Thurrott Daily: June 1

Tech tidbits from around the web.

6/1/2016 5:11:17 PM

Seriously, you should watch Indie Game: The Movie

I mentioned this in today’s article about Games for Gold, but it bear repeating: The documentary Indie Game: The Movie is very much worth watching. (Check streaming services, too, I believe it’s available in many places.)

Indie Game: The Movie is the first feature documentary film about making video games. It looks specifically at the underdogs of the video game industry, indie game developers, who sacrifice money, health and sanity to realize their lifelong dreams of sharing their visions with the world.

After two years of painstaking work, designer Edmund McMillen and programmer Tommy Refenes await the release of their first major game for Xbox, Super Meat Boy—the adventures of a skinless boy in search of his girlfriend, who is made of bandages. At PAX, a major video-game expo, developer Phil Fish unveils his highly anticipated, four-years-in-the-making FEZ. Jonathan Blow considers beginning a new game after creating Braid, one of the highest-rated games of all time. Four developers, three games, and one ultimate goal— to express oneself through a video game.

Indie Game: The Movie is about the creative process and putting yourself out there through your work. It’s a journey many filmmakers, creators, artists, entrepreneurs – many people, can relate to in the digital era.

Beta version of Microsoft Authenticator app will let you unlock your Windows 10 PC with your Windows phone

Well, eventually it will. As you may know, the Microsoft Authenticator app for Windows phone generates second factor codes for your online account. But a new version of the app, now in beta, will also let you unlock your Windows 10-based PC too.

After a quick Bluetooth sync, use this app to unlock your Windows 10 computer at work. Just open the app and tap on a nearby computer.

Note: This app is still in beta. Future versions will include support for Microsoft account, a sign-in solution for browsers and VPN, one-time passcode generation, and MFA approval through notifications.

Good stuff. Can’t wait until it works. And I assume this version will eventually be cross-platform.

Telltale Games could be bringing its entire catalog coming to the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) and Windows Store

Microsoft revealed some interesting news for fans of the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) and Windows Store.

Telltale Games has established itself as the master of the episodic adventure game with hits like The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, Game of Thrones, Tales from the Borderlands and, most recently, Minecraft: Story Mode. These storytelling-centered games, in which player choices have long-term effects, are playable on a wide variety of platforms, including Android, iOS, PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam.

In December of 2015, Telltale Games brought Minecraft: Story Mode to the Windows Store. To make this possible, Telltale Games ported their game engine to the Universal Windows Platform (UWP). This port not only allows Minecraft: Story Mode to ultimately be played on a wide variety of Windows 10 Intel and ARM-based devices, but also clears the path for bringing Telltale’s large back-catalog of games to Windows.

Telltale Games are they planning to bring us additional Telltale games on Windows Store over the next year, but they’re also planning to bring these games to additional Windows 10 Intel and ARM-based devices down the road. Who knows? A mixed-reality HoloLens version of The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones in your living room might just be on the horizon.

Nice!

Viber for Windows 10 Beta is now available

Not sure if this is a big deal or not, but the beta version of Viber is now available for Windows 10.

Viber for Windows 10 beta begins rolling out in the Windows Store today, it’s free to download from the Store and will be available across all Windows 10 devices.

Viber is the easy-to-use free app that lets people just about anywhere send messages and make HD-quality phone and video calls securely over WiFi and mobile networks. Now, the connections can happen on any Windows device as Viber for Windows 10 beta arrives. Built from the ground up, this version retains the best of Viber while adding welcome new capabilities and a uniform, familiar interface that suits every Windows device.

Quantum Break for Windows 10 now lets you disable v-sync

The Windows 10 version of Quantum Break now lets you disable v-sync. Here’s the complete list of changes:

Support for disabling V-sync which will allow users to take advantage of G-Sync or FreeSync

Fixed an issue with game controllers not working correctly on some configurations

General fixes

In response to requests from fans, we have removed SSE4.2, SSE4.1, SSSE3 limitation, which will enable “Quantum Break” on Windows 10 to run on unsupported, below minimum spec hardware. However, Quantum Break is not designed to run on older or unsupported hardware, and we strongly encourage you ensure your PC meets the necessary system requirements before purchasing or playing “Quantum Break” on Windows 10.

If you’re not familiar with the v-sync issues in UWP games, check out Thurrott Daily from March 23.