Is Anything More Hateful Than ‘Read Receipts’?

Sarah Dobbs reckons technology has tried to solve a problem that didn’t exist with read receipts – and created a new one in the process

If there was ever a question that didn’t really need to be asked, it’s “did you get my email?” Of course they got your email... Maybe once, back in the early days of the internet or when spam filters were less selective than they are now, there was a vague possibility that your email might’ve gone walkabout or end up sitting in someone’s junk mail, unnoticed. But that really doesn’t happen very often any more. When we ask “did you get my email?”, what we’re really asking is “could you please actually reply to my email?” or “can you do the thing I asked you to do in my email, now or sooner, because I’m getting impatient?”

What To Do If Your Account Is Hacked (And How You Can Protect Yourself)

As more and more people fall victim to online hackers, David Crookes look at the defensive steps you need to take

Barely a week goes by these days without some sort of hacking story emerging in the news. Recently, there have been major security breaches at some of the best-known online companies across the world – from Sony, to Dropbox, to Ashley Madison – and all of them have led to disruption on some scale. Whether hacked accounts simply force users to subsequently change their passwords, or cause a major leak of information and prompt a major overhaul of the back-end system of the affected service, hacking leads to inconvenience and at worse loss of money and privacy.

Penarium

Clowning around in the cirque du slaughter

This frantic platformer bears comparison to some of the indie greats of recent years. In terms of core mechanics, Dutch developer Self Made Miracle has taken its cues from arcade gem Super Crate Box, recreating that game’s compulsive blend of speedy 2D traversal and panicky high-score chasing, and in multiplayer, it evokes the pace and tension of a heated Towerfall tournament. Those are some lofty comparisons, to be sure, but it almost stands shoulder to shoulder with these 2D titans. Almost.

The making of Fallout 4

The sevenyear journey behind the biggest game of the year

Coming off of the success of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Bethesda Game Studios began work on its most ambitious game yet for hardware that didn’t exist. The team’s plans were impressive, allowing players to build their own weapons and homes, and dictate their own fates in the wasteland through intertwining story arcs and relationships that could end in love or death. The development spanned seven years, delivering successes, failures, and unexpected detours like porting Skyrim to the Xbox One (keep reading). Just 25 days before Fallout 4 releases, the creators sound off on the lengthy development process as they brace for players to experience their game.

Quantum Break

Part game, part show, Remedy’s bold storytelling experiment is unlike anything you’ve ever played

For more than 20 years, Remedy Entertainment has developed story-focused action games like Max Payne and Alan Wake – while working at the leisurely pace of a bullet-time shootout. In the span of two decades, Remedy has created five titles. Contrast that with other high-profile studios like Naughty Dog or Gearbox, who have both worked on more than a dozen games in that same period, and Remedy’s gameography feels a little thin.