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Tesla is adding classic Atari games to its cars
Tesla isn't limiting its fun-oriented EV updates to its upcoming party mode. Elon Musk has promised that "some of the best" Atari games will be playable in Tesla cars as part of a version 9.0 software update coming in roughly four weeks. The exec didn't provide a full list of titles, but he indicated that Missile Command, Pole Position and Tempest would ideally be part of the release, which will make them available as Easter eggs. And crucially, you won't just be tapping the screen or twiddling thumbwheels. For Pole Position, you'll use the car's steering wheel to drive in the game.
Atari taps Jeff Minter to resurrect classic coin-op ‘Tempest’
As seen in this 1981 commercial, Tempest was one of Atari's flagship coin-operated arcade games. But unlike Space Command or Centipede, Tempest sent players down geometrically fractal tunnels in an advanced -- and vibrantly psychedelic -- semi-3D adventure. Atari thinks it's high time this title was revived for current consoles, and it's tapped celebrated game designer Jeff Minter to do the job.
Three more EverQuest Next classes confirmed
If all you want for Christmas is more EverQuest Next news, PC Gamer UK has an early present for you: three more confirmed classes! Cleric, Necromancer, and Beast Lord are joining the five other revealed classes of Wizard, Tempest, Warrior, Rogue, and Blademaster. Didn't get the one class you were hoping for? Don't despair -- with over 40 classes, there's a good chance that many fan favorites will still make it into the game along with interesting new ones. The reveal also offered a little insight into each of the new classes as well as the Tempest. The Cleric utilizes one- or two-handed hammers to buff and protect, but also gets fire to unleash damage. Using a tome or dagger and spells, Necromancers also command a Monstrosity companion that grows in power alongside its master. The Beast Lord uses pets, flails and shields, and spears to inflict massive damage on enemies. And the Tempest wields either a two-handed blade or two blades and calls upon winds and lightning to blast enemies.
SOE Live 2013: Five of EverQuest Next's classes announced
While yesterday's big reveal showed us what races are confirmed as playable so far in EverQuest Next (Dwarf, Human, Ogre, Elf, Dark Elf, and Kerran), only two classes were highlighted during the demonstration. We also discovered that characters will be able to learn more classes -- and there are more than 40 of them -- as they adventure. But what are all the classes and which ones can players choose when they first embark on their next Norrathian exploits? We cannot answer the latter, but we now have a partial answer to the former. Five of the classes that will be available in EQ Next are: Rogue, Warrior, Tempest, Blademaster, and Wizard. Any, all, or even none of these may be one of eight starting classes. A few other tidbits about classes were also discussed during SOE panels, including how to distinguish what class a player or NPC is (answer: how s/he stands and holds his or her weapon) and character builds (items plus abilities will together constitute a build). Hungry for more info? Keep your eyes peeled for a more in-depth look at the philosophy and mechanics of classes coming soon! What happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas, at least where SOE Live is concerned! Massively sent intrepid reporters MJ Guthrie and Karen Bryan to this year's SOE Live, from which they'll be transmitting all the best fan news on EverQuest Next, EverQuest II, DC Universe Online, and the other MMOs on SOE's roster.
EVE Evolved: Fitting battleships for PvP in Odyssey, part 2
Battleships used to be the backbone of every major PvP fleet in EVE Online, but recent years have seen them increasingly overtaken by more mobile Battlecruisers, Heavy Assault Cruisers, and tech 3 Strategic Cruisers. Armour buffered battleships are still used in carrier-supported fleets and for a while nullsec played host to huge missile-spamming Maelstrom blobs of unholy death, but many of the battleships just haven't been worth using. Developers saught to rectify that in the recent Odyssey expansion with a complete balance overhaul of the standard tech 1 battleships, and it's starting to pay off. In last week's EVE Evolved, I looked at how Odyssey buffed the tier one Dominix, Scorpion, Typhoon, and Armageddon beyond all recognition and experimented with new PvP setups for each of them. This week I've turned my attention toward the tier 2 battleships, which turned out to be equally versatile and deadly. Now officially falling under the umbrella of "Combat Battleships," the Megathron, Raven, Apocalypse, and Tempest have become powerful damage-dealing platforms for fleet warfare. Each of them can now fulfill sniper or close-range damage roles and carry a spare flight of Warrior II drones to bat off tacklers, but what's impressed me the most is the sheer level of damage and tank they can achieve. In this week's EVE Evolved, I experiment with setups for the recently revamped Megathron, Raven, Apocalypse, and Tempest tier 2 battleships. These setups may require Advanced Weapon Upgrades 4 and a cheap 1-3% powergrid or CPU implant.
Minter's 'TxK' is a new spin on Tempest for Vita
Jaguar killer app Tempest 2000 (pictured) is being updated by creator, and flashing-lights-and-colors enthusiast, Jeff Minter for Vita. TxK is a new version of his frequently iterated game, which sees players circling the periphery of a geometric prism, shooting down the sides into the screen."It'll be the pure, straightforward shooter that maybe you hoped for when you first saw Space Giraffe," Minter said on his blog. "We're not going to overload you with ultra psychedelia, but we will make it fluid and colourful and awesome-looking on the Vita's delicious, vibrant OLED screen.Minter was approached by Sony, presumably as part of the company's indie PSN push. He plans to keep a development log for updates on TxK, a game that he already promises is "going to be *awesome*."
Enter at Your Own Rift: Analysing Storm Legion's new souls
I still can't wrap my head around just how many metric tons of content are coming with RIFT: Storm Legion. It's an expansion that looks to put other expansions to shame by sheer size alone. Epeen competitions notwithstanding, any one of these major features would usually be good enough for a full expansion elsewhere. Take the new souls, for example. Storm Legion is adding four of them, one for each archetype. That's not just four additional classes but a hefty amount of additional combinations, since RIFT builds allow for three souls at a time. So each archetype is going from 56 unique soul combinations to a whopping 84. I can only imagine how much of a headache 336 different soul combinations are to balance, but fortunately I don't have to worry about it from my end. Instead, I want to take a look at the revealed new souls and speculate as to how they'll fit in with the game come next month.
DevJuice: Promotion from the Trenches
TUAW Dev Juice talks with Mac developer Lyle Andrews, who agreed to discuss his real-world experience launching applications. He'll be sharing tips and hints about practical app promotion skills. I want to thank you for taking the time to talk to me and to TUAW readers. The reason I asked you here was because I think you have a really compelling story to tell and tips to share. You're a small developer who's achieved some exciting success in Apple's App Stores, yes? Can you tell us about your background and your products? Yes, I've been coding since I was 12, have been through 14 languages, have a degree in philosophy, and am a veteran of the dot.com wars where I ran over 60 projects including a dot.com startup and a Fortune 500 web deployment. My project history can be seen here. I've been moving into consumer software development and have two large projects in the works, Ynnis Myrddin, an interactive film about Merlin, and MetaView, a 3D market vizualizer. When the Mac App Store started operations I decided to write a few small apps to learn its dynamics: Tempest - a video lightning screensaver, Fireworks HD, another screensaver, and Network Logger, an active network monitor. Network Logger is currently selling in the top 6%, Fireworks HD in the top 2.5% and Tempest! in the top 2% of their categories on the US store. I first came across your work when I reviewed your Fireworks app just before New Years. Can you share how that process of pitching and reviewing worked from your end and talk about how the TUAW review affected your sales? Getting Fireworks HD reviewed by Apple was straightforward compared to getting the first screensaver on the store, since the App Store doesn't sell screensavers directly. I tried numerous ways around this restriction, including zipping up the saver and storing it in a shell app's bundle or having the app download the saver. After half a dozen rejection cycles one of the Apple reviewers took pity on me and suggested adding a download link that the user could click on in the app. This puts the onus of responsibility on the user, gives them control, and with that approach I was able to get approved and onto the store. Being very much a developer I have the classic indie tendency to just keep coding and sit around wishing that someone was promoting my apps full time. This does make the exposure the App Store affords very attractive. I do occasionally send out press releases and hold free promotions on the store. For Fireworks HD, I knew getting some exposure for New Year's Eve was important so I emailed an editor at TUAW about the possibility of a review right after Christmas. I saw that as a win/win since that was the app on the store most appropriate for New Years' Eve at the time. Fireworks HD was named Mac App of the Day on Dec 27, 2011 and the sales rank responded immediately and dramatically, moving from around rank #100 up to #4 in Top Paid Entertainment within a day. On New Year's Eve itself Fireworks HD was on the Top 10 Entertainment charts of 13 countries. Over the next few weeks Fireworks HD trended down as expected but happily ended in a higher average range which has persisted for five months to date. Can you tell me about some of the strategies you've used in-store for helping your apps stand out from the competition? I know you mentioned something about icons when I first started talking to you about doing this interview. What other suggestions do you have? I anticipated your question, so here is a very long list of suggestions. Pop out. Your icon has to pop out. Look at the primary category you will be listed in, imagine you are in the top 200, what similarities or appearance trends can you find in the app icons, and how can you break them in a way that draws attention and invites a click. A number of people have told me that they clicked on Network Logger just because of the icon. Something about it just makes you want to click it whatever it leads to. Keep it short. This indicates that you are confident that the customer is going to like your product if they are interested in general. It shows you feel like you don't have to say that much to make the sale. This is true with new clients as well as products. A long description starts to feel like an apology after awhile. However, some things are complex and merit a longer description. Conciseness is the actual metric. How can you say the most with the least words? Keep it Plain. Plain descriptions with minimal self-praise and adjectives are trusted more by App Store customers than overinflated rhetoric. Focus on Strength. Best in class in some way? Definitely say so. If nothing is the best, should you be aiming higher? This is true for Fireworks HD, it is in some ways a silly app I built to test out the store, but if you need beautiful 100% realistic HD fireworks for your event that don't repeat in sequence and work when no network connection is available, there is nothing better available for Mac than Fireworks HD. Be a master of the obvious. While there are many great naming strategies, if you can name a product after its product category, you have a home field advantage. With "Network Logger" for instance, the genus is instantly obvious, the customer just needs to know the species. They click, they are coming to see you, you are the category, the sale is yours to lose. Don't sweat bad reviews. They are going to happen, if an app has merit it will tend to sell anyway and time will equalize things. Tempest has been in the top 10 in Spain in Paid Entertainment for many weeks despite having only two reviews there, both 1 star. Follow or lead the market, either way know which you are doing. Leading the market is much more challenging, and can be much more rewarding. Can you come up with a way of systematizing a part of the raw unordered universe and create a new class of human activities? If you succeed your glories will be sung in Valhalla. Following the market can be safer and is often more lucrative. Can you rethink a better way to handle a common human activity? Use resonance awareness. There are some things you just know are going to resonate with a particular audience, fireworks, lightning, beaches, white rounded kitchen appliances...resonance awareness is really a diverse skill set it pays to hone. We know Steve Jobs actively developed this skill set throughout his life. Understand need. You need their need. What fundamental emotions are driving the user as they use your software? A desire for order? Curiosity? Love? A desire to conquer? Every activity has a number of emotions that are commonly associated with it. Knowing what your audience is experiencing and wants to experience emotionally is the foundation of an evolving relationship. It's not just woven into the advertising, the product is built around it. In conclusion, these things are all simple in theory, but if the execution sounds simple, think again. The student sees the simple and thinks it simple, the master sees the simple and thinks it profound. I hope one day to be such a master myself. There's been a lot of negative talk over the last few years about the App Stores being too saturated, that small guys can't make a living at it, that there's no room to break in. What would you say to that? I would say that oversaturation is bound to happen given the gold rush mentality, but overall the App Stores have been really empowering to smaller developers and that virtue will be recognized if one persists. The bar is higher now and development and marketing effort have to reflect that. The App Store gets far more traffic than my own web sites and provides more than just sales exposure; the review system has sort of opened up a dialog between me and my customers that wasn't there before. There are a lot of nasty reviews on the US App Store but internationally they are much more measured; they all make you tougher (better at taking criticism), and your app better. Being able to say you have apps on the store also has a certain social cachet these days that's valuable in personal and professional situations and that opens up new opportunities. Lyle, thank you so much for taking the time to talk today. I'm hoping that your experience and your insights will help inspire other developers, especially those just getting started. And if you're still reading this post and you like this kind of developer-centric coverage, please let our editorial team know. Drop a note and tell TUAW that you care about dev topics.
One Shots: Apocalypse please
It doesn't matter what MMO you play -- you'd had to have been hiding under a rock to not know that the largest MMO PvP battle ever recorded recently took place in EVE Online. For those of us who call New Eden home, the closest many got to the action was pulling up the map, hitting alerts, and marveling at the enormous red blob over LXQ2-T. Thankfully, one thoughtful pilot named riverini captured screenshots of the enormous masses of ships to share with us here on One Shots! I'd note that I am also breaking slightly with format: Not only am I posting all of the images in one post, but you'll find the full-size images linked after the break. With that said, here's rivertini's note: "[Here are] some shots from the epic pew pew that happened in the LXQ2-T; our FC ordered us to align in preparation for the Russian counter assault. The Northern Coalition and the Red Noise Coalition (Russian bloc) tested their prowess in the mother of all space battles." Captured a picture of something epic in your home MMO? In the mood to brag about your accomplishments? Send your screenshots in to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post it out here and give you the credit for sending it in to us! %Gallery-85937%
BigRedKitty: Void Reaver Hunter-guide movie
Daniel Howell contributes BigRedKitty, a column with strategies, tips and tricks for and about the Hunter class, sprinkled with a healthy dose of completely improper, sometimes libelous, personal commentary.Void Reaver used to be called Loot Reaver, thanks to a nifty addon called VoidReaverAlarm that made this fight as simple as, "Run to the Happy Face!" But then Blizz went and bamboozled us all by honking-up the Combat Log for this fight, making that addon useless. Since then, great gaggles of guilds have come to detest this fight and avoid it out of fear of wiping.Well no more; it's time for you to get back in there and get your shoulders.Void Reaver is a great opportunity for you to hone your huntering-skills and impress everybody with your ability to do damage when it counts and avoid damage when necessary. Void Reaver drops your tier five shoulder tokens and some awesome hunter-pants. With a little instruction, you and your guild can get back to Tempest Keep and score some phat loot for yourself. /ninja hunter-pantsThis video demonstrates the "traditional" method of fighting Void Reaver, not the, "Everybody in the middle except two kiting-hunters" method. We hope to do that movie in the near future.You are most welcome to download this movie (101.6 MB) by right-clicking here.Another great big Thank You to the WoW Insider editors for allowing us to publish this movie both here and on our little blog at the same time! From his video guides to Karazhan For Hunter Dummies, nobody covers raid Hunters like BRK. Looking for more Hunter goodness? Check out our non-raid Hunter column, Scattered Shots or the WoW Insider Directory of Hunter Guides.
Wii Fanboy Review: Gyrostarr
High Voltage Software created the Saturn and PlayStation ports of Jeff Minter's Jaguar shooter Tempest 2000. This means, amusingly enough, that they have previous experience literally cloning Tempest. Based on its appearance, it would be tempting to call the company's WiiWare shooter Gyrostarr an application of this specialized knowledge. However, for a game about shooting spaceships in a chute, Gyrostarr has surprisingly little to do with the Tempest series. In fact, it diverges from the entire shooter genre in a few fundamental ways.%Gallery-25895%
AoC class interview: Tempest of Set
Last Age of Conan class interview we had a look at the Priest of Mitra, and now we're closing the chapter on the priest archetype with the Tempest of Set interview at Ten Ton Hammer. The Tempest is a mix of a few of the older classes, and will be known for its healing, AoE damage, and crowd control prowess.Evan Michaels mentions that the Tempest's healing abilities will be increased when they use some of their offensive spells, through buff effects. For example, one particular ability will make it so that using an offensive spell will place a stackable buff on the caster that will make their next heal more potent. Tempest's will have the largest AoE arsenal of any class in the game, and we are informed that even though many of their spells are "elemental"-based, there will be no environmental limits imposed (for example, a storm type spell not being usable indoors).
XBLA gets a broken Sensible Soccer & Tempest [update]
Update: It's sounding like an incorrect build of Sensible Soccer was placed on the Marketplace. Oops!It's Wednesday and it's time for some new Xbox Live Arcade releases. Today, both Tempest and Sensible World of Soccer are available for 400 and 800 Microsoft points respectively. Actually, Tempest is only available right now ... Sensible Soccer not so much. You see, as soon as Sensible Soccer hit the XBLA this morning downloaders noticed a major problem. Supposedly, there's a bug in the game that signs users out of Xbox Live everytime it loads. So, the Xbox Live gods pulled Sensible Soccer from the Arcade until a fix can be deployed and now everyone is sad. It's not like Codemasters didn't have plenty of time to test. They should have spotted this major flaw during the four months the game was delayed. Why Codemasters, why must you constantly tease us with Sensible Soccer only to let us down again? We'll keep you updated on all the Sensible Soccer drama, but until then ... just download Tempest.Read - Sensible World of SoccerRead - Tempest
This Wednesday: Sensible World of Soccer, Tempest come to XBLA
We know what you're thinking: "This isn't news! I've known about the release of Sensible World of Soccer and Tempest on XBLA for weeks!" Well, you're right and you're wrong. As for the well-regarded soccer game Sensible, you hit the nail on the head as we reported last month it would arrive on the 19th for 800 points. So no big surprises there.And as for Tempest, we're pretty sure that you're confusing it with Space Giraffe. Don't feel bad though, it happens to everybody. While "a tarted up, 400-point HD version of Tempest" would be an accurate way to describe both, this one has a way better title.
XBLA gets Sensible Soccer and Tempest this week
This week's Xbox Live Arcade release announcement just landed in our inbox and from the looks of things, the soccer gods have finally come through! Sensible World of Soccer is releasing to the XBLA this Wednesday and this time it's a guarantee. And that's a good thing, seeing that our cleats have been ready to go since August. Also releasing alongside Sensible Soccer this week will be some old-school Tempest action as well. What more can be said, Tempest is Tempest.An XBLA twofer this week, one being Sensible Soccer and the sun in actually shining today. Life is good.
Atari announces new collection of Classics
Atari has just announced yet another retro compilation for PSP: Atari Classics Evolved will offer eleven updated games, including Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe, Battlezone, Centipede, Lunar Lander, Millipede, Missile Command, Super Breakout, Tempest, Warlords and Pong. These "evolved" versions will include updated "up-to-date graphics," but will also be available in their original retro forms.In addition to these updated games, there will be more than 60 original Atari 2600 titles also included in the collection -- games such as: Yar's Revenge, Night Driver, Canyon Bomber and Crystal Castles.Online leaderboards will be provided for many of the games included in this compilation, developed by Stainless Games Ltd. Expect this to arrive on PSP this Fall.
ESRB rates Fatal Fury, Tempest, more for XBLA
We love the ESRB. With the group constantly rating titles that have yet to be announced, it's like getting birthday presents year round. XBLArcade breaks the news that the ESRB has rated 4 new games for Xbox Live Arcade, though not all of them are "new." The three we already know about are Tempest, Mutant Storm Empire, and Fatal Fury Special. We had nearly given up hope on Fatal Fury though. We hadn't heard a peep about it since last August after all. Finally, coming out of left field is SEGA's Streets of Rage 2, a classic beat-em-up from the Genesis era.We have to admit we've been impressed by Xbox Live Arcade lately. Here's hoping Microsoft can continue the stream of new titles unabated.
Tales of Phantasia 2 for DS?
Rumor alert! NamcoBandai is allegedly planning a load of new, and new-ish, games in their Tales series for Nintendo consoles. The rumor gives titles for three new (potential) games, one of which is headed for the DS. If internet rumormongering is to be believed, Namco is working on a 2D sequel to the oft-ported Tales of Phantasia. We can't comment on the veracity of the rumor's specifics, but it seems likely that more Tales games are headed, in abundance, to every platform that Japanese gamers like. Not only has the series already made its dual-screened debut, RPG-spamming has been their modus operandi since before the DS was popular. Now that the most popular console in Japan by far is also the cheapest to develop for (being a handheld), continuing the trend seems like a Tale of the Obvious.
Minter talks Space Giraffe, cuddles sheep
Jeff Minter reports on the status of Space Giraffe, his psychedelic homage to his own Tempest 2000. With the game engine complete, Minter sounds optimistic that an actual framework can be compiled (levels, lives, bonuses, achievements, etc.) and shipped out for testing within a few weeks. Minter writes, "the bulk of the implementation work is done and [now it's] more about small touches, construction of behaviours, and planning of the diff curve }:-)." If development stays on schedule, Space Giraffe could be complete by April and flushed into the Xbox Live Arcade pipeline. When it would come out the other end is anybody's guess. At least Minter's got his sheep. [Via IGN]
Atari games on XBLA, holiday titles confirmed
Alongside the press release for Contra hitting XBLA, Microsoft sent another press release outlining a slew of Atari classics heading to Live Arcade next year. The six Atari games to be released are: Centipede/Millipede Battlezone Asteroids/Asteroids Deluxe Missile Command Tempest Warlords All of the games will feature both original and "evolved" versions. The evolved versions, similar to Konami's offerings, will feature revamped graphics and sound. All games will have leaderboards and achievements, and multiplayer games will have Live support. Surprisingly, many of these games are receiving some pretty impressive new features, including Live Vision support for Battlezone and Warlords. It looks like many of the games will receive three dimensional upgrades instead of simply using high definition sprites, too. Finally, and this is not a joke, Centipede evolved has motion blur. Motion. Blur. In Centipede. If that's not worth $5, we don't know what is.Also worth mentioning, the press release confirmed that the following titles should hit the Arcade before the end of 2006: Small Arms Assault Heroes Novadrome (?) Heavy Weapon Defender It should be noted that this isn't necessarily all the titles we'll be seeing by year's end (we're looking at you RoboBlitz). Full press release after the break.
