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The Daily Roundup for 06.06.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Playstation 3D Display hits shelves November 13, Sony answers your burning questions
We'd imagine come November 13th, the above will be the scene inside many a PS3 owner's house. That's when Sony's hot little 24-inch PlayStation 3D display will officially be available in the US, Canada, Europe and parts of Asia. Sony took to its US PlayStation Blog today with the news, along with a lengthy FAQ to keep your GAS at bay in the meantime. If you'll recall, the 240Hz 1080p display packs a single set of component inputs, two HDMI 1.4 ports, stereo RCA outputs, a headphone jack, an integrated subwoofer, and of course, 3D-capability with supported titles. For five hundred bucks you'll get the PS 3D Display, one pair of USB-rechargeable 3D Glasses ($70 for each additional pair), a copy of Motorstorm: Apocalypse and even an HDMI cable. Notably, its fancy (and exclusive) SimulView feature will let two sets of 3D shades grab either the left or right side feed in supported 3D games for a private 2D view. Disappointingly, this puppy isn't wall-mountable, but hey, that 24-inch panel surely makes it ideal for a desktop setup, no? Full details at the links below, along with a refresher shot of those 3D specs just past the break.
No one car should have all that power (in Forza Motorsport 4)
It's the 21st century, folks. And whether or not you're "doing something mean to it" like our main man Kanye, you may want to take a peek at a new trailer featuring a variety of powerful vehicles.
SWTOR writer talks economy, endgame, and polish
We told you yesterday about your chance to get your hands dirty with a Star Wars The Old Republic flashpoint demo later this month. Today we've heard tell of a new video interview with TOR lead writer Daniel Erickson that's worth a viewing. Game Reactor has just released a 15-minute sit-down with Erickson from this year's E3, and the discussion ranges from story, to endgame, to the possibility of an open beta in the near future. "It's our launch year," Erickson says, "so I finally get to quit saying -- for the most part -- I can't talk about that." Head to Game Reactor to see what Erickson can talk about, including blurbs on the player economy, raiding, and polish, and don't forget to let us know what you think in the comments. [Thanks to Petter for the tip!]
Hyperspace Beacon: Expecting a living world
The other day I was talking to some friends about Star Wars: The Old Republic, of course. As of late, it seems to be the only thing I'm talking about. My friend isn't a guy who follows the game that closely, but he is an MMO player and has certain expectations for the game. Specifically, we talked about Crew Skills and space combat. He is an EVE player. EVE Online has one of the most in-depth crafting systems in any MMO to date, not to mention the game is completely set in space, right? On the other side of the fence, I was talking to some roleplayers in Star Wars Galaxies, who also don't follow the game as closely as I do. These MMOers are expecting SWTOR to be filled with the best roleplay tools available in the gaming industry. It's BioWare; after all, that team created Never Winter Nights, the most customizable RPG ever. (Of course, this doesn't take into effect that latest games to come from the developer were pretty linear and not very sandboxy.) As arm chair developers, we sometimes believe that implementing ideas in an MMO is a lot easier than reality. On the official forums last week, a player made this statement: "I, and 14 other guildmates, really want to plan on rolling on an rp-pvp server. It's such a trivial game feature to confirm for us, I don't understand why they wouldn't just mention it and be done with it." After saying that he would look into it, Community Manager Stephen Reid made the statement that "A good rule of thumb with MMO development is to never assume something is trivial." What are some other "trivial" expectations players are placing on this game? Which ones can BioWare deliver on? Which ones aren't as trivial as suggested? Why can't Star Wars: The Old Republic give us everything we want? In this week's column, let's talk about setting.
DUST 514 may go true F2P in the future
While we've known that DUST 514 won't be as free as originally thought, there's still hope for a true free-to-play version to come. CCP's Hilmar Veigar Pétursson told GamesIndustry.biz that while PlayStation 3 owners will have to contend with a "cover charge" -- estimated to be between $10 and $20 -- before accessing the game for the first time, the company may drop it entirely in time. This fee is meant to help with the initial start-up costs for DUST 514, and will be refunded to players in the form of in-game currency that can be spent on unspecified in-game microtransactions. Pétursson isn't ruling out the possibility that the game might go completely free-to-play in the future, however: "You're really getting the game for free but you have to pre-buy credits in the beginning. We might go fully free-to-play down the line, but in the beginning we have a cover charge just to manage the initial launch of it. We have always been a big believer in growing up a social network behind the game in a slow and predictable way. Because we have seen that if you don't do that you can end up with a very unstructured experience, where there's no cohesion to the community. By growing it at the beginning we help to make a healthy environment initially." We first reported on this cover charge during last month's E3. Pétursson says that CCP will see how the cover charge plays out during the game's testing period. The company is just now recovering from a hotbed of controversy involving EVE Online's approach to in-game item sales.
Turtle Beach's Xbox 360 Bluetooth Chat Adapter hands-on (or: One of the best things I saw at E3)
Over five years ago, I wrote a post on this very website about one enterprising Xbox 360 owner who velcroed a Jabra A210 Bluetooth adapter to the back of his controller, thereby freeing him from the tyranny of a wired headset. Back then, in the early days of the Xbox 360, some months before Microsoft introduced its own (terrible) wireless headset and before the PS3 was released with built-in Bluetooth headset support, this hack seemed all but guaranteed to make it mainstream. Of course, it hasn't. Now, over five years later, when the people at Turtle Beach tell me they have something they're pretty sure I'm going to like, I make my way to their E3 booth in the very last hours of the last day of the show and they hand over one of eight prototype Xbox 360 Bluetooth Chat Adapters. Included as part of its new XP500 headset – an Xbox-ification of last year's excellent PS3-flavored PX5s – this Chat Adapter aims to keep the XP500s totally wireless. If you wanted to use the PX5's microphone with an Xbox 360, it meant tethering it to a controller with a cable. If you wanted to go completely wireless, it meant picking up one of Microsoft's notoriously shoddy wireless headsets, which use a proprietary radio connection, similar to the console's controllers, to connect to the Xbox.%Gallery-127865%
BioShock Infinite E3 demo video coming July 7, first two minutes right here
You've surely already read about what we saw during the E3 demo of BioShock Infinite, from the sky-lines to Elizabeth's tearing ability and all of the other quirks of the floating city of Columbia. But perhaps that's not enough for you. Perhaps you want to pick over the experience yourself, looking for succulent secrets and tasty hints that we game press types may have somehow missed. In that case, you're in luck: Ken Levine says the entire 15-minute demo will be shown on Spike TV on July 7. Even before that, you can watch the full first two minutes of the award-winning demo above. Keep an eye out for our favorite part: "golden" American presidential statues that Booker dismisses with a certain monarchical reference. History! Metaphor! Meaning! No wonder this game's so impressive.
BioShock Infinite sweeps Best of E3 Game Critics Awards, PlayStation Vita wins Best Hardware
There was little confusion amongst this year's E3 judges as to which game was most deserving: Super Stick Man Golf. Unfortunately it wasn't eligible for nomination, already being out and all, so the judges (this writer included) had to settle on another game. Luckily, Ken Levine and his crew at Irrational Games brought the scrumtrulescent BioShock Infinite which, when the votes were all tallied up, managed to win an admittedly finite number of awards. While we're sure the team is disappointed, we'd like to remind them that Infinite won every award it was nominated for, including Best of Show. Other notable winners include The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which bagged both Best Role-Playing Game and Best Console Game; Battlefield 3, which took home Best Action Game and Best Online Multiplayer; and Sound Shapes which scored Best Handheld Game and Best Social/Casual Game. We've assembled a list of all the nominees with the winners in bold just past the break. If you want some more stats (Xbox 360 was the lead platform with 14 wins) check out the Fast Facts link below!
Leapers and gliders swoop into EverQuest II
Slipping in under the cloud cover -- or soaring above it -- of a busy day for SOE is the news that leapers and gliders have landed in EverQuest II. These are special mounts for lower-level characters that allow them to get a taste of flight without the full thing, by giving them either the ability to "super-jump" or glide for a good distance. We first heard about these mounts at E3, where David Georgeson revealed how players as young as level 30 could start earning their wings (so to speak). As part of this update, ground mounts have had their speeds significantly increased, going from 65% to as high as 130%. Ground mounts are still faster than leapers and gliders on land, and players will have to stick to the same category of mount for alternate appearances (no flying rhinos, alas). EverQuest II has the details about where to get your spiffy new mounts, and don't miss our own thoughts about how these jumpers and soarers will change the landscape of the game!
The Road to Mordor: Class graduation
Amid all of the hubbabaloo of E3, Rise of Isengard reveals, and pre-order madness, something equally as significant has been taking place on the Lord of the Rings Online scene: proposed class changes. Turbine's been fairly good giving each of the classes a pass over this last year, but it looks as though something even more significant is in the offering when the expansion hits this fall. As we all know, the level cap is going up to 75, virtues will increase to a new cap of 12, and stats will be expanded in several ways. But there's even more on top of that: Orion and Zombie Columbus have been posting a steady stream of proposed class changes on the forums. These aren't all tiny tuning measures, either. In many cases, weak elements of classes and class builds will be radically revamped, and how you play these classes will change forever. As with any prospect of change, these proposed notes are both exciting and scary to behold. I felt it was high past time we at least chew on the reveals thus far and see how our classes will be graduating to the next level when Isengard arrives. Of course, these are all proposed and highly subject to change between now and whenever they're implemented. As Orion said, "Blogs are coming out before the major changes so that we can get your feedback early, often and when we are still agile enough to respond to the valid reasoning behind concerns or true issues that are found." Read with a grain of salt (if you like, perch the salt on your shoulder so it can view the screen better).
The MMO Report: What's with the creepy guy edition
In this edition of the MMO Report, Casey Schreiner's epic beard is upstaged by the creepy guy kissing his desk. The desk is gorgeous, but I don't think the make-out session was consensual. No means no, creepy guy. As for MMO news, Casey is back from E3, and a bunch of games go free-to-play. There has to be a connection between those two events. Also, Casey cannot help but correlate the patch in his favorite bum-hugging jeans with the patches in RIFT and World of Warcraft. Understandably so, they both keep water rifts at bay, and at the same time, quench fiery lands. Lastly, the MMO Report shows us that the pen is mightier than even the laser sword, as Casey introduces us to last Friday's Star Wars: The Old Republic dev blog and displays the latest fan-created memes. Catch the full MMO Report after the break, and maybe you can tell us why that guy felt the need to profess his love for furniture at that moment.
TERA E3 recap video explains political system
E3 2011 is a distant memory, but En Masse is still getting a bit of mileage out of the event thanks to a newly released TERA video compilation. The trailer shows off portions of the closed-doors media presentation from this month's trade show, and the footage is heavy on action combat and lush sequences featuring the game's gorgeous visuals. The clip also devotes a good portion of its running time to the recently announced political system, and producers Chris Hager and Stefan Ramirez fire off some pretty tantalizing soundbytes relating to player interaction and the possibility of affecting the game world. "That means getting votes, buying votes, smearing your opponent, taking out your competition, raising taxes, making tons of cash money, controlling your province, putting players in prison, running your own events, managing your own towns, and just doing whatever you want," Ramirez says. Staying in power to continue doing whatever you want is the trick, of course, and the video spends a good amount of time detailing ways to maintain control over your province. While it all sounds pretty spectacular, it also raises plenty of questions (like, how is all of that going to matter in an MMO that lacks serious consequences in terms of a death penalty or gear/stat loss?). Whatever the answers, we can't wait to learn more. Check out the full video after the cut.
Enter at Your Own Rift: Talking 1.3 with Hal Hanlin
Today we're on the verge of RIFT's third major update's going live. It's a doozy of a patch, too, with a little something for everyone: a raid for endgame players, guild banks for... well, guilds, character transfers for the antsy, and RIFT's second world event for one and all. With Patch 1.3, Trion Worlds puts its money where its mouth is by continuing with its streak of sizable, regular updates. It's a critical patch for some, as it seeks to answer the growing call for more endgame content while an increasing number of players hit 50. Fans of RIFT will most likely welcome the spread of the patch, but detractors will undoubtedly criticize why X was done instead of Y (and don't even get into Z; that letter is nothing but trouble). And above the noise, Trion sails on with apparent confidence and dedication. Even though we got to speak with Trion at E3, I got the opportunity for another pre-1.3 interview with Design Producer Hal Hanlin (which, by the way, is a superhero fake identity if I ever heard one). In this no-holds-barred discussion, we covered the selling points of 1.3, the accusation that RIFT is "dying," and the philosophy behind Trion's rapid stream of content.
EEDAR picks its most promising retail performers from E3 2011
Using a complex mish-mash of chicken bones, crystal spheres and traffic reports from IGN and GameTrailers, game industry analysis firm EEDAR has picked which games from the E3 show floor it expects to be the biggest sellers this year. Their choices probably won't shock and surprise you: Mass Effect 3 took top honors, followed by Battlefield 3, Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3 and Assassin's Creed: Revelations. Let this be a lesson to all the video game publishers out there: If you want your games to sell like hotcakes this holiday season, you best slap a three on the title. Check out EEDAR's full report (PDF) for the rest of E3's expected mega-successes.
Now you too can watch the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD E3 demo
Anxious to get your first glimpse at Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD? Well, here's your chance -- just try not to be too harsh on the person Konami has playing the game. We're not sure this individual gets the whole "stealth" thing.
Ninja Gaiden 3 preview: The evolution of mammals
When I asked Ninja Gaiden 3 lead Fumihiko Yasuda how the protagonist was able to glide through the air with nothing more than a black, skin-tight suit, I committed the sin of dragging logic into a discussion that was utterly incompatible with it. Ryu Hayabusa can fly because he's a ninja, and that's an axiom you'll just have to accept. The legitimate mystery is why an army of hapless (and soon-to-be-headless) soldiers would stomp all the way through the brutally extracted entrails of their comrades, and still insist on fighting an enraged man who literally just flew in. The gushing violence signals a welcome change from Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2's purple energy nonsense and comes across as silly and satisfying, rather than OH GROSS. Hayabusa's sword never seems to clip through enemy bodies so much as it slides and scrapes through them.%Gallery-125744%
War of the Worlds screens class up the joint
We were pretty eager to take a look at War of the Worlds, this fall's XBLA and PSN release from Paramount based on H.G. Wells' classic novel. For starters, we love Other Ocean's DSiWare action platformer Dark Void Zero, but there's also our affection for rotoscoping and Patrick Stewart narration to consider. What we ended up seeing at E3 was frankly a little underwhelming. The presentation, moody and bleak, was top-flight but it seemed shallow from a gameplay perspective. The thrust of the 2D game is almost exclusively evasion, with the hero -- a British survivor of the Martian attack -- running from spotlights and lasers, ducking into ravines and tunnels to avoid detection. We saw this basic beat repeated some four or five times in a 20-minute demo, which left the game feeling droningly one-note. Other Ocean hinted that the hero we saw would eventually find a way to "turn the tables" on the Martians, so we're hopeful that'll help flesh things out a bit. What there's no debate about is the sartorial acumen of the game's protagonist. A turtleneck and a blazer? As if Duke Nukem needed yet another reason to be embarrassed, now the poor guy has to be self-conscious about his tank top. %Gallery-126292%
Yoshinori Ono on the 'violent' and 'friendly' rivalries in Street Fighter X Tekken
Capcom was showing a playable build of its latest, and weirdest, crossover fighter, Street Fighter X Tekken at E3. So I'm sure producer Yoshinori Ono had dealt with his share of dazed, sputtering journalists in interviews, all fresh from having their minds scrambled by a mix of Tekken speed, Street Fighter controls (mostly) and unfamiliar rules from both sides. But Ono himself was energetic as usual, sitting in a meeting room within Capcom's E3 booth, Blanka figure, as ever, nearby. He helped make sense of the mishmash of new rules, the X (cross) in the name -- and of the addition of a new element, Infamous's Cole McGrath.
Buy Peter Molyneux's E3 badge for a good cause
Looking for the perfect accessory for that "Peter Molyneux at E3 2011" costume you've been putting together for the last week or so? Good news: you can buy Molyneux's E3 badge on eBay, and all the proceeds go to charity.
