling RPG experience too. Scalebound, the studio's Xbox One exclusive, is scheduled for release in 2016 and until recently, we've seen little of the game beyond a short CG teaser. At Gamescom, the studio revealed a glimpse of its gameplay and now, after watching an extended demo, I've decided Scalebound is the Xbox exclusive I'm most excited about.
Microsoft Studios lead talks Kinect and the future of Xbox
You might not know who Microsoft's Kudo Tsunoda is, but you know his work. He was the driving force behind Kinect and HoloLens. And more recently, he's taken control of a large part of Microsoft Studios, the company's in-house video game publishing and development arm. As part of his position, Tsunoda leads Rare, Lionhead and other first-party studios, and also oversees the development of key Xbox exclusives published by Microsoft, such as Scalebound, Quantum Break and the new Crackdown. I sat down with Tsunoda for a chat at Gamescom, and quizzed him on the future of Xbox, HoloLens and gaming at Microsoft.
How the TV show in Xbox One exclusive 'Quantum Break' works
When Remedy released Alan Wake's American Nightmare, few people questioned the live-action cut scenes sprinkled throughout the campaign. It turns out those moments were the seedlings for a grander vision: to develop a game interwoven with a full TV show.
Fly among beautiful floating islands hiding ancient secrets in 'Aer'
Aer is more gorgeous every time I see it. I first ran across it by accident: While waiting in a line at Gamescom 2013, I noticed Robin Hjelte, the game's creator, showing off a video on his tablet to a small, excited crowd. I peeked over his shoulder to see a beautiful pastel landscape with rolling green grass, adorable animals, and, at the center of it all, a young woman -- who suddenly transformed into a bird and soared off the land's edge, aiming for another tranquil island floating high in the sky. I gave Hjelte my card and told him to hit me up if he wanted to talk about the game. The following year at Gamescom, we sat down for a lovely chat. This year at E3, I finally got to play Aer (now with support from renowned German publisher Daedalic Entertainment), and the game sang in my hands as I flawlessly swapped between land and sky, and I wandered through dark, mysterious passageways with even darker secrets. Today, Daedalic and Hjelte's studio, Forgotten Key, released a brand new, infintely more gorgeous trailer for Aer, alongside confirmation that the game is coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, Mac and Linux in 2016.
Watch Faith return to freerunning in 'Mirror's Edge: Catalyst'
EA and Dice are returning to the Mirror's Edge franchise early next year, and today we got an in-depth look at the game in action. Just like the original, Mirror's Edge: Catalyst has Faith leaping from buildings, bounding up ledges and taking out enemies with some brisk hand-to-hand combat. The squeaky-clean aesthetic is intact, but it's clear the jump to current hardware has given the parkour playground a little extra sheen. Check out the new gameplay trailer below to see the futuristic first-person freerunner in motion.
Razer stuffs colored lighting into more gaming keyboards and keypads
Razer has been decking out seemingly every gaming peripheral it makes with many-colored Chroma lighting, and there's no signs of that trend letting up any time soon. The company has rolled out Chroma versions of both its slim, laptop-like DeathStalker keyboard and its Orbweaver keypad, giving you even more ways to put on a light show while you play. Both let you pick from 16.8 million shades, including in multiple zones on the keyboard. As before, you can even sync colors and light patterns between other Chroma devices -- handy if you want to change the mood between games, or just show off at your next tournament. Just be prepared to pay for the pretty. Both Chroma devices are shipping very shortly, but you'll shell out $100 for the DeathStalker and $130 for its Orbweaver sibling.
Xbox at Gamescom 2015: a recap of Microsoft's strong showing
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-166784{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-166784, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-166784{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-166784").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Gamescom isn't open to the public just yet, but that hasn't stopped Microsoft from dropping some early news and trailers. During its "Xbox Briefing" in Cologne, the company announced DVR functionality for 2016, a new controller chat pad and a host of special console bundles. We also saw a slew of trailers for upcoming games such as Quantum Break, Scalebound and Crackdown 3. In the video above we give our take -- but if you've got time to spare, it's also worth checking out the proceedings in full down below.
Get a terrifying taste of 'We Happy Few' on Steam, Xbox this holiday
We Happy Few isn't necessarily a terrifying first-person stealth and combat game. So far, it's more of a bone-chilling, creepy, deeply unsettling experience. In other words: It looks great. Today, there's good news for anyone who pledged to the game's successful $330,000 Kickstarter, or anyone in the market for a drug-fueled romp through a fictional 1960s English town. We Happy Few will hit Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview at the same time this holiday season, Compulsion founder Guillaume Provost tells Engadget.
'Halo Wars 2' exists, hits Xbox One and Windows 10 in 2016
Halo Wars 2 is the sequel to 2009's troubled yet generally beloved real-time strategy game, and it's on its way to Xbox One and Windows 10 in fall 2016. Microsoft presented Halo Wars 2 as the cherry on top of its Xbox Gamescom conference in Cologne, Germany, today, offering us a short and sweet cinematic. Halo Wars 2 comes from current Halo developer 343 Industries and Alien: Isolation studio Creative Assembly.
The 'Halo 5' 1TB Xbox One is up for pre-order today
Among the bullet storms and massive explosions of today's Xbox conference, Microsoft unveiled a limited edition, Halo 5-branded 1TB Xbox One bundle, and it's so, so shiny. The bundle is available for pre-order today (priced at $500) and it drops on October 20th. Microsoft launched the standard 1TB console for $400 back in June, complete with a new controller. That console isn't so shiny -- because it's matte.
Mojang's next game is 'Cobalt,' a 2D platformer due in October
Mojang isn't just focused on shipping endless variations of Minecraft -- it can publish other games, too. As proof, the Microsoft-owned team has announced that Cobalt, an Oxeye-developed 2D platform game for Mac, PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, will finally arrive (it was unveiled in 2012) in October. The title has you employing hacks and stealth to learn why a human colony vanished on an alien world. It's big on multiplayer, too, with cooperative play, six competitive multiplayer modes and 30 dedicated maps. If you're eager to give Cobalt a shot before the fall, you can try pre-release Mac and Windows versions today.
'Crackdown 3' hits Xbox One in 2016
Crackdown is back and as boom-tastic as ever. The first gameplay video for Crackdown 3 shows off a futuristic, neon-tipped city that acts as a sprawling sandbox once players dive in. The game features online co-op and competitive play -- that's up to four players for co-op. Crackdown 3 hits the Xbox One, and only the Xbox One, in summer 2016.
Microsoft says 'Quantum Break' coming April 5th, 2016
Microsoft first announced Quantum Break as an Xbox One exclusive quite a while ago, and it has finally revealed the launch date: April 5th, 2016. At Gamescom 2015, the company also showed off brand new gameplay from the title (below), which comes from the developer that created Max Payne, Remedy. Suffice to say, it looks beautiful and features a strong time travel component. The studio originally promised that it would have an in-game live action show, and Remedy's Sam Lake confirmed that's still the case.
The Chatpad returns on Xbox One this November
Remember that Chatpad you used to trash-talk your Xbox 360 rivals? It's back in an Xbox One version with a few new twists. The keyboard add-on still clips to the bottom of your gamepad and makes it easy to type just about anywhere on either the Xbox One or a Windows 10 PC, but it now has a pair of programmable keys to automate common input (for example, asking for help from your friends in a tough match). Microsoft won't ship the peripheral until November, alas, but pre-orders will start today -- we'll get you pricing as soon as we can.
