EA kicked off its 2014 E3 presentation with a behind-the-scenes look at the development of DICE’s upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront. The Swedish developers are fans first and foremost, and the trailer focuses on their efforts to honor the films’ legacy and create the Star Wars game that they have dreamed about for their entire lives.
In order to stay true to the core of the Star Wars universe, Lucasfilm has granted DICE unprecedented access to the actual models and props used in the original films. They have also returned to the films’ original locations to capture their precise look and feel. Their effort seem to be paying off, as the limited in-game footage they showed really looks like it could have been lifted directly from the films.
Little else is yet known about the actual gameplay, however. Presumably the new game will continue with the well-loved series’ focus on large-scale multiplayer battles that combine both on-foot and vehicular combat.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Imagine tapping a Zelda icon on your iPhone and jumping straight into Hyrule. A new open-source project called nxnative makes that possible by repackaging Switch games you’ve bought into apps for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with no emulator in the middle.
Why does this run so well on Apple devices?