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Microsoft built Halo 5's weapons 'from scratch' for Xbox One
Halo 5: Guardians' soundtrack isn't the only aspect of the game's audio that got an overhaul -- the developers at 343 Industries had to reimagine what the Xbox One exclusive's weapons sound like, too. Because of the sheer amount of sounds happening at once during firefights, 343 had to figure out some creative ways to keep the aural calamity in check. It's quite a bit different in scale from 343's last outing, 2012's Halo 4, where there was a handful of characters on screen simultaneously, as opposed to 40 or 50 in the forthcoming sequel. "We have many more sounds and the mixing is a very challenging situation," 343 Industries audio director Sotaro Tojima said in a recent interview. "We're establishing pretty much all the weapon sounds from scratch again for Xbox One."
Here's how 'Halo 5: Guardians' multiplayer rankings work
Halo 5: Guardians is almost upon us, and once the campaign credits roll (or the game itself finishes installing on your Xbox One, depending on your style) you might be curious how multiplayer ranking works. Wonder no more because it's similar to League of Legends according to a post on Halo Waypoint. Your starting placement in matchmade Arena games is determined by how you fare in your first ten games. That "Competitive Skill Rating" breaks down into seven categories: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Onyx and Champion. The post stresses that the only way to increase your rank after those initial ten matches are set is by winning.
This is what success looks like on Twitch
Twitch is exactly what you make of it. Looking for some dating advice while a broadcaster drinks wine and plays Minesweeper? There's a channel for that. How about a corny sci-fi show about a guy sent back from the future to conquer video games before they turn sentient and kill us all? You're covered there, too. And while those two channels on the livestreaming service are wildly different from one another, they share a commonality: Each requires a grueling amount of work to produce on a regular basis. Respective creators Sonja "OMGitsfirefoxx" Reid and Futureman Gaming took different paths to make it into Twitch's highly coveted Partner program, a revenue-sharing system between some 12,000 contracted broadcasters and the service. But their motivation to succeed hasn't stopped since they've "made it" and now earn a living from streaming on the site.
Twitch made multitasking a lot easier on iOS 9
In case you hadn't heeded that red flag on the App Store icon and downloaded the latest update for Twitch, you might want to fix that. The latest version of the streaming app favored by gamers adds a pop-out option for the game feed window for multitasking (like Android got months ago) and a couple of features that're very specific to iOS 9's new bag of tricks. Specifically, you can have a player window popped out of the app, hit the web browser or app of your choosing and then pop Twitch chat into its own pane. As the official Twitch blog tells it, that's available on most newer iPad models. However, Split View (where you have two fill apps running at once, only works with the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 4.
Wii U emulator (almost) runs 'Mario Kart 8' on your PC
Want a Wii U but don't want to own Nintendo's latest console? That's sort of possible now. I emphasize the "sort of" because the recently released Cemu emulator is almost entirely broken at this point. There isn't proper gamepad support, there's absolutely no audio and the game video stutters and glitches pretty badly in most cases if the titles launch at all. For example, in Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD's attract mode (the opening menu screen), little Toon Link looks he has some seriously Donnie Darko-esque energy tubes coming out of his chest, stretching far out from his cliffside overlook on Outset Island. Peep it in the video embedded below. "Contains basically no optimizations," the download page reads. "Expect slow frame rates and long load times."
Playdate: Putting your custom 'Super Mario Maker' levels to the test
When we asked for your Super Mario Maker levels you guys and gals responded in a big way. Don't believe us? We have a Gmail folder with over 300 responses to prove you otherwise, and more keep coming in every day. Sean and myself were absolutely floored by the creativity the Playdate community showed and honestly it was hard to narrow the field down to just 30 or so entires. Sadly we had to do just that because we only have two hours to broadcast. Did your masterpiece make the cut? Tune in starting at 6PM Eastern / 3PM Pacific and find out as we run through nothing but community-built death traps either on this post, the Engadget Gaming homepage or Twitch.tv/joystiq if you want to join in our chat.
'Overwatch' is Blizzard's first all-new game in years, see it Thursday
Legendary game developer Blizzard hasn't released an entirely new game (not counting spin-offs of existing franchises; lookin' at you Hearthstone and World of Warcraft) in over 17 years, which is why Overwatch is so intriguing. We haven't heard much about it either, but that should change this week during a Twitch stream with a pair of prominent broadcasters (Ellohime and HayliNic) playing the game for some 90 minutes along with live developer commentary. Blizzard says that the broadcast should give a better idea of what the upcoming beta will contain, actually. The multiplayer shooters' streams will live on each broadcaster's channel and start at 1PM ET / 10AM PT. Who knows, maybe we'll finally get release dates for the beta and the game proper soon.
Playdate: Giving away Snake's watch with 'Metal Gear Online'
Metal Gear Online hasn't even been active a week and yet and it's dealing with some pretty serious issues. First there's the whole real-money for in-game insurance thing, and as Eurogamer reports, there's a load of balancing and server issues too. But, who needs a game when you could have bitchin' watch modeled after the one Big Boss/Venom Snake/Who Even Knows wears in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain? While you're enjoying today's broadcast you have the distinct chance to win just that: a Seiko watch that's subtle enough to not trigger any alarms, but those in the know will give a hearty smile if they spot it. Winner: Congratulations to Alex B. of Glendale, CA!
TwitchCon made me a Twitch convert
I'm going to admit this right up front: I wasn't looking forward to covering the first-ever TwitchCon. Sure, I co-host our weekly Playdate broadcasts and absolutely adore talking with our community of regulars who show up three times per week to watch us play games, but outside of that, I didn't spend time on Twitch. My worry for TwitchCon was that I'd be trapped inside Moscone West in San Francisco with thousands of screaming "personalities" -- like the guy I'd watched (for approximately 45 seconds, max) shout and swear his way through Choice Chamber, for an entire weekend. That all changed after attending a number of panels and talking with some of the biggest broadcasters on the service. This first show was one of the best events I've been to for work, period. And I recently found myself doing something I never thought: watching Twitch for fun.
Playdate: Revisiting 'Uncharted' in 'The Nathan Drake Collection'
PlayStation doesn't have an official mascot character, but if it did, developer Naughty Dog's Nathan Drake would probably fit the bill. Much like Microsoft did last year with Halo: The Master Chief Collection to get fans ready for Halo 5: Guardians on Xbox One, Sony's gone back and revamped the three main Uncharted games and put them into Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection to prep folks for next spring's Uncharted 4: A Thief's End on PlayStation 4. How do the eight, six and four year old games hold up? And was the remastering really necessary? Tune in on this post, Twitch.tv/joystiq (if you'd like to join us in chat) or the Engadget Gaming homepage at 6pm Eastern / 3pm Pacific as myself and Sean Buckley find out.
'Indivisible' is a hand-drawn JRPG that needs your help
The folks behind Skullgirls are at it again, and this time they're taking to crowdfunding platform IndieGoGo for a hand in creating a gorgeous hand-drawn role-playing game, Indivisible. As BoingBoing points out, perhaps one of the more interesting aspects of the whole deal here is how it's being funded. The game's total budget is $3.5 million, and if the IndieGoGo campaign reaches its $1.5 million goal, publisher 505 Games (Adr1ft, Abzu) will kick in the balance. If you're hesitant about throwing money down, there's a demo prototype available that you can download for Windows.
'Star Wars: Battlefront' beta opens wide Thursday at 1PM ET
You watched our stream of Star Wars: Battlefront but you didn't win one of the early access codes we were giving away and you feel a little left out. That's understandable, but know this: Come Thursday at 1PM ET / 10AM PT, you can play for yourself regardless of luck. Make sure you have at least 8GB of free space on your PlayStation 4 and Xbox One or 11GB open on your PC's hard drive though. Word comes via the game's community manager on Twitter. Need something to do until the beta unlocks for you? The embedded Playdate video below will make your wait just over two hours shorter.
Amazon-owned Twitch finally overhauls its Fire TV app
You'd think that since Amazon owns Twitch, Fire TV devices would be the lead platform for its apps but that isn't the case. However, the latest update for the streaming service favored by gamers on Bezos' set-top box is pretty significant and mirrors a lot of what's available on the console and mobile apps. It even outdoes them in a few ways. Of course you can watch plenty of live streams and the top games being played, but the update also brings in profile pages so you can check out exactly who those broadcasters are and check out their archived videos while you're at it.
'Destiny' is getting microtransactions, but don't panic yet
Destiny is getting microtransactions. Unlike item cool-downs or the obnoxious stuff that's intrinsic to all those Facebook distractions that clog up your news feed, however, these purchases aren't game-impacting. No, come October 13th they'll take the form of emotes and other cosmetic items. Developer Bungie stresses repeatedly that these will not impact your performance in any way should you not buy them. "You won't lose a Crucible (adversarial multiplayer) encounter or fail to clear a raid because you didn't have the right" emote equipped, the blog post says.
Cortana won't help you on Xbox One until next year
If you were hoping to experience Cortana's most helpful version on your Xbox One this year, you might have to settle for her possible appearance in Halo 5 at the end of the month instead. The virtual assistant won't make her full debut to owners of Microsoft's latest console until early next year. Don't fret though: Redmond spokesperson Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb says that the voice from Master Chief's ear will be available to folks in the Xbox One's Dashboard Preview Program later this fall. There's a joke to be made about rampancy in this news -- I'm almost sure of it. Oh, and speaking of Halo 5, there's a new live-action trailer out today (embedded after the break) that nurtures the seeds of doubt in Spartan 117 that Microsoft's been sowing since the first teaser hit.
Playdate: Grinding through 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5'
The reviews are in and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 is... not looking good. When I played the game in Chicago earlier this year, it was fine. There were a few glitches here and there, sure, but it was an early version of the game and that's to be expected. The game crashed a few times, but it wasn't anything like I've seen in various videos that've surfaced online this week. It's a sad state of affairs that games are releasing this buggy and possibly broken even two years into the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One's lifecycle. There is light at the end of this tunnel though: You can save yourself some grief by watching Sean Buckley and myself broadcast the game this afternoon instead of buying it for yourself. What's more, we have four skateboard decks signed by Tony Hawk himself to giveaway! Join us for both starting at 6pm ET / 3pm PT. Winners: Congratulations to Sam G. of Brooklyn, NY, Jonny R of Gastonia, NC, Hongbo S. of Los Angeles, CA. and Vincent L. of Austin, TX!
Deadmau5 is on Twitch
If it weren't for Deadmau5's terrible broadband speeds, he wouldn't be on Twitch, the live video-streaming site favored by gamers. Prior to moving to the Canadian countryside just outside of Toronto and building "a goddamned death ray" in his back yard to get paltry 5 Mbps downloads, the electronic musician, whose real name is Joel Zimmerman, had relied on a gigabit connection to broadcast music-making sessions in 2K resolution using his own data service provider. "The quality was pretty comparable [to Twitch], but I didn't have a social network behind it to help it along," he said during an interview from the first-ever TwitchCon. Now his TriCaster streaming setup is as good as "a $50,000 doorstop," and he instead uses the open-source OBS streaming software to broadcast games like Rocket League, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive; and studio recording sessions from his basement like the rest of us.
How Netflix works in virtual reality, and why it's not HD
It's true, the Netflix VR app is ready for your compatible* Samsung phone and Gear VR headset (if you don't see it, try uninstalling and reinstalling the Oculus app), and has a virtual living room for you to chill in. Oculus CTO John Carmack worked with Netflix on the app, and in a post to the tech blog explained how it all comes together. Besides the technical details of how the app creates a screen inside a virtual environment, and includes controls for use while browsing or viewing, Carmack also explained one more thing: the streaming video in VR is limited to standard definition (720x480). According to Carmack, because the area you're actually looking at is only composed of so many pixels, 720p is the highest res video you should consider for VR right now. The reason he can't hit that mark? Content protection, aka DRM.
PlayStation is finally getting a dedicated Twitch app
PlayStation 4 is finally getting a proper Twitch app. As you can see from the render above, it looks a lot like the one you'll find on the Xbox One. Twitch cofounder and CEO Emmett Shear took the stage during the TwitchCon keynote and said that the app on Sony's current-gen console will have full chat integration and even have full support for emoticons (whatup, Kappa?) and highlight PS4 broadcasts much like the Live From PlayStation app currently does. The difference here is that you won't be limited to only PS4 broadcasts. Want to watch a League of Legends tournament? Have at it once the application launches this fall. What's more, Twitch is also coming to PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and PlayStation TV.
Watch the first-ever TwitchCon keynote right here!
What do you do when you're a burgeoning video game start-up that gets bought by Amazon for just under a billion dollars? Well, if you're game-broadcasting platform Twitch, you take over the Moscone Center in San Francisco for a few days and host all manner of panels featuring the top people in your community, game developers and maybe even a few musical guests. TwitchCon kicks off with a keynote address at 1 pm ET / 10 am PT today and you can watch it below via, you guessed it, a Twitch streaming window. In addition to the opening address the weekend's panels and interviews will be broadcast as well.
