Tech News Roundup – 1

Not all tech news makes the cut, kids – it’s a tech-eat-tech world out there. Fortunately, week by week, we’ll be salvaging some of those news stories and putting them all into one place, every Sunday. That’s right, we’re working on our day off for you keen tech readers – all ‘thank you’ emails welcome.

Now, for the Tech News Roundup this week:

Announcements

Far Cry 4 – Ubsioft announced that the sequel to 2012’s open-world adventure, Far Cry 3, is set to take place in the Himalayas, a region which is “struggling under the regime of a despotic self-appointed king”. It’ll be released November 21st this year – plenty of time to replay Far Cry 3 and go all ‘Crazy Taxi’ with a safari jeep.

‘Cleverpet’ dog console – After raising enough funds through a ‘Kickstarter’ campaign, hardware company Cleverpet have created the world’s first video game console for dogs, with the funding campaign ending June 2nd. No longer will they simply go for walks and scratch their balls for a hobby – at least they’re developing game consoles now.

HTC One Mini 2 – HTC have revealed the next step up from the HTC One (M8), released earlier this year. The small smartphone boasts the same dual-front speakers as the M8, despite its smaller size, as well as ‘a front camera for naturally stunning selfies’. We would discuss the other features, but first… LEMME TAKE A SELFIE.

Halo 5: Guardians – 343 Industries, the successor to original Halo developer Bungie, has confirmed the sequel to 2012’s Halo 4 with the release of some of the game’s concept art. Guardians will be released for Xbox One later this year. We’d make some kind of Halo joke, but sadly we’ve never played it.

Releases

Mario Kart 8 – It’s-a-me, another Mario Kart sequel! Mario Kart 8 is the Wii U’s first iteration of the popular karting series, with new weapons, anti-gravity tracks and amped-up visuals. Toad has never looked so adorable.

Borderlands 2 Vita – Gearbox Software are letting gamers roam around Pandora (no, no, forget about Avatar) once more, only this time it’s a little bit smaller than we remember. The industry is hoping that the game can breathe some much-needed life into a struggling Vita console.

The Walking Dead: Season Two: Episode 3: With it being exam and dissertation season, we realise that your life probably couldn’t be more miserable and emotional right now. If it could, well, time to band together with Clementine and her survivors in the latest chapter of Telltale’s horror story.

Meme Dual – Such Pong, much Breakout, wow. Meme Dual joins the two classics together in a meme-themed, revision-distracting game that’s free to download on Android.

Sales

Bohemia Interactive giveaway – Even on their 15th birthday, Bohemia Interactive are givers. To celebrate their anniversary, the developers are discounting their entire catalogue on Steam, making Arma III free-to-play all weekend and giving away Operation Flashpoint for free. We wish it was their birthday every year.

Humble Store spring sale – Humble Store still has some great deals as part of their spring sale. Check it out for discounted indie titles and selected triple A titles – all with 10% of preceedings going to registered charities. Go on, do something selfless with your student loan.

GOG May Myriad – Good Old Games has a ‘May Myriad of Games Weekend Promo’, with titles on sale for as much as 70% off. Indulge in some refreshingly DRM free gaming!

Google Glasses discount  – the slick specs are once again on sale in the U.S. for a sum of 1500 dollars. You probably can’t afford them and neither can we, but it’s cool that they’re out. Right?

Special Mention

Virtual reality for chickens – Imagine a world in which chickens could live the life they always wanted to. A world in which they could regain the freedom they lost when people discovered they were just too damn tasty. Well, designer Austin Stuart has proposed creating a title exclusively for virtual reality, with the aim of giving the little cluckers the life they always wanted.

While the proposition is a joke, the company website outlines an entertaining but rather dark commentary on the state of the battery farm industry. Enjoy!