They also introduced their new online services which, for the first time, will be paid, but they will be free until 2017th’s fall. The good thing about this is that each month we will be able to enjoy a free game and exclusive offers. They have also removed the Region Lock, that characterized the last Nintendo consoles, which implies that we will be able to play any game, independently of the region.

Regarding the autonomy, the battery will last between 2h 30min and 6h, depending on the game. The internal memory will be of 32GB and it could be expanded with a microSD, it will sport a 6.2 inch screen with a resolution of 1280×720.

They presented two new Joy-Con in neon blue and neon red, along with the grey one. They also introduced the Pro controller, a more professional controller that remind us of the PlayStation and Xbox ones.

Something to highlight is the parental control of the console. Although it is not a new feature, since it is a familiar console and already offered that in previous consoles, this time it allows us to control the gameplay time and control it through the mobile application.

With the console, they presented various titles that will be available since the launch. You have a link to the Nintendo store to check the already confirmed titles and the ones that will be appearing.

We have already pre-ordered ours and we really want to try it, do you have yours already pre-ordered?, if not… what are you waiting for?

For example the novels, manga, anime and videogames of the Sword Art Online saga, more known as SAO, take place in 2022 where the virtual reality allows to play online multiplayer role games through the NerveGear, a virtual reality headset that is able to stimulate the 5 senses with only the brain impulses. So, the people play with an avatar totally controlled by their brain and they are able to feel everything that the avatar feels, moreover the most fascinating thing is that the game takes place in a multiplayer world common for everyone.

Can you imagine arriving at home and entering into a totally different world? Unfortunately, we still don’t have a headset such as the NerveGear that allow us a full dive immersion, but… How could this be achieved with the technology that we have nowadays?

Easy, we just need the following ingredients:

1. Device that allow us to visually immerse in the game.
2. Surrounding sound in order to feel a deeper game immersion.
3. Device to control the game.
4. Virtual World.

So far so good, but let’s see how could we simulate an experience similar to SAO’s.

1. Virtual reality headsets, nowadays we count with a wide range in the market such as the Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive.
2. Headphones with 7.1 (surround) and active noise cancelation. This point is not a problem, since we count with a wide range of headphones that meet the requirements.
3. Devices that capture the movement (with the player in a fixed point). This is more complicated because we don’t have any solution that interprets precisely the brain impulses. But we could come up with other solutions combining several devices such as the Myo Gesture Control armband, the Virtuix Omni, the Razer Hydra or the Leap Motion, among others.
4. As for the virtual world we count with several projects, despite they don’t consist on VRMMO games like SAO. They can be better or worse, but the most similar would be games such as Eve Online, No Man’s Sky or the ambitious project Dual Universe.

Curiously, there was a project called “Sword Art Online: The Beginning” sponsored by IBM Japan, that consisted on an event in which they pretended to get us closer to the world of SAO by using current technologies.

We hope that in the future we will be able to immerse into a virtual world and this doesn’t remain in just a dream. Would you like it?

Between the 27th to the 29th of the last month, we took part in the Ludum Dare 36 the biggest online videogame development competition all over the world, where contestants have to create a game based in a theme published at the start of the competition. There are two categories: the Compo, that consists in developing a game individually creating all the content in 48h, and the Jam, that consists in developing a game individually or in teams in 72h.

We took part in the Jam, the give theme was “Ancient technology” so we spent three days working hard and “Ancient Treasures” was born, a 2D platformer puzzle game, where you play as a pyramid raider and look for all the hidden treasures, but it won’t be that easy since the pyramid is full of traps and enemies. The team was formed by us, Mandarine Studio, where Joel did the code and Clara the art of the game.

It was such an intense weekend, we learnt a lot and we are really proud of the final result, although we are aware that the game has several errors and there are several improvements that could be added, this is why we’d love to know your opinion in order to improve it. Here you got a link to our Ludum Dare entry and a demo of the game.

Now we can come back to that period thanks to the Ness Classic Edition, Nintendo’s bet that will bring us back to the ’80s and allow us to relive (or enjoy for the first time) those classics that marked the videogames world. It consists on a little console with the same shape as the original but with a reduced size, it could even be considered portable.

The console will be plugged onto our televisions with an HDMI cable and it will be plugged to the power supply through an USB cable, something that will allow us to connect it anywhere. In the frontal side of the console, we will find two connectors for the new controllers, which we can also connect into the WiiMote in order to use them with the NES Virtual Console games from Wii and Wii U.

Despite it is connected to the television through HDMI, we also have several options in the console that will allow us to see the screen in a retro format as if it was an old CRT monitor, in a “perfect pixel” mode that will show each pixel as a square and, finally, an adaptation of the 4:3 screen format.

The Mini NES will include 30 confirmed games, including popular series such as Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Metroid, Kirby, The Legend of Zelda, Castlevania, etc. We will have permanent checkpoints, and we will also count with instant and temporal file savings, with which we will be able to resume the game in the exact point where we left it, with no need to use the permanent checkpoints.

The console will launch on the 11th of November from 2016 with a cost of $59.99. We have already booked it and we are eager to try it!

This is why Hyperkin has created an accessory for our Android phones, the Smartboy, a device with which we’ll be able to relive those moments by using our cellphones and an original Game Boy or Game Boy Color cartridge and it’s compatible with NTSC and PAL cartridges, so we’ll be able to play cartridges from any region.

This device, which was initially announced as an April’s Fools’ Day joke, connects to our Android cellphone through the USB port in OTG mode, it is compatible with mobile phones from 5 to 6 inches and requires Android KitKat (4.4.4) at least in order to be used. They are also researching the possibility of bringing the device to iPhone (as they announced during the April’s Fools’ Day) if the reception is positive and if the platforms allows it, since interacting with external devices and developing applications is easier in Android than in iOS.

But this doesn’t end up here, the device that they are currently selling its a development kit, so they offer us the source code of the firmware and an open source application that allows us to download the firmware to the device board. The current price is $59.99 and it is expected to launch in December of 2016.

Despite it is still under development, it is a very promising device and it can open the doors to a whole new market of devices that will allow us to play our classics.

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is a reboot of the original game from 2008, in which we’ll be able to explore Glass, a very modern and cosmopolitan city, controlling Faith Connors, an intrepid runner with which we’ll live her beginnings and evolution, while we uncover a dark secret hidden in Glass.

We find a game that offers us an open world, we’ll be able to explore the world freely, with no need to follow levels and a linear story (like in the original game), doing parkour and stunts through the city roofs. But we won’t only have to run and jump, the game also counts with a new fighting system, with which we will be able to face our enemies with melee attacks, but without using guns, this way they have given a different approach to fights regarding the 2008 game.

Finally, it offers us Social Play, a new approach to the multiplayer mode. The game doesn’t count with a real time cooperative or competition mode, but it offers the possibility of an asynchronous multiplayer mode, in which the actions of other players affect directly to the world of other players. Some examples of this system would be the Time Trials in which times aren’t predefined by DICE and the possibility that external players can place Beat Location Emitters, some objects that the player will have to find.

We think that Mirror’s Edge Catalyst will be a great game that will be on everybody’s lips. The fact that it is an open world game offers an incredible wide range of possibilities to overcome the missions. The game is already available to try during 6 hours for all the EA members that have an Origin Access account. What is clear is that we are going to give it a try, we really enjoyed the previous game and we are sure that this new title won’t let us down.

The game is being developed by The Pokémon Company together with Niantic Labs, an intern Alphabet startup, that you may know because of another of their games called Ingress.

Pokémon GO combines the virtual Pokémon world with the real world. The game consists on exploring the real world looking for locations where you can find Pokémon to catch, train and evolve in order to become a Pokémon master. Some Pokémon can just be found in certain locations, for example, Water-type Pokémon may appear only near lakes and oceans. We can also find PokéStops located at interesting places like museums, historical markers and other interesting points, where we’ll find Pokéballs and other objects, even some times, Pokémon Eggs. Finally, at a certain point of the game you’ll have to join one of three teams and you’ll be able to fight the gyms of the contrary teams, placed in real locations, and you could also assign a Pokémon to one of your team’s gym to fight against all the rivals.

In order to improve the game experience, they have developed a tiny gadget, the Pokémon GO Plus, which will allow us to be aware of the game without needing to be aware of our smartphone, because it will vibrate and illuminate to notify different events, such as finding a Pokémon.

Currently we can find gameplays of the game or even the Niantic company has shown some screenshots of the game. The company has also given access to the closed beta to some players in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and USA, we hope to have access to the game soon.

Although they have warned us that the game is still in active development, it seems to be a very promising and ambitious game, that will hook lots of people for sure. So you know: Gotta catch ’em all!

1. Monument Valley

Monument Valley is a game you must play. It’s a classic, and you’ll love it for its aesthetic and its ingenious puzzles and perspective games (if you know M. C. Escher and his impossible perspectives, you can get an idea of what we mean). The player’s goal is to direct the main character, a princes, through the game mazes, which are formed by optical illusions and impossible objects, the trick is to manipulate the world that surrounds her in order to reach all the platforms.
This game is available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

2. Lara Croft GO

Lara Croft GO is a great game, we loved Relic Run, but Square Enix made us fall in love with this game. It is a puzzle, turn-based game where Lara will have to avoid obstacles and manipulate the environment. And if you like this kind of games, you will like Hitman GO for sure, its descendent, we also have great news, as it seems that Square Enix has registered the names of Just Case GO, Life is Strange GO, Deus Ex GO, Thief GO and Tomb Raider GO, so we will probably enjoy more games of this style soon.
This game is avalable for iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows and Windows Phone.

3. Limbo

Limbo is a must play game with a really well-cared and minimalistic aesthetic, that is characterized by its black and white achromatic range accompanied with light effects and grey shadows. It’s a puzzle-platform game, which takes place in a hostile environment where the player has to guide a kid, whose name is unknown, through the stages while avoiding hidden traps.
This game is available for Xbox 360 (XLA), PlayStation 3 (PSN), Microsoft Windows, Linux, OS X (Steam), iOS and Android.

4. Adventures of Poco Eco: Lost Sounds

Adventures of Poco Eco is a precious game, with an aesthetic that takes care of even the minimum detail, which can remind us of Monument Valley, due its perspectives and game mode. Also, the protagonist Poco Eco is lovely, the game’s main objective is to help him to find the lost sounds, because we are in a universe where all sounds have disappeared. Personally, we really like the game’s simplicity and the lowpoly models, which create stages and characters as interesting as Poco Eco, here you got a link that will allow you to download your own Poco Eco so that it accompanies you in your adventures.
This game is available for iOS and Android.

5. Alto’s adventure

Alto’s Adventure is a snowboarding infinite runner that takes place in an ethereal atmosphere with a minimalistic and well-cared aesthetic, you will love the views and how it varies the scene colour range while we progress through the game simulating the course of the time. The game consists on catching the llamas that have ran away from the protagonist, Alto, whether controlling him or his friends, while you do spins, grind through rooftops, jump over vertiginous cliffs and mock the mountain elders, while you avoid obstacles and the difficult that implies the course of the time in the mountain.
This game is available for iOS and Android.

6. Badland

Badland is a platform game that takes place in a forest fraught with trees, flowers and special creatures. The aesthetic is the first appealing thing, it is similar to Limbo’s one, but the difference is that it has a more colorful colour palette, combined with the stage that it is placed on the foreground and the main character in black, something that creates a unique atmosphere. Despite, apparently the stage looks magic, as if it was part of a fairy tale, the truth is that it’s happening something dark in that forest, where the player will have to discover what’s going on while avoiding traps and obstacles. Moreover, it should be noted that the game offers a multiplayer mode where up to 4 players can play with the same device, and it consists on the law of the jungle, where only the best survives and it also offers the possibility to play your own levels or the ones created by the community.
This game is available for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Wii U, PlayStation Vita, iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10.

7. Lost Journey

Lost Journey is an adventure, puzzle and elements collecting game. The main character is a girl who tries to uncover her past and explores through an extraordinary trip in order to discover the truth step by step. But there are two things that make this game so special and characterizes it, the first one is its innovative game mode, since the girl can use the “parallel time” in order to rotate the world and use certain objects to avoid obstacles or even to cooperate with herself, so there are no space-time limits, we can rotate the world and even revert the gravity. And the second one is that it is characterized by its precious graphics, which give an incredible visual experience to the game.
The game is available for iOS, Android and Xbox One.

8. Transistor

Transistor is an action and science fiction RPG where the player controls the main character, Red, while traveling through an amazing futuristic city and fights against the enemies, something that will require a great strategy from the user side, while discovering the mysteries of Transistor.
This game is available for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, OS X, Linux and iOS.

9. Rayman Adventures

Rayman has come back in style with Rayman Adventures, a classic Rayman for mobile devices, but unlike the previous games, we have no exploration limit in the map, we can go to anywhere we want to and it can be controlled completely with gestures with no need to use buttons. It’s an adventure and platform game whose protagonist is Rayman and Barbara the Barbarian from Rayman Legends, whose adventure consists on rescuing the Incrediballs eggs and enliven the sacred tree, while we are traveling through legendary worlds. Moreover, the best of all is that it is free to play, so it can be downloaded for free for iOS and Android (Although, logically it offers purchases inside the application, but they are focused on food for the Incrediballs, enhancements and skill improvements).

10. Modern Combat 5: Blackout

Blackout is an FPS plenty of action, with really good graphics despite being a mobile game. It allows you to create a squad, play individually or even with a team, the goal is to kill a lunatic who tries to destroy the world, so you will have to face the most extreme situations.
The game is available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

We want to make an special mention to the Exploding Kittens game, we didn’t include it in the top 10 as it isn’t a great game, but a funny game to be played with friends. We discovered it with the physical card game and we loved it. The game mechanics are really simple, they basically consists in the Russian roulette’s mechanics, but in a kitty version where you will need big strategic qualities, because at any moment they can explode, be dead or out of the game… unless the player owns a Defuse card that can disable the kitten by using things such as laser pointers, belly scratch and catnip sandwiches. The other cards are in the stack and they can be used to move, mitigate and avoid the exploding kittens. The point is that they also have an iOS and Android version, so there’s no necessity to carry the card deck and it can be played at any moment and place, with anyone that owns the application.

But today we are not going to talk about any of these, today we are going to talk about Steam and HTC Vive, Valve‘s and HTC‘s bet to get into this new market with their own kit.

The arrival of Valve to the virtual reality wasn’t a surprise, since they’ve always been pioneers and have revolutionized the videogames market, so logically they weren’t going to be left behind and they have come back with a very complete VR system, the Steam VR.

The Steam VR is an interactive 360º virtual reality experience, that is adapted to the room scale and works through two wireless base stations which are placed in the room and allow you to have your own tracking system in the same absolute space, it is like having your own personal GPS system in your living room, with a pinpoint accuracy thanks to the lasers, an HMD (Head Mounted Display, that is to say some virtual reality goggles) and a controller for each hand, that the user uses. Thanks to that, it is achived an incredible visual experience with a total immersion into the game, because the HMD features a 110° field of view and 32 sensors that allow a precise motion tracking. The fact of counting with a resolution of 2160 x 1200 and 90 Hz of refresh rate, deliver detailed graphics and lifelike sensation due to the smooth and the realism of the movements. And above all, thanks to the wireless controllers it is achived a very fluid interaction, plus, each of them count with HD haptic feedback, dual-stage triggers, multi-function trackpads and 24 sensors for 360° one-to-one tracking that mirrors hand movements.

Moreover, the fact of counting with a VR adapted to the room scale gives total freedom to the user to move and see the games from a brand new perspective with no interruptions, since the Steam VR count with Chaperone, a guidance system that alerts you if you approach the boundaries of the play space while a front-facing camera blends physical elements into the virtual world.

But this doesn’t end up here, a part from this innovative way of playing, we also count with the most “classic” mode, that means that we can play with our keyboard and mouse (or controller) while we are sitting in our chair, with no need to move through our room in order to play.  Moreover, it also offer us a theatre mode that will allow us to play to those games that doesn’t support VR by simulating a theatre where will find a huge screen to play,  some games such as Dota 2 take advantage of this game mode to offer us a new spectator mode in which we’ll be able to see the gameplay, the map and the players, like we could see in the Steam VR teaser.

Currently, the HTC Vive cost $799, a very high price that doesn’t fit everyone’s budget. What is more, we must have a powerful PC if we want to be able to use them, that is why Steam has developed a performance test with which we’ll be able to test if our computer can stand them or not.

If we compare Overwatch with its brothers, it’s obvious that it’s a completely different game with a fresh spin. The main difference is that it’s not a MOBA but a FPS, but it keeps the importance of the teamwork. It also has cartoony aesthetics that reminds us of Pixar’s style or even games such as Team Fortress 2, although at first sight it shares more things with that game than just aesthetics, a very commented topic, even at the Blizzcon, where the Overwatch’s director, Jeff Kaplan, said:

“Team Fortress 2 is one of my favourite games of all time, but we’re going in a different design direction than they are. If people want to compare Overwatch to Team Fortress 2, we would take that as the world’s greatest compliment. We love that game, it’s probably one of my favorite games of all time. Those guys are geniuses; that guy, Robin Walker, up at Valve – I had the honor of meeting him”

However, we don’t like comparisons or comments that say that it will be the next Team Fortress 2, because when you analyze them, despite Overwatch has more similarities with TF2 than with World of Warcraft, we don’t think that it’s going to finish with TF2. To start with, one is a payment game and the other is Free to Play, both are FPS based on teamwork, but the truth is that TF2 doesn’t emphasize that, since rounds usually consists in players that play by themselves and, at the end, the victory or the defeat is more based on the individual ability of the players, than in the teamwork. However, in Overwatch team integration is vital and the matchmaking is enhanced continuously.

Overwatch is developed in the Earth, in a not very distant future, in a global crisis era, where heroes from all over the world join forces to restore the peace in a world devastated by the war, a group called Overwatch, that managed to end the crisis and keep the peace in subsequent decades, starting an era of exploration, innovation and discovery. Years later, the Overwatch’s influence decreased and it finally dissolved… but the world still needs heroes.

The game counts with 21 characters (until the date of this post) with their own characteristics and abilities, all of them distinct. Each player is played on a different way and mastering their abilities is the key to fully develop its potential. The characters can perform these roles: offense, defense, tank and support.
The offense role implies combating in first line, it’s characterized by a big mobility and for inflicting a lot of damage over the enemies. The main objective of the defense role is to protect places, create choke points and stablish defensive fronts. The tank role is characterized by a big resistance to attacks and by protecting allies, which gives them the possibility of moving freely through the map. And the support role has the function of healing allies and improving and boosting their abilities, disadvantaging the enemies.

Currently, there are eight maps distributed around the world depending on the team-based objectives, that are divided in escort (payload), and assault (critical objectives).
The goal of escort is to move the payload to a delivery point and the defenders must halt the attackers’ progress until time runs out. While in the assault mode two teams battle over control of the map, one team on offense, the other on defense. The attackers’ goal is to capture critical objectives, while the defenders must maintain control over them until time runs out.

They launch a new promotional video each weekend to make us feel eager for the game release. The game will be available on May, 24th of 2016 for PC, Xbox One and PS4, and will include 21 characters in its basic version for PC, although, there will also be special editions with additional content.