Gaming

How do you balance a war between towns without letting either side obliterate the other? How do you rule over gods, creatures, and men who refuse to obey you? How do you build a thriving landscape of villages against the threat of bandits and mythological powers? Skyward Collapse places you into the role of The Creator, and frees you to tackle these problems your own way. Brought to you by the developer of the modern strategy classic AI War: Fleet Command, Arcen's second full strategy title is equally unique (but far easier to learn): a turn-based 4x strategic god-game. Your task is to build and populate the floating continent of Luminith. You can create - but not control - gods, creatures, and artifacts from both Greek and Norse mythology. The power you wield with these is immense. (As one example, Heimdall's horn causes everyone standing outside to drop dead.) Your task is to keep both factions alive until The Master calls you home - but this is harder than it sounds. Bandits, along with periodic Woes add to the variety of challenges that you'll face in any given game. Every game plays out completely differently, and you'll need even the craziest of your powers in order to survive what lies in store for you.

Qualcomm has unexpectedly revealed a new mirasol mobile display, a 5.1-inch panel running at a whopping 2,560 x 1,440 resolution. Last we heard of mirasol, Qualcomm was dousing production plans and focusing on licensing out the low-power technology instead, having seen production issues and the dominance of E Ink undermine its market. However, this new Read The Full Story

REVELATORY NEWS. Did you know that PlanetSide 2 – free-to-play titan and king among first-person Jimshoots – had a prequel? That’s right: the two in the title isn’t just for show like everybody clearly assumed it was. There is another. It’s still about refreshingly colorful spacewars and shootouts with more moving pieces than an upturned ant hill, but the graphics are worse and wobbly netcode is a mightier enemy than any mecha tank. Also, it still costs money for some reason. SOE’s not crazy, though. It sees the writing on the wall. Soon, PS1′s subscription fee will be extinct just like all the others, and it’ll join the F2P era. (more…)

It’s bizarre. On my Twitter feed, in the Kotaku comments and from what I've heard from people involved in the games industry, the reaction the Xbox One reveal has been overwhelmingly negative. But the mainstream media? They seem to have missed the memo. While we've been spending the last five hours complaining about the lack of new titles and issues with used games, they’ve been praising the design, the ethos and—yes—the games. Are gamers living in some weird echo chamber? Execs at the Microsoft event in the US believe the reaction has been mostly positive. Aaron Greenberg mentioned to Kotaku Editor Stephen Totilo that Twitter’s reaction to Xbox One was roughly 40% positive, 40% indifferent, 20% negative. When I heard this I almost burst into laughter - that can't be possible. But then I did a brief check of multiple different mainstream media outlets - how had they reacted to the Xbox One news? The answer may surprise you. Are we the 20%? Fox News Indeed, the Xbox One demonstration was so impressive it made me wonder, why the heck didn't they do this with the disastrous Windows 8? CNN The console itself is more angular and practical looking than either of its two predecessors. Flat and rectangular like a cable box, you could almost call the design reserved. But it is by no means unattractive, and will probably sit tucked away in a cabinet anyways. The Register On the face of it, the new console looks pretty impressive. Response times and gesture control are very good indeed, the visuals are stunning, and Microsoft scored an instant win over rival Sony by actually having a working console to show off. The demonstrations were in a tightly controlled environment, but the upgraded Kinect system looks impressive and the console looks very speedy to operate. The Sydney Morning Herald Xbox has been the exclusive home to such popular gaming franchises as sci-fi first-person shooter Halo, racing simulator Forza and alien shoot-'em-up Gears of War. In recent years, Microsoft expanded the scope of the Xbox 360 beyond just games, adding streaming media apps and the camera-based Kinect system. With the innovations showcased on Tuesday, Microsoft is taking those ideas further. News.com.au Key features of the Xbox One revealed in Microsoft headquarters in Seattle are advanced voice controls and the inclusion of a new-generation Kinect controller with every console, allowing you to switch from watching TV to playing games by spreading your arms as if you are grabbing the screen similar to the way you pinch an image on a smartphone or tablet. The Sun But the news that really got gamers salivating was the exclusive gaming deals they announced. Call of Duty: Ghosts takes the critically-acclaimed franchise into the next generation. Downloadable content for the new Call of Duty game, Ghosts, is available exclusively first on the Xbox, as is FIFA 14?s Ultimate Team feature. Fans were treated to some spectacular footage from both flagship titles, as well as some glorious footage of Forza Motorsport 5 — one of a number of titles that will be available as soon as the console is out. MSNBC Out in the Twitter peanut gallery, we've been hearing people calling the case design "boxy." One guy said, "Looks like a VCR. Hopefully that means it will play VHS," while another echoed, "Does it come with a cassette rewinder tho?" Cosmetics aside, the response for the whole system seems more upbeat, ranging from "Sexy" to "Can't wait to have mine!" But this is a big year for gaming, and things are just heating up. Are we going crazy? Have consoles passed us by? Are we becoming increasingly irrelevant as a demographic? In a sense mainstream media reports err on side of caution, particularly when it comes to products they don’t quite understand, but I found it difficult to find a single negative comment. Very strange. Mark Serrels is the EIC for Kotaku Australia. You can follow him on Twitter! Republished from Kot

The new Xbox has been revealed: it’s Xbox One. Seems like a good time to reminisce on our memories about the Xbox (be it the 360 or the original), right? Appropriately, the #xboxmemories tag was trending on Twitter earlier, right before the reveal. Here’s some of what people remember about Xbox consoles. More »      

Microsoft confirmed to Joystiq only Xbox One controllers and accessories are supported by the new console. The new system won't support the Xbox 360 controller or Xbox 360 Kinect. When approached, a Microsoft spokesperson provided us with the following statement: "Xbox One was designed from the ground up with entirely new technology to deliver a new generation of experiences for both games and entertainment For example, the Wireless Controller will connect to the console using high speed data transfer to enable higher fidelity headset audio and future controller add-on experiences that are not possible with Xbox 360 wireless technology. Additionally, the all-new Kinect sensor's ability to locate the wireless controller is dependent on new technology. In order for Xbox One to deliver robust, meaningful gaming scenarios for all users across all experiences, only Xbox One controllers and accessories will work with the new console." Microsoft previously confirmed to Polygon and Engadget the Xbox One won't support the Xbox 360 controller or Xbox 360 Kinect respectively. Neither is surprising, given Microsoft's new system has a redesigned controller and a next-gen edition of the Kinect sensor. However, while it isn't explicitly said, Microsoft's statement seems to indicate the Xbox One won't support any Xbox 360 accessories. When asked on Twitter if the new system supports Xbox 360 headsets, Xbox Support reiterated the statement we received, saying, "Only Xbox One accessories will work with Xbox One, which helps us deliver better headset audio and other benefits."Microsoft: 'Only Xbox One controllers, accessories will work with the new console.' originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger will be available today but since we received a code to get the game a bit early yesterday, here is a couple of videos of the 360 version. Technically, the game is plagued with aliasing and blurry textures but at least it runs very smoothly from what we've seen. Once you get past the few technical issues, the game has its own visual and narrative styles and it is rather fun to play from the looks of it. We'll need to play more to be sure but so far, Gunslinger seems to be a pretty entertaining old school FPS. No more, no less. So now all you have to do is get the trial version and tell us what you think.

The popular Lego-like kids' virtual world needed a great mobile app and needed it fast -- and this feature-length post covers what went right and wrong in its four-month dev cycle. ...

Complete with high quality HD visuals, enhanced lighting effects and an immersive sound experience, the fear that was originally brought to players in Resident Evil Revelations on the Nintendo 3DS system returns redefined for home consoles. Furthermore, the home console version delivers added content that includes a terrifying new enemy - the Wall Blister, extra Infernal Mode difficulty level and improvements to Raid Mode such as new weapons, skill sets, and the added opportunity to play as Hunk and mysterious blonde Rachael. First introduced in the original version of the game, Raid Mode is an online co-op or offline solo mode where players level up their characters and earn weapon upgrades as they face hordes of enemies across a variety of missions.

Case File #7: There are still no clues as to the whereabouts of the passengers of the Queen Zenobia vessel, or who released the T-Abyss virus on the ship.