With the Google Maps API giving entertainment brands the means to build their own location-based AR games, Niantic is raising the bar for the genre with new updates to Pokémon GO.
With its recent acquisition of 3D gaming engine PlayCanvas, Snapchat parent Snap, Inc. appears to be preparing a challenge to the existing players in the world of game development, particularly in terms of augmented and virtual reality gaming.
If you want to play a game in the Play Store before committing to actually downloading and installing it, you can do that with Google's Android Instant Apps technology. However, if you don't see a "Try Now" button on the app's Play Store page, you'll need to check your Android device's settings to make sure you can play games instantly.
Having pushed more than two million downloads of its Bait! game for the Gear VR and Daydream platforms, VR developer Resolution Games is bringing the virtual fishing fun to augmented reality.
Samsung's Galaxy S9 is a powerhouse, driven by the Snapdragon 845. Still, this SoC lags behind the A11 Bionic chip that's inside the iPhone X — meaning you'll need a few tricks in order to squeeze out some extra performance from your phone. Fortunately, there's an app made by Samsung that will help you do just that.
Franchises left and right are releasing Pokémon Go-style augmented reality games, and Google is making it even easier to churn out the apps.
Assassin's Creed Rebellion is a welcome addition to the popular gaming franchise, garnering great reviews so far. Unfortunately, the game has been stuck in soft-launch limbo for almost a year, with no firm release date in sight. With a little legwork, however, you can try the game out for yourself right now.
With Wrestlemania 34 right around the corner, WWE has partnered with GLU to soft-launch WWE Universe. While the game is currently only available in New Zealand, there's a simple loophole that you can exploit to download the game right now and play as your favorite WWE wrestler.
Every industry has its own jargon, acronyms, initializations, and terminology that serve as shorthand to make communication more efficient among veteran members of that particular space. But while handy for insiders, those same terms can often create a learning curve for novices entering a particular field. The same holds true for the augmented reality (also known as "AR") business.
HBO's Westworld has touched down on iOS as a mobile game, giving players the chance to manage their very own futuristic theme park set in the wild west. Unfortunately, the game is currently only available in select countries as a soft launch until its fully developed. But if you'd like to try out this game right now, there's a simple workaround to get Westworld on your iPhone.
The greatest pain in owning a high-powered gaming PC is the simple fact that you can't play it all the time. Sometimes you have work or school, and other times, you may just want to go mobile. When something like this impedes your ability to play PC games, you may end up settling for mobile games. What if, instead of doing that, you were able to play your PC games from your iPhone?
In the midst of outlining plans to release Pokémon Go in China and debut its new Harry Potter game during the back half of 2018, Niantic CEO John Hanke turned to the dark arts by taking a swipe at the company's AR gaming competition.
On Friday, game developer PreviewLabs released the first online multiplayer game for the Microsoft HoloLens.
Cuphead may have taken the indie gaming scene by storm, but its "introduction" to the iOS App Store is what everyone in the smartphone world is talking about. There is no official Cuphead game available for iPhone, and that's what is so surprising — a fake version was approved and released for iOS devices, and at this scale, incidents like this just don't happen for Apple.
Word games can expand your vocabulary skills in all sorts of exciting and creative ways. Because of this, both the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store are awash with word games, making it hard to differentiate between good and bad titles. This is especially troublesome if you're looking to purchase a game, as everyone hates to waste hard-earned cash.
The release of Into the Dead 2 has given fans of the zombie bashing genre a fresh game to enjoy, but it's also given us the opportunity to revisit our roundup for the best free action games for mobile. Not only did it replace its predecessor in our charts, it managed to surpass it. Here's what made the game shine through.
To the best of my recollection, Fruit Ninja was one of the first touchscreen games that appeared to really take advantage of the new paradigm of user input, turning the player's finger into a produce-slicing katana.
Death Road to Canada has finally arrived for Android, and it quickly took over our roundup for the best paid action games. Widely regarded as a top contender for the best video game of 2017, it came as no surprise when it easily surpassed all the other games in our list to grab the top spot for both Android and iPhone.
Trivia games are among the most entertaining ways to learn factoids and interesting info you may have never known about before. They're also the perfect genre to enjoy with friends and family, as they're particularly great at breaking the ice to make for a more memorable time together.
When playing word association with Star Trek, the first thing to come to mind with regards to augmented reality is likely Holodeck, not The Game, an obscure episode from season five of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
If you bought your first mobile phone in the early-to-mid-2000s, there's a good chance that it was a Nokia and it had the game Snake preinstalled.
Puzzle games are great at giving your brain a workout while keeping things fun and killing time. They stimulate your noggin as you strategize and plan your next move, whether it's to keep your character from getting killed, or to get that special item to finally complete your collection and unlock a new feature within the game.
Ever since the planet went crazy trying to find augmented reality creatures in Pokémon GO, we've been waiting for the next virtual object game capable of delivering a similar hit. And now, we might finally have one coming, direct from the magical world of Harry Potter.
With the release of the Pixel 2 XL and the iPhone X, smartphones have hit a new high not just in price, but also raw processing power. These new flagships not only cost more than twice as much as an Xbox One or PlayStation 4, they have also become almost as powerful as far as gaming goes. Because of this, a lot of games once reserved for consoles and PCs have made their way to our smartphones.
You have a lot of choices when it comes to your next smartphone. iPhone, Galaxy, Pixel, G6, V20, and many more all vie for your wallet. Each of these phones are great for different purposes, but what if your main interest is mobile gaming? Which phone will give you the longest Minecraft session, or the best performance for Pixel Gun 3D?
Thanks to ever more powerful smartphones — the iPhone X with its advanced A11 processor and the Galaxy Note 8 powered by Snapdragon's 835 come to mind — the mobile industry is fast closing in on consoles and PCs with regards to gaming. Game developers have been aware of this fact, and have ported many games once dedicated to computers onto our handheld devices.
Directive Games received the enviable honor of unveiling their ARKit game, The Machines, on stage as part of Apple's iPhone launch presentation.
The promise of augmented reality when it comes to gaming is the conversion of the player's real-world environment into a virtual playground.
Until Star Wars Jedi Challenges arrives in November, a forthcoming ARKit revision of HoloGrid: Monster Battle from Tippett Studios and Happy Giant, might be the closest most Star Wars fans can get to playing the HoloChess game from the movie.
Niantic pioneered location-based augmented reality gaming with Ingress and popularized it with Pokémon Go, but others have attempted to replicate the model without reaching the level of success that Niantic has garnered.
Zenko Games makes no apologies for its influences. In fact, they cite them explicitly in their own promotional materials for Diamonst AR.
Trivia games are a great way to test your knowledge and learn about people and things you never knew of before. They're ideal in a group setting because they can serve as the perfect conversation starter when you're enjoying time with friends, family, or even complete strangers.
You know the drill. It's time to d-d-d-duel! This time you're a part of the Shadow Games in a way you've never been before, thanks to Micorsoft's HoloLens.
If you've ever wanted to scour the basement of a Hollywood hotel looking for evidence of a gruesome murder spree, this new AR experience might be the game for you.
As augmented reality becomes more and more integrated into the mainstream, people have been wondering the future of AR is going to look like. Jay Samit has a pretty clear idea.
Puzzle games are a great way to kill time and exercise your brain in one fell swoop. They challenge you to think strategically and plan ahead, whether that's to create killer chain combinations for maximum points, or to plain old keep from getting killed.
You will soon be able to play an AR version of one of the most frustrating mobile games of all time, thanks to Apple's ARKit.
We continue to field stories underscoring the strong trends of Investment in augmented reality in various sectors. This week, one company strengthens their offerings to the enterprise sector, while two other companies capitalize on the promise presented by augmented reality to consumers – specifically, in gaming.
I don't know how I feel about this. On the one hand, Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow has charm. The original writers are attached to this project, and that shows in the humorous dialogue between characters.
Reigns recently went on sale on the Google Play Store (sorry, iPhone users), and that inspired me to give it a go. I've wanted to try this one out for a while now, but the steep price tag kept me away. ($2.99 is a lot for me, okay?)
