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Google demos Stadia UI and lists several missing launch features
In a run-up to the November 19th Stadia launch, Google did a Reddit AMA showing how game casting will work for the streaming service. Stadia Director of Product Andrey Doronichev and publisher lead Beri Lee also revealed all the things that will be missing at launch, and unfortunately, it's a laundry list. That include support for existing Chromecast Ultra devices (you'll need a firmware update that will be delivered after launch), family sharing, game-sharing features like Crowd Play and more.
Reddit says it will hide but not ban hate communities
Reddit Co-Founder and new CEO Steve Huffman has just laid out a host of changes to the websites content policy. He cites the company's earlier banning of non-consensual porn (ie revenge porn) as a restriction that improved the community as a whole -- even if those that traded in the smut felt their First Amendment rights were being violated. The new changes are clearly designed to address the rampant harassment and vitriol spewed by certain groups within the larger community. The new restrictions effectively move spam, doxxing, hate speech (based on sexual, ethnic and racial factors) and "sexually suggestive posts featuring minors" off of any public-facing pages. This content, like all common porn, must be flagged as NSFW. What's more those channels indulging in NSFW content will be opt-in only and require a login to access.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen to livestream game development tonight, reveals the Ogre
If you've ever wanted to get an insider's look at MMO development, Visionary Realms is offering that chance. The studio will stream sessions of Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen's development from the desktop of Senior Artist Vu Nguyen live on Twitch while various team members offer commentary and answer audience questions from chat. The first show airs on the Rob and Dan Show tonight, January 27th, at 7:00 p.m. EST. Additionally, Chief Creative Officer Brad McQuaid will host a Reddit Ask-Me-Anything at 4:00 p.m. EST Wednesday, January 29th. "We've said from day one that we want the community involved every step of the way, and this is a chance to prove that we're committed to that," noted Director of Development Salim Grant. The team has also just revealed the Ogre. [Source: Visionary Realms press release]
Daily Update for June 26, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Andy Schatz lets slip scrapped competitive modes for Monaco
Andy Schatz took some time off from thievery in his recent release, Monaco, and sat down with the fine people of Reddit to answer all of the questions they threw at him, such as, "Which features didn't make it into the game?" "Cops and Robbers, and Thief vs Thief," Schatz replied. "We wanted to add two additional competitive game modes to the game. We got them to playable, but we discovered that for both modes the balance didn't really work within the existing levels." Thief vs Thief had players compete in a single stage, to see who could collect the most coins, grab the trophy and get out first – but the player who left the gate first had a huge advantage, sucking up all of the coins, and the mode didn't turn out to be as fun as Schatz had hoped, he said. Cops and Robbers added a police officer to every level, but the early stages were too easy and the later stages too difficult. With some tweaks, Schatz said he hoped to bring Cops and Robbers to Monaco "at some point," possibly as DLC. Monaco's characters evolved along with the gameplay, and Schatz described how each of them spawned, early in development: "The Gentleman used to be a hypnotist, The Lookout used to be the Prowler (parkour expert), The Mole used to be The Muscle, The Pickpocket used to be The Rat (could rat out teammates to save himself). The Redhead had a taser or a pistol at one point. The Pickpocket started out as dwarf twins instead of a man with a monkey." Stranger things. Once Monaco's final touches were all settled, Schatz said he had an idea to develop a "good console RTS (or at least simple-controls RTS) that is as strategically as deep as the competitive RTSes." First, he has to work on the Monaco level editor, expansions and maybe more ports – he singled out Vita and PS4, while Mac and Linux ports are already on the books.
Phil Fish: Fez 'should be out on pretty much everything,' eventually
Fez has found its way to Steam, hitting PCs on May 1 – but that's not all developer Phil Fish has up his tiny, red hat. Fish hosted a Reddit AMA today, where he revealed Mac, Linux, Vita, Ouya and iOS versions of Fez are all in various stages of planning and development.Mac and Ouya ports are definitely on the way, while Linux is part of some "vague plans, but plans nonetheless. Fez should eventually be out on pretty much everything," Fish said. For Vita and PSN, Fish said he's working with Sony "to figure something out." An iOS launch is "highly probable."Fish also says "thanks for all the spreadsheet jokes." And you all thought you were so original.Check out all of the Fez information you never knew you wanted right here, and make sure to see the Fez Fish Gaijin Games created for Runner 2 (Warning: It's a fish in tightie whities, and we do mean tight).
Vlambeer's Android dreams and why $0.99 makes it hard to be indie
Vlambeer, the team behind confirmed iOS smash hit Ridiculous Fishing, is considering the logistics of porting the game to Android, creator Rami Ismail wrote in a Reddit AMA yesterday. Don't shoot your hopes sky-high just yet, though."We're still arguing about an Android release," Ismail said. "There are a lot of things to consider and a lot of things that we just don't know too much about since we've yet to make a game for Android. As soon as we figure all that stuff out, we'll see what we can do."Ridiculous Fishing costs $3 on the App Store, higher than the accepted average of $0.99 per game, though it offers absolutely no microtransactions. This was a pointed decision: "Developers shouldn't be scared to charge $3 for a game," Ismail said."The problem is that at $0.99, you'll need to sell endless amounts of copies to be able to survive as an indie developer. Most games don't even get close to that. A direct result of the whole race-to-the-bottom in prices is the prevalance of free-to-play on iOS – it seems to be a safer bet. But since it's almost impossible to do F2P in a non-evil way and without sacrificing the elegance of your game design, we'll prefer to charge $3."
Dreamfall Chapters stretch goals to be Mac, Linux releases, possibly Ouya, Steam Box
The Kickstarter campaign for Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey is getting initial stretch goals for Mac and Linux versions in addition to PC, and potentially ones for Steam Box and Ouya too. Speaking in yesterday's Reddit AMA, series creator Ragnar Tørnquist confirmed Mac and Linux are to be the first additional platforms unlocked by achieving stretch goals, with iOS and Android stretch goals "definitely" in line beyond that. Tørnquist said he'd also love to bring the adventure game to Steam Box and Ouya, but only listed them as possibilities, while next-gen consoles would come after all of the other platforms, and even then wouldn't be a "focus area" for his team.When pushed about other stretch goals, Tørnquist indicated they'd be based around additional content like side stories and returning characters. He also hinted at "a pretty huge stretch goal" by cough-dropping the acronym 'TLJH.' Tørnquist mentioned TLJH earlier in the AMA when asked about the different challenges in making a 3D game as opposed to a 2D one, saying cryptically, "2D is easier, in a lot of ways. I'd like to go back to 2D again. We have had discussions. There are ideas. TLJH." Stretch goals are likely to play a big part for Dreamfall Chapters, given that the fundraiser sits at just over $600,000 of its $850,000 target at the time of writing, with 26 days left to go. An update on the Kickstarter page says developer Red Thread Games will divulge more on the stretch goals once it's in "battling range" of the $850K finish line, so expect them to be revealed shortly.
The Longest Journey creator Ragnar Tørnquist opens up in Reddit AMA
Ragnar Tørnquist, the creator of The Longest Journey adventure game saga and founder of Red Thread Games, is answering all the leftover questions from his mind-numbing puzzles with an Ask Me Anything thread on Reddit, right now. Tørnquist and Red Thread have a live Kickstarter for Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey, a continuation of the Dreamfall tale that's been rooting around development for six years. If all goes as planned and the Kickstarter raises $850,000, Dreamfall Chapters is scheduled to launch on PC in November 2014.If you have a question for Tørnquist, check out the AMA thread on Reddit, but be warned, hackmed already asked the most important question: "How the hell did you guys come up with that rubber ducky puzzle?"
American McGee apologizes for EA 'trick' comment
Alice and Alice: Madness Returns creator American McGee clarified comments he made yesterday about EA's marketing strategy. McGee, who said EA wanted to 'trick' people into perceiving Madness Returns as hardcore horror, apologized to the publisher on his blog today. McGee does maintain the publisher is somewhat at fault for the game's poor sales."Allow me to expand on my original post," McGee wrote, "while at the same time making a correction (call it a retraction if you like). 'Tricked' is the wrong word. I take that back. Apologies to EA and anyone else whose feelings were hurt. Electronic Arts doesn't trick customers into buying things. They carefully apply proven marketing techniques to achieve the desired customer response. If they were bad at this sort of thing they'd have been crushed by their competitors long ago and you'd be playing Madden Football from Activision or Atari or something."McGee then noted that, while Madness Retuirns does include a lot of what's in the trailers in question, the developer felt its marketing didn't portray the Alice character correctly, and made out "blood and guts" to be the game's primary selling point. However, he conceded all of the blame can't be placed at the publisher's doorstep."I can't and don't fully fault them or their marketing for whatever the Alice games might or might not have done sales-wise. As a developer, do I grumble into my beer about how it could have been different if only...? Sure do! But I also recognize my own faults, and actions which are to blame for things not being 100 percent... or for inadvertently igniting firestorms."
President Obama's doing an AMA on Reddit today, invites the people to pose their digital questions
His competition from the GOP, Mitt Romney, already answered the people's questions on Yahoo! Answers, and now the Commander in Chief has decided to take on any and all internet queries too. The virtual Q&A with Obama is set to start at 4:30 ET today via an ask me anything session on Reddit, so head on over to the source link and see if your President will see fit to answer your questions -- be they about health care, net neutrality or even the Cubs non-existent playoff chances.
Enter at Your Own Rift: What Scott Hartsman's AMA portends for RIFT
The Trion team is nothing if not persistent. In an elaborate plot involving Dr. Pepper and a one-way locked office, the devs were able to finally get Trion CCO and RIFT Executive Producer Scott Hartsman to participate in an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit. It was an engaging discussion that touched on a variety of topics, from up and coming titles such as End of Nations to Hartsman's journey from GM of the MUD Scepter of Goth to his time with SOE and his current endeavors with Trion. We learned that he's a pretty hardcore raider, that he plays incognito, and that his raid drink of choice is Grimbergen Blonde. But the focus of the conversation was RIFT, and while he didn't shed too much light on the upcoming expansion, he did drop a few hints about what we might see in the future. In this week's Enter at Your Own Rift, we'll look at some of the highlights!
Guild Wars 2 info keeps on comin'
If you're a Guild Wars 2 fan, you're used to the jarring transitions between droughts and floods of information. This week, happily, it's flood time. It's been a busy week for ArenaNet, but the team gives no signs of slowing down. After a successful press beta weekend and opening up a signup form for upcoming beta tests, ArenaNet has kept up the flow of information -- and excitement -- by gracing GuildCast with the presence of a few of its devs, clarifying some points on world vs. world in a new blog post, and setting up a Reddit Ask Me Anything session for 11:00 a.m. EST on Friday the 24th. The blog post clarifies some of the more prominent questions the community has been voicing about WvW over the last few days, while the Reddit AMA is a good chance to get in those nit-picky questions that you're still dying to get clarified (no, "can I have a beta key" should not be one of 'em). The most important information out of all of this? Mike Ferguson put a stop to a debate that might otherwise have been endless: WvW is "wuv-wuh." You're welcome.
