The Humble Store has been killing it lately with its Humble Monthly subscription. Recent bundles have included blockbuster games like Overwatch and Destiny 2, bundled with a handful of smaller games, all for just $12 per month. Humble has unveiled November's early release titles, and it's already shaping up to be another great month. If you join for just $12, you'll instantly unlock Hitman, Hollow Knight, and 7 Days to Die, with an additional set of mystery games to be revealed on November 2. The only drawback is that you won't know what the mystery games are until it's too late to get the November bundle.
Hitman is the latest game to star the bald, barcoded killer. It came out episodically throughout 2016, but this is the complete, finished game, containing all six sprawling levels that act as murderous sandboxes in which you can get creative with your assassinations. In our 8/10 Hitman review, Brett Todd wrote, "This 2016 take on Hitman is a brilliant game. Expansive level design and nearly unlimited replay value courtesy of so many routes to your assassinations (and so many methods with which to carry them out) make the experience almost completely different each and every time you play."
Hollow Knight is an elegantly crafted side-scrolling game that has you gradually exploring a massive underground environment. You unlock dozens of new abilities as you play, which help you face a variety of challenging bosses. Reviewer Alessandro Barbosa gave the game 9/10 in his Hollow Knight review, writing, "Hollow Knight feels exceptional because so many of its smaller, expertly designed parts fit so well together... But its expansive enemy roster and routinely surprising areas and platforming challenges ensure that your journey through this fallen bug kingdom is one you're unlikely to forget."
Finally, 7 Days to Die is a fitting game to play in October, seeing as it's a survival game that's stuffed full of zombies. But judging by our no-punches-pulled negative review, you might want to save this one for last. They can't all be winners.
You can join Humble Monthly here for $12, and you can cancel at any time. The games you get come in the form of Steam codes, and they're yours to keep and play forever. Other perks include access to all the games in The Trove, 10% off everything in the Humble Store, and access to exclusive deals. Plus, 5% of your payments goes to charity. If you want to assemble a nice collection of Steam games, this is probably the cheapest way to do it.
Linux-Based Airtame 2 Offers an Enterprise Alternative to Chromecast
One category that often gets overlooked in the discussion of Linux computers is the market for HDMI dongle devices that plug into your TV to stream, mirror, or cast content from your laptop or mobile device. Yesterday, Google announced an extensively leaked third-gen version of its market-leading, Linux-powered Chromecast device. The latest Chromecast upgrades the WiFi radio to 5GHz and adds 2.4GHz Bluetooth while also overhauling the physical design.
Here, we look at a similar Linux-based HDMI dongle device that launched this morning with a somewhat different feature set and market focus. The Airtame 2 is the first hardware overhaul since the original Airtame generated $1.3 million on Indiegogo in 2013. The new version doubles the RAM, improves the Debian Linux firmware, and advances to dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, which is now known as WiFi 5 in the new Wi-Fi Alliance naming scheme that accompanied its recent WiFi 6 (ax) announcement.
In its first year, Copenhagen, Denmark-based Airtame struggled to fulfill its Indiegogo orders and almost collapsed in the process. Yet, the company went on to find success and recently surpassed 100,000 device shipments. With a growing focus on enterprise and educational markets, Airtame upgraded its software with cloud device management features, and expanded its media sources beyond cross-platform desktops to Android and iOS devices.
The key difference with Chromecast is that Airtame supports mirroring to multiple devices at once, as long as you’re video is coming from a laptop or desktop rather than a mobile. Chromecast also requires the Chrome browser, and it lacks cloud-based device management features.
Combined with Chromecast’s dominance of the low-end entertainment segment, thanks in part to its $25 pricetag, Airtame’s advantages led the company to focus more on the enterprise, signage, and educational markets. Unfortunately, the Airtame 2 price went up by $100 to $399 per device.
Airtame 2 extends its enterprise trajectory by “re-imagining how to turn blank screens into smart, collaborative displays,” says the company. Airtame recently released four Homescreen apps, providing “simple app integrations for better team collaboration and digital signage.” These deployments are controlled via Airtame Cloud, which was launched in early 2017. The cloud service enables enterprise and educational customers to monitor their Airtame devices, perform bulk updates, and add updated content directly from the cloud.
Twice the RAM, five times the WiFi performance
The Airtame 2 offers the same basic functionality as the Airtame 1, but it adds a number of performance benefits. It moves from the DualLite version of the NXP i.MX6 to the similarly dual-core, Cortex-A9 Dual model. This has the same 1GHz clock rate, but with a more advanced Vivante GC2000 GPU. Output resolution via the HDMI 1.4b port stays the same at 1920×1080, but you now get a 60fps frame rate instead of 30fps. As before, you can plug into VGA or DVI ports using adapters.
More importantly for performance, the Airtame 2 doubles the RAM to 2GB. In place of an SD card slot, the firmware is stored on onboard eMMC.
The new Cypress (Broadcom) CYW89342 RSDB WiFi 5 chip is about five times faster than the original’s Qualcomm WiFi 4 (802.11n) chip, which also provided dual-band MIMO 2.4GHz/5.2GHz WiFi. The Airtame 2 has twice the range, at up to 20 meters, which is helpful for its enterprise and educational customers.
Other hardware improvements include a smaller, 77.9 x 13.5mm footprint, a Kensington Lock input, an LED, and a magnetic wall mount. A USB Type-C port replaces the power-only micro-USB OTG, adding support for HDMI, USB host, and Ethernet.
As before, there’s also a micro-USB host port that with the help of an adapter, supports Ethernet and Power-over-Ethernet (PoE). Ethernet can run simultaneously with WiFi, and can improve throughput and reliability, says Airtame. We saw no mention of the new product’s latency, but on the previous Airtame, WiFi streaming latency was one second with audio.
Once again, iOS 9 devices can mirror video using AirPlay. However, Android (4.2.2) devices are limited to the display of static images and PDF files, including non-animated PowerPoint presentations. Desktop support, which also includes a special optimization for Chromebooks, includes support for Windows 10/7, Ubuntu 15.05, and Mac OS X 10.12.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 10-10-2018, 12:00 PM - Forum: Windows
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‘Forza Horizon 4’ sees 2M players in its first week
It has been one week since we launched Forza Horizon 4 and we are humbled by the overwhelmingly positive feedback we continue to receive from players around the world. We are proud to say that in this first week alone, there are currently two million players driving around Forza Horizon 4’s Britain. On behalf of everyone at Playground Games, thank you for supporting Forza Horizon 4 and making the game such a success!
With such incredible global engagement with Forza Horizon 4, the game is now the highest-rated Xbox exclusive of this generation* and Forza continues to be the best-selling racing franchise of this console generation**. We also want to share some fun stats with you from the community:
More than 4.6 million hours of Forza Horizon 4 gameplay have been watched across Mixer, Twitch, YouTube and Facebook as of Oct. 9***
Players have logged more than 822.7 million miles – that’s probably not covered under manufacturer warranty
The community has settled in quite nicely living the Horizon Life, purchasing more than 4.1 million properties and owning more than 74.4 million cars
More than 377.7 million roads discovered – you’ve been looking for miles and miles and miles…
To say this is an exciting time for everyone would be an understatement and as Ralph shared on Inside Xbox during Goodwood, there’s a lot more to look forward to in the next few weeks including our biggest fan requested feature – Route Creator, coming on Oct. 25.
Forza Horizon 4 is now available with Xbox Game Pass and globally on Xbox One and Windows 10. Xbox Game Pass members can start playing Forza Horizon4 Standard Edition on Xbox One and Windows 10, as part of their monthly membership. The membership includes over 100 more great games, including highly anticipated new Xbox exclusives the day they’re released, all for one low monthly price.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown won multiple game-of-the-year awards in 2012 for its turn-based tactical gameplay centered on a squad of combatants. The expansion, XCOM: Enemy Within, was similarly well received upon its release in 2013 and brought the franchise to the mobile market on both the iOS and Android platforms in 2014. The success of these XCOM games inspired many game developers to try their hand at the genre. In 2015 we got Deathwatch: Tyranid Invasion, set in the Warhammer 40K universe, and one of my personal favorites Templar Battleforce. Last year brought us Pocket Tactic’s RPG game-of-the-year Demon’s Rise 2 and tactics game-of-the-year Invisible, Inc. All of these games feature tactical turn-based action that can be favorably compared to the XCOM games.
Below is collection of great games that evoke that tactical gameplay that XCOM fans know and love. Some we’ve reviewed, many we haven’t. We’ve put some emphasis on games released in the last couple of years, but also aimed for a good cross-section of options out there. Naturally I can’t include every title with gameplay similar to XCOM and would love to see other options called out in the comments below.
Xenowar is a brilliant distillation of the razor-sharp tactical challenges of XCOM, though it does sacrifice some scale and endgame satisfaction in favor of presenting a clean-cut intense series of battles. In particular, the GEO mode is a smart compromise between a full-fledged life-consuming, planet-saving, alien-cleansing XCOM campaign and a single strategic arc that a dedicated gamer can accomplish in just a few sittings. It takes a lot of presence of mind to create games like this, which understand what’s great and reiterate it without becoming derivative or redundant in the process. Oh, and it’s open-source to boot.
Hydra’s best point is how creative and wide its customization options are, both in terms of squad composition and difficulty level. The plotting and theme are boilerplate, but in terms of mechanics, stats and abilities, the game is brimming with possibilities. Psionics and physics add some flair and unusual effects to the classes, and the enemies are weird bio-machine hybrids. All this wouldn’t matter a whit if the game’s buffet of options was paired with anything but an equally rich campaign. Here, Strike Team Hydra delivers again, ratcheting up the scenarios, objectives and enemy types just as generously as it doled out strategic tools. It strikes a great balance between question and answer; risk and reward; problem and solution.
Along with the top-down isometric perspective, Frozen Synapse made one other amazing change to the standard tactical shooter formula. Each side takes turns planning their actions in secrecy, mapping out the steps their units will take, the shots they will fire. Then the game will resolve everyone’s programmed actions creating a ‘simultaneous’ turn that was nonetheless meticulously choreographed by those tacticians. One good idea, perfectly rendered, is enough to make a good game. Frozen Synapse fulfills this crystal-clear ideal.
Space marines versus xenomorphs, loosely derived from the Ur-horrors of Alien. Templar Battleforce owes some thematic debts to Warhammer and others, but its rapid-fire pacing and generous respect system are wonderful tools for experimentation and strategy. There’s some light characterization and world-building, sure, but in lieu of story one has to respect Templar Battleforce’s varied scenarios and equally creative squads allow divergent thinking. To a man with a hammer, everything is a nail, but to a commander with endlessly variable squads, the mutating threat can be met with an equally sundry…battleforce.
Aliens versus Humans
Developer: Leisurerules Inc. Platforms: iOS | Android Price: $2.99
We’ll start with an option that predates Enemy Within on mobile. Aliens versus Humans is an old game. So old that if you buy it for iOS you’ll get the warning about it slowing down your device since the developer hasn’t updated the game to Apple’s standards. That warning is often meaningless and misleading and you should go ahead and ignore it in this case.
Aliens versus Humans is effectively a clone of the very first XCOM game from back in 1994.It features base management, research, manufacturing, and of course tactical combat against alien enemies. The graphics are retro and nothing to get excited about, but the gameplay is solid, combat is challenging, and there’s a whole lot of content for a couple bucks. You can bring a huge squad to battle which allows for more options to face threats than games that top out with a team of four or so. It also lets you play the attrition game to grind out victories. So while Aliens versus Humans is over three-years-old at this point, it is well worth considering if you’re looking for XCOM-like action.
The universe is under threat from the Empire of the Machines and an alliance between the League of Aliens and United Nations of Earth (U.N.E.) is all that stands in their way. Legions of Steel takes this war to the Machines’ underground production facilities. You direct squads of commandos through the machine’s dark metallic underworld.
As with XCOM games, there’s a lot of tactical decision making in Legions of Steel. You can make use of movement stances, strafing, covering fire to take things out on your opponent’s turn, firing options like auto-fire and suppressing fire, and ambush tactics. There are also a ton of different weapons with which to equip your squad to fit any strategy and I particularly like that you can shoot no matter how far you’ve moved, with modifiers of course. There are two different campaigns in Legions of Steel and the story is told through attractive comic-book panels between missions. There’s also a “Skirmish” mode for quick fights and asynchronous multiplayer if you prefer a human opponent.
The first of a couple free options in this article is a little game called Alien Star Menace. Aliens have attacked the starship Paladin and it’s up to you to save the day. Alien Star Menace is light-hearted and looks pretty basic at first glance but it actually packs a good tactical punch. You pick a five-person squad from a variety of special units with different pros and cons and take them into missions on different levels of the Paladin.
The mission objectives are things like “Kill Everything” and “Reach the Stairs” and the game rewards smart decisions like making good use of choke points and ranged attackers. Missions are very quick and perfect for bite-sized play sessions on your phone, which is often a big plus for gamers these days. Alien Star Menace is also free-to-play with no IAP. There are ads, which can be annoying, but the frequency is very low and I didn’t find them to be overly obtrusive. I’m happy to recommend this one as a free gaming option for XCOM fans.
World of Warriors: Quest
Developer: Mind Candy Ltd. Platforms: iOS | Android Price: Free
World of Warriors: Quest is a light turn-based tactical game where you play as a team of warriors from across the ages—Roman centurions, Viking berserkers, and stealthy ninjas for example. The characters fill your standard RPG roles. The Roman, Brutus, is a tank and taunts enemies with his attacks to keep their attention. Gunnar, the Viking warrior, is a decent balance of damage and survivability. The ninja is named Kuro and he’s the glass cannon—big area-of-effect damage but very low health. Those are the starting characters but you encounter more as the game goes on.
You choose three warriors to take on a number of quests that lead you across the Wildlands on a mission to discover what the local bad guys are up to. Each quest has several waves of fights and it can be a challenge to keep your team upright and alive so you don’t succumb to attrition. Each warrior has special attacks to make use of and there are also consumables֫ that recover health, enable big attacks, or provide extra movement speed. World of Warriors: Quest is not a particularly deep game, but good for those interested in light squad-based tactics. You also can’t beat the price—this one is free with no IAPs or ads.
The Last Warlock
Developer: Sonic Sloth Platforms: iOS | Android Price: $3.99
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The Last Warlock is a turn-based tactical game with a somewhat unique almost-anything-goes approach. You play as a warlock capable of summoning deadly creatures, casting magical spells, and crafting weapons, armour, and other equipment. You embark on a series of quests to find and defeat enemy warlocks, all vying to discover the secrets of the famed last warlock. To defeat these rivals you must first best their monsters, traps, and puzzles before taking them down.
The Last Warlock provides an extraordinary amount of freedom for a tactical game to decide exactly how to do so. You can go straight for your foe or explore a little and take the road less travelled. This provides a great deal of replay value because you can play the same quest multiple times and use a different strategy. Your squad in this game are the creatures you’ve summoned and you can end up with quite a crew as you grow in power and a quest wears on. The single-player campaign is quite extensive and will provide many hours of play for one premium price. There’s also an asynchronous online option for those looking for multiplayer action.
Star Chindy (2016)
Developer: MAST Games Platforms: iOS | Android Price: $1.99
Star Chindy mixes in elements of both FTL and XCOM. You warp around the galaxy in your ship, the Star Chindy, in a hunt to take on and take out a big bad alien race that very nearly wiped out earth. You’ll maintain and upgrade your ship, and others you pick up along the way, and decide where to go and what risks are worth taking in your travels.
You’ll take a squad on various away missions and engage the enemy in turn-based tactical warfare. The missions are a good challenge and get better and better as you train up your squad. The space-based combat is less interesting, however. It plays out in real time, rather than being turn based, and your weapons auto-fire on enemy ships in range. Your job is to frantically maneuver your ships to avoid enemy fire. Luckily the fun of the squad combat more than makes up for this and despite this odd dichotomy, Star Chindy is definitely worth a go for fans of XCOM.
Do you know of any more games that would fit the topic of today’s guide? Let us know about them in the comments below!
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 10-10-2018, 10:44 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Microsoft's New xCloud Game Streaming Service Revealed
Numerous game companies believe that streaming technology is the future. Now, Microsoft has announced its own approach to streaming video games: Project xCloud. The project aims to bring console-quality games to PC, consoles, and smart phone devices, and it will be rolling out public trials starting in 2019.
As detailed in the announcement, players will be able to use an Xbox One controller connected to supported devices. Smart phones can be used via Bluetooth, and a small attachment connects the controller to the phone for ease of use. If you don't have an Xbox One controller, touch controls are also available.
The service uses Microsoft's Azure as a backbone to set up new datacenters, with customized hardware that uses the parts of multiple Xbox One consoles. Azure has datacenters in 140 countries, so Microsoft feels it is already in a strong position to roll out the service wide-scale. It's also developing ways to combat latency, with current tests running at 10 megabits per second. The ultimate goal is to make streaming available on 4G networks. Microsoft also notes the intention is for developers to be able to make their games available through xCloud without requiring any additional work from them (not unlike how it handles backwards compatibility on Xbox One).
Similarly, last week Google announced its own Project Stream, using Assassin's Creed Odyssey to issue a technical test. PlayStation Now, meanwhile, has offered streaming games for quite a while, but recently began offering the option of downloading instead.
Microsoft axes Minecraft for Apple TV, no one notices
By Andrew O’Hara Tuesday, October 09, 2018, 09:33 pm PT (12:33 am ET)
Microsoft is throwing in the towel on the Apple TV permutation of Minecraft due to low user numbers, according to a splash screen that — ironically — has been displayed in-game for weeks without mention from mainstream media.
Microsoft ceased support for Minecraft on the Apple TV on Sept. 24, though users are still able to play the game for the foreseeable future. Users can continue to explore the virtual world and use in-app purchases, Microsoft said.
“We’re grateful to the Apple TV community for their support, but we need to reallocate resources to the platforms that our players use the most,” the splash screen reads.
That Minecraft lacked a vibrant player base shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. The pop-up alert presumably appeared weeks ago, yet news of the game’s discontinuation is only now making its way to media outlets.
Minecraft’s demise is another nail in the coffin for Apple TV’s gaming potential. That one of the world’s most popular titles was unable to gain traction on Apple TV speaks volumes about the platform and its user base.
Some have criticized Apple for its inability to successfully market Apple TV as a casual gaming console.
When the fourth-generation Apple TV initially launched, Apple required all games support the Siri Remote as well as optional MFi controllers. This policy made it exceedingly difficult for developers to bring more complex games to tvOS, as the Siri Remote is severely limiting and even a bit slow.
Apple changed course and dropped the Siri Remote requirement in 2016, but AAA developers continue to shy away from the platform.
Gaming was never a major selling point for Apple TV, and Apple is seemingly content to let those prospects wither as it shifts focus back to video apps and a rumored first-party streaming service.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 10-10-2018, 04:33 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Best Buy Game Deals This Week: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Best Buy's current weekly sale kicked off on October 7 and runs through October 13. That means the window of time is open for you to hit the retailer either online or in-store to pick up this week's selection of video game deals. What kinds of deals are we talking? Let's take a look.
If you buy Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (available October 12), you can save $10 on a 12-month subscription to PlayStation Plus. Ubisoft's toys-to-life game Starlink: Battle for Atlas comes out October 16. If you buy the starter pack, Best Buy will throw in an extra pilot figure for free (see our Starlink pre-order guide for more information). And while this one won't apply to everyone, if you purchase an Xbox One along with an eligible Samsung TV, you'll get a $100 gift card for free.
All Xbox One controller chargers are on sale this week. And if you buy an Xbox One, you can save $20 on an extra controller. Speaking of controllers, some models of PS4's DualShock 4 controllers are on sale for a few bucks off, and some of the new color designs, like Berry Blue and Sunset Orange, are in stock.
In addition to sales, a bunch of video games are getting permanent price drops at Best Buy this week. You can see the full list of video game price drops and weekly discounts here.
Timespinner is a story-driven adventure, inspired by classic 90s action-platformers. Timekeeper Lunais is on a quest to avenge her slain family, using time-bending powers to explore an interconnected world.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 10-09-2018, 11:28 PM - Forum: Windows
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Introducing the Xbox One S ‘Minecraft’ Creators Bundle
Create your ultimate Minecraft adventure and be a part of the global phenomenon with the Xbox One S Minecraft Creators Bundle, available soon at select retailers globally for $299 USD / £249 GBP.
The Xbox One S Minecraft Creators Bundle includes:
Xbox One S with 1TB hard drive, 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player and 4K video streaming
Creators Pack: Adventurer’s Dream Mash-up and Winter Mini-Games Festival by Noxcrew, Relics of the Privateers by Imagiverse, PureBDcraft Texture Pack by BDcraft, Pastel Skin Pack by Eneija, and Wildlife Savanna by PixelHeads
1-month Xbox Game Pass trial so you can play 100 great games out of the box
Also included in the Xbox One S Minecraft Creators Bundle is a 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial, so you can experience adventures in the community of 91 million Minecraft players each month across Windows 10 PC, mobile, VR, Xbox One or Nintendo Switch.
Whether you’re playing Minecraft, watching movies or streaming gameplay, Xbox One S delivers brilliant graphics with HDR technology, premium audio and the best community of gamers. Games play best on Xbox One and as part of the Xbox One family, you can enjoy more than 1,300 games, including exclusives like Forza Horizon 4 and Sea of Thieves.
