Thurrott Daily: September 2

Thurrott Daily: September 2
Sigh.

Tech tidbits from around the web. And happy Labor Day weekend here if you’re in the US.

9/3/2016 12:27:25 PM

Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour arrives October 11th

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As rumored, the classic shooter Duke Nukem 3D is being re-released.

Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour is slated to explode onto Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC on October 11th. You can preorder your copy as well as check out the official trailer below.

Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour brings classic Duke Nukem 3D, plus an ALL-NEW 8-Level fifth episode from the original episode designers.

  • ALL-NEW Episode FIVE, created by the original episode designers, Allen Blum III and Richard “Levelord” Gray!
  • New, bonus content in Episode 5: Duke Nukem finally gets an INCINERATOR to roast new “Firefly” enemies!
  • New “Duke Talk” plus high-fidelity re-recordings from Duke Nukem’s original voice actor, Jon St. John!
  • New musical score for Episode 5 created by Duke’s theme song author and original game composer, Lee Jackson!
  • Original 1996 source code and “2.5D” engine re-mastered in True 3D for Xbox One, Playstation 4 and Windows 10!

Ah geesh.

So, I’m obviously getting this, because I’m an idiot and I want to wash Duke Nukem Forever from my mind. The thing is, for all the silly “Duke Talk”—which, yes, I still find vaguely funny in the same way that Andrew Dice Clay can, embarrassingly, actually be funny—it’s important to remember the very real role this game played in the evolution of first person shooters. Technologically, it sits neatly between DOOM/Heretic/etc. and Quake in that it’s not really 3D—as you pan around objects, you can see that they’re flat, like paper—but it did a credible job of faking it. And the first episode, in particular, was actually pretty excellent.

God help me.

Microsoft puts Windows 10 and Cortana on a refrigerator

Because of course they did. Techcrunch tries to explain.

Microsoft is working with Liebherr’s appliance division to rebuild the refrigerator and make it smarter, faster, strong; well, maybe just smarter. The new collaboration between the two will see Microsoft provide computer vision technology, via its Microsoft Cognitive Services Computer Vision API, to let the fridge identify objects contained within.

The fridge is just a prototype for now, though, so you’ll have to do with your uneducated, idiotic produce cooling box for now.

I assume they’re really doing this so they can keep the milk up to date. What’s that? Oh, they really are doing that.

You will have to wait a little longer to get Quantum Break on your Windows 7 or 8.1 PC

Windows Central cites a THQ Nordic press release that I can’t actually find, but whatever: Apparently, Quantum Break for Steam/retail (PC) has been delayed.

Due to additional time required for mastering and manufacturing the Quantum Break – Timeless Collector’s Edition for retail, the decision has been made to move the release to September 29th. This concerns both, the Steam version, as well as the retail edition.

If you’re running Windows 10, you can of course get Quantum Break through the Windows Store. This version offers DirectX 12 support (as opposed to DirectX 11), and other advantages. But … lots of gamers aren’t super-interested in Windows Store, which is certainly understandable.

Microsoft is evolving its OneNote strategy on Windows

And speaking of Windows Central, they tipped me off to a OneNote AMA chat on Reddit where, among other things, the OneNote team revealed a new UI is on the way.

We’re working on a ton of great features, including a brand-new UI which is more accessible and consistent across platforms. We think you’ll really like it, and you’ll be able to try it for yourself very soon!

We know that having two versions of OneNote on Windows is confusing, and we’re working on some things which should clear up this confusion.

OneNote 2016 has been a great app that we’ve been developing for over 13 years. As the app continued to grow we started to identify areas that our customers and business mutually benefited from. As we pivot to a more modern code base, we’re prioritizing Windows 10’s capabilities to let us ship faster, build things more easily, and create deeper integrations into the operating system, such as the ability to launch OneNote above lock on Surface with the click of a pen. We recently added new ink features to the Windows 10 app and made it much simpler to use. We hope these will delight our users, even those who previously embraced the desktop app. Stay tuned for more features we think you will love!

 

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