MECHWARRIOR 5: MERCENARIES
Piranha Games is taking MechWarrior back to its roots
A
kilometre from the harbour in Vancouver, on the second floor of a small
shopping centre is the last bastion of the MechWarrior franchise. For
six years, Piranha Games’ president Russ Bullock has kept the series
alive with MechWarrior Online. But with MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, he’s
ushering in the dawning of a new era of mech warfare.
“There’s
a huge contingent of fans that have been wanting a singleplayer
MechWarrior 5 for years,” Bullock tells me as we walk through the
Piranha Games office. “Of course we wanted to make one, but being a
smaller developer we had say, ‘Okay first things first, we need to
succeed with MechWarrior Online and that will allow us to make a
singleplayer game.’ And it took a while – a lot longer than we thought –
but we’re doing it.”
As we pass by the main hub that
connects Piranha Games’ various workspaces, I spy a map of the Inner
Sphere, the cluster of some 3,000 star systems that make up
MechWarrior’s universe. Each one has a name and a history etched into
the stone tablets of BattleTech lore. And for those who have grown up
living in that universe, it’s these little details that matter.
Fortunately, Russ Bullock is all about the little details.
When
I first saw MechWarrior 5 announced at MechCon 2016, the trailer sent
the fans roaring. But when a dropship descended from the sky they lost
their damn minds. At the time, I was a little confused. Then Bullock
explained how so much of MechWarrior was caged inside the imaginations
of players. They freaked out because that was the first time they had
seen a dropship landing in-game and not just in their imagination.
Bullock is hoping to make MechWarrior 5 the catalyst that sets those two
decades of MechWarrior fantasy free.
Mercenary culture
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries isn’t just a sequel to MechWarrior 4. It’s a chance to
reestablish the series and give its hordes of hardcore fans something
that they’ve always wanted. “A significant part of our design philosophy
is asking, ‘What have players always wanted to do in a MechWarrior game?’” Bullock tells me.
That’s why Piranha Games is
starting with Mercenaries first rather than a straight numbered sequel.
“Traditionally, you’d make MechWarrior and then you’d make the
Mercenaries offshoot,” he explains. “The first one is a linear,
story-heavy campaign and then Mercenaries is more like a sandbox. But
players want to live out the BattleTech lore, and the best way to do
that is to own your own mercenary unit, so we’re going with Mercenaries
first.”
Instead of a series of linear missions,
MechWarrior 5 puts you in command of a mercenary unit and gives you the
freedom to either rise to mythic status or crash and burn along the way.
Around 300 planets of the Inner Sphere will be open for business,
letting you travel between the Great Houses while taking increasingly
demanding contracts and building reputation with each faction as you
also manage your lances of warriors and supporting technicians.
It’s
one part MechWarrior and one part Football Manager, Russ tells me.
Every bullet you fire and every mech you lose will have a cost, and
it’ll be up to you to make sure you’re bringing in enough dough to keep
your mercs on the payroll and their mechs in fighting condition. As you
progress in prestige, the timeline also moves forward. Great Houses rise
and fall according to the lore, new technologies are invented and sold,
and eventually the ominous Clans come rampaging through the Inner
Sphere like Genghis Khan and his Mongol horde.
Leveraging
an ambitious dynamic free market economy, stunning destructibility, and
the kind of freedom and scale that hasn’t been seen since the first
MechWarrior in 1989, Bullock is working to make MechWarrior 5 the
ultimate realisation of BattleTech lore.
the invisible hand
When
you begin a new campaign, your mercenary company is in a sorry state.
With only a weak mech at your disposal, you’ll be scraping by and taking
low-level missions from the periphery states of the Great Houses to
keep money coming in. Little by little your business will grow, but it
will be up to you to decide how. “The free market is probably one of the
biggest components of MechWarrior 5,”
Bullock tells
me. Mechs, pilots, technicians, weapon systems – everything you need to
form a mercenary unit will have to be purchased from MechWarrior 5’s
market. “The market is totally dynamic based on what year it is. In the
year 3015, for example, they didn’t have any pulse lasers or
Ferro-Fibrous armour as all of that technology comes in later. And it’s
also going to depend where you are in the Inner Sphere. If you are in
one Great House’s space, you’ll see mechs common among that house.
That’s going to provide a whole level of flavour to your play experience
each time you start a new campaign.”
Unlike
MechWarrior Online, where players can customise their mech chassis in a
variety of ways, MechWarrior 5 will stick to the lore and force players
to choose between strictly defined roles.
“It’s great
for a PVP game because the level of customisation is huge,” Bullock
tells me. “But if we allowed that in MechWarrior 5, you essentially
negate the free market. There’s no need to keep your eyes peeled for
that Jenner JR7-F that has Ferro-Fibrous armour if you take your JR7-D
and just put Ferro-Fibrous armour on it.”
To that end,
MechWarrior 5 will feature an unprecedented number of mechs to choose
from. “Most Mechwarrior games have had maybe 12 to 15 different mech
chassis,” Bullock explains. “We’re looking at having upwards of 60
chassis with 300 to 400 variants. You could probably play the game multiple times within just one Great House’s space and see different
combinations on the free market.”
But mechs are only as
good as the warriors piloting them. Players will also need to be
mindful of their mercs and technicians, who each have their own skills
and specialties. Likewise, different manufacturers will make variations
of weapon systems, giving players granular control over every aspect of
their mechs. Profits made from mercenary contracts will be quickly eaten
away by repairs, resupply, and the ever-present cost of replacing slain
comrades. It’s a huge amount of freedom but also an equally large
responsibility if you’re reckless on the field of battle.
Mech on Mech
During
my visit, I played an early build of MechWarrior 5. None of the
overarching strategy of managing a mercenary outfit was available, but
my demo did make it easy to see how the various systems will complement
each other. Equally as important, I also got an intimate look at the
technology Piranha Games is using to generate the hundreds of
battlefields players will fight on.
From the very first
blast of my torso-mounted lasers, it was clear that MechWarrior 5
benefits from Piranha Games’ extensive work on MechWarrior Online. I
could immediately feel the heft as my 30-odd ton mech stomped through a
forest, knocking trees down left and right like some mechanical
Godzilla. Everything from the rhythmic thud of PPC cannons to the
highly-specific location-based damage modelling feels fantastically
heavy. But this isn’t just singleplayer MechWarrior Online, either. With
the Unreal 4 engine under the hood, MechWarrior 5 has plenty more
horsepower to put to work.
One thing MechWarrior fans
will love is that damage modelling has been taken to a whole new level
over MechWarrior Online. Each component now has multiple stages of
disrepair, making brawls even more visceral as armour peels back after
barrages to reveal the delicate mechanical skeletons underneath.
“Mechs
aren’t just these paper tigers,” Bullock says. “You don’t just one-shot
things. It’s all about a battle of attrition, of using the hills,
rocks, and trees for cover and making sure that when you get your chance
to shoot, you make it count. You manage your heat, your ammo, and your
positioning and you win that battle.”
Enemy mechs won’t
be the only thing melting under your alpha-strikes either. MechWarrior 5’s battles will feature combined arms of infantry, artillery, and both
land and air vehicles. During my demo, flyers swarmed above me,
whittling away my armour while I focused down the more dangerous mechs.
Meanwhile stationary turrets tracked me as I trudged through a copse of
trees, their shots quickly obliterating my cover with each salvo. When
you consider that your own lance of mechs will accompany you into
battle, I’m excited to see how MechWarrior 5’s missions will turn into
frenetic firefights as both sides whittle away the other.
land grab
Any
veteran MechWarrior player knows that it isn’t just about how well
you’re able to shoot, but also how you use the terrain to your
advantage. And with 300 planets, each needing their own battlefield that
feels distinct, Bullock says finding a way to generate fun but unique
terrain was easily one of Piranha Games’ biggest challenges. “We needed
to create a level generator system that wouldn’t be overly complex,”
Bullock explains, adding that since MW5’s announcement the team has
dedicated much of its time to solving this one complex riddle.
What
they devised is an elegant system that takes ingredients, like
different military bases, and places them together with various
groupings of terrain. It’s like playing an instrument: you have several
notes to work with, but how you arrange them can create vastly different
songs. After my demo, Piranha Games’ senior game designer David Forsey
give me an opportunity to peek behind the curtain at the development
back end of MechWarrior 5 to toy around with making different kinds of
maps.
Similar to creating a new map in Civilization,
MechWarrior 5’s map tool lets you dictate the density of foliage,
terrain patterns, weather, time of day and more. Now, all of these might
not sound like they matter, but in the brutally strategic world of
MechWarrior, they absolutely do. Wind storms on a Mars-like planet might
blind you, forcing you to rely purely on thermal vision to see enemy
mechs through the tempest. Likewise, dense forests can now cover the
battlefield since Piranha Games doesn’t have to account for all the
challenges of syncing up 24 different players over the internet like in
MechWarrior Online.
Another big feature that Bullock
can’t wait for players to experience is the destructible environment.
“Of course, plenty of games have had destructible environments,” he
says. “But this is the first time it’ll be in a MechWarrior game, and
that’s going to be awesome.” Players can stomp full speed into buildings
and tear them down with all the force of a 35-ton walking tank. During
my demo, it was so satisfying to cleave through walls and airplane
hangars like they were butter.
“We really wanted
players to walk anywhere they want,” Bullock elaborates, adding that
destructible environments will also present new strategic options. “You
can imagine plenty of scenarios where an enemy mech is hiding behind a
building and you just take it down to get rid of their cover.”
back to the beginning
With
such an emphasis on freedom, MechWarrior 5 is harkening back to the
first MechWarrior, before the series became entrenched in the linear
stories of Great Houses and their political games. But 15 years is a
long time, and MechWarrior 5 will undoubtedly be many players’ first
robot rodeo. “It’s important for us to try and be as mindful as we can
about a new generation of PC gamers,” Bullock says. “But we understand
who our community is and who we’re making the game for.”
Bullock
says his hope is that by digging deeper into the series roots than ever
before, newcomers will begin to understand why so many care so deeply
for this universe – why the names of those 300 planets of the Inner
Sphere matter. “This isn’t going to be some watered-down MechAssault
made partially for consoles,” Bullock says. “It’s going to be the same
kind of action simulator that people have been wanting for 15 years.”
That’s
not just because Bullock thinks it’s what MechWarrior fans want, but
because it’s what they deserve. “We’re dedicated to the core MechWarrior
fanbase. They’re the ones that supported us with MechWarrior Online and
now we’re making a game for them.”
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
How To play games in Facebook Messenger
How To play games in Facebook Messenger
Facebook Messenger now has a proper gaming feature called Instant Games. Chris Martin shows how to use it
Following on from the success of its hidden games inside Facebook Messenger such as football keep ups and basketball, the firm has launched a fully-fl edged gaming feature called Instant Games to its chat service. The firm describes it as a new ‘gaming tab’ inside the app that allows you to challenge your friends and family at a number of games. It’s simple enough to play if you follow the steps below, making sure you’ve updated to the latest version in your app store first.
Play games on
• Open or start a conversation (groups included)
• Tap on the game controller icon
• Choose the game you want to play
Games list
With over 1.2bn games of the basketball game played, launching Instant Games is the next logical step. The feature is rolling out in 30 countries on Android 5 or later. Features include score leader boards in-context chat, and group thread conversations. Read: How to send a Facebook message without Facebook Messenger.
If you’re looking for a Facebook Messenger games list, then check out the image below which shows the 17 launch titles from partners such as King, Konami and Bandai Namco. Highlights on the games list include the likes Space Invaders, Puzzle Bobble, Words with Friends: Frenzy and Pac-Man.
Facebook Messenger now has a proper gaming feature called Instant Games. Chris Martin shows how to use it
Following on from the success of its hidden games inside Facebook Messenger such as football keep ups and basketball, the firm has launched a fully-fl edged gaming feature called Instant Games to its chat service. The firm describes it as a new ‘gaming tab’ inside the app that allows you to challenge your friends and family at a number of games. It’s simple enough to play if you follow the steps below, making sure you’ve updated to the latest version in your app store first.
Play games on
• Open or start a conversation (groups included)
• Tap on the game controller icon
• Choose the game you want to play
Games list
With over 1.2bn games of the basketball game played, launching Instant Games is the next logical step. The feature is rolling out in 30 countries on Android 5 or later. Features include score leader boards in-context chat, and group thread conversations. Read: How to send a Facebook message without Facebook Messenger.
If you’re looking for a Facebook Messenger games list, then check out the image below which shows the 17 launch titles from partners such as King, Konami and Bandai Namco. Highlights on the games list include the likes Space Invaders, Puzzle Bobble, Words with Friends: Frenzy and Pac-Man.
GALLERY OF PUZZLE GAMES
GALLERY OF PUZZLE GAMES
Kami
Kami is a familiar concept, requiring you to tap at squares of a patterned grid to make them one uniform colour. The paper texture of the squares and origami like folding animation as they change hue, make it a fun brainteaser.
? Price: Free
The Room 2
At the other end of the spectrum to Kami, The Room 2 is both devilishly difficult and rendered in photo realistic graphics. Dark and mysterious, this point-and-click adventure is full of puzzles that will require hours to master.
? Price: ?1.99/$2.99
Cut the Rope 2
Don’t be fooled by the bubblegum bright colour scheme and cartoon graphics, this sequel is very smart. Ramping up the physics based puzzles, there’s a lot to consider in helping Om Nom reach his candy.
? Price: Free
Strata
Your goal in Strata is to layer ribbons over a grid and ensure the top layer matches the colours of the grid below. A smooth learning curve helps, but there is no denying this minimalist game is a mind-bending monster to conquer.
? Price: ?1.86/$2.99
Hitman GO
The console game franchise has been reinvented as a villainous version of Cluedo. This approach was great for simplifying the controls for mobile, without sacrifi cing the complexity of the puzzles or the elegant in-game visuals.
? Price: ?2.99/$4.99
Monument Valley
Full of impossible architecture that doesn’t go anywhere, Monument Valley is like an interactive version of M.C. Escher’s surreal paintings. Your job is to figure out which objects to move around so the heroine can move on.
? Price: ?2.49/$3.99
Kami
Kami is a familiar concept, requiring you to tap at squares of a patterned grid to make them one uniform colour. The paper texture of the squares and origami like folding animation as they change hue, make it a fun brainteaser.
? Price: Free
The Room 2
At the other end of the spectrum to Kami, The Room 2 is both devilishly difficult and rendered in photo realistic graphics. Dark and mysterious, this point-and-click adventure is full of puzzles that will require hours to master.
? Price: ?1.99/$2.99
Cut the Rope 2
Don’t be fooled by the bubblegum bright colour scheme and cartoon graphics, this sequel is very smart. Ramping up the physics based puzzles, there’s a lot to consider in helping Om Nom reach his candy.
? Price: Free
Strata
Your goal in Strata is to layer ribbons over a grid and ensure the top layer matches the colours of the grid below. A smooth learning curve helps, but there is no denying this minimalist game is a mind-bending monster to conquer.
? Price: ?1.86/$2.99
Hitman GO
The console game franchise has been reinvented as a villainous version of Cluedo. This approach was great for simplifying the controls for mobile, without sacrifi cing the complexity of the puzzles or the elegant in-game visuals.
? Price: ?2.99/$4.99
Monument Valley
Full of impossible architecture that doesn’t go anywhere, Monument Valley is like an interactive version of M.C. Escher’s surreal paintings. Your job is to figure out which objects to move around so the heroine can move on.
? Price: ?2.49/$3.99
Land of the Pharaohs
Land of the Pharaohs
The start of the Assassins
2013 saw the release of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, and it brought a lot of freshness to the franchise. See, up until that point, Assassin’s Creed had started treading familiar territory a little too much. The original game was something of a breath of fresh air when it first arrived, despite complaints about repetitive game play.
The second game – arguably the best in the franchise – took the series to fantastic new heights, spawning two great expansions as well. But by the time the third title came out, things were feeling a little stale. It didn’t help that, until the release of Assassin’s Creed: Unity (with its many, many bugs and issues) Assassin’s Creed 3, despite a strong story and a whole new setting, was considered by a great many to be the series’ lowest point. It lacked the depth of the second game, and the uniqueness of the first.
So when Black Flag hit shelves and afforded players to take on the pirate life, it made something of a splash. The hero wasn’t the noble Assassin that we had seen three times before, and the focus of the game was somewhat different. It was something of a triumph for a franchise that was becoming long in the tooth far too quickly.
This was perhaps also due to the fact that Assassin’s Creed had become a regular feature in the video game calendar. Other than a gap between the first two games, released in 2007 and 2009 respectively, the series has seen a major release in every year. 2010 brought Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, 2011 Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, 2012 Assassin’s Creed III and 2013 Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. In fact, the trend continued after Black Flag, too; 2014 brought Assassin’s Creed: Rogue and the lamentable Assassin’s Creed: Unity, and 2015 Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate. And then, in a surprising move, Ubisoft announced that there would be no game in the franchise in 2016, opting rather to release a remastered version of Assassin’s Creed II.
That two year gap may be important, if trends are to be believed (and considering there was a two year gap before the release of the excellent Assassin’s Creed II). Because this year – two years after the release of Syndicate – Ubisoft have announced Assassin’s Creed: Origins.
Just before E3 2017, rumours started spreading about the game, and that it would be set in Ancient Egypt (a setting many fans have believed would be explored by the franchise sooner or later). And those rumours proved founded in truth - Assassin’s Creed: Origins will take place in Ptolemaic Egypt (a period that lasted from 323BC until 30BC). And it will also explore the origins of the shadowy Assassins, which there has been quite a bit of speculation about.
In Assassin’s Creed: Origins players will take on the role of Bayek, who is a Medjay (basically an Ancient Egyptian paramilitary force who had sweeping policing and protection duties). The players will use Bayek to protect his people from threats, although whether the Templars will be the main bad guys this time around (the order was established in 1129AD) remains to be seen. What we do know, however, is that taking out bad guys in Assassin’s Creed: Origins will be a little different.
Missions will build towards something that has been missing from the franchise – boss fights. And each boss fight will be different, forcing players to consider loadouts and tactics with each and every one, rather than just taking to the mission with their favourite kit. Additionally, mission completion will be freer than before… this time around, targets won’t just stroll around areas where players will expect to find them. Rather, they will have lives, meaning that they will travel between different locations at different times of day.
This means that the player will need to strategies and choose the best time to strike, adding a new level of freedom to mission completion. That, all on its own, is reason to get excited; this freedom will enable players to take advantage of differing conditions, and make each hit their own, rather than being shoe-horned into tighter situations.
Players will also be able to undertake missions at their own pace, which is a good thing when one considers that Assassin’s Creed: Origins offers an entire country to explore. There will be varied environments, ranging from lush, overgrown oases right through to desert landscapes. In addition, players will be able to discover and explore tombs and more, meaning that there is going to be a lot to do in Assassin’s Creed: Origins… just like there was in Black Flag.
And at the core of the action – in addition to great graphics and a number of expected new mechanics – will be an overhauled reactive combat system, as well as a host of new weapons that all have their own characteristics.
It is all rather exciting, particularly for fans of the franchise who have seen chinks appearing in its armour. But possibly one of the most exciting factors is one that is happening behind the scenes… and is the reason why Black Flag has been mentioned so often here. The team behind Assassin’s Creed: Origins is the same team that created Black Flag, an undeniable high point in the franchise’s history. That team brings with it not only the know-how that went into creating Black Flag, complete with its enormous playing area, but also the time that they have put in; Assassin’s Creed: Origins’ development started in 2014, not long after Black Flag was released.
Many Assassin’s Creed fans are suffering from “once bitten, twice shy”. The franchise’s misstep with Unity left a sour taste in many mouths, which many feel Syndicate did not do enough to change. But initial reports for Assassin’s Creed: Origins seem hopeful that the franchise will be aking a long overdue return to the heights achieved by Assassin’s Creed II and Black Flag… all we can do is hope that our upcoming adventures in Ancient Egypt will be what the franchise needs to return to its former glories.
The start of the Assassins
2013 saw the release of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, and it brought a lot of freshness to the franchise. See, up until that point, Assassin’s Creed had started treading familiar territory a little too much. The original game was something of a breath of fresh air when it first arrived, despite complaints about repetitive game play.
The second game – arguably the best in the franchise – took the series to fantastic new heights, spawning two great expansions as well. But by the time the third title came out, things were feeling a little stale. It didn’t help that, until the release of Assassin’s Creed: Unity (with its many, many bugs and issues) Assassin’s Creed 3, despite a strong story and a whole new setting, was considered by a great many to be the series’ lowest point. It lacked the depth of the second game, and the uniqueness of the first.
So when Black Flag hit shelves and afforded players to take on the pirate life, it made something of a splash. The hero wasn’t the noble Assassin that we had seen three times before, and the focus of the game was somewhat different. It was something of a triumph for a franchise that was becoming long in the tooth far too quickly.
This was perhaps also due to the fact that Assassin’s Creed had become a regular feature in the video game calendar. Other than a gap between the first two games, released in 2007 and 2009 respectively, the series has seen a major release in every year. 2010 brought Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, 2011 Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, 2012 Assassin’s Creed III and 2013 Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. In fact, the trend continued after Black Flag, too; 2014 brought Assassin’s Creed: Rogue and the lamentable Assassin’s Creed: Unity, and 2015 Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate. And then, in a surprising move, Ubisoft announced that there would be no game in the franchise in 2016, opting rather to release a remastered version of Assassin’s Creed II.
That two year gap may be important, if trends are to be believed (and considering there was a two year gap before the release of the excellent Assassin’s Creed II). Because this year – two years after the release of Syndicate – Ubisoft have announced Assassin’s Creed: Origins.
Just before E3 2017, rumours started spreading about the game, and that it would be set in Ancient Egypt (a setting many fans have believed would be explored by the franchise sooner or later). And those rumours proved founded in truth - Assassin’s Creed: Origins will take place in Ptolemaic Egypt (a period that lasted from 323BC until 30BC). And it will also explore the origins of the shadowy Assassins, which there has been quite a bit of speculation about.
In Assassin’s Creed: Origins players will take on the role of Bayek, who is a Medjay (basically an Ancient Egyptian paramilitary force who had sweeping policing and protection duties). The players will use Bayek to protect his people from threats, although whether the Templars will be the main bad guys this time around (the order was established in 1129AD) remains to be seen. What we do know, however, is that taking out bad guys in Assassin’s Creed: Origins will be a little different.
Missions will build towards something that has been missing from the franchise – boss fights. And each boss fight will be different, forcing players to consider loadouts and tactics with each and every one, rather than just taking to the mission with their favourite kit. Additionally, mission completion will be freer than before… this time around, targets won’t just stroll around areas where players will expect to find them. Rather, they will have lives, meaning that they will travel between different locations at different times of day.
This means that the player will need to strategies and choose the best time to strike, adding a new level of freedom to mission completion. That, all on its own, is reason to get excited; this freedom will enable players to take advantage of differing conditions, and make each hit their own, rather than being shoe-horned into tighter situations.
Players will also be able to undertake missions at their own pace, which is a good thing when one considers that Assassin’s Creed: Origins offers an entire country to explore. There will be varied environments, ranging from lush, overgrown oases right through to desert landscapes. In addition, players will be able to discover and explore tombs and more, meaning that there is going to be a lot to do in Assassin’s Creed: Origins… just like there was in Black Flag.
And at the core of the action – in addition to great graphics and a number of expected new mechanics – will be an overhauled reactive combat system, as well as a host of new weapons that all have their own characteristics.
It is all rather exciting, particularly for fans of the franchise who have seen chinks appearing in its armour. But possibly one of the most exciting factors is one that is happening behind the scenes… and is the reason why Black Flag has been mentioned so often here. The team behind Assassin’s Creed: Origins is the same team that created Black Flag, an undeniable high point in the franchise’s history. That team brings with it not only the know-how that went into creating Black Flag, complete with its enormous playing area, but also the time that they have put in; Assassin’s Creed: Origins’ development started in 2014, not long after Black Flag was released.
Many Assassin’s Creed fans are suffering from “once bitten, twice shy”. The franchise’s misstep with Unity left a sour taste in many mouths, which many feel Syndicate did not do enough to change. But initial reports for Assassin’s Creed: Origins seem hopeful that the franchise will be aking a long overdue return to the heights achieved by Assassin’s Creed II and Black Flag… all we can do is hope that our upcoming adventures in Ancient Egypt will be what the franchise needs to return to its former glories.
10 CREEPY VIDEO GAME URBAN LEGENDS
10 CREEPY VIDEO GAME URBAN LEGENDS
10 Lovender Town syndrome
In February 1996 Pokemon Red and Green for the Nintendo Gameboy was released in japan to wide acclaim, however not everything about its release was so positive. Allegedly around the same time as the game’ s release, there was a noticeable rise in children committing suicide or falling ill. The legend states that this was caused by the music played in the game when the protagonist reaches Lavender Town. The Lavender Town theme is believed to have featured extremely high frequencies which were only detectable by younger gamers. These frequencies caused headaches, self harm and mental illness in those who played the game, ultimately leading to an estimated 200 children killing themselves. The story concludes by saying that due to the scandal the Lavender Town theme was later changed by developers Nintendo to a lower tone, and in the Western version, the music was changed completely.
9. Squall is dead
Final Fantasy 8 is considered a classic in the long running Japanese franchise, however the plotline is not without rumor. At the end of the first disc, protagonist Squall squared up to the evil Sorceress Edea on a parade float. So far, so Final Fantasy. However during this battle Edea sends a shard of ice flying through the air and into Sqall’s chest, causing him to stumble and fall off the float, ending the duel. Yet when disc two starts up, Squall appears alive and unharmed. The legend goes that everything that happens in the game after this is Squall’s dying brain attempting to process information before it runs cut of oxygen. To add to this theory, the finale features a series of scenes that flash before the player’s eyes. These include blurred out details, the battle with Edea itself and, for a brief moment, an image of Squall with his face missing. The legend states that his brain is close to death and therefore forgetting his own image.
8. Polybius
In 1998 a post on the website coinop.org stated that in 1981 a new, addictive video game was installed in a Portland, Oregon arcade called Polybius. Polybius proved popular, however players soon began complaining of nausea, headaches, and nightmares after spending time playing the game. Soon after the Polybius cabinet was visited by strange men in black who allegedly unknown and unauthorized data gathered from the players. In 2013 the website Skeptoid conducted an investigation into whether Polybius actually existed. They found that while there was no record of any game called Polybius in or around Portland in 1981… …there were two cases of gamers collapsing with headaches and stomach pains on the same day. Ten days later federal agents raided video arcades throughout the Portland area in an attempt to break up a gambling racket operated by arcade owners. To prepare for this operation, undercover agents had indeed investigated arcade machines to try and collect evidence. While Polybius may not be true, the seeds of the legend were based in reality.
7. Morrowind’s mod
Morrowind is the highly popular and critically acclaimed third instalment in the Elder Scrolls franchise, yet that hasn’t stopped people making their own mods for the game. One mod, called Juk1166z.esp, at first appeared to do nothing except corrupt the game. However when run through an MS-DOS emulator the game takes a sinister tone, Major NPCs immediately died, their corpses littering the game. The remaining characters would appear briefly and only say “Watch the sky”. The player’s health would be draining constantly and dungeons would start displaying images from your computer. The mod didn’t just affect the game, it took control of your computer. Finally a long-limbed character called the Assassin would appear, who would hunt the player and shriek in piercing tone. The game screen would slowly become darker and darker until nothing could be seen at all. According to one player who allegedly played the mod he began to dream, and then hallucinate, about the Assassin.
6. Killswitch
A company called Karvina Corp is believed to have released a game called Killswitch in 1989. The game followed the story of Porto, a human woman, and Ghast, an invisible demon, as they attempt to unravel the mystery of the mine they find themselves trapped in. There was a twist however. Once played, the game wiped itself completely, preventing the game from being played ever again. As only 5,000 copies were produced, so the legend goes, this has led to brand new cartridges being extremely valuable. In 2005 Yamamoto Ryuichi bought a copy of the game for $733,000, with the intention of broadcasting the playthrough on YouTube. Yet to date Ryuichi has only posted one two minute long video of himself crying before the character selection screen. The legend suggests that the game sends people mad. However it is most likely false, as the earliest mention of any game from that period called Killswitch… …comes from a now abandoned website called Invisible Games which deals in creepypasta about fictional games.
5. Pokemon block
Pokemon Black was released as a companion to Pokemon White in 2010. However before that there was another Pokemon Black – a far more sinister and twisted version. The legend states that an unnamed man was digging around a flea market in 2005 when he came across a version of Pokemon Red which was pure black. The game played as normal to begin with, with Professor Oak giving you the usual choice of three starter pokemon and a fourth one called Ghost. Ghost was level one and capable of only one attack: Curse. Every battle played the same. The opponent was too scared to move, allowing Ghost to cast “curse”. Once cast the screen would go black and the distorted scream of the defeated pokemon would play. This could even be cast on the trainer themselves, ultimately killing them. If you survived, Ghost would appear at the end and battle you. The screen faded to black and rebooting the Gameboy, the save file would be wiped clean.
4. Sonic.exe
Everyone knows Sonic the Hedgehog as the bright and colorful Sega mascot but Creepypasta author JC the Hyena had other ideas. The legend went that a man known only as Tom received in the mail a CD from his missing friend Kyle, accompanied by a note telling him to destroy it. Tom played the CD to find a heavily modded version of Sonic the Hedgehog. The blue sea was now an ocean of red blood, the sky was overcast and Sonic himself had glowing red and bleeding eyes. As he played the game further it appeared that Sonic was violently torturing and murdering the inhabitants of the game. Eventually the game began communicating with Tom, asking whether he wanted to play a game of hide and seek and addressing him by name. The more Tome played, the more it became clear that Kyle had been sucked into the game by Sonic… …another victim to be toyed with, tortured and murdered by hedgehog with the demon eyes.
3. Herobrine
First released in 2011, Minecraft has become a global sensation. It has sold over 106 million copies and cost Microsoft $2.5 billion when it was bought in 2014. Yet if a post on 4cham is to be believed, the simple block building game hides a dark and sinister secret. In 2011 a post on the popular online bulletin board mentioned a blank eyed character walking around his single player world and deforesting the map. After his post was deleted from the messageboard a few times, he received a message from a fellow user called Herobrine with one word, “Stop”. It turns out ‘Herobrine’ was the gamertag of the brother of Minecraft’s lead developer Markus Person aka ‘Notch’. When pressed on the issue, he allegedly said he did have a brother, but he had died. Since then people have built and expanded on the legend, insisting there is a character called Herobrine haunting the game.
2. Ben drowned
In 2010 anther 4chan user called Jadusable claimed to own a haunted copy of the classic N64 game Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. Jadusable bought what he thought was a brand new game from an elderly gentleman, but when installed into his console he found only a saved game called ‘Ben’. When Jadusable attempted to start a new game, the NPCs continued to call his character Ben. When the saved game was deleted, the NPCs just ignored him altogether. A later post by his alleged former roommate stated that Jadusable was slowly sent mad by this game.
1. Pole luno
Pale Luma is a text based adventure game which required gamers to input commands in order to progress through the story. Yet unlike other text based games, Pale Luma appeared to crash if anything other than the correct command is entered leading many people to dismiss the game as a broken and buggy product. One player however, Michael Nevins, wasn’t going to be put off. After six hours of trial and error, Nevins reportedly go through to a congratulations screen and a set of coordinates. Being nearby Nevins allegedly set off to the park where the coordinates were to investigate. When he dug at the point indicated, he uncovered the decomposing head of Koren Pauisen an eleven year old gril who had gone missing a year and a half before. The developer of Pale Luna was never traced, and the rest of Karen’s body was never found.
10 Lovender Town syndrome
In February 1996 Pokemon Red and Green for the Nintendo Gameboy was released in japan to wide acclaim, however not everything about its release was so positive. Allegedly around the same time as the game’ s release, there was a noticeable rise in children committing suicide or falling ill. The legend states that this was caused by the music played in the game when the protagonist reaches Lavender Town. The Lavender Town theme is believed to have featured extremely high frequencies which were only detectable by younger gamers. These frequencies caused headaches, self harm and mental illness in those who played the game, ultimately leading to an estimated 200 children killing themselves. The story concludes by saying that due to the scandal the Lavender Town theme was later changed by developers Nintendo to a lower tone, and in the Western version, the music was changed completely.
9. Squall is dead
Final Fantasy 8 is considered a classic in the long running Japanese franchise, however the plotline is not without rumor. At the end of the first disc, protagonist Squall squared up to the evil Sorceress Edea on a parade float. So far, so Final Fantasy. However during this battle Edea sends a shard of ice flying through the air and into Sqall’s chest, causing him to stumble and fall off the float, ending the duel. Yet when disc two starts up, Squall appears alive and unharmed. The legend goes that everything that happens in the game after this is Squall’s dying brain attempting to process information before it runs cut of oxygen. To add to this theory, the finale features a series of scenes that flash before the player’s eyes. These include blurred out details, the battle with Edea itself and, for a brief moment, an image of Squall with his face missing. The legend states that his brain is close to death and therefore forgetting his own image.
8. Polybius
In 1998 a post on the website coinop.org stated that in 1981 a new, addictive video game was installed in a Portland, Oregon arcade called Polybius. Polybius proved popular, however players soon began complaining of nausea, headaches, and nightmares after spending time playing the game. Soon after the Polybius cabinet was visited by strange men in black who allegedly unknown and unauthorized data gathered from the players. In 2013 the website Skeptoid conducted an investigation into whether Polybius actually existed. They found that while there was no record of any game called Polybius in or around Portland in 1981… …there were two cases of gamers collapsing with headaches and stomach pains on the same day. Ten days later federal agents raided video arcades throughout the Portland area in an attempt to break up a gambling racket operated by arcade owners. To prepare for this operation, undercover agents had indeed investigated arcade machines to try and collect evidence. While Polybius may not be true, the seeds of the legend were based in reality.
7. Morrowind’s mod
Morrowind is the highly popular and critically acclaimed third instalment in the Elder Scrolls franchise, yet that hasn’t stopped people making their own mods for the game. One mod, called Juk1166z.esp, at first appeared to do nothing except corrupt the game. However when run through an MS-DOS emulator the game takes a sinister tone, Major NPCs immediately died, their corpses littering the game. The remaining characters would appear briefly and only say “Watch the sky”. The player’s health would be draining constantly and dungeons would start displaying images from your computer. The mod didn’t just affect the game, it took control of your computer. Finally a long-limbed character called the Assassin would appear, who would hunt the player and shriek in piercing tone. The game screen would slowly become darker and darker until nothing could be seen at all. According to one player who allegedly played the mod he began to dream, and then hallucinate, about the Assassin.
6. Killswitch
A company called Karvina Corp is believed to have released a game called Killswitch in 1989. The game followed the story of Porto, a human woman, and Ghast, an invisible demon, as they attempt to unravel the mystery of the mine they find themselves trapped in. There was a twist however. Once played, the game wiped itself completely, preventing the game from being played ever again. As only 5,000 copies were produced, so the legend goes, this has led to brand new cartridges being extremely valuable. In 2005 Yamamoto Ryuichi bought a copy of the game for $733,000, with the intention of broadcasting the playthrough on YouTube. Yet to date Ryuichi has only posted one two minute long video of himself crying before the character selection screen. The legend suggests that the game sends people mad. However it is most likely false, as the earliest mention of any game from that period called Killswitch… …comes from a now abandoned website called Invisible Games which deals in creepypasta about fictional games.
5. Pokemon block
Pokemon Black was released as a companion to Pokemon White in 2010. However before that there was another Pokemon Black – a far more sinister and twisted version. The legend states that an unnamed man was digging around a flea market in 2005 when he came across a version of Pokemon Red which was pure black. The game played as normal to begin with, with Professor Oak giving you the usual choice of three starter pokemon and a fourth one called Ghost. Ghost was level one and capable of only one attack: Curse. Every battle played the same. The opponent was too scared to move, allowing Ghost to cast “curse”. Once cast the screen would go black and the distorted scream of the defeated pokemon would play. This could even be cast on the trainer themselves, ultimately killing them. If you survived, Ghost would appear at the end and battle you. The screen faded to black and rebooting the Gameboy, the save file would be wiped clean.
4. Sonic.exe
Everyone knows Sonic the Hedgehog as the bright and colorful Sega mascot but Creepypasta author JC the Hyena had other ideas. The legend went that a man known only as Tom received in the mail a CD from his missing friend Kyle, accompanied by a note telling him to destroy it. Tom played the CD to find a heavily modded version of Sonic the Hedgehog. The blue sea was now an ocean of red blood, the sky was overcast and Sonic himself had glowing red and bleeding eyes. As he played the game further it appeared that Sonic was violently torturing and murdering the inhabitants of the game. Eventually the game began communicating with Tom, asking whether he wanted to play a game of hide and seek and addressing him by name. The more Tome played, the more it became clear that Kyle had been sucked into the game by Sonic… …another victim to be toyed with, tortured and murdered by hedgehog with the demon eyes.
3. Herobrine
First released in 2011, Minecraft has become a global sensation. It has sold over 106 million copies and cost Microsoft $2.5 billion when it was bought in 2014. Yet if a post on 4cham is to be believed, the simple block building game hides a dark and sinister secret. In 2011 a post on the popular online bulletin board mentioned a blank eyed character walking around his single player world and deforesting the map. After his post was deleted from the messageboard a few times, he received a message from a fellow user called Herobrine with one word, “Stop”. It turns out ‘Herobrine’ was the gamertag of the brother of Minecraft’s lead developer Markus Person aka ‘Notch’. When pressed on the issue, he allegedly said he did have a brother, but he had died. Since then people have built and expanded on the legend, insisting there is a character called Herobrine haunting the game.
2. Ben drowned
In 2010 anther 4chan user called Jadusable claimed to own a haunted copy of the classic N64 game Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. Jadusable bought what he thought was a brand new game from an elderly gentleman, but when installed into his console he found only a saved game called ‘Ben’. When Jadusable attempted to start a new game, the NPCs continued to call his character Ben. When the saved game was deleted, the NPCs just ignored him altogether. A later post by his alleged former roommate stated that Jadusable was slowly sent mad by this game.
1. Pole luno
Pale Luma is a text based adventure game which required gamers to input commands in order to progress through the story. Yet unlike other text based games, Pale Luma appeared to crash if anything other than the correct command is entered leading many people to dismiss the game as a broken and buggy product. One player however, Michael Nevins, wasn’t going to be put off. After six hours of trial and error, Nevins reportedly go through to a congratulations screen and a set of coordinates. Being nearby Nevins allegedly set off to the park where the coordinates were to investigate. When he dug at the point indicated, he uncovered the decomposing head of Koren Pauisen an eleven year old gril who had gone missing a year and a half before. The developer of Pale Luna was never traced, and the rest of Karen’s body was never found.
Best iOS games of 2014
Best iOS games of 2014
Lou Hattersley reveals the best games of 2014 If you got a new iPad, iPhone or iPod touch for Christmas, then you’ll want to know what the best games on the App Store are. This guide to the best games for iPad and iPhone has all the entertainment you need.
Last year was a bumper year for iOS gaming. It saw iOS gaming move up a gear and iPad and iPhone owners have a range of high quality games to choose from. In recent years iOS gaming has been mostly puzzle and indie games designed for the touchscreen, or console classics using on screen buttons and controls. Some of these have been amazing games, but in the last year we’ve seen superb games with high production values and impressive graphics designed specifi cally for the iPad and iPhone. These games are even better than those costing 10 times as much on other consoles.
Republique
Price ?2.99
Republique has only just been released on the App Store, but is such a good game we had to sneak it. This is a great example of a world-leading game that has been designed from the ground up for iOS. This Metal-Gear Solid-esque stealth game sees you viewing a complex through the CCTV cameras, and guiding a mysterious girl as she escapes. You guide her through the levels, tapping to tell her where to hide while tapping to control and hack the security systems. It has world-class visuals and a control scheme custom built for the iPad and iPhone’s touchscreen interface.
XCom: Enemy Unknown
Price: ?6.99
This tactical war game sees you controlling a squad of soldiers hunting, capturing and fighting aliens. It’s an almost perfect recreation of the console classic, and its controls work just as well on the iPad as on the big screen. In-between battles you can research and develop new weapons, armour and upgrade your squad. Decisions are all permanent too, so if you lose a member of your team in battle they’re gone forever. It’s a visual feast and the perfect game for armchair generals. One of the best games to arrive in 2013.
The Room Two
Price: ?2.99
The Room is a fantastic 3D puzzle game where you can pick up, examine and manipulate objects in a room. All with a view to escaping. It’s a good looking game but it’s the tactile nature of the experience that makes it special. You really get the feel that you can pick up and use the items in the room. The Room Two is a truly immersive game that tests your mental and spatial abilities.
Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic
Price: ?2.99
BioWare creates some of the most amazing roleplaying games in existence. Its Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic is one of the best that it’s ever made, and also one of the best Star Wars games. It’s set in the Star Wars universe, but you don’t play Luke or Han or any of the usual characters. The storyline is fantastic, you get a real sense that you choices have consequences, and the combat is surprisingly in-depth.
Deus Ex: The Fall
Price: 99p
Deus Ex is another console classic that has become a great iOS game in its own right. With huge environments this fi rst-person sci-fi shooter blends action with role-playing gameplay. While it features console controls translated to iOS it manages to do so with a level of quality beyond most other conversions (and even most games on any platform). More than anything this is an amazing game for the price. Well worth downloading.
Stealth Inc.
Price: ?2.99
Most of the our favourite games from 2013 are bombastic console classics with high quality visuals. But Stealth Inc is an indie classic developed for both the iPad, iphone and console machines at the same time. It’s a platform game, but has detailed stealth gameplay with you jumping around 80 levels. It’s sublimely easy to start out, but soon becomes devilishly challenging. It lacks the visual aplomb of other games here (apart from Papa Sangre, of course) but we love the cutesy visuals and fastpaced gameplay on display here.
Lou Hattersley reveals the best games of 2014 If you got a new iPad, iPhone or iPod touch for Christmas, then you’ll want to know what the best games on the App Store are. This guide to the best games for iPad and iPhone has all the entertainment you need.
Last year was a bumper year for iOS gaming. It saw iOS gaming move up a gear and iPad and iPhone owners have a range of high quality games to choose from. In recent years iOS gaming has been mostly puzzle and indie games designed for the touchscreen, or console classics using on screen buttons and controls. Some of these have been amazing games, but in the last year we’ve seen superb games with high production values and impressive graphics designed specifi cally for the iPad and iPhone. These games are even better than those costing 10 times as much on other consoles.
Republique
Price ?2.99
Republique has only just been released on the App Store, but is such a good game we had to sneak it. This is a great example of a world-leading game that has been designed from the ground up for iOS. This Metal-Gear Solid-esque stealth game sees you viewing a complex through the CCTV cameras, and guiding a mysterious girl as she escapes. You guide her through the levels, tapping to tell her where to hide while tapping to control and hack the security systems. It has world-class visuals and a control scheme custom built for the iPad and iPhone’s touchscreen interface.
XCom: Enemy Unknown
Price: ?6.99
This tactical war game sees you controlling a squad of soldiers hunting, capturing and fighting aliens. It’s an almost perfect recreation of the console classic, and its controls work just as well on the iPad as on the big screen. In-between battles you can research and develop new weapons, armour and upgrade your squad. Decisions are all permanent too, so if you lose a member of your team in battle they’re gone forever. It’s a visual feast and the perfect game for armchair generals. One of the best games to arrive in 2013.
The Room Two
Price: ?2.99
The Room is a fantastic 3D puzzle game where you can pick up, examine and manipulate objects in a room. All with a view to escaping. It’s a good looking game but it’s the tactile nature of the experience that makes it special. You really get the feel that you can pick up and use the items in the room. The Room Two is a truly immersive game that tests your mental and spatial abilities.
Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic
Price: ?2.99
BioWare creates some of the most amazing roleplaying games in existence. Its Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic is one of the best that it’s ever made, and also one of the best Star Wars games. It’s set in the Star Wars universe, but you don’t play Luke or Han or any of the usual characters. The storyline is fantastic, you get a real sense that you choices have consequences, and the combat is surprisingly in-depth.
Deus Ex: The Fall
Price: 99p
Deus Ex is another console classic that has become a great iOS game in its own right. With huge environments this fi rst-person sci-fi shooter blends action with role-playing gameplay. While it features console controls translated to iOS it manages to do so with a level of quality beyond most other conversions (and even most games on any platform). More than anything this is an amazing game for the price. Well worth downloading.
Stealth Inc.
Price: ?2.99
Most of the our favourite games from 2013 are bombastic console classics with high quality visuals. But Stealth Inc is an indie classic developed for both the iPad, iphone and console machines at the same time. It’s a platform game, but has detailed stealth gameplay with you jumping around 80 levels. It’s sublimely easy to start out, but soon becomes devilishly challenging. It lacks the visual aplomb of other games here (apart from Papa Sangre, of course) but we love the cutesy visuals and fastpaced gameplay on display here.
Best Android games
Best Android games
MARIE BLACK rounds up our favourite titles of all time
There are loads of round-ups of the best Android games on the web, so what makes ours different? Well, for a start, we’ve included not only the most recent trending titles, but also our favourite games of all time – the ones we routinely go back to, despite them being released several years ago. These games never get old.
We also recognize that sometimes you have to put your hand in your pocket if you want something truly special, so while the majority of the Android games in our list are free, there are a couple of paid-for games, too. On the subject of payment, you should be aware that even free games usually contain paid-for elements – extra coins or customization options, for example. If anyone other than you – perhaps a child – is going to be playing games on your phone then it’s worth checking they won’t be able to purchase any of these extras without your permission.
Launch the Google Play app and tap the three vertical lines at the top left of the window. Choose Settings, then scroll down to Require authentication for purchases and ensure this is set to ‘For all purchases through Google Play on this device’. Also in this Settings menu you’ll find an option to Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only, because some games are huge and can kill your data allowance. When downloading a large game from the Play store you should get a notification warning you and recommending that you turn on Wi-Fi. Anyway, on to the fun stuff.
Pok?mon Go
No best Android games list is complete without the phenomenon that is Pok?mon Go. True, it has lost some of its popularity since it debuted in summer 2016, but there are still some die-hard players out there, and thanks to continuous updates Niantic and The Pok?mon Company have managed to keep things fairly fresh.
This is an augmented-reality game, loved by anyone who has ever loved Pok?mon or anyone who is likely to get sucked into the hype of the latest trend. It will also appeal to competitive types, who can attempt to find the most, best and most powerful Pok?mon, then compete to win gyms (found at real-world places such as shopping centres and train stations).
Pok?mon are caught by throwing Pok?Balls at them, which can be collected from Pok?Stops in the nearby area. Pok?mon Go really encourages kids to get up and walk about – more so if they want to hatch their eggs – and some of the places they find Pok?mon can be fascinating. Pikachu sitting on the bathroom toilet? Quite possible.
A new batch of Pok?mon was recently released into the wild, which gave some respite to long-time Pok?mon Go players who had already ‘caught them all’. And now legendaries are coming, too. Other labels will still sync unless you turn them off. Thus, the messages will be available when you open the app. If some of your labels are of particular importance, you can also set them to notify on every new message instead of just once per label.
Minecraft Pocket Edition
Another Android game that will appeal to small- and big kids alike is Minecraft Pocket Edition, the mobile version of the Minecraft game played on PCs, laptops and consoles. It’s not free, but ?2.99 is a fair trade for the hours it will keep you or the kids entertained. If you’ve never heard of Minecraft, crawl out from under whichever rock you’re hiding. Minecraft is a construction sim with endless possibilities – if you can think of something you can build it. So it’s not just fun, it’s also creative and educational. Awesome.
Super Mario Run
If you’re into gaming then you have to try Super Mario Run. It’s the first Super Mario game for mobile ever released by Nintendo, and has now made its way to Android after being an App Store exclusive since December 2016. Super Mario Run is, as the name suggests, a runner game. There’s one-touch gameplay and simple mechanics, but if you’ve ever played Super Mario before you’ll know exactly what you’re doing. You need to jump over gaps and obstacles, collect coins and avoid enemies as you attempt to make your way to the end of the level.
There are three modes, with World Tour the one you’re most likely to recognize. Each world is split into three conventional levels and then a Bowzer’s Castle boss level. Toad Rally is a second mode in which you try to beat the performance of other players, while Kingdom Builder lets you spend your ill-gotten gains from the other two modes on creating your kingdom. You can add buildings and decorative elements, and basically anything that will impress the toads enough to have them move in. The more toads you have, the more stuff you can unlock.
The SIMs
The SIMs Mobile is coming soon to Android, and it is going to be AMAZING, much closer to the PC and Mac game than we’ve ever seen before.
(It’s worth pointing out that there is a way to get The SIMs Mobile now, but we’d recommend waiting for the final release in the UK.) Until it arrives you do have a few SIMs options. They’re not half as good as what we’re expecting from The SIMs Mobile, but they will allow you to get your SIMs fix. In the meantime we’d recommend The SIMs Freeplay, since if nothing else it won’t cost you a penny.
If you’ve never played The SIMs before, in essence you get to play God. You build and decorate homes, customize characters and experience every stage of their lives and everything that goes with that. You make the story whatever you want it to be.
Football Manager Mobile 2017
Of all the footie games available for Android right now, Football Manager Mobile is the most popular.
You can manage any club in 15 countries, taking charge of everything from who plays each game to tactics and transfers. New for the 2017 game are the ability to control leagues in Poland and Turkey, an improved user interface, the ability to search for and hire your own talent scouts, new transfer options and enhanced squad control.
Slither.io
If you’re an Android fan you’ll be more than aware of Nokia’s recent comeback to the market. But more exciting than its new Android phones was the return of its 17-year-old Nokia 3310, upgraded somewhat for life in 2017. It’s a cheap, virtually unbreakable phone, but what really got people excited was the return of Snake. If you’d rather keep your decent Android phone but really want to play Snake, know that Slither.io is a bit like Snake but so much better. It works in much the same way, but instead of walls you dodge other players’ snakes as your own snake becomes longer and longer.
Crossy Road
Here’s another one that’s popular partly because it harks back to our youth. Crossy Road is just like Frogger, except you’re not a frog. In fact you’re pretty much anything but a frog. The concept is the same: you have to get across the road unscathed, with cars, trucks, boats, animals, dinosaurs and anything else that could basically end your life doing their best to mow you down. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s one of the most addictive games we’ve played – you will get across the road if it’s the last thing you do.
Layton’s Mystery Journey
By far the most expensive Android game on our list, but Layton’s Mystery Journey will be a surefire hit with fans of the Nintendo 3DS Professor Layton puzzle game series. The Professor doesn’t star here, but you play his daughter Katrielle Layton in her search to find him in central London. As you’d expect there is a huge number of puzzles to complete, with additional minigames and daily puzzles too.
Jetpack Joyride
Jetpack Joyride is one of our all-time favourite Android games, on phone or tablet. You play Barry
Steakfries, and you ride your jetpack through an endless world collecting coins (with which you can buy new jetpacks, clothing and other bonuses), dodging missiles and zappers, and riding vehicles to see how far you can get. You can ride on the back of a dragon or a bird, defy gravity in a special suit, teleport across the screen, zoom off on a motorbike or crush nearby scientists with Lil Stomper. Achievements and challenges keep things interesting, whether they involve high-fiving a number of scientists, travelling a certain distance without touching the ceiling or floor, or dicing with death ducking in and out of the path of oncoming missiles.
Words with Friends
Words With Friends is Scrabble but with a social element, allowing you to play against your friends, random players or the computer. It’s largely targeted at the competitive among you, offering all manner of stats on why you’re a wordsmith legend that you can flash about. The need to wait for your opponent to make their move makes Words With Friends tedious at times for impatient types, and not something you can easily pick up and play whenever you have a spare five minutes. But finding that killer seven-letter word on a triple-word score makes it worth the wait. Words With Friends is one of those games people just know how to play, so little explanation is necessary. And it gives the grey matter a workout, so it gets our vote.
Plants vs Zombies 2
A tower-defence game loved by all, there are a few versions of Plants vs Zombies to download but all will keep you equally entertained. You play multiple levels in multiple worlds, each concluding with a boss level and each a slight variation on the same basic theme but with new zombies to attack and new plants at your disposal. In essence you must build an army of plants, with various types offering a different attack mechanism, whether that’s shooting peas or exploding in the face of the baddies, or just doing their best to stop them getting through. If you make it to the end of the level with no zombies passing you by, you move on to the next.
Dumb Ways To Die 2
The Dumb Ways to Die series is simple and addictive, with great artwork and fun characters that look a bit like Mr Men. Each has a propensity to dicing with death, and it’s your job to keep them alive.
As you might guess from the title, some of the ways these characters nearly meet their maker is pretty dumb. For each live you save you get 100 points and move on to the next mini-game, with an everincreasing level of difficulty.
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
This is console gaming for your smartphone (or tablet), and it’s surprisingly easy to play on a touchscreen. The San Andreas mobile game is full of all the fun things you get to do in the console titles – and not just jacking cars. You can shoot guns, fly planes, recruit gang members, pretty much anything that constitutes being up to no good. San Andreas is based on the story of Carl Johnson, living in a city rife with gangs, drugs and corruption.
His family and friends have hit rock bottom, with his mother murdered, his family in pieces, and his friends following totally the wrong path. Framed for homicide, Johnson is forced to take control. There’s more than 70 hours of gameplay here, which should just about make up for the fiver you have to pay out to download it.
Last Day on Earth: Survival
If you’re a fan of The Walking Dead you’re probably going to love this (although to be fair there are actual Walking Dead games from Telltale as well). A free MMORPG zombie shoot ‘em up, Last Day on Earth is set in 2027 and sees you doing your best to survive as long as possible in a world filled with enemies following a deadly plague virus pandemic. You can hone your strategy and survival skills, and create ever deadlier weapons as you traipse through abandoned military bases and survivor camps searching for new resources. Team up with other players, but be careful who you trust.
Asphalt 8: Airborne
No Android games round-up is complete without a proper racer, and Asphalt 8 is one of the better
known titles. You can drive some seriously sexy cars around 40 tracks covering everything from the Nevada Desert to Tokyo, and pull off some amazing stunts from barrel rolls to 360-degree jumps.
There are more than 190 cars to race, including the Lamborghini Veneno, Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1 and Porsche 911.
Hill Climb Racing 2
It’s another driving game, but a wee bit different to Asphalt. Hill Climb Racing involves you driving your 4x4 up hills, across bridges, down hills and then up more hills. Along the way you collect coins to upgrade your vehicle and fuel, with extra vehicles to unlock. Drive too slowly and you’ll run out of petrol; drive too quickly and you’ll inevitably flip over the vehicle and snap the poor hillbilly’s neck. At that point it’s game over and you start over again. Endless fun.
War Wings
If you’ve had your fill of puzzle games, endless runners, shoot ‘em ups and racing games, how about a spot of dogfighting, old chap? War Wings from MiniClip lets you compete against players worldwide as you take to the skies to bring down your enemies or simply mess around performing
stunts. It’s an awful lot of fun.
Super Stickman Golf 3
Now in its third edition, Super Stickman Golf is better than ever and a must for golf fans with loads of achievements to be won. There are new courses, new power-ups, new game modes, and a new spin mode. With 20 courses to play alone or with your friends, Super Stickman Golf 3 really lets you get your swing on. Set up your shot angle and power and do your best to get a hole in one. You’ll keep playing until it comes naturally.
Bejeweled Blitz!
It’s my list and I’m sticking Bejeweled Blitz! on it, okay? Bejeweled is a classic match-three puzzler, but with daily challenges, leader boards, boost items, special gems and more. You get 60 seconds to remove as many gems as possible from the board, with extra bonuses given for doing so at speed or matching more than three gems.
It’s easy to pick up and play whenever you get a spare minute, and its simplicity makes it an incredibly addictive time-waster. Integration with Facebook means you can compete against your friends, too.
Candy Crush Saga
You’d be forgiven for thinking people had forgotten about Candy Crush, which has to be one of the biggest and most popular mobile games of all time. Introduced by King in 2012, the developer reportedly made $493m in a three-month period, with more than 93 million players. But even today, it remains the second-highest grossing app on Google Play. Candy Crush Saga is a match-three puzzler, very similar to Bejeweled Blitz in our list before it. The difference here is you play through hundreds of levels rather than standalone one-minute games, each more complicated than the first. Some are timed, others require you to hit a minimum score, and Candy Crush Saga keeps mixing things up to keep you entertained. The ability to view where on the level map your Facebook friends sit is a major push, spurring you on to do better and get ahead.
Clash of Clans
Clash of Clans is another oldie that has stood the test of time. In essence you need to build a village that includes all the things required by your warring tribe, such as a town hall, a gold mine and an army camp. You keep on upgrading your village and unlocking more building types, which eventually allows you to take over the Clan Castle, upgrade your barracks and forge allegiances with other players. That’s when you can start to think about entering battle, but while the first few fights are easy the difficulty quickly ramps up. If you’re to survive you’re going to have to continually evolve your attack and defence, and carefully consider your decisions.
Bad Piggies
Bad Piggies is a spin-off from Angry Birds – another all-time classic Android game, or should we say franchise of games. Rather than focusing on the birds, this game is all about the pigs. Oink. Specifically, it’s an addictive and challenging puzzle game, in which you are given a range of materials and asked to build a contraption that will get your pig to the end of the level.
As you might expect there are loads of obstacles to counter, and different types of terrain to master. Which means it’s nowhere near as easy as it sounds, and some of the levels are downright difficult. As a result, you’ll never put it down.
MARIE BLACK rounds up our favourite titles of all time
There are loads of round-ups of the best Android games on the web, so what makes ours different? Well, for a start, we’ve included not only the most recent trending titles, but also our favourite games of all time – the ones we routinely go back to, despite them being released several years ago. These games never get old.
We also recognize that sometimes you have to put your hand in your pocket if you want something truly special, so while the majority of the Android games in our list are free, there are a couple of paid-for games, too. On the subject of payment, you should be aware that even free games usually contain paid-for elements – extra coins or customization options, for example. If anyone other than you – perhaps a child – is going to be playing games on your phone then it’s worth checking they won’t be able to purchase any of these extras without your permission.
Launch the Google Play app and tap the three vertical lines at the top left of the window. Choose Settings, then scroll down to Require authentication for purchases and ensure this is set to ‘For all purchases through Google Play on this device’. Also in this Settings menu you’ll find an option to Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only, because some games are huge and can kill your data allowance. When downloading a large game from the Play store you should get a notification warning you and recommending that you turn on Wi-Fi. Anyway, on to the fun stuff.
Pok?mon Go
No best Android games list is complete without the phenomenon that is Pok?mon Go. True, it has lost some of its popularity since it debuted in summer 2016, but there are still some die-hard players out there, and thanks to continuous updates Niantic and The Pok?mon Company have managed to keep things fairly fresh.
This is an augmented-reality game, loved by anyone who has ever loved Pok?mon or anyone who is likely to get sucked into the hype of the latest trend. It will also appeal to competitive types, who can attempt to find the most, best and most powerful Pok?mon, then compete to win gyms (found at real-world places such as shopping centres and train stations).
Pok?mon are caught by throwing Pok?Balls at them, which can be collected from Pok?Stops in the nearby area. Pok?mon Go really encourages kids to get up and walk about – more so if they want to hatch their eggs – and some of the places they find Pok?mon can be fascinating. Pikachu sitting on the bathroom toilet? Quite possible.
A new batch of Pok?mon was recently released into the wild, which gave some respite to long-time Pok?mon Go players who had already ‘caught them all’. And now legendaries are coming, too. Other labels will still sync unless you turn them off. Thus, the messages will be available when you open the app. If some of your labels are of particular importance, you can also set them to notify on every new message instead of just once per label.
Minecraft Pocket Edition
Another Android game that will appeal to small- and big kids alike is Minecraft Pocket Edition, the mobile version of the Minecraft game played on PCs, laptops and consoles. It’s not free, but ?2.99 is a fair trade for the hours it will keep you or the kids entertained. If you’ve never heard of Minecraft, crawl out from under whichever rock you’re hiding. Minecraft is a construction sim with endless possibilities – if you can think of something you can build it. So it’s not just fun, it’s also creative and educational. Awesome.
Super Mario Run
If you’re into gaming then you have to try Super Mario Run. It’s the first Super Mario game for mobile ever released by Nintendo, and has now made its way to Android after being an App Store exclusive since December 2016. Super Mario Run is, as the name suggests, a runner game. There’s one-touch gameplay and simple mechanics, but if you’ve ever played Super Mario before you’ll know exactly what you’re doing. You need to jump over gaps and obstacles, collect coins and avoid enemies as you attempt to make your way to the end of the level.
There are three modes, with World Tour the one you’re most likely to recognize. Each world is split into three conventional levels and then a Bowzer’s Castle boss level. Toad Rally is a second mode in which you try to beat the performance of other players, while Kingdom Builder lets you spend your ill-gotten gains from the other two modes on creating your kingdom. You can add buildings and decorative elements, and basically anything that will impress the toads enough to have them move in. The more toads you have, the more stuff you can unlock.
The SIMs
The SIMs Mobile is coming soon to Android, and it is going to be AMAZING, much closer to the PC and Mac game than we’ve ever seen before.
(It’s worth pointing out that there is a way to get The SIMs Mobile now, but we’d recommend waiting for the final release in the UK.) Until it arrives you do have a few SIMs options. They’re not half as good as what we’re expecting from The SIMs Mobile, but they will allow you to get your SIMs fix. In the meantime we’d recommend The SIMs Freeplay, since if nothing else it won’t cost you a penny.
If you’ve never played The SIMs before, in essence you get to play God. You build and decorate homes, customize characters and experience every stage of their lives and everything that goes with that. You make the story whatever you want it to be.
Football Manager Mobile 2017
Of all the footie games available for Android right now, Football Manager Mobile is the most popular.
You can manage any club in 15 countries, taking charge of everything from who plays each game to tactics and transfers. New for the 2017 game are the ability to control leagues in Poland and Turkey, an improved user interface, the ability to search for and hire your own talent scouts, new transfer options and enhanced squad control.
Slither.io
If you’re an Android fan you’ll be more than aware of Nokia’s recent comeback to the market. But more exciting than its new Android phones was the return of its 17-year-old Nokia 3310, upgraded somewhat for life in 2017. It’s a cheap, virtually unbreakable phone, but what really got people excited was the return of Snake. If you’d rather keep your decent Android phone but really want to play Snake, know that Slither.io is a bit like Snake but so much better. It works in much the same way, but instead of walls you dodge other players’ snakes as your own snake becomes longer and longer.
Crossy Road
Here’s another one that’s popular partly because it harks back to our youth. Crossy Road is just like Frogger, except you’re not a frog. In fact you’re pretty much anything but a frog. The concept is the same: you have to get across the road unscathed, with cars, trucks, boats, animals, dinosaurs and anything else that could basically end your life doing their best to mow you down. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s one of the most addictive games we’ve played – you will get across the road if it’s the last thing you do.
Layton’s Mystery Journey
By far the most expensive Android game on our list, but Layton’s Mystery Journey will be a surefire hit with fans of the Nintendo 3DS Professor Layton puzzle game series. The Professor doesn’t star here, but you play his daughter Katrielle Layton in her search to find him in central London. As you’d expect there is a huge number of puzzles to complete, with additional minigames and daily puzzles too.
Jetpack Joyride
Jetpack Joyride is one of our all-time favourite Android games, on phone or tablet. You play Barry
Steakfries, and you ride your jetpack through an endless world collecting coins (with which you can buy new jetpacks, clothing and other bonuses), dodging missiles and zappers, and riding vehicles to see how far you can get. You can ride on the back of a dragon or a bird, defy gravity in a special suit, teleport across the screen, zoom off on a motorbike or crush nearby scientists with Lil Stomper. Achievements and challenges keep things interesting, whether they involve high-fiving a number of scientists, travelling a certain distance without touching the ceiling or floor, or dicing with death ducking in and out of the path of oncoming missiles.
Words with Friends
Words With Friends is Scrabble but with a social element, allowing you to play against your friends, random players or the computer. It’s largely targeted at the competitive among you, offering all manner of stats on why you’re a wordsmith legend that you can flash about. The need to wait for your opponent to make their move makes Words With Friends tedious at times for impatient types, and not something you can easily pick up and play whenever you have a spare five minutes. But finding that killer seven-letter word on a triple-word score makes it worth the wait. Words With Friends is one of those games people just know how to play, so little explanation is necessary. And it gives the grey matter a workout, so it gets our vote.
Plants vs Zombies 2
A tower-defence game loved by all, there are a few versions of Plants vs Zombies to download but all will keep you equally entertained. You play multiple levels in multiple worlds, each concluding with a boss level and each a slight variation on the same basic theme but with new zombies to attack and new plants at your disposal. In essence you must build an army of plants, with various types offering a different attack mechanism, whether that’s shooting peas or exploding in the face of the baddies, or just doing their best to stop them getting through. If you make it to the end of the level with no zombies passing you by, you move on to the next.
Dumb Ways To Die 2
The Dumb Ways to Die series is simple and addictive, with great artwork and fun characters that look a bit like Mr Men. Each has a propensity to dicing with death, and it’s your job to keep them alive.
As you might guess from the title, some of the ways these characters nearly meet their maker is pretty dumb. For each live you save you get 100 points and move on to the next mini-game, with an everincreasing level of difficulty.
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
This is console gaming for your smartphone (or tablet), and it’s surprisingly easy to play on a touchscreen. The San Andreas mobile game is full of all the fun things you get to do in the console titles – and not just jacking cars. You can shoot guns, fly planes, recruit gang members, pretty much anything that constitutes being up to no good. San Andreas is based on the story of Carl Johnson, living in a city rife with gangs, drugs and corruption.
His family and friends have hit rock bottom, with his mother murdered, his family in pieces, and his friends following totally the wrong path. Framed for homicide, Johnson is forced to take control. There’s more than 70 hours of gameplay here, which should just about make up for the fiver you have to pay out to download it.
Last Day on Earth: Survival
If you’re a fan of The Walking Dead you’re probably going to love this (although to be fair there are actual Walking Dead games from Telltale as well). A free MMORPG zombie shoot ‘em up, Last Day on Earth is set in 2027 and sees you doing your best to survive as long as possible in a world filled with enemies following a deadly plague virus pandemic. You can hone your strategy and survival skills, and create ever deadlier weapons as you traipse through abandoned military bases and survivor camps searching for new resources. Team up with other players, but be careful who you trust.
Asphalt 8: Airborne
No Android games round-up is complete without a proper racer, and Asphalt 8 is one of the better
known titles. You can drive some seriously sexy cars around 40 tracks covering everything from the Nevada Desert to Tokyo, and pull off some amazing stunts from barrel rolls to 360-degree jumps.
There are more than 190 cars to race, including the Lamborghini Veneno, Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1 and Porsche 911.
Hill Climb Racing 2
It’s another driving game, but a wee bit different to Asphalt. Hill Climb Racing involves you driving your 4x4 up hills, across bridges, down hills and then up more hills. Along the way you collect coins to upgrade your vehicle and fuel, with extra vehicles to unlock. Drive too slowly and you’ll run out of petrol; drive too quickly and you’ll inevitably flip over the vehicle and snap the poor hillbilly’s neck. At that point it’s game over and you start over again. Endless fun.
War Wings
If you’ve had your fill of puzzle games, endless runners, shoot ‘em ups and racing games, how about a spot of dogfighting, old chap? War Wings from MiniClip lets you compete against players worldwide as you take to the skies to bring down your enemies or simply mess around performing
stunts. It’s an awful lot of fun.
Super Stickman Golf 3
Now in its third edition, Super Stickman Golf is better than ever and a must for golf fans with loads of achievements to be won. There are new courses, new power-ups, new game modes, and a new spin mode. With 20 courses to play alone or with your friends, Super Stickman Golf 3 really lets you get your swing on. Set up your shot angle and power and do your best to get a hole in one. You’ll keep playing until it comes naturally.
Bejeweled Blitz!
It’s my list and I’m sticking Bejeweled Blitz! on it, okay? Bejeweled is a classic match-three puzzler, but with daily challenges, leader boards, boost items, special gems and more. You get 60 seconds to remove as many gems as possible from the board, with extra bonuses given for doing so at speed or matching more than three gems.
It’s easy to pick up and play whenever you get a spare minute, and its simplicity makes it an incredibly addictive time-waster. Integration with Facebook means you can compete against your friends, too.
Candy Crush Saga
You’d be forgiven for thinking people had forgotten about Candy Crush, which has to be one of the biggest and most popular mobile games of all time. Introduced by King in 2012, the developer reportedly made $493m in a three-month period, with more than 93 million players. But even today, it remains the second-highest grossing app on Google Play. Candy Crush Saga is a match-three puzzler, very similar to Bejeweled Blitz in our list before it. The difference here is you play through hundreds of levels rather than standalone one-minute games, each more complicated than the first. Some are timed, others require you to hit a minimum score, and Candy Crush Saga keeps mixing things up to keep you entertained. The ability to view where on the level map your Facebook friends sit is a major push, spurring you on to do better and get ahead.
Clash of Clans
Clash of Clans is another oldie that has stood the test of time. In essence you need to build a village that includes all the things required by your warring tribe, such as a town hall, a gold mine and an army camp. You keep on upgrading your village and unlocking more building types, which eventually allows you to take over the Clan Castle, upgrade your barracks and forge allegiances with other players. That’s when you can start to think about entering battle, but while the first few fights are easy the difficulty quickly ramps up. If you’re to survive you’re going to have to continually evolve your attack and defence, and carefully consider your decisions.
Bad Piggies
Bad Piggies is a spin-off from Angry Birds – another all-time classic Android game, or should we say franchise of games. Rather than focusing on the birds, this game is all about the pigs. Oink. Specifically, it’s an addictive and challenging puzzle game, in which you are given a range of materials and asked to build a contraption that will get your pig to the end of the level.
As you might expect there are loads of obstacles to counter, and different types of terrain to master. Which means it’s nowhere near as easy as it sounds, and some of the levels are downright difficult. As a result, you’ll never put it down.
10 TECHNOLOGIES INSPIRED BY VIDEO GAMES
10 TECHNOLOGIES INSPIRED BY VIDEO GAMES
10. AUTO-AIM
American technology company TrackingPoint has developed a rifle with the ability to automatically aim at a target. In numerous games, from Mario Kart to World of Tanks, weapons lock onto particular targets, making it much harder to miss. TrackingPoint’s XS1 rifle includes a real-life tracking button that marks a target and follows it as it moves, ready to automatically fire at the optimum moment. It even accounts for wind speed and elevation to make it as accurate as possible. The rifle currently costs approximately $17,000.
9. CHARACTER CONTROL
One of the most definitive aspects of any video game is the ability to control the characters, determine where they go, and what decisions they make. Scientists at North Carolina State University’s iBionicS Lab have created technology that means remote-controlling real, living creatures may be possible. They have inserted wires into the brains of several cockroaches, which can be precisely steered using a computer. This technology can be adapted so the creatures could be used as first responders, reaching difficult locations during a disaster and identifying the locations of survivors.
8. PROGRAMMABLE GRENADES
The common hand grenade generally detonates on impact, but video game Gears of War offers players the option to control a grenade and explode it earlier. This game influenced the real-life creation of the XM25, a rocket launcher with programmable grenades. These grenades can be pre-set to explode at a specific point. They can even detonate mid-air, spraying shrapnel down on a target. The XM25 is already being used by a number of US Special Forces, and the army is considering wider usage. Sources: Army.mil, Ground Report, US News, Now Gamer.
7. VEHICLE ARMOR
Heavily-armored tanks are much more resilient than other vehicles. However, technology inspired by the Battlefield series has the potential to make them indestructible. In the game Battlefield 3, it is extremely difficult to destroy a tank, as they can survive multiple hits from a rocket launcher. In order to recreate this in reality, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is developing a vehicle armor system, know as the Iron Curtain. Using sensors around the tank to identify incoming threats, the Iron Curtain system creates an electric field around the tank, which is able to detonate the explosives before they can come into contact with the vehicle.
6. EXOSKELETONS
Exoskeletons are powered armor suits that offer an in-game character increased strength, protection, and endurance. They are a popular feature in games like Fallout. Fallout characters can wear exoskeletons that give them almost complete protection against ballistic weapons. Amazingly, recent scientific advancements mean that real-life exo-suits could be right around the corner. Exo-suits could have multiple useful functions, such as helping soldiers carry heavy loads, or allowing rescue workers to access dangerous environments. Technology companies Lockheed Martin and Sarcos have both developed working prototypes of powered exoskeletons for military purposes, but none have yet been deployed in the field.
5. HEAD-UP DISPLAY
In the majority of video games, such as Metroid Prime, the screen displays various nuggets of useful information, including a character’s health, score, or a map of the arena. This is not dissimilar to the technology of Google Glass, a headset that allows wearers to view text and images while going about their daily lives. The $1,500 device is internet-enabled, voice-activated, and can take photos. Researchers at South Korea’s Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology have also developed a smart contact lens with similar capabilities.
4. EXTRA LIVES
From classic arcade games like Pinball to PlayStation favorites like Crash Bandicoot, extra lives have been a staple of video gaming since it began. Remarkably, the technology is being developed to make extra lives a reality for humans. Russian billionaire Dmitry Itskov has plans to build an android body by the year 2045, which could be installed with an individual’s personality and memories. This could mean that a person could get a second chance to live after death. Itskov claims that the necessary technologies for this project already exist and is confident that his life extension initiative will work.
3. INVISIBILITY CLOAK
In Crysis, gamers can utilize ‘Cloak’ mode, which renders the game’s character, Nomad, invisible. Scientists at the University of Central Florida are now on the verge of creating a real-life equivalent of this invisibility cloak. The real-life invisibility cloak is covered with nano antennas. These stop light bouncing off it and bend the light around whatever the cloak is covering, preventing eyes from seeing it. At the moment, the cloak only works on minuscule objects. However, experiments are underway to extend its use, potentially making a cloak big enough to hide a human.
2. POWER-UPS
From the power pellets in Pac-Man to the Super Mushroom in Super Mario Bros., nearly all video games include power-ups that give characters extra abilities. The closest the real world can get to such items is with drugs. The drug Modafinil, originally developed as a treatment for narcolepsy, is a strong potential candidate. It can help an individual stay awake for 40 hours, while retaining mental capacities. It is currently being studied by the US Air Force to help fighter pilots who regularly need to stay alert for long stretches of time.
1. MEDPACS
Emergency medical care in the video game universe is much more instant than in real life. In Star Wars: The Old Republic, an injured character can be treated with even a basic medpac, which will immediately heal their non-fatal wounds. And we may be surprisingly close to real-world medpacs. American inventor and biomedical engineer Joe Landolina invented Vetigel, a gel that can be used to instantly stop bleeding when squirted onto a wound. It works by rapidly binding cells together and encouraging the body’s natural clotting ability.
10. AUTO-AIM
American technology company TrackingPoint has developed a rifle with the ability to automatically aim at a target. In numerous games, from Mario Kart to World of Tanks, weapons lock onto particular targets, making it much harder to miss. TrackingPoint’s XS1 rifle includes a real-life tracking button that marks a target and follows it as it moves, ready to automatically fire at the optimum moment. It even accounts for wind speed and elevation to make it as accurate as possible. The rifle currently costs approximately $17,000.
9. CHARACTER CONTROL
One of the most definitive aspects of any video game is the ability to control the characters, determine where they go, and what decisions they make. Scientists at North Carolina State University’s iBionicS Lab have created technology that means remote-controlling real, living creatures may be possible. They have inserted wires into the brains of several cockroaches, which can be precisely steered using a computer. This technology can be adapted so the creatures could be used as first responders, reaching difficult locations during a disaster and identifying the locations of survivors.
8. PROGRAMMABLE GRENADES
The common hand grenade generally detonates on impact, but video game Gears of War offers players the option to control a grenade and explode it earlier. This game influenced the real-life creation of the XM25, a rocket launcher with programmable grenades. These grenades can be pre-set to explode at a specific point. They can even detonate mid-air, spraying shrapnel down on a target. The XM25 is already being used by a number of US Special Forces, and the army is considering wider usage. Sources: Army.mil, Ground Report, US News, Now Gamer.
7. VEHICLE ARMOR
Heavily-armored tanks are much more resilient than other vehicles. However, technology inspired by the Battlefield series has the potential to make them indestructible. In the game Battlefield 3, it is extremely difficult to destroy a tank, as they can survive multiple hits from a rocket launcher. In order to recreate this in reality, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is developing a vehicle armor system, know as the Iron Curtain. Using sensors around the tank to identify incoming threats, the Iron Curtain system creates an electric field around the tank, which is able to detonate the explosives before they can come into contact with the vehicle.
6. EXOSKELETONS
Exoskeletons are powered armor suits that offer an in-game character increased strength, protection, and endurance. They are a popular feature in games like Fallout. Fallout characters can wear exoskeletons that give them almost complete protection against ballistic weapons. Amazingly, recent scientific advancements mean that real-life exo-suits could be right around the corner. Exo-suits could have multiple useful functions, such as helping soldiers carry heavy loads, or allowing rescue workers to access dangerous environments. Technology companies Lockheed Martin and Sarcos have both developed working prototypes of powered exoskeletons for military purposes, but none have yet been deployed in the field.
5. HEAD-UP DISPLAY
In the majority of video games, such as Metroid Prime, the screen displays various nuggets of useful information, including a character’s health, score, or a map of the arena. This is not dissimilar to the technology of Google Glass, a headset that allows wearers to view text and images while going about their daily lives. The $1,500 device is internet-enabled, voice-activated, and can take photos. Researchers at South Korea’s Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology have also developed a smart contact lens with similar capabilities.
4. EXTRA LIVES
From classic arcade games like Pinball to PlayStation favorites like Crash Bandicoot, extra lives have been a staple of video gaming since it began. Remarkably, the technology is being developed to make extra lives a reality for humans. Russian billionaire Dmitry Itskov has plans to build an android body by the year 2045, which could be installed with an individual’s personality and memories. This could mean that a person could get a second chance to live after death. Itskov claims that the necessary technologies for this project already exist and is confident that his life extension initiative will work.
3. INVISIBILITY CLOAK
In Crysis, gamers can utilize ‘Cloak’ mode, which renders the game’s character, Nomad, invisible. Scientists at the University of Central Florida are now on the verge of creating a real-life equivalent of this invisibility cloak. The real-life invisibility cloak is covered with nano antennas. These stop light bouncing off it and bend the light around whatever the cloak is covering, preventing eyes from seeing it. At the moment, the cloak only works on minuscule objects. However, experiments are underway to extend its use, potentially making a cloak big enough to hide a human.
2. POWER-UPS
From the power pellets in Pac-Man to the Super Mushroom in Super Mario Bros., nearly all video games include power-ups that give characters extra abilities. The closest the real world can get to such items is with drugs. The drug Modafinil, originally developed as a treatment for narcolepsy, is a strong potential candidate. It can help an individual stay awake for 40 hours, while retaining mental capacities. It is currently being studied by the US Air Force to help fighter pilots who regularly need to stay alert for long stretches of time.
1. MEDPACS
Emergency medical care in the video game universe is much more instant than in real life. In Star Wars: The Old Republic, an injured character can be treated with even a basic medpac, which will immediately heal their non-fatal wounds. And we may be surprisingly close to real-world medpacs. American inventor and biomedical engineer Joe Landolina invented Vetigel, a gel that can be used to instantly stop bleeding when squirted onto a wound. It works by rapidly binding cells together and encouraging the body’s natural clotting ability.
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