If you haven’t heard of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout , you’ve missed one of the main gaming phenomena of 2020. With a very simple and adrenaline-pumping gameplay, it has had the merit of declining some game mechanisms of the increasingly popular Battle Royale in a humorous key and, above all, without content violent .
Fall Guys: Battle Royale without violence
They played it practically all the most popular influencers of Twitch , and even some celebrities: I remember following in a very funny way, for example, Charles Leclerc . To the point that his community has exploded and sales on Steam and PlayStation Store have grown exponentially.
Just to thank the community, the development team of Mediatonic and the producer Devolver Digital have released a new costume to use in-game that refers to the Christmas holidays that we are preparing (unfortunately in a resized form) to live. The costume is presented with the new trailer of the game where it is worn by the mascot Bean . “Thanks to everyone who supported and played our game this crazy year and wish you a safe holiday!” writes the Fall Guys team.
In Fall Guys you play together with a maximum of 60 players who all compete to finish an obstacle course where only a certain number of players qualify for the round of the next challenge. All details about Fall Guys can be found here.
Mustafa Mahmoud 39 mins ago Console, Featured Tech News, Software & Gaming, Tech News
Despite originally launching in 2018, there’s no denying that 2020 has been a big year for Among Us. The imposter-styled online game has leaped to the top of the charts in 2020, both in its number of players and those watching through services such as Twitch. While the game was only available on PC and mobile for most of 2020, the game recently came out on Switch – and it would appear that Xbox is next.
Making the announcement on its blog, Microsoft revealed that Among Us will be “Coming [in] 2021 to Xbox Game Pass for Console”. Those on PC need not wait however, as the game is available right now for Game Pass on PC.
Task complete ✅ pic.twitter.com/7yhBelJQOk
— Xbox Game Pass For PC (@XboxGamePassPC) December 17, 2020
Providing further details, Microsoft explained that “Among Us is coming to [Xbox Game Pass] on day one of Xbox console availability” – though no exact date was given. During the most recent Nintendo Indie World Showcase it was announced that Among Us would be coming to the Switch. Following this most recent announcement, PlayStation is the only major platform to not see the game come to its system, though this could always change.
There’s no denying that part of the success of Among Us can be attributed to the fact that many countries are suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to an increase in video game consumption. It’ll be interesting to see whether the game’s developers (Innersloth) manage to keep people’s attention in 2021 and beyond.
KitGuru says: Do you still play Among Us? What platform do you play it on? Do you think the game can maintain its relevance in 2021? Let us know down below.
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Early one morning, a week after the pandemic started, chef and food writer J. Kenji López-Alt strapped a GoPro to his head and filmed himself making breakfast. In the video, you can see López-Alt rummaging through his fridge, slicing and frying bacon, and peeling a bit of egg off a pan to give to his excited dog. There’s no recipe beneath the video, no voice-over instructions detailing what we’re seeing — it’s just a guy in a kitchen making breakfast.
Videos like these became both much-needed entertainment and valuable educational resources early in the pandemic, as a world of people realized they would be stuck at home indefinitely with their own (not necessarily stunning) cooking, and a little extra time to put into it. Food and drink streams surged in popularity on Twitch, doubling in hours watched year over year in August, according to StreamElements and Arsenal.gg. On YouTube, “cook with me” videos more than doubled in popularity starting in March and maintained that growth through October, YouTube told the Associated Press.
“It gives [viewers] confidence to do stuff in the kitchen,” said López-Alt, author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science. His own videos lack the polish and perfect cuts of a professional show and include the slip-ups he makes along the way. “It gives them permission to make mistakes.”
Cooking shows have been around for a century, but new formats online have revitalized the genre in recent years. On YouTube in particular, you can find step-by-step instructional lessons, personal “cook with me” vlogs, and stomach-churning food challenges like stuffing McDonald’s burgers and nuggets into an oversized burrito. On Twitch, chefs and home cooks broadcast themselves live from their kitchen as they prepare meals. And on TikTok, you can watch videos teaching you how to make a new dish in under a minute.
Many hosts noticed a pickup in views and engagement as the pandemic went on. “It definitely has been skyrocket high with the views on things you can do at home,” Zahria Harvey, whose YouTube channel XO. ZAHRIAAA is known for “cook with me” videos, told The Verge. Harvey says one viewer wrote in about making an affordable date night meal featured on her channel for an anniversary dinner because she couldn’t go out to dinner. “It was like wow, these videos are actually helping a lot of people during this time,” Harvey said.
The influx of new viewers has also meant more live interaction for hosts on Twitch. “I find that the community is way more vocal and involved past March this year,” L.A., a photographer and former sushi chef who runs the channel The Hunger Service, told The Verge. L.A.’s streams typically run for three to four hours and show him preparing and cooking a meal, talking through his process as he’s working. As he cooks, viewers ask questions about the process, like how sharp a knife needs to be or how to turn a recipe vegan.
For López-Alt, who’s known for his Serious Eats column, his channel became a fun outlet for both him and his viewers. The format he locked into — strapping a GoPro to his head — is what made video finally click for him, and it helped him reach viewers who weren’t familiar with his writing. “The food I cook on my channel is stuff I was generally making for lunch and for dinner,” López-Alt said. “I could do it consistently, people seemed to like it, [and] I enjoyed making it.” Viewers told him the videos were a bright spot and were helping them learn how to cook.
Some creators have found that the surge in interest in their channels extends beyond cooking. Remi Cruz, a popular YouTuber who frequently features cooking on her two channels, said that people have been more interested in basically anything you can do at home. For “vlogmas,” she’s been using cooking to fill the gap where she’d normally vlog about outdoor activities and holiday shopping. “I’ve just been implementing some sort of cooking-related thing every day, and people genuinely love it,” Cruz told The Verge.
Viewers won’t always end up cooking what they see, but these videos can still make their time in the kitchen a bit more fun — or at least, distract them while they think about the great meals they’ll eventually go back out to a restaurant and order.
“People are looking for some sort of comfort,” L.A. said. “Comfort food is a thing, and watching these shows can offer that comfort. You may not be making it at the time, but maybe you will.”
Ever since PlayStation cut ties with Facebook, streamers can no longer broadcast live or upload clips directly to Facebook. It’s easy to livestream directly to Twitch, YouTube, and Twitter, though. You can start the stream from your console, know that your voice and game audio will be leveled, create a title, click start streaming and watch the stream from your phone, tablet, or computer.
What You Need to Livestream from PlayStation
● PlayStation 4 or 5: the user interface is similar.
● Headset with a 3.5 mm output to plug into the PS controller.
● A Controller to navigate through the menus and monitor audio levels
● A Monitor to see how high or low the volume
● A PSN account to access the party function.
Setting Up Voice Audio for PS4 Livestreams
To ensure sure that your livestream includes your voice
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
2. Slide to the right and select Settings
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
3. Select Sharing and Broadcasts
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
4. Select Broadcast Settings.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
5. Then select Advanced Settings
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
6. Navigate to Audio Sharing Settings
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
We see three different options
● Include Microphone Audio in Video Clips is for when you’re recording gameplay. For example, 15-minute clips can be recorded and saved in your gallery with or without your commentary. Select this to include any commentary made during the 15 mins. Include Microphone Audio in Broadcasts is for livestreaming. Check this box to ensure your microphone is heard during your livestreams. Share Party Audio: checking this box will include party audio in video clips and broadcast. This one needs to be selected in order for your livestream to hear the people in your party chat. Selecting this will also override the first one Include Microphone Audio in Video Clips. Your voice will be included in every clip made.
Now that you have made your party chat sharable with your livestream, let’s setup allowing your voice to be broadcast in your friend’s livestream.
How to Set Your Broadcast to Capture Friends’ Party Chat Audio
These are the settings you need to change and have others in your party change on their ends so the stream can hear you and your buddies.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
2. Press theOPTIONS button on the right of the touchpad on the controller to see Party Settings & select Party Settings.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
3. Scroll down to Allow Your Voice to Be Shared
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
4. Select Always Allow
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Now your voice is available in your buddies’ stream.
Once you’re in a party and you notice someone’s mic is too low or too high they can be adjusted in party settings.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Since PlayStation’s recent update, joining parties and in-game sessions are different. Once you select party, the software will automatically take you to the party that you’re in. Or it will show you parties that you are invited to. You can no longer view other people’s parties without an invitation.
3. Select Party Settings from the right-side menu.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
You’ll see the top three options are now available to select
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
4. Select Adjust Microphone Level, if you wish to change your microphone sensitivity.
If the bar is yellow in the Too Low zone, you’re a quiet talker, slide the bar up to increase your volume.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
If the bar is red and in the Too High zone, you’re a loud talker, slide the volume down to lower your volume.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
5. Select Adjust Audio Mix
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The bar will adjust the game or your party chat. If you’re playing a game like Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout and don’t need to hear the game audio slide the bar to the left.
If you’re playing a game like Apex Legends and you need to hear the game audio slide the bar to the right. This adjusts settings for you and your broadcast as well.
6. Select Chat Audio to prioritize which chat is being used, the game voice chat or the PlayStation party voice chat.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Adjusting these settings can increase the production value of your stream. And it combats people who like to put their mics close to their mouths. You are able to control anyone’s volume from your PlayStation.
Setting Up Voice Audio for PS5 Livestreams
1. Click the Settings button on the top right-hand side
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
2. Select Captures and Broadcast
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
3. Select Broadcast on the left side of the screen.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
4. Select Audio.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
5. Toggle onInclude Voice Chat Audio. This allows other streamers to broadcast your voice, your livestream to capture your voice and your commentary to be captured when you save Game Clips.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
A shortcut to including your Mic Audio and Party Audio is included your Save Game Recording Menu
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
How to Balance Voice Chat and Gameplay Audio
1. Press the PS button on the controller. You’ll see a menu appear on the bottom
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
2. Scroll to the right to the Sound icon. A menu box will appear that will have a bar underneath Voice Chat Balance.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
3. Move the bar to the left to turn up the Voice Chat or move it to the right to turn up the Game Chat Audio.
As we mentioned above, if you’re playing a game like Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout and don’t need to hear the game audio, slide the bar to the left. If you’re playing a game like Apex Legends and you need to hear the game audio, slide the bar to the right.
How to Access Party Settings
1. Press the PS button on the controller.
2. Slide to the right toward Game Base.Game Base is four icons over
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
3. Create a party by pressing the square button on your controller.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
4. Press the PS button
5. Select Game Base and scroll to the right of Create Party button to the Settingsbutton
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
6. Select Voice Chat Settings
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
How to Adjust Your Mic Settings
1. Select Microphone Level Voice from the Voice Chat Settings menu.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
2. Slide the bar to the left to turn down your mic sensitivity and slide the bar to the right to turn up the mic sensitivity
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Also in Voice Chat Settings, you see Share Your Voice.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Here is another place where you can allow your voice to be shared through your buddies’ livestream.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
There is a shortcut available in your Game Base to adjust or mute your mic.
The PlayStation 5’s UI is slightly different, with newer icons and functions. So you’re able to do the same things with fewer steps. The mini-menu that pops up when you press the PS makes it easy to create shortcuts.
The Xbox Series X and Series S have just taken delivery of a shiny new streaming app – BBC iPlayer.
The early Christmas present means Xbox owners can finally stream live BBC TV channels and binge on Beeb boxsets through their console. (Here’s where to buy the Xbox Series X, if you’re struggling to find stock).
According to the BBC: “From this morning, BBC iPlayer is now available on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. Owners of the new consoles can download the BBC iPlayer app for free from the Microsoft Store on Xbox.”
Back in November, at the launch of the new Xbox, Microsoft apologised for the lack of iPlayer and promised to ‘work tirelessly’ to fix the issue. Now that diligence has paid off, Xbox users with a TV license can kick back in front of BBC TV channels or catch up on boxsets such as Normal People, Peaky Blinders and the darkly-brilliant Inside No.9.
The Xbox Series X launched with a pretty strong line-up of streaming apps, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, Sky Go, Now TV, Spotify, Twitch and YouTube TV. In the US, that list extends to HBO Max, Hulu, Peacock, Vudu and FandangoNOW.
In other words, if you’re after a console that doubles as an entertainment hub, the new Xbox is a good shout. It’s also the first console to support both Dolby Atmos sound (from launch) and Dolby Vision (due 2021).
It’s not all sherry and mince pies, though. As we recently reported, Samsung TV owners have been disappointed to discover that the Xbox Series X doesn’t support HDR10+.
MORE:
Read our Xbox Series X review
Read our Xbox Series S review
Or check out where to buy the PS5
Alternatively, browse our list of the best streaming services
Hades is a game that does so many things so well, it’s hard to describe them all. It’s a fine-tuned isometric action game that takes the elaborate interweaving systems and combat of Supergiant’s previous titles to soaring new heights. It’s a roguelike that transcends the limitations of the genre with great storytelling. It’s one of the most compelling personal dramas told in a video game this year — all of it polished to a dazzling, mirror-like shine.
If Hades had only done one of these things well, it would have been a great game. The fact that it manages to do all of them, though, without missing a single beat, makes it the best game I’ve played this year.
In many ways, Hades feels like the culmination of developer Supergiant’s previous titles. It merges them into a cohesive whole: the fast-paced isometric action and omnipresent narration that were the hallmarks of Bastion, the customization of Transistor, and the emphasis on worldbuilding and storytelling that’s been the throughline throughout all its titles.
But the core idea is “one more try.” One more attempt to clear another room. To beat the next boss. To reach the next zone. To unlock a new weapon, skill, or ability that will help you on the next one. To hear a new story from a friend or loved one. And on and on and on, until “one more try” has turned into 10, it’s two in the morning, and you’re still dueling with the denizens of the underworld.
Hades doles out its story in generous doses as players are regaled by their relatives on Mount Olympus and through interactions back at the starting hub on each run. It makes you care about the other denizens of the underworld. I wanted to help my weary mentor Achilles reunite with his lost lover; I plied my fluffy dog Cerberus with gifts and pets because they are such a good boy. Death isn’t failure; it’s a chance to spend time with the friends (and frenemies) that populate the House of Hades, too.
Hades is a great action roguelike on its own. The hack-and-slash combat, the variety of weapons (there are six, each with four different forms that radically change how you can play), and the dizzying amount of abilities and modifiers that are gifted by the gods of Olympus ensure that no two runs are quite the same. The game also cleverly incentivizes players to try new weapons and abilities.
Those abilities play off each other in delightful ways, and there’s no “right” combination. Some of my earliest successes were with builds that at first seemed like they would be utterly useless, like abilities that only activate when I take damage, but then a later boon activates them automatically every few seconds, turning me into a passive damage powerhouse. Even dozens of hours in, I still am surprised when the game will toss out strange combinations that result in powerful synergies.
The magic of Hades isn’t just the variety of its gameplay or the satisfaction of perfectly clearing a room or boss battle. It’s how the game pushes you to try just one more loop, promising more information on the family drama of Zagreus, Hades, and the rest of the Olympians or the tantalizing chance of finally breaking out of the underworld this time.
Just one more run. One more line of dialogue. One more try.
(It helps, of course, that every inch of Hades’ artwork is lush and detailed, with gorgeous characters that make spending hours battling through the underworld a delight.)
And much like the ritual lord of the underworld himself, the game is hard — but fair. In my dozens of runs throughout hell, I’ve rarely felt like I was unfairly cheated with bad boons or cheap deaths. Hades rewards players for learning how each enemy and boss fights, how its abilities can combine, but it doesn’t punish players for not mastering the twitch-fast dashes and dodges. In fact, in a welcome move, Hades offers a God Mode setting that buffs player’s damage resistance and makes sure the entire game is more accessible to all players.
“One more time,” Zagreus mutters when he starts his next attempt to battle his way out of hell. One more run, I think to myself in response, knowing that it’ll absolutely not be the case.
“Die Sterne” sang “What ruined you?” and the year 2020 is very suitable for complaining very much. The coronavirus has once again clearly shown the urgency of digitization and infrastructure expansion, the lack of digitality. But when it wasn’t about Corona, other news was also exciting.
Tesla is building a plant in Germany, 5G is here, the project Gaia-X is picking up speed, large industrialized countries are fighting for interpretative sovereignty and areas of influence in which they use technology, prohibit technology and also lead smaller skirmishes over apps. Civil rights and secure encryption have come under pressure again. The global warming has not paused and the German auto industry is struggling to survive.
What developments has the year 2020 accelerated, which braked? What were extraordinary events? How will it go on 2021?
These and many other questions – including the audience – discuss Jürgen Kuri (@jkuri), Kristina Beer (@bee_k_bee) and Martin Holland (@fingolas) in a new episode of the #heiseshow, live from 12 Clock.
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Today, Discord is rolling out screensharing to its mobile users. It’s a smart move; earlier this summer, the company’s mobile app was hitting lifetime highs for downloads every day.
Mobile screensharing means that you can just share your screen — and whatever you’re watching — with anyone in a voice channel. That means you can watch everything from TikTok to Twitch with any of your friends from anywhere in the world, in real time. While chatting.
I saw a demo of the feature recently, and more than anything else, I found the simplicity astonishing. In our pandemic year, I’ve spent so much time socializing virtually — sometimes on Discord, sometimes not — and it’s underscored the importance of casual hangouts; spontaneity is one of the many things the pandemic has taken from everyday life.
Features like this one can return a little bit of that back to social interaction, I think, because it allows users to drop in and out whenever. I can screenshare to a Discord voice channel and any of my friends can just join me in whatever I feel like doing, be it Among Us or just scrolling through my camera roll.
Anything that makes it easier to be with people is good, in my book. But given how much time I’ve spent with people in various Discord servers this year, a feature like this one feels quietly revelatory. I miss hanging out on a friend’s couch and talking about nothing in particular; after this year, it’s something I’ll never take for granted again.
This new feature is about as close as technology can get to replicating that feeling.
Twitter has announced that it’ll be shutting down Periscope as a service, with the company set to discontinue the Periscope applications by March 2021. Twitter will, however, continue to offer live video streaming through its integrated Twitter Live feature within the main Twitter app.
“The Periscope app is in an unsustainable maintenance-mode state, and has been for a while,” the company explained in a blog post. “Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen declining usage and know that the cost to support the app will only continue to go up over time.”
While Periscope won’t be fully shut down until March, the company is already blocking any new account sign-ups starting in the latest update to the apps, which is rolling out today. Users will have the chance to download an archive of both their Periscope videos and their data before the app is shuttered next year. Additionally, the Periscope website will remain active to serve as a “read-only archive of public broadcasts.”
Periscope will also be “relaxing our requirements” for users to apply to become “Super Broadcasters,” the company’s term for select users that are given the opportunity to cash out tips given to them by followers. Broadcasters will have until April 30th, 2021 to finish cashing out their tips.
Twitter bought Periscope back in March 2015, before the service even launched, back in the heyday of live broadcasting (arguably started by Meerkat, a once-viral streaming service that has since pivoted over to developing Houseparty.) Periscope would launch later that month, with all the force of Twitter’s considerable social presence behind it. But for all of Periscope’s popularity at the time, it wasn’t a staying force, in the same way that other live-streaming services — like the juggernaut of Twitch — would become.
Twitter would go on to integrate live video into the main Twitter app in December 2016, in a feature that was described as being “powered by Periscope.” According to Twitter, the company has already since moved “most of the core capabilities of Periscope” into Twitter Live, with the shuttering of Periscope as a separate service allowing it to better focus on further building out that live-streaming functionality in the future.
The new Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) update is out, and as per usual it includes a bunch of changes and fixes that will make your streaming life just a little bit better. The biggest change in this version of OBS is support for the feature that Twitch debuted in Twitch Soundtrack — the ability to play music in a second track while you’re streaming to Twitch, so that it can be stripped out of your recorded broadcast, or VOD (video on demand).
This release adds a second audio track when streaming to Twitch which will be saved to the VOD instead of the stream audio. You can enable this feature in Output settings when streaming to Twitch. Special thanks to @Twitch for assisting during the development of this feature!
— OBS (@OBSProject) December 15, 2020
For the uninitiated: it’s normal to play music in the background of live streams, but issues around copyright mean that it can be dangerous. Twitch has been engaged in an extended battle with the music industry because streamers habitually play copyrighted music on-stream that they don’t have the rights to; it came to a head earlier this year, when streamers were flooded with copyright takedown requests from the music industry. Those requests were based on copyrighted music found in clips from streams and full recorded broadcasts — which is what Twitch Soundtrack, and by extension this feature, are meant to solve.
OBS pointed out that Twitch helped with the development of the feature, which is interesting because the company already has Soundtrack. I can only imagine it means that this is the latest front in Twitch’s fight with the music industry — because if streamers get used to stripping music from their VODs as a general practice, the problem of people broadcasting copyrighted music on Twitch might eventually solve itself. Though, personally, I believe that’s wishful thinking. Either way, OBS implementing the feature means that more streamers will use it.
Among Us, Innersloth’s breakout hit of 2020, is coming to the Nintendo Switch today. The news was announced during a special indie game-focused Nintendo Direct. The game will feature crossplay.
Among Us is an online social deduction game, one in which players have to work together to complete tasks around the ship and figure out who the crew’s imposters are. Imposters, meanwhile, attempt to quietly kill as many other players as they can. Although the game first launched in 2018, it’s become a sensation, thanks to a newfound popularity on Twitch, played by streamers and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Among Us has become so popular, in fact, that Innersloth canceled the game’s sequel to focus on improving the original.
The game picked up the award for best multiplayer title of the year during this year’s Game Awards. A new airship map is expected next year.
This year, video games provided escapism for a lot of people. But for many, myself included, the games I remember most fondly in 2020 were the ones that became social spaces. The pandemic didn’t make me want to escape; it made me miss my friends and family.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out amid the shutdowns, and it quickly became my virtual island paradise, even when I wasn’t playing. I couldn’t log into Facebook or Twitter without seeing almost everyone on my feeds talking about Animal Crossing — people were sharing memes, asking for Dodo codes to visit their friends’ islands, begging for specific fruit that they wanted to grow.
Some turned to Nookazon, a third-party trading platform, to buy outfits they had a hard time finding. The latest Animal Crossing title ushered in a new community of people that were taking the game so seriously that someone without context could easily think all these people purchased some island real estate after reading a travel blog. It was the early months of 2020 and we were stuck inside. As it got warmer, Animal Crossing provided us with the tropical getaway we could actually visit. I even know people who purchased a Switch just so they could play this game.
One of my best friends lives in another state, but that distance has never stopped her from being the person I go to when I need to vent about life. So I begged her to buy a Switch so we could play Animal Crossing. She came to the game a few months after I did, and since I was so far ahead, we would FaceTime and I would guide her through the early tasks of the game, occasionally dropping off extra resources at her island if she needed to build the museum or wanted to decorate her house. We would constantly “hang out” on each other’s islands.
Since I had just started working at The Verge, I was constantly telling my friend my experiences of my new job and some of the weirdest news I saw that day. It felt like we were actually hanging out like old times, despite the fact we were states apart and unable to see each other because of the shutdowns and travel advisories.
Fall Guys.
Even at work, my colleagues were also playing. Our workplace is organized by Slack channels, so naturally, two were dedicated to Animal Crossing. One was a social space centered around the game, sharing advice, pictures of bugs, and organizing happy hour visits to someone’s island. (The Verge’s news writer, Jay Peters, once planned an extremely sophisticated scavenger hunt.) The other channel was all business, though: namely, colluding to manipulate the game’s “stalk market” so we would all get rich shorting turnip prices.
One week, I had an incredibly high turnip price on my island. I shared the number in the Slack channel and it blew up. I opened my gates to visitors during my lunch break and the demand of people far exceeded the time it took me to make and eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I left my Switch on idle, went back to work, and returned later to collect two million bells’ worth of tips for my generosity. It felt like my birthday in a way, which was in late April and I, unfortunately, could not celebrate it with many people. So, I soaked in all the love and praise and endless thanks for being kind enough to open my gates and suffering through the hellish nightmare that is Animal Crossing’s multiplayer loading screens as travelers came in and out of my island.
For a minute, it seemed like everyone was talking about Animal Crossing: discussing favorite villagers, sharing tips on capturing bugs and fish. I was exchanging Dodo codes with people I went to high school with but would not have called friends — until they arrived on my island. We could all share the common ground of playing a low-stakes adventure. If the game is a satisfying loop, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones is the real reward.
Fall Guys was a game that came out during the dog days of summer, and word got out on how addicting its gameplay was thanks to streaming platforms like Twitch, which is the way games go viral these days. But most importantly for me, I have two younger cousins I hang out with frequently and they were looking for some new games to play since Fortnite was removed on iPad. So together, we let our asses get kicked by Fall Guys.
It was fun sitting with them on the couch at my aunt and uncle’s house. We would take turns seeing how far we would get in each match before we were smacked hard, knocked off the platform into a never-ending sea of Pepto Bismol, and subsequently eliminated. I am not a huge fan of battle royale games like Fortnite and PUBG, but Fall Guys is easily accessible for all ages and doesn’t have convoluted gameplay mechanics. Also, it’s hard to not constantly laugh at all the sounds these bean-shaped characters make as they waddle to the end of the course.
The most surprising game of 2020, and arguably one with a lot of staying power in the long term, is Among Us, a cartoony riff on Werewolf, wherein an imposter or two attempts to murder all their friends. Like Animal Crossing and Fall Guys, it’s a game the internet won’t shut up about. While it was originally released in 2018, Among Us’ popularity grew exponentially this year. My friends from college also started playing the game this year and a bunch of us ended up creating a Discord server dedicated to Among Us. We have channels dedicated to memes or finding new matches.
Among Us.
I think fondly of all the memories we have of hanging out in the college dorm rooms playing Mario Kart or compromising our friendships with an intense game of Mario Party. With college now over and most of us living pretty far away from each other, I missed the days we could huddle in the dorms and play the GameCube classics.
Now we’re doing the equivalent of that in Among Us, getting nostalgic over stories from college while debating who the imposter is. Over the last few months, I would often play this game after work, for hours on end, until I realized it was midnight. It’s in those moments that reality kicked in and I realized I was not a 21-year-old who would stay out with my friends partying until 4AM; I am a 25-year-old adult with responsibilities and a full-time job. My priorities have changed, but making time for my friends will never get old no matter the circumstances.
But the common theme here for all these games is the sense of normality they have provided in my life. While I enjoy happy hours with my colleagues and weekly family Zoom meetings, these activities grew tiresome for me. These things serve as a painful reminder of what life was like before the pandemic. I miss going to rooftop bars after work and unwinding from work mode; I miss going to my grandparents’ house on the weekends and having cookouts and big Sunday dinners. I love my family, and I love my colleagues, but I craved the more interactive and creative conversation that games offer.
I was playing games with friends and family before the pandemic began, and I play a lot of games solo too. But Animal Crossing, Fall Guys, and Among Us are good-ass games that continued to get better as I enjoyed them with familiar company. They allowed me to make up for the lost time that was part of my old life.
The point of going out to bars was never the drinking. It was a common social space, and in a year where those places disappeared, we found new ones in fake islands and spaceships, and whatever the setting of Fall Guys is supposed to be. Especially in 2020, it’s not about where you are, but who you’re with.
All you need is a small capture box, with which to carry anything reproduced from an HDMI source to the hard disk, even at high resolution. The operation is also possible from game consoles, such as Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo, but also from players, cameras and much more
by Editorial team published on 14 December 2020 , at 14: 11 in the Audio Video channel
We have often spoken of TECHly products, such as its HDMI Extender or accessories of various types in the company’s price list. This time, however, we had the opportunity to try the Capture box and live streaming video from HDMI to HDD / PC , a unique compact size tool that allows you to perform various video recording operations.
This is, in this case, an acquisition box that allows not only to record any content playing in the connected source, but also to take advantage of real-time recording to perform a live stream, for example, of the gameplay of a video game on a console with an HDMI port (practically all those of the latest generations).
Video capture and live streaming box from HDMI to HDD / PC
Also recognizable through the code HDMI-CAPCA IDATA 01 , The TECHly device it comes in a compact, almost pocket-sized chassis: the occupied surface is 8, 32 centimeters per side, while the thickness is 2 centimeters in all points of the box. It supports all popular resolutions today until stopping at Full HD at 60 frames per second (1080 p @ 60 Hz), but it can also record in HD to save space or to perform live streaming without disturbing the internet connection.
Recording via HDMI to storage device
TECHly’s small box supports both sources NTSC and PAL, and can recognize USB devices formatted with FAT file systems 32 and NTFS. To ensure an unimpeded acquisition process, it has several ports: an HDMI input to connect the source (game console, media player, or any device with HDMI output), a USB port to connect the PC to perform live streaming or a mass storage drive to record directly to a file. You can connect external hard drives or SSDs, USB sticks and much more, and the acquisition can be started and ended with the simple press of a single button.
Once the source is connected to the HDMI input and the storage device to the USB port, simply press the Rec / Stop button: the first time the recording will start, the second time it will be stopped. Recording is guaranteed at a maximum bitrate of 05 Mbps, and there is also a 3.5 mm mini audio jack in input to connect a possible microphone. If you format the storage device with NTFS file system, the file recorded on the storage device (in H. Format 264) will be unique for each recording, so you won’t need to merge through a video processing program.
But from which devices can we to register with the TECHly acquisition box? The choice is huge, practically any device capable of producing images via HDMI: among these multimedia players, FPV drones, cameras, various consoles such as PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo NES, Wii U, and much more.
Recording via HDMI to PC
TECHly’s video capture box can also be used for live streaming from all the devices just mentioned. To do this, connect the source to the HDMI input present, and the PC to the micro-USB port marked on the box as USB To PC (the cable is included in the original equipment). Once all connections are made, you need to install the UXPlayer software, which not only allows you to manage the incoming video, but also to schedule a recording when you are away from home.
Thanks to UXPlayer it is also possible to use the incoming video on the PC on third-party software, such as OBS, XSplit and others, the same ones that use the most famous streamers to broadcast on Twitch, YouTube and other multimedia platforms that allow the diffusion of videos in real time.
TECHly acquisition box, where to buy it
The ease of use of the TECHly acquisition box and its effectiveness are features that get paid for. The instrument can be purchased on the company’s official website at a price of 150 ?? , with free and immediate shipping. In addition to the device, there is an HDMI cable, a 5V / 2A power supply, a micro-USB to USB cable, the user manual and a CD with the software necessary for managing the video on a PC.
Technical specifications
Acquisition format : MP4 (H. 264)
Video standard (input) : NTSC, PAL
Disc formats supported : FAT 32, NTFS
Inputs : HDMI, Microphone
Went out te : HDMI (pass-through), USB Host, micro USB
Bitrate Max : 10 Mbps
Power supply : DC 5V, 2A
Note: The capture device records several 2GB files if the mass storage is formatted in FAT 32. For recording in a single file, the partition must be in NTFS (maximum storage capacity 2TB)
In a row 20 from software-architektur.tv, web architectures were an issue. The new episode is about architecture options for modern web frontends. Host Eberhard Wolff and his guests Franziska Dessart, Joy Heron and Lucas Dohmen give an overview of the patterns they encountered. Where do you implement the logic? Where is the data? And how does the integration take place? Various architecture options such as server-side rendering, single-page apps are weighed against each other in a neutral manner.
The broadcast will take place on Friday of this week at 12, the episode will be available as a recording afterwards. During the live stream, questions can be submitted via Twitch or YouTube chat, via Twitter to @ewolff or anonymously using the form on the videocast website.
software-architektur.tv is still relatively young videocast by Eberhard Wolff, blogger and podcaster on heise developer and well-known software architect in the service of IT Consulting company INNOQ. Since June 2020 26 episodes have emerged which cover different areas of the software architecture illuminate – sometimes with guests, sometimes Wolff solo. Recently heise Developer has been integrating the new episodes streamed via YouTube into the online channel so that viewers can Heise Medien can follow the videocast.
Shortly before Christmas, Microsoft Flight Simulator will receive full VR support. The developers announced this during a live Q&A video on Twitch. The VR integration is part of the Sim Update 2, which according to the current plan on 23. December will be rolled out.
Then the Microsoft Flight Simulator (test) according to Executive Producer Martial Bossard not only the originally targeted VR glasses HP Reverb G2, but also the VR headsets from Valve and Oculus. Asobo makes the VR functions available to all players free of charge. In contrast to the previous alpha version, not only the actual 3D simulation is visible in VR, but also the menu structures including all buttons.
In addition to VR support, the Sim Update 2 brings according to Asobo also numerous improvements: There should be some problems with the (flight) behavior of the airliners Airbus A 320 neo and Boeing 747 – solve 8. For the A 320 neo, the update also adds two flight learning missions to the game.
Fancier Great Britain from January World Update 3 is planned for the end of January, which will significantly improve the scenery in England, Wales and Scotland. According to Jörg Neumann (Head of Microsoft Fligth Simulator), the resolution of the height field is between 50 centimeters and 2 meters. There are also new, high-resolution satellite images. The update may also brighten up Ireland and Northern Ireland, but Neumann didn’t want to promise that. There are also detailed airports such as Manchester Barton, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Land’s End and Barra Airport. 50 to 60 pimped up sights as well as some landing challenges are also included.
The support for the multi-monitor operation is still a long time coming – it should be in the year 2022 are coming, as is the integration of helicopters.
Microsoft recently released World Update 2, which shows numerous regions and landmarks of the United States of America in more detail than before . It integrates revised elevation maps and provides access to updated aerial photographs.
The Flight Simulator is available in three editions for 70 Euro (standard), 90 Euro (deluxe) and 120 Euro (Premium-Deluxe), each containing more aircraft and more finely reproduced airports. In addition to the online sales versions via Windows Store and Steam, the standard and premium editions are also available as disc versions with 10 DVDs distributed by Aerosoft.
( mfi)
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