News::'Dragon Age' lead writer David Gaider leaves BioWare

You might not know his name, but if you've played a game from BioWare in the past seventeen years chances are pretty high that writer David Gaider had a hand in it. Specifically, the Dragon Age series of fantasy role-playing games. The news comes by way of Gaider himself, announcing on Twitter that Friday was in fact, his last day at the studio. "It wasn't an easy decision," the Dragon Age: Inquisition lead writer tells Gamasutra. "The parting is amicable, and I know my current (and as yet unannounced) project will carry on and be awesome."

Via: Gamasutra

Source: David Gaider (Twitter)

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News::The Wii U finally has its own shadow puppet simulator

After more than a year of being available on Steam, Shadow Puppeteer is ready to take its adventure over to the Wii U. The award-winning independent title, developed by Sarepta studio, will be hitting Nintendo's console on January 28th for $15. Shadow Puppeteer brings with it what's described as a strange but beautiful world, which you can explore on your own or through a local co-op mode. Above all, Shadow Puppeteer's arrival on Wii U is a great sign for indie gamers, a community we know Nintendo's trying really hard to reach.

Source: Nintendo

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News::Leap Motion is perfecting natural hand gestures for VR

As immersive as virtual reality can be, you're still left holding awkwardly shaped controllers in your hands -- a reminder that you're still very much in the real world. But what if instead of hitting A to move a rock, you could just use your hands? That's exactly what Leap Motion, known for its hand-gesture control sensors, has been working on for the past few years. Most recently, it's been working on something called the "Interaction Engine," which aims to take things a step further: To make picking up objects in the digital world feel as natural as it does in the real one.

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News::World's first 'gamer hotel' opens in Amsterdam

The first hotel dedicated to serving gamers has opened for business in Amsterdam. The Arcade Hotel, as it is named, is located in the city's De Pijp area. It each of its 36 rooms includes gratis consoles and games. Guests can also use loaner handhelds for multiplayer adventures in the hotel bar -- there's even a comic book library that you can peruse. And for those who actually do leave their rooms, the hotel also offers a fleet of borrowable bikes (because that's how real Amsterdamians get around).

Via: VG 24/7

Source: Arcade Hotel

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News::Atari Vault collection brings 100 classic games to Steam

It's been a long time since Atari was a dominant force in video games. The company rarely makes an impression on the industry these days, but there's no questioning the impact it had on the medium's formative years. Soon, players will be able to relive its glory days from the 1970s and 80s through the Atari Vault, a collection of 100 retro games available through Steam. It's being developed by Code Mystics and will feature titles such as Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, Tempest and Warlords. They won't be simple ports though, thanks to the addition of online and local multiplayer, Steam controller support and Steam leaderboards.

Via: Wired, TNW

Source: Atari (Press Release)

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News::For VR to be truly immersive, it needs convincing sound to match

I'm staring at a large iron door in a dimly lit room. "Hey," a voice says, somewhere on my right. "Hey buddy, you there?" It's a heavily masked humanoid. He proceeds to tell me that my sensory equipment is down and will need to be fixed. Seconds later, the heavy door groans. A second humanoid leads the way into the spaceship where my suit will be repaired.

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News::Skype hides IP addresses to protect users from online trolls

Let's be honest: it's pretty hard to find someone who will be genuinely happy for you when you win something. When it comes to online gaming, however, that probability falls to zero. Losing a multiplayer game leaves some people so angry that they'll go out of their way to force fellow players offline. In order to do this, gamers can use tools to locate a target's IP address from just their target's Skype username and then launch a DDoS attack to overload their internet connection. It's not the most common attack vector but Microsoft has changed the way its messaging app works so that gamers, and the wider Skype community, can rest a little easier knowing it's harder for them to be tracked.

Source: Skype

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News::Psychedelic love arrives on PS4 in time for Valentine's Day

Let's say you were gazing longingly at your PC and Xbox One owning friends when Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime released on those platforms last year. Despite all the killer couch co-op games at your disposal on PlayStation 4, none could quite fill the niche the gorgeous and altogether psychedelic indie game about eradicating all evil in the universe would. Well, fear not Sony fans: The laser-filled outer space adventure hits PS4 on February 9th. And even if you can't find a co-op date by then, you can always play solo with an in-game space-cat (or dog) picking up the slack.

Source: PlayStation Blog

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