By Brent Zwerneman, Houston Chronicle Published 3:08 pm CST, Saturday, January 26, 2019 COLLEGE STATION, TX - JANUARY 26: Texas A&M Aggies forward forward Josh Nebo (32) looks ofr an outlet pass following a rebound as Kansas State Wildcats forward Makol Mawien (14) defends during the basketball game between the Kansas State Wildcats and Texas A&M Aggies at Reed Arena on January 26, 2019 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) less COLLEGE STATION, TX - JANUARY 26: Texas A&M Aggies forward forward Josh Nebo (32) looks ofr an outlet pass following a rebound as Kansas State Wildcats forward Makol Mawien (14) defends during the ... more Photo: Icon Sportswire/Icon Sportswire Via Getty Images Photo: Icon Sportswire/Icon Sportswire Via Getty Images … [Read more...] about Texas A&M snaps 3-game losing streak with win over Kansas State
Games
Facebook admitted defrauding kids and parents of thousands of dollars in early free-to-play games
Facebook engaged in practices that tricked children and parents into spending money in free-to-play games, according to court documents unsealed and reported by the publication Reveal. And the company often denied attempts by parents to recover hundreds or even thousands of dollars until credit card companies “clawed back” the money from Facebook. The 135-pages of documents include internal Facebook memos, secret strategies, and employee emails that showed how the social media company engaged in what was internally dubbed “friendly fraud” in order to maximize revenues. These findings are explosive, as they tell a different story about so-called “whales,” or the small percentage of players who spend a lot of money in games. It suggests that, rather than being willing big spenders, many whales were accidental or unintentional, as children didn’t realize that purchases of virtual currency were connected to their parents’ credit cards. When … [Read more...] about Facebook admitted defrauding kids and parents of thousands of dollars in early free-to-play games
Oculus’ timewarp game has live actors, and it’s nuts
I ended up in an absurdist maze world yesterday. A bemused godlike creature helped me find the back entrance to his nightclub, "The Under," in the hull of an overturned ship. On stage, a green-skinned lounge performer sang and danced with her drumming skeleton sidekick, Tina. When a cruise-boat captain ran up to me and touched my hand, I teleported to a kiddie pool in a desert for a harried, personalized lifeguard-training spiel, but then I had to jump back to the club to join a live office-aerobics exercise run by a man in a purple spandex unitard. He invited me on stage to lead the group in a new move of my own invention. And that doesn't even begin to explain the 10 people trapped on a burning ship-in-a-bottle that can go back and forth through time. This is The Under Presents, a new kind of social virtual-reality game that Facebook's Oculus is previewing this weekend at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. When it's released later this year, The Under … [Read more...] about Oculus’ timewarp game has live actors, and it’s nuts
Oculus’s VR live-theater time-warping night-club game is unlike anything else I’ve tried before
I ended up in an absurdist maze world yesterday. A bemused god-like creature helped me find the back entrance to his night club in the hull of a overturned ship. On stage, a green-skinned lounge performer sang and danced with her drumming skeleton sidekick, Tina. When a cruise-boat captain ran up to me and touched my hand, I teleported to a kiddie pool in a desert for a harried, personalized lifeguard-training spiel, but then I had jump back to the club to join a live office-aerobics exercise run by a man in a purple spandex unitard. He invited me on stage to lead the group in a new move of my own invention. And that doesn't even begin to explain the 10 people trapped on a burning ship-in-a-bottle that can go back and forth through time. This is The Under Presents, a new kind of social virtual-reality game that Facebook's Oculus is previewing this weekend at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. When it's released later this year, The Under Presents will … [Read more...] about Oculus’s VR live-theater time-warping night-club game is unlike anything else I’ve tried before
Phil Spencer is going big for E3 2019, teases unannounced games and xCloud progress
Recently, Executive Vice President of Gaming Phil Spencer sat down with Director of Programming of Xbox Live Larry Hryb to discuss everything from Crackdown 3 to plans for E3 2019. The podcast launched on January 25, 2019, and has energized many Xbox One owners since then. The first major piece of news Spencer dropped was that Playground Games and Rare are working on new projects. It's unclear what they are, but we'll probably have to wait until E3 2019 or E3 2020 to find out. Rumor has it that Playground is developing Fable 4, but as with any such alleged "leak," take it with a grain of salt until the media receives official confirmation. Spencer said, "I saw what Playground is working on next, I saw what Rare is working on next, and their continued success with Sea of Thieves." That wasn't all though. Spencer discussed plans for E3 2019 and how Xbox was going big this year, especially since Sony isn't attending the event. Spencer said the following. This is going to be a fun E3 for … [Read more...] about Phil Spencer is going big for E3 2019, teases unannounced games and xCloud progress