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Halo Infinite's campaign co-op won't be available when season two kicks off in May
Campaign co-op won't be available when Halo Infinite season 2 debuts but will instead come "later" at an unspecified date in the second season.
Steam's Remote Play Together brings any local multiplayer game online
Steam is set to offer a new feature that'll make multiplayer games a more communal experience. Called "Remote Play Together," the feature is designed for shared-screen and split-screen games -- it streams your screen to a friend while capturing their input and streaming it back to you. As Valve's Alden Kroll says, "You are both playing the same game, looking at the same thing." So it's like playing together in the same room, without being in the same room.
Evernote adds sketching and split-screen features on iOS
Sketching has been available in Evernote's Penultimate app for quite some time, but now the company's main productivity app is handling your scribbles on its own. With an update for its iOS apps, Evernote now lets you sketch notes with a Jot stylus or Apple Pencil and stores them for safekeeping. What's more, if your input device of choice supports 3D Touch, you'll notice the line weight vary based on how much pressure you apply. You can also adjust the line thickness manually between five settings and choose between 10 color options. When you're done, those drawings sync just like any other Evernote entry and the app's handwriting recognition makes those scribbles searchable, should the need arise. The new version of the app also delivers split-screen multi-tasking that's made possible by iOS 9, so long as you're using it on a iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, or iPad Mini 4. Ready to give it a go? The update is available now from the App Store.
I won't be playing 'Halo 5: Guardians' and here's why
In the early 2000s, four-player, split-screen Halo was a revelation for my then-girlfriend Jenn (who would later become my wife), her two sisters and me. It was amazing, frantic, swear-filled fun. Controllers were thrown; tempers flared. But that's all sadly in the past. Last week, Halo's current custodian, 343 Industries, revealed that it's abandoning local split-screen multiplayer and native LAN support for this fall's Halo 5: Guardians. We knew from earlier reports that local campaign co-op was out of the question, at least at launch, but the Ars Technica report confirms we won't see any split-screen multiplayer modes or native LAN support. Allow me to repeat: No local multiplayer. None. In a Halo game. For me, and likely many other longtime Halo fans, the news is a bitter pill to swallow.
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare split-screen mode exclusive to Xbox One
Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare producer Brian Lindley details the upcoming squad-based shooter's split-screen mode in the newly-launched video above, revealing that local cooperative play is exclusive to the Xbox One version of the game. In Garden Warfare's co-op mode, players team up to defend a garden from an endless horde of invading zombies. Players can choose among multiple playable classes, giving them a wide variety of ability combinations and strategic options on the battlefield. The Xbox One version of Garden Warfare also boasts an exclusive Boss mode, which allows a third player to distribute power-ups during gameplay via Kinect or SmartGlass. Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is due to hit the Xbox 360 and Xbox One in February.
Japanese broadcasters reject Panasonic Smart TV advert in fit of jealousy (video)
As technology adverts go, this new one from Panasonic isn't bad. We've certainly seen worse. From the POV of some major Japanese broadcasters, however, it's apparently too dangerous to air. According to AFP, they've refused to transmit the ad because viewers might be confused by its demonstration of Panasonic's Smart TV interface, which mixes terrestrial TV with web content courtesy of a rather ordinary split-screen feature. This semi-justification has inevitably led to speculation that the privately owned broadcasters are actually trying to slow the growth of IPTV in Japan, because they're not quite ready to compete. Panasonic seems to have taken the knock-back on the chin, saying that IPTV is a "new area of service" in its home nation and that it's currently in talks to "create new rules for broadcasting." Meanwhile, the mind-boggling material is embedded after the break if you're sure you can handle it.
Ubuntu for tablets revealed with split screen multi-tasking, preview for Nexus slates coming this week
Here it is: the fourth and final piece of the Ubuntu puzzle. We've seen the OS on smartphones, on TVs and of course on desktops, but the tablet version has spent a little longer in its dressing room. Fortunately, Canonical feels that the last stage in its four-screen strategy is now ready for the limelight and has released a video of the software in action. The clip is embedded right after the break, where you'll also find details of the preview code coming to the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 this Thursday, plus our take on why this is such a big deal.
ESPN on Xbox Live updated with all live ESPN content
Previously Xbox Live was a good place to see some of ESPN's more fringe live content, like log racing, plastic cup stacking and the occasional tennis match. Today all live ESPN content is streaming through your Xbox 360, including Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Baseball and more top draws from ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU, Buzzer Beater and Goal Line – granted only if you're an Xbox Live Gold subscriber, that is.The updated app on Xbox 360 still features all of the familiar Kinect gesture and voice commands required by Microsoft law, and lets users stream multiple events in split-screen format, set reminders for big games and track their favorite sports through a customizable menu. Next month, SmartGlass functionality will also be added to the app.You can download the improved app right now, simply by booting up the old app or heading to the appropriate section of your Xbox 360 dashboard.
Surprise: XBLA Minecraft's split-screen multiplayer requires HDTV
Split-screen multiplayer in the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft requires an HDTV connection, but the game's description on the Xbox Live Marketplace website fails to note this necessity. Minecraft's description on XBLA does list "HDTV 720p" under the "Local Capabilities" details, but that generally is taken to mean the title will support up to HD 720p, and not as a requirement. In-game, a screen prompts players to "play the game in High Definition mode" for split-screen multiplayer.Notch wasn't aware that local multiplayer wouldn't work with standard-definition TVs, he tweeted and apologized to a fan today.Port developer 4J Studios has justified the HD requirement on Twitter: "The inventory and crafting just didn't work in splitscreen Standard Definition - it was too small to make out."Some fans want a refund from Microsoft, saying they wouldn't have bought Minecraft if the HD requirement was clearer, but Microsoft is holding out on a few of them, Kotaku reports.
MLB.tv lands on Xbox 360, gets cozy alongside ESPN and UFC
You knew it was coming, and now Microsoft's ready to make MLB.tv on your Xbox 360 official. Just like previous sporting efforts on the console, Redmond's gone and built a custom layer atop a partner's content in hopes of creating a richer and more immersive experience. A premium MLB.tv subscription still applies here, which'll grant you access to HD streams of every out-of-market game -- all of which are watchable live, in recap or archived forms. We liked the "My Teams" functionality which enabled us to quickly earmark content from teams we cared about, which makes triaging through MLB's rather large catalog far more palatable. There's a spiffy mini guide too, which makes for swapping between games a painless affair, in addition to split screen view, where two games are splayed side-by-side -- each which can be paused, or rewound to your hearts content. And it wouldn't be a party if gesture and voice controls, courtesy of Kinect, didn't make an appearance here too. So go peep that dashboard for the update, or hop past the break for a demo video of the whole shindig.
Watch this Awesomenauts split-screen trailer with a friend
More and more games these days opt for online multiplayer rather than the more personal and intimate "couch" variety. Ronimo Games, however, knows that people have roommates and siblings, and as such has built split-screen multi into Awesomenauts for up to three people/talented pets.
LG Cinema Screen LCD HDTVs slice bezel to 1mm, let two players share one TV
LG has been pushing its flavor of 3DTV as Cinema 3D, and now it has slipped the theater related nomenclature onto another feature, the 1mm thin LCD bezels it has dubbed "Cinema Screen". It claims this move brings the experience closer to the theater, but that's not the only new feature for 2012. LG announced it will offer Dual Play, where it uses polarized glasses to let two different players see only their perspective on the full screen at once in games that support it. Vizio demonstrated the feature last year as Versus and Sony brought it to market in the PlayStation 3D display. We'll likely get more time with those razor thin bezels once CES is truly underway, for now check after the break for the press release.
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.
Xbox 360's ESPN3 app updated with more voice control, split screen and more
The PlayStation 3 may have NFL Sunday Ticket but the Xbox 360 still has exclusive access to ESPN3's slate of games, shows and replays, and today the app was updated with a new look and a few new features. Viewers can designate their favorite sports and teams to bring related content right to the front, while a new mini-guide gives easy access to other streams while you watch. If you're trying to keep track of more than one game there's also support for split screen viewing (with independent control of each stream) and upgraded voice control for Kinect owners. Other tweaks include a college football scoreboard to keep track of all the games at once, reminders, live alerts on score changes and the addition of ESPN's BottomLine. Unchanged is the restriction that you need to subscribe to a TV provider that includes ESPN3 in its package, but if you do have the service (and shell out for XBL, of course) it should be available the next time you load up your console. Check out the YouTube videos embedded above and after the break along with a press release for a runthrough of some of the new features.
Symbian Anna now available for download on Nokia N8, E7, C7 and C6-01
Just a day after popping up on NaviFirm, Nokia's Symbian Anna has finally arrived for download, right on schedule. Available for N8, E7, C7 and C6-01 users, the new OS brings a fresh new UI and a virtual portrait QWERTY keypad to Symbian smartphones, along with split-screen messaging, richer maps and speedier browsing. The update also brings NFC capabilities to the C7, in particular, allowing users to share contacts, photos and other goodies by simply tapping their handsets together. If you're interested in upgrading, you can download Anna using the latest version of Ovi Suite (3.1.1), or with an OTA update, though availability and method of delivery vary from market to market. Find more information in the full PR, after the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Serious Sam 3 to offer four-player splitscreen, seriously
Croteam, the folks behind the upcoming Serious Sam 3: BFE, must be seriously crazy about nostalgia, because they've decided to include a feature PC gaming hasn't seen in quite a while: Split-screen multiplayer. The developer has announced that the game will indeed allow for up to four players to play on the same screen, with the help of a keyboard and mouse and up to three gamepads. All of the versus and co-op modes will allow for splitscreen play, so just like old times, you'll be able to see what your friends are up to, helping or hampering them as you will. Check the screens below to see what this chaos looks like. %Gallery-130256%
Sony's 24-inch PlayStation 3D 'dual-view' monitor: here's how it works
Sony's got some wonderful ideas here at E3 2011, but the company's left quite a few threads for journalists to sew up -- what's the battery life like? How much will continuous client gameplay cost? Just how does that split-screen 3D monitor work? Sony's 3D gaming czar Mick Hocking flew in from Liverpool to talk stereoscopy with the press, and we've got some answers for that last one. What you see above is an LCD panel that refreshes at 240Hz, and delivering 3D at 60 frames per second to each eye, by using the typical active shutter glasses technique of blocking light to your left eye when the "right" image is displayed, and vice versa for the right eye. However, the glasses have a special button that makes both lenses of one player's glasses display images for the left eye, and both lenses of another player display images for the right, allowing each to have their own 60fps feed all the time for private split-screen gaming. While that potentially means you could use these glasses on non-Sony 3DTVs too and get the same effect (or, you know, just pick up a Sharp Quattron 3D or Vizio Versus, which do much the same thing). Hocking told us that this particular unit also does additional software processing to reduce ghosting. But what of games? The 3D guru said there'll be a number of titles supporting the feature when the monitor hits this fall, and that other 3D titles could potentially (and easily) be patched if they also support split-screen to begin with. Hocking says developer enthusiasm's been particularly intense for split-screen, even more so than the holographic and head-mounted display technologies that Sony's working on, and we may see the feature integrated in Bravia televisions should the idea take off.
Hunted preview: Co-opportunity knocks
Hunted: The Demon's Forge was plagued by a number of issues, both technical and fundamental, when Joystiq last saw it two months ago. At Bethesda's recent "BFG 2011" media event, developer inXile Entertainment brought a markedly improved build, if not a less generic game title. "Feedback has been a large part of the process," David Clayman, associate brand manager for inXile, told me at the event. Gone is the shoddy blocking animation Joystiq encountered in the last build that registered a block no matter if your shield was facing an enemy or not. (inXile has since added an auto-targeting mechanic that turns your character to face the nearest attacking enemy as you begin blocking.) And fixed is the indicator that now more clearly and immediately alerts you to your partner being down and in need of a healing potion. %Gallery-121458%
Microsoft Research shows the possible future of split-screen technology
Of all the projects teased by Microsoft Research's Applied Sciences branch, we certainly hope that this is the one that makes it to market. In the video demonstration posted after the jump, Steven Bathiche shows off a few of the interfaces and displays the company's currently researching -- the coolest of which is a "wedge" lens which allows the screen to generate and overlap individual images directed at your eyes, creating a holographic-esque image. As radical as that sounds, Bathiche took the science one step further: The display can also track two viewers using Kinect, and show each of them a seperate image on the same screen. Considering the number of times we've had to strain our eyes to get our couch co-op Halo: Reach on, the possibility of split-screen gaming that doesn't actually split the screen is infinitely titilating. Check out the video demonstration below!
Rumor: Killzone 3 to include split-screen
According to an image from NicaGamerz of an alleged Killzone 3 preview build, the third Helghast murder simulator will allow for split-screen co-op -- a function that previous entries lacked. Sony of Europe gave VG247 an official "no comment" on the possibility, but also didn't deny the rumor. However, earlier this year at E3, president of SCE worldwide studios Shuhei Yoshida spoke to us about Killzone 3's 3D functionality, saying, "We were going to give players two screens anyway, for some mode ... for some gameplay anyway." Split-screen, perhaps? Given that Killzone 3 is a 3D title and its video is already being rendered twice for the 3D effect, the possibility of split-screen is a bit of a given. As for whether the split-screen will allow friends to take the game online together is unknown, but it seems players will at least be able to shoot up yellow-eyed baddies on a couch together. Let's put it this way: we're giving today's news the "rumor" tag, but calling the possibility "very likely."
