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Starcraft Remastered
Start constructing those additional pylons. Blizzard Entertainment is re-releasing the game of galactic combat that put South Korea on the map: Starcraft Remasted. The game that created esports is getting a total makeover in 4k UHD, but everything is else is staying the same. Single player campaigns, expansions and the best multiplayer RTS in history are all returning intact. Practice getting that APM up, as Starcraft Remastered is out August 14, 2017.
Augmented Reality Super Mario Bros.
Enjoy reality as you know it, because it isn't going to be around for long. Microsoft's augmented reality headset, HoloLens, has been in the hands of developers for over a year now, and the results have been impressive, to say the least. Abhishek Singh has taken the original Super Mario Bros. and brought it to the real world, recreating the game with the Unity engine and playing through the first level in NYC's Central Park.
Super Mario Odyssey
The world's most famous Italian plumber has worn a lot of hats over the years — princess-saving hero, go-kart driver, golfer, party entertainer — but he's never worn this many hats in one game. Super Mario Odyssey introduces a whole new mechanic to Nintendo's Mario Bros. franchise, allowing Mario to take control of enemies by making them wear his hat. Mario also gains new powers by wearing different hats, adding something truly new to his arsenal of tricks.
Call of Duty: WWII Multiplayer
Remember all that time you spent playing a Call of Duty single player campaign?Of course not. The Call of Duty franchise made its name on its multiplayer experience, and multiplayer is the heart of the franchise. Here's the first look at CoD's human vs human gameplay from E3 2017.
Psychology and the Sound of Video Games
Video games are all about immersing the player in the developer's world — whether that's an alien planet or a historically based first-person shooter. While graphics get the lion's share of attention, with no sound, there's not much game to play. WIRED looks at psychology and sound have combined to make living video game worlds, from the earliest days of the medium to the beginning of the graphical revolution in the late 90s.
GTA Online: Gunrunning
Everyone knows that the real money in any criminal enterprise is in arms. The latest update for GTA Online takes the game from relatively small-time crime to all-out war. Featuring underground bunkers, mobile operations centers, and weaponized vehicles, San Andreas is no longer safe for regular citizens — if it ever was.
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Smith Attack Sunglasses
Building off the success of their PivLock quick-change eyewear line, Smith has once again jumped ahead with their all-new Attack series. These sunglasses feature magnet-guided snap-on temple pieces that mount directly on a single large lens, allowing the wearer to quickly adjust to changing light conditions without missing a beat. Other new features include a shaped cutout at the top of the lens for increased ventilation, an adjustable nosepiece for maximum wearing comfort, and a new range of ChromaPop lenses to help you keep your eyes on where you're going next.
Presented by Smith.
Casper Pillow
Just like your mattress, your pillow has a big effect on the quality of your sleep. And just like their comfortable mattress, the Casper Pillow is designed to make sure you rest well. It provides both comfort and support regardless of your sleeping position, with a firm inner core and a softer outer shell. Essentially it's a pillow within a pillow. It also won't pancake or lose shape thanks to the silky fibers it was constructed with, and is finished with breathable percale cotton to keep things cool. Take advantage of the 100 night trial and if you don't love it, Casper will give you a free refund.
Presented by Casper.
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Need for Speed Payback
It takes a lot of fast cars, high-speed accidents, and over-the-top stunts to take back a town from the criminal cartel running the place. Need for Speed Payback lets you live your Fast and the Furious dream from the comfort of your own couch — without the millions of dollars worth of cars and safety equipment. Payback is out November 10, 2017 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
Everything
Imagine a game where you can be. . . everything. Everything is that game. From the sun or planet or birds to blade of grass, parasite, bacterium, or even a strand of DNA, there isn't anything you can't be in Everything. David O'Reilly's dreamlike vision of size and scale is available on multiple platforms now. Learn more here.
Globe Chess Board
Since its origins in India in the 3rd century, chess has been two-dimensional. Ben Meyers and his dad put their own take on the classic game, creating a handmade spherical chessboard. This beautiful set uses walnut, maple, and Jatoba wood with magnets embedded in the squares and pieces, and adds a whole new aspect to the venerable pastime.
Call of Duty: WWII
The annual Activision cash cow is returning from space and getting back to its roots. The 14th entry in the venerable first-person shooter franchise takes us to the beaches of Normandy during the D-Day invasion. The hyper-realistic CGI sequences are nearly Saving Private Ryan-worthy, but the actual gameplay remains to be seen. Call of Duty: WWII is planned to release later this year on multiple platforms.
The Art of Minecraft
If you loved LEGOs as a child, you probably had this dream: A set of infinite bricks, in infinite colors, and an infinite space on which to build. This is the dream which Minecraft has been building since 2009. Although it has grown over the years to include more traditionally-oriented gaming modes, the core of the game is Creative Mode. Individuals, creative collectives, and even companies have been formed around the game. Vox looks at how this simple game of building blocks has become both an art and business.
Evolution of Sim Racing
Put down the controller. Get out the wheel, pedals, and hydraulically-actuated full-motion cockpit — it's time to go sim racing. The introduction of Chequered Flag in 1983 marked the beginning of racing games not just as entertainment, but as a way for the masses to experience autosports as realistically as possible. Since that humble start, racing sims have become increasingly better at mirroring the physics of their real-world counterparts, with some games having code based on testing simulators used by racing teams at the top of the sport.
Star Wars: Battlefront II
After Electronic Arts' disappointing 2015 reboot of the Battlefront franchise, they're ready to try again. The official trailer for Star Wars: Battlefront II shows that the sequel has what the first game lacked — a storyline and an actual single-player campaign. As the Empire's Stormtroopers witness the destruction of the Death Star, the question is: What happens next? With playable characters from four different Star Wars eras and the best part of any Star Wars game, massive space battles, this installment in the Battlefront series looks like a much-needed improvement.
The Intern Who Wrote Windows Solitare
No one knows how much lost time and productivity Wes Cherry has cost employers. In 1988, as an intern for Microsoft, Wes wrote Solitare — the game that came bundled with the Windows OS. In a stroke of cosmic irony, Wes created the game for the same reason millions of people played it in the office — sheer boredom.
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NBA Playgrounds
Finally, we might have a spiritual successor to NBA Jam. NBA Playgrounds feels a lot like its iconic predecessor, with two-on-two gameplay featuring stylized versions of NBA greats past and present. NBA Playgrounds is coming to Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One, and PS4 in May 2017.
Drone Parkour
It's a top-down 2D video game when stuntman Ilko Iliev and drone operator Marin Kafedjiiski turn the landscape of Bulgaria into an obstacle course. Watch as Ilko runs, jumps, and even wakeboards over urban and country terrain, including an abandoned communist monument. With a vertigo-inducing bird's eye view, even a small jump looks like a superman leap.
Catching a Real Ball in Virtual Reality
Virtual reality is here. Tech companies are all-in on the technology, with commercially-available headsets like Oculus' Rift and Valve's Steam VR proving that VR is here to stay. This tech demo by Disney shows two users passing and catching a real ball using VR headsets, giving a glimpse at what it might be like using real objects in a virtual setting instead of just a controller.
Pretending I'm a Superman
We weren't pretending to be Superman — we were pretending to be Rodney Mullen, Bam Margera, and Tony Hawk. In places like Rio de Janiero, Los Angeles, and Portland. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater came in like a storm, selling millions of copies, spawning one of the biggest franchises in video game history, and making the arcane lingo of skateboarding a second language to millions. And that's without mentioning the legendary soundtracks. Ralph D'Amato was the producer on the first eight Tony Hawk games, and wants to bring the story behind them to the screen.
Preserving Video Game History
Saying that video games are just games is like saying ancient Greek myths are just myths. More than a way to waste time, they tell a story — of the people that made them, the people that played them, and the culture that they came from. But to know the history, you need more than just the game's code. Frank Cifaldi has amassed a collection of all the peripheral print that surrounds games and helps tell their story. He wants to take his collection, digitize it, and make it available to the public, in order to ensure that games and the people who made them have a history.
Barack Obama Comes to NBA 2K17
Just because Barack Obama is officially retired, doesn't mean he's ready for the AARP card and house slippers. From the White House podium to posterizing Melo, the former president is chasing his real dream — playing in the NBA. Watch NykeFaller's masterful recreation of the President as a monster in the paint in NBA 2K17.
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Apocalypse Now
The horror — the horror. Apocalypse Now, the surreal Vietnam dystopia by director Francis Ford Coppola, could be coming to a PC near you. Besides the blessing of the director himself, the Kickstarter page lists a roster of gaming industry veterans, all of whom have shipped AAA titles. This pre-alpha tech demo gives you a glimpse of what a journey into Coppola's Heart of Darkness might look like.
The Avengers Project
Let the games begin. This blockbuster alliance has Marvel and Final Fantasy creator Square Enix joining forces to create a series of games based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. First in the lineup will be a game based on The Avengers, with teasers hinting that Iron Man and Captain America will make an appearance. Be prepared to wait, as nothing looks to be coming from the two studios until at least 2018.
NBA Jam 2K17
It's been 23 years since the release of NBA Jam Tournament Edition, and the roster has finally gotten an update. The stars of today's NBA are all there, including LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Steph Curry, along with all 30 of the current teams. No NBA Jam would be complete without secret characters, and this update doesn't disappoint: Along with past NBA legends like Kobe and Michael Jordan, you can unlock the likes of Hillary Clinton, Harambe, and Yeezy. Grab an SNES emulator and check out the download link in the video description.
How the Inventor of Mario Designs a Game
Shigeru Miyamoto has created some of the most popular videos games in history. Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros., and The Legend of Zelda helped to redefine what video games were and what they could be. Miyamoto's combination of movement, control, and storytelling paved the way for today's epic games, with budgets the size of blockbusters and storylines that could fill a novel — and sometimes do. Miyamoto sat down with Vox to talk about his philosophy about designing games, and the next frontier for Nintendo: mobile gaming.
Making the Worst Game Ever
In the annals of gaming, only one game can hold the title of Worst Game Ever: Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing. But a really close second is E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. Everything that could possibly conspire against someone conspired against Howard Scott Warshaw, the programmer, in the making of E.T. But Howard is totally unrepentant, and considers it an honor to have worked on the game. Here's his story.
Death Stranding
The second trailer for Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding begs as many questions as it answers. Kojima seems to introduce us to an antagonist this time, with the introduction of a sinister character played by Mads Mikkelsen, and Guillermo del Toro in an unknown role. One thing is for sure — Kojima only ups the creepy compared to the first trailer. Production is just beginning, and a 2018 release date is rumored.
New York's Indie Arcade
The console killed the arcade, but Mark Kleback wants to change that. Mark makes classic-style arcade cabinets for games like Hungry Hungry Astronauts and Crystal Brawl, with the goal of putting a little more community back into gaming.
Soviet Arcade Time Machine
The Cold War wasn't just a battle between East and West, communism and capitalism, and amassing stockpiles of nuclear weapons — it was a battle for coins at the arcade. The Soviet approach to arcade games was more than just entertainment, however. Soviet arcade games were designed with training the next generation of heroes of Communist labor. Made from things like repurposed refrigerators and calculators, these 80s arcade games were meant to prepare young people for war.
