Windows phones are getting new Xbox Live features, games soon

By Mike Flacy August 16, 2011

xbox-mango-mobile

Announced during the Gamescom conference this week, Microsoft previewed a series of new mobile games for the Windows phone platform as well as a series of updates for Xbox Live that are packaged in the next release of the operating system, Mango. Avatar Awardables are one of the upgrades to Xbox Live. Players will be able to earn wearable items for avatars and have a visual representation of bragging rights for tough achievements.

With the upcoming release of Splinter Cell: Conviction this fall, Microsoft is also adding parental controls to lock out access to content when a game is rated M for Mature. Other improvements include DLC content which can be purchased through the smartphone as well as turn-by-turn asynchronous functionality for games between two players. The ability to purchase add-on content is a helpful step for developers on the platform. Free-to-play games on the iOS platform are often lucrative for developers and publishers due to players spending large quantities of money to advance quickly in the game.

Microsoft claims that 70 percent of all Windows Phone 7 smartphone owners have downloaded at least one game over Xbox Live. The company announced 14 titles for this fall including a mobile version of Kinectimals and a puzzle game called Orbital that has some similarities to Geometry Wars. Also in the mix of new titles includes a couple simulation style games similar to Zynga’s FarmVille or Nintendo’s Animal Crossing. Bug Village is a game where the player tends to a colony of bugs and Farm Frenzy 2 puts the player in charge of a farm to grow crops, tend to the animals and create a profitable farm. Other games include Gravity Guy, Collapse!, Chickens Can’t Fly, Burn the Rope, Beards & Beaks: Cave Area, Fight Game Rivals, IonballEX, Mush, TextTwist 2 and Toy Soldiers Boot Camp.

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Gaming

How to revive dead companions in Baldur’s Gate 3

Withers offering services to the player in Baldur's Gate 3.

You're given a good bit of leeway during battles in Baldur's Gate 3 before you or a companion actually bites the dust for good. While in battle, if a teammate does take enough damage to drop, they aren't dead then and there. Instead, they will be downed with a chance to roll every turn to get back up. If they roll successfully three times, the battle ends, or you use another character to pick them up, they're good. If they fail that roll three times, however, they will be completely dead. That can be harsh when you've become attached to certain characters and want to further their stories, so you'll be looking for any way you can to bring them back. Thankfully you do have a few options for reviving companions in Baldur's Gate 3, but just like respeccing, they aren't so obvious.
Pay Withers to bring them back

Withers is a friendly undead you can find in a secret room in the Dank Crypt found inside the Overgrown Ruins. After finding and speaking to him in his sarcophagus, he will offer you various services, one of which is bringing back any dead companions. He won't do this out of the kindness of his heart (probably because it isn't beating) and will charge you a heavy fine of 200 gold to do so. Still, that's a small price to pay to bring back a beloved character. Once paid, that character will appear in your camp where they would normally be, so there's no need to go back to their corpse and find them.
Use a scroll of Revivfy or learn it

Gaming

Every video game delay that has happened in 2023 so far

The player skates toward the moon in Skate Story.

Few things feel as inevitable in the video game industry as delays. Ever since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, game delays have only become more and more common as developers find previously set timelines unrealistic and adjust their release plans accordingly. More than halfway through 2023, we've already seen some notable AAA games like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Skull & Bones, and Pragmata delayed pretty heavily. Because video game release date delays are so common, it can be tough to keep track of every game that has had its launch date shifted in some way.
That's why, just as we did in 2021 and 2022, Digital Trends is rounding up every game delay that's announced throughout 2023. Here are the high-profile ones that have happened so far, listed chronologically by their new intended release dates.
The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR (March 16)

As Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is one of the best games for PlayStation VR, The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR, Supermassive Games' PlayStation VR2 successor, is a highly anticipated launch title for the upcoming VR headset. Unfortunately, it will no longer make PlayStation VR2's February 22 launch and will instead be released on March 16. On Twitter, a message from Supermassive Games says this delay will ensure that players "receive the most polished, terrifying experience possible" at release. The game was released on that date to mixed reviews.
Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key (March 24)

Gaming

Is Remnant 2 cross-platform?

Three characters shoot at a boss in Remnant 2.

Aside from the focus on firearms and integrating some randomly generated environments, the Remnant series sets itself apart from other souls-like games mainly with its focus on co-op. Both titles encourage you to team up with two friends to fight your way through the mutated monsters that await. After so many years of progress in terms of multiplatform games incorporating full cross-platform support, you might assume Remnant 2 will follow suit and let you make a group with anyone regardless of what platform they're on. However, the truth may be a bit more disappointing. Before you make plans with your squad, here's what you need to know about Remnant 2's cross-platform support.
Is Remnant 2 cross-platform?

Unfortunately, Remnant 2 does not have cross-platform play between PS5, Xbox Series X or PC -- and there's no word about it being added in the future.