Thurrott Daily: December 14

Tech tidbits from around the web.

12/14/2016 5:46:58 PM

Lost Odyssey for Xbox 360 is free for a limited time

Microsoft announced today that Lost Odyssey for the Xbox 360, a classic Japanese role playing game, is now free for a limited time.

In celebration of the Xbox One Backward Compatibility catalog exceeding 300 games, we have a very special gift to all our Xbox fans. For a limited time, you can download the classic Xbox 360 role playing game Lost Odyssey for free. Yes, for free! Play it now on Xbox One via Backward Compatibility.

Originally released in 2008 for the Xbox 360 in North America, Lost Odyssey was developed by Mistwalker.

The free digital copy of Lost Odyssey must be redeemed by December 31, 2016 (not valid in Turkey, Israel, and China). We hope you enjoy this small token of appreciation during the holiday season and we can’t wait for what’s in store for 2017!

Dolby Atmos sound is coming to Xbox One and Windows 10

Microsoft also announced that Dolby Atmos sound is coming to Xbox One and Windows 10:

Dolby Atmos is sound so precise you can pinpoint exactly where Pharah is and avoid her wrath. And the great news is that starting next year, Dolby Atmos will be coming to Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs and tablets.

With Dolby Atmos, sound moves precisely all around and above you. You can hear where your allies and enemies are in three-dimensional space. Snipers on the roof? You’ll hear them over your left shoulder and know where to aim to take them out. The same goes for an attacker with a jet pack hovering behind you.

Xbox will be the first game console to feature Dolby Atmos … Atmos support for the Blu-ray app on Xbox is already available in Preview and will be released to GA soon – and we’re very excited now to offer Atmos support to games on Xbox One and Windows 10.

“HMD’s first new Nokia handset is a $26 feature phone”

Well, at least they got the price right.

Google highlights its top searches from 2016

The other day, Bing provided a peek at the top searches from 2016. Now Google is chiming in too:

From Powerball numbers to Olympic champions, whether making dessert or becoming a mannequin, this year affected us all in different ways. Through all the highs and lows, people came to Search to learn more and understand.

Here’s a peek at some of the trending U.S. topics that caught our attention as especially unique to this year.

1. Powerball
2. Politicians and athletes
3. Pokémon Go
4. Quinoa and Budweiser
5. Slime and… mannequins

The Fall of the Roman Empire, indeed.

Reminder: Mario comes to iPhone tomorrow

And finally, the most important news of the week: Super Mario Run arrives on the iPhone tomorrow. The New York Times reports:

On Thursday, after nearly a decade of doing its best to ignore the explosive growth of smartphones and tablets, Nintendo is finally bringing a game based on its beloved character Mario to mobile devices.

Mario is widely estimated to be the best-selling game franchise ever, with more than a half-billion copies sold since the plumber first showed up in the game Donkey Kong in 1981.

Nintendo made some curious choices with Super Mario Run that suggest it is not yet entirely comfortable with mobile devices. The game will require a constant internet connection, which could make it difficult to play on airplanes, in subways and in other areas where connections are unreliable or nonexistent. Company executives have said in interviews that Nintendo is requiring an internet connection, in part, to prevent piracy of the game.

Nintendo will charge $9.99 for full access to the game. Only a few mobile games — Minecraft is one notable example — have successfully charged as much as Nintendo plans to.