Games

Preorder Otterbox Gaming Accessories That Ship in February
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Preorder Otterbox Gaming Accessories That Ship in February

Andrew Orr ·

Known for its smartphone cases, this year Otterbox presented a range of gaming accessories for mobile gamers. I was privy to the company’s video presentation at virtual CES and was impressed with these new products. Otterbox partnered with Microsoft and several of these accessories are made for the Xbox controller. However, they did inform us in the video that the mobile gaming clip is compatible with all console game controllers. You can preorder them today and they start shipping mid-February.

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Meditation App ‘Calm’ Introduces Calm Puzzles with Spin Master Games

Andrew Orr ·

Calm is a popular sleep and meditation app. It recently partnered with Spin Master Games to create Calm Puzzles. These are jigsaw puzzles featuring zen, tranquil landscape scenes (Calm Coral, Foggy Mountains, Hidden Waterfalls, Jasper Lake, Sunflower Fields and Waterfall Mountain). These Mindful Puzzles are available to purchase on Amazon and in stores at Target and Walmart. You can listen to peaceful audio in the Calm app while you work on the puzzle. Each 300-piece puzzle includes a FREE 30-day subscription to the Calm app, which allows you to listen to sounds of nature and peaceful audio content that corresponds to your mindful puzzle as you work on putting it together.

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Microsoft Ends Support for Minecraft Earth in June 2021

Andrew Orr ·

Microsoft announced on Tuesday that it plans to end support for Minecraft Earth on June 30. Demoed at Apple’s WWDC event in 2019, the game was built for augmented reality as a way to make you feel as if you were actually in the game.

Today we are releasing the final build of the game, containing some changes to make your time in Minecraft Earth as fun as possible. We hope these adjustments will allow you to explore, craft, and build more – while staying safe indoors.

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How John Evelyn Created ‘The College Atlas’ Game for Apple Arcade

Andrew Orr ·

Developer John Evelyn created a hand-drawn, first-person shooting game for Apple Arcade called The College Atlas. In this interview he shares his story.

In broadly creative terms, and on a more positive note, there is a dizzyingly big market out there and the last 20 years have seen a huge diversification in terms of what kinds of games players will engage with. In decades gone by, I think I would have been laughed off the face of the Earth for my extremely low-poly approach – not to mention lack of scores or traditional narrative structure – but not now.

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‘Alba: A Wildlife Adventure’ Launches December 11 on Apple Arcade

Andrew Orr ·

From the BAFTA-Award winning studio behind Monument Valley and Assemble with Care comes something entirely new. Join Alba as she visits her grandparents on a Mediterranean island. She is ready for a peaceful summer of wildlife exploration with her friend Ines, but when she sees an animal in danger, she realises she needs to do something about it. This is truly a Mediterranean paradise if you ignore all the litter! From the idyllic beaches to the ancient castle overlooking the town a whole island is ready to be explored. With Ines and your grandfather – who is a total bird nerd – by your side, you can start the movement to save the island. Maybe even the world after that. | Apple Arcade

Prepare for ‘His Dark Materials’ Season 2 With AR App
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Prepare for ‘His Dark Materials’ Season 2 With AR App

Andrew Orr ·

To prepare for “His Dark Materials” season 2, HBO released an augmented reality app called His Dark Materials: My Daemon. Created in partnership with Oscar, Emmy and BAFTA-winning creative studio Framestore, His Dark Materials: My Daemon is a first-of-its-kind entertainment app that brings narrative elements from the show into daily life, as a user’s daemon is by their side at all times, encouraging them to participate in activities that contribute to overall mind, body and spirit health. Users are encouraged to take part in fitness activities like walking or running, as well as other kinds of self-care, such as taking some time to themselves, watching a movie, or reaching out to a friend. The app detects everyday activity through Apple Health and Spotify, syncing with favorite fitness, sleep, and meditation apps. Daily habits, hobbies and new challenges become fuel to progress further through the journey that’s at the heart of the app.

‘Reigns: Beyond’ Joins Apple Arcade Today
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‘Reigns: Beyond’ Joins Apple Arcade Today

Andrew Orr ·

The latest game in the Reigns series called Reigns: Beyond joins Apple Arcade on Friday. As an intergalactic indie rockband, plot your rise to stardom, traveling from planet to planet and gig to gig on your quest for fame and fortune. Play local (and not-so-local) clubs throughout the galaxy, recruiting alien band members along the way, and rock out across the cosmos!  But make sure you’re managing your ship’s resources and keeping your crew in check while on this stellar tour because one wrong decision may leave you dead in space.

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Apple Removed a Third Party Google Stadia App

Andrew Orr ·

StApple recently removed Stadium, an app that let people use Google Stadia’s game streaming service on iOS.

Specifically, Knox says Apple objects to how his app is “extending WebKit with native APIs to connect with Bluetooth.” This is what allowed the app to connect Bluetooth controllers to Stadia. Apple’s ruling appears to refer to section 4.7 of Apple’s App Store guidelines, which governs web-based games on the platform.

At first I thought it was removed because some random non-Google party created a Google service workaround. But it sounds like it’s more because of API specifics, or at least that’s the official Apple statement.