Plague Inc. Sees Increased Sales Amid Real World Ebola Fears
As the world goes crazy over the Ebola epidemic, one game developer is reaping the rewards. Ndemic Creations has apparently seen a 50% uptick in downloads for Plague Inc. over the past two weeks. From October 10-16, the game was downloaded approximately 430,000 times on iPhone and Android with approximately 4 million total players during that week. It also soared to the top of the charts in the UK and US.
Released in 2012, Plague Inc. sees players infecting a Patient Zero before attempting to kill off all of humanity. Interestingly – and some may say disturbingly – many players are actually naming their in-game disease Ebola, which can result in messages such as "Ebola has successfully eliminated all life on Earth."
An enhanced and expanded version, entitled Plague Inc: Evolved, is currently available on Steam Early Access and will eventually make its way to Xbox One.
Source: Daily Mail Online via GamesIndustry.biz
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Lords of the Fallen Now Available
CI Games' third-person action-RPG Lords of the Fallen has officially launched and the early reviews have been very positive. Lords of the Fallen owes a lot of inspiration to the Souls franchise, including its high difficulty, but it differentiates itself enough to stand on its own. Of course, no game release is complete without a Launch Trailer:
Source: YouTube
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Assassin's Creed Unity Gets a New Interactive Trailer
Last week, Ubisoft unveiled an experiential website for Far Cry 4 – though apparently it's not available in the US. Well the good news is that Ubisoft's "revolutionary new interactive trailer" for Assassin's Creed Unity is available in the US. Over several months, the Assassin's Creed community created and voted for over 200,000 assassins, with the top 1,400 hidden away in this new trailer. "At any moment in the trailer, the community can pause and zoom in on any Assassin, allowing them to spot their creations in action. A gigapan will also be released that features every single Assassin in the one image." The trailer also features fifteen secrets to be discovered, offering exclusive footage and content.
Assassin's Creed Unity will release on November 11 in North America and November 13 in EMEA territories for Windows PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. A Season Pass is also available with eight hours of additional content, including Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China, a unique 2.5D reimagining of the franchise.
Source: Press Release
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Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Season Pass Detailed
Activision has released a new trailer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare that provides a sneak peek at the game's Season Pass. The Season Pass will contain four epic DLC packs (Havoc, Ascendance, Supremacy, and Reckoning), early access to bonus DLC weapons, and a new multiplayer map immediately at launch called Atlas Gorge. Atlas Gorge is a re-envisioning of the fan favorite Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare map, Pipeline.
Source: Press Release and Official Site
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Dying Light Ditches Last-Gen; Coming to PC, PS4 & XBO Only
Developers of multi-platform games have had to make sacrifices trying to hold tight to eight-year-old technology. Thankfully, Techland has announced that it's ditching the last-gen consoles for its upcoming first-person, open-world survival horror game Dying Light. While you can probably assume the reasons behind the decision, Techland released an open letter to fans explaining the change:
Dying Light will launch January 27 in the Americas, January 28 in Australia and New Zealand, and January 30 in Europe and Asia; priced $49.99 for PC and $59.99 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Pre-ordering allows you to "Be The Zombie".Dear Gamers,
As you probably know, we’re wrapping up the development of Dying Light, our biggest and most ambitious project to date. We spent the last three years making sure that all the features of our game add up to create a truly next-gen experience.
Much of this “next-gen feel” is tightly connected to the technological side of Dying Light. For instance, up to 200 000 objects can be displayed in the game at once. Add to this our use of realistic, physics-based lighting technology and you really start to push the next-gen systems to the limits. Features like these along with our core gameplay pillars – such as the player-empowering Natural Movement, threefold character development system, and vast open world – are all an inherent part of how Dying Light plays. However, combining all of these into one fluid experience is only possible on technologically advanced platforms.
Therefore, after thorough internal testing, we have come to the conclusion that we have no choice but to leave past-gen systems behind and release Dying Light exclusively on the next-gen consoles and PC. Put simply, older consoles just couldn’t run the game and stay true to the core vision of Dying Light at the same time.
To ensure you enjoy Dying Light as much as we would like you to, we chose to release it without any compromises on the three strongest systems available. Thanks to this, you’ll get the full and best experience regardless of the platform you play on.
We hope you understand the hard choice we’ve had to make. With the launch just around the corner, we can’t wait to show you Dying Light in the state it was meant to be. We’re looking forward to your reactions and impressions as we release the game in January 2015.
Source: Press Release
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Cooler Master Releases Octane Mouse and Keyboard Combo
Cooler Master, a leading creator, innovator, and manufacturer of desktop components and accessories, has officially released a new keyboard and mouse combo known as Octane. The latest product from Cooler Master similar to the Devastator combo, but incorporates more robust features, multiple lighting colors, and profiles, allowing it to stand out amongst the competition. The Octane supports seven different color options with pulsating and full backlighting modes, and the colors of the keyboard and mouse can even be changed independently of each other.
The keyboard itself features 19-key anti-ghosting technology, adjustable repeat rates, dedicated media control keys, a dedicated backlight switching key, and a Windows key that can be toggled on and off during gaming sessions. The mouse comes with an AVAGO 3050 optical sensor, features four DPI levels ranging from 500 DPI to 3500 DPI, and is capable of handling up to 10 million clicks in its lifetime.
The Octane mouse and keyboard combo from Cooler Master features an MSRP of $59.99 and will be available to purchase in the coming days as vendors across the United States receive the product.
Source: Press Release
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More Evidence Supports Microbial Nanowires Conducting like Metals
Some discoveries bring out a lot of skeptics and demand more and more evidence before being accepted. One example of this would be if the microbe Geobacter produces nanowires capable of transmitting electrons like a metallic wire. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where the original discovery of the nanowires was made, have now provided the most significant evidence of these biological nanowires.
Microbial nanowires are very small filaments of protein some bacteria grow in order to connect with each other, sharing energy and information. Typically proteins carry electrons by having them make discrete jumps, unlike in metals where electrons are delocalized from the molecules, and can freely move. The electrons in Geobacter's filaments are delocalized though and now the Massachusetts researchers have shown this by capturing the movement of electrons with electrostatic force microscopy. This technique allows for the flow of electric charges to be imaged, and showed them travelling just as was predicted.
Beyond verifying the past research, this study could open up some interesting applications, such as using the microbes to convert waste materials into methane gas. They could also be used as environmental sensors and even biological computers, with the filaments matching the conductivity of carbon nanotubes.
Source: University of Massachusetts at Amherst
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Thermaltake Releases Core V41 Chassis
Thermaltake, a leader in computer chassis, thermal solutions, and power supply units, has officially released a new mid-tower chassis, the Core V41. This latest addition follows the release of other Core series cases by Thermaltake, which include the Core V1, V31, V51, and V71. The Core V41 includes many of the same features found in the other Core series cases, such as curved a metal mesh appearance, outstanding cooling performance, compatibility for various air and liquid cooling systems, and tool-free and modular drive bays. The Core V41 supports the latest ATX, Micro ATX, and Mini-ITX motherboards as well as all high-end GPU cards, and also includes a side window that allows owners to display their system’s component. Tt LCS Certification is also applied to the Thermaltake Core V41, which means that it has been verified by the company to be compatible with extreme liquid cooling configurations.
Source: Press Release
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Controlling Power Amplifier for Better Battery Life
Anyone with a smartphone has likely experienced its battery dying at an inopportune moment. Of course many things will drain the battery, but one in particular is the power amplifier, which is necessary for transmitting radio signals. Researchers at MIT formed a startup company, Eta Devices, to produce a chip to regulate the voltage of the amplifier, drastically reducing the power used.
To make sure the radio is always ready to send a signal, the power amplifier tends to be at maximum voltage all of the time. Naturally that cuts into battery life and, because half of that power may be lost as heat, it influences phones in a number of other ways too. The Eta Devices chip however, acts like a gearbox to step down the voltage, when full power is not needed. Base stations could also benefit from this new chip, raising efficiency to 70%, from an optimistic 45%. That could save a large carrier $100 million each year.
As Eta Devices is already working with manufacturers, we may see its technology deployed by the end of next year in base stations and smartphones. While some manufacturers are working on similar systems to increase efficiency, the Eta Devices technology is unique in its ability to work with the high frequencies of new communication standards, like LTE Advanced and 802.11ac.
Source: MIT
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Rooftop Media Acquired by Amazon
Amazon has revealed that it has officially acquired Rooftop Media, an online comedy service comprised of 10 employees that specializes in producing comedy content for the Web. The acquisition of the comedy service will help Amazon in its goal to create revenue from other streams outside of ecommerce. Amazon wishes to compete directly with Netflix and other online digital media services, and by taking over Rooftop Media which has partners that include Apple, Pandora, Rdio, Spotify, and Yahoo, the online retail giant has a better chance of doing so. While financial details regarding the acquisition were not announced by either company, it has been revealed that content by Rooftop Media will be integrated into Audible, an audiobooks service owned by Amazon.
Source: Reuters
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Bing Now Supports Emoji Characters
Bing has revealed that in all English markets, it now supports the use of emoji characters within search inquires. This means that users of Bing can now use emoji, which are small pictures that are used to express emotions or ideas, in their searches to find relevant information. Users can also search Bing with an emoji to figure out exactly what the small picture means if they are unsure, and can combine emoji with text for even more powerful searches. According to Nick Roberts, the Senior Program Manager for Bing Relevance and Intent, return results from Bing are based on the semantic meaning of the emoji, and the support for emoji itself was added due to its use by billions across the world.
Source: Bing Blog
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Dell Introduces the Alienware Graphics Amplifier
In order to better serve Alienware laptop owners who tend to be at a desk during gaming sessions, Dell has announced the Alienware Graphics Amplifier. This device itself supports nearly any desktop GPU up to 375 watts, features four powered USB ports, and connects to a compatible Alienware laptop through a proprietary PCI-Express-based cable. By connecting the Alienware Graphics Amplifier to a compatible Alienware laptop, gamers can utilize the power of various GPUs currently on the market, which allows for improved performance. Unfortunately, the new Alienware 13 is the only laptop that supports the PCI-Express-based cable that the Alienware Graphics Amplifier uses, but according to a Dell spokesperson, future models will feature the same connection.
The latest Alienware accessory is available to preorder immediately for $299 and is expected to ship sometime next month.
Source: Engadget
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Sega's Valkyria Chronicles Coming to PC
Sega's tactical RPG Valkyria Chronicles is shedding its PlayStation 3 exclusivity. While a release date and details are still forthcoming, Sega has confirmed via Twitter that the game is indeed coming to PC:
Gallia, to arms! Return to the original battle on PC. More info coming soon... pic.twitter.com/Lj4tc3YPfG
— SEGA (@SEGA) October 27, 2014
Valkyria Chronicles released on PlayStation 3 in 2008 to fairly high critical acclaim. The game is set in Europa during the early years of World War II and combines RPG elements with turn-based tactical battles and the ability to directly control unit attacks in third-person.
Source: Twitter via IGN
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Primal Carnage: Extinction Coming to PC This November and PS4 Early 2015
Circle 5 Studios and Pub Games have announced that Primal Carnage: Extinction will be launching for PC via Steam next month, with a PlayStation 4 version arriving early next year. Extinction is a class-based online multiplayer shooter pitting humans against dinosaurs. The game features twelve diverse maps with two gamemodes at launch: Team Deathmatch and Get to the Chopper. There are nine unique dinosaur classes to choose from and five unique human classes, with Steam Economy Support that will allow players to collect, trade, and sell a variety of cosmetic items through the Steam Marketplace. In addition, the studios have a six-month development plan to provide post-launch content, which will include: new weapons adding variety to gameplay; new skins for both human classes and dinosaurs; new cosmetics and customization options for players; new environments for play; and new gamemodes pitting humans vs dinosaurs.
Source: Press Release and Official Site
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