gaming - page 4

Steam adds support for the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller

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Switch Pro Controller Steam
Use your Pro Controller to play your favorite Mac and PC games.
Photo: Valve

Steam has added official support for the Switch Pro Controller in its latest client beta.

Players no longer have to use fiddly third-party workarounds to enjoy Nintendo’s best controller in their favorite games. All of its buttons and even its motion controls are now fully supported.

PUBG Mobile‘s new modes ease you into the battleground

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PUBG Mobile
The new Training Grounds and Arcade modes let you practice PUBG Mobile without getting killed almost immediately.
Screenshot: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

The point of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is to throw you into a battle and see if you survive. But that can be a bit intimidating for those who’ve never played before, so Tencent just added two practice modes to the mobile version. One of these involves playing in a smaller area, and can become its own challenge with the right settings.

Sadly, the iOS version doesn’t have these new modes yet, but an upgrade is expected soon.

Now anyone can play Fortnite, the year’s hottest iOS game

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Fortnite iOS 14
Everyone should welcome skill-based matchmaking.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Fortnite, the hottest game of 2018, is finally available on iOS for everyone to download, no invite code needed.

The game has been in beta on iOS the last few weeks and required a special invite code to get in on the battle royal action. Now anyone with an iPhone SE or later can get in on the action anywhere you have an internet connection.

macOS 10.13.4 lands with eGPU support and business chat in iMessage

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iMac
A new update is out for the Mac.
Photo: Apple

Mac owners can finally use an external GPU to boost their computing power now that Apple has released macOS 10.13.4 to the public.

The software update has been in beta testing with developers for months and is now available to everyone for the first time. macOS 10.13.4 brings a number of improvements to the Mac, including some updates to iMessages, Safari and more.

Fortnite phenomenon smashes YouTube records

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Fortnite base
Fortnite is still killing it.
Screenshot: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Fortnite enjoyed a boost to its already rapidly-growing fanbase when it made the leap to iOS earlier this month.

The gaming phenomenon shows no signs of losing its momentum after smashing YouTube records for the largest number of concurrent viewers on a single live game stream, and for the most monthly uploads related to a single game.

Street Fighter hits the actual streets in new ARKit demo

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Street Fighter II in AR shows that old games can learn new tricks.
Street Fighter II in AR shows that old games can learn new tricks.
Screenshot: Abhishek Singh/YouTube

All the Yoga Flames, Dragon Punches and Sonic Booms of Street Fighter II spill out into the real world in a new demo that mixes classic gameplay with augmented reality.

Michigan-based software developer Abhishek Singh‘s “Real World Warrior” edition of Street Fighter II features all the familiar characters, moves and sounds of the original. But now, the game’s arena is the outside world.

“I loved playing [Street Fighter] as a kid with my sister on an actual arcade machine,” Singh told Cult of Mac. “I was thinking about multiplayer experiences and this kind of popped into my head.”

Nvidia unleashes 65-inch TVs fit for gaming

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NVIDIA gaming TV
NVIDIA's BFGDs bring ultra-fast gaming to the big screen.
Photo: NVIDIA

CES 2018 bugNvidia has unleashed the world’s first lineup of big-screen TVs fit for gaming.

They’re called BFGDs (Big Format Gaming Displays) and they’re capable of displaying 4K content at an ultra-fast 120Hz. They boast support for Nvidia G-Sync and HDR — and they have a Shield TV built right in.

Dreamy game Flower blooms on iOS

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iOS game
Award-winning video game Flower is now on iOS.
Photo: thatgamecompany

The power to control the wind and create an ethereal flight of blowing flower petals is now possible with your iPhone or iPad.

An iOS version of Flower, a hit PlayStation game when it debuted in 2009, became available for purchase Thursday on the App Store.

Twitch desktop app finally lands on Mac

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Twitch livestream
After months in beta, the full version is finally here.
Photo: Twitch

After several months in beta, game streaming platform Twitch’s desktop app for both Mac and Windows is finally available in its complete full version.

The app includes all the features you’d expend to find in Twitch’s web browser version, such as voice and video calling. However, it also includes a few features that you’ll only find in the app version. In other words, what are you waiting for, gamers?

iOS 11 beta 3 hints at possible live broadcasting feature

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iOS 11 Control Center
Apple made big changes to Control Center in iOS 11 beta 3.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Live broadcasting your home screen to other iPhone owners may soon become possible, thanks to a new addition spotted in iOS 11 beta 3.

Apple added a new button to Control Center that hints at the upcoming functionality. The button doesn’t do anything right now, but it shows Apple could add live broadcasting in one of its next beta builds.

Microsoft brings its new game streaming platform to iOS

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Mixer offers live-streaming that's actually live.
Mixer offers live-streaming that's actually live.
Photo: Microsoft

Mixer, Microsoft’s new game streaming platform, has landed on iOS.

Formerly known as Beam, Mixer is taking on the likes of Twitch with live-streaming “that’s actually live” — not delayed. The iOS app lets you enjoy broadcasts in real-time, connect with your favorite streamers, and more.

Amazing mod crams gaming system into an Altoids tin

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Introducing the mintyPi 2.0.
Introducing the mintyPi 2.0.
Photo: Sudo Mod

Nintendo’s new Switch console is turning the gaming world on its head, but it could soon face some fresh the Raspberry Pi.

YouTuber Sudo Mod recently revealed his latest creation that stuffs a Raspberry Pi, LCD and controller into a tiny Altoids tin. The finished product looks like something you’d actually want to game on and it’s even more convenient to carry around than an iPhone.

Prepare to be amazed:

App Store finally gives indie games the spotlight they deserve

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Mac App Store
The email app BlueMail finds itself on the outside of the "closed garden."
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

After a big indie game promotion over the past week, Apple has given titles from independent developers their very own spot in the App Store. And it’s about time, too!

The new section will make it easier for shoppers to find new titles from smaller studios, while developers will benefit from greater coverage. It won’t be quite as easy for the latest releases to be drowned out by bigger titles from gaming giants.

This portable SNES is like a retro Nintendo Switch

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Why didn't Nintendo make this 20 years ago?
Why didn't Nintendo make this 20 years ago?
Photo: Huxarufaxara/Twitter

Nintendo’s new Switch console is turning the gaming world on its head today with its ultra-portable features that let you do some serious gaming no matter where you go.

Lines for the Switch nearly reached iPhone launch size levels, but if you didn’t manage to get your hands on one, here’s the next best thing: a homemade portable Super NES console.

Take a look:

Apple’s spaceship campus gets perfectly replicated in Minecraft

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The spaceship is ready for liftoff.
The spaceship is ready for liftoff.
Photo: Alex Westerlund

Apple’s new campus isn’t move-in ready just yet, but you can take a virtual tour of the company’s new headquarters thanks to a Minecraft player who painstakingly re-created the entire spaceship.

It took over a year for Alex Westerlund to replicate the Apple spaceship campus in Minecraft, with more than 232 hours invested in the virtual building. Without using help or mods, Westerlund claims his Minecraft Apple Campus is 100 percent accurate.

Take a look:

Razer built an insane gaming laptop with 3 screens

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projvalerie
Project Valerie is the coolest laptop... ever.
Photo: Razer

CES2017 Razer’s gaming laptops are some of the finest you can get your greasy mitts on, but none of them compare to the insane prototype the company teased today at CES in Las Vegas.

Dubbed “Project Valerie,” it’s the world’s first laptop with three screens — two of which gracefully slide away when you don’t need them.

Super Mario Run copycats invade Android

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Super Mario Run on iOS
Super Mario Run clones are already bounding onto the Google Play store.
Photo: Apple

Super Mario Run, Nintendo’s first major game for mobile, is already a huge hit on iPhone, but Android users will have to wait until 2017 to get their fingers on the real deal.

However, a ton of Super Mario Run clones are already springing up on Google Play — trying to steal Nintendo’s thunder.

Watch Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto draw Mario on an iPad Pro

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Apple
Mr. Miyamoto tries out a freehand sketch on the iPad Pro.
Photo: Apple

Apple and Nintendo have become a match made in heaven, thanks to the Super Mario Run game that debuted today for iPhone and iPad.

To celebrate the game’s launch, Super Mario Run creator Shigeru Miyamoto showed how he draws the iconic videogame character using an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil.

Watch him sketch below:

Shigeru Miyamoto says Nintendo and Apple go together like Mario and Luigi

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Players have spent more than $1 billion on Nintendo's mobile games
Nintendo mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto opened up to Glixel about his thoughts on his role, and the company's partnership with Apple for Super Mario Run.
Photo: Nintendo

When Nintendo announced they’d be working with Apple to launch Super Mario Run on iPhone, the partnership made a lot of sense. After all, both companies share a similar arc in the history of their respective industries, each defining the early decades of the home gaming and computing industries, respectively. But perhaps the most relevant similarity is in the two companies’ focus on design.

Steam holiday sale kicks off December 22

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Steam-holiday
It's that time of the year again!
Photo: Cult of Mac

Christmas is a great time to pick up cheap games for Mac and PC on Steam, with big discounts on the latest titles and timeless classics. According to a new leak, this year’s sale will kick off on Thursday, December 22.

Apple poaches top talent from iPhone 7 GPU chipmaker

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A10 processor
Custom graphics chips could be Apple's next big move.
Photo: Apple

Apple is siphoning talent from one of its key partners, Imagination Technologies, which makes the graphics chip for the iPhone 7.

The British chipmaker was rumored to be in acquisition talks with Apple earlier this year. Apple told the press it wasn’t interested in buying Imagination Technologies, but based on a slew of recent hires, the iPhone-maker does want its employees.

7 intriguing iPhone 7 features we can’t wait to try

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iPhone 7 colors
The iPhone 7 is black to the core.
Photo: Apple

The iPhone 7 was expected to be the most snooze-worthy update Apple has ever come out with, but after busting out a couple of intriguing surprises, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus look like the greatest smartphones ever made.

Fans will have to wait until September 16 to get their fingers all over the iPhone 7’s bright new display and sleek black exterior. For now, we’ll continue drooling over these seven new features that completely change the iPhone experience: