GTA: San Andreas finally out on Windows Phone 8

Rockstar Games has finally published GTA: San Andreas for Windows Phone 8. The $6.99 game is officially compatible only with the Nokia Lumia 1520, 1320, 822, 820, 810, and the HTC 8XT. However, every WP8 handset with at least 1GB RAM should be able to run the game. The WP8 version includes everything the successful Android and iOS ports have to offer, including adjustable high-resolution graphics, customizable controls, the three in-game cities and countryside, and over 70 hours of gameplay. The game can be played in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, and Japanese.

For the few among you who don't know what GTA: San Andreas is about, the game is set in a virtual state based on California and Nevada during the early 90's. The protagonist, Carl Johnson, has returned to his hometown of Los Santos after a five-year absence, and is immediately framed for murder by corrupt cops. He's been left no choice, but to go back to gang life, turn the entire state of San Andreas upside-down, save his family, and take control of the streets once again. The intense dialogue, the dozens of colorful characters, the borderline-absurd to impossible missions, the huge in-game world impregnated with the authentic feel of early 90's America, make San Andreas a classic that demands to be played, even in 2014.


With the Grand Theft Auto 3D trilogy now complete on all leading mobile platforms, all that remains is to see how long it will take for smartphones and tablets to run the epic GTA IV and V. In the meantime, you can head to the Windows Phone Store from the link below to download San Andreas.


Download: Windows Phone 8
San Andreas for WP8 screenshotsFullscreen

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Valve: The future of Virtual Reality is just one year away

The most exciting aspect of contemporary virtual reality is its implications. Even using Oculus VR's early duct taped-prototype, most users immediately "get it." You're transported to, say, Tuscany, or an underwater exploration vehicle, or a space fighter, and that experience is enough to trigger a flood of ideas for other potential interactions -- interactions that are dramatically heightened by employing a VR headset. How about deep-sea exploration in 4K? Or maybe Mars? And we're not talking just video games, but experiences. Valve VR lead Michael Abrash detailed that notion in a recent talk:


"Not only could VR rapidly evolve into a major platform, but it could actually tip the balance of the entire industry from traditional media toward computer entertainment."

Abrash believes that VR headsets so vastly outperform other interaction methods (TV, theaters, etc.) that how folks absorb media in general may be impacted by the coming wave of head-mounted displays. His concept of our potential future may be distant-sounding, but the beginning of consumer-grade, extremely polished VR headsets isn't far off: 2015. At least that's what Abrash and Valve are targeting as primetime for VR, and they're laying the groundwork right now.

This is a VR prototype headset from Valve

Valve's first ever game developer conference, dubbed Steam Dev Days in honor of the company's ubiquitous digital storefront/ongoing socio-economic experiment, took place this week. Abrash gave a talk titled "What VR Could, Should, and Almost Certainly Will Be Within Two Years," where he detailed the current state of VR, what challenges the technology faces going foward, and when he (and Valve) believe it'll be ready for primetime. In it, he established a baseline of standards for VR: perfect timing to lay a base given Oculus VR's own standards for VR game development going live at nearly the same time.

First, any VR headset needs to create "presence" for the person using the headset. Abrash defined presence as such:


"It's the sense of being someplace else while in virtual reality; many people feel as if they've been teleported. Presence is an incredibly powerful sensation, and it's unique to VR; there's no way to create it in any other medium."

Cliché as it is, VR headsets aim to do exactly what their name implies: simulate a new reality for the user, real enough to fool the human brain. Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe echoed that sentiment to us earlier this year when he said that the closer the experience is to reality, the better the experience is for the user. Sadly for us writers, "presence" -- or rather the experience of using a virtual reality headset and being convinced -- is incredibly hard to convey with just words. "Most people find it to be kind of magical, and we think that once people have experienced presence, they'll want it badly,"Abrash noted during his talk.

Moreover, Abrash thinks that the VR hardware available right now -- including the latest Oculus Crystal Cove prototype -- is still a step or two away from the specs required for true presence. He even has a list of target specs required for creating presence (which Valve has functioning in an R&D headset right now, and was shown to developers during Steam Dev Days):



The Crystal Cove prototype that Valve provided support for is "a big step in the right direction" Abrash said, but still not enough to create the sense of presence he and Valve are aiming to achieve. While Valve continues R&D on virtual reality hardware -- Abrash said "several" companies are working on VR headsets, though we only know of two officially creating consumer products (Oculus and GameFace Labs). The company's also building out Steam's VR software support to stay ahead of the curve. That's why SteamVR just went live (a VR version of Big Picture Mode) in beta; why VR games now have their own category in the Valve's store; and why the company created the SteamVR API (read: it makes games play nice with the SteamVR platform).

Valve's yet to give press a chance to try its VR hardware prototype, but developers who tried it at Steam Dev Days are responding positively thus far. It apparently has specs similar to what's detailed above, and we're not entirely clear on whether or not it uses a camera in conjunction with the headset for positional tracking (a la the latest Rift prototype). Given Valve's openness during Dev Days and Abrash's assertion that Valve is open to working with any partners to push VR forward, we're certain to hear more in the coming year(s).

source:engadget.com

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This is what game devs are saying about Valve's prototype VR hardware

We've seen quite a bit the Oculus Rift, but another major player in the coming virtual reality revolution has eluded us: Valve. Save for adding an experimental VR mode to the Steam Client Beta, the company's experiments in the space have been kept largely under wraps. That changed this week during Steam Dev Days, however, when select developers were given a peek at the company's R&D efforts. Some of those developers are even talking about their experiences, though their descriptions are still pretty vague. Tripwire interactive's David Hensley, for instance, tweeted this week that wearing the company's VR hardware prototype was like being in a "lucid dream state." In fact, Hensley compares it to the holodeck featured on Star Trek, thanks largely to the advanced physical tracking Valve employed in its demo. Users could reportedly walk around a confined space and have their movements (including simple actions like crouching) mirrored in the virtual world. "It's hard to explain just how immersive it felt," Garry Newman (creator of Garry's Mod) wrote on his blog. "Imagine being in a room and looking around seeing and hearing things in that room. That's what it was like."

As impressive as the full-room tracking experience sounds, the prototype's other improvement are just as notable. According to Newman, Valve's headset offers a less nauseating experience compared to his time with Oculus' Rift, though he doesn't seem completely sure why. Hensley credits it to a higher resolution image and lower latency than Oculus dev kits available today, noting that he's heard it's comparable to the Crystal Cove prototype shown at CES (though he admits he hasn't used both units). Unfortunately, we're not likely to see these improvements in the public anytime soon -- Valve's efforts seem to be largely experimental, as the firm has already stated that it doesn't plan to release hardware of its own. Still, it sounds like an great example of where the technology could be headed in the future, even if that future is rather far flung

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Microsoft's Xbox One was No. 1 console in US after selling 908,000 units in December

Research firm NPD Group has released December sales figures for the Xbox One, and Microsoft liked them so much it decided to share the results on its Xbox Wire blog.

According to NPD group, Microsoft's Xbox One was the No. 1 console in the US after selling 908,000 units during December. It sold an additional 643,000 Xbox units during the month, too. That means the Xbox 360 was the No. 3 top-selling console, though it was No. 1 for last-generation hardware.

"Together, Xbox One and Xbox 360 held 46 percent of the hardware market share in the U.S. and showed a 10 percent year over year growth from December 2012," quoted Microsoft on its blog.

NPD also revealed that consumer retail spending hit $1.39 billion for the Xbox One and Xbox 360 (50 per cent came from the US alone), and that six of the top 10 new-generation game titles were for Xbox One. In fact, US consumers have purchased an average of 2.9 games per Xbox One console since launch.

"We’re grateful for the excitement and support of our fans [...]," added Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of marketing, strategy and business for Xbox at Microsoft. "Our journey is just starting, with more innovation, games and entertainment coming in 2014 and far beyond."
Source: Microsoft

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The Titanfall Controller Is Something To Behold

Titanfall is one of the most eagerly anticipated games of 2014. And no eagerly anticipated shooter is really complete without a custom controller. Here’s what Titanfall will be offering gamers when it drops this April.

A Controller Worthy Of A Mech

Thankfully, you will not have to go the full Steel Battalion to play the game if you use the controller. The controller itself is actually pretty much a stock controller for the Xbox One; there aren’t any special features mentioned in the announcement.

Then again, we’re well past the days of “turbo controllers.” This is pretty much all about the design.
Military Gear Of The Future

As you might remember, Titanfall is a multiplayer game with a storyline about rebellion against an interplanetary government, and as such, is crammed full of advanced military technology. Needless to say, that’s what inspired the design of this particular controller. The idea is that you have what feels like a genuine control of the mech you’re wall-running in as you spray the battlefield with bullets.

OK, so perhaps it won’t quite evoke that feeling. But it should be pretty entertaining to use, nonetheless.
Buy The Controller Of The Future



Surprisingly, this so far has not been announced as part of a special edition. Instead, you’ll be able to buy it separately as part of the run up to the launch of Titanfall in early March. And, being as it’s a modern game controller, you can expect to pay accordingly: Currently, the controller is priced at $60.

You can get it for free, however. Microsoft is running a contest through January 23rd for two lucky winners to enter, so if you want to get your hands on this without paying as much as the cost of a game, that will be your way in. Everybody else… well, we hope you like mechs.

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Final Fantasy VI coming to Android today

Final Fantasy VI is coming fully remastered to Android today. Square Enix, the company behind the Final Fantasy series, confirmed that the sixth edition will land on the Google Play Store on January 15th via a tweet.

Final Fantasy is a role-playing game with a great storyline and fanatic following. It packs countless hours of gameplay, as well as long and epic battles that have won it its loyal fans. The sixth edition comes remastered from the original one that was released for PlayStation back in the day.

Square Enix is known to release the remastered Final Fantasy games with a double-digit price tag on mobile, and this new one is likely to also have that same high price. In exchange for paying more, you get none of the often annoying in-app purchases, and can enjoy the game without any interruptions.

We’ll update this article with a link to Google Play as soon as the game goes live, so stay tuned.

source: Square Enix

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Xbox One Titanfall Limited Edition Wireless Controller incoming, designed by Respawn itself

It's not long now until Titanfall arrives for Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC - 14 March, to be exact - and Microsoft and developer Respawn Entertainment have joined forces to mark the occasion with the release of a limited-edition controller for the next-generation console.

The Titanfall Limited Edition Wireless Controller for the Xbox One has been designed by Respawn in collaboration with the Xbox design team. Its patterns are intentionally placed to make it look like it could exist in the game itself.

"Our goal was to create a controller that feels as if it is a piece of military spec hardware transported from the universe of Titanfall and into players' hands," said Joel Emslie, lead artist at Respawn Entertainment.
Xbox 360 and PC gamers will have to wait to find out if there will be a Titanfall special-edition controller for their machines, if ever. We'd bet our houses on some form of special edition bundle though, considering how hotly anticipated the game is.

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Nintendo 3DS game sales hit 'record-setting' 16 million in 2013

Nintendo wants to remind you that while Microsoft and Sony have experienced recent successes with their new gaming consoles it, too, has seen a significant uptick in sales. But for handheld games.
The company published an annual overview on Friday, revealing it sold a "record-setting" 16 million 3DS games in 2013. That's a 45 percent increase over last year. Nintendo also announced that US consumers gobbled up 11.5 million Nintendo 3DS, 3DS XL, and 2DS handheld consoles last year, compared to 35 million units total for lifetime sales.
Due to the response from consumers, Scott Moffitt, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Nintendo USA, claimed the company has no plans to slow down in 2014: "With more games featuring fan-favorite franchises on the way, the best days of Nintendo 3DS are still to come," he explained.
In fact, Nintendo has more Nintendo 3DS games planned for early 2014, including Bravery Default (launching on 7 February), Azran Legacy (launching on 28 February), Yoshi’s New Island (launching on 14 March), Disney Magical, (launching on 11 April), and more.

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