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JXE Streams: The watery mystery of 'Submerged'
This is what we like to call a "chill stream." That doesn't mean it's cold or that it involves a small river, though this particular game does feature quite a lot of water. It simply means that we're going to take this livestream slowly, calmly and with an emphasis on chilling out. Submerged is a new, combat-free exploration game set in a flooded, abandoned city. It stars Miku, a young girl searching for supplies to help her dying younger brother. Developer Uppercut Games encourages players to explore the city at their own pace to "discover hidden objects that piece together the story of a broken world and a broken family." Chill streams may be quieter than usual, but they can still be emotional. Today's Submerged livestream kicks off at 5:30PM ET/2:30PM PT on Twitch.tv/Joystiq, on the Engadget Gaming homepage or right in this post. We're playing the PC version via Steam.
JXE Streams: digging through the 'Rare Replay' vault
More than any other artistic medium, video games have a dire need to preserve their history. Unlike movies, books or music, it's incredibly hard to enjoy a classic game years or even decades after its release because of how quickly the technology powering gaming advances. Lately though, the influx of HD remasters and digital distribution have made it really easy to enjoy works from years gone by. So when Microsoft announced Rare Replay at this year's E3, the idea of 30 (!!!) games from developer Rare's past being playable on a modern console struck a chord with many people. But how do games from the UK studio's storied history hold up to? Join us at 3PM PT / 6PM ET on Twitch.tv/Joystiq, right in this post or on the Engadget Gaming homepage to find out as we broadcast two solid hours of classic Rare weirdness.
JXE Streams: A piece of puzzle pie in 'The Talos Principle' DLC
There's nothing about pies in The Talos Principle. We're probably just hungry. Either way, today we jump into The Road to Gehenna, a bit of DLC for The Talos Principle that features brand new puzzles, a fresh storyline and (most likely) philosophical questions about the meaning of life, humanity and the technological singularity. We're going deep, people. The Talos Principle is a truly incredible game, blending a rich story of gods and robots with mind-bending spatial puzzles in a gorgeous 3D environment. Join us at 5PM ET (2PM PT) on Twitch.tv/Joystiq, the Engadget Gaming homepage, or right here in this post. And, please, try not to laugh too hard when it takes forever to figure out some of these riddles. We can't all be puzzle gods.
JXE Streams: talking family with Batgirl in 'Arkham Knight'
Even if your only exposure to the Batman mythos is through the excellent Arkham series of games by developer Rocksteady, (especially the latest, Arkham Knight) you're pretty familiar with Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara. She's one of the constant voices in The Dark Knight's ear, and with the recent release of Knight's first downloadable episode we finally get to step into her shoes as Batgirl as she goes up against The Joker. How's it all play out? Your guess is as good as mine because I'm going in totally blind on PlayStation 4 starting at 6 pm Eastern / 3 pm Pacific.
JXE Streams: You are the 'Wind Waker HD' beneath our wings
Let's keep this Wii U love train rolling. Yesterday, we hosted a tribute stream for Nintendo President and CEO Satoru Iwata, who died this week. We played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and discussed some of our favorite Nintendo memories, from the NES to the Wii U. Today, we'll stick with Link and play The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD on Wii U. Maybe we'll pivot near the end and play a little Mario Kart 8 or something -- we'll do whatever sounds fun in the moment because that's what video games are all about. Join us at 3PM PT / 6PM ET on Twitch.tv/Joystiq, right in this post or on the Engadget Gaming homepage.
JXE Streams: A special tribute to Nintendo's Satoru Iwata
Above all, video games are meant to just be one thing: Fun for everyone. - Satoru Iwata, 1959-2015 The gaming industry mourned the passing of Nintendo President and CEO Satoru Iwata this week, sharing his many memorable quotes and creating touching pieces of art in his honor. Iwata was consistently beloved in a fickle and volatile industry, often winning over players with his joyful approach to gaming. Iwata joined Nintendo as a developer in the 1980s and helped create Earthbound, Kirby, Balloon Fight and other major titles, before rising to the role of President in 2002. Iwata was the first Nintendo president not related to the company's founding Yamauchi family. In recent years, Iwata led Nintendo through releases of the Wii, 3DS and Wii U, and laid out plans to dive into mobile gaming and launch a new console, the NX. He delivered much of the company's news in (super adorable) "Iwata Asks" interviews and Nintendo Direct live streams, some of which featured him as a puppet, as Robot Chicken-style claymation, or gazing longingly at bananas. Today, we tip our hats to Iwata with a special Wii U live stream where we'll play some of our favorite Nintendo games and talk about the good old days. We kick off with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time at 3PM PT / 6PM ET right here, on Twitch.tv/Joystiq or on the Engadget Gaming homepage. Join us -- and bring your memories.
JXE Streams: Things get wild in 'Life is Strange' ep. 3
Life is Strange is an emotive sort of time-travel tale, starring angsty teenagers, viral videos and friendships tested again and again. The game stars Max, a high school girl who returns to her hometown to find a lot of things have changed, including her former best friend, Chloe, who is now rebellious, cold and searching for a missing girl. Blackwell Academy, their school, is packed with political drama and ominous happenings, and the tepid Northeastern weather starts shifting in odd, extreme ways. Oh, and Max can reverse time. You know, normal high school things. We dive into Episode 3: Chaos Theory live at 3:30PM ET (12:30PM PT) right here, on Twitch.tv/Joystiq or on the Engaget Gaming homepage.
JXE Streams: An early, eerie look at 'We Happy Few'
Drugs, check. Dystopia, check. An alternative 1960s English town with a terrifying history, check. We Happy Few ticks a lot of my boxes in its premise alone, plus the art direction seems spot-on and the characters already feel real. Take Uncle Jack for example: He's a talk-show host with a permanent smile fixed on his painted face, and he says things like, "Of course, none of us had to do anything terrible when the Germans were here. No, no. At least, I can't remember anything. Can you?" And then he laughs in a way that suggests, yes, everyone in this small English town definitely did something awful. One thing remains unclear about We Happy Few so far: How it plays. We're going to find out today live on Twitch with a super-early, pre-alpha build of the game. Even though Compulsion still has to add more AI behaviors, world-building elements, combat mechanics and other features, they've given us the go-ahead to show off the early world of Wellington Wells. Join us at 3:30PM ET / 12:30PM PT right here, on the Engadget Gaming homepage or at Twitch.tv/Joystiq.
JXE Streams: Exploring 'Lego Jurassic World' brick by brick
In just under two weeks, Jurassic World has absolutely demolished box office records around the globe and has raked in over $1 billion to date according to Box Office Mojo. The film series is a natural fit for video-game (and virtual reality) tie-ins and since you gals and guys enjoyed us streaming a pair of those not too long ago, we figured it'd only be fitting that we'd go back to the island with Lego Jurassic World. Join me at 7 p.m. Eastern / 4 p.m. Pacific as I wade through the muddy jungles of Isla Nublar completely blind on PlayStation 4.
JXE Streams: Talking 'No Man's Sky' with Hello Games
Another E3 has come and gone. This one was particularly spectacular. We got to play Volume with Mike Bithell. We got to talk about Yooka-Laylee with legendary Rare composer Grant Kirkhope. We even got to bask in the announcements of seriously unlikely sequels like Shenmue 3 while simultaneously reveling in brand new games like ReCore. E3 2015 was amazing, but we're not done! We have one more developer stream in store for you. Join us on Twitch.tv/Joystiq at 12PM ET/9AM PT while we discuss No Man's Sky with Hello Games.
E3 Streams: 'Volume,' 'Fortnite,' 'Elite: Dangerous,' and more!
Onward into E3 2015! Our week in Los Angeles has left us wild and crazed. We interviewed the director of the Final Fantasy VII remake. We played Star Fox Zero. Now we're going to give you a chance to talk to the developers of some of E3's biggest games right here on JXE Streams. Join us starting at at 12:30PM ET/9:30AM PT on Twitch.tv/Joystiq for a chance to chat with developers like Epic Games, Elite: Dangerous creator David Braben, and a special early look at Volume with Mike Bithell.
E3 Streams: 'The Long Dark,' 'Yooka Laylee,' and more!
E3 2015 is officially underway and the gaming world's been set ablaze. Xbox One backwards compatibility! A Final Fantasy VII remake for PlayStation 4! There's also a metric ton of brand new games. JXE Streams is giving you the opportunity to chat directly with the developers from the E3 show floor starting today at 1PM ET. We're going to have the devs behind The Long Dark, Zodiac, The Banner Saga 2, and Yooka-Laylee live on Twitch.tv/Joystiq.
JXE Streams: Welcome to the 'Jurassic Park' extravaganza
Some people saw the trailer for Jurassic World and thought, "That looks stupid. Andy from Parks and Recreation riding a motorcycle alongside a team of velociraptors? What's become of our beloved movies about dinosaurs trying to eat Jeff Goldblum?" That's not what we thought here at JXE Streams. We thought, "That looks stupid. Stupidly awesome." Unable to contain our excitement for the new movie any longer, we're streaming two old-school Jurassic Park games back to back starting at 3PM ET/12PM PT.
JXE Streams: Come revisit 'Fallout 3' after the 'Fallout 4' bomb
When the Fallout 4 trailer dropped on the world last week, irradiating ravenous explorers anxious to return to the series' wastes with fresh hope, it drove something home: Fallout 3 was awesome. Has it really been seven years since Bethesda reimagined the post-apocalyptic satire as a modern, first-person adventure? Has it been so long since Liam Neeson raised us in a post-nuclear war underground vault? Most importantly: does it still hold up? In order to answer that final question, we're streaming Fallout 3 today at 3:30PM ET/12:30PM PT.
JXE Streams: 'Façade' celebrates 10 years of awkward sexual advances
Façade turns 10 in July. Archaic as Michael Mateas and Andrew Stern's interactive drama is after a decade, it remains one of the most distinctive experimental video games ever made. Even with scores of dramatic indies and more technologically advanced games filling the intervening years, Façade remains discomfitingly human. The premise is simple: you walk into a couple's apartment for a dinner date. They are on the verge of complete relationship collapse. Whatever happens next -- what you talk about, what you do -- is entirely in your hands as the artificial intelligence reacts. It's like Siri via Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? We're going to revisit Façade to see just how awkward it can get on JXE Streams starting at 3:30PM ET/12:30PM PT.
JXE Streams: Blending 'Advance Wars' and 'Hearthstone' in 'Duelyst'
Keith Lee and his partner Emil Anticevic have some serious gaming cred on their resumes. Lee was one of the project leaders on Diablo 3 and Anticevic is responsible in part for the cloud based technology that makes League of Legends work. Together they formed Counterplay Games, the studio currently developing an intriguing mashup called Duelyst. Halfway between Final Fantasy Tactics and Hearthstone, Duelyst blends card gaming with the spatial manipulation of tactical role-playing and tops it off with some truly fetching art. At 3:30PM ET/12:30PM PT we're going to stream an alpha version of Duelyst alongside Lee himself on JXE Streams.
JXE Streams: 'Metal Gear?!' We're playing the 1987 original
Can love bloom on the battlefield? Metal Gear elicits more questions like these -- from both players and its characters -- than it ever answers. In the wake of Konami's recent public relations meltdown and Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain's impending release at the end of summer, Hideo Kojima's bizarre war drama is looming large our world. Next week, Engadget will bring you some early impressions of The Phantom Pain. Today at 3:30PM ET/12:30PM PT, though, we're going to the very beginning to stream the original Metal Gear.
JXE Streams: Join us for some 'Affordable Space Adventures'
KnapNok Games gets what Richard Branson doesn't. Of course people want to hang out in space, but they definitely don't want to pay top dollar to do it! So rather than drop $200,000 on a Virgin Galactic reservation, why not fire up your Wii U for some Affordable Space Adventures? The game simulates the existential nightmare of getting trapped on a foreign planet as well as makes novel use of the console's unique tablet controller. It's win-win! Join us at 3:30PM ET today for a live tour of the game on JXE Streams.
JXE Streams: 'Splatoon' seduces us with squids and squirt guns
I couldn't resist Nintendo's Splatoon when I saw it for the first time at E3 2014. Squids with squirt guns locked in a summery battle to cover skate parks in neon ink? With a premise so weird and wonderful all on its own, I probably would have loved it even if those early demoes weren't fun as hell. Splatoon will finally be available to purchase this week but JXE Streams is going to give you one last early look at its single and multiplayer modes as well as its wee amiibo on today's show at 3:30PM ET.
JXE Streams: going Jurassic with 'theHunter: Primal'
How long would you last on an island full of dinosaurs when you've nothing but a rusty machete and the clothes on your back? That's the question theHunter: Primal poses. It's also my absolute childhood fantasy. You start the game with essentially nothing and need to find your way around a paradisical atoll full of thunderlizards that'd rather eat you than sing songs about the alphabet. We'll be joined by folks from Avalanche Studios (Just Cause, Mad Max) so they can help guide me around the island and hopefully aid in uncovering the secrets of raptor-whispering. Oh! and we'll be giving away download codes for the PC game as well; get your haikus ready.
