Techno Guiders

Last week, Sony Online Entertainment – of Planetside and Everquest fame – launched this haunting teaser site . It revealed itself to be the official web page of H1Z1, a post-apocalyptic zombie MMO set in a vast, forested wasteland where, according to SOE president John Smedley: "the zombies aren't scary. People are scary." To be clear: that's also the elevator pitch for DayZ, the Arma II mod-turned multi-million-selling PC standalone that's reached Minecraft levels of YouTube saturation and exists in the peripheral vision of those who don't even follow games. It's that, but on PS4 . DayZ overlord Dean "Rocket" Hall has actually said in the past that parent company Bohemia will eventually release DayZ on PS4 , but with the PC Alpha still trundling along and a Beta seemingly not even on the horizon yet, you can bet that SOE will be trying to harness that market before DayZ can get there. Release the horde I strip-mined H1Z1's reveal video an...

Non-plussed by Titanfall? Couldn't give a flying fiddlestick about GTA V? Well, don't worry as a new modified game controller has been developed that could take the boredom out of games by upping the ante when your attention level starts to deplete. Designed by researchers at Stanford, the emotion-sensing game controller comprises an Xbox 360 remote and a 3D-printed sensor module that measures a gamer's vital statistics - such as heart rate, blood pressure and reactions. The idea, according to Corey McCall at Stanford, is that future games be able to use this data to modify a game to perk a player up if they are feeling a little non-plussed. "If a player wants maximum engagement and excitement, we can measure when they are getting bored and, for example, introduce more zombies into the level," he said. Ah, zombies. The ultimate boredom buster. See the controller in action in the video below: YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYbcIun-VFU Check out the Xbox...

The sales of Oculus Rift development kits have soared since the firm's controversial acquisition by Facebook last month. Developers have snapped up 25,000 'DK2' units since the second iteration went up for pre-order on March 19, less than a week before the Facebook buyout was announced. Sales of the DK2 unit have outpaced the original ( which sold 60,000 ), suggesting that games developers are enthused rather than perturbed by the presence of the new owners. That may be down to the impression that Facebook's vast resources make Oculus and the Rift's chances of making it big have greatly improved. Backlash The reaction of some potential developers who perhaps see Rift has a more worthwhile platform to build for since Facebook's intervention is a far cry from the backlash felt in other quarters. Many of the Kickstarter backers who forked over $2.4 million (about £1.4m, AU$2.5m) to help fund the company's goals demanded their money back following the takeov...

With Amazon Fire TV out, it looks like Apple is planning on a few new features of its own to rival Fire TV's gaming abilities. Talk of incorporating gaming with the next-gen Apple TV has surfaced before and Patently Apple 's recent snooping seems to have uncovered more on the matter. A patent for a larger heat sink was stealthily filed by Apple and suggests that a future set-top model is making way for a larger and faster A7 processor to allow gaming through the box. Bluetooth gaming controllers have also been linked to the Apple box but so far nothing has been officially verified by Apple. Boxes and boxes everywhere The current-gen Apple TV can stream games through AirPlay but hasn't provided good experiences, so a fresh take on gaming would be a much needed improvement. But with the PS4 , Xbox One and soon Steam Machines crowding the living room and the addition of Amazon Fire TV as well as the other set-top boxes out there, it makes a gaming-ready Apple TV seem unw...

With a video game like Project Spark that lets users create their own games there's bound to be couple of copycats. Just like the way Media Molecule's Little Big Planet brought up copyright issues with music rights, Project Spark is already setting off a whole litany of Star Fox clones and games that look a bit too similar to Minecraft. At PAX East a panel of developers behind Project Spark explained they want to change the limited perception of what it can actually do. Bradley Rebh, lead designer at Microsoft recalled the reaction most people had after the game's first reveal. "Everybody came to us and thought I can make a fantasy looking dude that kills goblins in a grassy knoll – and that's it I can make fable," Rebh said "But actually you can make way more than that." Brad Shuber, art director on the game, noted that some users have created amazing work that inspires his own team. "We look at the user generated content all the time and i...

It's fair to say that the Wii U hasn't quite panned out how Nintendo had hoped. Even with Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros close by, there's still a serious lack of third party titles on the horizon. Then there are the abysmal sales figures. How can Nintendo turn things around? Is the Wii a sunken ship, or can it be resurfaced? Could Nintendo reverse its fortunes with a new console? This week, Gaming Spotlight talks about what went wrong and how Nintendo can return to better times. After all, the 3DS shows that Nintendo is still doing something right. Oh, and excuse us while we have a little vent about DLC... YouTube : www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ1htTjmEgk

If you haven't already picked up a next-gen console (can we start calling it now-gen yet?), June might be the month to change that. The Last of Us Remastered has just been listed for pre-order over on the Sony Entertainment Network site for $59.99 in the US, although currently the link goes to a dead page. That price translates directly to around AU$65. There's currently no confirmed release date however Spanish retailer Xtralife recently claimed that the game will be arriving on June 19. We're chasing this up with Sony right now. Fire up the engines At the same time, there's been some more talk of GTA 5 also hitting the PS4 and Xbox One . This one's got a little more grounding though as it comes from the manager of German retailer Saturn.de, as spotted by BGR . In a tweet , TECH-NICK said that the game is expected on both consoles and PC in June, though he did add in a later message that this is only a rumour. Still, it's interesting to hear it from a slightl...