A Card-Sized Handheld Gaming Device?
Arduboy
So, a fun thing popped up on Kickstarter, the Arduboy – A game system for (classic) games, free games for the system and opensource allowing people to learn how to program games with ease!
Some specs:
Brilliant OLED Display
6 Soft-Touch Tactile Buttons
2 Channel Piezo Speaker
Durable Metal & Polycarbonate Construction
8+ Hour Battery Life & Rechargable
Fully Programmable with Arduino!
Processor: ATmega32u4 (same as Arduino Leonardo & Micro)
Memory: 32KB Flash, 2.5KB RAM, 1KB EEPROM
Connectivity: USB 2.0 w/ built in HID profile
Inputs: 6 momentary tactile buttons
Outputs: 128×64 1Bit OLED, 2 Ch. Piezo Speaker & Blinky LED
Battery: 180 mAh Thin-Film Lithium Polymer
Programming: Arduino IDE, Codebender, GCC & AVRDude
What is Arduboy?
Arduboy is an open platform for people to play, create and share games. A game system the size of a credit card. Choose your favorite classic game from the completely free Arduboy Arcade. Built on the popular Arduino software, it’s also an excellent way to learn how to program! Because you can learn to make your own games, Arduboy is a game system the size of your imagination!
Super Retro!
Designed to remind you of a more simple time in the world of gaming, the Arduboy brings true 8-bit gaming into the 21st century with style. The black and white screen invites you to involve your imagination once again while gaming.
Open Source Gaming!
Anyone can make games for the Arduboy! Free online tutorials guide you through a step by step process on how to develop your own software! There are already plenty of examples to learn from. Ever wanted to create a level or map for your favorite game, or make your favorite character jump higher? Now is your chance!
I’ll refrain from posting their entire kickstar page, but I’m sure to drop a link to the project as it’s really appealing to myself and I’m curious to find out if this kickstarter will make it’s goal!
Blitz Games Possesses E3 Expo!
Possession will give players the chance to do what they've always wanted to do in a survival horror game – control the zombies and wreak havoc instead of just cowering in the corner. There'll be no more creeping about in the shadows, no more conserving ammo – Blitz are finally letting people take control of the carnage!
The game will provide a unique and ambitious mix of strategy and all-out gore-splattered action. It will also feature innovative online multiplayer modes featuring Blitz's new 1-versus-many gameplay mechanic that will allow a single third-person player to take on multiple first-person enemies.
The company has already had several high profile publishers interested in the project as Chief Technical Officer Andrew Oliver explains: "Several of the publishers that have already seen the game concept are actively pursuing further information and we feel sure that someone will snap up publishing rights in the near future."
XGAMING, Video Game Round-Up At E3
Did you enjoy dropping quarters in arcade machines to play arcade classics and fighting games? Don't you wish you could do the same thing at home on your game console or PC? Gamers from all over the world got a chance to do just that this week at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. Crowds fought for a chance to play the X-Arcade, an authentic game controller that has set the game industry abuzz with it's multi-platform capability and industrial design.
The game industry experts who visited the year's largest tradeshow found the authentic arcade device on PC, XBOX, Gamecube, Apple, PS2 and Dreamcast. The X-Arcade allows you to relive the authentic arcade experience with real arcade parts and controls on any game system. The device provides a life-like arcade experience at the touch of your fingers with hand constructed arcade design and indestructible arcade-grade parts.
Developer and President, Shawn R. Walters of XGaming, said "we had an excellent response from game players and industry executives and are excited about the retail launch. "
The success of the show will be further carried over into major retail stores for a nationwide retail launch set for August.
New Technology Turns The Industry's Eyes
With current game manufactures designing products which fit the "me-too" design, looking similar and only being differentiated by price, XGAMING aimed to fill a market void by creating a high end, unique product, that also offered a solution for gamers who have more than one game device.
"With success of PC and cross-over into XBOX/PS2/GAMECUBE, gamers are left purchasing accessories for each system, rather that having a one- stop, high end option for all." Said Walters. XGAMING began negotiations with several accessory manufactures to license the multi-platform technology for use in other products which would all work under the X-MS family of adapters. Once a customer owns adapters for each system, any device manufactured using the X-MS technology would instantly work with any system.
ARCADE MANUFACTURER SEEKS INDEPENDENT GAME DEVELOPERS
TLC Industries, Inc. is now accepting submissions from independent video game developers interested in releasing their games into the arcade market. TLC's new gaming platform, the FLEXARCADE, is a PC-based video game cabinet that can accommodate thousands of different games and genres. Developers can use the FLEXARCADE as a promotional gaming device to the arcade market.
Those developers that take the opportunity the FLEXARCADE presents can expect to increase the exposure for their games, prime the market for their game, build their trade name, learn some of the networking avenues, and gain invaluable knowledge from the experience of releasing a game to market.
Game Tournaments
Games Barrack 5v5 League of Legends Tournament!
Games Barrack is hosting its first Tournament and the game chosen was League of Legends!
Like to show off your League of Legends skills?
I think its time to sign up for this one!
Join our friendly community and spend some quality time with us!
The applications are open for this event that will be held in 2 days, on the 25th of Aug.
Mortal Kombat X: New DLC teased to make story unplayable characters playable
After the previous announcement of about four new characters being added to Mortal Kombat X as a DLC, it looks like more can be on their way to us.
Ed Boon, series creator, recently replied to a tweet about these story mode unplayable characters and the possibility of them, being added with the availability to play to the game with the following: “[You] mean like a ‘Story Pack’?”
In previous Mortal Kombat releases, characters like Rain, Sinder and Baraka were playable. Characters that not only are story mode characters but also challengers that you have to fight. Even being available previously, these aren’t playable on MKX. Good news? A modder got them working on PC (but not entirely).
This tease doesn’t make anything 100% clear as in that the so called ‘Story Pack’ will be released, but after the microtransactions for easy fatalities got added, it’s not wrong to presume this.
On a side note, following the free costume that came with the latest MKX patch, more will come with future patches, according to another one of Boon’s tweet.
Better Late Than Never – Valve Working on CS:GO Hitboxes
Three years after the release of Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Valve has finally confirmed it’s working on it’s long-running issue of flawed hitboxes.
Hitboxes are an invisible part of character models that register collision with bullets, and have been a huge part criticism flung at Valve for their latest iteration of their first-person shooter, Counter Strike: Global Offensive.
CS:GO’s hitbox issues were further pushed into the spotlight of both Valve and the playerbase when a video emerged of a player firing point-blank at an enemy and dealing absolutely no damage. The video was pushed to the top of the CS:GO subreddit and was quickly sent to Valve employees after the community showed it’s outrage to how ridiculous it was.
Valve coder Matt Wood responded by saying the hitboxes are “being worked on”, but added that the company as of right now has no specific release window for any update that would change the current hitboxes. It could be in a month, or several years. We sadly have to deal with jumpscouts in Dust 2 being invincible for a bit longer. As well as point-blank firing not working and blankly staring at each other while you reload. Below is the video in question that shows the point-blank (yet zero damage) spray of gods.
Expansion Confirmed For Bloodborne
The highly acclaimed (and slightly frustrating) game from Sony has as of today been confirmed to get an expansion.
More info regarding this new expansion for Bloodborne should be released later this year.
Bloodborne was released as a PS4 exclusive on March 24st. It was developed by ‘From Software’, the creators behind the excellent games Demon’s Souls as well as Dark Souls. Most people who played any of these games, as well as Bloodborne, will realize that From Software does one thing incredibly well: Pose a challenge to the player to overcome. Not a huge amount of gimmicks, just learning how to play your character in every situation. And whether or not your computer can get through the loading screens after dying fast enough.
bloodbornes
How excited are you to play another challenging installment to Bloodborne?
Games Released
New Guitar Hero’s Songs Revealed
When Activision announced Guitar Hero Live last week, the publisher revealed a handful of artists whose songs would be featured on the game’s soundtrack, but didn’t share the songs themselves. Now, Activision has done just that, announcing the first ten songs that will be available on day one in a post of Facebook.
Guitar Hero Live’s soundtrack will include Top 40 songs like Ed Sheeran’s “Sing” and “Little Talks” by Of Monsters and Men. Others include “Don’t Owe You a Thang” by Gary Clark Jr. and “Cry of Achilles” by Alter Bridge.
Guitar Hero Live is in development at DJHero studio FreeStyleGames for Xbox360, XboxOne, Playstation 3, Playstation 4, and Wii U. The game launches later this year, alongside Rock Band 4. No songs from that game’s soundtrack have been announced yet.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Release Date, Beta Details Leak
Activision has yet to formally confirm platforms for Black Ops III, but the Call of Duty website’s source code previously revealed Xbox One, PS4, and PC as the game’s platforms. In addition, the Call of Duty website now lets you sign in with Nitentdo account, but Activision won’t say if Black Ops III is coming to Wii U.
There has been an information leak that release date for Black Ops III is on November the 6th which makes alot of sense considering it’s early in November, which is when Activision has released new Call of Duty games for years now.
Activision has not held a beta for any Call of Duty game since 2008’s Call of Duty World of War.
Gears of War HD Remaster Coming to Xbox One!
The original Gears of war is in the process of being remastered for release on Xbox ONE, Polygon reports.
Epic Games’ 2020 third-person shooter is being improved with enhanced visuals and cutscenes, the latter of which are in the works at visual effects studio Plastic Wax. Similarly, Halo2’s reworked cutscenes in The master chief collection were handeled externally by Blur Studio.
Epic is no longer involved with Gears, having sold the franchise to Microsoft last year. Black Tusk Studios is now in charge of the series, and is at work on both the remaster and the upcomming, untitled sequel.
Microsoft seemingly teased a remaster of the first three Gears of War games when Xbox boss Phil Spencer retweeted a message about something called “The Marcus Fenix Collection” last year. Spencer later said this was simply a mistake, and Black Tusk producer Rod Fergusson reiterated this last month when he said that: “there’s no Marcus fenix collection.”
LiquidSky is launching on 2020’s fall!
Supercomputers with 10GB/s internet speed, absolutely insane graphics cards, even more insane CPU’s. Oh, isn’t that a dream? On LiquidSky that’s reality!
Many people think about the future of gaming. Will it be augmented reality? Every game will be 3D? Think again! Maybe the future is LiquidSky.
But what is LiquidSky? They aren’t just going to deliver a supercomputer to your door (actually they are). LiquidSky is a cloud gaming system. Bet you’re lost by now.
On LiquidSky, you create an account and install their software, log into your account and suddenly, you are playing on a supercomputer near you via streaming. As LiquidSky reports, you can even play League of Legends or any Steam game and stream it directly to your Twitch channel on your own mobile phone as they are releasing Android and iOS applications for it. They also say latency won’t be a problem as we’re not talking of any streaming service here with delays and such. It’s more like a Teamviewer with a lot more power.
Aditionally they already gave out the information that you will be able to have one of their “LiquidSky SkyPen” which is a USB Pen that is installed by them with LiquidSky so you can play all your games on the go, just by plugging it into any laptop or desktop anywhere!
We at Games Barrack can’t wait to hear more on this. Figuring the community can’t as well.
We will keep you updated about this one, as we follow it closely.
