hd
Latest
Microsoft opens Xbox-to-Windows game streaming up to everyone
Microsoft's removed the Xbox-to-PC game-streaming restrictions and now anyone with Redmond's latest console and Windows 10 can play Sunset Overdrive or attempt to jump into a few online Halo: The Master Chief Collection matches on their device. More than that, some pretty big new features are hitting the Windows 10 Xbox app including party chat and tweaks to how screenshots and video clips are shared via the Game DVR.
Watch the world's biggest fighting game tournament right here
This weekend over 6,000 folks from 47 countries will descend into Las Vegas to kick the (virtual) snot out of each other. That's because the 13th annual Evolution fighting game tournament, otherwise known as Evo 2015, starts today with world warriors competing across nine games including Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat X, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Ultra Street Fighter IV. They're battling for over $300,000 in prize money and in case you couldn't make it to Sin City for the show, we've got you covered. The competition starts at 12 pm Eastern / 9 am Pacific today and goes until the final street fighting man or woman is defeated Sunday night. As you might expect, the entire event's being broadcast via Twitch and you can park it right here on Engadget to watch the whole thing!
'Mortal Kombat' and 'NBA Jam' documentary needs your help
In the 1990s, one name ruled the arcade scene: Midway Games. From Mortal Kombat to NBA Jam, Revolution X, NARC and San Francisco Rush, you knew what you were going to get when you popped a few quarters into a cabinet: fast, loud, aggressive games. But what's the story behind those titles? How did the studio come to practically dominate an entire sector of gaming? That's what Josh Tsui, co-founder of Chicago-based game developer Robomodo, wants to tell you with his new documentary, Insert Coin: Inside Midway's 90s Revolution.
Twitch's 'Choice Chamber' is here, will make you hate your viewers
Ah simpler, pre-internet, times: when screwing up someone's perfect game was as easy as "accidentally" tripping over those absurdly short controller wires during a pal's perfect Sonic The Hedgehog run. Choice Chamber, the first title funded in part by game-broadcasting juggernaut Twitch brings that sort of griefing into the modern era and it's out now. A brief recap: while playing the game and broadcasting it on your channel, the audience in chat has a direct impact on what happens next in the 2D side-scroller. So if I'm feeling particularly nasty, I could set one of the game's procedurally-generated rooms on fire and give someone's player character the pogo ability, which makes them jump around all willy nilly. You know, if I was in a dour mood and could get the folks in chat to agree with me (I am very charming).
'Goat Simulator' headbutting its way to PS4 and PS3 August 11th
Your wildest caprine fantasies are about to come true, PlayStation owners. How's that? On August 11th, Goat Simulator hits PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. From the sounds of it all the irreverence from the PC and Xbox One versions will be present (wild glitches, taking to the skies, head-butting all the things) as well as something developer Coffee Stain Studios calls GoatVR. It's dubbed "the most authentic simulated GoatVR experience" and it apparently doesn't require Project Morpheus. A post on the PlayStation Blog notes that the team "still needs to do that part where it connects to an actual headset" but it isn't actually required for the version present in the game. We've reached out to Coffee Stain for some clarification and to see if it's just another example of their absurdist humor; we'll update this post should we hear back.
Macabre indie puzzler 'Year Walk' coming to Wii U this year
While the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One get most of the attention when it comes to indie games, Nintendo's Wii U has quietly built a solid stable of them as well. The latest? Creepy puzzler Year Walk from Swedish studio Simogo. Yeah, it's appeared on a number of other platforms before, but the company promises that the version coming to the Wii U is no lazy port -- it's been entirely rebuilt with the console's unique characteristics in mind by the folks at Dakko Dakko. For instance, the GamePad is used extensively throughout be it for note taking or accessing the game's encyclopedia and map. You can use motion controls in conjunction with analog sticks to look around, and Simogo says that while that might scare some folks off, it's actually pretty chill and the required input movements are subtle.
Epic Games is the latest hacking victim
Not even a chainsaw bayonette (or the stealthy gent up above) could stop Epic Games from falling prey to hackers. The Unreal Engine-maker sent emails to members of its forums announcing that unauthorized access to usernames, email addresses, passwords and birthdates may have been accessed by an intruder. From the sounds of it, the only channels affected were related to Bulletstorm, Gears of War, Infinity Blade, UDK, and older Unreal Tournament titles.
'Dead Island 2' needs a new developer
Dead Island 2 is dead. For now at least. Publisher Deep Silver sent out an update today announcing that it's no longer working with the open-world zombie-massacre/absurd-weapon-crafting simulator sequel's developer, Yager, on the title. "With Dead Island 2, Deep Silver has always been dedicated to delivering the sequel that Dead Island fans deserve," the statement reads. "After careful consideration, today we announce the decision to part ways with development partner Yager." The email goes on to say that the publisher will "continue working towards bringing" its vision of the game to life and will have more info in the future. Deep Silver and Yager showed a very early version of the game off at E3 in 2014, but it wasn't all that impressive and the game didn't look anywhere close to the intentionally cheesy cinematic trailer that premiered during Sony's media briefing, either.
PlayStation Now is a tech miracle, but it's no Netflix for games
Sony wants you to want PS Now, its Netflix-like game-streaming service. The problem is, the company doesn't seem to know how to build that desire. Though the recent app relaunch has seen the service's user interface improve considerably, the same can't be said for the user experience. I used PS Now on the PlayStation 4 almost exclusively for a week and by the time my seven-day trial was set to expire, I still couldn't find a compelling reason to pay for the service -- let alone recommend it to a friend. With Netflix, the value is apparent: $8 per month for on-demand access to thousands of movies and TV shows. Sure the visual and audio quality of that streaming library might not be on par with its Blu-ray counterparts, but the convenience outweighs any cons. For PS Now, that same trade-off isn't quite worth it.
The Big Picture: 'Dark Souls' gets creepy with 'Limbo'-like mod
The Dark Souls series might not be the game for those folks who lack patience, but what you see up above is something just about anyone can appreciate. Reddit user CystisomaMagna was fooling around with the Reshade mod for the game and happened across some settings that turned the world of Lordran into a monochromatic, but still absolutely dangerous, wonderland. The user notes that the Limbo-esque modification isn't just for show, and that it's even possible to keep the game's HUD intact with it active. It might not get you soft-banned, either. Wanna know how to activate it on your system? That's what the videos embedded below are for.
Twitch on Android can stream 'Hearthstone' while you play
Twitch loves Android. Following its persistent player that debuted on Google's mobile OS this past April, the game-broadcasting outfit's premiering a pop-out player window on the platform. Once popped, you can adjust the size at will and when you're done, go back to the app to find the next broadcast to jump into. The implications of such, as noted on the Twitch blog, are that you could effectively watch someone play Hearthstone while you play a game of it yourself. Yo dawg.
Someone made real-life 'Splatoon' weapons
Sure, they're basically portable pressure-washer guns but they're still strong enough to knock a grown man on his ass.
'Battletoads' is getting a Comic-Con exclusive vinyl soundtrack
The rumors circling a Battletoads return came to a head at E3 this year with the announcement of the Rare Replay collection, and Microsoft didn't waste its next tradeshow appearance for a chance to capitalize on the hype. Folks roaming San Diego Comic Con can pick up a limited edition soundtrack for the amphibious beat 'em up on a very fitting yellow and green 180 gram LP. If the cover art up above looks a little familiar, that's because it was done by the same artist responsible for Run the Jewels' records, Nick Gazin. The SDCC run is $25, limited to 300 copies and features different art than what'll be sold outside of the show later this year, according to Entertainment Weekly.
These are our favorite video game soundtracks
Music can tame the most savage beast, but when you're slinking around a cargo ship as a super spy, playing cowboy or making your way toward a massive mountain in the distance, sometimes you don't want calm. You want dirty, wistful or haunting tracks to fit the action onscreen. The best video game scores stick with you long after you turn the TV off, though, and that's what we want to highlight here. We're pretty big fans of how they've progressed throughout the years from simple beeps and boops to full-blown symphonic masterpieces that've traveled through concert halls around the world. Just below you'll find the scores the Engadget Gaming crew's most fond of and one that we don't particularly care for but felt like calling attention to anyhow. Have a favorite of your own that didn't make the list? Hit the comments below.
Survey shows boys think women are underrepresented in video games
A recent exploratory study conducted by Time has found that 47 percent of middle-school and 61 percent of high-school-aged boys believe that female characters in video games are too often treated as sex objects. The survey was conducted to examine issues of sexism in video games and asked over 1,400 students about their feelings surrounding how women are depicted in the medium. What's more, 70 percent of girls surveyed said that the gender of a protagonist doesn't factor into them playing a game while a surprising 78 percent of boys said the same. And 58 percent of boys who identified as gamers think there should be more female heroes in game, like Bayonetta up above, for example. Oh, and reassuringly "very few" of the respondents knew what Gamergate was. Phew.
These were E3 2015's best games
E3 is (thankfully) over, and that means the press that cover the event have recently cast their votes for what they thought were the best games from the show. You know those blurbs on box art saying "winner of over 90 awards" and the like? This is partly where they come from. Collectively known as The Game Critics Awards, the governing body for them is made up of staff from over 30 editorial outlets, including Engadget, that attended gaming's Paris Fashion Week. For a game to even be up for consideration though, it has to be playable -- a stage demo or non-interactive trailer won't cut it. What's it mean for you? In the end, a better idea about what it's like to actually play the biggest games from E3, because we got to go hands-on with them. Without further ado, the winners are in the gallery below. Spoiler: Fallout 4 was pretty successful.
PlayStation Now's streaming app wants to be Netflix for games
PlayStation Now's all-you-can-play game subscription service launched back in January on PlayStation 4, but the method for actually playing those games has been kind of a nightmare. Today's news of a dedicated subscription app might change that. Before this, every time you wanted to stream a new game, you had to go through the PlayStation Store, sift through a handful of menus, pick something (much like you would to purchase a game) and then hope that it even launched the first try. A streaming app that minimizes menu fatigue and works along the lines of a Netflix or Hulu actually makes a lot of sense here.
Instagram's storing HD images but won't let you see them (update)
According to The Verge, Instagram has begun storing images at 1080 x 1080 pixels, far larger than the standard 640 x 640 pixels they are stored as now. The thing is, you can't actually see the larger images natively in either the web version or the apps. They actually only show up as recently uploaded photos and even then, you'll need to dig around in the source code to actually see them. To do so, go to the desktop version of Instagram and navigate to any of your recently uploaded images. Open the page source code, invoke the Find function and search for '.jpg". That URL will lead you to a 1080 x 1080 version of the image. Huzzah? Still, the larger photos could portend a bigger, better viewing experience in future versions of the app -- or at least HD advertising.
This is the Nintendo PlayStation that almost was
It might seem crazy today, but in the early '90s Nintendo and Sony were working together on a video game accessory that'd add CD capabilities to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. There would also be a separate Sony console that'd play SNES cartridge games and titles for the SNES CD system dubbed the PlayStation. As legend tells it, the deal went sour when Nintendo instead announced a partnership with Sony's competitor Philips for the optical add-on at the same CES that Sony unveiled its Nintendo-centric PlayStation. The rest is history. What you see above might as well be a unicorn, then.
N64 controller modded to (sort of) work with the Xbox One
Microsoft has an exorbitant $150 controller coming this year that it hopes will make up for the Xbox One's middling gamepad, but that won't make the upcoming Rare Replay feel any more authentic when you play. The folks at Hyperkin -- makers of the Retron 5 console -- know this and set forth a challenge: mod a Nintendo 64 controller to work with Microsoft's latest game console. And they succeeded. Mostly. As you'll see in the video below, the three-pronged paddle can navigate the console's dashboard and select apps, but, since there's only one analog stick, that rules out it playing nicely with a vast majority of modern games. The wiring is a bit wonky and certain inputs trigger at random, but, from the sounds of it, the project is far from over.
