WARNING! Injustice: Gods Among Us Update 2.0 on iOS Causing Data Wipes For Some Users
In celebration of the one-year anniversary of its mobile release, the iOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us received a major free update that added multiplayer and a slew of other features. It's an outstanding update on paper, but unfortunately it appears the update isn't behaving nicely for quite a few users. My friend texted me earlier today: "Very pissed. Injustice reset my acct for some reason. Lost everything." Upon further research, it appears he's not alone, with most of the iTunes reviews and Facebook posts now mentioning the lost game data.
While it doesn't appear that Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) has addressed the issue directly, I did find a "Basic iOS and iCloud Troubleshooting" page on the studio's Online Support site, which may help. The steps after the first image is what you may want to try if you fall victim, where it discusses restoring an old iCloud save. Sadly, that solution doesn't seem to work for everybody though.
In addition to the data wipe, it seems that the update brought some "anti-hacking safeguards" along with it "in an effort to curb online cheating," and naturally they've wound up blocking legit players from the game. The Injustice Facebook page did address this issue, though merely stated that it's being worked on, not that it's been resolved.
I fortunately didn't suffer either issue, though now I'm wary about launching the game again until there's at the very least an official statement, if not a resolution. If there are any further developments, I'll let you know.
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New Screenshots and Pricing Information Released for Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty; Release Date ...
Developer Just Add Water released a GDC 2014 Gameplay Trailer back in March for Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty, but a release date and pricing was still up in the air. Today, Just Add Water finally announced both...sort of. Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty is set to release on PC (Windows, Mac, and Linux), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and Wii U; but the studio is only ready to discuss the pricing of the PlayStation Network (PSN) version, which will be Cross-Buy: $29.99 / €24.99 / £19.99. As for the release date, that will be announced prior to the start of E3 (June 9), though it's unclear whether that announcement will just be for PSN or for every platform.
In the meantime, the studio published eight new screenshots from the game, which you can see below.
Source: Official Site
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OCZ Announces RevoDrive 350
OCZ has announced its latest PCIe solid state drive, the RevoDrive 350. The drive features "workstation-grade design capabilities and maximum performance for professional content creation, multimedia, and extreme gaming applications," built using 19nm NAND flash technology. The drive is controlled by an LSI SandForce SF-2282 controller and uses the PCIe Gen. 2 x8 interface. With up to 1.8GB/s sequential speeds and 140,000 Input/Output Operations per Second, the drive offers performance far greater than traditional SATA drives. The RevoDrive 350 is available in capacities of 240GB, 480GB, and 960GB with optimized drivers for Linux and Windows. Senior VP of Product Management Daryl Lang said, "This next generation PCIe SSD is the ideal solution for performance-minded users looking to maximize both bandwidth and density for the complete gamut of gaming, content creation and workstation applications."
Source: Press Release
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Redesigning Batteries for Longer Lifespans
As advanced as batteries have become, they are still comprised of three primary components; the anode, cathode, and electrolyte. By changing the composition and designs of these components over the years, batteries have been better at storing and delivering energy. Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have recently decided to investigate changing the formula for batteries and what happens if these components interact in new ways.
In a typical battery, the anode and cathode are responsible for specific electrochemical reactions that create an electrical potential, while the electrolyte allows for ions to flow between them, and actually create an electrical current. Normally these roles are restricted to those specific components, but the ORNL researchers have developed a battery in which the electrolyte has two functions. Instead of just transporting ions, it will also behave as a cathode supplement. As the reactions occur and the battery discharges, a lithium fluoride salt is produced that catalyzes the activity of the electrolyte, making it active in the process, instead of just a passive material.
When the researchers tested their concept with a modified lithium carbon fluoride battery, it had 26% greater capacity than its more traditional counterpart can theoretically achieve. Such an increase in capacity could extend the life of batteries by years or decades. For long-life disposable batteries, like those in pacemakers, RFID devices, sensors, and other systems where batteries cannot be easily replaced or recharged, that extra life could be invaluable.
Source: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
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Scott Croyle Announces Departure from HTC
Scott Croyle has led the industrial design and user experience teams at HTC ever since his studio One & Co was acquired by the technology company in 2008. Croyle is largely responsible for the HTC One smartphone lineup, and has held the position of senior vice president of design at HTC since April, 2011. Confirmed by HTC, Scott Croyle will be leaving the company in order to work on his own projects. Luckily, the transition for Croyle is expected to be long-term, as he will still be positioned within a consultancy role with HTC product development. As Croyle steps down from his role of senior vice president of design, Jonah Becker will take over in order to lead the San Francisco HTC studio.
Source: The Verge
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Hulu Cracks Down on VPNs
While Hulu is only available to United States residents, some individuals located outside of the country have been able to access the service through the use of VPNs. Hulu is looking to put a stop to this, as it is now blocking all IP addresses that are associated with major VPN services such as Private Internet Access, TorGuard, and VikingVPN. Hulu explains that it is blocking anonymous proxy servers due to contractual limitations. While this may seem like a noble move by Hulu in order to support its business, it is in the process blocking legitimate Americans from accessing the service while traveling outside of the country. Additionally, the recent move by Hulu is blocking other users of the service located within the United States that use VPN services for privacy reasons.
Most of the VPN services that have been affected are reportedly investigating possible workarounds and have contacted Hulu for possible solutions to the VPN crackdown.
Source: TechHive
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Composer Olivier Derivière Discusses the Music of Bound by Flame in New Trailer
There's been a lot of focus on the combat in Spider's fantasy RPG Bound by Flame, but this time around, publisher Focus Home Interactive has released a trailer that focuses on the music. In the trailer, composer Olivier Derivière (Remember Me, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag) explains his work on Bound by Flame and how he was inspired by the dark atmosphere of the game. To help portray a sense of loneliness and despair, he recruited singer Iré Zhekova to lend her voice to the game. What I found most interesting was that, "they invented an imaginary language for Iré's singing to explore the human voice and express emotions beyond the meaning of words and to express feelings of hope and fear." The video discusses this and also shows some environments and scenes never shown before.
Source: Press Release
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New Mad Max Trailer Shows Off Open World Vehicular Combat; Release Pushed to 2015
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) published a brand new trailer for Avalanche Studios' Mad Max, briefly showing the open world vehicular combat we can expect when the game releases. The trailer is entitled "Magnum Opus", which is the name of Mad Max's car. "Following the theft of his iconic Interceptor, Max must align himself with a gifted, but peculiar, mechanic named Chumbucket and others to build the ultimate war vehicle as he works to escape from the dangerous Wasteland."
Source: Press Release
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Google Reportedly Set to End Forced Google+ Integration
Yesterday, Google's head of Google+, Vic Gundotra, announced he was resigning his position and offered little explanation as to why. Now we may have an idea as to why Gundotra left, as it appears Google is severely backing away from Google+'s original strategy. According to a report, the company no longer sees it as competition to the likes of Facebook and Twitter, and will end Google+'s forced integration with its products. However, the reduced focus of Google+ does mean anywhere between 1,000 and 1,200 employees will be changed to different divisions within the company. The Google Hangouts team will most likely be moved over to Android, as will the Google+ photo team, and various other teams will see similar shifts.
All of this has not been confirmed by Google, as both a spokesperson for the company and its CEO Larry Page denied any change in Google+'s strategy despite Gundotra's departure. This could just be the typical statement made when any company loses a division head, but it could also just be Google stalling for time as it figures out exactly what to do with Google+. If it actually is true that Google+ is being severely trimmed down, odds are plenty of people will just be happy its forced integration will go by the wayside.
Source: TechCrunch
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Finally Understanding Improved Efficiency in Specific Solar Cells
Sometimes science involves combining two things and getting a result, without knowing why. When this happens the next step is to find out the 'why,' but this can take decades. Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have recently solved a puzzle from the 1980s concerning cadmium-telluride (CdTe) thin-film solar cells, and how their performance can be increased by adding another material to them.
The thin film CdTe solar cells have been of special interest to many as they could have a lower cost per power output than traditional silicon solar cells. This is partly because of how easy it is to manufacture them. In the 1980s it was discovered that by treating the cells with cadmium-chloride, their efficiency could be raised significantly, and until now it was only known that the chlorine had something to do with it. By analyzing samples with an electron microscope before and after the treatment, the researchers discovered that the chlorine was affecting grain boundaries. Normally grain boundaries reduce efficiency, by inhibiting the movement of charge carriers. With the cadmium-chloride treatment though, some of the tellurium along the grain boundaries is replaced with chlorine atoms. This substitution causes electric fields to form which actually aid the charge carriers' movement.
Now armed with an understanding for why the efficiency increases, it may be possible to create CdTe solar cells with efficiencies much closer to the theoretical maximum of 32%. Combined with their ease of production, they could be a real contender for replacing silicon solar cells.
Source: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
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Hybrid Graphene-Nanotube Ultracapacitor Developed
The ability to store energy enabled a technological revolution that has given us laptop computers, smartphones, and much more. We are starting to approach the limits of the traditional battery though, as devices keep trying to get smaller and consumers want them to charge faster. One potential alternative to batteries are ultracapacitors, which can be charged very rapidly, and now researchers at George Washington University's Micro-propulsion and Nanotechnology Laboratory have developed a new kind with excellent performance, but a low cost, as reported by the American Institute of Physics.
Carbon, the stuff of pencil lead, diamonds, and organic molecules can express some very interesting and useful properties, when in the proper form. Two rather interesting carbon structures are graphene, an atom-thick sheet of carbon, and nanotubes. The researchers discovered a simple way to produce both, and started investigating how both could be used. They found that if they mixed both into an ink and rolled it onto paper, they would have an ultracapacitor. Ultracapacitors of just carbon nanotubes have been tested before, but the addition of graphene flakes, their surface area and in-plane conductivity, gave this design three times better specific capacitance.
The method the researchers found for producing the graphene and nanotubes was to use an electric arc to vaporize a hollow graphite rod, with a metallic catalyst powder inside. Compared to other ultracapacitors with similar performance to this, this production method is significantly cheaper, and res resulting device is both small and light, which is important as devices shrink.
Source: EurekAlert!
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Unreal Engine 4.1 Update Adds Support for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, SteamOS, and Linux
Back in the beginning of the month, we reported that Epic Games would be releasing the first major update for its Unreal Engine 4, bringing it to version number 4.1. At the time, the most notable additions stated were support for SteamOS and Linux. While those are still indeed part of 4.1, the big news is that official support for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One has also been added as well. "With the release of Unreal Engine 4.1, all subscribers who are registered Xbox or PlayStation developers, including members of the ID@Xbox independent developer program, can receive access to the engine's complete source code for their respective console platforms, at no extra cost." The complete list of supported platforms include: "PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 (including Morpheus VR support), SteamOS, Linux, HTML5, and Oculus VR technologies."
There's a slew of other features and updates, so if you're an Unreal Engine 4 subscriber (or simply curious), be sure to check out the complete 4.1 Release Notes.
Source: Press Release and Unreal Engine Blog
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Evolve's "4v1 Interactive Trailer" is Now Live
The interactive trailer that 2K and Turtle Rock teased earlier in the week for Evolve is now available. It features a full match played on April 3, 2014, in Novato, CA, and allows you to select the perspective in real-time. Since the in-game HUD is turned off to provide a better experience, the Goliath's health and Hunter's incapacity states are visualized on the icons at the bottom of the screen.
Source: YouTube
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iOS Version of Injustice: Gods Among Us Updated With Multiplayer, Gear, Increased Level Cap, ...
Injustice: Gods Among Us launched on iOS on April 3, 2013, so Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE), DC Entertainment, and NetherRealm Studios have decided to celebrate the one-year anniversary in a big way: with a gigantic update. The 2.0 Update adds a slew of new features and is already available on iOS, while the Android update is planned for May. The biggest addition is the inclusion of a brand new multiplayer mode, allowing you to battle other users' teams; though they're controlled by AI. Victories earn you Multiplayer Points toward weekly leaderboards, which can net you tiered rewards based on your ranking.
- Gear has been added, allowing you to upgrade your characters even further. You unlock a Gear slot at Character Level 10 and can purchase up to two more using the in-game coins. Gear can be acquired from ranking well in the weekly leaderboards or by purchasing a Gear Booster Pack for 25,000 coins, which contains one random Gear Card.
- All new Gold Characters have been added to the roster, including Shazam, Batman Returns Catwoman, Green Lantern Sinestro, Animated Harley Quinn, New 52 Nightwing, Arrow, and Krypto Lex Luthor. However, while that's what the update notes list, I can't seem to find Shazam in my game, but I do have Teen Titans Cyborg, who I'm pretty sure wasn't there prior to the update. Either way, there are plenty of new characters to collect and enjoy!
- A new Challenge Booster Pack is available in the store for 150,000 coins, which "contains Gold characters from previous challenges in case you missed them: Batgirl, Martian Manhunter, Scorpion, Aquaman, Red Son Deathstroke, Raven, and more!" One of the biggest complaints was that you could not purchase challenge characters unless you unlocked them, which meant you were out of luck if you were late to the party. This should please a lot of players.
- The promotion and level caps have been raised. The promotion cap was raised from Elite V to Elite VII, while the level cap appears to have been raised from Level 40 to Level 50. The update notes don't specify, and I haven't had the time to personally verify.
- A new "page" of missions has been added to the single-player portion of the game, which should help with the new level cap.
- The GUI has seen a slight overhaul, mostly making things a little easier to discern.
Injustice: Gods Among Us can be downloaded for free on iOS and Android devices. I highly recommend it!
Source: Press Release (and the game itself)
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