Looking for more games to play this summer? You can pick up three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $35 via Woot, which is a discount of $10 and close to a record low price. Single months are also on sale for $12, instead of $17. It’s a veritable cornucopia of digital subscription codes.
Game Pass Ultimate is, well, the ultimate way to access the service. You can play hundreds of games on Xbox consoles, of course, but this membership also allows for cloud gaming on other devices like PCs and tablets. It even includes a free EA Play membership, which opens up even more games.
The reason why Game Pass has been so successful is that the catalog isn’t filled with shovelware and ancient relics, like the gaming equivalent of $1 Blu-Rays in the back of a Walmart somewhere. The catalog is overstuffed with actual games, from AAA exclusives to indie gems. Wanna check out the expansive JRPG Octopath Traveler and its sequel? They’re both on Game Pass, in addition to the indie equivalent Sea of Stars. The same goes for Minecraft, Forza Horizon 5, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and just about every EA sports title. It’s a pretty deep bench.
Game Pass is also the home to Xbox first-party titles, and most of these release on the platform at launch. This means the catalog includes Bethesda games like Starfield and the Rare pirate-sim Sea of Thieves. This also means that subscribers will be able to play upcoming titles the day they release, like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and a little war sim named Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Xbox just had a fantastic showcase of upcoming games and many of the announced titles will be day one Game Pass exclusives.
There are no two ways about it. Game Pass is the best subscription service around. PlayStation Plus Premium is decent and does its own share of day one launches, but the catalog just isn’t as exciting. Nintendo Switch Online is, uh, great for people who want to play a middling SNES port once every three months.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/get-three-months-of-xbox-game-pass-ultimate-for-only-35-151745145.html?src=rss
I didn’t make it all the way to the remote desert oasis and its mysterious community of misfits while playing the Phoenix Springs demo at Summer Game Fest, but after spending a brief time in Iris Dormer’s neo-noir world, I’m desperate to get there. I want to find out what happened to Iris’ brother, a man I’ve only heard about in strange, sad tales. I want to hear Iris’ voice articulating in my ear, providing brusque context for every scene. I’m ready to get lost again in the game’s sickly green shadows. I’m wildly curious to find out what awaits me in the desert. Take me back.
Calligram Studio
Phoenix Springs is a point-and-click detective game starring Iris Dormer, a reporter who’s looking for her estranged brother, Leo. Her search eventually leads beyond the city’s crumbling skyscrapers and across the desert, to an oasis community called Phoenix Springs. Iris investigates the area and its people using an inventory of mental notes, collecting ideas instead of physical objects as clues.
The Summer Game Fest demo covered the game’s initial stages, featuring Iris on a train and in the city, only teasing the oddities that might be hiding in the desert community of Phoenix Springs. Each scene in the game is a work of art and Iris is its historian, revealing threads of relationships and storylines as she reads documents and picks up information from strangers. In any situation, she has three options for interaction: talk to, look at, use.
Calligram Studio
Iris’ mental inventory fills with names, dates, places and obscurities as she unpacks boxes, searches the net and tries to speak with her brother’s former neighbors. Leo’s last address is a building that’s been boarded up, abandoned by its landlords mid-remodel, and here she encounters the people that have been left behind. There’s a young boy making a plant dance with some kind of electronic box, and a middle-aged man sprawled, unconscious, on top of a shipping container. They’re called the orphans and neither of them are up for conversation. On the other side of the building, an intercom houses a separate voice that shares the history of the area, filling Iris’ inventory with words. Selecting an idea allows Iris to investigate her surroundings with that information, narrowing her focus and often unlocking solutions. It’s a clean and familiar investigation mechanic presented in a starkly beautiful format.
Phoenix Springs is gorgeous. Undeniably. Its canvas is menacing — dark green backgrounds are striped with even-deeper shadows, while pops of yellow, red and blue define the edges of important set pieces. The inventory bursts onto the screen as a bright white screen with black text, individual ideas separated by delicate thought bubbles. There's a papery sheen to the entire experience, as if it's an interactive interpretation of a mid-century sci-fi novel cover.
Calligram Studio
Where the game lacks color, Iris provides it via narration, and her verbal palette is just as stark as the game’s appearance. She speaks dispassionately and with a posh nihilism that would feel at home in an Orson Welles detective noir. Her voice is comforting and foreboding, and it’s a welcome, near-constant companion in the demo.
In the middle of a busy trade show packed with compelling games, I wanted to keep playing Phoenix Springs, and that’s pretty much the highest praise I can give. Phoenix Springs feels utterly unique. It’s coming to Steam on September 16, developed and published by London-based art collective Calligram Studio.
Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest 2024 right here!
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/phoenix-springs-offers-breathtaking-beauty-in-a-desolate-neo-noir-world-130046288.html?src=rss
If you're looking for a discreet action camera that can take Dolby Vision-ready 4K resolution videos, Insta360's latest model is a great candidate. The Insta360 GO 3S is an updated version of the GO 3 action camera the company released last year, and it comes with several upgrades in addition to its capability to capture 4K 30fps footage. It's equipped with a chip that has 50 percent more computing power than its predecessor's, and it has a new wide-angle lens that enables videos with less distortion and straighter edges. The model can also take smoother slow-motion footage with a 1080p resolution at 200fps or a 2.7K resolution at 100fps.
Insta360's new action-camera is compatible with Apple's Find My network, which sounds incredibly useful for such a small device that could be easily misplaced. It also has native waterproofing for up to 33 feet, or twice that of the GO 3. If you want to switch from horizontal to vertical shooting, you can simply twist the camera. And if the device is out of reach, you can use its new hand gesture feature to start or to stop shooting, as well as to take photos.
Insta360
For hands-free shooting, you can set a recording frequency and length if you want the camera to automatically record your day, thanks to its new Interval Video mode. Plus, you can use its app's new Auto Edit function to get an AI to combine several clips into one long video, with scoring, in case you'd rather not edit your footage manually.
The model's Action Pod serves as its all-in-one housing, remote control and charger, and you can still preview your shots on its 2.2-inch touchscreen that you can flip up or down. Aside from the Action Pod, the Insta360 GO 3S standard bundle also comes with a magnet pendant and an easy clip that you can use to attach the camera to your cap, clothes, your pet's collar or anywhere else you want to. It also ships with a pivot stand and a lens guard. The standard bundle is now available for purchase around the world via the Insta360 website and retailers like Amazon. You can choose between the 64GB and the 128GB variant, which will set you back $400 and $430, respectively.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/insta360s-go-3s-is-its-new-tiny-wearable-camera-with-4k-video-130044121.html?src=rss
Samsung is expanding its lineup of Galaxy FE devices, which offer many of the features of flagship devices at a more budget-friendly cost, with a new smartwatch. The company says the Galaxy Watch FE includes the sensor tech, performance and health and fitness features of mainline Galaxy Watch devices with an all-new look. Naturally, though, there are some tradeoffs.
The Galaxy Watch FE doesn't have the physical rotating bezel of the Watch 6 Classic, for instance, and it's limited to one size: 40mm. There are three color options of black, pink gold and silver and there are new one-click watch bands with blue and orange stitching. The watch has sapphire crystal glass, which Samsung says will help protect it against scratches in day-to-day use.
The device has a wide range of health and fitness features, including the ability to help you track more than 100 workouts. There's an advanced running analysis feature that aims to provide insights and guidance to help prevent injury, while the personalized heart rate zone tool will help you set your own goals based on your physical abilities.
The Watch FE also offers electrocardiogram monitoring and can look for signs of irregular heart rhythms and atrial fibrillation. Additionally, it has sleep tracking and body composition features, while it can deliver motivational messages to help you along your wellness journey.
Other features include Find My Phone and Samsung Wallet. You'll be able to control the camera of your compatible Samsung smartphone remotely with the help of the Camera Controller tool.
The Bluetooth version will cost $200 and will be available in the US on June 24. The $250 LTE variant will arrive in October.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-galaxy-watch-fe-arrives-on-june-24-120050782.html?src=rss
If you’re looking for a birthday gift for the Pokémon fan who has everything (and we mean, every toy, card, item of apparel, game, Happy Meal collectable, etc.), the jewelry brand King Ice may have the solution.
King Ice posted a photo on X and its website Wednesday teasing a new line of Pokémon jewelry pieces. The photo features the familiar face of Pikachu with a Poké Ball on his head decked out entirely in jewels. The X caption reads: “Collection dropping 6/14/24.”
This is not the first time the jewelry and clothing brand have collaborated with a big video game franchise. King Ice also sells a line of bejeweled Xbox themed necklaces, rings and earrings. It's also made necklaces and other keepsakes featuring characters from games like PAC-MAN, Sonic the Hedgehog and Halo with a completely blinged out Master Chief full figure and helmet. King Ice has also made necklaces and rings for other pop culture icons such as Batman, Chucky and Tiffany from the Child’s Play horror movie and TV show franchise, Looney Tunes characters based on the Space Jam movies and Ren and Stimpy.
This also won’t be the first time that Pokémon has been honored with its own jewelry line. Tiffany & Co. released a line of Pokémon jewelry pieces in November designed by Daniel Arsham featuring characters like Pikachu, Charmander, Squirtle, Jigglypuff, Cubone and Mew. The Tiffany necklaces came in 18K yellow gold with diamonds or sterling silver and even have their own Tiffany Blue Poké Balls, according toWomen’s Wear Daily.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/king-ice-teases-bejeweled-pokemon-bling-222344432.html?src=rss
Sony Pictures Entertainment announced today that it has acquired Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, a beloved independent theater business. Alamo Drafthouse won scores of loyal fans over the years for its well-enforced policy of no talking and no texting during showings, as well as its dine-in experience with food and beverage menus.
At least for now, the Alamo experience for viewers may not feel different under the new management. Alamo Drafthouse will continue to operate its 35 cinemas and run its Fantastic Fest film festival. And current CEO Michael Kustermann will remain at the helm and report to the head of a new Sony Pictures Experiences division.
It's the end of an era for the indie theater chain, which was founded in 1997 by Tim and Karrie League. But given how hard the COVID-19 pandemic crushed the movie-going experience, at least this isn't the end of the Alamo Drafthouse story. The business made a valiant effort to keep viewers' support with its Season Pass streaming service in 2020, but the Texas-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2021 and began approaching potential buyers in March of this year.
There's no dollar figure attached to the announcement, but Sony's press release notes that Alamo Drafthouse is the seventh-largest theater chain in North America. Even with their struggles, the company attracts an annual audience of 10 million and posted a 30 percent increase in box office revenue last year. Maybe this sets the Alamo theaters up to host special Crunchyroll anime marathons in the near future.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/alamo-drafthouse-is-being-bought-by-sony-pictures-204934280.html?src=rss
There’s a whole new crop of games headed to your PlayStation console if you’re a subscriber to one of Sony’s various PlayStation Plus tiers. The additional games for the June update include 14 new titles featuring PS5-only games like the medieval RPG Crusader Kings III, the surreal action-adventure After Us, the industrial age strategy game Anna 1800 and Football Manager 2024.
The collection also includes several PS4/PS5 crossover titles starting with the critically acclaimed, fan favorite Monster Hunter Rise from Capcom. Others include the motocross racing game Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame 6 and the procedural police sim Police Simulator: Patrol Officers. A few titles originally released on the PS4 are also being added, including the first-person shooter Far Cry 4 and two Lego games including The Hobbit and Disney-Pixar’s The Incredibles. A few older titles are also being added to the Classics catalog for Premium subscribers: third-person shooter Ghosthunter, Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and the wisecracking platformer Daxter.
June’s collection of PlayStation Plus titles is the first to feature a game for the PlayStation VR 2 with the free release of the nature paddling simulator Kayak VR: Mirage. Sony started offering PS VR2 games on its PlayStation Plus earlier this month as part of its Days of Play celebration that included a healthy collection of virtual titles include Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord, Before Your Eyes, Walkabout Mini Golf, Synth Riders and both chapters of The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners. You’ll need to be a Premium subscriber to try the VR games, though.
The first batch of new PlayStation Plus games for June announced in late May including SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake, AEW Fight Forever, Streets of Rage 4 and EA Sports FC 24. These titles are available to anyone, regardless of which PlayStation Plus tier you’re subscribed to.
The update also offered a batch of PS2 classic titles for those on the Premium tier. Those include Tomb Raider Legend, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus. Finally, PS Plus Extra and Premium members also got access to Dredge, Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2, Cricket 24, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - The Definition Edition and a game trial of WWE 2K24.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/playstation-plus-june-offerings-include-monster-hunter-rise-and-three-lego-games-202307151.html?src=rss
Sony takes games seriously. That’s reflected in its tentpole releases, which are overwhelmingly gritty, adult affairs like Horizon, God of War and The Last of Us. It’s surprising, then, that its Summer Game Fest demo area replaced Sad Dads and apocalypses with cutesy Astro Bot figurines and Lego. Lots of Lego.
Lego Horizon Adventures might not have generated the Summer Game Fest headlines that the new Doom and Assassin’s Creed games did, but in many ways its legacy may be more interesting. Co-developed by Guerilla Games (known for the Horizon and Killzone series) and the AAA support team Studio Gobo, it aims to bring the world of the Horizon games to a new generation — and a new platform, the Nintendo Switch.
Horizon Adventures isn’t the first Sony game on Switch. MLB: The Show routinely comes to both Nintendo’s console and Xbox, but that’s a licensed sports game, and Horizon is a key PlayStation franchise. It has a VR spin-off, a live-action adaptation confirmed for Netflix and an MMO heavily rumored in its future. Bringing the latest iteration of the series day one to Switch, then, is unusual.
“We’re trying to bring in as broad an audience as possible,” Guerilla Games narrative director James Windeler told Engadget. “The collaboration with Switch, that’s an incredibly unique opportunity … it will really help bring in a family-friendly audience.”
It’s also just a plain bigger audience. Nintendo’s console has been around since 2017, and the market for Switch games is over 140 million. (For context, there are around 58 million PlayStation 5s in the wild.) Lego titles are also in a tiny minority of non-Nintendo games to top the Switch retail sales charts.
The game itself, from the 30-minute demo I played, seems delightful. The world of Horizon translates well to Lego, with the robodinos in particular being a highlight. There is already a Forbidden West Tallneck Lego set and it would be extremely surprising if we don’t see Thunderjaws and Scrappers showing up in Lego stores soon. Combat is surprisingly faithful to the original games, with Aloy sneaking around tall grass to get a good angle on an enemy and using her Focus to spot weak points. Also faithful to the original games is that stealth can very quickly fall by the wayside in favor of frenetic dodging. Less faithful: I got through one tricky fight by repeatedly summoning a hot dog vendor to throw exploding franks all over the place. It is a Lego game, I guess.
Tone-wise, Guerilla is shooting for the Lego Movie-like cross-generational irreverent humor, which isn’t really my jam but I appreciate it. Windeler said Guerilla is trying to hit key elements of the first game without directly remaking it: “It's definitely not a one-to-one retelling, but neither is it a parody in the sense that you don't need to be a Horizon aficionado to really kind of respond to the humor. It's broader in that way.” The voice cast from the original games, including Ashly Burch as Aloy and JB Blanc as Rost, is back for Horizon Adventures and seemingly having a lot of fun. Burch’s delivery in particular is ultra wide-eyed and excited, more like her work as Tiny Tina in the Borderlands series or one of her many animated characters. It’s a fun spin on a traditionally stoic character.
Sony
Co-op is a big feature for Horizon Adventures. Local co-op is a drop-in, drop-out affair, which, as with most Lego games, enables an adult to easily help a kid get past a tricky area. But Lego games are also a lot of fun to play among consenting adults if you’re both into the particular franchise — I know plenty of grown-ups who live for Lego Star Wars. Away from the couch, there is online multiplayer, which is obviously more targeted at adults.
I am not a huge Horizon fan. Of all the open-world collect-a-thons, it’s one of my favorites, but it is very much not my genre. My partner is a fan, though, and we’re always on the lookout for middle-ground co-op games that can bridge the gap in our tastes. Maybe Horizon Adventures could be that, and I’ll become a real Horizon head because of it?
Finding new audiences is something Sony and Microsoft have been grappling with over the past couple of years. This Xbox-PlayStation generation has not seen as explosive growth as the last, and the kind of AAA experiences they typically shoot for are expensive to produce.
Microsoft seems to be committed to multiplatform releases for several established franchises it’s acquired, like Call of Duty, Diablo and Doom. It also ported four formerly exclusive titles — Hi-Fi Rush, Grounded, Pentiment and Sea of Thieves — to rivals’ machines earlier this year.
Sony’s approach has, until recently, been to court PC players with ports of older titles such as Horizon Zero Dawn and God of War. This year it also released Helldivers 2 on PC day one, which went very well until it didn’t. Company president Hiroki Totoki told investors in February that he “would like to go aggressive on improving our margin performance” (what a gamer!) by focusing more on multi-platform releases. The assumption at the time was that he was solely referring to PCs, but the Switch release of Horizon Adventures seemingly opens this effort up to more platforms.
It’s unlikely that Sony will bring its giant AAA games to a rival console at launch. But it could be that Sony begins to treat the Switch much like Nintendo used to treat mobile devices. The mid '10s saw an influx of Nintendo games on iPhone and Android, including Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp and Mario Kart Tour. The strategy was pretty clear: Introduce Nintendo characters to a more casual audience, and convert a number of them over to the “full” experience. If Horizon Adventures goes well — and why would it not? — it’s easy to see Sony opening the floodgates and sending a bunch of its franchises to Nintendo’s mass-market console.
Lego Horizon Adventures launches 'Holiday 2024' on PlayStation 5, PC and Nintendo Switch.
Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest 2024 right here!
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lego-horizon-adventures-might-be-sonys-most-important-game-of-the-year-160026354.html?src=rss
Dragon Age: The Veilguard was given a proper unveiling at Summer Game Fest, with an Ocean’s 11-style intro to the gang of heroes and fantasy character tropes that will make up your cadre. Bioware also invited me to a hands-off demo of Veilguard, where I got to briefly see the character creation setup and the opening chapter of the game, as you join the likes of Varric and other characters from Dragon Ages past.
It does look different, though. I’ve only dipped into the Dragon Age series in the past, but the character style of Dragon Age: The Veilguard (especially in the trailer) looked, initially, like some kind of League Of Legends-style spin-off or even a, gasp, mobile game. There’s undoubtedly a cartoonish spin on characters, although Solas, the primary antagonist (and sadsack elf), seems to be his miserable, mournful self.
The environments we saw during the demo are suitably fantastical. During parts of the game, several vantage points appear to show off all the mystical landmarks. Oh, and a large chunk of the opening chapter is a town under siege by dimensional beasts.
Other significant changes appear in combat. While you’ll still be able to pause to consider tactics and enemy targets in a controller-friendly move, unique attacks for your character can be launched from a quick launch menu while the battle continues around you. It appears that The Veilguard could be more fast-paced than its predecessors.
I watched several battles between Rook, your custom-made character, and allies, including crossbow-wielding Varrik, fan-favorite Harding the scout, and the frostmage (and detective?!) Neve. We weren’t able to issue commands to our allies, but you will be able to in the final game. We watched a rogue build in action, which combined bow attacks with close-quarters dagger moves. If you choose a warrior, expect to focus on defense and heavy strikes, while a mage seems to lean on ranged combat.
Enjoy this sneak-peek at tomorrow's Gameplay Reveal!
It’s an action RPG, though, and you’ll have to work with your party members to strip away armor and protection before doing damage. Parries seem to form the core defense mechanic for rogues, but Veilguard Game Director Corinne Busche noted that, alongside difficultly modes, there are custom difficulty settings you can make fast-twitch battle mechanics more forgiving.
While we only got a brief look at the character creation process, you’ll be able to choose from different voices, fantasy races, and even a cool triangular ‘build’ generator for the body of your character. The dadbod dwarf mage of your dreams is, finally, here.
For fans of the series, though, the latest installment is aimed at expanding the world you probably already love. Areas and spots mentioned in passing in previous games will open up for exploration later in the game, we’re promised. When crafting a character, you’ll be able to flesh them out with one of several back-stories, which will often tap into groups and organizations from the series’ past. They’ll also get referenced by both your companions and other characters in-game when relevant. Neve and our build of Rook had a connection through a group in Rook’s past.
The decision wheel is here, too. While the battles and the monsters and the dragons are a core part of Dragon Age, the series is best known for letting players take the story into their own hands, making decisions, forgiving enemies (or not) and more. That looks like it’ll be a core part again of Veilguard. As Rook reacts to Varrik’s approach to Solas, as he wields dimensional forces, you can say it’s a bad idea, and your companions will act accordingly. Was it a bad idea? You’ll have to wait for the release, which is sometime in fall 2024.
Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest 2024 right here!
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dragon-age-the-veilguard-is-a-fantasy-epic-filled-with-big-decisions-150030570.html?src=rss
If you think Just Dance would be a great addition to your library of virtual reality games and experiences, then mark this date: October 15. 2024. Ubisoft is launching Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity that day for the Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest Pro and Meta Quest 3. You'll be able to customize your avatars for the game and choose your own body shape, facial expression, skin color, hair and outfit. Once you're done creating a virtual version of yourself, you can enter the Dancity social hub to meet other players.
You'll also have your own "apartment" in game, where you can dance with up to six players or do other interactive activities with the group, like play basketball. The game will let you send emote stickers to players who aren't in your friends list, but you can do voice chats with dancers who are. Welcome to Dancity features 360-degree environments and what Ubisoft describes as an "all-new gameplay with two-hand scoring."
You'll be able to dance to 25 hit and original songs at launch, including Don't Stop Me Now by Queen, Bad Liar by Selena Gomez, Starships by Nicki Minaj and Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen. As UploadVR notes, the game was supposed to be exclusively available to Pico headsets. However, after the ByteDance-owned company laid off a big portion of its workforce, Ubisoft started working with a new partner (Meta) to develop the game.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/just-dance-vr-is-coming-to-meta-quest-headsets-in-october-043151830.html?src=rss