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'World of Horror' brings MS Paint terror to Steam on February 20th
World of Horror, the "unsettling cosmic horror retro RPG" created by a dentist using MS Paint arrives on Steam Early Access February 20th. A full launch date for Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 and Steam for PC and Mac OS X will be announced in late 2020, says publisher Ysbryd Games.
‘Limetown’ trailer shows Facebook’s take on the hit podcast
The first trailer for the Facebook Watch mystery series Limetown is now available. The 10-episode series is based on the popular podcast by the same name. The show stars and was executive produced by Jessica Biel, and it premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival this afternoon. The first two episodes are scheduled to launch on October 16th.
Who are you and why are you leaving old TVs on porches in Virginia?
Residents in Virginia remain bewildered after a mysterious person with a TV on their head placed out-dated televisions on the doorsteps of more than 50 homes in Henrico County. The bandit (of sorts) struck this weekend, The Washington Post reports. Police have yet to identify the person behind the screen, even though he (or she) was spotted in action by several doorbell cameras.
Step back in time with a mysterious, unreleased Neo Geo game
The Neo Geo served as a launchpad for a handful of influential fighting game franchises like The King of Fighters, but there may be one more masterpiece buried in the 26-year-old hardware. About a year ago, Neo Geo fan Brian Hargrove bought an unlabeled ROM board at a Japanese auction for about $600 in the hopes that it would contain leftover data he could play with, USgamer reports. After a few failed attempts to extract its secrets, he got it working and stumbled across an unknown, unfinished fighting game prototype that might tie into Dungeons & Dragons lore. Happily, he's shared videos and images of the mystery title in action.
'Calendula' wants to be a weird mix of 'Twin Peaks' and 'PT'
Why would anyone play a game that doesn't want to be played? It's a question with an answer, though it may be buried within the spastic, terrifying scenes of Calendula, the game in development at Blooming Buds, a small studio in Madrid, Spain. Developers describe Calendula as a game with roots in experimental art and classic horror, taking inspiration from famed thriller TV series Twin Peaks and PT, Hideo Kojima's spooky demo for the PlayStation 4. Designer Aleix Garrido says that Calendula aims to break classic video game conventions and the fourth wall in one weird blow. It all begins with a question posed by Calendula itself: How do you play a game that doesn't want to be played?
EVE Evolved: The Sleepers are coming!
Ever since the announcement of 100 new wormhole systems and the unique Thera wormhole hub system, some interesting things have been going on in EVE Online. A new star appeared in the night sky and began rapidly growing in brightness like a supernova, and curiously, the light from that star was able to be seen from every star system in New Eden simultaneously in clear violation of the laws of physics. Two days prior to the event, Sansha's Nation were seen scattering from an Incursion site and leaving the area without using wormholes, hinting that something big was happening in their home system. Combined with the intruiging story of Thera, this has had even non-roleplayers scrambling through the EVE lore to come up with theories about what's to come. Players slowly set apart picking the mystery to pieces, conducting a galaxy-wide search to find the origin of the bright star and sending people into the test server to get clues. The mystery intensified when players discovered that the star was likely near or within restricted Jove space, and soon after they began finding strange cloaked structures throughout known space. While observing these structures, players even found that an all-new form of Sleeper NPC called the Circadian Seeker was periodically warping into the site and using some kind of scanning beam on the cloaked structure. All of this comes in anticipation of the public release of the Rhea patch on Tuesday 9th, which will introduce hidden Sleeper sites in known space and kick off the arms race to discover tech 3 destroyers. In this lore-heavy edition of EVE Evolved, I look at everything we know of EVE's new Sleeper storyline event and try to figure out how it all fits together.
Indie Royale's ten-game Mystery Bundle could be anything
Well this is awkward. See, we were hoping to tell you about Indie Royale's new "Mystery Bundle," but there are only two confirmed games we can really talk about. We can say for sure that the ten-game bundle features The Sun at Night and Hero of the Kingdom, PC games packed with Steam and Desura keys as well as DRM-free download options available to buyers. While Indie Royale values the bundle at $70, it's available now for the pay-the-minimum price of 99 cents. Here's the catch: Indie Royale will reveal a new game in the bundle each day and will increase its price by 30 cents with every reveal, so those buying in today while the bulk of the games are unknown will get the whole lot at its lowest price. We hate to speculate, but what if Indie Royale is pulling an Oprah on us and one of the eight other games is actually a new car? What if one title is the leg lamp from A Christmas Story, or the concept of love? The possibilities are endless. The Mystery Bundle ends on Wednesday, October 15. [Image: Indie Royale]
Mystery of Death Valley's sailing stones solved with GPS and time-lapse
After decades of theories and attempts to solve the mystery of Death Valley's sailing stones, a trio of scientists has finally caught the process on tape. Their study started years ago, when two of them (a biologist and an engineer) hauled 15 GPS-equipped rocks onto Racetrack Playa, the dry lake where the famous stones are found. It wasn't until 2013, when a planetary scientist made their two-man band a trio, that they hit the jackpot, though. Apparently, it takes a precise combination of water, ice and wind for the rocks to move. First, the water that floods the lake (which happens rarely) should be around three inches deep, so when it freezes, it forms thin, windowpane-like ice sheets beneath the rocks. Then, it should be sunny the day after that in order for the ice to crack, and for 10MPH winds to propel the rocks forward.
Failure is a great option
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments is, in many ways, a typical detective game. You look for clues, you interrogate witnesses, investigate suspects, and ultimately decide whodunnit. One feature separates it from much of the mystery pack, however: You can get things wrong. The game will let you make incorrect deductions, draw wrong conclusions and even send the wrong person to prison. The ability to fail is probably the game's best feature, and it's one I wish more detective games would embrace. It's easy to see why mystery games would be reluctant to let the player completely blow a case. For starters, there isn't much replay value in that type of gameplay, and slogging through a case all over again, hearing the same testimony or performing the same experiments, would lack a certain vivacity. People also process information differently, so what might be a stonkingly obvious connection to one person would be utterly baffling to the next; add differences in cultural references or knowledge into the mix, and the problems inherent in crafting a tightly-constructed detective narrative become obvious. Plus, people just plain don't like feeling dumb, and getting a big fat "WRONG, BUCKO!" after noodling your way through a case would understandably be off-putting for some players. It should be there anyway, though, because otherwise there's no real incentive to put your brain through its paces.
Microsoft's E.T. game excavation hits paydirt
It looks like the legend might be true after all. Microsoft has uncovered intact copies of E.T. for the Atari 2600 at a New Mexico landfill, supporting claims that Atari buried legions of unsold cartridges in the desert after the movie-themed game proved to be a massive failure. With that said, it's not yet clear that this is the treasure trove that Microsoft was hoping to find for its first Xbox-only documentary. The excavation team has only found a few E.T. units as of this writing, and they have company -- there's a shrink-wrapped copy of Centipede in the mix, for one thing. If the team does find many more examples of the extra-terrestrial flop, though, it could finally put a 32-year-old mystery to rest. [Image credit: Lauren Hansard, Twitter]
Former Klei, Telltale devs reveal first-person mystery Firewatch
Indie developer Campo Santo announced its first game, a first-person mystery named Firewatch. The game is set in the Wyoming wilderness, "where your only human connection is communicating with your supervisor over a handheld radio," according to the game's announcement blog. The game's protagonist, whose job is to "look for smoke and keep the wilderness safe," winds up exploring a "wild and unknown environment" after something pulls them away from their watchtower. Firewatch's official site says the game will press players with "interpersonal choices" that will affect players' relationships with Delilah, the supervisor in question. Campo Santo was formed in September 2013 by former Telltale and Klei developers, including Mark of the Ninja lead designer Nels Anderson and artist Olly Moss. The Cave co-writer Chris Remo joined the team in February after departing from Double Fine. [Image: Campo Santo]
Noir Syndrome offers a new murder mystery with every play
Noir Syndrome is a novel take on a classic of the storytelling genre. Instead of offering players a single murder mystery, it uses procedural generation to randomize clues, suspects and victims each time you play. Beyond its randomized killings, Noir Syndrome also offers a number of other features you wouldn't expect from a game with such a pixelated, spartan aesthetic. According to the IndieDB entry on Noir Syndrome, despite its procedurally generated nature, all objects in the game are persistent, creating the illusion of a functioning, open world until you start a new game and everything is rebuilt from scratch. In this world, players are tasked with seeking out clues, then using these clues to nail suspects, but the game also offers players the freedom to ignore the central murder mystery in favor of exploration or gunning down random bystanders. Currently, you can find Noir Syndrome in the Steam Greenlight queue. Like all Greenlight games, it must attract a certain number of affirmative votes before earning the right to be listed on the Steam marketplace. While that means there's going to be a wait for the final, retail version of Noir Syndrome, you can attempt to gain access to a beta release of the game by following the instructions in this IndieDB entry. [Image: Glass Knuckle Games]
ASUS teases something square and grey, will reveal its new device tomorrow (update: it's a DVD writer)
Were we expecting any new hardware from ASUS? Items we've seen but have not shipped like the Qube and Transformer Book spring to mind immediately, but they're not a direct match for this pic the company posted on its Google+ page earlier this evening (Update: we replaced it with the final pic.) It's inviting any and all guesses as to what's in store and promises a device reveal tomorrow, so your period of eager anticipation will be (thankfully) short lived. Judging by the comments it might not be anything we've gone hands-on with previously, but the image reveals that spun-metal aluminum look we've become familiar with on ASUS' tablets and laptops lately. Beyond that, the oddly squarish aspect ratio draws immediate comparisons to the 3:2 Chromebook Pixel, but until it's officially unveiled we'll leave the rest of the random speculation up to you. Update 1: The smart money so far is on its Varidrive media dock, which appears to match the dimensions and spun-metal look nicely -- we'll see what it really is tomorrow. Update 2: Well, ASUS has relieved the overwhelming tension on its Google+ page by announcing a new... DVD writer. It does strongly resemble the aforementioned Varidrive dock with its spiral brushed aluminum look and the outfit claims it's the world's thinnest at 13mm. Check the second source below for the reveal.
Mystery HTC device flaunts class-leading benchmarks, 1080p display
When we say "mystery," we totally mean it. We don't know if this is a phone or a tablet, or even if it's real -- stranger things have happened that concocted benchmarks. All we can say for sure is that a previously unheard-of device called the HTC 6435LVW has appeared over at the Community Uploads section of the GLBenchmark site, scoring a ridiculous 121 FPS in the Egypt Offscreen 720p test -- that's more than twice the score of the HTC One X (LTE), and 20 percent higher than the current performance supremo, the Galaxy S III. But that's not all, because the benchmark listing also throws up some specs: notably a 1794 x 1080 resolution (could that mean a new HTC tablet with onscreen buttons?) and a Qualcomm MSM8960 processor (could it be the Pro version?). There are too many questions to contemplate, but here's one final detail: the Android ICS version is described as a Verizon build, so if this thing is legit maybe that's where it's headed.
Amazon and Avalon in a tree, publishing romance books di-gi-tal-ly
Amazon Publishing and long-running book-maker Avalon now has more in common than rhyme schemes. The pair have struck up a deal to publish over 3,00 titles from the publisher's back-catalogue, broaching its romance, mystery and western genres. It'll be the first time that these books will be digitized and, well, Oprah's always looking for stuff to read.
The Fullbright Company's first game explores the drawers of a strange home
We were excited about The Fullbright Company because it was founded by three ex-BioShock developers, but now we have another, more tangible reason to eagerly anticipate such a glorious union: the games. The Fullbright Company has announced its first project, Gone Home, a mysterious exploration game set in a "modern, residential locale" and shown as a pre-alpha build in the above video.Fullbright hopes to make Gone Home a rich simulation title with an emphasis on interaction, where players are able to open every drawer and examine the smallest details of their environment to unravel what happened there. The video teases these elements, as well as an audio diary system that plays at its end.Gone Home is native to PC but will support gamepad, and Fullbright will not have a Kickstarter for this title. In related news, "Are you planning to do a Kickstarter?" is now a question that developers consider a standard FAQ.
A second look at The Secret World
Funcom recently held another special hands-on event for The Secret World at its Montreal, Canada offices, where we sent freelancer François Blondin to cover all the exciting details. Enjoy his latest preview of the game! Last weekend, I nabbed a second look at Funcom's upcoming MMO The Secret World, now scheduled for a June 19th release. I was going in with high expectations, having been blown away by my first playtest of this modern-world-based MMO, and I'll say that this second visit managed to convince me that this game is on the right track to impress gamers with fresh gameplay, vicious puzzles, an ability wheel full of synergies, and new elite abilities at the top tiers of weapon specializations. I spent wasted a lot of time during my first visit testing out different builds, but I missed out on some content while doing that, and I realized that abilities and builds are something you'll come to naturally as you progress through the game as you earn ability points, choose where you want to go, and decide how you want to specialize. This time around, I got to spend more time exploring the game world, trying out missions, and blowing things up.%Gallery-72395%
Daily iPhone App: Vintage Radio
Vintage Radio is an interesting idea for an iPhone app: It's a ton of various old-time radio recordings (more than 34,000 mystery, horror, comedy, and other old 1930s and 1940s radio shows), all accessible to stream on demand. The app allows you to browse and search shows, set up and save playlists or even share shows on Facebook and Twitter. The selection is really amazing. I like a lot of old-time radio, and this app does have pretty much everything you need. If you have a lot of long car trips or plane rides, it can really help fill the time. Unfortunately, Vintage Radio's biggest problem might be a dealbreaker. The app uses a very confusing subscription model to make money. Basically, you buy the app for $3.99, and get access to a certain amount of the shows for that price. After that, you have to pay a subscription to listen to more shows -- about $1.99 a month, or a little cheaper if you subscribe for a longer period. I also ran into some issue with the app where I only got a certain number of plays on it, and it's not entirely clear when you browse which shows are paid or free. Even paying the subcription is probably cheaper than actually buying all of these shows. Even if you have to pay the subscription fee, if you actually spend a year listening to these recordings, it's probably worth it. Vintage Radio is a nice idea that's not implemented well, but if you're a fan of old-time radio, it's definitely worth a look.
Mystery Motorola devices headed for Verizon, could be the long-awaited Xoom 2s?
Is Big Red gearing up for a tag team Moto tablet refresh? From the looks of this internal screen grab (and the oodles of pre-release leaks), that may very well be the case. Despite the lack of official confirmation from both parties, we're pretty certain those two mystery model numbers shown above -- MZ617 and MZ609 -- belong to the oft in-the-wild spotted Xoom 2 and its 8.2-inch "Media Edition" sibling. Unfortunately, that listed October 23rd date has come and gone with nary a mention of the slates' existence, so we'll just have to content ourselves with evidence of their apparent 4G capabilities and storage configurations. Folks keen to snag the full-fledged 10.1-incher will purportedly be able to select from 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, whereas lil' bro Fleming offers up 16GB and 32GB options. With Google's Motorola acquisition looming overhead, these could be your go-to tabs for an unadulterated Ice Cream Sandwich experience. And, hey, at least they'll ship with LTE this time.
Mystery Moto tablet swings through the FCC, refuses to take any questions
What exactly is this mystery device that just shuffled through the FCC? Well, it's definitely a Motorola tablet and a member of the Xoom family, but beyond that we can't tell you much. The FCC ID, which ends in 56MJ3, makes it clear that this is part of Moto's flagship tablet line, but whether this an upcoming Xoom 2 or simply a souped up variant of the original Honeycomb slate is unclear. The filing makes no mention of cellular connectivity, only WiFi and Bluetooth, but that doesn't necessarily mean there isn't any on board. We do know that, whatever this turns out to be, it sports an HDMI out, 1GB of RAM, a dual-core 1.2GHz CPU, a 1200 x 800 screen and comes in 16, 32 and 64GB varieties. If you're in the mood to dig through the test reports yourself, check out the source link.
