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Essential makes Android's Oreo beta update available to all
Android smartphone maker Essential has opened Android 8.0 Oreo beta access for its flagship handset, the Essential phone. The software was released for Pixel phones in August and hit the Galaxy S8 and S8+ earlier this month, so Essential is one of the first brands to get the update. Oreo comes with a bunch of significant changes, such as refreshed menus, badge notifications and improvements to speed and battery life.
Misfit's Vapor Android Wear watch goes on sale October 31st
Nobody can say that Misfit Vapor is vaporware anymore. The smartwatch will finally be available for purchase on October 31st from Misfit's website, though its email subscribers will have the chance to get one earlier than that. We first saw Vapor at CES 2017 back in January when it was still running the company's custom software. A few months later, Misfit changed its tune and switched its proprietary OS with Android Wear 2.0 -- that's the version we're getting on the 31st.
'Fallout,' 'Doom' and 'Skyrim' will launch in VR this year
The biggest beef for VR gamers is the lack of, well, VR games. That's about to change soon thanks to Bethesda, which revealed that all three of the VR titles it announced previously will be coming to the Playstation VR and HTC Vive by the end of the year. And those titles should have you salivating: Doom VFR arrives on December 1st to the PSVR and HTC Vive, Fallout 4 VR hits the Vive on December 12th, and Skyrim VR will land on the PSVR on November 17th.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8 might be out as soon as September 15th
For a while after the Note 7 debacle, the fate of Samsung's supersized phone line was uncertain. It soon became pretty clear, though, that the Korean manufacturer isn't killing the name: Samsung is launching the Galaxy Note 8 on August 23rd, and according to notable leaker Evan Blass (evleaks), it will be available as soon as September 15th. In addition, you'll reportedly be able to pre-order the phone on August 24th, a day after the the company's Unpacked event.
'Orcs Must Die! Unchained' arrives April 19 with competitive mode
Robot Entertainment is finally ready to launch its latest PC game, Orcs Must Die: Unchained. The title, which has been in an open beta since last year, arrives on April 19th with a new head-to-head mode called "Sabotage." The veteran team of ex-Halo Wars developers foreshadowed the feature last year, after first trialing a MOBA concept with tower-defense elements. "One of the things that's important to me is to maintain our humor and our feel," designer Jerome Jones said at the time.
'Dangerous Golf' swaps fairways for chaos on June 3rd
If you think golf sims are too gentile, Dangerous Golf trades hushed tones and sedate play for exploding golf balls and wanton destruction. The title is the debut from Three Fields Entertainment, a new company from the co-founders of Burnout developer Criterion Games. In a tweet, the company revealed that it will arrive June 3rd on the Xbox One, PS4 and Windows PCs.
'Homefront: The Revolution' coming to the US on May 17th
After switching studios twice, Homefront: The Revolution will finally be released in North America on PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4 on May 17th, while Europe and other regions will get it on May 20th. If you're interested in an earlier look, a beta will arrive exclusively to consoles in February. The futuristic guerrilla shooter is the sequel to the original Homefront, and has the same Red Dawn-style premise of a foreign power (North Korea, of course) occupying the US. Unlike the original, however, the action takes place in an open world, namely dystopian Philadelphia in the year 2030.
Horror game 'The Park' creeps onto consoles in 2016
The Park, a dark thriller about a child lost in an amusement park, was not everybody's cup of tea when it came out for the PC on Halloween. But we certainly had fun with the messed-up, H.P. Lovecraft-style story, and other players must have too, because it's now coming to the Playstation 4 and Xbox One. Developer Funcom said it was "encouraged by the positive reactions we have received on the Windows PC version." As a reminder, you play the game as a distraught mother seeking her son in a decrepit amusement park. The atmosphere is over-the-top creepy, but are the scares real or in her paranoid mind? If you want to play on console, you'll find out in early 2016.
Music releases move from Monday to Friday in the UK
The weekend is often the perfect time to listen to new music. Maybe you're getting ready for a night on the town, or sitting in the garden soaking up some rare summer sunshine. Whatever your plans, wouldn't it make the most sense if new music was released on Friday? Well, until today most albums and singles were released on Monday in the UK. Which was always a little confusing, given the date fluctuated depending on where you were in the world. Australia? Friday. The US? Tuesday. Thankfully, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has pulled the record labels, artists and retailers together to settle on a new, global release date: Friday. So now, when the next big album drops, there shouldn't be a scenario where it's available in the US version of iTunes and not the UK. To coincide with the shift, the UK is also moving its official charts (including the popular charts show on BBC Radio 1) to Friday, rather than Sunday. So say hello to "New Music Fridays" and wave goodbye to "Not Very Convenient Music Mondays."
Shroud of the Avatar's elementals run (not so) wild
The elemental forces of nature are one of many inhabitants of Shroud of the Avatar that can be either friend or foe, depending on the situation -- and the binding. In a recent newsletter, the devs showed off several of the elementals and golems in both bound and unbound varieties. Mages will be able to use magic to subdue and order these beings to protect and serve. The newsletter also showed the progress being made on Dragon Pass and promoted the Release 14 grand tour quest reward, which is a very pointy hat called a Hennin. You know you want to wear a princess hat, you pretty little thing. Well, you'll get your chance when that update comes out on January 29th.
Assassin's Creed: Unity patch on hold to 'refurbish' Paris
Ubisoft delayed the fourth Assassin's Creed: Unity patch today, citing additional issues that need to be corrected in the game before the update can be made available. The publisher anticipated that it could offer the patch today across all platforms. Unity's update was expected to fix "most of the remaining issues our players have been reporting," according to Ubisoft last week. "We are committed to delivering major performance improvements, which requires that we refurbish the Paris map and that will take a few more days to hit the high level of quality our players deserve," the publisher said in a brief community update. The update's delay strikes at an unfortunate time, as Assassin's Creed: Unity is half-off ($30) on Amazon today, and Ubisoft recently added a note to the game's description on the retailer's site that promises "performance has been improved on all platforms." [Image: Ubisoft]
Scrolls shuffles out of beta, cuts price to $5
Minecraft developer Mojang launched its latest game, Scrolls, in full today. Scrolls is now available on PC, Mac and Android tablets, with an iPad version expected to arrive "some time in the new year." The card hoarding game pits players against one another on a hexagonal battlefield, earning gold and acquiring spells, enchantments and other strategy-boosting goodies. Scrolls entered open beta in June 2013 for $20, though the developer officially dropped the price of the full game to $5. It announced plans to shift the game's price in September, affirming that those who already bought the game will receive the $20 shard package, giving those players the ability to purchase decks, avatars and new scrolls without any additional cost. Mojang also began offering a free trial version of Scrolls today on all three platforms, for those interested in checking the strategy game out firsthand. [Image: Mojang]
Hearthstone launches Goblins vs. Gnomes on December 8th
It seems as if it was only a month ago that Hearthstone players learned the title of the game's first expansion, Goblins vs. Gnomes. Probably because it was a month ago. That expansion is launching on December 8th, adding 120 new cards into the card pool and displaying an alacrity that other Blizzard titles could only dream of achieving. The new expansion cards can be crafted, purchased, or earned via the Arena, just like the existing packs except with new cards. If you're interested in having a launch party, Blizzard is also interested in your launch party. If you plan your event, have it registered as a proper gathering by notifying the community team, and then submit pictures and stories about the event by December 22nd, you could win a little Hearthstone care package. Or you could just kick back and enjoy the new expansion by playing. Your call.
Age of Wulin officially releases in Europe alongside a major update
It's a big day for Age of Wulin, as the martial arts sandbox is both officially releasing in Europe and pushing out a new content patch. The update, Chapter 3: Wisdom is a Journey, marks the end of open beta for EU's counterpart to Age of Wushu. Wisdom is a Journey includes a new internal skill, a higher skill cap, team activities, titles for divorced characters, and PvP tournaments. For those who crave the game's open world PvP setting, there is now the option to become a "Jianghu treasure assassin" and kill all rivals who are out for the same glorious rewards. You can read up on the patch notes for Chapter 3 as well as get an overview of the update's features on the official site.
Vainglory mobile MOBA launching on Tuesday
Vainglory, "the MOBA perfect for touch," will be launching on the Apple app store in North America on Tuesday, November 18th. "Once the game is live worldwide, you can look forward to future updates with more heroes, more player-requested features, and other fun stuff," the team promised. If you want to give this free-to-play title a try, you're going to need an iPad 2 or better or an iPhone 5 or better. Vainglory is already out in other parts of the world and boasts a top-notch gaming experience for mobile devices. It was first mentioned during Apple's September press conference and was developed by former Blizzard, Riot, and Supercell developers.
EVE Evolved: Clone upgrades and skill loss are gone!
While the player activity stats might suggest otherwise, the past few years have been a real rennaisance for EVE Online. Developers have gone back and iterated on dozens of old game features that were starting to show their age, and some of them have been pretty huge. The war declaration and criminality overhauls in 2012 were fundamental changes to core gameplay that had been stagnant for almost a decade, and the recent industry and warp acceleration changes were equally fundamental shifts. These were all features we had previously been told were essentially off-limits for iteration because they relied on undocumented legacy code from 2003, and none of the programmers wanted to poke that sleeping beast. Now it seems that no idea is off-limits, and developers aren't afraid to challenge fundamental parts of EVE's original design that may not make sense today. This week's Phoebe update revisited capital ship force projection for the first time since the ships were added in 2004, for example, and it removed the 24-hour skill queue limit that CCP insisted on adding in Apocrypha. In Thursday's episode of The EVE Online Show, developers announced the next big legacy feature to be put on the chopping block in the game of progress: As part of December's Rhea release, clone upgrades and skill point loss on death will be completely removed from the game. In this edition of EVE Evolved, I look at the problems caused by the cloning system, why it needs to be removed, and what could possibly replace it.
EverQuest: The Darkened Sea officially launching on November 11th
While All-Access members are currently enjoying EverQuest's newest expansion, The Darkened Sea, non-subscribers are still twiddling their thumbs waiting to get in on the fun. The good news is that the wait will be over soon, as the expansion will officially launch on November 11th for all who purchase it. To help drum up excitement, SOE posted a brief story dev diary to set the scene for the expansion. "The Darkened Sea hides many secrets," the team teased. "A coral castle, enchanting sirens, watered-down dwarves, and even dinosaurs! On a remote island in the vast ocean is a mysterious city with an intricate citadel floating above it." For a full grasp on what The Darkened Sea has to offer, check out our in-depth look into the game's 21st expansion.
Phoebe update lands in EVE Online
Outer space has gotten a little more interesting as of today with EVE Online's Phoebe content update. The update contains a smorgasbord of changes and quality-of-live improvements, including better search functionality, jump fatigue to slow down long-distance travel, looser restrictions for trial accounts, the ability to place multiple market sell orders, and a streamlining pass for exploration. Phoebe was EVE's fifth content release for 2014. Attention now turns to the game's next update, Rhea, which is scheduled for December 9th.
Shroud of the Avatar Release 11 helps prepare for Steam debut
With Shroud of the Avatar's launch on Steam Early Access next month, the team is eager to test crucial systems to prepare for a wider playerbase. As such, Release 11 has gone into testing from today through Monday, October 27th, and will allow backers to access a Steam-specific test as well. Release 11 patches in a character advancement system, major combat improvements, crafting additions, and a big change to the game's overworld map. "We are also moving towards each of these maps being visually distinct (albeit similar when part of the same area)," the team posted. "The result, we feel, is a map that is MUCH easier to navigate and coordinate with other players. We know this is slightly different than what we have presented in the past, but we feel this is the right direction for the game." Shroud of the Avatar will go live on Steam Early Access on November 24th. The video guide on how to install the Steam test is all yours after the break!
Sevencore launching globally on November 4th
Sevencore might not be your typical Cinderella comeback, but the tenacious little science-fiction title will have a fairy tale moment when it releases globally next month after being shut down in 2013. Sevencore's previous provider, Route Entertainment Korea, Inc. will be merged into Webzen, which will then operate the title worldwide through its game portal. There will be two servers for this launch, one in English and one in Spanish, although there are plans for other languages. Focusing on mounted combat as players explore an alien world, Sevencore features three races, three classes, and "incredible depth" of customization. [Source: Webzen press release]
