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Hacking inner peace
1. Science class The principal calls this a mindful school. Johane Ligondé is effusively warm but with the kind of emotional solidity you'd expect from someone who wakes each morning to manage more than 1,000 kids at the only public middle school in the village of Freeport in Long Island, New York. She is also an aromatherapist and life coach who hangs a sign reading "I AM AN OPTIMIST" in her windowless office. At John W. Dodd Middle School, some of the students' primary struggles are common to many young teenagers: depression, anxiety, self-harm and the looming shadow of sudden violence. So every morning during homeroom, a student or staff member leads the entire building through eight minutes of breathing meditation over the PA system. In detention, students are "invited," Ligondé said, to do mindfulness exercises, "so it's not just a space for punishment, it's a space for reflection." A "social-emotional learning curriculum" has been introduced, teaching them conflict and relationship management.
Muse makes bizarre music video with AI and found footage
Artificial intelligence is all over the place these days, predicting our thoughts, protecting our crops, playing video games and even generating adorably weird pickup lines. British band Muse is getting in on the act now with a new AI-generated music video that pulls internet video footage of celebrities, politicians and artists to match the lyrics to the hit song, "Dig Down." The result feels like even more political than the original video, which explores the consequences of technology within a media-fueled cyberpunk dystopia.
Netflix project lets you mind-control its interface
Netflix's developers are at it again, using the company's annual Hack Day to come up with clever, if sometimes wild, ideas on how to improve the streaming service. This year's crop of hacks mostly focus on intriguing Stranger Things integrations, but the most interesting result is one named MindFlix, that lets you navigate and control Netflix with your mind.
Guns of Icarus dev blog talks player feedback, Hurricane Sandy
Launching an online multiplayer game is challenging in the best of conditions. Try launching one in the midst of a natural disaster, though. That's what Guns of Icarus developer Muse faced in October of 2012 as Hurricane Sandy battered the northeastern United States and left New Yorkers -- including Muse staffers -- without power and internet for weeks. Muse CEO Howard Tsao tells the full story in the fourth part of his Guns of Icarus post-mortem, which Gamasutra published this morning.
Here's part three of that Guns of Icarus post-mortem
Did you miss part one of Muse CEO Howard Tsao's ongoing post-mortem for Guns of Icarus? How about part two? All caught up now? Good, because Gamasutra has published part three. In the latest installment, Tsao shares lessons learned from two successful Kickstarters. "We realized that Kickstarter was amazing, and it would fundamentally change the relationship between developers and fans/players, but we couldn't have predicted how soon and how spectacularly," he writes.
Guns of Icarus postmortem on post-publisher challenges
If you're a Guns of Icarus fan, an indie fan, or just a gamer interested in the creative process, you should take a few minutes to read the ongoing dev diary from Muse CEO Howard Tsao and co-authors Eric Chung and Tim Doolen at Gamasutra. Part two was published this morning, and it tackles the dev team's development struggles in the aftermath of part one's publisher debacle. "Designs on paper are rarely any good until they're tested in some form," Tsao says. "Ultimately, everything begins with low fidelity (cards, dice, paper, and role play) prototypes but sometimes jumping straight into digital prototypes is required. At the time, it was important to move fast and find results quickly and in this it case meant one person going from ideation, designing interaction flow, to digital prototype. A combination of flexible responsibility, knowledge, and Unity's low barrier to entry made it possible."
The Daily Grind: Did you reconnect with any games thanks to PAX East?
Now that PAX East is winding down, it seems as good a time as any to take stock of the news coming from this year's convention. On a personal level, I was excited to hear about the (eventual) MMOification of one of my favorite games. I also enjoyed catching up with Guns of Icarus, an indie title already holding its own and with its eyes on a larger persistent world prize. What about you, Massively readers? Did you glean any useful nuggets from PAX East or perhaps rediscover a game you'd not thought about in a while? Massively's on the ground in Boston during the weekend of April 11th to 13th, bringing you all the best news from PAX East 2014. Whether you're dying to know more about WildStar, Landmark, or any MMO in between, we aim to have it covered!
Hands-on with the consumer-ready Muse headband and software
If you think the person above looks weathered, broken and a little bit ill, you'd be right. After all, it's the last day of CES, and although this editor wasn't sure he had any working neurons left, he nevertheless took a trip to InteraXon's booth to check out the consumer-ready version of Muse, the mind-probing headband. We first came across Muse this time last year, and in terms of hardware, only minor changes have been made. The EEG sensors in contact with your forehead -- seven in total, measuring four channels -- are now made of conductive ink instead of cold metal, the whole thing is more flexible, and rubbery cushions have been added to its ends. These make wearing the headband perfectly comfortable, but otherwise, its form factor remains unchanged. The band itself is available for pre-order for 270 bucks, with the first units expected to start shipping in spring. To make use of the hardware, InteraXon has, of course, developed companion software for iOS and Android (the band communicates with mobile devices via Bluetooth). Last year, we saw a basic demo whereby changes in our brain activity triggered different events in a wintery scene. What the company has built over the past year, however, is much more polished.
Rocksmith 2014 opens Supermassive Black Hole with Muse DLC
Merriam-Webster defines stockholm syndrome as "the psychological tendency of a hostage to bond with, identify with, or sympathize with his or her captor." If Rocksmith 2014 is holding you captive, you can be downright ironic thanks to Muse's "Stockholm Syndrome," now available as part of a 5-song DLC pack for the game. The pack's other songs included are "Supermassive Black Hole," "Time Is Running Out," "Hysteria" and "Muscle Museum." The whole kit-n-kaboodle is yours for $11.99. You can also buy the songs individually, though they'll cost $2.99 piecemeal. Muse joins previous DLC runners such as Radiohead and Green Day, which means the game can unofficially provide the soundtrack of '90s/early '00s teenage angst.
PAX Prime 2013: Guns of Icarus Online's new Adventure mode, features, and PS4 version
Guns of Icarus' Online's concept of crewing airships in a steampunk future might be a little strange at first, but it's something that Muse Games is really passionate about. I linked up with founder Howard Tsao yesterday at PAX Prime to talk about the game's upcoming Adventure Mode, which will add new context to battles over the unfriendly skies. The new online mode won't replace Guns of Icarus' current lobby-based multiplayer mode, but it will add new content, including missions and factions to provide a backdrop for actions in the game's steampunk world.
Guns of Icarus Online coming to PlayStation 4
Muse Games is bringing Guns of Icarus Online to the PlayStation 4. Muse's Howard Tsao penned the announcement post on the official PlayStation blog earlier this week, and it's worth a read since it details the game's long and often arduous three-year journey from napkin sketch to PC release. There's no official date attached to the the game's PS4 debut yet, but you can keep your eyes peeled via the game's website. You can also see what we thought of Muse's dieselpunk airship extravaganza when we checked it out late last year.
Guns of Icarus adds new ship, upgrades chat and more
Now might be a good time to check in with Guns of Icarus Online if you're fond of steampunk airships or blowing them out of the sky. Muse Games' buy-to-play title recently updated to version 1.3 of its client, which adds a new ship type, a new gun, and plenty of upgrades to the game. The new ship is called the Mobula, and Muse says that it's ideal for both standoffs and pursuit. "Of course, this comes at a price," the company's press release says. "Its slow turning speed makes it vulnerable to flanking maneuvers, and its repair points are tucked away inside the hull." Also new this patch is the ability to form parties, assemble crews prior to entering a match, and a "bigger, better, faster, stronger" chat system. Various other systems have been tweaked, and we highly recommend visiting the official website to find out how.
First Guns of Icarus Online adventure mode Kickstarter goal funded
Muse Games has issued a press release celebrating the successful Kickstarter campaign for Guns of Icarus Online's new adventure mode. The update will add "large-scale PvE combat, player and ship progression, and much more" to the co-op airship title. Muse is breaking down its ambitious plans into a series of funding pillars, the first of which is the AI director that will enable co-op and solo PvE missions to go along with the game's existing PvP. Next up is a world map with towns, trade routes, player factions, and a "fully dynamic resource economy." After that, Muse will focus on a set of world-building tools. Guns of Icarus Online is a steampunk-flavored airship combat game with a buy-to-play business model. You can learn more about the adventure mode goals at the project's Kickstarter page and more about the current live game via Massively's hands-on. [Source: Muse press release]
Guns of Icarus looking to kickstart persistent world expansion
If you're a fan of Guns of Icarus Online -- and you should be -- you'll probably want to know about Muse's new Kickstarter project. The steampunk multiplayer airship battler has been playable for quite a while now, but the dev team has long sought to fill out the game and the world by adding something called Adventure Mode. Adventure Mode will basically expand the lobby-based live game to a persistent world complete with towns, trading, and player factions. Enter Kickstarter, which Muse is currently leveraging to the tune of a $100,000 goal. As the project page notes, Muse is "one of the only studios to successfully complete a Kickstarter campaign and deliver on our promise with a shipped game that's currently being played by people all over the world." [Thanks Angela!]
Muse brain-sensing headband thoughts-on (video)
Plenty of companies are experimenting with thought-reading gadgets, and in the cluttered South Hall here at CES, we came across the folks from InteraXon showing off their Indiegogo-funded "Muse brain-sensing headband." It measures EEG signals from four forehead sensors and two tucked behind the ears, and sends those brain measurements to other gear via Bluetooth. InteraXon has developed an app suite for mobile devices to showcase the headband's capabilities, including thought-controlled games and brain tracking, exercise and fitness software for improving cognitive function, memory, attention and for reducing stress. That'll come bundled with any purchased units, but an SDK is also available for third-party developers to explore other possibilities. They had a demonstration set up on the show floor, so we thought we'd sit down and take it for a spin. The headband was flexible and surprisingly comfortable, and with a bit of fiddling, we were good to go. One monitor showed brain activity on a couple of complicated graphs, while a scene on a second monitor grew busier as our concentration increased. Watching one graph react to blinking was pretty cool, and once concentration levels reached over 85%, it started to snow on the animated scene. While this obviously isn't very relevant to any potential applications, it was fun to watch the hardware clearly working as intended. You can check out our shots of the headband in the gallery, or check out the video of us trying it out below. Unfortunately we were only allowed to use it for a limited time -- the demonstration was in danger of breaking due to this editors' massive brain. Kevin Wong contributed to this report.
MMO Burnout: Quality time with Guns of Icarus Online
Pardon me for being a fanboy, but I need to get this out of the way up front: Guns of Icarus Online is funking awesome. If you're OK with the fact that I couldn't make it past the 24th word of a 1000-word impressions piece without sharing that little nugget, keep reading and I'll tell you why this indie gem is in fact funking awesome... and why you should give it a whirl.%Gallery-173501%
Samsung renames $50 Pebble MP3 player as Muse for its US launch
Remember Samsung's S-Pebble? The, erm, pebble-shaped music accessory for runners who wanted to leave their smartphone at home? Well, for some reason, Samsung America has decided that it'll be renamed the Muse for its Stateside arrival. Maybe someone's a big fan of the Devon-based prog-rock trio, or perhaps Samsung just had loads of posters left over from the last time it sold something under that name. Either way, you can snag one for $50 at the source link.
Guns of Icarus Online launches its airships along with a trailer
Players looking forward to aerial combat aboard steampunk-inspired airships can now lift off and begin the battle. Guns of Icarus Online, a stand-alone Steam-based sequel to browser title Guns of Icarus, has officially launched. The game mixes team-based strategy and first-person shooter action, and with a crew compliment of up to four players, each airship is equipped to meet any challenge in the post-apocalyptic sky. Howard Tsao, owner of Muse Games, emphasized that the launch is only the beginning. He stated, "We have a great many promises yet to fulfill over the coming months as we continue to add content and improve player experience. The game is fun, making it even more fun will be our priority from this point forward and everything from new ships, weapons, costumes, maps, game modes, and PvE content is coming." Check out some images of the newly-launched game in the gallery below, and catch a glimpse of the action in the trailer after the break. [Source: Muse Games press release]%Gallery-169650%
Guns of Icarus to launch October 29th, new trailer released
Muse Games is pushing the launch of its steampunk airship combat title Guns of Icarus back by a month. The indie offering will debut on October 29th, and the firm is currently accepting pre-orders that offer immediate beta access. The team bills its game as the "first cooperative airship combat game mixing together first-person shooter action with team-based strategy." Crews of up to four players may band together on a ship, filling the Captain, Gunner, or Engineer roles and taking on other crews in the post-apocalyptic unfriendly skies. Muse recently added a spectator mode, costumes, achievements, stat tracking, and friend lists to the game. The firm has also produced a launch trailer, which you can view after the cut. [Source: Muse Games press release]
Adobe begins regular updates to Creative Cloud applications, details future improvements for Creative Suite
Adobe's subscription-based software service is three months old and the outfit is rolling out the first of its regular updates to the Creative Cloud set of applications. Alongside a new preview of Adobe Edge (now Edge Animate), added features to Adobe Muse highlight this round of improvements -- set to go live for members at 12:01 AM EDT tonight. The app that allows users to create websites without writing a line of code now includes custom contact forms, links to downloadable files (PDFs and such) and the option of using HTML5 animations from Edge and other programs. Other tweaks range from align / distribute and ruler guides that you've grown accustom to using on the fly in Creative Suite to a few FTP and publishing enhancements. Also included in the news is that the company plans to roll out select new features to the regular ol' Creative Suite offerings ahead of the annual release schedule to Creative Cloud subscribers. Some of the newfangled features that will arrive in CS7 will arrive early for those who opt for the membership route as each product team sees fit. For example, a file-packaging feature for Illustrator that was previewed recently is on its way soon. In order to get the entire truckload of new tech that the aforementioned release stands to haul, though, you'll have to wait until the entire lot hits in properly licensed form. Sound like the kind of early access you'd enjoy? Well, those looking to switch from the normal CS license model (CS3 and later) can join the Cloud for $29.99 per month for the first year instead of the usual $49.99 until August 31st.
