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JXE Streams: Slaying monsters with a vengeance in 'The Witcher 3'
You've likely seen the infamous "sex on a stuffed unicorn" scene by now, but what's the rest of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt really about? That's what I'm hoping to show you today on this latest edition of JXE Streams. The Witcher is kind of an anomaly, really: a long-running PC role-playing series (based upon Polish fantasy novels) with a dedicated fanbase, but when the console port The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings arrived on Xbox 360 back in 2012, not many people paid attention to it. Fast forward three years and its sequel is one of the most highly anticipated games of the month. We're going to dive into some caves, fight some monsters and hopefully avoid any not-safe-for-work shenanigans so you don't get into any trouble if the boss walks by your desk.
JXE Streams: Roll7 explains the guns and bunnies in 'Not a Hero'
Just over a month ago, Roll7 stopped by JXE Streams to laugh at us as we repeatedly wiped out grinding rails in skateboarding game OlliOlli 2. Now the studio is coming back on the show to mock us for lacking an entirely different set of skills. We're just not that good at jumping through windows and shooting thugs under the orders of a maniacal bunny man from the future who happens to be running for mayor. Yes, that is really what Not a Hero is about and we'll be playing it with the game's creators starting at 3:30PM ET.
JXE Streams: A real bodyman tackles 'Car Mechanic Simulator 2015'
True story: our very own Tim Seppala worked as a car mechanic for 12 years. He was a bodyman, or an auto collision tech if you want to get fancy. The short version is that the man knows how to tear apart your busted '89 Toyota Cellica after a wreck, get it looking pretty and make sure all the machine parts are working. Does that mean he'll be able to dive right into RedDot's Car Mechanic Simulator 2015, the game that is precisely what it sounds like? We'll find out when he streams it live today at 3:30PM ET.
JXE Training Day: Picking the right 'League of Legends' Champion
We covered League of Legends basics in Training Day Episode 1, and in Episode 2 we took a long look at how to actually play through your first match. Today Loc Tran, he of San Jose State University's rising League team, will be teaching us how to select the right Champion. What's a Champion, you ask? That's precisely what Training Day is here to answer! Join us as we take an in-depth look at the many different characters and roles they can play in League of Legends.
JXE Streams: Klei indoctrinates us into 'Invisible, Inc.'
Klei Entertainment has been building up its bonafides since 2010, pumping out a steady stream of deeply cool two-dimensional games. Shank had the old-fashioned action, Mark of the Ninja blended that action with stealth and Don't Starve took the world by storm with its Edward Gorey-an survival strategy. Invisible, Inc., its brand new game out on May 12th, blends all of those elements into a turn-based spy game with a patina of sci-fi style on the surface. How does it work? Designer James Lantz will join us on today's stream to walk us through Invisible, Inc.'s world.
JXE Streams: Blasting robot dogs in 'Wolfenstein: The Old Blood'
One year ago, Machine Games did an unbelievable thing: it made Wolfenstein relevant again. id Software's 1992 original is still fondly remembered; it was, after all, the only game in town where you could eat a bowl of dog food before blowing up Robo Hitler. The series had grown stale over the decades, though, a relic rather than an enduring institution. Wolfenstein: The New Order was a monumentally impressive resurrection with solid action on PS4 and Xbox One alongside a surprisingly moving, if simple, story. Now Machine Games is back with Wolfenstein: The Old Blood and we're playing it for your viewing pleasure on today's stream.
JXE Streams: Acid Nerve teaches us how to topple 'Titan Souls'
Welcome to the new masochism! For a decade now, games have held our hands and walked us patiently through their soft hallways. Playing BioShock Infinite? Try easy mode, darling. Rollicking your way through New Super Mario Bros. U? Fail too many times and the game will play itself. No more! The new breed of punishers like Bloodborne have brought out the gleeful self-flagellator in everyone. Acid Nerve's Titan Souls is another banner carrier for the new masochism. Don't let its old-school adventure, Zelda-meets-Shadow of the Colossus facade fool you; this is one tough cookie. That's why we're having Acid Nerve, its creators, come on to JXE Streams to teach us how to play.
JXE Training Day: How to play your first 'League of Legends' match
We covered the League of Legends basics during our very first episode Training Day. Loc Tran, he of San Jose State University's rising League team, gave us the lowdown on just what multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games actually are, what it's like to play them and which ones are right for beginners. This week, we dive into matches against live players. What do you need to know the first time you play League of Legends? What class of character is good for you? We'll answer those questions and more on today's Training Day.
JXE Streams: Playing 'Shovel Knight' PS4 with Yacht Club Games
Shovel Knight raised a mighty pixelated fist to the sky when it came to Nintendo Wii U, 3DS and PC in 2014. Yacht Club Games created a marvelously assured debut, giving the little blue warrior and his righteous spade an adventure that felt classical in the tradition of Mega Man and Castlevania while also smartly modern. Wandering intricately detailed stages full of enemies and pits to jump over recalled the NES' best but never felt cloying, never retro for retro's sake. Now Shovel Knight's made the leap to PlayStation 4, PS4, and PS Vita so we're checking back in with the game on today's stream with Yacht Club Games.
JXE Streams: Me, you and Mewtwo in 'Super Smash Bros. for Wii U'
Nintendo's reticence to make downloadable content has been exasperating this past decade. Is it admirable to focus on making full games, the whole thing complete and defined when it ships on a disc? Of course, but it's also exciting to see games turn into thriving ecosystems of change. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U has already been tweaked, balanced and updated multiple times since its release last fall, but it was only this month that it expanded through big DLC. Mewtwo, the formidable Pokémon fighter last seen in Super Smash Bros. Melee, is back and we're checking out his moves with The A.V. Club's own Matt Gerardi on today's stream.
JXE Streams: Double Fine walks us through their 'Broken Age'
More than a year has passed since the first half of Double Fine's Broken Age came out, leaving fans of classic adventure video games as flummoxed and desperate for resolution as the game's young heroes. Later this month Tim Schafer's point and click fantasy will finally continue when Broken Age: Episode 2 hits PC, PlayStation 4 and PS Vita. We here at Engadget feel that there's no time like the present to revisit the first chapter. Composer Peter McConnell and artist Nathan Stapley will be joining us to give some insight into the game's strange world of technological prisons and human sacrifice-loving beast gods.
JXE Streams: 'Mortal Kombat X' pits Engadget against College Humor
Mortal Kombat is funny. NetherRealm's decades-old fighting series has never been Old Boy by way of Hostel. Its brand of dumb, outsized action is Shogun Assassin crossed with Evil Dead 2. When you pull off fatalities in Mortal Kombat 2, people explode and multiple ribcages fall from the sky. Where did the extra ribcage come from? Who cares! To celebrate the arrival of Mortal Kombat X's abject silliness, we have decided to indulge in a little friendly competition with College Humor on today's stream. Don't worry; everyone's ribcage will likely be fine.
JXE Training Day: What is 'League of Legends?' An expert explains
Look no further than the world of eSports for a concrete example of how the very idea of popular culture has warped in the past decade. Just because something is popular with an enormous group of people, that doesn't mean that it's truly ubiquitous. When most people see the word "baseball" around the world, they can conjure up the basics. eSports, and all of the many very different games that fall under that banner, still occupy a weird, weird space. Take League of Legends, arguably the most popular eSport in the world. The League of Legends World Championship can net 32 million viewers and all of those viewers can still be called "crazy" by successful, seemingly popular sports reporters while scholarships for League of Legends college players are laughed at. Just because there are millions of fans, that doesn't mean everyone knows what they're fans of. Engadget will be your guide into this world of competition. If you don't know what eSports are, what a MOBA is or what a League of Legends may be, then we have a show for you. JXE Training Day is a regular eSports show for beginners, introducing competitive games and how to look at them. Our first series begins with an extensive, bi-weekly look at League of Legends.
JXE Streams: Grinding rails with 'OlliOlli 2' developer Roll7
One of the most commonly and inappropriately used words employed to describe video games is "visceral." As combinations of vowels and consonants go it's a humdinger, but it's impact disappears when you're talking about a game where a happy plumber jumps on turtles. Viscera is not affected. OlliOlli 2: Welcome to Olliwood, Roll7's aggressively stylish skateboarding game, is actually visceral. The first time you wipe out on a staircase and watch your wee skater violently obey the laws of gravity, you can feel it in your very own guts and it is brutal. The satisfaction of starting again and nailing that same grind? Hits you in the same place. Today we're hanging out with the creators of OlliOlli 2 while playing the game on PS4.
JXE Streams: Life gets weirder in 'Life is Strange Episode 2'
Last time we played Life is Strange here on JXE Streams, Jess Conditt learned some hard lessons about being a teenager. First off, it isn't easy to reconnect with old friends after a long silence. Second, bullies come in all shapes and sizes in the Pacific Northwest. Finally, discovering the ability to travel through time is awesome, stressful and seems to entail horrible visions of your hometown getting destroyed by inclement weather. A little older and a little wiser, we're ready to dive back into the adventure and puzzle solving of Dontnod's so-called life. Join us for Life is Strange Episode 2: Out of Time on today's stream and you might get a free Xbox One, PlayStation 4, or PC game out of it.
JXE Streams: Boldly exploring space in 'Sid Meier's Starships'
Sid Meier scares the crap out of me. I'm deeply familiar with the famed strategy game creator's resume -- from the history-spanning Civilization series to the high seas simulations in Sid Meier's Pirates! -- but I've only ever played one of his games. The reason I never picked another up after trying Civilization III is that once I started playing I didn't stop for about 36 hours. The man makes a deeply cerebral game but also a deeply addictive one. Let it never be said that I won't try things twice, though! Today on JXE Streams, I'll give into the allure of deep space exploration and play Sid Meier's Starships.
JXE Streams: Blindly marching into PlayStation 4's 'Bloodborne'
Being an enormous fan of From Software, the truly insane studio behind PS4's new gothic role-playing game Bloodborne, I imported Demon's Souls from Hong Kong back in 2009. No one knew anything about it at that point, but I learned quick: the game is vicious, cruel and devoid of altruistic design. It punished me repeatedly, so when Dark Souls and Dark Souls II cemented the series as a deep, dark well of mystery that will never help you, I gave up. Now that successor Bloodborne has arrived, I'm ready to try again. Join me as I blindly embrace its brutality for the first time on today's stream.
JXE Streams: 'Hotline Miami 2' creators discuss its neon violence
Hotline Miami makes you feel things that you don't want to feel. It shows you a veritable smorgasbord of ugly -- from its jagged artwork to its stomach churning cartoon violence -- and somehow makes you love it. Which is precisely the point. Dennis Wedin and Jonatan Söderström, the duo comprising Hotline Miami studio Dennaton Games, returned to their signature world of psychosis, brutality, and '80s flash this March with Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. The sequel puts even more emphasis on story and character, which makes its ugliness even more affecting. We'll discuss that and more with the studio during today's two-hour stream of the game.
JXE Streams: Digging in the 'Metroid' dirt of PS4's 'Axiom Verge'
Axiom Verge -- a grotesque and intoxicating new action game for PlayStation 4 due out next week -- wears its heart on its sleeve. From the aliens wandering its creepy interconnected halls to the variety of unusual tools you find exploring its twisted world, creator Tom Happ's game explicitly calls back to Nintendo's Metroid. Rather than lose its identity in an homage mishmash, Axiom Verge actually uses that inspiration to build a demanding game that feels as new as it does eerie. We'll dig into its deep parts and interview Happ himself on today's stream!
JXE Streams: Into the deep, dark woods of 'Ori and the Blind Forest'
Last week during our stream of Grand Theft Auto V, we asked our Twitch viewers what brand new game they wanted us to play on the show. Let it never be said that we don't deliver! Today on JXE Streams, we're going to play through two hours of Ori and the Blind Forest because you demanded it. If you're unfamiliar, Ori is a lushly animated adventure game where you guide a whispy spirit through an arboreal maze. Think Metroid by way of Spirited Away and you'll get the idea.
