fuse
Latest
Don’t call it a dildo: Kiiroo and OhMiBod on the future of sex toys
CES may have a complicated relationship with sex, but one company at the world's largest technology conference has made it its mission to destigmatize doing it. For the past seven years, the family-run sex-toy manufacturer OhMiBod has made the trek to Las Vegas in an attempt to gain mainstream distribution for its line of tech-savvy pleasure products. This year, the company has partnered with one of the leaders in interactive sex toys, Kiiroo, to create an internet-connected vibrator that can communicate with the Fleshlight-branded Launch male masturbator. OhMiBod's Fuse claims to be the first of its kind to offer bi-directional control -- basically, allowing either the stroker or the vibrator to send sensations to the other device from long distances. Both devices also promise to sync with VR and traditional porn and can be used by webcam models to give their clients an extra-sensory experience. The Fuse can be purchased online, and you can see the devices for yourself at the Las Vegas Convention Center's South hall through the remainder of CES. The Kiiroo Launch is now available for $220 and the OhMiBod Fuse can be had for $150. I sat down with Kiiroo founder Toon Timmermans and OhMiBod's Suki and Brian Dunham at CES 2018 to talk about the future of long-distance love and learned a lesson in interactive sex-toy branding: Whatever you do, don't call it a dildo!
Kiiroo taps OhMiBod to build a better connected vibrator
Way back when, Dutch teledildonic startup Kiiroo launched a pair of devices that let you have sex from opposite ends of the internet. There was only one problem: the Onyx male masturbator and Pearl connected vibrator were pretty underwhelming. It's a problem that Kiiroo has sought to remedy by leaving the hardware design to sex toy manufacturers who know what they're doing.
Art exhibit turns tweets into a colorful sphere of emotion
Even if you see thousands of tweets per day and all the emotions that go with them, that's just a tiny fraction of Twitter's total traffic. A new art project wants to help you grasp the joy or fury expressed by all of the users around the world at once. The Fuse Studio's "Amygdala" installation at the CUBO Centro Unipol in Bologna, Italy crunches up to 30 tweets per second and translates each into one of six emotions: Happiness, anger, sadness, disgust, amazement or fear.
Fuse lets you put your own 3D characters into Steam games
If, like us, you believe that true individuality can never be expressed through four different choices of goatee, then listen up: Fuse, the character-creation tool on Steam, now supports fully user-generated imports for the first time, making it possible for artistic souls to create clothing, body parts and "texturing substances" for more memorable designs. The $100 utility then lets you transplant your animated models into compatible Steam titles based on the Source Engine, including Garry's Mod and Source Filmmaker. Now, if we could just couple this with Project Spark's customized movements and mannerisms, we'd have everything we need to prep our personal avatars for the impending Age of VR.
Fuse is the app that creates one feed to rule all your social networks
Most of us probably spend too much time on our phones checking in on various social networks. Even if you only subscribe to one or two, you've probably spent time out in public hopping between apps while waiting in line. Fuse is a new app that aims to at least keep all that searching in one place. The app aggregates your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn feeds into one updating master list. It even collects your messages and interactions for quick searching. You can like, retweet, favorite and comment to your heart's content. Currently the app runs on a freemium model, allowing for unlimited Facebook and Twitter feed connections for free, but charging $0.99 each for access to unlimited Instagram and LinkedIn pages. Version 1.0.2 will be released in the coming weeks, and bringing with it a number of minor bug fixes. We'll have a full review up soon.
Grid 2 on pole in this week's UK charts, Fuse debuts 37th
Grid 2 crosses the line as the third different UK no. 1 in three weeks. That's despite a 29 percent drop in launch sales compared to Race Driver: Grid, which debuted in second place back in 2008 - albeit behind a Grand Theft Auto IV cruising to its fifth week on top. Perhaps the bigger story, however, is Fuse only just making the UK Top 40. The Xbox 360 and PS3 shooter crackled in at 37th in its first week. Considering the dearth of new releases this month, it's a disastrous showing for Insomniac Games and EA. Again, best exemplifying the quiet season is FIFA 13, still holding up in second place. Also proving to have strong sticking power is Dead Island: Riptide, which makes it six weeks in the UK top four. Tomb Raider may be about to drop out of the top ten in its 13th week, but much like Lara Croft it's clinging on for dear life.
Super Joystiq Podcast 052 Live: Fuse, Grid 2, CastleStorm, Animal Crossing 3DS XL giveaway
Gather 'round, children, and hear the tale of newly released games on the latest live episode of the Super Joystiq Podcast. This week, Richard, Dave and Jordan talk about Fuse, Grid 2 and CastleStorm. Also, just because we like you, we're giving away a snazzy Animal Crossing: New Leaf 3DS XL! The show goes live at 3:30 ET. Be here!
Insomniac prototyping new 'Fuse experiences'
It would seem Insomniac Games is "just getting started" with Fuse, CEO Ted Price claims in a missive on the company blog. Price says that the team is already working on the next experience in the Fuse world - and he's not talking about DLC. "We've already begun expanding what we've begun with Fuse. Right now as I write this we're taking the core concepts behind Fuse and prototyping new stuff ... stuff that leverages this bizarre alien substance which is at the heart of the game. No, I'm not talking about DLC. I'm talking about new Fuse experiences altogether," Price said. "What's wonderful about creating and owning one's IP is that you can take it any direction you want. And that's what we're going to do. Stay tuned!" Fuse launched earlier this week on Xbox 360 and PS3. It's a co-op arcade shooter published under the EA Partners program. Our time with the game may not have been the most enjoyable, but there's certainly room for improvement there.
PSN Tuesday: The Last of Us pre-orders, Imaginstruments on Vita
This week's PlayStation Store update enables pre-orders for Naughty Dog's The Last of Us, bundled with a PSN theme, the soundtrack and some avatars. The PS3 exclusive is slated to launch on PSN and in stores on June 14, 2013, and should be playable as soon as it's downloaded halfway. Grid 2 and Fuse are also available through PSN today, launching alongside their retail counterparts. Rockstar's The Warriors is also on the menu, making its PS2 Classics debut for $10. Meanwhile, PlayStation Plus subscribers can download a free copy of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend on PS Vita, as well as a free PS Vita music app, Imaginstruments.
Fuse review: Shoot first
Fuse is that bad movie your friends like to sit down and slice apart. It's best played with friends, where teamwork and some interesting weaponry help dull the blunt impact of bad game design, awkward animations and a lack of atmosphere. Without friends, Fuse is nearly intolerable, hampered by inept AI teammates and even thicker enemies. By yourself, every animation quirk and odd design choice frustrates as you wonder who could have seen the same problems and given them the thumbs up.%Gallery-170888%
Fuse ignites launch trailer, new screens
"Shit gets really weird" in Fuse. Not our words, but those of Overstrike 9's Dalton Brooks. Still, would be a great tagline for Fuse, or any game for that matter. Oh well, Insomniac's Fuse will have to make do without when it launches on May 28 for PS3 and Xbox 360. %Gallery-188572%
PSN Tuesday: Sleeping Dogs free on PS Plus; Papo & Yo on sale
United Front's open-world action game, Sleeping Dogs, is now available for free to PlayStation Plus members as part of Instant Game Collection. Papo & Yo is available for $9 this week (or $12 if you want the soundtrack tossed in), while Retro City Rampage is down to $7.50. Fatal Frame 2 joins the PS2 Classics list, and a multiplayer demo for Fuse teases Insomniac's latest shooter before its launch later this month. Check the PlayStation Blog for the full list of new content.
PSA: Fuse demo sparks up XBLM, PSN today
The demo of Insomniac's Fuse, formerly Insomniac's Overstrike, melds with the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network today. It's already available on XBLM (all 1.45GB of it), while PSN gets it later today. The demo lets you play a portion of the four-player shooter's campaign either offline with AI partners, or online. If you go online you can play solo with the option to invite friends, or with friends able to join you at any time. You can also play co-op via matchmaking.
Fuse demo available May 7
Co-op shooter Fuse will let you take it for a test drive on May 7. Available through Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, the demo supports solo play, four-player co-op (or two player split-screen), allowing a group to try out the four operatives of the Overstrike squad. "When it comes to Fuse, the biggest thing we've noticed when sharing it with others for the first time is that playing is believing," said Insomniac CEO Ted Price. Players can use the LEAP function to jump between the four characters, making it accessible to solo players as well. Fuse is scheduled for retail insertion and home extraction on May 28 and 31 in North America and Europe, respectively.
Fuse reportedly does many things in latest trailer, won't iron wrinkles
Fuse will change the way we go to war, the way we hunt, the way we profit. It will topple governments and show the world vulnerability. However, there's a wrinkle. Fuse does not scotchgard or starch shirts. Prepare to iron May 28.
Report: EA Partners label to close
EA is reportedly shuttering its third-party co-publishing Partners label, responsible for bringing out the likes of the Crysis series, Shadows of the Damned, Alice: Madness Returns, Bulletstorm, Brutal Legend, and the Rock Band series among many others.According to Game Informer, who note "multiple anonymous sources close to the matter," the Partners label will be terminated "soon." Game Informer's sources say the purported closure shouldn't affect Insomniac's Fuse and Respawn Entertainment's unannounced project being released, despite both games being tied to the label.The report follows news of widespread layoffs at EA earlier this month, as well as the apparent retirement of its Playfish line. There are also reports of the EA Mobile Brazil and BioWare Social studios closing, as well as one in based in London, UK.We've reached out to EA for comment.
No online pass for Fuse, demo 'closer to release'
Insomniac Games will present a demo prior to Fuse's launch on May 28, for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 players, the developer has confirmed in an online FAQ. Fuse will support split-screen and online play, lacks micro-transactions and will not ship with an online pass.Originally billed as Overstrike, Fuse was delayed earlier this year before a final launch date of May 28 was settled upon. All pre-orders unlock additional gear for each of the headless four protagonists.
Fuse lights up May 28 in NA, May 31 in EU
Delayed until the second quarter of 2013 last January, Insomniac's Fuse has found itself a couple of new release dates: May 28 for North America, and May 31 for Europe, EA announced.Pre-ordering the game will grant armor and weapons for each of Fuse's four characters, including "Hyperion Prototype Agent Armor Skins, "Hyperion Prototype Agent Weapon Skins," and a "Quickdraw Team Perk" that increases the damage done by one-handed weapons for everyone in your party.
Fuse infographics offer all the fictional facts
And here we thought all the humor left Fuse with the name change. The last Fuse trailers were pretty dark, with the occasional one-liner balanced by one of the heroes setting fire to a car with a guy in it, but now EA and Insomniac offer two infographics densely packed with joke "information."These completely fake infographics give us an important piece of (real) information: that we should expect the studio's trademark humor to shine through in the new game. Or at least in its marketing.%Gallery-180559%
Meet Fuse's 'Overstrike 9,' a team of four
Despite what you may have seen, the members of the Fuse Overstrike 9 team have faces. And they use them to see where to shoot, and to issue one-liners at one another.
