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JXE Streams: digging through the 'Rare Replay' vault
More than any other artistic medium, video games have a dire need to preserve their history. Unlike movies, books or music, it's incredibly hard to enjoy a classic game years or even decades after its release because of how quickly the technology powering gaming advances. Lately though, the influx of HD remasters and digital distribution have made it really easy to enjoy works from years gone by. So when Microsoft announced Rare Replay at this year's E3, the idea of 30 (!!!) games from developer Rare's past being playable on a modern console struck a chord with many people. But how do games from the UK studio's storied history hold up to? Join us at 3PM PT / 6PM ET on Twitch.tv/Joystiq, right in this post or on the Engadget Gaming homepage to find out as we broadcast two solid hours of classic Rare weirdness.
Xbox Live and ID@Xbox indie games coming to HoloLens
Microsoft's promise of unifying its disparate platforms with Windows 10 has even more going for it with some surprise announcements ahead of this week's Gamescom show in Germany. We knew that Xbox Live was coming to the desktop -- for free, even -- but that extends to HoloLens too. That's right: online multiplayer, friends lists and your achievements (anything tied to Redmond's gaming service, from the sounds of it) will be available on the augmented reality headset, according to VRFocus. The site also reports that HoloLens, Windows 10 and Xbox One will share a universal store for apps and the like "in time." Some purchases will also apparently be pay-once-play-anywhere affairs too. And similar to Microsoft's push to get Android and iOS developers to bring their apps to Windows 10, the ID@Xbox program will work to court indie game developers and extend across Redmond's latest operating system, HoloLens and Windows Phone.
A look at the evolution of modern video game controllers
If anything's kept pace with how video games have changed over the years, it's how we interact with them. Our biggest touchpoint with virtual worlds is the gamepad and -- akin to how games themselves have evolved from simple 2D affairs into 100-hour-long labyrinths in three dimensions -- controllers have changed to accommodate that. What you'll find in the gallery below is a comprehensive look at gamepads from the past 30-plus years of gaming, including high points and missteps alike. [Image: Adafruit Industries/Flickr]
PlayStation Plus members will soon vote on what games go free
Sure, PlayStation Plus subscribers are used to getting "free" games every month, but they haven't had any say about what the gratis titles would be. Until now. With Vote to Play, you'll have a chance to make your voice heard. PlayStation VP of platforms marketing John Koller writes on the PlayStation Blog that the game with the most votes will automatically be added to the upcoming month's offerings, and that in the first round of voting the runner-up will be available at a discount. Pretty cool, huh? Exactly how the voting process will work (if there will be videos or whatnot to help make informed choices) isn't clear just yet, but Koller writes that more info is coming soon enough. The real question though is if you would've voted for Rocket League, the dark horse from last month's promo that's absolutely dominating the gaming conversation right now.
'Endless Space 2' hopes to sate your space-faring strategy thirst
The million-selling Endless series of strategy games is expanding with the fourth entry, Endless Space 2. It takes place in the same universe as the previous releases, but at the "space colonization age of different civilizations" within it. If you sign up for the official newsletter you'll unlock a special in-game character, and spamming ten of your friends will get you a badge of honor and some in-game points. More details beyond those are teased for Gamescom next week, according to developer Amplitude Studios. To help hold you over, the team's put together an interactive teaser video (enter fullscreen, hold the space bar to swap viewpoints) that you'll find just below.
'Yooka-Laylee' snags a publisher after record-breaking Kickstarter
What's the next step after fully funding your game in 40 minutes on Kickstarter? If you're the team behind Yooka-Laylee, Playtonic, you get a publisher to help with stuff like localization (translating dialogue and text for different regions), QA testing and other unglamorous but still necessary elements of game development. To wit, the former Banjo Kazooie creatives have hooked up with indie label Team17, perhaps best known for the Worms and Alien Breed franchises. This partnership means that Playtonic can worry about working on the game itself while Team17 takes care of the more menial bits and bobs. Good thing, too considering Playtonic is still planning to hit a simultaneous October 2016 release across PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Wii U. If you'd like to check out more, hit the jump for our interview with the folks from the studio.
'Fallout 4' won't support user mods this fall
One of the biggest surprises from E3 this year was that Fallout 4 would support user mods across PC and Xbox One. That's still in the cards, but it definitely won't happen at launch. Of course, that's because the tools that'd allow you to, say, replace the game's fearsome bear-like enemies the Yao Guai with 3D models of Yogi the Bear don't exist yet according to IGN. Publisher Bethesda Softworks' vice president of marketing Pete Hines says that the team's focus is on making sure the game ships on time. "Our entire focus is on finishing the game," he said. "Nobody cares about mods if the game sucks." Concise! Once Fallout 4 proper is done (and the team likely takes a bit of a break), work on The Creation Kit will begin; it'll take "clearly into next year," according to Hines.
Former 'Dead Island 2' developer can't pay its bills
The situation with Dead Island 2 and developer Yager took another turn today as the company announced it's filing for insolvency. Yager Productions, the team formed to work on the zombie sequel, can't pay the money it owes to debtors. "At the moment, there are different options to be assessed while wages for employees have been secured for the upcoming months," a company statement reads. The filing is a direct result of being removed from Dead Island 2's development, managing director Timo Ullmann writes. Insolvency helps protect the company's staff and will allow "time to sort out the best options for reogranizing this entity," he says. The rest of Yager, including the team working on the sci-fi, ship-to-ship combat game Dreadnought are in the clear however and are "independent and remain unaffected" by today's news.
'Titanfall' is going free-to-play in Asia
Free-to-play games are big business outside of America and Titanfall is the next big shooter joining the ranks of Halo and Call of Duty in taking that route. Publisher Electronic Arts is working with Nexon (the company behind Maple Story and FIFA Online 3) to take developer Respawn Entertainment's mech-based shooter to China, Japan, Korea, Macau and regions of Southeast Asia including Cambodia and Thailand. Naturally, it'll only be a PC version of the game since that plays well in internet cafes, but any other details aren't known at this point. However, the F2P model could actually translate pretty easily considering the game's Burn Card system that rewards players with single-use power-ups is similar to how existing microtransaction-based games function. Stand by for Titanfall, Asia.
Microsoft has a trick for making holograms from live video
We've seen Microsoft's HoloLens do an awful lot of different things so far, but Halo, Minecraft and even medical applications are just scratching the surface of what the augmented reality headset is capable of. In a new research paper, Redmond outlines how it plans to grab live video that'd work as fodder for the device's holographic capabilities. Perhaps most importantly these holographic video feeds would be streamable over the internet, as Road to VR points out. By taking advantage of some 106 RGB and infrared cameras and a green screen, Microsoft says that it's able to capture, compress and recreate pretty lifelike results.
The latest 'King's Quest' adventure starts today
In case Shenmue 3 and a Castlevania spiritual successor were a bit too recent and console-centric for your nostalgia kick, maybe the new King's Quest will tickle your fancy. The hand-painted adventure game's first episode is out today across a wide swath of platforms (PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 an Xbox One, Windows). Creative director Matt Korba writes on the PlayStation Blog that the aim was to make a family-friendly game in an effort to bridge the gap between players of yore and today. What's more there are apparently quite a few references to the original games hidden here and there. Should you want to try and find 'em for yourself, it's $9.99 per episode or $39.99 for the season pass.
New Twitch rules let users restrict chat languages
It might be easy to broadcast your gameplay on Twitch, but engaging with the audience, attempting to be entertaining, playing whatever game you're streaming proficiently and keeping an eye on chat for trolls simultaneously is the exact opposite. A new feature from the Amazon-owned company should make at least the latter part a bit simpler, though. When you set your native tongue in "Broadcaster Language Mode," only folks who choose your selected language can chat. Basically, it's a way to help prevent people from using a different language to say stuff that'd otherwise get them banned.
'Submerged' sidesteps combat for exploration on PS4 and Xbox One
In case you've already finished Journey and are looking for another gorgeous game that eschews violence, Submerged hits PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in early August. From the sounds of it, the game should be a pretty relaxing affair despite the fact that protagonist Miku is searching a flooded city for a cure for her wounded younger brother. A post on the PlayStation Blog notes that you can explore at your own pace and climb around as you see fit. And as you do, you'll uncover the tale of how the world came to be flooded and a tale of an equally destroyed family. The game gets its good looks thanks to the absurdly powerful Unreal Engine 4, and I'm feeling a bit of an Enslaved: Odyssey to the West vibe from it, myself.
'Doom' multiplayer test run starts 'in the coming months'
It's time to put that Doom alpha code from your PlayStation 4, Xbox One or PC copy of Wolfenstein: The New Order to use if you already haven't redeemed it. Publisher Bethesda's announced that access to the Hell-bound shooter's first multiplayer test will open up "in the coming months." The post on Bethblog says that if you bought the game digitally there's no need to hassle with redeeming keys as you're automagically entered into the selection pool, too. Let's say you didn't buy the latest Wolfenstein though and only pre-ordered Doom after witnessing its big reveal at E3 last month. Well, in that case you have to wait for Doom's beta and that won't happen until next year ahead of the game's scheduled when it's done spring release window. Folks attending id's Quakecon in Texas this weekend, however, get a leg up on everyone else and have access to a pre-alpha build of the multiplayer mode.
JXE Streams: talking family with Batgirl in 'Arkham Knight'
Even if your only exposure to the Batman mythos is through the excellent Arkham series of games by developer Rocksteady, (especially the latest, Arkham Knight) you're pretty familiar with Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara. She's one of the constant voices in The Dark Knight's ear, and with the recent release of Knight's first downloadable episode we finally get to step into her shoes as Batgirl as she goes up against The Joker. How's it all play out? Your guess is as good as mine because I'm going in totally blind on PlayStation 4 starting at 6 pm Eastern / 3 pm Pacific.
These are your favorite video game soundtracks
Not that long ago we published a list of the Engadget crew's favorite game soundtracks. But, of course, we left some of your favorites out. Well, we listened. What you'll find below are a selection of soundtracks that y'all made impassioned pleas for in the comments and on Facebook and Twitter. The big takeaway? You gals and guys really like the music from Eastern-developed games like Chrono Trigger and Shadow of the Colossus. You'll find those along with other, perhaps more modern, examples as well.
Play 'Star Wars: KotOR 2' in 5K, on your Mac
So this whole year of Star Wars thing apparently includes dormant video games too, who knew? Despite the fact that the lesser of the two Knights of the Old Republic role-playing games released all the way back in 2004, it recently got a pretty huge update. Now KotOR 2: The Sith Lords is playable on Mac and Linux, available in the Mac App Store, has achievements, widescreen support and will even run in 4K and 5K resolution. If it's a console-like experience you're chasing, the game supports controllers too, including PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One gamepads. The title's Steam page teases mod support via Steam Workshop and even a "Force special effects" option in the game's menu. To find out exactly what the latter entails, you'll likely have to download it for yourself. [Image credit: theglobalpanorama/Flickr]
Hack makes playing 'Doom' on a computer inside 'Doom' a reality
You know, in case there isn't a printer, ATM or graphing calculator readily available.
Stephen Colbert dares you to 'Escape From a Man-Sized Cabinet'
The beard might be gone, but Stephen Colbert has a new way to entertain you ahead of his debut with The Late Show this September. Game-playing folks of a certain age with pretty fond memories of text-adventure Zork will surely get a bang out of Escape From the Man-Sized Cabinet where you venture into an office cabinet, choose from various text prompts ranging from euphemistically waking up a centaur to continuously standing inside the cabinet until... well, I'm not going to spoil the surprise for you. The writing is pretty funny throughout and clicking through the story is actually a pretty excellent way to get a few laughs before the weekend starts. Want to make your own and maybe add in a Grue? Well, considering that Escape is a Twine-made title, that probably isn't out of the realm of possibilities.
This is how 'Shenmue 3' raked in over $6 million on Kickstarter
Records, like rules, were made to be broken. Shenmue 3's Kickstarter campaign recently wrapped and upon doing so it set the bar for video-game projects on the crowdfunding platform by pulling in some $6.3 million in pledges. It's pretty impressive when you consider that just last month the previous record-holder, the Castlevania spiritual successor Bloodstained, raised over $5.5 million in a similar span of time. Both games come from legendary game developers striking out on their own (thanks to risk-averse publishers) and both are more or less the sequels fans have been asking for for years.
