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Amazon's NFL streams will feature an all-female commentary team
When Amazon starts streaming its latest round of Thursday Night Football on September 27th, you'll have a few options for commentary -- including one that breaks new ground in the broadcasting industry. The internet behemoth has announced that it will include an option for all-female audio commentary from veteran sports journalists Andrea Kremer (at left) and Hannah Storm. It's the first time two women commentators will cover an entire NFL game, Amazon said. While it's easy to be cynical about the move, it's definitely big news if you want a break from the usual play calling.
Watch a live Director's Commentary of 'Until Dawn' right now
Until Dawn is a spooky spectacle of classic horror themes and beautifully branching narrative paths -- and today, developers at Supermassive Games will spill a bunch of behind-the-scenes secrets, live on Twitch. Supermassive is participating in an Until Dawn Director's Commentary livestream at 3:30PM ET, on its own channel (embedded below) and hosted on the official PlayStation Twitch outlet. If you have questions about the characters, setting, mechanics or story of Until Dawn, this is where you might find your answers. Were we supposed to loathe Emily? Who was Josh modeled after? Will Sam be our BFF in real life (please)? For the answers, tune in. Who knows -- the devs may even talk about Rush of Blood, the Until Dawn spin-off for PlayStation VR.
The Facebook Messenger switch: annoying, but not evil
If you use the Facebook iOS app, you've probably noticed that the social network's private SMS-like Messenger functionality is migrating out of the "mother" application and into the standalone Facebook Messenger app (currently at version 9.1). Messenger's solo app has been around for a couple of years already, but Facebook is now reminding users more insistently that they need Messenger (or the mobile browser version of Facebook) if they want to keep using the IM functionality on their phones. This nudging-slash-feature shifting is understandably annoying for many users, but it's not, despite what many people on the internet would like you to believe, out-and-out evil. A combination of out-of-date intel and overall paranoia is getting folks worked up unnecessarily. What's more, the most scary "Facebook is eating my data" warnings don't apply to iOS users at all -- they're Android-specific, and are only as scary as they are because Google insists that apps "pre-declare" anything they might want to do. [One particular point of confusion is the assertion that Messenger may be listening to all your conversations, or trying to figure out what music is playing in the background while you use the app, all to better target you for advertising. The good news is, Messenger doesn't listen to your music. The less good news: the regular Facebook app may listen, for 15 seconds while you are writing a status update, in order to share the song you're enjoying with your FB buddies. The better news: the feature is entirely optional, and you can disable it easily. To sum up: "passive listening" has nothing to do with Messenger and is not a reason to hate or fear the app. If you want to turn off the microphone features in Messenger anyway, instructions are right here. –Ed.] Much of the anxiety/anger is focused on the app's terms and conditions, which (particularly on the Android side; less so on iOS) ask you to give Facebook access to basically everything on your phone. Here's the thing: if you already use Facebook, you've probably given the company access to all of that stuff already. Still, in the absence of context, the Android permissions do sound pretty Big Brotherish. Here's a sampling: Allows the app to call phone numbers without your intervention. This may result in unexpected charges or calls. Malicious apps may cost you money by making calls without your confirmation. Allows the app to send SMS messages. This may result in unexpected charges. Malicious apps may cost you money by sending messages without your confirmation. Allows the app to record audio with microphone. This permission allows the app to record audio at any time without your confirmation. Allows the app to take pictures and videos with the camera. This permission allows the app to use the camera at any time without your confirmation. That sounds pretty bad, especially that part about recording audio without asking first. What possible motive could they have for asking for that? Well, we'd ask Facebook, but they've already explained in the help page for Messenger. Here's why they include that permission, and why the Android version of the app is simply playing by Google's rules for declaring its capabilities. Why is the Messenger app requesting permission to access features on my Android phone or tablet? If you install the Messenger app, you should see a screen letting you know that the app is asking for your permission to access information or use features from your Android phone or tablet. Almost all apps need certain permissions to run on Android, and we use these permissions to run features in the app. Keep in mind that Android controls the way the permissions are named, and the way they're named doesn't necessarily reflect the way the Messenger app and other apps use them. Below, you'll find a list of some of the permissions we request for the app, as well as an example of how we use each one. Note that this list doesn't include all of the Android permissions we request or all of our uses of those permissions. If you've already installed the Messenger app, you can find a list of the permissions the app uses in your phone or tablet's Applications Manager, or by visiting the Play Store and clicking View Details under Permissions. Android permission (what you'll see on your Android phone or tablet) and examples of what we use this permission for: Take pictures and videos: This permission allows you to take photos and videos within the Messenger app to easily send to your friends and other contacts Record audio: This permission allows you to send voice messages, make free voice calls, and send videos within Messenger Directly call phone numbers: This permission allows you to call a Messenger contact by tapping on the person's phone number, found in a menu within your message thread with the person Receive text messages (SMS): If you add a phone number to your Messenger account, this allows you to confirm your phone number by finding the confirmation code that we send via text message Read your contacts: This permission allows you to add your phone contacts as Messenger contacts if you choose to do so. You can always stop syncing your phone contacts by going to your Messenger settings Facebook is a company that is facing increasing public scrutiny, in no small part because it has conducted thought experiments on users. As society starts to finally think about the implications of handing over all of our personal information to the social media companies we use day to day, it's good that we're asking these questions. The important thing is to look to verifiable sources explaining what's going on. Yes, Facebook asks for access to your personal information with their new app. However, given the granular permission settings on iOS, you can easily prevent Facebook Messenger from accessing your address book, using your microphone, or checking your location. If you don't need a feature, and turning it off would be better for your own sense of security, then don't enable it. Dislike Facebook for shoehorning users into a new app they may not want, but don't buy into the myth that this is a new expansion of FB's information grabbing. They've been gobbling your private information this whole time. That's one of the tradeoffs of using the service. For more information on what Facebook's apps do and don't do with your personal information, check out this handy summary at Snopes, this AndroidCentral rundown and this cogent writeup at the Wall Street Journal's tech blog. Post updated 8/10 10 am to clarify Android v. iOS permission warnings.
Netflix adds director's commentary option to House of Cards season one
You'll have to wait until Valentine's Day to get the next dose of Netflix's popular series House of Cards, but it's doling out some love early. Starting today, fans can revisit season one with optional director's commentary tracks from all six directors: David Fincher, James Foley, Joel Schumacher, Charles McDougall, Carl Franklin and Allen Coulter. As shown above, viewers get the additional commentary option under the alternate audio/subtitles menu and it should be available on all devices. Usually these kinds of extras are tied to physical media, but Netflix announced recently it would give them a test run starting with its original content like this show and Orange is the New Black. If you appreciate the extra insight give them a spin, we know the streaming company makes many of its decisions based on analytics so vote with your play button -- if you're waiting for 4K we should hear more about that very soon.
Conan O'Brien takes over Arena casting at BlizzCon
We're all used to some serious names taking the commentator's seat for the Arena Global Invitational at BlizzCon, but this year a first-round series between Skill-Capped and Flash Wolves got a special treat from the world's best gamer, Conan O'Brien. Conan took his Clueless Games segment to BlizzCon and joined Adam "Hoodrych" Brown and Jared "VHell" Coulston to lend some gravitas and real gaming knowledge to the commentary. The full 25-minute version you see above will no doubt be condensed down into something far shorter for the show itself, as on watching it I certainly found the whole thing rather stilted and awkward, but there are some funny moments tucked away in there which will no doubt make for great TV. It's also possible that I'm just not used to Conan's comedy style. But I certainly cracked a smile at certain points, especially where he was grabbing the more knowledgeable casters' tidbits on, for example, gateway usage, and accidentally saying just the right thing! Oh and paladin healers? Conan says to make sure you use your potions.
Gone Home adds Commentary Mode, now 50% off on Steam
The Fullbright Company's first-person interactive story Gone Home has updated with a new Commentary Mode, giving players an excuse to make a return trip through the Greenbriar family's labyrinthine dwelling. Gone Home's free Commentary Mode adds more than 90 minutes of audio content to the game, and features voiceovers from developers Steve Gaynor, Johnnemann Nordhagen, Karla Zimonja, and Kate Craig. Additional commentary is provided by Sarah Grayson (the voice of Sam), composer Chris Remo, and Sleater-Kinney singer Corin Tucker, whose former band Heavens to Betsy is featured throughout the story. The mode itself works similarly to Portal's commentary, and can be accessed via a series of clickable icons located throughout the Greenbriar's house. Explore thoroughly enough and you may shed some new light on the much-discussed Christmas Duck sidequest, among other juicy secrets. For the next 48 hours, Gone Home is available for 50 percent off of its regular price on Steam and via its website.
Gone Home developer preparing free commentary track
The Fullbright Company is working on a free in-game commentary track for its inaugural outing, Gone Home. "We're working on a commentary mode right now, and we're going to release that as free DLC," Fullbright's Steve Gaynor told RPS. "If you have it on Steam, you'll just get it. We don't have a date for it yet, but it'll be relatively soon. We're aiming for the short-term, and we've already recorded most of it." Commentary will involve "background stuff," some easter eggs and Corin Tucker, riot grrrl musician, speaking a bit about her involvement with the game. In our review of Gone Home, we lauded the game's restrained environmental storytelling and well-voiced letters. Gone Home launched in August and, over the course of its first month, has sold 50,000 copies. The game is currently available on Steam for $20, for the PC, Mac and Linux.
Developers react to WWDC ticketing issues
This year's Apple Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) sold out in a matter of minutes, leading Apple to announce the convention would be streamed online for developers who couldn't get tickets. The demand has grown exponentially, while the size of the conference has not. With such intense demand, and tickets in short supply, some developers are taking to their blogs to suggest ways the conference can improve in the future. Dan Wood of Karelia Software thinks that since video of the talks will be available online, the only real pain is the loss of labs and social opportunities to meet with other developers. As time has passed the event as outgrown the format. Maybe the problem is that when Apple started WWDC, it made sense to have the entire world invited. These days, there are too many Mac and iOS developers in the world. Seeing that the talks are going to be made available online, it's really the labs and the socializing that we will all be missing. But do all those need to be concentrated in a single week, in a single place? What if Apple made the sessions be online only, as Daniel suggestions, and come up with a series of regional conferences/labs around the world, based on developer population? TUAW's own Erica Sadun suggested the conference switch to a lottery system for ticketing to make ticket distribution more fair and efficient. Sure, the results are still random, but distributing purchase requests over a week or month surely would avoid the technology-based limits created by so much demand at a single moment (not to mention sleepless nights caused by time zone differentials). Red Sweater Software founder and co-host of the Core Intuition podcast Daniel Jalkut wrote a similar piece, only his called for the outright end of WWDC due to its growth. At this point, the number of developers has grown to the point that entry itself is a barrier. The conference has room for at most 5,000 developers. According to Apple's job stimulus statistics, there are 275,000 or more registered iOS developers alone. Let's assume for the sake of argument that Mac developers add only 25,000, bringing the total to 300,000. Every year, 5,000 attendees are selected from the qualified pool, meaning just 1 out of 60, or 1.5 percent of potential attendees will have the chance to attend. Jalkut goes on to say that neither the goals of developers or Apple itself are met with the current standard. A majority of developers are left out of labs and training and Apple misses out on educating potentially profitable developers. Showing the talks online is a good start he says, but focusing on improving existing Developer Technical Support could improve developer product and provide information year round. Finally, Oliver Drobnik of Cocoanetics sees an opportunity for Apple to encourage the growth of students, particularly women, in the field by activating a scholarship for young developers, including help with living expenses during the conference without the barriers of the current scholarship. Under the current rules, only someone who is in a program seeking a Bachelor's of Science is eligible for the scholarship. As more and more young developers start learning programming in their childhood, such restrictions create arbitrary walls that keep out students who are wonderful programmers, but lack the resources to afford college. While the controversy surrounding this year's WWDC ticketing, and future events as well, won't be solved with blog posts, it is interesting to see the development community reach out and search for answers to their common problems. It remains to be seen how, or if, Apple will respond to these concerns.
"Crash Bandicoot" creator comments on Cataclysm's problems and the evolution of WoW
I didn't see this until recently, but I'm really glad I did. Andy Gavin, the co-creator of Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter, ran a series between the end of November and mid-January examining WoW, its four expansions, and how each of them succeeded or failed through both personal and professional eyes. His particular focus is the endgame in each and how it worked to attract and retain players -- or, in some cases, didn't. While there's certainly been no shortage of player commentary on how WoW's developed, Gavin's experience as a game developer who's not involved with Blizzard is a pretty unique perspective. I found his article on Cataclysm to be particularly adept at putting into words a lot of things I felt but had difficulty articulating. Most of the expansion's developmental time had to go into a revamped leveling process that few people saw unless they wanted to level a new alt. The content at 85 that greeted more casual players got bottlenecked in a series of difficult heroics that frustrated players dropped constantly. Personally, I still consider Cataclysm to have been a necessary expansion -- it did a lot of stuff that Blizzard had to do for the game even if it wasn't as eye-catching as what BC and Wrath did -- but I think Gavin's assessment is accurate and measured. (And many of Blizzard's own observations aren't all that different.) Funnily enough, with lots of people leveling new monks in Mists of Pandaria, more people might be seeing Cataclysm content now than they did during the expansion that was actually dedicated to it. I've linked Gavin's full series here. While it's long, it's an incredibly interesting and detailed read: WoW's endgame: Vanilla WoW's endgame: The Burning Crusade WoW's endgame: Wrath of the Lich King WoW's endgame: Cataclysm WoW at present: Mists of Pandaria
Halo 4 gets tough on sexist players
343 Industries wants to make it clear: It will brook no further discrimination of any kind in Halo 4. Executive producer Kiki Wolfkill and studio head Bonnie Ross say that sexist discrimination of any kind will be met with a lifetime ban from both the game and the Xbox Live network.Ross says that "most people look at a franchise like Halo, and automatically assume it's run by a guy," but this particular franchise is run by a few ladies, and they're not having any discriminatory nonsense in their latest sequel.We agree with the sentiment, and hope that the harsh penalties make sure that the losers who make sexist and other offensive comments get shown the door for good. The ideal should be to make sure all forms of this offensive discrimination are squashed as far and wide as possible, no matter who's running the show.
iPad mini's rumored launch may be aimed at Microsoft Surface
This theory is speculative, but let's give CNN's Don Sears some consideration anyway. He suggests that Apple's suspected iPad mini event has been moved from the rumored October 10 to 17 date range to the current expectation of the October 23. Why, he asks? Because the Microsoft Surface is due to arrive right around then, he answers. Microsoft announced its Surface tablet unit quite a while ago, and rumors suggest that the device will greet the public this month. Sears suggests that Apple re-scheduled its own event to more closely coincide with Microsoft's launch plans. While much of this is based on suspicions and rumor (Apple has not officially announced an event), Sears' logic rings true. After all, Apple has had no problem with stealing thunder. It has announced its own products specifically around big industry conferences like CES and GDC many times before, and it would be very Apple-like to take Microsoft's release on directly, stealing much of the anticipated Surface buzz. We'll have to see how this all plays out when these announcements finally do happen later on this month.
The Summoner's Guidebook: LoL's World Championship fiasco alienates fans
I'm a big fan of e-sports, but League of Legends is currently one of the worst e-sports to garner a major scene. This isn't because the game is bad, though some aspects of LoL's Classic gameplay are bad for e-sports. It is universally because most LoL tournaments are poorly run and organized. A badly run tournament can ruin everything, regardless of how good (or bad) the game being played is. I would expect more from Riot Games, which creates and publishes League of Legends and which has a vested interest in fostering competition for the game. However, the studio seems to have learned absolutely nothing from very successful e-sports tournaments such as the Evolution Fighting Championships, the GOMTV Star League, and OGN's The Champions. All of these tournaments have better seeding structure and better venues, which contribute to a better overall event. Why can't Riot learn from these very successful events?
Check out 25 minutes of Marvels Heroes in action
It's been a great day for preview videos and tours, and we've got another fascinating one for you if you have 25 minutes to spare. Gamespot posted a playthrough video of Marvel Heroes, complete with developer commentary, and it's a doozy. The video portion follows Deadpool through an instance called The Raft -- a giant ocean prison tower. While the combat isn't too sophisticated, it's cool to see scripted events and impressive entrances made by enemies. Later on, the devs show off a public zone where Iron Man blasts through hordes of enemies while encountering Daredevil, Storm, Wolverine, the Thing, the Hulk, and the Scarlet Witch. If you're looking for a superhero-slant on Diablo-style gameplay, then give this video a watch and see if it might be right for you.
Alt-week 10.6.12: supercomputers on the moon, hear the Earth sing and the future of sports commentary
Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days. Normally we try to encourage you to join us around the warm alt-week campfire by teasing you about what diverse and exotic internet nuggets we have for you inside. Sadly, this week that's not the case. There's nothing for you here we're afraid. Not unless you like totally mind-blowing space videos, singing planets and AI / sports commentary-flavored cocktails, that is. Oh, you do? Well what do you know! Come on in... this is alt-week.
Red 5 putting 'e-sports toolkit' in Firefall to encourage shoutcasting, e-sports interest
Red 5 Studios has revealed what it's calling the "e-sports toolkit" for its upcoming free-to-play shooter Firefall, with two new modes for broadcasters and commentators to keep an eye on the action. There will be a standard observer mode, with the ability to watch a match from the top down or from a certain player's perspective, open to anyone that wants to use it. And then specially-approved broadcasters will get more options, like the ability to fly around the map, or watch different cameras from the game at the same time. In an interview with PC Gamer, Red 5's "e-sports maven" (and former Fragdoll) Morgan Romine talks about how the developer is doing everything it can to make e-sports a priority, including tweaking classes and even the game's core attributes like movement speed. The goal, says Romine, is "to have an FPS that has the long term viability of a Counter-Strike," so Red 5 is really aiming to make observing and shoutcasting its matches accessible, and is planning e-sports events later on this year at GamesCom, PAX, and other big gamer gatherings. Of course, just having access to more cameras won't immediately make you the next Phreak or Day[9]. But better tools are always more helpful, and Red 5 hopes that by making these tools available, more players will get engaged with its upcoming title.
Touring the Louvre with a 3DS
The Nintendo 3DS debuted in its latest occupation last week, as tour guide at the biggest and best museum in the world, Paris' legendary Musée du Louvre. I just happened to be in the neighborhood this week while on a month-long trek across Europe, so I paid my 5 € along with the 10 € museum admission for the audio guide, and was handed a Korean Air-branded black 3DS and a pair of headphones on the way to go see some of the world's finest art. The 3DS isn't the only portable device in use as a museum tour guide. While visiting the Musée d'Orsay last week, I was handed an iPod touch in a special security case, and walked around among the works of French impressionists while using Apple's device to hear insights in English. And I've used quite a few other audio guides on this trip – in London, Westminster Abbey and the Royal Observatory both used custom-made audio guide systems, with a keypad and a play button to choose certain audio tracks for various sights on the tour. But the 3DS was definitely the only gaming-specific device I've seen in use so far. And because of all of the various technologies included, specifically the wireless features, it actually did a great job. %Gallery-153608%
On "mystery meat" gestures and iPhoto's learning curve
Just shy of a month after its release, Lukas Mathis provides well-reasoned criticism regarding the learning curve for iPhoto for iOS. It's new territory for Apple, as he points out, but it might be pushing the boundaries a little too hard. As much as I like the new iPhoto myself, Mathis brings up some good points regarding some of the gestures. I disagree with him on the help provided in the app. I think this is probably Apple's best help menu, especially on an iOS app. It's dynamic and changes with the tool you're using and helps you to utilize iPhoto better. Even though the tools change, I can undo anything I've done by clicking on the bottom right spoke button. What Apple does, I notice, is that it helps you along the way and then makes you take a leap of logic regarding the next step. The example that Mathis provides is the magnifying loupe. Holding down two fingers gets you the loupe, as the help menu suggests. But it doesn't tell you to twist on the black rim to increase the magnification. Does Apple need to tell you that? Probably. Or maybe the developers were guessing that you're most likely going to twist your fingers on your own and figure it out anyhow. And Mathis is correct in that the buttons in iPhoto on the iPhone are just way too small. I found that on the iPhone, I've gone back to my tried-and-true Camera+ for photo editing there. What do you think? With iPhoto for iOS having been out for a few weeks, what are your thoughts now? Let us know in the comments. [Via Daring Fireball]
The Anvil of Crom: A four-month F2P report card
Greetings barbaric faithful, and welcome to another installment of the Anvil of Crom. In between bouts of getting frustrated with the Isle of the Iron Statues dungeon this week (I know, I know, it's sooooo easy, and how bad can I be if I have trouble with it?!), I've been giving a fair amount of thought to Age of Conan's free-to-play experiment. It's been nearly four months since the devs rolled out the freemium Unchained patch, and that's ample time for me to have formed a few opinions (and to have revised a few others). Join me after the cut for some discussion on what works, what doesn't, and what I hope to see going forward.
This Week in MMO: Do you like pandas edition
Gamebreaker.TV has put the finishing touches on episode 67 of This Week in MMO, and you get two guesses as to the primary topic. OK, it's not all about pandas, panda-induced fanboi raging, and much-publicized expansion packs. Host Gary Gannon brings together ZAM's Mike B and Beckett Massive Online Gamer's Jason Winter for a lengthy jaunt through the week's MMO news, and the trio has a lot of ground to cover besides Mists of Pandaria. Final Fantasy XIV's return to the realm of the subscription fee generates some discussion, as does CCP's downsizing spree. Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium's far-future release date gets a mention, and did Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online forums get hacked? Head to Gamebreaker to see what the guys think.
Double Fine releases Psychonauts app
The great game developer Double Fine has released an app for the App Store, and it's related to their very popular game Psychonauts (which recently arrived on the Mac App Store itself), but it's not, unfortunately, a port of the game. The Psychonauts Vault Viewer is instead sort of an ancillary add-on to the title, a compendium of all of the game's "memory vault" animations, along with new commentary from the game's creators Scott Campbell and Tim Schafer. It's interesting but if you've never played Psychonauts, you probably won't find a lot of enjoyment in the app itself. If you love the game, the app is like an extras DVD, with lots of game content and some other features. Vault Viewer is a free universal app, available now on the App Store. We've seen quite a few game companies use Apple's platform in this way, creating ancillary apps to their main games, and making use of the mobile platforms as a sort of a "second screen" for players either while they're playing or for a game on another platform. I wouldn't be surprised to eventually see a full iOS game from Double Fine, but for now, this is what we've got.
