Month: September 2017

Enlarge / Two commanders. Two armies. One bloody, rodent-filled battle. Welcome to Tooth and Tail. (credit: Pocketwatch Games)

StarCraft II thought it had the secret to delivering a truly accessible version of its predecessor. The original game's troop-management battles are unmatched in terms of balance, so the sequel directed more attention to QoL tweaks like resource management, unit assignments, and movement pathing. In short, you could click a little less, and otherwise, you were still tied largely to the same gameplay systems and faction differences (aside from some significant rhythm-shifting changes).

But what if a StarCraft sequel, spin-off, or shameless homage took the entire game formula apart, then put its LEGO pieces back together to make a new, more approachable shape? No RTS game in the past two decades has reimagined the genre quite like the incredible Tooth and Tail, a years-in-the-making project from IGF Award winner Andy Schatz. It's as if three-man studio Pocketwatch Games looked at the mouse cursor in RTS games, made a joke about turning it into an actual mouse, and then called their own bluff.

The resulting game sees players face off in asymmetric explore-and-exploit battles that add speed, accessibility, and surprises (along with cute and, uh, cannibalistic critters) to the RTS world. Yet the depth's still here. Say "goodbye!" to zillions of hotkeys and skill trees. Say "hello!" to the first RTS game that legitimately works with a standard gamepad (and even shines as a split-screen versus battler).

Enlarge / You can’t beat an authentic cartridge (reproduction) for that authentic experience. (credit: iam8bit)

The fact that Street Fighter II is seeing another re-release later this year isn't all that surprising. Since its arcade and 16-bit heyday, the classic fighting game has appeared in some form or another on the PlayStation, PS2, PS3, PSP, Saturn, Xbox, Xbox 360, iOS, and feature phones, after all.

What was surprising is that this latest rerelease of the ur-fighting game would come on an actual, playable Super NES cartridge. Creative production company iam8bit will start shipping a limited run of 5,500 Street Fighter II 30th Anniversay Edition cartridges—in "Opaque Ryu Headband Red" or "Translucent, Glow-in-the-Dark Blanka Green"—starting in November. Pre-orders have already sold out for the $100 package, which includes a retro-styled box, "Premium Instruction Booklet," and "Retro Pack-In Surprises."

Re-releasing old games on new hardware has long been common, of course, and there's also been a growing niche industry of specialists releasing playable cartridge versions of homebrew titles, rare prototypes, and ROM hacks on a variety of classic consoles. But this is the first time we can recall a cartridge-based game getting an officially licensed re-release in its original format, on its original platform, decades after its original launch.

Enlarge / An example of an experiment where bacteria (green) and cancer cells (red) are co-cultured. (credit: Leore Geller)

Of all the kinds of bacteria, some are charming and beneficial, others are malicious and dangerous—and then there are the ones that are just plain turds.

That’s the case for Mycoplasma hyorhinis and its ilk.

Researchers caught the little jerks hiding out among cancer cells, gobbling up chemotherapy drugs intended to demolish their tumorous digs. The findings, reported this week in Science, explain how some otherwise treatable cancers can thwart powerful therapies.

Enlarge / What do you push if you want solar panels? (credit: John Timmer)

For most of my adult life, I've lived in dense urban environments where elevators are a part of daily existence. During that entire time, I've had an elevator get stuck a grand total of once. Someone opened a small panel, pulled out what looked like a handset from an old rotary phone, and managed to get people dispatched to get us out. I was a little too distracted to ponder the technology involved then, and I haven't had cause to think about it since.

Decades of ignorant bliss were interrupted this week when the emergency intercom on my elevator—now just a speaker embedded in the elevator wall—tried to get my attention. Because it wanted to offer me a great bargain on some solar panels.

After a brief, wonder-filled period when the Do Not Call Registry seemed to be like magic, telemarketers are back. It's now rare for me to go a day without offers to help with the student loans I paid off decades ago or the credit card balances I studiously avoid having. I usually manage to hang up before the recording can finish its first sentence. But in this case, I stepped on to an elevator with a pitch in full swing and had to listen to it for six floors, not to mention the time involved in the doors opening and closing.

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We usually pay for our own travel expenses, but in this case Audi provided flights to New York City and two nights' accommodation. While we have paused all sponsored travel opportunities at this time, this event took place in July before that moratorium began.

SALISBURY, Conn.—Success on the racetrack doesn't sell cars like it used to. That said, plenty of car companies still go racing. And it's not just a marketing exercise; it remains an engineering one, too. Competition breeds ingenuity, and a motorsports department is like a skunk works that can add a halo to a mundane car or turn an already good one all the way to 11. BMW has M. Mercedes-Benz has AMG. Volvo (yes, that Volvo) has Polestar. And Audi has Audi Sport.

We were quite smitten with Audi Sport's handiwork when we tested the R8 this summer, but, given that car's bones, it was bound to impress. Finding out what Audi Sport's engineers can do with more modest beginnings was the reason we headed up to Lime Rock Park, a scenic race track a couple of hours north of New York City. Well, that, plus we were promised a hot lap with racing legend Hans Stück in the driver's seat.