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Google Magenta’s Lo-Fi Player is an AI-based virtual music studio
Google Magenta's Lo-Fi Player lets you create your own lo-fi hip hop tracks by clicking around in a pixelated, 2D room.
8BitDo's latest Switch controller ditches thumbsticks for dual D-pads
The latest controller from 8BitDo might pique your interest if you play a lot of 2D games on Nintendo Switch. The Lite for Switch peripheral has a striking look thanks to its dual D-pads. According to 8BitDo, it has full functionality for Switch with "all core buttons supported."
British Airways is offering VR entertainment on flights
British Airways is set to trial VR entertainment on select first class flights from London Heathrow to New York JFK. From now until the end of the year, customers on these flights will have their own 3D cinema in the sky, and will be able to watch a variety of films, documentaries and travel shows in 2D, 3D or 360° formats.
Researchers create '2D' gold a million times thinner than a fingernail
Scientists have created the world's thinnest gold. At just two atoms thick, the material is one million times thinner than a human fingernail, which is big news for the tech industry. Gold is already used in a range of applications such as engineering, aerospace, as well as in medicine -- gold nanaoparticles play a significant role in cancer treatment, for example -- but in a "2D" form it has the potential to be used even more efficiently.
RPG ‘Hyper Light Drifter’ brings its pixelated dreamscapes to iOS
Hyper Light Drifter has arrived on iOS. The retro 2D RPG -- which is set to become an animated series -- has seen major acclaim since its release in 2016 thanks to its beautiful pixel art, dreamy soundscapes and fun combat. The release supports 120 fps on the iPad Pro (and 60 fps on other Apple devices), which is double the framerate of the Switch version, and it comes with the extra weapons, enemies and areas previously only available on the Switch special edition, so even more people get to enjoy this atmospheric adventure to its fullest. Get it from the App Store now, or on Linux, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
'Chasm' brings its Metroidvania action home July 31st
Coming in just four years after its initially projected release date, 2D action-RPG Chasm has a July 31st release date. Five years ago its Kickstarter closed with $191,897 pledged towards the creation of this Metroidvania-style game with procedurally generated levels. Now, early access backers on Steam will get access on the 16th, while gamer-come-latelys can buy in at the end of the month for $20 on PC, PS4 or Vita.
CrunchyRoll's first game is based on 'DanMachi'
Anime streaming network CrunchyRoll is making a video game based on the Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? series. The free-to-play Memoria Freese/Dan-Memo is available for both Android and iOS and will feature in-app purchases and an original storyline from the show's first season. Series creator Fujino Omori is handling writing duties, with Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Inori Minase, Saori Ōnishi and others lending their talents to the voice cast. And don't worry about dubs here: CrunchyRoll promises there will be Japanese voices with English subtitles.
Microsoft opens a studio for mixed reality
Microsoft has really been hammering home its commitment to mixed reality lately, debuting its headsets earlier this month and holding an entire event dedicated to the concept. Now, and in time for the holidays, the company has launched the Microsoft Reactor in San Francisco, home to its Mixed Reality Capture Studios and Mixed Reality Academy. Here, creative agencies and application developers will be able to invent and create a huge range of mixed reality content, drawing on the thousands of performances the studio has captured over the course of seven years.
'Dragon Ball FighterZ' comes to PC and consoles January 26th
If you've been anticipating the upcoming Bandai Namco anime-based game Dragon Ball FighterZ like we have, you're in luck. The gaming company just announced that the title will release on January 26th, 2018 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
Scientists have just created the thinnest magnet ever
In 2004, scientists made headlines when they constructed graphene, a layer of carbon that is so thin it's considered to be two-dimensional -- just one atom thick. Since then, 2D insulators, semiconductors and superconductors have followed, and now they may have made another breakthrough. In the latest issue of Nature, scientists report that they have created the first 2D magnet.
'Super Mario Maker' for the 3DS only plays in 2D
If you were hoping that the handheld version of Super Mario Maker played in three dimensions, take a seat. Polygon has stumbled across the GameStop listing for the 3DS edition, the box for which comes with a prominent caveat that it only plays in two dimensions. It's not that much of a surprise, given how few 3DS titles really harness stereoscopy in a meaningful way -- even Pokémon X and Y mostly saved it for battles. Not to mention, of course, that Super Mario Maker is the most two-dimensional of games, and certainly won't need any extra depth. If you can't wait to try your hand at becoming the next Miyamoto (spoiler: it's hard), then it'll set you back $39.99 on December 2nd.
Playdate: Running wild in 'The Deer God' and 'Castle Crashers'
Fun fact: If you do a Bing voice-search on Xbox One for The Deer God, instead of coming back with the option to download the indie sidescroller you'll see results for the 1996 Greg Kinnear flick Dear God, an Avenged Sevenfold album with a song named "Dear God" on it and absolutely zero games named The Deer God. Actually finding the absolutely gorgeous venison-focused title takes a lot more work, which is strange considering that it's one of this month's free downloads as part of Xbox's Games with Gold promotion. No matter! We did the digging for you and are going to play the game live on Twitch (along with Castle Crashers Remastered) starting at 6 pm ET / 3 pm PT.
2D Monster Hunter with extra dragons from Spry Fox
Everything in this game is dragons – the cows are dragons, the chickens are dragons, the bears are dragons, the wolves are dragons. You aren't a dragon, but in the earliest art, you do have a sweet red beard that trails into the distance, turning green at its tip. It doesn't have a name yet, but Spry Fox is set on making a dragon-filled, monster-catcher game. "You can sort of think of this as a 2D Monster Hunter," Chief Creative Officer Daniel Cook said. "You're riding these dragon creatures .... You can hunt them down. You have a home base and the animals will come and terrorize your farm and your home, and they'll steal stuff from you and you can steal it back, track them down and tame them. And then you turn them into mounts of your own." The main attack in this dragon game is a lunge – movement is more akin to jumping monkeys than soaring, mythical beasts. You can hop quickly across rocks and glide in the air, positioning your mount for the best lunge. The creatures will be procedurally generated, and they come from Glitch artist Brent Kobayashi, who's also doing the art for Spry Fox's Road Not Taken. That one is due out, tentatively, this summer for PS4, Vita and Steam. This game isn't an MMO, but Spry Fox is working on a couple of those, Edery said, including one based on Steambirds, the studio's aerial combat game. The team has one engineer that keeps busy building these prototypes. Cook says they like things clean and simple, and a single engineer helps with that. For every 10 mediocre games, there's one hit that keeps the studio running – see Triple Town – Cook said. "2D Monster Hunter" might just do that trick. See below for a larger first look at Spry Fox's dragon-catcher game.
'Hyper Light Drifter' pitched as a blend of Zelda and Diablo
Alex Preston's Hyper Light Drifter is a beautifully pixelated 2D action RPG being made in collaboration with Samurai Gunn programmer Beau Blyth, with tunes by Fez composer Disasterpiece, aka Rich Vreeland. Hyper Light Drifter is set in a post-apocalyptic future in which players assume the role of a Drifter – a person who goes out and collects old technology and artifacts from the world-that-was. But in Hyper Light Drifter, the protagonist isn't an ordinary Drifter: He's suffering from an unknown illness and is on the hunt for a cure. The Kickstarter post describes gameplay as a hybrid between The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Diablo, with "lightning fast combat, more mobility, an array of tactical options, more numerous and intelligent enemies, and a larger world with a twisted past to do it all in." $27,000 will fund the game, while $35,000 will help expand the game world with two new areas and a New Game+ mode. $42,000 will net two more boss battles and improved cutscenes, and $64,000 will allow Preston to hire another animator and expand the game even more. $75,000 will provide a "fully realized soundtrack" by Disasterpiece and, if the Kickstarter campaign reaches $100,000, then co-op campaign and competitive modes will be instituted. Right now the plan is to bring it to PC in mid-2014, but Preston "would love to expand to other platforms."
Unity getting official 2D support, ad functionality, Unity Games label created
Good news for aspiring game developers, the Unity engine will officially support 2D development starting this fall with Unity 4.3. Of course, there are already lots of 2D games made with Unity (as the company's own website will attest), but the new update will add lots of tools specifically aimed at 2D development. Among those tools are a drag-and-drop sprite importing, a sprite animation editor and a dedicated 2D renderer. Also coming in the 4.3 update will be support for developer-controlled in-game advertisements. Developers will be able to create points within their games that will trigger an advertisement. The ad system will allow developers to enable, disable or change ads using a web interface, which sounds pretty handy for self-promotion. Finally, Unity's publishing arm, formerly known as Union, has been re-branded as Unity Games. The label will seek out promising Unity games, helping developers create and distribute the game, as well as offering QA support. The first two games to be published under the label will be Freeride SkiCross and Archangel (pictured). Interested developers can find more info on the Unity Games website.
Reus, 2D god game featuring four giants, blows through PC today
Reus, the 2D god game from Abbey Games, is available today, right now, for $10 (€10, £7) on Steam, GOG, Desura and Gamersgate. It's PC only for now, with Mac and Linux ports planned. Reus offers a twist on the standard god game narrative, asking players to find balance in the world by controlling nature with four giants. The humans have a strong will of their own, and the player is tasked with ensuring they can thrive, but not too much, lest they become corrupted and destroy the planet. Reus is on sale on Steam, GOG and Desura, for 10 percent off ($9). If you want to show Abbey Games your full monetary appreciation today, Gamersgate is the way to go.
Robotoki's platformer starring a narcoleptic child, The Adventures of Dash
Robotoki is keeping busy: It's working on a zombie survival romp called Human Element, a prequel to that game for the Ouya, and now has a Kickstarter for a cute 2D platformer, The Adventures of Dash. The Kickstarter has 30 days to raise $400,000. If it reaches its goal, Robotoki wants to launch the game in seven months, in November of this year.Led by former Infinity Ward man Robert Bowling, Robotoki's The Adventures of Dash is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer – for PC, Mac, Linux, Ouya, iOS, Android and consoles – starring Dash, a 9-year-old boy with narcolepsy.Dash falls asleep anywhere and for any reason, including at school, in his lunch, while on a walk and in all manner of slightly dangerous situations. When he dreams, the art style of the game changes along with the gameplay. The Adventures of Dash pulls art from a range of 2D artists and throws it all into one game under a semi-seamless plot device.Robotoki hopes to launch Dash on PC, Mac, Linux and Ouya in November, and will then work on building touchscreen controls for mobile. Profit from these initial sales will fund console development, though if the Kickstarter raises more than $400,000, the extra cash will be used to develop and ship console versions day-and-date with the first group.%Gallery-180410%
Fez going half-off on XBLA for one day only
Phil Fish's mysterious, beautiful puzzle platformer, Fez, will be available for half off on Xbox Live tomorrow, for one day only.That means it's down from the usual 800 Microsoft point price to 400 Microsoft points, or $5. At that price, you'd be crazy to pass up the game we said "burns with a brilliant, red-hot, yellow-tasseled flame."
Quest for Glory creators join with Brawsome to launch Kickstarter for Hero-U
Corey and Lori Cole are the creators of Quest for Glory, a highly regarded series of role-playing adventure games that first arrived in 1989 and then continued as a series of sequels through 1998. Now, the couple is planning another game called Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption, and they've taken to Kickstarter to try and raise $400,000 to make it.That's a tidy sum, but this is a substantial project: Not only are the Coles developing the title, but Australian game developer Brawsome is on board as well, having recently released its own puzzle/RPG game, MacGuffin's Curse. Hero-U is set to play like a tactical, top-down RPG, but it is also supposed to include the charm, puzzles, and story that the Coles and their games are known for.If you're interested in contributing, the team is offering most of the usual Kickstarter bonuses, from a simple digital copy of the game and soundtrack, all the way up to the chance to get a personal D&D adventure from the Coles, or to appear in or help out with Hero-U's design yourself. The team's got about $290K left to earn and 26 days to get there, but given the pedigree of the folks behind this one we'd guess their chances are better than most.
Alt-week 9.29.12: 3D pictures of the moon, 4D clocks and laser-controlled worms
Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days. Dimensions, they're like buses. You wait for ages, and then three come along at once. And then another one right after that. While that might be about where the analogy ends, this week sees us off to the moon, where we then leap from the third, right into the fourth. Once there, we'll learn how we could eventually be controlled by lasers, before getting up close and personal with a 300 million-year old bug. Sound like some sort of psychedelic dream? Better than that, this is alt-week.
