Ubisoft has confirmed that Rayman Legends will be coming to the PS Vita. This version of the game includes five exclusive levels in which players guide Murphy by using the system’s Rear Touch Pad.
Rayman Legends for PS Vita will also have local co-op on Vita, allowing players to team up over a Wi-Fi connection, with online leaderboards and a set of online competitive challenges. As an added bonus, the game will also have the Ubisoft Montpelier-designed costumes of Rayman in a Prince of Persia-themed outfit and Globox in a spy suit inspired by the Splinter Cell series.
Sega has announced the Company of Heroes 2 Red Star Edition. This special edition will come in exclusive steel book packaging when the game releases on PC June 25.
Company of Heroes 2 Red Star Edition will include the vehicle skin combo pack that unlocks 24 historically accurate new skins for the multiplayer mode, with the Soviet Commander and an additional five multiplayer commanders that can be unlocked post launch with the bundled Commander Pass. The original Company of Heroes, as well as expansions Opposing Fronts and Tales of Valor, will be also be bundled, along with a Theater of War mini pack and two new multiplayer Commanders for each faction.
Earlier this week viral content site BuzzFeed and CNN launched a joint YouTube channel which is slated to feature videos from CNN’s archival footage along with current content, all designed to be shared via social media.
According to The Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed, which sees 18 million monthly unique visitors, aims to add more news content to its already contagiously popular pop-culture website, while CNN which reportedly sees 60 million monthly unique visitors, will cash in on BuzzFeed’s sweet spot of 18 to 34-year-old readers.
BuzzFeed already maintains a considerable presence in the digital video realm through a half-dozen dedicated YouTube channels, but the new partnership with CNN is its most comprehensive so far with a traditional media company.
“There has been a massive cultural shift in how people, particularly young people, consume news and entertainment and Ze [Frank] and his team are tapping into the next generation of video production and consumption,” said BuzzFeed president and COO Jon Steinberg.
Initially, the new platform will be ad-free but that will eventually change.
“The more agile way to do it is to launch without letting advertising products dictate editorial content. BuzzFeed and CNN will figure out ways to do various ad formats and sponsored content down the road,” said Steinberg.
For Buzzfeed, the new partnership means more expansion. The company plans to hire 30 more employees to work in a new Los Angeles, CA studio.
Below is the first video on the channel, which is a mash up of famous rescue moments originally broadcast on CNN.
Star Trek Online recently launched its largest expansion in its history in Legacy of Romulus, adding the Romulans as a platyable faction and race to the game. This epic launch trailer is a call to arms for Romulans to rise from the ashes to fight for freedom
Much time has passed since the release of the first Company of Heroes, so it’s perhaps appropriate that the sequel is being billed as “a new warfare experience”. Go above the battlefield and command an army on foot, by vehicle, and by air.
Kang Zhi Ba, a Chinese pharmaceuticals brand, launched this TV spot right around the time that Iron Man 3 came out in theaters. The most bizarre part of this is that the ad is for Norfloxacin capsules, designed to treat urinary tract infections as well as typhoid fever, intestinal infections and gonorrhea.
The eighth Humble Indie Bundle has launched and its already off to a flying start. Over 220,000 people have bought the bundle over the period of a couple days, pulling in over $1.2 million with roughly 12 days remaining.
Humble Indie Bundle 8 includes Thomas Was Alone, Little Inferno, Awesomenauts, Capsized and Dear Esther, along with soundtracks for most of the games. Those that donate over the median will also receive Hotline Miami and Proteus.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has indicated that the company has “game changing” products in the works right now. Areas that he singled out include television and wearable computing.
“What we have to do is focus on products,” Cook said. “If we do that right, if we make great products that enrich people’s lives, then the other things will happen.”
Cook seemed particularly interested in something like an iWatch device. “What’s most interesting is that Tim Cook spent much time talking about the future of wearable devices,” said Kuo Mingchi, an analyst covering the Apple supply chain at KGI Securities Co. in Taipei. “Wearable devices would complete the Apple ecosystem, yet the technology is not yet mature enough.”
In the realm of eyewear, Cook noted some difficulties. “People that do wear them generally want them to be light, to be unobtrusive,” said Cook. “They probably want them to reflect their fashion.”
There have been nine acquisitions by Apple in the current fiscal year, and there might even be a large purchase in the future. “We’re not currently looking at a big one, but we’re not opposed to doing that if it makes sense,” he said.
Cook has a more collaborative nature than Steve Jobs, though he notes that the two share a vision for maintaining Apple’s culture. “The most important things are the same,” Cook said.
Google has announced that they are redesigning the Gmail inbox. The new change delivers incoming emails in five different categories: primary, social, promotions, updates and forums.
This move is designed to ease the process of sorting emails by allowing users to see what’s new in the inbox at a glance. It’s a feature that many of Gmail’s more than 425 million users have been looking for.
“We get a lot of different types of email: messages from friends, social notifications, deals and offers, confirmations and receipts, and more,” said product manager Itamar Gila. “All of these emails can compete for our attention and make it harder to focus on the things we need to get done. Sometimes it feels like our inboxes are controlling us, rather than the other way around.”
The primary category has messages from friends and family, while social has messages from social networks, online dating services, gaming platforms and so on. In promotions are deals, offers and other similar emails and updates haas bills, statements, receipts and confirmations while forums have messages from discussion boards, mailing lists and the like.
Users can choose to sort your mail with all five categories or remove any that don’t work. The new categories will appear as different tabs in the inbox.
The new inbox will roll out over the next few weeks. Users can opt out and switch to “classic” view or to another inbox type.
The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series was a seminal moment for both the series and gaming in general. Despite this, Infinity Ward executive producer Mark Rubin indicated that the studio was eager to do something new with the next entry in the franchise.
“[It was] not a hard decision, but a long decision. When we finished Modern Warfare 3, we had this big brainstorming session that lasted for weeks. We all really knew we wanted to continue making Call of Duty. We wanted to create a new universe, or a new story at least. We wanted new characters and new experiences,” said Rubin. “The easy thing would have been – as we had finished the arc of Modern Warfare 1, 2 and 3 – to start a new arc within that same universe. That was the first step. But due to a lot of the changes we wanted to make with this new world, it really dictated out that we needed to make something that wasn’t Modern Warfare.”
“From a gameplay standpoint, we never felt hindered by the generation or the consoles or the tech,” added Rubin. “We always felt gameplay isn’t tech-dependant necessarily. But this new tech allows us to make those worlds that we are playing in more realistic. We always try to make it so the player always feels naturally involved in the world around them. The more realistic and natural the environment, the more the player’s imagination melds with that game.”
