Valve Experimenting With Virtual Reality Half-Life
Valve is experimenting using Half-Life characters, environments, “ideas” and other assets in its virtual reality technology.
"We've said, 'Let's take some existing art and see how it fits,'" Valve programmer Jeep Barnett told Kotaku during GDC 2015. "So yeah, we'll grab some headcrabs, we'll grab the machine guns from Half-Life, the rocket launcher—all those different fun things—and see how they play in VR. But right now, it's a tool for exploring the different kind of game designs we want to do.”
Barnett added, according to Kotaku, that “things are still things are still up in the air” for a Half-Life VR game.
Adam Sandler and Bob Barker Reignite Happy Gilmore’s Epic Brawl
Adam Sandler and Bob Barker have resumed their famous brawl from 1996 fan-favourite Happy Gilmore in a sketch put together for Comedy Central's upcoming Night of Too Many Stars special.
The segment begins with Sandler visiting the former Price Is Right stalwart in hospital, where the 91-year-old Barker is depicted as recovering from a broken hip. The meeting, of course, rapidly descends into a violent slugfest between the pair after Barker berates Sandler for not bringing him on board for any more films.
Check it out below.
Comedy Central’s Night of Too Many Stars was created to support autism programs and has raised over USD$18 million since 2006. Night of Too Many Stars 2015 airs for US viewers on Sunday, March 8 from 8pm EDT.
GDC: Microsoft Will Unlock Retail Xbox Ones as Test Kits This Year
Microsoft will unlock retail Xbox Ones as test kits for games being developed in the Windows 10 universal app in the second half of 2015, the corporation confirmed during a GDC 2015 panel.
ID@Xbox director Chris Charla said during the panel that its very easy to port between PC and Xbox One on the universal app, Eurogamer reports.
Microsoft originally announced plans to eventually allow developers to use retail Xbox One consoles as dev kits and self-publish on the hardware in August 2013, but the window wasn’t confirmed until now.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars Review
Great puzzles all have one thing in common: they present a conundrum bound by defined rules and then give you the tools to craft a plan to conquer this obstacle. Trial and error is ultimately part of the thrill of overcoming these challenges, but the truly brilliant puzzles can't be conquered by brute-forcing a million little experiments, or sliding tile puzzle pieces around: You have to actually figure out an answer to beat them. At its best, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars understands this, forcing you to create elaborate and dynamic Rube Goldberg machines to achieve victory. Unfortunately, it takes far too long for the most devilish puzzles to rear their heads.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars is equal parts Lemmings and World of Goo. The main campaign consists of six worlds of eight levels in which the goal is to guide mindless wind-up Marios (and assorted Mario universe crew members) through a gauntlet of spike pits, Shy Guys, Donkey Kongs, and fire-breathing piranha plants by placing player-crafted paths and machinery at the door(s) at the end of each level while also picking up each coin and token for maximum points at the level's end. By clicking on paths, jump-pads, tunnels, walkways, and lifts, you gain resources that can then be placed on marked points on the map to create your tools for victory.
There's too much of a time investment before the game reveals its real potential.
This might sound simple in concept, but Tipping Stars knows how to complicate its premise. One of the key complications of any map is that, barring levels where each figure has its own separate door, all the characters must enter the final door within a short timeframe of each other. Once a character is awakened, it only travels in a single direction--turning around if it hits a wall--and if characters are spaced out around the entire map and facing opposing directions, it's as much of a challenge to get them facing the same way and close to one another as it is to collect all the coins and reach the level's door.
Each world introduces a new fundamental mechanic. The first zone is the simplest, and allows you to drag red girder beams to make walls, ramps, and paths. You'll likely get the gold trophy--calculated by how quickly you can finish the level--on your first try for most of the early levels. Each world then brings in something new without abandoning the tricks of earlier worlds, until you're forced to think about how to use this path to most effectively utilize the lift so you can get the highest bounce off the jump pad. It's a shame, then, that it isn't until World 5 that any of the puzzles have the slightest amount of bite.
You'll likely get the gold trophy--calculated by how quickly you can finish the level--on your first try for most of the early levels.
If you want a game to test your children's spatial logic and reasoning skills, Tipping Stars might be a good choice, though the complex later puzzles can prove frustrating. But in 2015, there are too many, more challenging options for adults looking to have their brains stretched for Tipping Stars to feel like a worthy investment. Once you do reach the more challenging puzzles, they are wicked. The main campaign is short--it takes less than four hours to complete--but there are 24 bonus levels in the game, and, right out of the gate, they not only stretch your problem-solving skills to their limits, they continue to introduce new mechanics to the game, including magnetized walkways. But there's too much of a time investment before the game reveals its real potential. Tipping Stars does offer you the tools to create your own levels so the most dedicated puzzle fans could rise to the challenge and create their own complex worlds for players to explore, although it’s hard to gauge what that community is going to accomplish at this time.
Between its lackluster introductions and almost total lack of context for why you're doing anything in the game, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars feels more like a particularly robust tech demo than a proper full-release. As a cross-buy title, it can be played on both the Wii U and the 3DS, but since you only use the Wii U Gamepad while playing, there's little reason to play it on anything other than the 3DS if you own both. If you have the patience to stick around for the game's true challenges, Tipping Stars is worth an inspection, but you have to slog through a lot of tedium to get there.
What Is Battletoads Going to Be on Xbox One?
DOWNLOAD PODCAST UNLOCKED EPISODE 185
What a packed show! Chris Charla, the head of Microsoft's ID@Xbox program, stops by for a chat about choosing indie games for the program, how crazy (in a good way) Cuphead is, and more. Then we talk about Phil Spencer's latest Battletoads tease, freak out because Rock Band 4 is a real thing, discuss our experience playing one of GTA Online's Heists, and much, much more.
NOTES:
Battletoads talk starts at about the 32:52 mark
The Chris Charla interview starts at about the 1:12:00 mark
Another Classic Character Is Playable In Mortal Kombat X
Johnny Cage will be joining his daughter, Cassie Cage, in Mortal Kombat X, according to NetherRealm Studios' senior producer Adam Urbano.
In a video interview with Game Crate at GDC that has since been pulled from YouTube, but can be found archived on user TDizz 98's channel, Urbano confirms that Johnny Cage is indeed playable in the upcoming fighter. He also appears to confirm Kenshi, who was rumored to be in the game after Warner Bros. released screenshots of the blind fighter in a mobile version of Mortal Kombat X.
Survive the Ocean’s Horrors In Narcosis
Of course just as I picked up a bundle of flares in a small storage room, the lights seemed to dim in the main chamber. David Chen, one of Narcosis' designers, then reminded me to hit the left bumper to use my knife.
They told me the demo wasn't supposed to be too scary, but I just about panicked anyway.
In my Oculus Rift demo of Narcosis, I fought off massive cuttlefish, nearly wet myself upon seeing a giant sea spider, and lit creepy corridors with my limited supply of flares — I enjoyed every second of it.
In Narcosis, the protagonist is stranded alone on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean after an accident destroys an oceanic mining rig. He must find a way back to the surface before his industrial diving suit runs out of oxygen.
Fun Facts About Classic Nintendo Characters
A historical document from the 1990s surfaced recently, revealing lesser-known biographical facts about some of Nintendo's most beloved characters.
The Official Nintendo Character Manual from 1993 was originally provided to Press the Buttons last year, when Yoshi's real name (T. Yoshisaur Munchakoopas) was officially made public. The latest set of pages from the same guide shed light on personality traits for even more characters –– namely, Mario, Wario, Bowser and Toad.
Powers Cast Imagine a World With Superpowers
My first impression of the Powers set is appropriately that it's powerful. The PlayStation Network original series, debuting March 10th, films in a massive space that allows for standing sets so sprawling you can get lost in them. And I did briefly lose my way during a visit at the end of last year. It's a fitting setting for a world where super powers are a common occurrence and part of everyday life. The series, based on the comic books of the same name created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Avon Oeming, centers on Detective Christian Walker (Sharlto Copley). He used to be a Power, specifically a hero known as Diamond. But he lost his powers and now works in the Los Angeles Powers Division investigating crimes committed by Powers.
Update: Harrison Ford ‘Stable’ After Plane Crash
This is a developing story.
Update: Ford is now in stable condition according to People. Original story follows...
Harrison Ford was piloting a private airplane that crash-landed today at Penmar golf course in Venice, California.
According to TMZ, the Star Wars and Indiana Jones icon was piloting what appears to be a vintage 2-seater fighter plane when it made an emergency landing. He was the only person aboard the plane.