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The best stories in 'Fallout 4' are the ones you can't spoil
A few weeks ago, a malicious person created a new user account on Engadget (a time-consuming process in its own right) and dropped a massive pair of Fallout 4 spoilers in the comments of my Pip-Boy edition write-up. Why? Because some people just want to destroy the fun of others. I absentmindedly read these "comments" and was bummed out because I thought the game I'd been waiting for since 2009 had been ruined. As it turns out, that wasn't the case.
Sony is adding PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility to the PS4
Sony and Electronic Arts have a Star Wars: Battlefront PlayStation 4 bundle available right now and with it comes a quartet of games from a long time ago and a galaxy far, far away (or at least as far as the PlayStation 2 era). Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, Star Wars Racer: Revenge and Super Star Wars come with the bundle via a single download code, and all bar one appear to be the original PS2 games running in emulation. The discovery comes via the tech-minded folks over at Digital Foundry who spotted a number of clues suggesting backwards compatibility had finally arrived. The evidence is in the details. As DF noted, the sophomore console's select and start buttons have been mapped to either side of the DualShock 4's touchpad, something only Sony, rather than Lucasarts Interactive can do.
Adorable, grisly adventure game 'Jenny LeClue' hits PS4 in 2016
Jenny LeClue is a coming-of-age story wrapped in a choose-your-own-adventure novel and tied up with the pixelated ribbon of a point-and-click detective game. And it's coming to PlayStation 4 next year, creator Joe Russ announced on the PlayStation Blog today. We've been keeping an eye on this one since its $105,800 Kickstarter in 2014 -- it's poised to be a witty and charming investigation game starring a pugnacious young woman, Jenny LeClue, on a mission to prove her mother is innocent of murder. However, Jenny is fictional even within the game, where she's the star of a series of (also fictional) choose-your-own-adventure novels. As Jenny hunts down evidence and discovers secrets in her sleepy, creepy town, her author narrates, and the two characters play off of each other in often-humorous ways.
'Hotline Miami' sale benefits the artists behind those wild soundtracks
Hotline Miami and Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number are both dense, addictive and brutal -- and a lot of those adjectives come courtesy of the games' soundtracks. In recognition of this musical magnificence, Dennaton Games is holding a sale this weekend that benefits the aural artists responsible for both Hotline Miami soundtracks. Hotline Miami 2 is 40 percent off ($9) and Hotline Miami is 75 percent off ($2.50), and 100 percent of the proceeds during this sale go directly to the games' musicians. The combo pack, offering both games, is just $11 during the sale, and both soundtracks are discounted as well: 75 percent off for Hotline Miami's ($2.50) and 40 percent off for the sequel's ($9). The sale is live now through Monday at 10AM PT. If you've never heard the Hotline Miami soundtracks (Seriously, what are you doing with your life?), listen to a few songs below.
Cyberpunk noir game 'Read Only Memories' heads to PS4 and Vita
Read Only Memories, a pixelated adventure game set in the futuristic city of Neo-San Fransisco, will make its way to PlayStation 4 and Vita "soon," developer Midboss announced in a new trailer. Midboss is composed of the folks behind the annual GaymerX convention, and Read Only Memories is a narrative-driven, sci-fi romp set in 2064 that happens to include an array of inclusive character options, such as the ability to choose your preferred gender pronoun. However, these options are almost a side-note to the game's emphasis on story, retro 2D gameplay and robust character interactions.
Playdate: Answering the 'Call of Duty' in 'Black Ops III"
Another year, another Call of Duty campaign. It's almost comforting -- an annual tradition of unlocking weapons, leveling up and ultimately realizing that we're a lot worse at this game than we remember. Join us on the Engadget Gaming homepage, here in this post or Twitch.tv/Joystiq starting at 6PM Eastern / 3PM Pacific for two hours of Call of Duty: Black Ops III. We'll be checking out the campaign and spending some time in team deathmatch to see just how bad Sean is at online shooters.
I just don't understand why Samsung's Galaxy View exists
The process is always the same. New gadget arrives, I use it heavily for a few days, and then slowly settle into the process of figuring out if it in fact serves a need in my life. Things were different with Samsung's massive 18-inch Galaxy View "tablet." I've had it for about two weeks now and I've utterly failed to find a use case for it. On the surface, it's not a bad product, but I just can't figure out why I'd buy one -- particularly at a price of $599.
Comcast's new streaming app doesn't count against your cap
Following T-Mobile's lead, Comcast is launching a new streaming TV app that will not count against users' data caps. The app, called Stream TV, is "an IP cable service delivered over [Comcast's] managed network to the home" company reps told Ars Technica. Since the data travels over Comcast's IP gateway rather than the internet proper, the traffic won't count against a user's monthly limit.
'Gravity Rush Remastered' launch date shifts up a week in Europe
Sony is doing the fine people of Europe a solid and pushing up the release date of Gravity Rush Remastered from February 10th to February 2nd. This is the new-and-improved, PlayStation 4 version of Gravity Rush, originally a (truly incredible) Vita game. Gravity Rush Remastered includes updated graphics, motion-sensing controls, and extra missions, costumes and challenges. The game is due to hit PS4 on February 9th in the US, in both digital and physical forms. A sequel, cleverly called Gravity Rush 2, is also on its way to PS4 -- and PS4 only, with no Vita version in sight.
Get some face time with a snarling dinosaur in virtual reality
Until the real version of Jurassic World opens the closest we'll get to going face-to-face with dinosaurs is in virtual reality. The folks at German game developer Crytek are helping that stopgap by releasing one of their Back to Dinosaur Island demos to the public via Steam for free. As VRFocus reports, this demo has been on the trade show circuit since this past March at the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco. Here you're seeing the world from the eyes of an infant dino hanging out in a nest of unhatched eggs as gigantic dragonflies flit about a gorgeous looking and sounding primeval forest. Oh you wanted terror? Don't fret because one of history's most impressive apex predators pokes its nose in for a view as well.
Garmin's working on an Android streaming stick for your TV
Although Garmin is mostly known for its GPS navigation systems, the company recently started expanding its scope to other things including wearables. Now, according to FCC documents, Garmin looks to be ready to introduce an Android-powered media stick. As Liliputing reports, Garmin's Vivohub 2 (pictured below) is described as a device that can turn your dumb TV into a smart one -- similar to products such as the Google Chromecast or Roku Streaming Stick. Strangely enough, the leaked user's manual suggests the Vivohub 2 runs 4.2 Jelly Bean, which is far from being the freshest version of Android. In addition to that, the stick is said to come with a 1GHz Amlogic AML826 dual-core processor, ARM Mali-400 graphics, 1GB of RAM and support for both Bluetooth and WiFi.
Too good to survive: The rise and fall of Rdio
Spotify is probably how most Americans were introduced to streaming music over the last four years or so -- the service has grown by leaps and bounds since it launched in the US in July of 2011. But a relatively small group of music fans were enjoying pretty much all that Spotify had to offer months before it hit the US. That group was using Rdio, and we'll now have to find a new option: Rdio will be dead soon, sold off to Pandora in a bankruptcy deal. The service will remain a cautionary tale about the brutality of survival in the streaming music world. A great product is important, but it's clearly not enough.
'Deus Ex: Mankind Divided' is delayed to August 2016
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is due to hit PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on August 23rd, 2016 -- though it was originally scheduled to launch on February 23rd. Eidos Montreal head David Anfossi announced the delay in a blog post titled, "No compromise on quality." He says, in part, "We're confident and proud of the game so far. However, as we are now playing through the game in full we can see that it will require more time in post-production for tuning, iterations and refinement to meet our high standards." Anfossi offers an apology and gratitude for fans' continued support.
The video game 'outsiders' creating VR art that makes you think
When Tale of Tales announced its departure from the gaming industry after 12 years of creating eccentric, cult-hit experiences, Twitter lit up with messages extolling the studio's impact on the industry. However, for Tale of Tales co-founders Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn, it was a hollow farewell. Their latest (and last) game, Sunset, had debuted just a month before to poor sales and lagging interest, despite a successful Kickstarter campaign and positive critical reception. Harvey and Samyn were already contemplating an exit from the world of video games and Sunset's situation pushed them to make it official. "It often didn't feel like games were worth the sacrifice," Samyn says. Now, Harvey and Samyn have returned to their pure, artistic roots -- and to Kickstarter -- with Cathedral-in-the-Clouds, a virtual reality exhibition of Christian art in the Gothic and Renaissance periods. We spoke with Samyn about following his passion and Tale of Tales' lofty goals, and came away with a clear message: If you're going to leave games behind for a project that resides firmly in the art realm, you might as well shoot for the clouds.
The freedom to explore most open-world games is a lie
Open-world games aren't going away anytime soon, but more often than not when we play them we're being led around by a breadcrumb trail instead of actually exploring. Sometimes even quite literally. The reasoning for that is because it's much easier for game developers to stick a mini-map or quest directions in the heads up display than it is to integrate means of navigation into the game world itself. It's a topic YouTuber Mark Brown knows well and he's taking it for a spin in developer Bethesda Softworks' sprawling Fallout 4. In his latest entry into his Game Maker's Toolkit series he explains why he's turning off the quest markers in Fallout's irradiated Boston and trying to let his nose lead the way, so to speak.
BBC could kill Red Button services in bid to save £150 million
As the BBC continues to streamline its operations following a less than glowing government review, the broadcaster has announced a fresh round of cuts that it says will "address a shortfall" of £150 million in what it believes is lost money. It comes from what we know as the "iPlayer loophole," which lets viewers avoid paying the licence fee by watching on-demand programming only. While the Beeb works with the government to close it, the company says it will cut management positions and reduce back office staff, but also look into whether it could phase out important services like the Red Button.
YouTube Kids entertains children outside of the US
Some seven months after launching, YouTube Kids is expanding outside of America. Folks living in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom can access the family friendly section of Google's video wing. What's more, Mountain View says that the apps' been downloaded over 10 million times to date and that apparently more time has been spent watching "Wheels on the Bus" than "Gagnam Style." Mind you, the "Wheels on the Bus" video is almost an hour long versus just over four minutes for PSY's smash hit. Oh, and Google says to keep an eye out for upcoming holiday specials on the app over the next few weeks. [Image credit: Associated Press]
What's on your HDTV: 'High Castle,' 'Jessica Jones,' 'SW: Battlefront'
This week two of the biggest releases come from streaming services. Netflix premieres its second Marvel series with Jessica Jones, while Amazon Prime has its adaptation of a Philip K. Dick novel, The Man in the High Castle. Both have looked good in early previews, but until they launch Thursday morning, we're focused on the games. Star Wars: Battlefront is here, along with the final episode of Telltale Games' Game of Thrones series. Finally, movie fans may want to check for The Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki on Blu-ray. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
Playdate: Crushing the Rebel scum in 'Star Wars: Battlefront'
Not too long from now, on a Twitch stream in the very near future, Sean Buckley and myself will be blasting Rebel scum in Star Wars: Battlefront. The sci-fi shooter's the topic du jour on the latest edition of Playdate and you can tune in starting at 6 PM ET/ 3 PM Pacific to catch two hours of the hot Empire on Rebel action across Sullust, Hoth, and who even knows where else? And since we streamed the game's beta on PlayStation 4 we're giving the full version a go on PC today. As always, you can tune in here on this post, the Engadget Gaming homepage or Twitch.tv/Joystiq if you'd like to join us in chat -- it's your destiny.
The original 'Valkyria Chronicles' heads to PS4 in HD (in Japan)
Valkyria Chronicles, Sega's strategy RPG that hit the PlayStation 3 in 2008, is getting an HD upgrade for a launch on PS4, Famitsu reports (as translated by Gematsu). The remake is confirmed for a release in Japan on February 10th, with no mention of North American plans just yet. Sega is also working on a new entry in the series, Valkyria: Azure Revolution, slated to hit Japanese PS4s in winter 2016, according to Gematsu. Valkyria Chronicles debuted on PC in November 2014, and while that wasn't an HD remake, it featured dual-language support, Steam Achievements, customization options and all previously released DLC -- not bad for $20.
