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Joystiq Top 10 of 2014: Mario Kart 8
ATTENTION: The year 2014 has concluded its temporal self-destruct sequence. If you are among the escapees, please join us in salvaging and preserving the best games from the irradiated chrono-debris. Mario Kart 8, much like its host console, made a poor first impression when it showed up in demo form back at E3 2013. In the same way that the Wii U met with equal parts confusion and indifference when it debuted – thanks to that odd controller– Mario Kart 8's anti-gravity racing felt like the most tiresome sort of tacked-on gimmick early on. "Oh, it's Mario Kart! But super pretty! And upside down!" Great. Super. Who cares? But also like the Wii U, Mario Kart 8 hides deep pleasures just beneath the surface. Beautiful, smart, overstuffed with rewards, and functional in ways the series has only toyed with in the past, Mario Kart 8 was a burning hot spot in Wii U's brightest year yet.
Joystiq Top 10 of 2014: Far Cry 4
ATTENTION: The year 2014 has concluded its temporal self-destruct sequence. If you are among the escapees, please join us in salvaging and preserving the best games from the irradiated chrono-debris. Far Cry 4 tells the story of a despondent man visiting a foreign land, just as hopeless, to fulfill the final wish of his late mother. Basically, the epitome of a good time! Despite its dour setting, Far Cry 4 offers a level of freedom and unfettered joy that most open-world games do not. As protagonist Ajay Ghale you scour this space for treasures, fight off terrifying beasts (like the vicious honey badger), join a national rebellion and, yes, try to put your mother's remains to rest.
Share your favorite gadgets of 2014
2014 was a pretty good year for technology. We saw improvements to some of our favorite cameras and phones, and hints of a promising future. A few companies made serious progress with virtual reality headsets. Smartwatches became ever more popular and people started buying personal drones with increasing frequency. What are your favorite gadgets that came out in 2014 and what are you looking forward to in 2015? Head over to the Engadget forums and let us know! [Image credit: George Rose/Getty Images]
The stories that defined 2014
It was the year of wearables, VR and 4K. It was the year of ridiculous IPOs and massive security breaches. It was also the year Engadget took a step back and took in the big picture. 2014 was full of great advancements and big setbacks and we were here to tell you about them. Herewith, the stories that defined us and the wild world of technology in the year that was.
Five products from 2014 I can't live without: Steve Sande
Of all of the staff at TUAW, I'm probably the guy who gets to take a look at more hardware and accessories than anyone else. Let's face it, being the hardware review editor has both its rewards -- getting to see a lot of amazing products -- and its downfalls -- having to review some really crappy accessories. Here's a look at five products from the past year that truly changed the way I work and play. Logitech Keys-To-Go Keyboard (US$69.99) As a writer, keyboards are the interface between what's brewing in my brain and what gets published online or in books. I tend to be very particular about keyboards, wanting a specific feel and key layout when I do my work. Well, Logitech did the impossible in 2014, coming out with an inexpensive Bluetooth keyboard that works equally well on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The Keys-To-Go keyboard weighs just 6 ounces and is less than a quarter-inch (6 mm) thick, making it a great mobile or spare keyboard. Oh, yeah -- it uses Logitech's spill-resistant FabricSkin technology, so me spilling a beer on it is much less likely to send it to the island of destroyed keyboards. Logitech Type+ Bluetooth Keyboard for iPad Air (US$99.99) Yeah, I spent a lot of money on Logitech keyboards this year. My go-to iPad Air keyboard case is the Logitech Type+. This thing has an amazing keyboard feel, it's thin, and would you believe that I've only charged it once in the time that I've had it? My only gripe after a few months of use is that the bright red exterior cloth is starting to get a little grimy, but considering the amount of use it gets, I can live with that. In case you're looking for a photo of this keyboard folio case, that's it at the top of this article. Cambridge Audio Bluetone 100 Speaker (US$299.99) If you talk to my boss soon, tell him I need a raise. That's because when I review a product that's truly incredible, I need to go out and buy it for myself. That was the case with the Cambridge Audio Bluetone 100, a 100 Watt Bluetooth speaker that redefines desktop audio systems. Offering rock-solid Bluetooth connectivity, incredible room-filling sound, and a classic design, the Bluetone 100 is a winner. You will not feel bad about spending three Ben Franklins for this speaker. Olloclip 4-in-1 Photo Lens for iPhone 6/6 Plus (US$79.99) The camera in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus is so good that I find myself using it for a growing number of photos, both those taken for personal use and even for TUAW reviews. But the built-in lens of the iPhone 6 Plus (in my case) sometimes lacks in terms of field of view or the ability to take amazingly sharp macro shots. That's where the latest version of Olloclip's 4-in-1 Photo Lens comes into play. Offering two macro lenses, a wide-angle lens and a fisheye lens in a lightweight package, the 4-in-1 is also much easier to carry around now that Olloclip provides a plastic clip and lanyard so you can keep the lenses close at hand around your neck. Apple iPhone 6 Plus (price varies with plan and capacity) I have owned every iPhone model since the original, and the iPhone 6 Plus is my favorite so far. The screen is big and beautiful, the speaker is actually loud enough to hear, and Apple Pay? I use it every chance I get. Does this mean that I won't jump to an iPhone 7 when they show up? Heck no. But at this juncture in time, the Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are absolutely the best smartphones on the planet, and sales over the past few months prove that point. For many years, I've told people to just wait a year or so to get an upgrade if they really don't need one -- the iPhone 6 and especially the iPhone 6 Plus are worth paying your carrier's early termination fee and upgrading to.
Five products from 2014 I can't live without: Kelly Hodgkins
With 2015 right around the corner, the team at TUAW has been looking back at 2014 and reminiscing about their favorite apps and products of 2014. It's my turn to chime in, and I've decided to combine the best of both world's by including apps, Apple hardware and Apple-related accessories in my list. Osprey Axis Daypack Osprey makes great backpacks and its "All Mighty Guarantee" can't be beat. I purchased the Axis this spring and have been using it as a daily bag to tote around my laptop and iPad when needed. The pack has two internal sleeves that fit a 13.3-inch MacBook and iPad perfectly. Besides a daily carrier, the Axis is the perfect size for a small day hiking bag and snug fitting enough to wear it while mountain biking. If the Axis isn't your style, Osprey makes a variety of packs for outdoor and urban use. You can't go wrong with the size and color that suits your needs. iPhone 6 Plus I didn't like the iPhone 6 Plus after I first bought it -- it was big and difficult to carry around. Now that I've had the large-sized phone a few months, I've adapted my lifestyle (aka my pockets) to accommodate the phone. Now, I can't live without it the large screen. I have an iPhone 5s kicking around and wonder how I ever managed to type and browse the web on that tiny screen. Kenu Airframe + Small but strong, the Kenu Airframe + mounts quickly to your smartphone and allows you to attach your iPhone 6 Plus to your car's dashboard. It clips into your heater vent and expands to fit an iPhone with case up to 6-inches in size. You can place your phone at arm's length and turn it for use in either landscape or portrait orientation. Great for navigating in older cars that don't have a built-in system. Fitbit Flex The Flex is not the fanciest fitness tracker on the market, but it is reliable and has a fantastic battery life. The best part is that you wear it, forget about it and go. I do wish it had a display with full notifications support, but that feature is a mixed blessing. I've tried a few fitness trackers with notifications, but they just don't work reliably -- frequently dropping the connection to the phone and missing notifications as a result. Hopefully, a manufacturer -- "cough, Apple, cough" -- will be able to add notifications to a fitness band in a reliable and useful way. Until then, I will motor along happily with the Flex. Monument Valley I had to include this game for its stunning visuals, mysterious storyline and wonderfully complex puzzles. I love Monument Valley, gladly paid for the Forgotten Shores update and look forward to even more levels if Ustwo adds them in the future.
My top five products of 2014: Mike Rose
It's been all apps, all the time around here as we wrap up our favorites of 2014. For a change of pace, I thought I'd pull together my favorite five products that don't necessarily require a visit to the App Store. Apple Pay & Touch ID (included with iPhone 6/6 Plus, coming for Watch). It doesn't feel good to skip an iPhone generation, as much as we claim to be "waiting for the next one" or "really fine with the phone I have now." In my case, a work-owned iPhone 5 was holding its own when the 5s premiered, and I couldn't really justify forking over the monthly service costs for a second phone. As a result, my first real Touch ID experience, on my recently upgraded 6 Plus, coincided almost exactly with the launch of Apple Pay. I can't say it strongly enough: Apple Pay is what Touch ID was built for, and it's one of the most vivid examples of Apple's user-first interaction design I've ever had the pleasure of using. Touch ID on its own is dandy; the iOS 8-enabled use of the thumbprint unlock in third-party apps (1Password! Finally!) and in the App Store makes it especially useful, as if unlocking your device at a touch wasn't enough. (I'd only had my new phone a few days before I found myself grumbling as I picked up my iPad -- "What, I gotta put in my passcode? Like a caveman?") But oh my, Apple Pay. Putting the power of the payment network and NFC hardware behind that little fingerprint sensor triggers a seismic shift in the way I think about using my iPhone every day. From prescriptions at Duane Reade to supplies at Staples to rides in NYC taxicabs, I'm constantly looking for new places to pay with a touch. No surprise that Apple's feel-good payment platform is beginning to transform our relationship with the overstuffed old-fashioned wallet. STM Linear for MacBook Air 13" (stmbags.com, about US$60). I'll confess that when I bought myself an STM Linear shoulder bag, it was a consolation purchase; my original object of desire was the elite and often sold-out Tom Bihn Ristretto. I was looking for a shoulder bag in a vertical profile, keeping the laptop upright and providing a lean silhouette as I carried my gear around at trade shows or meetings. Since the Bihn bag wasn't in stock when I went looking, I fell back to the STM -- and I haven't regretted it for a moment (nor did I mind that the STM bag is about half the price of the Ristretto). The Linear has enough space for the MacBook, an iPad, cables cords etc. without feeling cramped or overpacked, and the smaller capacity vs. a messenger bag or backpack keeps me from overloading when I step out the door. The Roost Stand (therooststand.com, $75). After meeting the Denver-based Roost team at Macworld/iWorld in the wake of their successful Kickstarter, I thought this unusual foldout laptop stand would be a great fit for my desk. It's portable, light and tough as a Colorado winter, and can be adjusted as needed to hold most portables securely. What I didn't expect was how viral the Roost would become; at least four co-workers have gone ahead and bought their own Roosts in the months since. If you work in an office, be sure to put your name on your Roost so it doesn't wander off. iMac Retina 5K (apple.com, starting at $2499). Who says the desktop is dead? Apple's jaw-dropping all in one model reset the notion of what a desktop PC should look like, even with a wallet-busting sticker price (in fairness, Dell's 5K monitor alone would have cost as much as the iMac, if not for a price drop after Apple's introduction). The Retina iMac is so delicious that even jaded tech writers find themselves compelled, like the NY Times' Farhad Manjoo, to take one home and give it a prominent place on their desks. I haven't replaced my 2011-vintage iMac just yet, but when I do I'll be saving up for the Big Kahuna. Jawbone ERA (jawbone.com, $99/$129 with charging case). I have never had much luck with Bluetooth headsets; whether it's fit or function, they just don't seem to work for me. Other than LG's Tone Pro around the neck headphones -- which provide great stereo sound at the cost of mediocre phone calls and "looking like a huge dork" -- I hadn't found a solid choice. That's why I've been so pleased with the new-generation Jawbone ERA, which works great for phone calls and conferences without being horribly obvious. Jawbone's noise reduction is adequate to a busy city street, and with the current firmware the hardware button can serve as a mute switch on calls (life-changing). The ERA is not cheap, but if you've struggled to find a headset that works the way you do, it's worth a look. Honorable Mention: Pebble (getpebble.com, $99/$199). It's black-and-white, not color. It's not touchable or speakable. It is decidedly not an Apple watch, but in many ways it's a better first wearable than a yet-to-ship Watch could be. Why do I enjoy my Pebble? Five days or more of battery life, for one thing. Waterproof enough to wear in the shower. Notifications that let me see who's calling, emailing, texting or tweeting at me without having to haul the 6 Plus out of my pocket fifteen times an hour. And a reasonably active app/developer community delivering cool hacks on a regular basis. No, I won't promise not to look longingly at the next shiny device coming from Cupertino soon. But I'll be looking with the benefit of a lot of experience with the first generation of wrist-based tech.
Joystiq's favorite new characters of 2014
It takes all sorts to make up the video game worlds we explore, and sometimes a few characters stand out as our favorites. From the buffoonery of Ratbag to the big splash made by the Troupple King, this year featured a host of unique new faces. As we close out another year of gaming, we look back at some of our favorites. Of course we couldn't highlight them all, so we ask: What are your favorite characters of 2014? >>Joystiq's Favorite New Characters of 2014<<
My favorite apps of 2014: Victor Agreda
Drafts 4 Drafts has long been my text-based inbox of choice, and Drafts 4 takes everything about the original and makes it slicker and more wonderful. I can export to Byword, my Mac writing app of choice, or tweet, save to Evernote, Dropbox, etc. all from one app where I get a brand-new sheet every time I open it. Drafts doesn't just appeal to my way of working, however, as it is customizable all the way down. If you need to jot things down regularly or want to increase the efficiency of capturing ideas, Drafts is the best app around. Drafts 4 is now universal for iPad and iPhone, which is a lovely bonus. MyFitnessPal MyFitnessPal will log just about anything health related. It ties into numerous fitness products, plus Apple's (pretty craptastic) Health app, and includes an outstanding, customizable food database for logging meals. I have tested dozens of health apps over the years, but MyFitnessPal is not only a comprehensive tool for data analysis, but a powerful motivational tool when used properly. I set goals, and the app broke down what I had to do (eat within certain parameters, exercise a certain amount) to achieve those goals. Apple could learn from myFitnessPal. Oh, and when I didn't respond to notifications from the app for a solid week, the app turned the notifications off! It warned me, and turned off its own notifications. That is a company dedicated to positive user experience. Workflow This is one of those apps that makes you seem superhuman to mortals. Steve did a nice writeup here. Rig up a sequence of actions and run them with a few taps. I honestly had no idea this level of customization was even possible in iOS 8, but it's magical. There is a learning curve, but it's a pretty gradual investment and for anyone who misses scripting automation on iOS, Workflow is the closest thing you're likely to see maybe ever. Sleep Cycle This app tracks my sleep, allows me to set an alarm for a time range and alerts me when I'm in "light" sleep mode vs waking me from a deeper sleep. The idea is to allow you to wake up more refreshed, but the simple act of tracking my sleep is lovely. I quit registering my sleep in Path because I wasn't willing to open the app at bed and every morning. Here I'm getting a nifty alarm clock based on my sleep patterns and a tool for tracking my sleep. It's simple, to the point and effective. It also talks to Apple's Health app. All that for a decent price. Inbox I was pretty burnt out on email apps. Most handled email in a funky way or tried to change the way we deal with it in such a way as to make it a bigger chore when I wasn't on my iPhone. Frankly, my goal is to have to spend less time on my iPhone in email. Inbox accomplishes this remarkably well. I even trusted it so much that I allow it to push notifications to my lock screen -- a first for any email app on my phone, ever. I just get too much email. Somehow, Inbox makes it manageable. I know a lot of folks love some other email clients, and Inbox is from Google, but I have found it an indispensable tool for managing the deluge of digital communiques I get in a day. Honorable mentions: Things I recently switched back to Things from OmniFocus and I'm loving it. It's extremely fast, easy to use and integrates with just enough to make it handy on iOS and Mac OS. It's not a "new" app for 2014, but I rediscovered an old friend and felt it was worth mentioning if you're in the mood for a powerful but simple productivity app. Evernote Of course this is one of the oldest apps on the store, but a fresh coat of paint in the Mac OS app has made Evernote a pleasure to use again. The iOS version isn't too shabby, either. Evernote is a capable note-taking app, but it is also an online "brain" that stores and organizes your stuff. I've been using it to collaborate and the cleaner interface and powerful organizational tools are pretty great.
Ask Massively: The one where we talk about our 2014 awards
Massively's 2014 awards series is over, but we like to go back and take a look at the reader polls and some of the big questions and neat comments that arose during the course of our rollout because many of our awards were contentious, as they are every year. It'd be no fun if they weren't, I suppose. Allow us to pontificate, and in the course of the review, we'll try to answer some frequently asked questions as well.
Jukebox Heroes: WildStar features the MMO soundtrack of the year
Originally I wanted to write a final Jukebox Heroes column for this year that would have ranked all of the soundtrack releases in 2014, but that ran into a couple of snags. Not only am I still in the process of listening and finding all of them, but one game's score was going to thrash the rest of them so badly that it didn't feel fair to stack them up together. That MMO was, of course, WildStar. I started to suspect that Composer Jeff Kurtenacker's score for WildStar was going to be something else when the studio started releasing parts of it over a year ago, but even then I wasn't prepared for the sheer quality and quantity that the full soundtrack presented. Critics and fans of the game alike have been very vocal in praising this game's music since the beta and through launch, and I'm still grooving on it months later. My only complaint is that it still -- still -- has yet to see an official release, free or paid. So even though our yearly awards didn't include a soundtrack category, I'm going to take the initiative and crown WildStar as the soundtrack of the year. Let's listen to six of the OST's highlights and discuss our favorites in the comments section.
One Shots: Top 10 best player screenshots of 2014
It's been a pleasure being your tour guide through a sea of player screenshots this year, and I can't wait to see what awesome pics you all will take in 2015. Before we get to the new year, however, I'm going to do something we've never done before here on One Shots: play favorites. Actually, I went back through all of this year's columns and picked out 10 screenshots that I personally liked the best. I don't often comment on what I think of a picture or what makes one stand out over the others, so the end of the year seemed to be a good time to do this. And I have one other special treat for you as well! Starting tomorrow, Massively will be putting out a single One Shots entry each day for the next two weeks. So if you've sent in a picture but have yet to see it posted in its full glory, then it may indeed happen over this holiday season!
Massively's Best of 2014 Awards: MMO of the Year
Massively's end-of-the-year awards come to a close today with our 12th and final award, this one the biggun (and usually the most contentious): our MMO of the Year. To be eligible for this award, MMOs must have launched in 2014, full stop. (If you want to know what would win the staff's best-MMO-ever vote, it's Star Wars Galaxies, and now I've saved us all that discussion, and you're welcome.) All of our writers were invited to cast a vote, but not all of them chose to do so for this category. Don't forget to cast your own vote in the just-for-fun reader poll at the very end. The Massively staff pick for Best MMO of 2014 is...
Massively's Best of 2014 Awards: Most Anticipated for 2015 and Beyond
Massively's end-of-the-year awards continue today with our award for the Most Anticipated MMO for 2015 and Beyond. Pretty much every MMO that isn't out yet or is planning a major content update in 2015 was eligible for this award. All of our writers were invited to cast a vote, but not all of them chose to do so for this category. Don't forget to cast your own vote in the just-for-fun reader poll at the very end. The Massively staff pick for Most Anticipated MMO for 2015 and Beyond is...
Massively's Best of 2014 Awards: Best Update or Expansion of the Year
Massively's end-of-the-year awards continue today with our award for the Best Update or Expansion of the Year. Every patch, be it small freebie update or traditional paid expansion, was eligible for this category, as long as it released in 2014. All of our writers were invited to cast a vote, but not all of them chose to do so for this category. Don't forget to cast your own vote in the just-for-fun reader poll at the very end. The Massively staff pick for Best Update or Expansion of 2014 is...
Massively's Best of 2014 Awards: Most Likely to Flop
Massively's end-of-the-year awards continue today with our award for the Most Likely to Flop in the coming years. This'd be a released or announced MMO that we think has little chance of performing to expectations, even if it may not capsize completely (though we're happy to be proven wrong!). All of our writers were invited to cast a vote, but not all of them chose to do so for this category. Don't forget to cast your own vote in the just-for-fun reader poll at the very end. The Massively staff pick for Most Likely to Flop in 2015 and Beyond...
Massively's Best of 2014 Awards: Biggest MMO Blunder of 2014
Massively's end-of-the-year awards continue today with our award for the Biggest MMO Blunder of the year. This is also not a fun award to give or receive, but criticism is a necessary element of growth. This category focuses on a mistake made by a game or developer or the genre as a whole, something that has far-reaching negative consequences for the industry. All of our writers were invited to cast a vote, but not all of them chose to do so for this category. Don't forget to cast your own vote in the just-for-fun reader poll at the very end. The Massively staff pick for Biggest MMO Blunder of 2014 is...
Massively's Best of 2014 Awards: Best MMO Trend of the Year
Massively's end-of-the-year awards continue today with our award for the Best MMO Trend of the year. We're not talking about a single article or game here; we are looking for trends, memes, and ideas that have seen a rise to prominence and have the potential to influence our genre for the better. All of our writers were invited to cast a vote, but not all of them chose to do so for this category. Don't forget to cast your own vote in the just-for-fun reader poll at the very end. The Massively staff pick for Best MMO Trend of 2014 is...
Massively's Best of 2014 Awards: Best Pseudo-MMO of the Year
Massively's end-of-the-year awards continue today with our award for the Best Pseudo-MMO of the year. This is always a difficult category since it forces us to define MMOs. This year, we opted to make eligible any online game that isn't a pure and traditional MMORPG, games we'd cover in Not So Massively: mobile MMOs, console MMOs, OARPGs, MOBAs, MMOFPS titles, MMORTS titles, and so on. And of course, the game must have launched in 2014. All of our writers were invited to cast a vote, but not all of them chose to do so for this category. Don't forget to cast your own vote in the just-for-fun reader poll at the very end. The Massively staff pick for Best Pseudo-MMO of 2014 is...
Massively's Best of 2014 Awards: Biggest MMO disappointment of the year
Massively's end-of-the-year awards continue today with our award for the Biggest Disappointment of the year -- not exactly one of the more coveted awards, admittedly. For this category, we focused on single games rather than concepts, and every MMO that launched in 2014 was eligible. All of our writers were invited to cast a vote, but not all of them chose to do so for this category. Don't forget to cast your own vote in the just-for-fun reader poll at the very end. The Massively staff pick for Biggest Disappointment of 2014 is...
