Windows 10 Game Mode has arrived ... in Insider Preview Build 15019

By Joe Osborne 20 hours ago Gaming  

Just strap in for a few game-related bugs

If you’re a PC gamer and not a Microsoft Windows Insider, you may want to sign up, as the latest Windows Insider Preview build is just for you. Microsoft has at last unleashed Windows Insider Preview Build 15019 – for members in its Fast ring for updates – with the fabled Game Mode.

We just spoke with Microsoft regarding Game Mode for Windows 10 and learned a whole bunch about how the feature exactly improves game performance. But, that’s not the only major gaming upgrade to play with in Microsoft’s grand, endless public beta.

For starters, this is the build that will allow everyone to try out game streaming through Beam, the tool Microsoft teased at its October 2016 Creators Update event. Like most game-related features, it can be accessed by pressing the Windows and G keys at once (i.e. summoning the Game Bar) while in a game.

This update also introduces a whole new layer to the Settings menu in Windows 10 simply dubbed “Gaming”, identified by an Xbox logo. Here, you can tweak and toggle settings for the Game Bar, GameDVR, the new Game Mode as well as Beam. Microsoft also added 17 more games that support Game Bar in full-screen mode.

This is all well and good, but – like with any Fast ring build – this latest release is not without its issues, especially those regarding gaming. Good on Microsoft, then, for getting in front of the issue with the following statement by a Microsoft representative, though it’s awfully vague: 

“We’re aware that the Windows Insider build going out this week has a few platform related bugs, unrelated to the new features included within the build, that are impacting the ability to play some popular games. We’re working to address these platform bugs so that Insiders will be able to take full advantage of the new gaming features coming in the Windows 10 Creators Update. For more information, please visit the Windows Experience blog.”

The best of the rest

Beyond gaming, Build 15019 grants the Edge browser the power to read e-books as well as any EPUB file opened within in 24 languages. Bonus: Edge now displays full-color (and larger) emoji.

This release also marks the debut of Microsoft’s more transparent, accessible and intuitive out-of-box experience, or OOBE for new or freshly wiped PCs. The firm even hired voice actors to narrate the PC setup process for the visually impaired.

Finally, Microsoft has renamed its warm-color lighting setting to “night light” and allowed for users to preview their new screen color tone before committing to it. Of course, we know half of you stopped reading this article at “the best of the rest,” so we’ll just stop talking now and let you get to gaming with Game Mode.

Source: techradar

Pokémon Go is now available in Pakistan, India and South Asia

While many of you may have tired of the charms of Pokémon Go, a whole new group of trainers is just about to get started. Today developer Niantic Labs announced that the augmented reality mobile game is finally available in South Asia. Users in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh can download the game from both Google Play and Apple’s App Store starting today. “The Niantic team had to resolve a few administrative challenges before launching in order to ensure we could provide the best experience possible,” the developer explained in a brief blog post.

The continued international expansion of Pokémon Go comes at a busy time for the game. Just yesterday Niantic began adding the first wave of generation two pokémon to the game. Meanwhile, last week the developer announced its first two commercial partners in the US, turning thousands of Sprint stores and Starbucks cafes into pokéstops and gyms. At Halloween the game also kicked off its first limited-time in-game event.

All of these developments are aimed at helping the game both retain players and attract new ones, something it’s struggled to do since the game’s explosive popularity began to wane in late summer. Currently, trainers who play now can find and befriend a special version of Pikachu wearing a Santa hat.

Source: theverge

The best thing about Nintendo Switch is its slick new controller

I spent about 10 minutes strolling through the lush green fields of Hyrule before I decided to change things up. I was playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild through a Nintendo Switch docked with a nice big television, which created an impressive sense of scale, showcasing just how huge of a world was out in front of me. But I didn’t feel like being tethered anymore. I deconstructed my controller, snapped its pieces on the side of the Switch tablet, and within a few seconds I was playing a huge Zelda game on a 6.2-inch tablet.

One of the biggest selling points of the Nintendo Switch is its hybrid nature. It’s a tablet that’s fully portable, and also a home console that connects to your television. But what really makes it all work is the incredibly flexible and functional new controllers called Joy-Con. They are the glue that holds the entire Switch concept together, letting you play different kinds of games in different configurations without the need for a bunch of expensive add-ons. The best part is that they work well, and switching between one mode and the next is practically seamless.

Each Switch comes with two of these tiny controllers — dubbed Joy-Con (L) and Joy-Con (R) — and they both include a variety of buttons, joysticks, and both motion control and vibration feedback. They can also be used in a number of configurations.

Here are few ways you can play Switch:

• The two Joy-Con can be snapped into a shell, called a Joy-Con Grip, which — and I mean this in the best way possible — feels like a real controller. It looks a bit weird, with a squashed-design that’s more narrow than something like DualShock 4, and resembles a particularly boxy puppy. But it’s solid to hold, like a really good Xbox One controller knock off. And it works well for more traditional games like Breath of the Wild.
• The Joy-Con also work as motion controllers, much like the Wii remote and nunchak combination, but without a cord holding them together. You can hold one in each hand, and they detect your movements so you can do things like punch other players in the new boxing game Arms. They actually feel more precise than Nintendo’s previous motion control options; in Arms, for instance, it can detect a straight punch versus one with a little curve.
• Switch features a kickstand so that you can prop it up on a table or other flat surface, and in this mode you can use the Joy-Con as two separate controllers. You hold them sideways, like an NES gamepad, and this mode lets you play two-person multiplayer games — like the revamped Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — without the need for additional accessories.
• The sideways controller also works great for playing old-school 2D titles. The Joy-Con are a bit tiny, but they’re perfectly functional in this mode, and feel very natural for games like the Sega Genesis-inspired side-scroller Sonic Mania.

This might seem confusing, with multiple configurations offering multiple ways to play games. But perhaps the most impressive thing about Switch is how easy it all is. For one thing, all of those options are available with what comes packed in the box, so the same controller can let you play Zelda on your TV, Mario Kart with a friend, or a motion-controlled boxing game. The Joy-Con feel comfortable and capable in each configuration, and switching between them is simple and intuitive.

There are other aspects of the controller that I haven’t yet experienced, such as oddly named “HD rumble” that Nintendo demonstrated on stage. And it’s hard to say if the tiny Joy-Con will still feel comfortable after prolonged use. But the fact that within a matter of seconds I can swap platforms right in the middle of game of Zelda is what has impressed me most about the Switch. And it’s thanks to these weird little controllers with a very odd name.

Source: theverge

Nintendo Banks on Switch Hit

By Richard Adhikari 
Jan 14, 2017 10:40 AM PT

Nintendo on Thursday announced the Nintendo Switch handheld gaming console, its long-awaited successor to the poorly received Wii 2.

The US$300 Switch will hit the streets March 3. Purchasers will get the console, two Joy-Con controllers, a Joy-Con Grip, a set of Joy-Con wrist straps, a Nintendo Switch dock, an HDMI cable and an AC adapter.

The Switch has a 6.2-inch capacitive multitouch screen and a kickstand.

The Switch can be used as an independent handheld player. Battery life ranges from 2.5 to 6 hours.

Up to eight Switches can be connected over a local WiFi network for multiplayer games.

However, Nintendo will need to sell a lot of Switches for this feature to be useful, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

Ready to Rumble

Both Joy-Con controllers include advanced HD Rumble technology, which gives players haptic feedback for increased realism.

The controllers can be used separately -- one in each hand -- or together as one game controller attached to the Joy-Con grip. Players can attach them to the main console for use in handheld mode, or share them with friends for use in two-player games.

Each Joy-Con has an accelerometer and gyro-sensor, giving players independent left and right motion control, and each can act as a standalone controller.

The left controller has a Capture Button for taking screenshots to share on social media; the right one includes an NFC touchpoint for interaction with Amiibo figures, and an infrared motion camera that can detect the distance, shape and motion of nearby objects in specially designed games.

"The Joy-Con controllers seem to be [the Switch's] best feature," said Christine Arrington, senior analyst for games at IHS Markit.

"The demonstration of in-person, face to face competition brings back that paradigm that was so compelling to users with the original Wii," she told TechNewsWorld.

Games Lineup

Among the games slated for the Nintendo Switch:

• MarioKart Deluxe 8 -- available April 28;
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and 1-2-Switch -- available March 3;
• Just Dance 2017 and Has Been Heroes -- March 2017;
• NBA 2K18 -- September 2017;
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim -- fall 2017; and
• Minecraft, FIFA, Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers, Disgaea 5 Complete, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 and Puyo Puyo Tetris -- to be determined.

Nintendo Switch software won't be region locked, so it will be available pretty much anywhere.

New Online Service

Nintendo also announced a new online subscription service available for free trial March 3. It's full rollout is slated for the fall.

The service includes a smart device application that will let users invite friends to play online, set play appointments, and chat with each other.

How the Switch Stacks Up

The Switch is available now for preorder, but "sadly, I'm not tempted," Enderle told TechNewsWorld.

The Switch's best feature is that it's "a tablet designed for games, so it has a really decent gaming interface," he said. "This is likely what the Wii U should have been but wasn't."

However, it lacks content and is "the only consumer tablet that doesn't support key services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, severely limiting its overall utility," Enderle pointed out.

Still, the Switch "is an important evolution of Nintendo's vision with the Wii U of making a console that can transition from TV gaming to tablet-style gaming," observed IHS Markit's Arrington.

The Wii U "did not take it far enough. There wasn't really a compelling argument to spend more on the Wii U when consumers had a Wii and a tablet," she added.

Nintendo likely will sell 4 million Switch units this year, based on current estimates.

It should "perform better than the Wii U," Arrington said, "but we don't expect sales to rise to the level of the Wii." 

Source: technewsworld

The best iPhone games 2017

The best of mobile gaming

It would take approximately 34,506,455 years to play through every single iPhone game on the App Store. Well, OK, we might have made that number up, but surely we can't be too far off.

The App Store is crammed with gaming goodies to keep thumbs busy, but not all iPhone games are born equal - which is why we've done the difficult job of playing through as many games as humanly possible in order to tell you which are best. After many trials and tribulations, we arrived at the list you're about to dive into: the best games you can enjoy on your iPhone today.

• While you're at it, check out the best Mac games around

New: Solitairica ($3.99/£2.99/AU$5.99)

Card games have come a long way since the days when you completed a round of solitaire on a PC and were rewarded with said cards bouncing around the screen a bit. In Solitairica, you’re instead immersed in a fantasy world, where, for some reason, all battles take place by way of card decks. And your reward here is to not get horribly killed by some monster or other.

The solitaire itself is ruthlessly simplified into a game of higher or lower, with you hoping for runs of cards in order to batter down your enemy’s defenses. Meanwhile, they’re lobbing all kinds of attacks at you, from pointy sticks to making cards grow beards that have to be hacked away.

Cards also have energies, which you can collect to enable hurling of spells at your opponent; these can be upgraded during campaigns via the in-game shop.

New: The Bug Butcher ($3.99/£2.99/AU$5.99)

We’re very much in classic shooter territory with The Bug Butcher, which has your dinky soldier blasting away at all manner of squelchy foes. It’s a bit Space Invaders (death from above!), a little Pang or Asteroids (monsters inconveniently splitting apart when shot), and a touch Defender (with lurking idiots getting captured, and you having to rescue them).

The game’s controls perhaps betray its origins on platforms that don’t favor touchscreens, but they just about work on an iPhone, enabling you to dart left and right, blast enemies, and reach for a bonus weapon as necessary. (Avoid playing on iPad, however, unless you’ve got incredibly flexible thumbs.)

And although the gameplay might feel a little old-school, everything’s dressed up in smart, modern cartoon visuals, paired with some sassy scripting, as the hero berates the scientists who got everyone into this mess.

Riptide GP: Renegade ($2.99/£2.29/AU$4.49)

The core of Riptide GP: Renegade feels like it's been wrenched wholesale from the unhinged water-based faction of 1990s arcade racers. Renegade, for the most part, matches their energy and spirit, as you barrel along splashy tracks atop a souped-up futuristic jet ski, performing death-defying stunts to accrue boost that catapults you along at even more breakneck speeds.

The game's packed full of content, from single races to a challenging career mode, and the premium price means you need skill rather than cash to succeed.

There are times you wish the game would let go a little – the colors are drab and it at times takes itself too seriously - but when it fully unleashes as you blaze through factories or get hurled into the air by the wake from a rocket launch, Renegade is glorious.

Drift 'n' Drive ($2.99/£2.29/AU$4.49)

Madcap racer Drift 'n' Drive somehow appears to have arrived from a 1980s home computer and yet feels perfect for mobile play. It's an old-school overhead racer that pits you against a grid of crazed opponents, all fighting to get to the finish line first.

The game only scrolls vertically, and the controls are simple: steer by tapping near a screen edge or prod the centre for a temporary boost of extra speed. Tracks snake left and right within the screen's narrow confines, but sometimes do so abruptly, causing plenty of opportunity for massive pile-ups.

Manage to not crawl in last and you move up the grid next time round. Place better and you start getting cash to upgrade your car. Before long, you're laughing like an idiot while barreling along in a race of two-dozen tiny cars buzzing around the track like flies, boosting into walls, and occasionally wondering why modern racers are rarely this much giddy fun.

Reigns ($2.99/£2.29/AU$4.49)

Bringing together the basic mechanics behind dating app Tinder and the decision-making involved in ruling an ancient kingdom(!), Reigns is an easy-to-grasp but surprisingly deep quick-fire strategy effort.

On each step of your regal journey, you respond to demands and requests by swiping left or right, thereby making distinct decisions. The consequences of each action may affect one or more of the church's support, the love of the people, the strength of your army, and the size of your gold reserves. If any of these falls too low, chances are you'll soon be an ex-king.

But death is not the end. Die and you play on as your heir, often finding yourself faced with similar problems, and perhaps taking a different path that time around. Underpinning this swipe-based royal oddness are dozens of side missions designed to propel your lineage onwards.

We suspect Reigns might lack longevity, palling once you've played through enough times to crack the missions; but in the short and medium term, it's a ludicrously compelling, novel and hugely entertaining title that deserves your attention.

Dog Mendonca ($4.99/£3.99/AU$7.99)

Dog Mendonca is a witty and stylistic point and tap adventure that follows the eponymous supernatural detective as he solves a mysterious criminal case.

Stunning visuals are sure to draw you into its comic-book world and the impressive writing will have you solving puzzles and chatting it up with shady characters just to find out what happens next. It's like things all went a bit wrong for the Thundercats.

Goo Saga ($4.99/£3.99/AU$7.99)

When the hero of your platformer is an elastic blob named Goo, the puzzles and interactions you have with your surroundings can get very interesting.

Goo can also upgrade his abilities and stats by collecting crystals throughout each level of Goo Saga, each of which features beautiful cutscenes and an atmospheric soundtrack. Plus, you can even make your own levels and share them with the world if you're feeling that creative.

Pang Adventures (US$3.99/£2.99/AU$5.99)

Pop balls and save the world in the colorful collection of arcade games in Pang Adventures. Each level has you battling aliens and popping their defenses in various locations all over the world.

You can choose to play one location at a time or challenge yourself with just three lives and see how far you can get. The game also features a frantic Panic Mode that'll offer you one go at the whole thing to let your properly test your mettle... it's just like Survival Mode in your favorite fighting title.

>> Download: Pang Adventures - DotEmu

LEGO Jurassic World (US$4.99/£3.99/AU$7.99)

Relive the action and excitement of all four of your favorite dinosaur films but with some of that familiar LEGO charm and humor in LEGO Jurassic World.

Play through key moments in the films and control your favorite characters, each with their own unique abilities that make them invaluable during certain missions. You can also play as some familiar dinosaurs or make your own by splicing DNA you'll pick up on your adventure.

Source: techradar