Steam store page – Developers link

You walk in a corridor and after turning the corner and see an altar and 8 candles above it. Then you turn the corner again and you see the same corridor again. You remember the note. If something looks off in the exact copy of the corridor, you need to return to the start. Then walk the other way. Otherwise, you have to continue walking through the Everloop. Will you manage to escape the looping corridor and understand its mysteries? Well, that’s what we are going to discover in this game quicky article. I invite you to leave a comment down below. Share your thoughts and/or opinions on this game or the content of this article.

The good

The gameplay of Everloop is very simple. It’s basically spot the difference. You have to walk through the same corridor and check if something changed or not. These changes can be subtle, like a change in a painting or a book on a table changing color. Or these changes can be drastic and obvious, like totally different lighting. Only one change can be activate at one time, and it’s unsure if a change happened or not.

In case of a change, you have to turn back and walk in the other direction. In case there is no change, you have to keep walking forwards. Before the altar is the cut-off point. If you judged right, a new candle will be lit. If you make a mistake and miss a change, all your candles will be blown out. If you claim something changed and nothing has, you start over. The idea is that you have 8 rounds without a mistake in a row.

Now, it’s always random if a corridor has a change or not. So, you need to check it all, and it becomes a paranoia guessing game if something has changed or not. Since, you start to doubt yourself. Have the titles always looked like that? Has the cat suddenly changed color? Since, when you fail, you don’t get any feedback why you failed. It can be because there was a change you didn’t notice. Or, you mistakenly said that an unchanged corridor had a change while it hadn’t.

The amazing thing is, when you correctly identified a change, you unlock a small lore description in the codex. You can only see this description in the main menu. The descriptions are written amazingly. They were a lot of fun to read through.

The game maintains a tradition in this genre. It doesn’t show you duplicate changes unless you have beaten them all. You beat a change when you find it correctly and walk back from where you came. Then the change will be taken out of the pool that change show up. After finding all the possible changes and beating them, the game resets them. It throws them all back in the possibility pool.

The atmosphere in this game is very nicely done. I loved the visuals, and some changes were extremely sneaky to find. Like, one of the fans can be spinning in the opposite direction. I highly recommend avoiding the “all anomalies guide” in the Steam discussions. Reading it takes a lot of the fun away.

The controls in this game are a blast. They are responsive, and I could look in the corridor with ease. I can go in extreme nitpick mode. The tutorial prompt in the left corner shows WASD. I have an AZERTY keyboard, and it doesn’t adjust. But then I would be missing the point a bit. Since, you can play this game using a controller. And I don’t know what I liked more, the keyboard or the controller. Man, it this movement in this game snappy and perfectly tuned. But if I’m allowed to say, one more extreme nitpick. The tutorial shows that the “R” trigger is set to run, but the “L” trigger works as well.

The negative

Now, in this game, you don’t really have chaser changes. Unlike in other similar games in this style, you don’t have changes that if you touch them, end your run. This is something I feel mixed about. At one hand, it’s amazing to not have your run be ended out of nowhere. But on the other hand, it takes away some tension this game can have.

This is a nitpick, but the game doesn’t show you a number on how many changes still haven’t been discovered. But, you can easily calculate that by looking in the codex on the main menu.

Some people might find this a negative aspect of the game. But, I totally understand why the game works this way. When you exit the game and go back in it, you start from zero in your loop. So, keep that in mind if you think that the game saves your round progress.

You will notice all anomalies that this game offers. After beating the game, there isn’t much replay value. This negative isn’t big. This game is only €5. Still, I rather mention it in the negatives section. Some people find it important that there is replay value in their games. But, I personally don’t mind it since it’s a lovely small experience that is a blast to play through.

The biggest negative is that there is no easy way to reset your progress. To do that, you have to remove your save file and turn off Steam Save Cloud syncing. In various other games in this genre, there is an easy choice in the options’ menu to make that happen.

Conclusion

This is a small, bite sized game created by a small team of four people. You can finish this game completely in, gave or take 2 hours.

The Exit 8 set the standard for the games in this genre. As a result, the market has been flooded with a ton of games in this style. Shinkansen 0, Dead end Exit 8, Project 13 to name just a few. And I find that Everloop should be in the list of the better titles. It feels like a lot of love and care has been put into this game. Especially the codex with the small blurbs. It makes various things sound bigger and more dangerous than they actually are. It’s an amazing touch that Infinity Green Game Studio added.

If you want a small game made in Unity, I highly recommend this one. It is a nice spin on Exit 8 with a more Brazilian twist. I enjoyed my time with this game so much. I even placed it on the long list of my top 10 games I played in 2024.

And with that said, I have said everything I wanted to say about this game. I am curious to see if any of you give it a try. If you do, feel free to drop a comment with your thoughts and opinions. Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to welcome you in another article. Until then, have a great rest of your day. Take care.

Score: 80/100

Is it that time of the year again? It’s high time to start talking about the new games I’m looking forward to play in the upcoming year. I may have written fewer articles compared to 2023, but I have written better researched articles. But, looking back on 2024 is for the next article. In this article, I’m looking to the year 2025. A year when I have been writing articles for 15 years. And I have been writing these gaming related articles for 12 years. And the third year that I’m livestreaming together with my buddy Klamath. So, on this day, I’m going to reveal the 10 games I’m looking to play in 2025. What games do interest my on the release calendar. Also, feel free to leave a comment in the comment section with your list and/or thoughts on my list. So, let’s dive right into my list. Note, this list is in a random order.

#10 – Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Stole Time (Nintendo Switch – April 2025)

This game was supposed to be released this year. Yet, this game got delayed to 2025. Fantasy Life was a charm RPG on the Nintendo 3DS where you played through a charming and adorable story. You were able to play in different lives like a warrior, magician, wood cutter, miner…

This title from Level5 got a small cult following. We were beyond stocked when the sequel on the Nintendo Switch got announced. Now we can’t wait to play it and the delay is a shame. But on the other hand, the game may be even better because of the additional polish it might get. Or maybe the game will release on the Nintendo Switch 2, which is rumored to be released at that time. Who knows, we shall have to wait and see.

#9 – Professor Layton and the New World of Steam (Nintendo Switch – TBA)

On our live streams, when ever there is a logic puzzle… Klamath says I need to wait before I say my solution. For some reason, I have a knack for solving logic puzzles. I can’t tell you why. What I can tell you is that I love games where puzzles play a central role. Games like Professor Layton.

It has almost been 8 years since we got a new Professor Layton style game. And if you don’t count the spin-off of Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy… we need to go back 11 years to a cross over with the Ace Attorney series. Add another year for the final game with only Professor Layton in a lead role.

But a totally new adventure by the professor where solving logic puzzles in a central mechanic in the world is… a wild dream for me. So, please Level5… You have two amazing titles upcoming for 2025, don’t delay them or don’t undercook them. I’m beyond hyped.

#8 – Tomb Raider IV-V-VI Remastered (Multiplatform – Febraury 14th)

Take this admission however you want. But, my first original Tomb Raider game was Tomb Raider Chronicles. Yes, I first played Tomb Raider V.

I have always been of the opinion that Tomb Raider V was a decent game and shouldn’t get the hate it got back then. I can understand that due to the departure on the original formula, like less ancient tombs and small mini-adventures… That it didn’t sit well with Tomb Raider fans. But, as a starting point, it was a blessing, actually.
Now, does Tomb Raider V have problems? Yes, it has. But with the upcoming remake of Tomb Raider 4, 5 and Angel of Darkness… We finally have a chance to see a more improved version of it. So, a week after my birthday, dear Aspyr, you may be sure that I’ll be playing the remaster of Tomb Raider V on my Nintendo Switch to enjoy Tomb Raider V how it should have been. Or maybe on my PC for added nostalgia. That’s some food for thought.

#7 – Demonschool (Mutliplatform – Q1 2025)

As long as your game has an interesting concept, I don’t really care if you are a small studio or a big studio. Necrosoft Games is currently placing the final hand on their new title called Demonschool.

Demonschool is a turnbased tactics RPG game in the style of Fire Emblem, Shin Megami Tensei and Persona. The idea is very novel and adds a new depth to the genre. Where each unit has their own role, since the weakest enemies can be killed with one hit. So, it becomes more a chess match than anything else.

From the trailers I have seen, I’m beyond interested. I could try and explain it here in this article but I feel like the trailer and battle mechanics trailer they placed on the Steam store page explains it better than I can in this article. Also, give the demo a try since, I really enjoyed it myself.

#6 – Demon Tides (PC – TBA)

While I haven’t played through the original Demon Turf, just yet… I have played through various other similar games like A Hat in Time.

From watching the trailer, I have been highly interested and I got a nostalgia hit for A Hat in Time.

So, I wishlisted this game, and I’m so going to give it a try. Since I saw various video’s on the original game and I wonder by myself, why I haven’t played it. So, Demon Turf and your sequel. I can’t wait to play through you in 2025.

#5 – The Hundred Line Last Defence Academy (Nintendo Switch & PC – April 23th)

Danganronpa and the Zero Escape trilogy are two series very close to my heart. And now we get a new title with those two writers creating a game together and directing it.

Kazutaka Kodaka and Kotaro Uchikoshi are working hand in hand in this game. You clearly see the influence of both their styles in this game. And it will even have a physical release.

To create this game, the studio Too Kyo Games has to take out a loan. That’s because a publishing deal fell through. Aniplex picked this game up as a publisher. And this game is being co-developed by Media.Vision, the company behind the Wild Arms series and various Valkyria Chronicles games. So we are in good hands for this title.

On purpose, I’m trying to avoid spoiling myself as much as I can. Since, I want to be as blind as possible when I play through this game.

#4 – The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 1st (Nintendo Switch/PC – TBA)

A RPG series I always wanted to get into was the Trails in the Sky series. Sadly, I was always distracted by other games or I had the bad luck of my PSP bricking and destroying my game.

When my PSP bricked, due to the internal battery leaking… I lost my save file as well and I was so annoyed that I didn’t want to restart the game right away.

So, the Trail series continued on and I saw amazing titles appear. Color me surprised that suddenly a remake of the first title gets announced and is coming to the Nintendo Switch and PC. So, I have a chance to play this game from scratch, and it’s totally remade from the ground up. Count me in. I can’t wait to start my journey in this series and see what I missed out on.

#3 – Date Everything (PC – February 14th)

When you see the title of this game, you most likely think to yourself: “Jonez, what in the name of …”. Well, I told you earlier in this article… That if your game has an interesting concept, count me interested.

In this game, you literally can date EVERYTHING in your house. If you have seen those YTShort skits by ProZD where everything is sentient, well… What if it is. And you can date those characters?

That’s what this game brings to the table. And this game is fully voice acted, has 100 (!) characters and branching paths. And get this, there are at least 3 different endings per character. You have the love ending, friends ending and hate ending.

Now, when I saw this concept and gave it a thought, I was like… Oh hey, this has a ton of potential. Since the potential for humor and amazing story telling in this is just huge. And as somebody who loves writing stories and articles myself, this clicked right away. So, I’m going to give this game a chance and see where they go with it.

#2 – Lunar Remastered Collection (Multiplatform – Q1/2 2025)

If I look at all the retro games I still want to play through, like Lufia, my list is getting pretty long. Once, I wrote an article about my backlog, and it has gotten even more out of hand.

So, if you give me a collection of games to play through to shorten my backlog, then consider me interested. Especially when it’s good old fantasy RPG.

A story where you are dumped in a fantasy world and explore it’s various stories. With the upcoming remake, I’m quite curious to dive into the Lunar series and see why various people have recommended it to me.

#1 – Paraside: Duality Unbound (Multiplatform – TBA)

Imagne a tactics RPG, where each battlefield has two sides. Yes, basically a light and a dark side so to speak. And can manipulate the battlefield by flipping the tiles.

Do me a favor and watch the trailer for this game. And then think how many interesting gameplay concepts that this game can have. How is the flipping mechanic going to work. What are the limits of this power.

I’m mostly interested in the story behind this game. Since it’s the style of story I love to write for my personal amusement. But, the gameplay is looking mighty interesting. Now, I have only to decide if I play this title on my PC or if I take it on the go with me on the Switch. We shall see, since the game will have modding support, so the PC version might be my best option.

15 years of game blogging

While this year has been a heavy year for me, I’m happy with everything I achieved. I have been recently published in a fan gaming magazine called ReLOADED by Dominus. And I’m so happy I was able to contribute my work to it.

Next year, I’ll be writing articles for 15 years. I have several special idea’s in mind and have been working on preparations for them. But, I’m not yet going to reveal what they are. Since, I want to leave them a surprise for all of you guys and girl. While 2025 is going to be a busy year for me, I’m sure that it will be filled with amazing adventures and unique opportunities.

When I look at the games that are going to release in 2025, I’m beyond stocked that I will have a lot of games to play and talk about in my blog. But, who knows, games on my backlog or retro games I find might grab my attention more and more.

And with that, I’m going to wrap up this article here. I want to thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another one, but until then have a great rest of your day and take care.

Already this distinguished and deeply planned/researched creation has been finely tuned and skillfully worked on over this extended period to ensure a game of depth, challenge and not least quality. It has already won, or been nominated for, a number of awards!

Opening up to a new world of Challenge

Developer’s Silvine strategy game adds another dimension to a genre that is sometimes overlooked as being formulaic, very simple in design, presentation and procedural play. Artifice: War Tactics is a turn-based strategy roguelike game with a unique asymmetric combat system. In this game, enemies set up attack zones, while your champions can actively evade and disrupt  strategy using their traits, abilities, or items.

Studio Quote - Technology/Inspirational

Neeraj Kumar, Founder. Silvine, ”Our studio specialises in both design and technology. Creating an art-heavy game has been a challenge for us, one we have successfully negotiated!  We  conducted extensive research, made iterations, and received a lot of help from colleagues with specialised expertise. Our inspiration stems from games like XCOM, Into the Breach, and Darkest Dungeon.”

Unleash your tactical prowess in a mediaeval fantasy world where survival depends on thwarting enemy ambushes with an array of champions at your disposal. Defeat powerful bosses to conquer strongholds and lead your army to victory!

Chaos ensued as civil war broke out in every kingdom, demanding its rulers to bow down to Theosus, or face the wrath of the people. In the end, not many remained to challenge Theosus as he became Ozaria’s sovereign. Years later, Sirion, the keeper of the relic, reached out to the mortals of this realm to rally against the tyranny. He gathered all the rebels to form the Conclave and entrusted the last of the stone fragments to them. You are the leader of this Conclave, and even though your chances of success are slim, it is up to you now to overthrow this false god.

Gameplay - visually cool, challengingly perfect!

Presentation and action is via  the  asymmetric grid combat system where you can execute an impressive array of combinations and synergies. Every action carries consequences. The animation and special effects that accompany each move add real impact to the game’s authenticity and overall ambience, just one of many impressive features.

Setting up to play, each turn base move follows a number of sequences/choices at the player's control. Observe enemy positions and deduce where they’re most likely to set up an ambush. Anticipate where the enemy is most likely to move during the following turn to position your champions. Position your champions strategically. Set attack zones and engage your enemies to create chain reactions of combos, maximising your victory and striking as many enemies as possible. A user-friendly interface gives lots of information about the enemies’ powers and move positions and there are various key presses that will bring up further helpful information. After only a short period of time and your first success Artifice becomes very intuitive.

Look out!

The biome hazards come in four types: Sandworm, frost wraith, Poison Ivy, and Floating Rune. They can be both dangerous and useful. If you are able to hit the enemies while they are next to them, they also attack the enemies. On the other hand, if you end up taking a hit while next to them, you might end up losing a shard (life), which will make the battle more difficult. Using them wisely is important for a master tactician.

Features & Facts

• Every unit has its own move and attack patterns, as well as unique traits and abilities.
• After winning 4 battles, you can challenge the boss.
• If you defeat the boss, a new island will unlock.
• There are a total of 3 islands and 1 final boss fight to complete.
• Collect any items or resources that enemies drop when defeated.
• Win the battle and earn rewards based on achieving secondary objectives and in-game drops.
• Visit the loadout area to equip great items and upgrade your champions.  
• Experiment with different objectives and aim for the rewards you need the most.

About Silvine Game Studios

Founded by Neeraj Kumar, Aubhik Nath, Ekta Verma, and Vishal Mohan, Silvine Game Studios is an indie developer based in Chennai, India. After their success with Asura: Vengeance Edition, the team reunited to create Artifice: War Tactics. Learn more at Silvine Game Studios.

Speaking at Devcom, Stray Fawn co-founder Philomena Schwab shared how the Zurich-based studio has survived for the past eight years, from refusing to partner with a publisher to the importance of community support when developing a game.

Schwab emphasised that Stray Fawn prides itself on being an independent studio, with no publisher or external investors.

Even when its first game, genetics survival title Niche, started getting publisher interest after crowdfunding success, the studio continued to decline offers. This was due to previous experience from making a mobile game which had a publisher that didn't go so well.

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On August 20, 2024, FromSoftware announced that the Prime Video anthology show Secret Level will feature an all new story set in one of the universes of Armored Core. The series, being developed by the same creative team as Love, Death & Robots, will feature 15 shorts from various video games.

Armored Core joins a list of many other famous games to appear in installments in Secret Level, including Mega Man, Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer 40,000 and Pac-Man. The tweet announcing this FromSoftware game's involvement also showed off a mech racing across an icy wasteland and a picture of a human character who resembles actor Keanu Reeves.

You can see the official tweet here:

This isn't the first time the Armored Core property has gone beyond the video games. Numerous model kits have been made of famous Cores from the series. A novel called Armored Core: Brave New World appeared in Japan.

Blur Studio, the production company behind Love, Death & Robots and Secret Level previously did work on films like James Cameron's Avatar, created trailers for Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Knight, and redid the cutscenes for the Master Chief Collection version of Halo 2.

Secret Level will be streaming on Amazon Prime Video on December 10, 2024, and the Armored Core episode will be a part of the show.

The post Secret Level Anthology Show Includes an Armored Core Short appeared first on Siliconera.

Towerborne is indeed coming this year as previously planned, but its release plans have still changed quite significantly. As recently announced, the co-op action-adventure title is now set to release in early access first, and in the wake of that announcement, Microsoft and developer Stoic Studio have revealed more details.

For starters, disappointingly enough for those on Xbox, Towerborne’s early access release next month is going to be limited to Steam only. A specific release date is unknown, with Stoic and Microsoft only confirming that the game will release in Xbox Game Preview at a “later” date.

Additionally, it’s also been confirmed that upon its full release next year, Towerborne is going to be a fully free-to-play game, even though a Founder’s Pack will be offered with the early access version.

“The Founder’s pack lets us do two main things: one is that we can slowly see where problems are and get attention onto those areas quickly,” says game director Daniel McLaren. “The second thing, it invites a group of people that are really invested in the game, that believe in Stoic. They want to be a part of shaping the future of Towerborne.”

Towerborne is in development for Xbox Series X/S and PC. It launches in early access for Steam on September 10.

Black Myth: Wukong PS5 performance has been the subject of debate ever since it emerged that Game Science only allowed reviewers to play the PC version before launch. We’re reserving our judgment until we play the full game but have been monitoring livestreams and forum chatter regarding console performance, and surprisingly, it’s a very mixed bag.

Black Myth: Wukong is off to an excellent start but PS5 needs performance improvement patches

The good news is that Black Myth: Wukong isn’t a repeat of Cyberpunk 2077. The game is playable and seems to hold up well… provided you stick to the Balanced Mode.

Those who have been attempting to play on the Performance Mode for some 60 fps goodness have complained of constant stuttering, poor image quality, and texture issues. The Quality Mode offers 30-35 fps whereas the Balanced mode can go up 45 fps. The general consensus is that Performance Mode isn’t the best way to play right now.

Interestingly, Black Myth: Wukong’s console performance has bizarrely polarized players. On one extreme, we’ve seen folks swear that there are absolutely no performance issues whatsoever (spoiler: this isn’t true), and on the other hand, some folks swear that the game is unplayable (spoiler: this also isn’t true).

If you’re not fussy about a lower frame rate and can make compromises in the graphics department, Black Myth: Wukong’s current PS5 performance shouldn’t be an issue for you. However, if you’re in the opposite camp, we suggest waiting for a patch or two.

The post Black Myth: Wukong PS5 Performance Polarizes Players appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Space 4X strategy game Stellaris launched in 2016, but Paradox can't stop adding to the universe. Last time I checked in, it was school trips to other dimensions. Now, it's Cosmic Storms. Due for release alongside the Stellaris 3.13 Vela update on September 10th, these are a paid "mechanical expansion" (priced at a rather chunky £11, $13 or €13, and available as part of the current season pass) that builds upon the game's existing Space Storms, "providing a deeper experience with strategically meaningful gameplay and beautiful upgraded visuals". Wash that down with new civics, precursor narratives, anomalies, archaeology sites, techs, edicts, a new Ascension perk, and new galactic community resolutions.

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It’s an oddly Halloweeny summer week for games, this one. Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s October 31st release date leaked earlier, Steam have put together a Summer Fright Night bundle featuring RPS fave Hauntii, and I’ve got a strange urge to gorge on Haribo and mini Double Deckers until blood comes out of my eyeballs. What a perfect time, then, to dive into the alpha demo for vampire management game Blood Bar Tycoon, especially since Two Point seem to be resting on their laurels a bit too comfortably for my liking.

The idea here is you build a swanky bar serving claret cosmopolitans, ichor-ish coffees and uh, viscera vampiros to your undead clientele. But (with the sorta exception of the crimson-sapped Dracaena cinnabari) blood doesn’t grow on trees, so you’ll also be moonlighting as a human-nabber. You’ll research a slew of “whacky contraptions” to extract their blood, which I greatly enjoy, because “zany exsanguination” is a real winner of a feature. You can’t frivolously phlebotomise with impunity, however - you’ll also want to be on the lookout for vampire hunters aka the fun police.

Read more

Space 4X strategy game Stellaris launched in 2016, but Paradox can't stop adding to the universe. Last time I checked in, it was school trips to other dimensions. Now, it's Cosmic Storms. Due for release alongside the Stellaris 3.13 Vela update on September 10th, these are a paid "mechanical expansion" (priced at a rather chunky £11, $13 or €13, and available as part of the current season pass) that builds upon the game's existing Space Storms, "providing a deeper experience with strategically meaningful gameplay and beautiful upgraded visuals". Wash that down with new civics, precursor narratives, anomalies, archaeology sites, techs, edicts, a new Ascension perk, and new galactic community resolutions.

Read more

It’s an oddly Halloweeny summer week for games, this one. Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s October 31st release date leaked earlier, Steam have put together a Summer Fright Night bundle featuring RPS fave Hauntii, and I’ve got a strange urge to gorge on Haribo and mini Double Deckers until blood comes out of my eyeballs. What a perfect time, then, to dive into the alpha demo for vampire management game Blood Bar Tycoon, especially since Two Point seem to be resting on their laurels a bit too comfortably for my liking.

The idea here is you build a swanky bar serving claret cosmopolitans, ichor-ish coffees and uh, viscera vampiros to your undead clientele. But (with the sorta exception of the crimson-sapped Dracaena cinnabari) blood doesn’t grow on trees, so you’ll also be moonlighting as a human-nabber. You’ll research a slew of “whacky contraptions” to extract their blood, which I greatly enjoy, because “zany exsanguination” is a real winner of a feature. You can’t frivolously phlebotomise with impunity, however - you’ll also want to be on the lookout for vampire hunters aka the fun police.

Read more

We already have available the new Redmi Buds 6 Active, semi in-ear headphones with a weight of only 4 grams per earphone. In addition, the aesthetic changes present ...

The post Redmi Buds 6 Active ya a la venta, auriculares con drivers de 14.2 mm first appeared on AndroidPCtv.

Annapurna Interactive a BlueTwelve Studio oznámily datum vydání dříve oznámeného portu hry Stray pro Nintendo Switch.

Vydavatel Annapurna Interactive na červnové prezentaci Nintendo Direct oznámil, že jeho uznávaná adventura Stray 2022 vyjde pro Switch někdy o letošních prázdninách, a nyní byl port opatřen konkrétním datem vydání.

Společnost Nintendo na Twitteru oznámila, že hra Stray vyjde pro Switch 19. listopadu.Stray hráči hrají za kočku oddělenou od své smečky, po které se musí pohybovat v dystopické společnosti obydlené roboty a androidy, kde není v dohledu jediný člověk. Fascinující prostředí a možnost hrát za kočku se spojují v solidní zážitek.

Hra Stray je v současné době k dispozici pro PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One a PC. Připravuje se také animovaný film na motivy této hry.

Be silly. Be curious. Be stealthy. Be a little annoying. But most of all, be a cat ready to pounce your way through the neon-lit alleys! Untangle an ancient mystery to escape the decaying cybercity in Stray, coming to #NintendoSwitch on Nov. 19th! pic.twitter.com/6p4MXx3Eok

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) August 8, 2024

Článek Stray vychází pro Nintendo Switch 19. listopadu se nejdříve objevil na GAME PRESS.

Gaming has certainly come a long way since the “good old days” of Pong and Super Mario! With advancements in technology, today’s gamers can immerse themselves in incredibly realistic virtual worlds that magically transport them into another dimension. From stunning graphics and lifelike character movements to intricate storytelling, game developers constantly strive to push the boundaries of what is possible. 

But one aspect has been somewhat lacking in these virtual experiences—audio. While visuals have evolved significantly, audio has often taken a backseat. 

Not anymore. Thanks to the advent of True 3D audio and high quality headphones, gamers can now enjoy an unprecedented level of realism and immersion that adds a whole new dimension to their gaming experiences.

The Evolution of Audio in Gaming

For the longest time, game audio primarily relied on stereo or surround sound systems to create the illusion of three-dimensional audio. While these techniques do heighten the gaming experience to some extent, they fail to accurately recreate how sound behaves in the real world. “Old school” audio systems typically represent sound sources as fixed points in space. This means that when a player moves around the virtual world, the sound remains constant and does not change based on their position or orientation. This limitation compromises the overall sense of immersion and realism that gamers seek.

But with the introduction of True 3D audio, game developers can now create a more accurate representation of sound in virtual environments. By simulating how sound waves interact with the virtual surroundings and the player’s ears, True 3D audio adds an extra layer of realism previously unattainable.

Understanding True 3D Audio

True 3D audio—a.k.a. spatial audio—is a technology that mimics the way sound propagates in the real world. It takes into account things like distance, direction, and environment to reproduce sound accurately in a three-dimensional space. Instead of relying solely on speakers to deliver audio, True 3D audio uses advanced algorithms and specialized headphones to create an immersive auditory experience.

One of the key features of True 3D audio is its ability to accurately position sound sources in relation to the player’s position and movements within the game. 

Example: If an enemy approaches from behind, the player will hear the sound gradually move from the back to the front. This creates a heightened sense of situational awareness. This level of precision and realism adds an extra layer of immersion, improving gameplay and making the virtual world feel more authentic.

The Benefits of True 3D Audio

True 3D audio provides a wide range of benefits that enhance the gaming experience. Let’s explore some of them.

The new True 3D audio technology featured in the latest gaming systems allows players to become more deeply immersed in virtual worlds than ever before. This groundbreaking audio innovation provides pinpoint-accurate placement of all sound sources within the game environment, creating the sensational illusion that you have literally been transported inside the onscreen world.

Every subtle audio detail, from gentle ambient nature sounds (like leaves softly rustling in trees) to dramatic booming explosions during combat sequences, is precisely localized in a three-dimensional sound space. This unprecedented level of audio immersion leads to breathtaking realism that high-definition visuals alone cannot achieve. Wandering through photorealistic in-game forests, players can feel transported into the natural space, surrounded by the gentle sounds of wildlife and vegetation in the breeze.

Likewise, chaotic warzone firefights become more intense and lifelike, where the player feels physically present within the virtual battlefield, with explosions detonating and bullets whizzing past them from every direction. With True 3D audio, games are no longer limited to visual realism—players can now become fully present within once-intangible worlds, leading to unprecedented immersion.

The implementation of true 3D audio in video games has led to improved spatial awareness for players. (Spatial awareness refers to a player’s understanding of where objects, teammates, enemies, and other audio sources are located around them in the game world.) With advanced 3D audio technologies that accurately emulate directional sound propagation, players gain a better sense of their surroundings. They can more easily pinpoint the origin of footsteps, gunshots, or other audio cues. This gives players a tactical edge. Why? They can quicker ascertain the presence of threats or opportunities and react accordingly. Their decision-making and response times benefit from the increased perception granted by 3D audio. 

Ultimately, this heightened spatial awareness gives players more agency and control. It empowers them to better leverage the audio information available to achieve objectives and succeed in the game. The level of immersion also feels more advanced, with a detailed soundscape that faithfully represents what they might hear in the real world.

Engineering Improvements

Realistic and immersive soundscapes are a key component of modern video games that help to transport players into intricately crafted virtual worlds. With advanced True 3D audio technologies, game developers now have unprecedented capabilities to engineer deeply resonant acoustic environments filled with echoes, reverberations, premium HD sound, and directional sounds that mimic reality. 

Whether it’s hearing the subtle echo of footsteps ricocheting off the stone walls of a medieval castle corridor or feeling enveloped by the bassy, rumbling sound effects of explosives detonating across an active warzone battlefield, True 3D audio adds an extra layer of depth and suspension of disbelief.

Every minute sound detail can be rendered with precise spatial positioning, distance attenuation, and geometric occlusion modelling to fully convince the auditory senses that the video game world stretches out organically in all directions. As virtual reality platforms grow ever more visually realistic, 3D soundscapes with advanced physics and propagation are imperative to completing the immersion illusion. True 3D audio ultimately helps facilitate deeper emotional connections and richer experiences as players explore and interact within credibly crafted virtual environments.

Finally, traditional stereo or surround sound systems have limitations regarding lateral sound movement. But with True 3D audio, sound can move smoothly and easily from one speaker to another, creating a more fluid and natural audio experience. The dynamic movement of sound adds an extra dimension to the gaming experience, making it feel more organic and realistic.

Rather than sound jumping abruptly between speakers, True 3D audio allows for gradual and subtle shifts in the soundscape as the action moves across the gaming environment. Thanks to these smooth audio transitions, players can pinpoint sounds in a game with greater precision. This makes for a deeply immersive experience that feels natural and responsive. By overcoming the spatial restrictions of old audio setups, True 3D audio brings lateral sound movement to the next level.

True 3D Audio: The Future of Gaming

As technology continues to advance, True 3D audio is expected to become the new standard in gaming. With its ability to provide an unmatched level of realism and immersion, True 3D audio has the potential to revolutionize the way gamers experience their favourite titles. Developers are increasingly adopting this technology and incorporating it into their games to deliver truly unforgettable audio experiences.

True 3D audio is a game-changer for the gaming industry. Its ability to accurately reproduce sound in a three-dimensional space adds an entirely new level of immersion and realism to virtual worlds. Whether it’s getting fully immersed in the ambiance of a detailed game environment or being able to locate enemies with precision, True 3D audio heightens the overall gaming experience in ways that were previously unimaginable. 

Get ready to strap on your headphones and embark on an auditory adventure like no other with True 3D audio!

It’ll take me quite a while to get through Sea of Stars, but if my first impressions are anything to go by, it’s going to be a hell of an adventure. This latest indie RPG comes from Quebec’s Sabotage Studio, the developers of the acclaimed The Messenger.

The developers were kind enough to send over a review key for me to look at the game. I’ve been plugging away at it over the past couple of days, with about 12 hours of progress done. Given that I’m not even halfway done, it’s easy to expect the review will take some time.

But one thing’s for sure: Sea of Stars is living up to the hype and then some. It’s a grand and engaging adventure that’s satisfying in its combat and enticing in its story. And despite a few incredibly minor issues that will hopefully be patched out, it’s set its hooks deep into me already.

Fire of the sun, light of the moon

Let’s talk about the combat first. I already had an idea of how this played, thanks to the demo released back in February. In practice, it’s already been a consistently fun and rewarding combat system, and I can see it appealing to both retro fans and newbies.

Much has been made of the game’s comparisons to games like Super Mario RPG, Illusion of Gaia, and Chrono Trigger. And they’re certainly warranted; any fan of 90s RPGs will be right at home here. I also got a substantial whiff of Mario & Luigi in it, especially with the combo moves. You have to juggle a few factors at once, including elemental weaknesses, enemy positions, charging enemy attacks, and available magic points and boost power.

While it’s a deep and layered combat system, it’s also very approachable. If you’ve never played an RPG before, Sea of Stars would be an excellent first choice. You can grasp the core concept very easily, and there aren’t so many mechanics and meters to keep track of that it’s overwhelming. The biggest challenge is determining the optimal strategy, which requires paying close attention in the heat of battle.

Feeling like a star

Sea of Stars immediately made a stir thanks to its wonderful aesthetics. You’ve probably already noticed the lovely pixel art through these screenshots, and in action, the game looks absolutely stunning. With beautiful color palettes and some excellent music tracks, it’s already a heavily absorbing adventure.

More than its aesthetics, though, I’m also really into the story and characters so far. With a wacky pirate crew, some excellent party members, and an old order of the Solstice Warriors to talk to, there’s plenty of love and care into these characters. I’ve gotten quite a bit ahead of the introduction, so I won’t be writing any story spoilers here.

Just know that the game takes maybe an hour or two to get going, and then a couple more hours to REALLY get going. For a game that’s expected to take about 25 to 30 hours with no side content, there’s hopefully plenty more great story bits and characters to come.

If there’s one aspect I can criticize Sea of Stars for, it’s that the dialogue needed a bit of a tune-up. Not the words themselves, but rather the grammar; there’s a few typos that needed ironing out. That’s something that could easily be fixed with a few patches, although of course, it’s not the most important factor. I haven’t encountered any other bugs so far, and hopefully that will remain the same throughout the rest of my playthrough!

Sea of Stars shines in its first impressions

I’m happy to report that my first impressions of Sea of Stars are highly positive. The combat is engrossing for both RPG veterans and newcomers, and it’s a beautiful game filled with charming characters and storylines. And while the text perhaps needed one last proofread, it’s hardly enough to take you out of the adventure.

Sea of Stars is developed and published by Sabotage Studio. It is available now for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC via Steam. You can also play it via Xbox and PC Game Pass. A free demo is available to play right now.

The digital version costs $34.99 USD. A physical version for Nintendo Switch is on the way, but Sabotage Studio hasn’t announced a price yet.

Thanks to Tinsley PR and Sabotage Studio for providing a review key!

The post First Impressions: Sea of Stars [PC] appeared first on Mega Visions.

A new God of War game from Santa Monica Studio is almost a given, but it looks like the studio’s next release will be its new IP. Sony Santa Monica has been a single-project studio for almost the entirety of its existence (not counting external projects), but the developer has been working on its mystery new IP for quite some time.

Why fans think Santa Monica Studio will release a new IP before a new God of War game

Santa Monica Studio has been hiring for its new IP for a while, but over the weekend, a ResetEra user spotted evidence of major recruitment activity. Sony veteran Glauco Longhi, who has previously worked for both Naughty Dog and Santa Monica, returned to work for the God of War developer in April.

On his LinkedIn, Longhi confirms that Santa Monica Studio offered him an opportunity to return, and he’s now overseeing the entire character development pipeline of the new IP. From the sound of things, the studio is firing on all cylinders now and its next release is likely to be this project.

Rumor has it that the mystery game’s development is being led by Cory Barlog, and it will be a sci-fi game possibly with RPG elements.

The post New God of War Might Not Be Santa Monica Studio’s Next Release appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Source

The latest PC farming and life sim is now available to play, as Fields of Mistria launched on early access. To go along with that, there’s a launch trailer highlighting what people can expect from the title. In addition, many of the available songs from the Fields of Mistria soundtrack ended up shared online.

Here’s the Fields of Mistria early access launch trailer. It begins with general farming footage. People can watch as someone tends crops. From there, we get to meet some of the people living in the nearby village. Hayden shows up first, alongside some of the animals you can buy from them. From there, portraits of 10 of the 12 marriage candidates show up. Two remain as secret silhouettes in the video. After that, we see what it’s like to explore the mines and the enemies inside one. Collecting elements for the town museum come up as well. Early access will last for a year, new content will be added as time goes on, and the team says it currently doesn’t expect the price to change from $13.99.

Here’s the full Fields of Mistria gameplay footage:

In addition to the launch trailer, 52 songs off of the Fields of Mistria soundtrack are now available on the official YouTube channel for the game. They’re composed by Hidehito Ikumo. Here’s the full list of the tracks released so far: 

• “Adeline’s Theme: The Smell of Drying Ink”
• “Aquifer Echo”
• “Backwater Bathhouse”
• “Balor’s Theme: Fair Weather”
• “Behind the Forge”
• “Blazing Hearth”
• “Blue Skies Will Return”
• “Caldarus' Theme: The Sleeping Dragon”
• “Celine’s Theme: Flower in Bloom”
• “Close Your Eyes”
• “Crows in a Clear Sky”
• “Crystal Condensation”
• “Dig Deeper”
• “Dragonsworn”
• “Eiland’s Theme: Roots Intertwined”
• “Fall: Changing Winds”
• “Fall: Dance of the Leaves”
• “Fresh Snow”
• “Glimmering Spring” 
• “Glowing Hearth”
• “Hayden’s Theme: Roll Up Your Sleeves!”
• “Juniper’s Theme: Something’s Brewing”
• “Let’s Get to Work”
• “Let’s Go for a Walk”
• “Lumber and Sawdust”
• “Main Theme”
• “March’s Theme: What Do You Want?”
• “Market Day”
• “Memory Rain”
• “Moonlight Through My Window”
• “Please Take a Seat”
• “Potatoes are Half Off Today”
• “Prepare to Descend”
• “Quenched Earth”
• “Quiet Winter”
• “Reina’s Theme: Wild Berry Pie”
• “Rest a While”
• “Revitalization”
• “Rising Tide”
• “Ryis’ Theme: Birdsong”
• “The Seal”
• “Spring Festival”
• “Spring: Tenacious Sprout”
• “Summer: Gathering Clouds”
• “Summer: Lens Flare”
• “Summer: Shaking Off a Summer Storm”
• “Summer: Village Life”
• “Sunlight Through My Window”
• “Unearthed”
• “Valen’s Theme: Cactus Bloom”
• “Wake Up, Little Seed”
• “Winter: The World Glitters”

Fields of Mistria is now in early access for Windows PC.

The post Fields of Mistria Early Access Launch Trailer and Soundtrack Appear appeared first on Siliconera.

Once Human's maintenance is now complete, and the F2P open-world shooter is back online with a plethora of QoL improvements and optimisations, including a desperately-needed revision to vehicle handling.

Whilst players received a bundle of Stardust and health-related items to make up for the downtime, Once Human's long-promised controller and Steam Deck support is still nowhere to be seen (although, confusingly, the "controller" in-game item remains in place).

In terms of Memetics, you can now pick up memetic specialisation memory fragments in the wild and trade them between players. All memetic fragments will be destroyed at the end of the season – which is in a couple of weeks time – and cannot be sent to Eternaland, so be mindful of that.

Read more

Amazon Prime's Like a Dragon adaptation Like a Dragon: Yakuza will premier on 24th October, 2024.

Previously, we'd been told the series would debut on 25th October.

To mark the change, Amazon also dropped a tantalising, if brief, peek at what's to come in a new teaser trailer:

Read more

The latest PC farming and life sim is now available to play, as Fields of Mistria launched on early access. To go along with that, there’s a launch trailer highlighting what people can expect from the title. In addition, many of the available songs from the Fields of Mistria soundtrack ended up shared online.

Here’s the Fields of Mistria early access launch trailer. It begins with general farming footage. People can watch as someone tends crops. From there, we get to meet some of the people living in the nearby village. Hayden shows up first, alongside some of the animals you can buy from them. From there, portraits of 10 of the 12 marriage candidates show up. Two remain as secret silhouettes in the video. After that, we see what it’s like to explore the mines and the enemies inside one. Collecting elements for the town museum come up as well. Early access will last for a year, new content will be added as time goes on, and the team says it currently doesn’t expect the price to change from $13.99.

Here’s the full Fields of Mistria gameplay footage:

In addition to the launch trailer, 52 songs off of the Fields of Mistria soundtrack are now available on the official YouTube channel for the game. They’re composed by Hidehito Ikumo. Here’s the full list of the tracks released so far: 

• “Adeline’s Theme: The Smell of Drying Ink”
• “Aquifer Echo”
• “Backwater Bathhouse”
• “Balor’s Theme: Fair Weather”
• “Behind the Forge”
• “Blazing Hearth”
• “Blue Skies Will Return”
• “Caldarus' Theme: The Sleeping Dragon”
• “Celine’s Theme: Flower in Bloom”
• “Close Your Eyes”
• “Crows in a Clear Sky”
• “Crystal Condensation”
• “Dig Deeper”
• “Dragonsworn”
• “Eiland’s Theme: Roots Intertwined”
• “Fall: Changing Winds”
• “Fall: Dance of the Leaves”
• “Fresh Snow”
• “Glimmering Spring” 
• “Glowing Hearth”
• “Hayden’s Theme: Roll Up Your Sleeves!”
• “Juniper’s Theme: Something’s Brewing”
• “Let’s Get to Work”
• “Let’s Go for a Walk”
• “Lumber and Sawdust”
• “Main Theme”
• “March’s Theme: What Do You Want?”
• “Market Day”
• “Memory Rain”
• “Moonlight Through My Window”
• “Please Take a Seat”
• “Potatoes are Half Off Today”
• “Prepare to Descend”
• “Quenched Earth”
• “Quiet Winter”
• “Reina’s Theme: Wild Berry Pie”
• “Rest a While”
• “Revitalization”
• “Rising Tide”
• “Ryis’ Theme: Birdsong”
• “The Seal”
• “Spring Festival”
• “Spring: Tenacious Sprout”
• “Summer: Gathering Clouds”
• “Summer: Lens Flare”
• “Summer: Shaking Off a Summer Storm”
• “Summer: Village Life”
• “Sunlight Through My Window”
• “Unearthed”
• “Valen’s Theme: Cactus Bloom”
• “Wake Up, Little Seed”
• “Winter: The World Glitters”

Fields of Mistria is now in early access for Windows PC.

The post Fields of Mistria Early Access Launch Trailer and Soundtrack Appear appeared first on Siliconera.

The China Hero Project X/Twitter account has confirmed that Unending Dawn will be officially coming to PC alongside its PS5 version. Unending Dawn, a game from Parcae’s Fate Studio, is a multiplayer open-world action game set in a world ravaged by a massive catastrophe. This disaster has left wildlife transformed into dangerous creatures with the … Continue reading Unending Dawn has been officially confirmed for PC →

The post Unending Dawn has been officially confirmed for PC appeared first on DSOGaming.

As reported by Gematsu yesterday, SEGA have filed a trademark in Japan for the term “Yakuza Wars”. This happened on July 26th, and while Gematsu speculate this might be related to the next game in the Yakuza: Like A Dragon series, I have other plans. For the imaginary game. That I have nothing to do with.

Read more

As reported by Gematsu yesterday, SEGA have filed a trademark in Japan for the term “Yakuza Wars”. This happened on July 26th, and while Gematsu speculate this might be related to the next game in the Yakuza: Like A Dragon series, I have other plans. For the imaginary game. That I have nothing to do with.

Read more

Source

Once Human's maintenance is now complete, and the F2P open-world shooter is back online with a plethora of QoL improvements and optimisations, including a desperately-needed revision to vehicle handling.

Whilst players received a bundle of Stardust and health-related items to make up for the downtime, Once Human's long-promised controller and Steam Deck support is still nowhere to be seen (although, confusingly, the "controller" in-game item remains in place).

In terms of Memetics, you can now pick up memetic specialisation memory fragments in the wild and trade them between players. All memetic fragments will be destroyed at the end of the season – which is in a couple of weeks time – and cannot be sent to Eternaland, so be mindful of that.

Read more

Amazon Prime's Like a Dragon adaptation Like a Dragon: Yakuza will premier on 24th October, 2024.

Previously, we'd been told the series would debut on 25th October.

To mark the change, Amazon also dropped a tantalising, if brief, peek at what's to come in a new teaser trailer:

Read more

Samsung Scalable Codec, often known as SSC, is Samsung's proprietary codec that provides high-quality audio streaming over Bluetooth. Samsung revamped its TWS (Total Wireless Stereo) lineup in 2019 with the introduction of Galaxy Buds. Samsung (AKG) created Samsung Scalable Codec for its Galaxy Buds lineup to offer a stable Bluetooth connection with dynamic bitrate. Whether grooving to your playlists or catching up on podcasts on your Galaxy phone, Samsung's technology ensures a smooth connection between your device and headphones. But what exactly is Samsung Scalable Codec, and how is the newer Samsung Seamles Codec different? Continue reading to explore its benefits, compatibility, features, and current iteration.

When shopping for cheap true wireless earbuds, you are bound to be met with an avalanche of options, plenty of which are duds, with subpar audio, overkill bass, and bare-bones features. These products often use gibberish brand names meant to trick you into thinking you're making a good choice. While there's a wide price range when it comes to the best wireless earbuds out there, the premium options on that list reach $300.

Many of us use headphones every day to block out the commuter din, to connect via hands-free phone calls, to rev us up at the gym, and for other important reasons. While over-ear headphones are a great option for passive and active noise cancelation, the added bulk doesn't always make them the ideal choice. If you want something lightweight and easily portable, it's time to invest in a solid pair of wireless earbuds. Although they may not provide the same level of intense noise cancelation as over-ear models, you'd be surprised how much sound a well-designed pair can block out.

In 444 Switch reviews over the last 2 years, I have never cursed once. That will end with number 445(this one). WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?! Basketball Anime Girls is so bad, It would get #1 on my upcoming Year 2 Best/Worst list, if it weren’t for The Love not working, so this game will get #2. There are no redeeming qualities, and I wasn’t laughing, so it’s not getting a Hilariously Awful verdict either. I guess the best way to explain this piece of shit is to post this minute long video, which also debuts a logo video made by the very talented Laura Stevia(which was for a Patreon that never materialized).

So, Basketball Anime Girls is a basketball game where you run around with the ball trying to get near the basket and dunk(but somehow miss the net). The opponent is trying to do the same. The only problem is the AI is garbage. The opposing girls run straight at you, but once they get the ball by touching you, they either run for their basket, or run around at random. The girls on your side will do the same, either run around at random or straight for the basket, its a coin toss which one they’ll do. Each basket you score is one point. Each one the opponent does subtracts one. You need five points to win.

Basketball Anime Girls does have unlockable girls, balls, and courts. But why suffer through it? This game is shit, pure unadulterated shit. Even the marketing blurb is shit:

Step into the world of “Basketball Anime Girls” a captivating 3D basketball simulator that combines the excitement of real-life basketball with the vibrant charm of anime style. Choose your favorite anime girl skin and hit the courts for an immersive and thrilling experience.

Its all lies, all of it. It is not captivating, thrilling, charming or exciting. It is Garbage and will get a one back-end score. Heck it’d give it a 0.5 if I could. Do not buy this game. Do not go near Basketball Anime Girls. Let me suffer so you don’t have to!

Overall: Basketball Anime Girls is an awful, awful game that is neither fun nor charming. Stay far away!

Verdict: Garbage

eShop Page

The post Basketball Anime Girls Switch Review appeared first on The Game Slush Pile.

At ten past nine every evening he sends you out into the darkening world. He's the presenter of Krypta FM - pronounced with the chopped staccato of every good radio announcer as Kryp! Ta! FM! - and you are his eager listener and hopeful protege. Sniff the evening air. Breathe deep! The small town world that lies sleeping all around you is just teeming with cryptids, surely. Anyone seen a mothman lately? A werewolf? Grab a camera and get out there - but be safe, okay?

Read more

Readers, something actually magical has happened! I’ve spent a non-zero amount of time this week compiling a wishlist for potential Stardew Valley-likes that also let me keep pets. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to play, but I knew I was burnt out on both stabbing and shooting, and wanted something light and colourful with a solid loop that I could veg out (pun intended) with at the end of the day. I even went to so far as to create a chap named Karrot King in Stardew before quitting in disgust because I couldn’t easily access carrot seeds.

I cannot in good conscious claim that I manifested such a videogame - that was the work of Skyreach Studio. However, this is the internet, so I will both take credit for it and offer you an exclusive discount on my course. While I’m waiting for your membership fee to arrive, I’ll be playing Critter Crops. It’s a witchy farming sim in which you grow odd pets and cast spells from flesh-bound grimoires. One of the verbs it offers on its Steam page is 'noodle'. Apologies to all the other games on my wishlist.

Read more

At ten past nine every evening he sends you out into the darkening world. He's the presenter of Krypta FM - pronounced with the chopped staccato of every good radio announcer as Kryp! Ta! FM! - and you are his eager listener and hopeful protege. Sniff the evening air. Breathe deep! The small town world that lies sleeping all around you is just teeming with cryptids, surely. Anyone seen a mothman lately? A werewolf? Grab a camera and get out there - but be safe, okay?

Read more

Readers, something actually magical has happened! I’ve spent a non-zero amount of time this week compiling a wishlist for potential Stardew Valley-likes that also let me keep pets. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to play, but I knew I was burnt out on both stabbing and shooting, and wanted something light and colourful with a solid loop that I could veg out (pun intended) with at the end of the day. I even went to so far as to create a chap named Karrot King in Stardew before quitting in disgust because I couldn’t easily access carrot seeds.

I cannot in good conscious claim that I manifested such a videogame - that was the work of Skyreach Studio. However, this is the internet, so I will both take credit for it and offer you an exclusive discount on my course. While I’m waiting for your membership fee to arrive, I’ll be playing Critter Crops. It’s a witchy farming sim in which you grow odd pets and cast spells from flesh-bound grimoires. One of the verbs it offers on its Steam page is 'noodle'. Apologies to all the other games on my wishlist.

Read more

Great price on AliExpress Choice Day for the Marshall MAJOR III, a headphone with headband design from this well-known English audio brand. A new version of these popular ...

The post Marshall MAJOR III quality headphones at a low price point first appeared on AndroidPCtv.

Lenovo has an impressive catalogue of headphones of all types where bone conduction headphones are also present, such as the Lenovo X7 which are currently at a reduced ...

The post Lenovo X7, bone conduction headphones for less than $11 first appeared on AndroidPCtv.

We already have available the new iQOO TWS 1i wireless headphones that stand out for their good autonomy that can reach up to 10 hours. These are headphones ...

The post iQOO TWS 1i new affordable headphones with good battery life first appeared on AndroidPCtv.

Good deal on the popular Xiaomi I68 headphones, they feature an open design with OWS hook that is very comfortable to wear. These headphones with OWS design (Over-ear ...

The post Xiaomi I68, very economical sport headphones with ear hook first appeared on AndroidPCtv.

Today our friends Mitch Resnick and Natalie Rusk from MIT’s Lifelong Kindergarten group tell you about OctoStudio, their free mobile app for children to create with code. Find their companion article for teachers in the upcoming issue of Hello World magazine, out for free on Monday 1 July.

When people see our new OctoStudio coding app, they often say that it reminds them of Scratch, the world’s most popular coding platform for kids. That’s not surprising, since the group of us developing OctoStudio were also involved in creating Scratch, with its distinctive building-block approach to programming. But there’s an important difference.

The difference is that we designed OctoStudio specifically for mobile phones and tablets, based on requests from educators in communities where children and families don’t have access to laptops and desktop computers, but do have access to mobile devices. 

OctoStudio takes advantage of special features of mobile phones and tablets, such as built-in sensors, so young people can create projects that respond to shaking or tilting, or even ‘beam’ signals between devices. And because of the small size of mobile devices, children and families can create projects anytime anywhere, and integrate digital coding with physical making.

OctoStudio makes it easy for beginners to start creating. Children can choose a character from a diverse collection of emojis, draw their own in the OctoStudio paint editor, or take and edit a photo. With just a couple coding blocks, they can make their characters move, jump, speak, or glow — and respond to shaking, tilting, or tapping on the phone or tablet:

Since our Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab launched OctoStudio as a free app in October 2023, we’ve been delighted by the creativity and diversity of projects that children around the world have created with OctoStudio. As examples, we’d like to share with you three different projects from three different continents.

Getting active with OctoStudio 

When Xavier, a 10-year-old in Rwanda, started using OctoStudio, he was intrigued with the ‘When I shake’ block. He realized that he could create a step tracker project, by sensing how the phone shook each time he took a step. 

From the emoji library in OctoStudio, Xavier selected a rabbit, and he programmed it to grow a little bit each time he took a step. The more steps, the bigger the rabbit. To test the project, Xavier ran around in a circle. When he looked at the rabbit again, he saw how big it had grown and exclaimed: “Now it’s mega huge!” After finishing his project, Xavier made and posted a video tutorial to show others how to make their own step tracker using only 5 coding blocks.

Making creatures come to life on screen

One popular way to get started with OctoStudio is to make a favorite animal out of craft materials, take a photo of it, then bring your creation to life on the screen with OctoStudio coding blocks. As part of the Brazilian Creative Learning Network, educators Renato Barboza and Simone Lederman offer creative learning workshops in which children design creatures using a combination of natural materials and modeling clay. In these ‘fantastical creatures’ workshops, facilitators ask questions to encourage participants to design not only the creatures, but also develop ideas about how their creatures interact within their environment.

For example, two sisters created imaginary creatures, one with long sticks for arms, the other with big eyes and wings made from leaves. The sisters then took photos and made their creatures come to life in OctoStudio, making them jump, glow, and fly. They recorded sounds and explained more about their creatures, including where they live and what they like to eat.

Beaming between devices

OctoStudio also opens up the possibility of projects involving multiple mobile devices, using the new ‘beam’ block to send signals between the devices (via Bluetooth). For example, children can make a character in a story or game look like it’s jumping from one device to another by sending a beam signal when the character reaches the edge of the screen.

Thawin, an elementary school student in Thailand, decided to use the ‘beam’ block to create a project about caring for the environment. He embedded one tablet in a cardboard cutout of a watering can, and programmed it to beam a signal each time he shook it as if he were sprinkling water. Then, he added a tree emoji to another tablet, and programmed the tree to grow each time it received a beam signal. He proudly shared his project with his classmates: each time someone shook the watering can, the tree grew.

Get started with OctoStudio

To get started with OctoStudio, you can download it for free from app stores for Android and iOS phones and tablets. The app is translated into more than 25 languages, and comes with sample projects and mini-tutorials. 

Here are some resources for learning and exploring more:

• The octostudio.org website provides a reference guide and FAQ
• The OctoStudio channel on YouTube offers a variety of inspiring tutorials and examples
• For project ideas using physical materials, visit OctoStudio Explorations from the Tinkering Studio
• For updates, sign up for the OctoStudio mailing list

You can share your OctoStudio stories, photos, and videos on social media using @octostudioapp or #octostudio. We can’t wait to hear about your and your children’s experiences!

The post Create anytime, anywhere with OctoStudio appeared first on Raspberry Pi Foundation.

A quaint town sits nestled among mountains and green hills. Colorful birds flit from tree to tree, and fish swim up rivers of sapphire blue water. The citizens of Mistria go about their days, wandering from shop to shop, each a colorful character in their own right. And while Fields of Mistria may look like your run-of-the-mill farming simulator, it seems to be much, much more than that.

The genre Fields of Mistria occupies is undoubtedly one of my favorite in games. I became enchanted with the Harvest Moon series through Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life as a child, and dabbled in the likes of Stardew Valley, Rune Factory, Palia, and more. When Fields of Mistria crossed my radar a few years ago, I was immediately intrigued, even if it was just a few bits of character artwork here and there. Because while these games are functionally the same in their mechanics, nothing quite looks like Fields of Mistria.

The sprite work for the characters is deliciously detailed and remind me of when I used to comb through Yuu Watase manga like Imadoki! or Alice 19th. It has that mid-90's to early 2000's appeal, and isn't afraid to wear these inspirations on its sleeve. Juniper, the resident bathhouse owner, who's laugh is a direct reference to a popular trope, that you'd see in a series like Sailor Moon or other popular shoujo manga and anime of that time. Fields of Mistria seems to embrace these aesthetics and weave them into the game, with characters fulfilling specific archetypes. And because it doesn't shy away from that, it makes Fields of Mistria all the stronger.

You more or less know what you're going to get with each character, as their personalities generally correspond with their looks. At least based on what I experienced. And there isn't anything wrong with that. These "anime" archetypes exist for a reason, and are popular. Olric is a part-time shop assistant, which is evident by his character portrait, whereas March the blacksmith immediately reads as standoffish with his tilted head and frown. There's something appealing to this, mostly because it feels familiar. It could turn off some that are looking for something that might subvert those expectations, but because these things are so immediately nostalgic for me, I can't help but be sucked in.

Even small social interactions with characters feel fresh and fun. This is because characters in Fields of Mistria interact with one another in casual conversations. When you approach NPCs standing around each other, there is a chance that they'll be chatting among themselves. On Friday, the local tavern has the residents of Mistria piling in to drink and play card games, and this makes the town feel alive. Everyone has their own habits, but relationships with each other that exist outside of you. However, I did wish the dialogue options you could pick for your responses wouldn't bounce between an extreme over-eagerness or "sassy" responses that come off as a little corny.

Because even if the first few hours of Fields of Mistria are somewhat slow, with you needing to progress through several days and a myriad of side quests to actually gain access to all of your tools, the game is oddly comfortable. The characters, predictable as they are, are fun to talk to, and the general game flow is slow but steady. It's clear the developers want you take your time, as interacting with the world and all of its systems, like farming and fishing and gathering materials, net you essence. Essence is used to unlock skills in a skill tree, which is an interesting implementation, but some of these passives are great for restoring stamina without forcing the player to cook dishes or call it a day early.

You can of course, do a plethora of things during the day and even the night. There are collectables you can turn into the museum to unlock additional cosmetics. You can fish and farm to your heart's content. You can rear animals and craft furniture and other things to help out on your farm. All of these things exist in other farming simulators, but Fields of Mistria does have some ease of access when it comes to checking what items you've donated to the museum or what each crop sells for. There is also a cave you can explore if you'd rather do away with farming for the day. But all of these things come together in a way that makes the time management of Fields of Mistria fun, and not too overwhelming. You don't need to min-max your day to have a good time, and requests from NPCs aren't timed. Which means you aren't frantically trying to collect whatever the local innkeeper or carpenter is yearning for on a random Tuesday.

There is enough iteration on the formula to make Fields of Mistria interesting and engaging. And while I am only in the first ten or so hours of the game, I've grown to really like it after getting over that initial hurdle. I can't wait to spend more hours just fiddling with these systems and unlocking more cooking recipes and fishing while curled up under my blankets with my Steam Deck in my hands. (Yes, Fields of Mistria works on Steam Deck, and has controller support.) And I especially can't wait to see what the developers have cooked up and will include in the game once it eventually releases in full.

Fields of Mistria will enter Early Access on August 5, 2024. It will release on PC through Steam.

The post Preview: Fields of Mistria Leans Into It’s 90s Inspirations appeared first on Siliconera.

I really like an obscure game with an odd mechanic in it. I want to make a clone of it so I can keep playing it, even if its graphics and audio are inferior to the original!

This game has a highly unusual mechanic though. It relies on voice-acting to relay info to the player (or at least the opponent, it used to have online features). Not having this signalling would render half of the game's mechanics unusable.

Obviously, I don't have the ability to add voice acting to my game. So what other method can I choose? Having some sort of graphic or text pop up on the screen indicating the opponent's action would require the player to divert their eyes to elsewhere on the screen. I could have unique sound effects for every action, but there's literally dozens of them! Besides, it would take quite a while to learn which sound is associated with each action. With voice acting, the character is literally just calling out the name of the action they're performing!

Is there any other method I could use to relay this information? Or is a game like this simply impossible to play without audio? I mean, how many games are there where you literally couldn't play them at all if you're deaf? Some sort of audio cue seems a practical necessity.

With Sony having surprised precisely no-one by announcing that, once again, PlayStation won't be at this year's Gamescom, Microsoft has seized the opportunity to let everyone know that, by Jove, Xbox will be at this year's show.

Microsoft shared the news over on social media, inviting attendees to visit its "biggest booth yet" when Gamescom returns to Cologne, Germany, in August this year.

Microsoft will, of course, be the only major console maker to have at presence at Gamescom 2024; Nintendo confirmed it wouldn't be coming along back in April, saying there would be opportunities for players to try Switch games at other events throughout the year, and PlayStation confirmed a no-show earlier this week. Sony's absence hardly warrants a raised eyebrow, however, given it hasn't showed up since 2019.

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Sony is one of the best headphone brands in the business. With years of experience in the music and film industries, the company continues to leverage its audible and visual experience in designing some of the top headsets (and top earbuds, too). Were betting youve seen one or two pairs of Sony headphones in your lifetime, and there are more than one or two worth considering. If you're in the market, this list has them. Models include everything from signature products to unique alternatives.

If your summer fitness regime needs a bit of a boost, the Beats Fit Pro might be just the wireless earbuds for the job. We’re spotlighting them today because they just hit their lowest price since March 2023, with a 20% markdown dropping them to only $159.

Beats Fit Pro for $159 ($41 off)

Back in April, Beats announced its first true wireless earbuds priced under $100. Now, the Solo Buds are finally available, starting today for just $79.99.

The new affordable buds are fairly basic in design, lacking extras like noise cancelation and auto play/pause functionality. At least there are touch controllers activated by pressing the B button on the headphones that offer basics like playback control, answering calls, and activating Siri. You also get four ear tip sizes out of the box, which should cover pretty much all ear types reasonably well.

We can’t speak for the sound quality of these buds, but at this price point, you’d expect a few concessions. Aside from the lack of more expensive extras, the most obvious trade-off has to do with the case you put your buds in.

While many true wireless earbuds have charging cases that include built-in batteries to bolster battery life quickly, the Solo Buds do not. Thankfully, the earbuds themselves have an impressively solid battery life of up to 18 hours, but after that, you’ll need to put them in the case and plug them into a USB-C to top them back up. Beats says the buds charge up fairly fast, at least, reportedly giving you one hour of playback with just a five-minute charge.

The Beats Solo Buds are available now in your choice of Matte Black, Storm Gray, Arctic Purple, and Transparent Red.