Square Enix’s new RPG comes to the Apple Watch

 Because if someone builds a screen, Square Enix is going to bring an RPG to it – no matter how small or seemingly difficult such a proposition might ultimately be. Cosmos Rings is the gaming company’s first crack at the prohibitive form factor – and it’s an exclusive no less. The title utilizes an accompanying iPhone app, but users need Apple’s wearable to play.… Read More

Pokémon Go’s paying user base has reached a plateau

 Pokémon Go may be the most downloaded app in its first week post-launch ever, and is said to be raking in some $1.6 million daily on iOS alone, but a new report out on Friday suggests that the popular game’s paying user base may have already shrunk. According to data from Slice Intelligence, the app’s paying users peaked mid-July when the game had 56 percent more paying players… Read More

Microsoft awards hardware startup ENTy the 2016 Imagine Cup

 The festivities have wrapped for Microsoft’s Imagine Cup, a global competition among students and young people to create new software and devices. The winner this year was ENTy, a polished and highly practical hardware solution for tracking posture, helping with diagnosis and possibly treatment of diseases that affect balance. Read More

Minecraft support for Oculus Rift is finally almost here

 After months of teasing, Microsoft is finally almost ready to give Minecraft Windows 10 Edition Beta users a taste of VR. In a blog post celebrating the first anniversary of Minecraft Windows 10 Edition Beta, Microsoft announced that support for the Oculus Rift will be coming “in the next few weeks” as a free update to existing users. People who want to get in on the action have… Read More

Oculus launch-exclusive Adr1ft nows lets you get lost in space on HTC Vive

 I’m going to put this right up front: Adr1ft isn’t for the weak of stomach. The virtual reality free-floating space survival sim left me a tad queasy, and I’m somewhere in the middle of the VR sickness sensitive spectrum. But for those looking to boldly barf where only Oculus Rift owners have barfed before, Adr1ft is launching on HTC Vive today. Even if you might feel a… Read More

Twitter will stream its first eSports competition, starting today

 It’s no Twitch, but Twitter this weekend will live stream its first eSports competition on its service, thanks to a partnership with Eleague. Twitter will provide live coverage of the organization’s semifinals and championship held today and tomorrow in Atlanta, where teams will be playing Valve’s “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Game.” The first… Read More

PlayStation VR play area requirements detailed, seated play recommended

 PlaySTation VR is set to arrive on October 13, but a new official pamphlet being distributed by the company (via Polygon) sheds some light on what players can expect in terms of space requirements and gameplay style. The document shows that the idea space is about 6′ x 10′ big, with the player seated roughly in the middle, facing the PlayStation Camera at the long end. HTC… Read More

Dunkers competes with one million downloads in its first week

 Dunkers, a new game by Colin Lane (known for Wrassling and other fun sporty games), has racked up 1 million downloads since it was released last week. The success in large part is thanks to heavy featuring from Apple; it has been featured more than 150 times worldwide. Currently in iTunes, it sits at No. 1 sports app, No. 4 sports game, No. 8 free game and No. 34 free app overall. The game… Read More

Real trainers don’t Pokemon Go without a little Willow in their pocket

 After a storied history making Poke balls, Saffron City tech firm Silph Company recently started trying its hand at software. Inspired by Pokemon Go’s popularity, its latest app Willow aims to hep trainers enjoying Niantic’s location-based hit to be the very best, like no one ever was. Willow is an app that wants to provide trainers with a competitive edge by making sure… Read More

Investors realize Nintendo didn’t develop Pokémon Go and shares plummet

 Nintendo’s shares plunged after the company said late Friday that the worldwide success of Pokémon Go will not significantly impact its financial results. Nothing Nintendo disclosed about the ownership of the game was new information, but markets were shocked anyway. The stock sank 18 percent to 23,220 yen at the close in Tokyo, the maximum one-day move allowed by the exchange,… Read More

Pokémon Go estimated at over 75M downloads worldwide

 Pokémon Go has already earned one official record — most downloads on the App Store in a launch week ever. But it’s going to break a lot more records still: app analytics firm Sensor Tower estimates that it hit 50 million downloads on Google Play alone over the weekend, another record, and overall the company says that PoGo has racked up more than 75 million installs across iOS… Read More

Mobile gaming company Scopely raises $55M

 Scopely is announcing that it has raised a $55 million Series B round of funding. The Los Angeles-based company has built tools for promoting and monetizing mobile games — some of those games are developed in-house, others are created by outside studios. “The vision is creating the most premium experiences on people’s phones across a network of developers,” co-founder… Read More

Nintendo NX said to be a portable console with removable controllers and a TV dock

 Nintendo’s upcoming NX console is slowly taking shape, but a new report provides a lot more specificity than we’ve seen in the past, claiming the still-secret gaming hardware is actually primarily a portable console – albeit with some modular features that could make it more versatile than most handhelds. According to new info from Eurogamer, the NX core system will be a… Read More

Vault-Tec Workshop gives Fallout 4 players their own Vault to toy with

 Fallout 4, I can’t quit you. At least, not while Bethesda continues adding content, like today’s launch of the Vault-Tec Workshop add-on. The $4.99 DLC brings players on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC the ability to create their own Values, stock it with furniture and fill it with residents to mislead and mistreat. For those unfamiliar with the series, Vaults in Fallout are… Read More

Pokemon Go to get more Pokemon, trading, and customizable PokeStops

 Pokemon players will eventually be able to fill out their collections via trades, which is very good news for people eyeing region-specific Pokemon like Australia’s Kangaskhan from the other side of the world. Niantic CEO John Hanke revealed at a San Diego Comic Con panel that Niantic is indeed working on adding trading (and new training features) to their game, as well as… Read More

Pokémon Go is doing a lot of good, here are 3 surprising ways

 “What are they doing?” That was the question an older woman, probably around 70 or so, asked me yesterday. She was pointing to a group of 18-ish boys and girls near a YMCA, the biggest (and, so far, only) Pokestop in the city where I live. Without exception, the teens were all staring at their smartphones. “They’re playing Pokémon Go,” I replied. The lady… Read More

Dots & Co. tweaks the Dots games by adding a friendly companion

 Dots & Co., the follow-up to the popular puzzle games Dots and Two Dots, launched on iOS and Android earlier this week. If reading about the new game isn’t enough for you, you can watch me try it out in the video above. In many ways, Dots & Co. should feel pretty familiar to fans of the previous games. Your goal is to clear as many dots as you can by connecting dots of the… Read More

Shiny and chrome! Rendering sparkly surfaces in CG just got massively better

 As the graphics in games and movies edge closer and closer to photorealism, even the subtlest tricks of the light must be simulated. For years an especially tough one has been recreating the sparkling, uneven surfaces of water, metals and other materials — but these glints can now be rendered 100 times faster than before thanks to a new technique from computer scientists at UC San Diego. Read More

Apple says Pokémon Go is the most downloaded app in its first week ever

 Apple has told TechCrunch that Pokémon Go has broken an impressive App Store record. While the game was only available in a few countries at the time, the app has attracted more downloads in the App Store during its first week than any other app in App Store history. Read More

Meet Dots & Co, the latest game in the Dots series

 Dots, the gaming studio that brought you ultra-successful time sinks Dots and Two Dots, is today releasing Dots & Co. Dots & Co is very familiar for folks who have played Dots and Two Dots, yet it puts a greater focus on characters you meet along the way, each of which has a different ability that will help you solve puzzles. There are over 15 different game mechanics within Dots &… Read More

Nintendo NX could bring “lots more casual players back” according to Ubisoft CEO

 The Nintendo NX is one of the most long-teased console releases I can ever remember, especially as an officially acknowledged thing. Speaking on his company’s quarterly earnings conference call yesterday (via IGN), Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot shared some tantalizing impressions about the NX: It’s “really great,” and it should “help the industry continue to… Read More

Pokémon is getting a live-action movie based on Detective Pikachu

 Pokémon Go fever has definitely caught Hollywood’s attention: The franchise is getting a live-action movie, the rights to which were just won by Legendary Pictures. The movie won’t be focused on Pokémon Go, however. Instead, it’ll put the spotlight on Detective Pikachu, a sleuthing version of one of Pokémon’s most recognizable characters introduced in a franchise… Read More

Pokémon Go launch in Japan postponed after email leak

 Game-maker Niantic has postponed today’s scheduled launch of Pokémon Go in Japan after internal emails leaked out on to the internet. Read More

Pokemon Go is a hit at Hot Topic, but hardly happening at Home Depot

 As Pokemon Go moves into the real-world partner marketing business with McDonald’s, one might wonder what businesses potentially stand to gain the most from association with Niantic’s world dominating location-based collect’em game. Well, Red Robin should plan a Squirtleburger™, if data gathered by location analytics firm Placed is any indication. The company used info… Read More

Get lost in 10,000 square miles of multiplayer VR with MetaWorld later this year

 Virtual reality as it exists is generally an isolating experience. Plenty of VR worlds are sparsely populated, inhabited by robots, or empty. There are social platforms for VR already, but MetaWorld, an upcoming collaboration between UK-based Improbable and Berkeley-based HelloVR, will expand the horizons of social VR – expand them nearly 10,000 square miles, to be exact. MetaWorld… Read More

Learn-to-code startup CK targets the Minecraft modding craze

 The learn to code space is packed with ideas. But when it comes to what children want to do online, towering over everything else is the build-it-yourself Microsoft-owned Minecraft platform. All lesser virtual, creative playgrounds are overshadowed by this pixellated silhouette. Read More