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The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20150715144308/http://www.engadget.com/gaming/

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While the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One get most of the attention when it comes to indie games, Nintendo's Wii U has quietly built a solid stable of them as well. The latest? Creepy puzzler Year Walk from Swedish studio Simogo. Yeah, it's appeared on a number of other platforms before, but the company promises that the version coming to the Wii U is no lazy port -- it's been entirely rebuilt with the console's unique characteristics in mind by the folks at Dakko Dakko. For instance, the GamePad is used extensively throughout be it for note taking or accessing the game's encyclopedia and map. You can use motion controls in conjunction with analog sticks to look around, and Simogo says that while that might scare some folks off, it's actually pretty chill and the required input movements are subtle.

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Not even a chainsaw bayonette (or the stealthy gent up above) could stop Epic Games from falling prey to hackers. The Unreal Engine-maker sent emails to members of its forums announcing that unauthorized access to usernames, email addresses, passwords and birthdates may have been accessed by an intruder. From the sounds of it, the only channels affected were related to Bulletstorm, Gears of War, Infinity Blade, UDK, and older Unreal Tournament titles. Developers active on the Unreal Engine 4 forums shouldn't have anything to worry about, nor should those posting about Fortnite and the latest Unreal Tournament. For now, the forums are offline while Epic investigates the source of intrusion and the company warns to be on the lookout for any phishing attempts, nefarious emails or other, ahem, infiltrations into your sensitive information.

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No Man's Sky is impressive. It's a mind-bogglingly massive game and from what we've seen, it's pretty to boot. But enough about that -- let's talk about math. Specifically, the math that makes this game possible. The YouTube channel PBS Game/Show has collected the numerical information that makes No Man's Sky tick and presents it in a lovely, straightforward fashion for everyone to enjoy. No Man's Sky lead Sean Murray makes a few appearances in the video, of course, and we got a one-on-one, hands-on demo of the game with him during E3. Suffice it to say, 10 minutes isn't long enough to properly enjoy No Man's Sky -- but a lifetime probably won't be long enough, either. See for yourself below.

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Dead Island 2 is dead. For now at least. Publisher Deep Silver sent out an update today announcing that it's no longer working with the open-world zombie-massacre/absurd-weapon-crafting simulator sequel's developer, Yager, on the title. "With Dead Island 2, Deep Silver has always been dedicated to delivering the sequel that Dead Island fans deserve," the statement reads. "After careful consideration, today we announce the decision to part ways with development partner Yager." The email goes on to say that the publisher will "continue working towards bringing" its vision of the game to life and will have more info in the future. Deep Silver and Yager showed a very early version of the game off at E3 in 2014, but it wasn't all that impressive and the game didn't look anywhere close to the intentionally cheesy cinematic trailer that premiered during Sony's media briefing, either.

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Not happy with simply launching its Stream video service this week, Comcast announced the start of a beta test for Xfinity Games. A partnership with Electronic Arts (confirming Reuters rumor from last year), it's not going to compete with PlayStation and Xbox, but is closer to what Roku, Amazon and Android are already doing for TV gaming. At least for now, the games offered are older and mobile-versions of games like Plants vs Zombies, Real Racing 2 or FIFA 13. There's not a connection for a standard gamepad, so players control them with phones and tablets (right now the list appears to cover iOS, and mainly Samsung Galaxy phones/tablets on the Android side). The main requirement? Comcast's X1 TV platform, so if you have it you can sign up to be a beta tester here. X1 isn't ready to be a powerhouse gaming platform yet approaching the level of OnLive or PlayStation Now, but with this and home automation add-ons, it's clear we're not the only ones thinking of the cable box as a the center of your connected home. Now, let's see if we can get Yu Suzuki to launch a Sega Channel Kickstarter.

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Sony wants you to want PS Now, its Netflix-like game-streaming service. The problem is, the company doesn't seem to know how to build that desire. Though the recent app relaunch has seen the service's user interface improve considerably, the same can't be said for the user experience. I used PS Now on the PlayStation 4 almost exclusively for a week and by the time my seven-day trial was set to expire, I still couldn't find a compelling reason to pay for the service -- let alone recommend it to a friend. With Netflix, the value is apparent: $8 per month for on-demand access to thousands of movies and TV shows. Sure the visual and audio quality of that streaming library might not be on par with its Blu-ray counterparts, but the convenience outweighs any cons. For PS Now, that same trade-off isn't quite worth it.

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Hideo Kojima revolutionized the stealth video game genre in 1987 with the release of the original Metal Gear, published by Konami. Under Kojima's leadership, the Metal Gear franchise exploded in popularity, and it gained fame as a complex, quirky and endlessly innovative series. However, recent reports suggest that Kojima and Konami will sever ties after the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain in September. A new series of Phantom Pain box-art images add fuel to this claim: Konami's initial mock-ups included a credit to Kojima, but new official images show the words "A Hideo Kojima Game" have been removed from the top of the box. Plus, the logo for Kojima's studio, Kojima Productions (a subsidiary of Konami), is no longer on the front of the box.

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Yeah, you heard that right. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original movie's theatrical release, the one directed by Tim Burton, Rocksteady Studios is releasing Michael Keaton's 1989 Batsuit and Batmobile as DLC for Batman: Arkham Knight in August. Of course, that's assuming you've shelled out the requisite $40 for the game's season pass. In addition to the two iconic skins, the expansion will also feature two new audio tracks and six new character skins -- 1990's Catwoman, Original Batman, One Year Later Robin, Arkham Origins Batman, 1970's Batman and Arkham Nightwing. Batgirl, unfortunately, is only available as a separate download.

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It's a strange day when a YouTube star named CaptainSparklez gets bigger billing in a headline than the co-founder of Activision, but here we are.

YouTube phenom CaptainSparklez, whose real name is Jordan Maron, has partnered with Activision co-founder Howard Marks to develop Fortress Fury, a competitive mobile game. Maron and Marks operate at seemingly opposite ends of the video game industry, but working together, they've found common ground and cultivated more than 1 million downloads of Fortress Fury in its first few weeks on iOS and Android. In a video interview, the unlikely duo tell us how they first met (Grandmother Sparklez makes an appearance), and how the industry is evolving with crowdfunding, YouTube and eSports.

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The Dark Souls series might not be the game for those folks who lack patience, but what you see up above is something just about anyone can appreciate. Reddit user CystisomaMagna was fooling around with the Reshade mod for the game and happened across some settings that turned the world of Lordran into a monochromatic, but still absolutely dangerous, wonderland. The user notes that the Limbo-esque modification isn't just for show, and that it's even possible to keep the game's HUD intact with it active. It might not get you soft-banned, either. Wanna know how to activate it on your system? That's what the videos embedded below are for.

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As a producer at Ubisoft and founder of Ubisoft Toronto, Jade Raymond had a hand in creating some of the most notable AAA experiences of our time, including Assassin's Creed II and Watch Dogs. She left the company in October to pursue "new opportunities," and now those ambitions have a name: Electronic Arts. Raymond has joined the company and opened Motive, a new EA studio in Montreal. Motive's first project is the new Star Wars game coming from Uncharted series writer and Creative Director Amy Hennig. Raymond now also oversees Hennig's studio, Visceral Games, and she says Motive will "work in close quarters with the BioWare team," which is responsible for Mass Effect and Dragon Age. No pressure.

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Nintendo's late, great Satoru Iwata

It's a sad, sad day in the video game world. Nintendo reports that President Satoru Iwata has died at the age of 55 due to a bile duct tumor. The executive had been forced to skip E3 2014 due to health issues and had surgery to remove a growth later that year, but it's unfortunately clear that this wasn't enough to help him recover. The company isn't saying much about succession at this point, but it looks like Genyo Takeda and company legend Shigeru Miyamoto are taking the reins for now.

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