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'The Evil Within 2' is better because it spaces out the scares
The Evil Within 2 is weird, gross and scary, but that's okay. It balances all that with exploration and figuring out what the hell is going on. I can then get back to fleeing disgusting buzzsaw creatures -- or occasionally stabbing them in the chest -- at my leisure. The Evil Within was never about cheap jump scares, but the game was so consistently tense and bleak that many found it pretty hard to play through. The sequel, playable at Gamescom this year, looks to be a refinement of the original, making it altogether more playable, even if there's still usually something trying to kill you at every turn.
Tribeca’s TV Festival aims to be a curator for television’s ‘golden age’
A lot has changed since the Tribeca Film Festival debuted in 2002. Netflix and Amazon, for instance, hadn't even launched their video-streaming services -- and now they're both two of the biggest players in the TV and movies industries. The event, founded by Robert De Niro and producer Jane Rosenthal, welcomed 153,000 attendees to 530 screenings and celebrity-filled panels to its most recent event, in April. Now, inspired by its past successes, Tribeca is launching a new TV Festival that promises to highlight the best projects from the world of television.
FIFA envisions a future where players wear in-game fitness trackers
Like it or not, soccer is moving into the modern era. For the past few years FIFA, the sport's governing body, has been working with the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to bring experiments like goal line technology and Video Assistant Referee to the game. But IFAB, which is responsible for creating and approving the rules of soccer, doesn't intend to stop there. In 2015, the organization announced plans to develop a global standard for Electronic Performance Tracking Systems (EPTS), with the goal being to let players use wearable tech in official matches. A decision on when and how EPTS will be implemented is set to happen next March, IFAB Secretary Lukas Brud confirmed to Engadget in an interview.
Netflix’s ‘Castlevania’ showrunner Adi Shankar on nerddom and season two
It's easy to draw a line from producer Adi Shankar's scrappy Bootleg Universe -- his slew of short indie films about the Punisher, Power Rangers and other pop culture heroes uploaded on YouTube -- to his recent work as showrunner of Netflix's recently released animated Castlevania series. His approach taps into what made beloved characters resonate with fans and gives those old favorites a mature, modern spin.
The top Twitch clip involves a horror game and Jack Daniels
Tom Wheldon started streaming on Twitch as JurassicJunkieLive two months ago. He was an intrepid tinkerer and a veteran video creator who started making YouTube videos before it was the cool kids' multi-million-dollar industry. Wheldon regularly discussed video games, so Twitch felt like a natural evolution of his online presence -- his channel quickly earned a following of about 100 folks, some of them tuning in every Friday to watch Wheldon scream his way through a horror game. Last week, Wheldon booted up Outlast 2 for his regular "Frightday" stream, and he became Twitch legend.
Luc Besson on ‘Valerian’ and his return to bold, inventive sci-fi
With Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Luc Besson is once again delivering an elaborate sci-fi epic, his first since The Fifth Element. (Lucy, his last film, with Scarlett Johansson, was decidedly more small-scale.) Based on the French comic series Valerian and Laureline -- which also served as a major inspiration for Star Wars -- the film centers on a duo of space and time-traveling agents who are tasked with solving a galactic mystery. Valerian, which opens in theaters July 21, stars Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Rihanna (as a shapeshifting alien, no less) and Clive Owen. The film is also the biggest independent-film production ever, with a budget of $180 million. It's filled with the sumptuous visuals we've come to expect from Besson -- the only difference now is that filmmaking technology has finally caught up with his imagination.
Emojipedia founder talks the past, present and future of emoji
We've been a little surprised by the outpouring of enthusiasm for World Emoji Day so far: Apple released a sneak peeks of its new emoji designs, Google signaled the end of its blobs, and the Empire State Building will be lit up in yellow to mark the occasion. (No, we're not kidding.) Still, despite how hugely culturally relevant these characters have become, details like how new emoji go from idea to icon can sometimes feel shrouded in obscurity. To learn more about the process, we sat down for a wide-ranging conversation with Jeremy Burge, founder of Emojipedia.
How Valve inspired Neill Blomkamp to start his own movie studio
Neill Blomkamp has a question: "If you could break apart films and treat them a little bit more like software, what would that look like?" Whether it's blindly following Amazon Instant recommendations or waiting for a film to hit Netflix instead of buying it, video streaming has slowly ushered in a new cinematic landscape; changing the way we consume movies drastically. Yet, despite the impact of the internet on movie-watching, filmmakers' still haven't truly changed their creative process. Cult sci-fi director Blomkamp wants to do exactly that. After District 9, Elysium and Chappie, the director set up Oats Studio, which has just released three short films -- Firebase, Rakku and Zygote (collectively titled Volume 1). With YouTube and Steam as distribution platforms, Blomkamp's new endeavor is aiming for a more collaborative approach to crafting movies. While he's still toying with how best to monetize his creations, the short films are all free on YouTube and Steam. But that's just the start: Alongside each film, Oats is also selling "DLC" -- its 3D assets and raw sound files -- on Steam for $5. For Blomkamp, this video-game-inspired "free to watch" approach is all about collaboration. By putting the shorts online for free, Blomkamp and his studio can see which ideas people gravitate toward rather than pouring millions of dollars into an idea that might never recoup its costs. More importantly, though, the DLC gives young creators access to big-budget assets, allowing fans to recut Oats' shorts or even use complex CG models for movies of their own. All the shorts boast cinema-quality visual effects, and Zygote and Rakku feature performances from stars like Dakota Fanning and Sigourney Weaver. After watching Volume 1, I spoke with Neill Blomkamp to find out more about this ambitious project and how he sees the internet shaping his future movies.
The world of high fashion finally has its answer to Amazon
To give you an idea of the kind of customer LVMH is after, all you need to look at is Louis Vuitton's new $2,900 Android Wear smartwatch. The French company, which owns brands like Dior, Fendi, Givenchy and Marc Jacobs in addition to LV, is the epitome of luxury. And now, with 24 Sèvres, LVMH has what it hopes can become the main online destination for high-fashion shoppers. CEO Eric Goguey says the site is designed to be the web version of Le Bon Marché, an iconic retail space often described as the most selective department store in Paris.
The (re)making of 'Crash Bandicoot'
Facedown in the sand, a figure wakes up on a desert island. The tide has been dragging him up the shore. He looks over his shoulder, before disappearing into the jungle.
Insomniac's 'Spider-Man' gets what it means to be Peter Parker
When Sony revealed that Insomniac games was working on a PlayStation 4 exclusive Spider-Man game set in an original universe, the specter of another game hung over the announcement -- 2004's Spider-Man 2. This movie tie-in is widely regarded as the game that perfected web swinging, as well as the title that no subsequent Spider-Man game ever lived up to. Creative director Bryan Intihar is aware of the stigma, but he doesn't seem worried. He's confident his game will make players feel like Spider-Man. His goal is more complicated. He wants players to feel like Peter Parker.
The evolution of women in video games continues at E3 2017
Feminist Frequency founder Anita Sarkeesian tries to make it clear that her yearly, gender-focused analysis of the video games announced at E3 isn't founded in malice -- it's a mathematical reality. Even in 2017, video games overwhelmingly feature male protagonists rather than female leads. According to Feminist Frequency, 109 games debuted at E3 this year, and just eight of them (or 7 percent) star female characters, compared with 29 titles (26 percent) featuring male protagonists. Fifty-two percent of newly announced games utilize a system that lets players select specific characters or genders. On their own, these statistics aren't bad or good; they're simply facts. "We're not trying to be bummers," Sarkeesian said on the Engadget stage at E3. "But it's like, let's look at the actual numbers so we can actually improve for real."
IndieCade's 'resist' theme at E3 holds a mirror to society
IndieCade CEO Stephanie Barish operates at the heart of the independent-development community, running shows throughout the year that highlight some of the most innovative, thoughtful and beautiful games the industry has to offer. This year, IndieCade sponsored the #ResistJam, an international competition "about creating games that resist oppressive authoritarianism in all its forms." The #ResistJam took place in March, not long after President Donald Trump unexpectedly signed a contentious, and ultimately unenforceable, executive order banning travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations from entering the US. Protests sprang up around the nation, and the jam was meant to give game developers a unique outlet for activism, organizers said.
Snipers, tanks and turrets don't exist in 'Lawbreakers'
First-person, team-based shooters like Overwatch, Monday Night Combat and Team Fortress 2 all share a collection of common tropes. Players typically compete to move payloads or hold objectives, with teams built from a collection of classic character types: medic, tank, soldier and sniper. That's not how it works in Lawbreakers, the upcoming character-based team shooter from Boss Key. According to lead designer Dan Nanni, the genre's conventions made the game feel hamstrung and slow. "The first thing we wound up doing," he said, "was throw all the rules away. Just throw them all away."
Engadget at E3: Why Konami has high hopes for 'PES 2018'
Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 promises to be the franchise's best title in years, thanks to a combination of smoother gameplay and improved life-like graphics. Then there's the fact you'll be able to play My Club matches as Usain Bolt, the eight-time Olympic gold medalist. Sure, it's a pure marketing move, but that doesn't mean it won't be fun to have him play for your team. We had the game's global brand product and manager, Adam Bhatti, join us on our E3 stage to talk more about these features, as well as whether or not Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 will be getting a Nintendo Switch version. Spoiler alert: That's not a yes-or-no question.
The ambition of 'Beyond Good and Evil 2' might exceed the hype
We've waited a long time for the sequel to Beyond Good and Evil. And you know what? They actually went and did it. Arguably the biggest surprise of E3 2017 was a minute-long trailer teasing a game that barely resembles the 2003 original. But even the anticipated return of the cult hit might not match the vision that director Michel Ancel and his team have for Beyond Good and Evil 2. Ancel himself explains the return of the quirky game -- and we have a ton of concept artwork to keep the hype going. Ubisoft has big plans -- literally.
Microsoft will unify most 'Minecraft' platforms this summer
Minecraft is about to enter its final form. In August, the Better Together update will land and unify the game across nearly every platform, from iOS and Android to Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. This unification comes courtesy of the Bedrock Engine, which currently powers all mobile, Windows 10, Amazon Fire and VR versions of the game. Now, it won't matter which platform your friends use to play Minecraft -- every version will be the same, they'll share DLC and updates, and all players will be able to create new worlds together. Well, nearly all. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox 360 versions of Minecraft are not included in the initial "Better Together" update. "Beginning with Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, we'll be expanding that code base so that all -- the vast majority of our community is united," marketing lead Emily Orrson says.
For 'NBA Live 18,' it's about bringing 'the magic' back
Long since its groundbreaking launch in 1995, EA's flagship basketball game has had a troubled run this decade, but NBA Live 18 shows that it may be able to turn things around. After missing last year entirely (following a hiatus between the 2010 and 2014 editions), its return is based on both revamped gameplay and a new story mode titled "The One." Each element takes aim at some of the best features its competition, NBA 2K, has refined over the last few years, while trying to bring back what producer Mike Mahar called "the magic" of previous games.
'Star Wars Battlefront II' is a friendlier 'Battlefield'
It's hard to talk about EA's multiplayer Star Wars shooter without accidentally stumbling over your words and mentioning the company's other large-scale war series: Battlefield. It's only natural. Long before Disney gave Electronic Arts the exclusive rights to create Star Wars video games, the Battlefront series was taking notes from DICE's own shooter -- draping science fiction trappings over the WWII game's vehicle combat, large battlefields and even its name. When EA took over the franchise its own game inspired, however, the resulting game was accused of being gorgeous, but shallow. Fortunately, the company seems to have heard player complaints. According to Star Wars Battlefront II executive producer Matt Webster, the next game in the series could play like a more accessible, but still sufficiently deep, Battlefield title.
The passion behind the prison break in 'A Way Out'
There's one scene in A Way Out that operates as a continuous tracking shot, seamlessly following two convicts as they tear through the interior of a large hospital, leaping over gurneys and slinking through air vents with a cadre of police officers hot on their tails. It's the only moment the screen isn't bisected -- the rest of the game plays out completely in split-screen co-op, either local or online. This singular moment of unity doesn't exactly turn A Way Out into a traditional single-player game. The action flows between Leo and Vincent, the game's protagonists, putting one player in charge of the scene before passing control to the other, and back again. Both players see the same screen, but only one person directs it at a time, deciding whether Leo and Vincent make it out of the hospital alive. Even when A Way Out looks like a standard game, it isn't. "This is not a game where you level up or something," says director Josef Fares. "We need the players to be there all the time, talking with each other all the time and being in the moment, like, 'What the fuck is going on?'"
