News::Microsoft curbs sign-ups for Xbox One previews

Xbox Preview Programs have long been popular. They're easy ways to get sneak peeks at features that won't reach the masses for weeks, if not longer. Unfortunately, though, they're now proving to be too popular -- Microsoft is warning that it's "slowing" the number of people it lets into the Xbox One Preview Program now that it's "near-capacity." The tech giant needs to "optimize" its pre-release user base for testing, according to a forum note. The timing of this move isn't all that surprising, mind you. This year represents the first time that Microsoft will overhaul the Xbox One interface, rolling in big features like backwards compatibility and the Cortana voice assistant. It's only logical that gamers would want an early look at these upgrades, especially when this portal could stick around for a good, long while.

Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft

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Source: CNET

Tags: gaming, microsoft, preview, previewprogram, videogames, xbox, xboxone

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News::'Splatoon' is getting a 61-tune soundtrack in Japan

If you've even had a small taste of Splatoon, you know that the inky shooter is defined as much by its upbeat, irreverent music as its bright, Nickelodeon-circa-1995 visuals. Nintendo clearly knows this, too -- it's planning to release Splatune, a whopping 61-song original soundtrack. Most of it (37 tracks) will be straight-up music, but there will also be 10 jingles and 14 pieces based on sound effects. That's a lot, especially when you consider that many big-name movies don't get such a lavish treatment. Be prepared to pay a pretty penny to an importer if you want a copy, though. Nintendo is releasing Splatune as a ¥3,200 ($27) two-disc album in Japan (where CDs are still huge) on October 21st, and there's no word yet on a release elsewhere.

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Via: Siliconera, Eurogamer

Source: Famitsu (translated)

Tags: gaming, music, nintendo, soundtrack, splatoon, splatune, videogames, wiiu

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News::What's on your HDTV: 'Gears', 'Mr. Robot' finale, 'The Carmichael Show'

This week we have the return of Gears of War, uprez'd and made prettier on the Xbox One. It's not the only big game release however, as the Dishonored and Mega Man are also getting re-released, and PS4 gamers should check out Until Dawn, even if they've never heard of it before. On Blu-ray, The Last Dragon is back with a special 30th anniversary edition, along with season five of The Walking Dead. Last but not least, on TV football season creeps ever closer, while comedian Rodney Carmichael debuts his new show on NBC, Falling Skies comes to an end and Mr. Robot wraps up its excellent first season. Netflix has a new series too, as Narcos debuts its look at Pablo Escobar this week. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD

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Tags: hdpostcross, listings, MustSeeHdtv, narcos, video

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News::Build a 'Fantastic Contraption' in virtual reality with the Vive

Virtual Reality is often characterized as a solitary experience, but it doesn't have to be. Games like Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, a multiplayer bomb-defusal game, demonstrate VR's ability to entertain entire groups of people in wonderful new ways. Today, it's time to add one more multi-entertaining VR game to that list: Fantastic Contraption, a widely beloved game about building weird structures in an attempt to reach specific points on a small map. Fantastic Contraption launched in 2008 as a non-VR game and has since attracted millions of players and 12 million saved contraptions. In a new video, it gets a super polished update for the Vive, Valve and HTC's impressive room-scale VR headset, and creator Colin Northway discusses the merits of multiplayer VR.

Filed under: Gaming, HD, HTC

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Source: Fantastic Contraption

Tags: FantasticContraption, hdpostcross, htc, indie, northway, northwaygames, RadialGames, VirtualReality, vive, vr

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News::YouTube Gaming aims to be the most popular streaming site in town

YouTube is already the web's most popular video site, but with the launch of YouTube Gaming across iOS, Android and desktops on August 26th, it aims to claim another title: most popular streaming site. YouTube Gaming bets big on live-streamed and archived gaming videos, with separate pages for more than 25,000 games. Users also get a customized feed of the gaming channels they follow, complete with notifications when each channel is live. All of this means YouTube Gaming is going head-to-head with Twitch, a site that Amazon bought for nearly $1 billion last year, following murmurs that YouTube's parent company, Google, was interested in the same purchase.Slideshow-315077

Filed under: Gaming, Internet, HD, Google

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Tags: google, hdpostcross, live, LiveStream, stream, streaming, twitch, youtube, youtubegaming

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News::A light-hearted game of mass murder in 'Party Hard'

In January, someone moved into the house right next to Alex Nichiporchik's. Nichiporchik, CEO of SpeedRunners studio TinyBuild Games, immediately wasn't a fan of his new neighbor. "He decided it's a funny idea to throw parties every night until 3AM," Nichiporchik recalls. One month into this late-night party hell, TinyBuild signed a contract with Pinokl Games, a studio known for crafting family-friendly experiences. But Pinokl's new project was wildly different: Party Hard, a stealth game about skulking through a bumpin' party and murdering everyone there.

"Coincidence? The final level is actually modeled against what I imagine the next door party is," Nichiporchik says.Slideshow-314895

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Tags: hdpostcross, indie, murder, pinokl, tinybuild, twitch

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News::Playdate: Taking stock of 'Gears of War: Ultimate Edition'

Gears of War practically defined the Xbox 360. And as is the recent trend demands, it's getting a fancy schmancy remaster that runs at 1080p and 60 frames per second. Gears of War: Ultimate Edition is the first project from the new Gears studio, The Coalition, and it worked as a sort of training exercise for the team to learn what the series means before shipping Gears of War 4. So what's that mean for you and me? Well, that today starting at 6 pm ET / 3 pm PT we're going to broadcast two hours of Ultimate Edition on Twitch. Perhaps best of all, we've got a special surprise for you: Microsoft has given us a custom white Xbox One adorned with Gears of War graphics. Want in? All you have to do is enter below.

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Tags: contest, gaming, gearsofwar, gearsofwarultimateedition, giveaway, hd, hdpostcross, microsoft, playdate, thecoalition, twitch, xbox, xbox360, xboxone

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News::GOG Galaxy lets you roll back broken or unwanted updates

The latest version of gaming platform GOG Galaxy now supports patch and update rollbacks, letting you quickly restore a game to a previous version. Rollbacks were originally touted by the company as an DRM-free, anti-Steam feature, letting you skip an update if you hated it. "We know that patches can occasionally break a game or affect your mods," said tech VP Piotr Karwowski. GOG Galaxy has other ways you can avoid being locked down, like an opt-out for automatic updates and the ability buy games straight from its store sans the platform. Other game clients, including Steam, generally require such updates, a bone of contention for some players.

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Tags: Galaxy, GOG, GOG Galaxy, GoodOldGames, PCGaming, Platform, Steam, update, Windows

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News::eSports gets its first major UK bookmaker

Ignore it all you like, but eSports is booming. There are now million-dollar payouts, doping scandals and even official ways to put money down on your favourite squad. While gambling on eSports is still a relatively new concept, it's just been given a much-needed boost after well-known UK betting site Betway launched its very own gaming portal. The company, which has traditionally focused on football, horse racing, tennis and other "traditional" sports, believes it's the first major bookmaker to expand into competitive gaming.

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Via: Betway Media

Source: Betway eSports

Tags: betting, betway, cs:go, dota2, esports, gambling, hearthstone, leagueoflegends

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News::ICYMI: Massive Minesweeper, Android 4 BlackBerry and more

Today on In Case You Missed It, I've replaced Kerry Davis in a sinister plot to take over the show while she's on vacation drinking Angry Orchard by the lake. In actual news, we celebrated Windows 95's 20th birthday with a throwback to "The Rachel" in a promo video for Microsoft's famed OS, starring Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry. In related, all be it more panic-inducing news, someone's made a giant game of Minesweeper to drive you bat shit crazy. A Brazilian vlogger gave us a glimpse of the world's most popular operating system on one of the world's least popular phones. And, finally, someone with a whole lot of time on his hands came up with the ultimate way to sink your battle ship.

If you come across any interesting videos, we'd love to see them. Just tweet us with the #ICYMI hashtag @engadget or @mskerryd. And if you just want to heap praise on your handsome guest host, feel free to hit me up @mr_trout.

Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Software, Microsoft, Nintendo

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Tags: Android, BlackBerry, ICYMI, incaseyoumissedit, mario kart, microsoft, minesweeper, nintendo, video

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