Panic Button
Latest
'Doom Eternal' hits the Nintendo Switch on December 8th
We weren’t necessarily expecting 2016’s beloved first-person shooter Doom to show up on the Nintendo Switch, but turns out id Software and Panic Button knew what they were doing. The whole experience worked well, no mean feat given that Doom was designed with the PS4 and Xbox One in mind.
Uber rolls out text-to-911 feature across the US
As part of its ongoing efforts to keep drivers and passengers safe, Uber is introducing a new, in-app text-to-911 feature in the US. It could be especially useful if a driver or passenger needs to contact emergency services discreetly, without escalating a situation further.
How Panic Button became masters of the Switch port
The Switch is a remarkable little machine. Part handheld and part home console, the device is home to some wonderful Nintendo-made exclusives such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey. It's also home to some rock-solid ports, including Rocket League and the Nazi-slaying Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. These versions are visibly inferior to their PS4, Xbox One and PC counterparts, with murky textures and adaptive resolutions that frequently hover below 720p. Still, they are undeniably impressive, offering the same ferocious gunplay and bombastic humor whether you're playing at home or the back of a bus. The wizards behind these seemingly-impossible ports? Panic Button, a developer in Austin, Texas with less than 50 employees. It's an unusual specialty -- some companies, such as Bluepoint Games, have earned a reputation on their ability to remake and remaster classic titles such as Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Shadow of the Colossus. Few, though, are able to match Panic Button's skill at bringing so-called 'triple-A' games to effectively tablet-grade hardware.
Uber's panic button can let cops in India know where you are
Earlier this year, Uber launched an in-app panic button for people in India, which lets any user easily alert local police in case of an emergency. And now this safety feature is getting improved. The ride-sharing service announced today that the real-time SOS alert can start being accessed by law enforcement officials, allowing them to track the exact location of a passenger who may require assistance during a trip. Previously, the panic button would only connect Uber users with the cops over a phone call, so this is designed to save time for potential victims -- and that could turn out to be life-saving.
Have fun with your family and friends in 'Hulk Hogan's Main Event' for Kinect
Hulk Hogan, the wrestling legend, Mr. Nanny star, and guy who nearly showed us his sack in a Def Jam Rapstar trailer, has his very own Kinect game coming this fall, in which he'll teach you how to be a professional wrestler. Hulk Hogan's Main Event, developed by Panic Button LLC and published by Majesco, allows players to "learn the ropes from the man himself," develop a wrestling persona and learn how to put on a show by "emulating famous Hulk poses and performing more than 30 punishing combos." Players will create their own wrestler, including options for tattoos, clothing, body type, and entrance music, and will get to use that wrestler in both single-player mode and tag-team (in which two players take turns in front of the camera). In the absence of an actual trailer, find "I Want to Be a Hulkamaniac" by Hulk Hogan and the Wrestling Boot Band after the break. You're welcome!
America's 'panic button' to wipe phones of democracy activists, perturb repressive governments
So, here's the scene. You're out at [insert city center here], completely neglecting any and all work duties, throwing Molotov cocktails at the building of the State you've grown to hate. It's a protest in every sense of the word, and you're rallying the troops via Twitter and Facebook. It's actually not an uncommon painting these days, and while America's not into promoting violence, it is into keeping the personal information of democracy activists secure. According to a fresh Reuters report, the US State Department is currently developing a software-based "panic button" that would wipe a phone's address book and beam out emergency alerts to fellow protesters if they were apprehended. The goal here is to protect the privacy of those captured while promoting their best interests, and to let others know that trouble is brewing. There's no clear indication of the status here, but something tells us that it'd be useful yesterday for a certain region of the globe.
Facebook's 'Panic Button' gives Britons a way out of unsavory conversations
Caving to pressures from just about everyone after a 17-year old gal was lured to her death by a 33-year old male posing as someone far younger on Facebook, the famed social networking site has just enabled a new "Panic Button" to be installed for those logging in from across the pond. The app, which is an opt-in service, was created by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center, and Facebook is now recommending that users under the age of 18 install it. If pressed, users will be put in contact with the aforementioned organization in order to report abuse, and potential predators will hopefully be turned off by notifications that the user they're about to initiate a conversation with is currently using ClickCEOP. Not exactly the type of panic remover found in H2G2, but it's certainly a lovely start.
'Swords' is a Wii game about swords
click to see the sabery screensIf using the Wii Remote and MotionPlus to control a sword sounds like the sword of thing you'd be into, you should consider Majesco's new game Swords -- because that's basically the whole game. Swords, developed by Panic Button, is a time-traveling arena combat game in which you fight sword practitioners from different cultures and time periods, including a Viking and Sir Lancelot. Then, having sufficiently disrupted the timeline, you take a new sword from your defeated opponent Mega Man-style, using its new abilities against your next historical adversary. When not hacking away at people, you can train with your sensei or perform drills -- like fighting zombies. If the idea of a MotionPlus-based lightsaber dueling game excites you, this seems like a pretty close substitute. Plus, it's got the most hilariously straightforward title in recent memory. Swords will be thrust into stores this September. %Gallery-92041%
Wood you look at that: Go Play Lumberjacks screens
click for Paul Bunyan size We first saw that Majesco was prepping a lumberjack party game for Wii late last week. Today we get a look at it: ninjas, knights, pirates and all. (Well, there is one actual lumberjack on the roster, plus you can unlock your own Mii.)Perhaps more aptly titled, Go Play as Another Character as a Lumberjack, the game will feature 15 competitive games, supporting up to four human players -- which is handy if you have an axe to grind with someone. Oh, and those characters? How do you like the sound of Axl, the '80s rocker? Sounds like the result of months of focus-testing to us. Go Play Lumberjacks will release in May -- just in time for slash and burn season!%Gallery-45356%
Blizzard introduces WoW Macro Guide
Blizzard has introduced the first part of their new Macro Guide. This guide includes a basic description of what Macros are as well as how to create them.They have also included some really good Macro references, such as the numbers that correspond to bag slots as well as the numeric values of inventory slots.Though it is mostly a wall of text, they do list some helpful examples to illustrate the basic concepts. Here is their example for chaining together instant spells:/use Abacus of Violent Odds/stopcasting/use Bloodlust Brooch/stopcasting/cast Bestial Wrath/stopcasting/cast Intimidation/petattackDo all of those "/stopcasting lines" seem a bit redundant considering they separate spells and items that are cast instantly? Well, Blizzard thinks so too and they will be unnecessary as of Patch 2.3. Not that /stopcasting will be defunct at that point -- it is still good to put at the beginning of a macro, so that you can cast a spell without getting an error if you are already casting another one.While this guide won't replace more in-depth guides until they publish Part 2 with details on higher-level macro functions, it is still nice to have an official macro guide to turn to for basic macro creation.Do you find Blizzard's new guide helpful? Or are your favorite macro guides still much better?
Siemens AySystem utilizes GPS / GRPS for emergency tracking, alerting
While Siemens HQ is probably still dusting itself from last year's invasion, that's not stopping the whole show 'round those parts, as the firm is introducing a new form of emergency communication with its AySystem. By utilizing worldwide GSM / GRPS networks (and optionally, GPS), the pocketable device can be tracked, modified, and used as a channel of communication between a caregiver and patient, parent and child, boss and subordinate, or any other useful combination of individuals. Essentially, the Ay token is given to the person who needs monitored, and the other party can adjust various "thresholds" such as motion (or the lack thereof), temperature, and sound, and if that limit is surpassed (i.e. a patient stops moving), the token will sound an alarm whilst simultaneously texting / calling a user-selected individual. Moreover, it can be remotely controlled and tweaked via a web-based interface, and users can add "SnapOns" such as GPS receivers and cameras to extend its functionality even futher. Thankfully, the platform in which the device runs on is entirely Java-based, which should please those looking to code their own programs to take full advantage of what's being offered. As of now, we're not exactly sure how much this fancy panic button will end up costing, but it is slated to be made available "via mobile carriers or through pre-paid plans" in the not too distant future.[Via Gizmag]
