gaming - 2/13 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Feb

OpenFeint Co-Founder's OpenKit Launches In Private Beta Today, Promises Ubiquitous Game Save And Backup Services

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, Games, News

If you've spent any time gaming on Android, you probably remember OpenFeint. Nearly every major game integrated it in some way, usually allowing players to log in with a single username, collect achievements, and post scores to a global leaderboard. It was handy for what it did, but if you didn't care about competing, it felt a lot like obnoxious spamware. Unsurprisingly, it closed down in December of last year. Today, however, it's being sort of reborn as OpenKit, a project headed by one of the co-founders of the original service. Only this time, the idea is much cooler.

For starters, OpenKit will provide one of the most desperately needed features in mobile gaming: cloud backup of game state and save data.

Jan

[New App] Classic, Open Source, Multi-Console Game Emulator 'RetroArch' Makes Its Way To Android

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, Games, News

If you're into classic games – everything from arcade throwbacks to more modern Playstation titles – then you may have a handful of game emulators installed on your various devices. Now, thanks to an open source, multi-console emulator called RetroArch that just made its way to Android after six months in the making, you can do away with the collection of emulators and get all your old school gaming action in one place.

Some of you may actually already be familiar with RetroArch, as it's available on basically every platform in existence, including:

Linux
Windows
OSX
PS3
Xbox 1
Xbox 360
GameCube
Wii
Raspberry Pi
OpenPandora
and, finally, Android.

Jan

OUYA Controllers Get Some Tweaks For The Better, Thanks To Developer Input

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News

Remember when developers got their pre-release Ouya kits and started showing them off? In those videos, the controllers looked kinda crummy. Thankfully, the company said those were absolutely not indicative of the final design that will go out to consumers. Turns out, they really weren't! The company has detailed some changes and they sound pretty good.

For starters, the D-pad design has changed from a disconnected disc to the typical cross style that we've all gotten used to since the NES. The control sticks are more grippy as well. Also, the universally panned trigger buttons have been improved to have better mechanics and be more flush with the controller.

Jan

3 Reasons To Be Excited For NVIDIA's Project Shield - And 3 Reasons Not To Be

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Editorials, Games

Like a lot of you, I watched NVIDIA's press conference with my jaw firmly on the floor when Project Shield was unveiled. It's a true Android gaming portable, built from the ground up to make a great gaming experience - not a phone or a tablet that also plays games, with varying degrees of efficiency, like Sony's now outdated Xperia Play or Archos' Gamepad. And it's made by NVIDIA, the company with the most to gain by expanding the platform's gaming horizons. The potential embodied by Shield is amazing... but there are also some reasons to to curb your enthusiasm.

Jan

[CES 2013] PowerA Announces A New, Bigger MOGA Pro Controller, For The Large-Handed Among You

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Accessories, News

Back when I reviewed the original MOGA controller, I had two problems with the controller. First off, the software was cumbersome (though I didn't cover using third-party drivers to use it with emulators or anything like that), and secondly, while it was a good size, it still felt just a little too small. Well, the MOGA Pro solves at least one of these problems by being bigger, better, and more button-y.

As with the original version, the controller includes a flip-up arm that can grip phones as large as 3.2" wide (not to be confused with the diagonal screen size measurement).

Jan

[CES 2013] NVIDIA Announces Tegra 4-Powered "Project Shield" Handheld Gaming Console Running Pure Android

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in News, NVIDIA, Project Shield, Videos

After about 45 minutes of casual sexism and awkward pauses, NVIDIA's Jen-Hsun Huang dropped the bomb. Project Shield is a handheld gaming console running pure, unmodified Android (Jelly Bean). At its core is the newly-announced Tegra 4 ARM chip, but that's not all.

Update: Official video of Project Shield:

The device looks like a standard wireless controller with a flip-up screen. Around the back are I/O ports, and there's no proprietary nonsense here. HDMI, USB, microSD, and an audio jack. This isn't just a render, either – the device was shown off on stage. Jen-Hsun Huang used Project Shield to push a 4K video over HDMI to a 4K TV as well.

Jan

[CES 2013] NVIDIA GRID Will Power The Next OnLive (With Android Integration), If NVIDIA Has Anything To Say About It

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News, NVIDIA, Tablets

Okay, so sure, OnLive still exists, but given its financial woes and general instability, it's unlikely that the company will be investing in any new hardware or infrastructure. This is a shame, because NVIDIA just dropped some sweet-looking server racks on us at CES. While it bears more than a little resemblance to the GeForce GRID program, the NVIDIA GRID features the ability to support 24 concurrent users on a single node.

In addition to providing businesses with huge, server-side processing power, the company is also touting a fully-integrated video game streaming system that includes an Android client.

Dec

Ouya Dev Kit Gets The Full Walkthrough Treatment, Shows Off Touchpad, Battery Slots, Interface And More

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News

It was only a matter of time after the dev units shipped out that we could expect to see a thorough walkthrough on the part of a new owner, and here it is. Some of what we're seeing in this trio of videos, we've already seen in the official Ouya unboxing. However, a few new details have been highlighted. For starters, in the top center of the controllers, there are touchpads that can be used for cursor control. Also, as we learned before, they will require two AA batteries. Well, that's a bummer.

Of course, what we all really want to see is the interface.

Dec

Ouya Dev Consoles Have Finished Shipping, Company Teases UI And Unboxing Video

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News

As we close out 2012 and move into the new year, all of the tech world is eagerly awaiting the arrival of one, unique product with bated breath and eager curiosity: Google Glass. But for those of us who don't have $1500 to shell out on prototypes of that thing (and a time machine to travel back to I/O '12 to order them), we're distracting ourselves with Ouya, the Android-based gaming console. As of right now, the company behind the platform has finished shipping 1,200 developer units out.

As a teaser for the rest of us, the company has also released the above unboxing video.

Dec

[New Game] After Significant Delays, HyperDevbox Finally Releases ExZeus 2

Posted by Dominik Bošnjak in Games, News, Videos

Even though ExZeus 2 was announced for this summer, it’s not until this weekend that it finally came to Google Play. The reasons behind the delay of the sequel to ExZeus Arcade (which is currently rated 4.2/5) are unknown, but it’s worth noting that for now the game is only compatible with NVIDIA Tegra devices. Other versions are scheduled to be released by the end of the year.

So, what’s ExZeus 2 all about? To put it bluntly - shooting, shooting, and some more shooting. Yes, you won’t exactly be using your gray cells for this one, but if you’re looking for some mindless fun, it may be worth giving it a chance.