Google’s Game Streaming Service Will be Known as Google Stadia

While Google tried to play it off as a big secret, the search giant finally unveiled their long-awaited game streaming service today at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Officially known as Google Stadia, the service won’t require a console of any kind, and will instead offer game streaming through a large number of devices, including laptops, desktops, Chromecast dongles, and select phones and tablets.

According to Stadia’s official website, Google is promising the service will offer 4K resolution gaming with no lag, provided your Internet connection is powerful enough. Stadia will also hook up with the YouTube Gaming livestreaming platform, and players will theoretically be able to jump from watching a stream right into playing that same game “in seconds”:

  • Game where you want, when you want – Play across multiple devices, including laptops, desktops, and select phones and tablets. (High speed internet connection required)
  • New ways to play through YouTube and beyond – Go from watching a video to playing a game in seconds, with even more innovative experiences to come for select games.
  • Up to 4K HDR at 60 FPS – Enjoy gaming the way you love, with beautiful HDR graphics and smooth frame rates. (4K HDR at 60 FPS are dependent on your bandwidth. Gameplay experience may vary based on quality of internet connection.)
  • Play instantly – No updates, no downloads. Jump right into the game.
  • Always getting better – Stadia’s cloud based infrastructure evolves to meet the demands of players, developers, and YouTube creators.

On the surface, Google Stadia will offer a lot of the same features as Sony’s PlayStation Now streaming service, but it’ll have its own unique set of bells and whistles to make it stand out.

Google Stadia will be controllable with compatible third-party controllers on a PC, but players will also have the option of using the official Stadia Controller. Closely resembling a standard Xbox One controller, Google’s gadget will include an Instant Capture button for streaming to YouTube, a Google Assistant button powered by a built-in microphone, and a direct wi-fi connection to whatever device you’re using.

But what games will you be able to play on Google Stadia? That’s a bit of a question mark. So far, only Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and id Software’s Doom Eternal are confirmed to be coming to the platform. Additional games, which will be exclusive to the platform, will be produced by the company’s new Stadia Games & Entertainment division, which will be lead by Jade Raymond.

It’s currently unknown if Google will sell individual games through Stadia or offer a monthly subscription to access the service’s entire library or some combination of both. But we do know that it’s currently scheduled to launch sometime in 2019.

New Battle Royale Game: Tetris 99 from Nintendo

Nintendo absolutely blew up the “Battle Royale” genre with today’s announcement of Tetris 99.

The consolemaker teamed up with The Tetris Company to create a massive 99-player version of the classic puzzle game, and it’s available to download now as a free-to-play title for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers.

Tetris 99 is rather bare-bones at the moment, but Nintendo has plans to support the game down the road with a series of upcoming online events and other updates.

New Battle Royale Game: Apex Legends from Respawn Entertainment

Respawn Entertainment is breaking into the “Battle Royale” scrum with Apex Legends, a free-to-play game for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One that takes place within the Titanfall universe (but which doesn’t actually include any Titans).

Available to download right now, Apex Legends will feature a variety of unique characters who will compete against each other to be the last one standing (and to collect loot, of course):

Overview
Conquer with character in Apex Legends, a free-to-play* Battle Royale shooter where legendary characters with powerful abilities team up to battle for fame & fortune on the fringes of the Frontier. Master an ever-growing roster of diverse Legends, deep tactical squad play and bold new innovations that level up the Battle Royale experience… all within a rugged world where anything goes.

Features

  • A Roster of Legendary Characters: Master a growing roster of powerful Legends, each with their own unique personality, strengths and abilities that are easy to pick up but challenging to truly master.
  • Build Your Crew: Choose your Legend and combine their unique skills together with other players to form the ultimate crew.
  • Strategic Battle Royale: Use your abilities (and your wits) to make strategic calls on the fly, adapting your crew’s strengths to meet new challenges as the match evolves.
  • Genre-Evolving Innovation: Experience a brand-new array of innovative features that level up the Battle Royale genre, including Respawn Beacons, Smart Comms, Intelligent Inventory and an all-new way to drop into the action with Jumpmaster deployment.
  • Sweet, Sweet Loot: Drop in and loot up with a host of powerful weapons, diverse attachments and useful armor to protect you in battle. After the fight, collect a wealth of cosmetic options for personalizing your character and weapons, and unlock new ways to show off during the match.

Respawn uploaded a trio of new trailers to help prospective players learn more about how Apex Legends works. A Cinematic Trailer, a Gameplay Trailer, and a Gameplay Deep Dive Trailer have all been embedded after the “Continue Reading” link. Continue reading

Library of Congress Has Ruled Libraries and Museums Can Break DRM to Preserve Older Games

The US Copyright Office and the Library of Congress have ruled that museums and libraries may now disable digital rights management (DRM) software when attempting to preserve video games available for defunct platforms.

The rule is officially known as the “Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies,” and a very quick summary is available at Polygon:

This week the Library of Congress and the U.S. Copyright Office revised its list of specific exceptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, also known as the DMCA. Their guidance reaffirms the rights of software preservationists to circumvent digital rights management (DRM) software, in some cases expanding their ability to revive older games. It also opens the door, legally speaking, to do-it-yourselfers and electronics repair outlets to break DRM in pursuit of fixing hardware.

A more thorough analysis of the ruling, specifically detailing how it’ll effect preservationists looking to bring back early versions of MMOs like EverQuest and World of Warcraft, is available at Motherboard:

Today’s news should be good for archivists and museums, who’ve long struggled with the best way to preserve video games such as Everquest or World of Warcraft. Multiplayer games like these require both software that players run on their computers locally, and software running on a company’s server—software that is much harder for historians to get their hands on and run. And when they do manage to get an independent server running, big game companies like Blizzard have taken legal action against people running unauthorized servers.

This is a great day for anyone interested in the history of games, and for all the historians and librarians working to preserve the classics for the next generation.

Best of Gamescom 2018 Winners Selected by Gamescom Committee

gamescomEvery year, Germany’s Digital Gaming Culture Foundation (Stiftung Digitale Spielekultur) supervises the Gamescom Committee, a small group of journalists who choose the best games that were present at the Gamescom expo. The Gamescom expo is held in the Summer, and serves as the European equivalent to the Los Angeles-based E3 Expo.

While most of these titles are still in development, you should keep them in mind when you add games to your collection this Fall and into 2019.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was named “Best of Gamescom,” and the full list of winners and nominees can be found below. Continue reading

Best of E3 2018 Winners Selected by Game Critics Awards

e3Every year, the Game Critics Awards, a collection of editors from more than 50 major publications that cover the video game industry, get together to choose the best games at the E3 Expo.

While all of these titles are still in development, you should keep them in mind when you add games to your collection this Fall and into 2019.

Capcom’s Resident Evil 2 remake was named “Best of Show,” and the full list of winners and nominees can be found below. Continue reading

2017’s Game of the Year Winners

When searching for games to add to your collection, it’s always good to check-in with the five major industry award shows. The following games received “Game of the Year” honors in 2017:

    The Game Awards: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
    GDC Awards: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
    DICE Awards: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
    SXSW Gaming Awards: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
    BAFTA Games Awards: What Remains of Edith Finch

A complete list of all winners and nominees can be found below. Continue reading

ESRB to Add “In-Game Purchases” Descriptor to Games With Loot Boxes and DLC

In response to the growing furor over loot boxes, especially their similarity to gambling, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board has announced plans to create a new ratings descriptor for “In-Game Purchases.”

According to the ESRB, the “In-Game Purchases” label will be affixed to any game that gives players the chance to purchase loot boxes, in-game currency, subscriptions/season passes, and other downloadable content (such as bonus levels, skins, upgrades, and music) with real money.

“The video game industry is evolving and innovating continually, as is the ESRB rating system. ESRB’s goal is to ensure that parents have the most up-to-date and comprehensive tools at their disposal to help them decide which games are appropriate for their children,” said Patricia Vance, the ESRB’s President. “With the new ‘In-Game Purchases’ interactive element coming to physical games, parents will know when a game contains offers for players to purchase additional content. Moreover, we will be expanding our efforts to educate parents about the controls currently at their disposal to manage in-game spending before their kids press Start.”

As part of their push to educate parents on loot boxes and other digital purchases, the ESRB will also launch ParentalTools.org, a new online resource that includes…

  • A detailed introduction to the new “In-Game Purchases” and other interactive elements;
  • Links to step-by-step guides for setting parental controls to help manage different aspects of video game use in the home, including money and time spent playing; and
  • A link to the ESRB Ratings Guide that provides an explanation of ESRB’s three-part rating system.

The public should begin to see games with the “In-Game Purchases” descriptor in stores soon.