Friday, July 30, 2021

Engadget RSS Feed

Engadget RSS Feed

'Doctor Who' needs to evolve to survive

Posted: 30 Jul 2021 04:30 AM PDT

The BBC has announced that Chris Chibnall (pictured, center), Doctor Who's executive producer, and its star, Jodie Whittaker (pictured, right), will leave the series in 2022. A trio of specials through next year would herald the pair's departure from the long-running series. This, then, seems like an ideal time for Doctor Who to undergo the radical shakeup it so desperately needs. I don't agree with The Guardian's recent piece saying that the series needs to be off the air for a while, but it is very clearly time for the show to evolve again.

This is in part because Doctor Who under Chibnall has been such a waste: the showrunner's work before taking the job, while popular and award-winning, had always left me cold. My initial apprehension was calmed, somewhat, by the news emerging from the production of the revived series' 11th run. Chibnall also deserves credit for hiring the first two writers of color in the show's nearly sixty year history. The fact that many of the episodes had an explicit focus on material social history suggested a bright new direction for the series. The Woman Who Fell To Earth, too, was a blisteringly confident debut and all seemed well.

And then, yeesh. As good as Chibnall is at birthing some truly inspired ideas, the quality of his execution is terrible. He struggled to flesh out the quartet of lead characters and failed to offer them real stakes to deal with. And for all of the era's emphasis on diversity, the content of each episode seemed to be far more backward-looking. I've written before about Chibnall often appearing to make the argument opposite to the one he thinks he's making. Unless he intended to say that polite protest is the only good protest, Amazon's treatment of its staff is good, actually, and that we can all benefit from the spoils of colonialism.

Naturally, the casting of a woman in the central role encouraged the usual petulance from those corners of the internet. Sadly, I think that the actors involved have all performed miracles trying to make anything Chibnall writes remotely believable. And Whittaker's departure before she could work with another executive producer will be yet another tragically wasted opportunity in this era. I hope that this bad-faith criticism doesn't force the production team to make a "safe" choice for the next Doctor.

The big secret to Doctor Who's endurance is both the malleability of its premise and its knack for reinventing itself. Every few years, often as the show's creative team changed, it would become an almost entirely different show. You could argue that this lack of sentimentality has been the case since the show's first mission-switch, which happened in its fifth episode. The revived show has been using a version of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer template since 2005, and it's starting to wear a bit thin.

It didn't help that while Series 11 was designed to avoid any of the show's dense backstory, Series 12 was at times incomprehensible to anyone but die hard fans. Chibnall, after all, devoted his series arc to validating a production gaffe in an episode that aired on January 24th, 1976. (And, in doing so, made the Doctor the Time Lord equivalent of Jesus, contradicting everything that we'd learned over the last six decades.) This was the worst kind of self-indulgent fan fiction, and hardly a bold new direction for a mainstream drama.

Unfortunately, the media landscape has changed, and competition has intensified beyond all belief. The BBC no longer has a monopoly on the conversation as it did — at least here in the UK — and is dwarfed by the streaming giants. Netflix, Amazon, Disney and others also have the wealth to offer the sort of creative freedom that once made the non-commercial BBC stand out among the crowd.

The knee-jerk reaction, I'm sure, will be to demand Doctor Who jumps on the bandwagon driven by Marvel's recent streaming shows. That would be a mistake, because Who is at its best when it pushes away from whatever genre show is cresting into the mainstream that year. Financially, the BBC can't compete with these mega-franchises, but the quality of its writing and its unique sensibilities, can. The one thing that the series could learn from those shows, however, is how to build every episode into an event.

This could mean that the show becomes a run of occasional specials with a longer running time, like a glorified movie of the week. Or it could, like the COVID-influenced 2021 season, be a shorter run of tightly-interconnected episodes. Chibnall may indeed stumble onto the template that helps revitalize the show going forward, but I'm personally hoping for something more radical.

For instance, if Doctor Who can't succeed as a glossy, hour-long standalone drama, then why not go back to being a series of short serials? Netflix's Russian Doll and the BBC's I May Destroy You are both examples of (excellent) half-hour dramas that offer a break from the current prestige-drama template. It helps, too, that Doctor Who was run in this format for 25 of its first 26 seasons, and offers new — or at least different — methods for structuring a story.

It may also make it easier to binge during its long second life on a streaming platform. Think about it: how many times have you ducked watching a long episode of The Crown because it's too much time to invest out of your day, but you'll happily burn through four episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine without complaint. You could even get Michaela Coel to write it, although at this point I'll settle for anyone who isn't named Chris Chibnall.

The Morning After: You can now upgrade your PS5's SSD, if you meet all the criteria

Posted: 30 Jul 2021 04:15 AM PDT

Yes, you can finally upgrade your SSD storage on the PS5 — a console that already demands pretty huge game file sizes. It's a whole lot more complicated than plugging in a USB drive, however. First up, you have to be a PS5 beta user in the US, Canada and parts of Europe. Then, you need a PCIe Gen4 SSD for read speeds of 5,500MB/s or higher — there are options from Samsung, Western Digital and Seagate.

But that's not the end of things. Sony notes in its guide to SSD upgrades that you also need to factor in the PS5's cooling mechanism. This means you might have to add a heatsink to your SSD or choose a compatible SSD with the cooling structure built-in.

Sony PlayStation 5 with Xbox consoles in background
Aaron Souppouris/Engadget

Oh, it has to be the right-sized heatsink, too. And Sony suggests doing the whole installation in a well lit room, flashlight "optional." It literally says that.

Did you buy a next-gen console so you didn't have to think too much about these kinds of things? Well, sorry. It's time to measure a heatsink. The feature will roll out to non-beta PS5 users later this year.

(TLDR: The Western Digital Black SN850 heatsink model should work if you want to upgrade your PS5 storage.)

— Mat Smith

Intel NUC 11 PC Extreme review

A tiny gaming desktop you may actually want.

Intel NUC 11 Extreme mini gaming desktop
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Intel's very own desktop PC series gets a little more compelling. The new NUC 11 Extreme, AKA Beast Canyon, is a lot like last year's NUC 9 Extreme. But it's a bit cheaper and more flexible, thanks to its faster 11th-gen Intel CPU and support for full-sized GPUs. It's bigger, yes, but that ability to work around full-sized GPUs makes it a genuine, if expensive, gaming PC desktop option. Devindra Hardawar puts it through its paces. Continue reading.

Cat simulator 'Stray' heads to PlayStation and PC in early 2022

Watch the first gameplay trailer.

Finally, a game you play as a cat. After being teased in 2020, we finally get to see the game in action — and news it will arrive next year. Gameplay involves using physical abilities as a cat to navigate the environment and solve puzzles. You can also scratch furniture. Continue reading.

Nothing's Ear 1 wireless earbuds are an ambitious start

And a tribute to tech design of the past.

Nothing Ear 1 wireless ear buds.
Engadget, Mat Smith

Nothing's long-teased launch product is almost here. Its transparent-cased wireless earbuds look cool, ring in at $100 and, perhaps a little surprisingly, sound pretty good. The Ear 1s are a little temperamental with connectivity — and pricier headphones sound better — but Nothing has delivered some stylish buds that will come to the US next month. Mat Smith tests them out. Continue reading.

'Black Widow' star Scarlett Johansson sues Disney over streaming strategy

The simultaneous release will reportedly cost Johansson over $50 million.

Scarlett Johansson in Marvel movie 'Black Widow'
Jay Maidment/Marvel Studios

Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney over the company's decision to release the movie in theaters and on Disney+ simultaneously. Johansson claims this was a breach of contract. In the suit, Johansson says Black Widow was supposed to be released exclusively in theaters, per her deal with Marvel. A large portion of Johansson's salary was tied to its box office success.

The move to launch the film on Disney+ may have impacted Black Widow's performance in theaters. According to Variety, it's on track to become one of the lowest-grossing Marvel movies to date, based on box office sales. Continue reading.

YouTubers have been rickrolled over a billion times

You know the rules. 

Never Gonna Give You Up
Revideo

And so do I.Continue reading.

But wait, there's more...

'What Remains of Edith Finch' will hit iOS on August 16th

AMD's Radeon RX 6600XT is its next flagship 1080p GPU

Engadget Deals: Apple's MacBook Air M1 is on sale for $850 right now at Amazon

Tesla update adds Disney+ streaming and a Car Wash mode

Facebook's next product will be its long-awaited Ray-Ban smart glasses

Old Amazon Kindle devices will soon lose 3G access

Samsung vows to make foldable smartphones 'mainstream'

A Tesla Megapack caught fire at the Victorian Big Battery facility in Australia

Posted: 30 Jul 2021 03:55 AM PDT

A 13-tonne Tesla Megapack caught fire on Friday morning at a battery storage facility in south-east Australia. The blaze occurred during testing at 10 -10.15am local time, according to Victorian Big Battery. The regional fire service said a specialist fire crew had been dispatched to the site in Geelong, Victoria. Firefighters were using a hazmat appliance designed for hazardous chemical spills and specialist drones to conduct atmospheric monitoring, according to Fire Rescue Victoria.

The site was evacuated and there were no injuries, Victorian Big Battery said in a statement. It added that the site had been disconnected from the power grid and that there will be no impact to the electric supply. French energy company Neoen, which operates the facility, and contractor Tesla are working with emergency services to manage the situation. 

As a result of the fire, a warning for toxic smoke has been issued in the nearby Batesford, Bell Post Hill, Lovely Banks and Moorabool areas, reports The Sydney Morning Herald. Residents were warned to move indoors, close windows, vents and fireplace flues and bring their pets inside.

The Victorian Big Battery site, a 300 MW/450 MWh battery storage facility, is viewed as key to the Victorian government's 50 percent renewable energy target by 2030. It follows the success of Neoen and Tesla's 100 MW/129 MWh battery farm in Hornsdale in South Australia, which was completed ahead of schedule in just 100 days and has resulted in multi-million dollar savings for market players and consumers. Both sites essentially provide a regional power backup for when renewable energy is not available, effectively filling the gap when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing.

In February, Neoen announced that the Victorian Big Battery would utliize Tesla's megapacks — utility-sized batteries produced at the company's Gigafactory — and Autobidder software to sell power to the grid. Victorian Big Battery has a contract with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). As part of the pact, the site will provide energy stability by unlocking an additional 250 MW of peak capacity on the existing Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector over the next decade of Australian summers.

NASA and Boeing delay Starliner ISS launch

Posted: 30 Jul 2021 02:24 AM PDT

The Boeing Starliner's trip to the International Space Station has hit another hurdle. The craft was scheduled for a second uncrewed test flight to the ISS today, July 30th, after its first attempt went awry back in late 2019. But, it will have to wait a bit longer for take off. NASA and Boeing have decided to push back the launch to the tentative date of Tuesday, August 3rd. 

The delay comes after the thrusters on the ISS' new Russian module Nauka accidentally activated causing the station to move out of orientation. Though ground teams managed to regain control and motion of the ISS, NASA is proceeding with caution.

"The International Space Station team will use the time to continue working checkouts of the newly arrived Roscosmos Nauka multipurpose laboratory module and to ensure the station will be ready for Starliner's arrival," the agency said in a statement.

The completion of the second test flight is a critical part of the Starliner's development phase that will be followed by the first of six crew rotation missions. NASA added that launch preparations would resume pending a final decision from the ISS and Commercial Crew Program teams. 

In the meantime, staff are assessing whether to move the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket — atop which the Starliner is placed — from the launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station back to the Vehicle Integration Facility. While both are mission-ready, the move is seen as a mitigation measure to protect them from weather damage.

The delay is the latest in a series of setbacks that have thus far prevented the Starliner from reaching the ISS. In December 2019, the Boeing craft suffered an automation issue during its first test flight that caused it to miss its planned orbit. While the second test flight has been held up since late last year due to ongoing software checks.

Tesla will pay $1.5 million to settle Model S battery throttling complaints

Posted: 30 Jul 2021 01:07 AM PDT

Back in 2019, Tesla pushed an over-the-air update to its Model S sedans following an incident wherein the vehicle caught fire in a Hong Kong parking lot. As CNBC notes, it said at the time that the update will revise "charge and thermal management settings" on Model S and Model X vehicles to "help further protect the battery and improve battery longevity." Some Model S owners claimed, however, that the update reduced their maximum battery voltage, prompting them to take Tesla to court. Now, the automaker has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle the class action lawsuit filed against it.

According to Reuters, the court documents show that the software update affected 1,743 Model S sedans in the US. The voltage limitation was temporary, but the plaintiffs experienced a 10 percent battery reduction for three months and a seven percent reduction lasting for another seven months, the plaintiffs' lawyers said. Tesla rolled out the final update that fully corrected the issue in March 2020. Among the affected vehicles, 1,552 had their max battery voltage restored, while 57 vehicles had battery replacements. The settlement documents said that any vehicle still experiencing battery throttling problems would have their maximum voltage restored over time.

While the company has agreed to pay $1.5 million, a huge chunk of that would be used to cover lawyers' fees: Owners are expected to get only $625 each from the settlement. Affected owners in Norway could get a much bigger payday after a court in the country ordered the company to pay them $16,000 each to settle a lawsuit over the same issue. In the US, aside from agreeing to pay up, Tesla has also agreed to provide battery-related diagnostics and notifications for cars under warranty whenever battery repairs may be needed.

HBO returns to Dish's lineup after a protracted absence

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 11:15 PM PDT

Dish Network is finally offering HBO, Cinemax and HBO Max to its subscribers after kicking HBO off its network nearly three years ago. It's the first time Dish subscribers will be able to watch HBO shows like Mare of Easttown and Euphoria since the carriage dispute began on October 31st, 2018. However, the new agreement doesn't cover Dish subsidiary Sling TV's distribution of HBO or HBO Max. 

When Dish removed HBO and Cinemax channels, it accused then-parent AT&T of using HBO as an "economic weapon." At that time, HBO was only a straight cable station, but AT&T launched HBO Max as a Netflix-like streaming service in July of 2019. With the situation now resolved, Dish becomes the last major pay TV distributor to add HBO Max to its lineup. 

The resolution follows a major shakeup with HBO's parent, WarnerMedia. In May 2021, AT&T announced that it was spinning off that division and merging it with Discovery in a $43 billion deal. That effectively removed a conflict of interest as AT&T is a direct competitor to Dish in the satellite video service provider space. The parties haven't disclosed the terms of the new agreement. 

With an accord now in pace, Dish customers get a free 10-day free of HBO and Cinemax from Aug. 6-15. Dish users can subscribe to the HBO Max ad-free plan for $12 rather than the regular price of $15 per month for up to 12 months if they act before Oct. 27, 2021. They'll get HBO Max access on supported devices like iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV and Fire TV, along with live channels including HBO, HBO Family and HBO Signature. Dish TV customers can also get Cinemax for $10 per month.

Amazon's first-gen Echo Show 5 is back to its lowest price on Best Buy

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 09:45 PM PDT

Amazon's first-gen Echo Show 5 dropped down to $45 from its original price of $80 ahead of Prime Day back in June. If you missed the chance to get the Alexa-powered smart display at a discount, though, now's your chance to get one: It's available for $45 again on Best Buy. That's the lowest price we've seen for the device, even on Amazon, where it's been selling for around $50 these past months. It's also $40 cheaper than the second-gen Echo Show 5, which isn't that much different from the first-generation device anyway.

Buy Amazon first-gen Echo Show 5 at Best Buy - $45

As we mentioned in our review for the newer smart display, the changes are pretty minor. The second-gen Echo Show 5 has a 2-megapixel camera instead of a one-megapixel, and it comes in a light blue color in addition to black and white. However, it still has a much lower resolution than the Echo Show 8, and it doesn't support a lot of the bigger smart display's capabilities. 

If you're not bothered with the one-megapixel camera difference and the lack of an extra color option, you can just get the first-gen Echo Show 5. Its 5.5-inch screen has the same 960 x 480 resolution as its newer counterpart, it has a fabric-wrapped speaker and it has several clock faces to choose from. The device supports Amazon Prime, NBC and Hulu, so you can use it to watch shows, as well as to display images and videos. 

If you find its screen too small for serious bingeing, though, you can also use it as an alarm clock with several clock faces to choose from. It even comes with a sunrise feature, which slowly brightens the screen fifteen minutes prior to your alarm time to mimic the effects of daylight's arrival. While the device isn't available in blue like its newer sibling, you can get either the "Charcoal" (black) or the "Sandstone" (white) color options for $45 on Best Buy.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

AMD's Radeon RX 6600XT is its next flagship 1080p GPU

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 08:30 PM PDT

After making a return to the mid-range with its RX 6700 XT GPU, AMD has launched its 1080p flagship, the RX 6600 XT. A successor to the excellent and popular RX 5600 XT card, the new model has considerably more power on tap with 9.6 teraflops of RDNA 2 performance, compared to 7.19 teraflops for the last model. Not only that, but it offers 8GB of GDDR6 RAM, compared to 6GB for its predecessor. 

In fact, the RX 6600 XT seems to deliver about the same amount of performance as the RX 5700 XT (9.75 teraflops) and just slightly less than the GPU in the PS5, at least on paper. Since the RX 5700 XT was offered as a 1440p-capable card (and the PS5 can handle 4K), it doesn't seem a stretch to say that the new model will at least be decent at 1440p gaming. 

However, AMD is marketing this card as a "new standard for 1080p," saying that it has up to a 1.7 times uplift over the last generation for games like Doom Eternal for 1080p gaming. AMD noted that around two-third of monitors shipped are still 1080p, so that's still the norm for PC gaming. 

AMD's Radeon RX 6600XT is its next flagship 1080p GPU
AMD

Other specs include 32 compute units (compared to 40 on the RX 6700 XT), a 2359 MHz game clock and 160W power consumption with a single 8 pin power connector. AMD also touts custom features like Radeon Boost for higher frame rates and Radeon Anti-Lag for improved latency.

The main new feature with the 6000-series GPUs, however, is ray-tracing. That feature allows for higher resolutions (1440p and 4K) while still maintaining decent frame rates and allowing for more realistic images. Don't expect too much from the RX 6600 XT, however, as the RX 6700 XT struggled in ray-tracing tests compared to NVIDIA rivals in our review — and the RX 6600 XT has lower specs all around. 

Still, it looks pretty impressive otherwise for a budget-level 1080p card. We'll soon see a raft of RX 6600 XT models from ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI (above), ASRock and others, with MSRP starting at $379 and shipping set for August 11th. Take it as a miracle if you get one at that price, though — the RX 5600 XT had a suggested retail of $300, but street prices were often double that and more thanks to the cryptomining and the global GPU shortage. 

IBM's AI can predict how Parkinson's disease may progress in individuals

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 03:30 PM PDT

In the past, we've seen doctors use AI software to detect brain tumors, kidney illness and various cancers. Now, researchers from IBM and Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) say they've developed a program that can predict how the symptoms of a Parkinson's disease patient will progress in terms of both timing and severity. In The Lancet Digital Health journal, they claim the software could transform how doctors help patients manage their symptoms by allowing them to better predict how the disease will progress.

"Our aim is to use AI to help with patient management and clinical trial design. These goals are important because, despite Parkinson's prevalence, patients experience a unique variety of motor and non-motor symptoms," IBM said.

The breakthrough wouldn't have been possible without the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative, a study the Michael J. Fox Foundation sponsored. IBM describes the dataset, which includes information on more than 1,400 individuals, as the "largest and most robust volume of longitudinal Parkinson's patient data to date" and says it allowed its AI model to map out complex symptom and progression patterns.

It's estimated Parkinson's disease affects more than 6 million people globally, and there's currently no known cure for it. IBM Research and MJFF plan to continue work on the AI model. In the future, they hope to make it better at providing more granular characterizations of the various stages of the disease.

Amazon's Fire TV Cube works with Zoom, if you have a webcam

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 02:23 PM PDT

Starting today, you can use a second-generation Fire TV Cube to take part in two-way Zoom calls. For the best experience, Amazon recommends a webcam with a 60- to 90-degree field of view that can capture video at 1080p. The company also suggests mounting the device on the top of your TV set, and that you sit about six to 10 feet away. At the very least, you'll want a 720p camera that supports USB Video Class (UVC). You'll also need a Micro USB-to-USB adapter since the second-generation Fire TV Cube doesn't have a full-sized USB-A port. One thing to note is Amazon recommends against using a 4K-capable camera. Outside of those requirements, you'll need to download the latest Fire TV Cube update and the Zoom app from the Fire TV Appstore.

Once you have everything ready to go, you can tell Alexa to join a video call for you, at which point the voice assistant will ask you to provide a meeting ID and passcode. It's also possible to link your calendar to Alexa, which will allow you to more seamlessly join any Zoom meetings you have on your schedule.

Amazon isn't the first company to allow you to use your TV for video calls. Since last August, you've been able to stream Google Meet calls to Chromecast and other Cast-enabled devices. Over that same time frame, Amazon has offered two-way video calling between Fire TV Cube and camera-enabled Alexa devices. It might seem like a late offering, but with the return-to-office plans of most companies constantly shifting due to new developments in the pandemic, it's a feature that's likely to get plenty of use.

Behance adds Patreon-like subscriptions to support creators

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 01:35 PM PDT

In one of the most significant changes to come to the platform since it was acquired by Adobe in 2012, Behance is introducing Patreon-like subscriptions. Starting today with a small group of about two dozen artists, Adobe is allowing creators to offer access to premium projects, live streams and source files in exchange for a monthly fee. The company says creators can set their own subscription price, and it's up to them to decide what people get in return for their financial support. You'll see prompts to support creators throughout the platform, including when you watch live streams.

For Adobe, obviously this is another way for the company to monetize one of its products beyond its Creative Cloud subscriptions and standalone software offerings. However, just as important here is the fact the company is giving creators, many of whom depend on Behance to showcase their work, a way to make money.

Twitter Spaces updates makes it easier to share and discover live audio

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 12:50 PM PDT

Twitter's Spaces is getting another update that makes the audio feature easier to share and discover. Now, users will be able to compose a new tweet directly from the Space, which will link to the audio chat and any accompanying hashtags. While it was previously possible to compose new tweets while listening to a Space, having the composer directly in the space will allow participants to more easily tweet about the conversation as it's happening.

On iOS, Twitter is also adding new "guest management" controls, that allows hosts to more easily view who is in a Space and who has requested to speak. Finally, the company is adding a new search feature to the Spaces tab it started testing in June. Now, instead of just a curated list of active Spaces, users with access to the tab will also be able to search for Spaces by title or the name or handle of a host. (No update on when more people will have access to the Spaces section of the app, though.)

Twitter has been steadily updating Spaces since introducing the Clubhouse competitor late last year. The company has recently added support for a web version of the feature and has started experimenting with allowing hosts to sell tickets to the conversations.

‘Stanley Parable’ and ‘Gone Home’ devs team up to form Ivy Road studio

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 12:45 PM PDT

Along with showing off a bunch of upcoming games during its showcase on Thursday, Annapurna Interactive announced some developer partnerships. One of them is with a new studio called Ivy Road from powerhouse indie developers Davey Wreden and Karla Zimonja.

Wreden is best known as the writer and designer of The Stanley Parable. Zimonja previously worked at Fullbright and is the co-creator of indie hits Gone Home and Tacoma. They're now combining their talents at Ivy Road, which is based in Vancouver.

The duo didn't reveal any details about the first game they're working on for AI. However, they did note that composer Daniel Rosenfeld (aka C418), of Minecraft fame, is part of the team, along with severalotherdevelopers.

‘Sound Shapes’ creator Jessica Mak is making a game with Annapurna Interactive

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 12:35 PM PDT

The last time Jessica Mak released a game was in 2012 when they worked with Sony's Santa Monica Studio to create Sound Shapes. The game went on to become one of the PlayStation Vita's standout gems, in part thanks to an unforgettable soundtrack that featured contributions from Shaw-Han Liem of I Am Robot and Proud fame, Indie Game: The Movie composer Jim Guthrie and Beck.

After nearly a decade since the release of Sound Shapes, Mak is working with Annapurna Interactive on a new project, the publisher announced on Thursday during its developer showcase. The game doesn't have an official name or release date yet, but Mak shared some details about the project. 

Like Everyday Shooter and Sound Shapes, music will play a central part in the experience, and part of the reason Mak took a break from making games was to become a better musician."The music, for me, is very much as important as the game part of it," Mak said. They went on to describe the game as an action-adventure experience that they hope will surprise players.

'Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye' is an expansion of a modern classic

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 12:34 PM PDT

How do you create DLC for a game whose very purpose is to offer a confined, looping world? Honestly, after watching the trailer for Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye, I still have no idea. Outer Wilds was one of our favorite games of 2019, building an enthralling mystery into a non-linear exploration game that effectively restarts every 22 minutes.

Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye, the game's first and final DLC, will build on the game with new narrative threads and locales. Not much is known beyond that, but based on the strength of the original, I'm down to play an expanded version. Hopefully, the expansion will persuade more people to try out this gem of a game, which, as Devindra Hardawar wrote in our "Favorite games of 2019" article, "demands patience and an adventurous spirit," but "promises adventure like nothing else." Echoes of the Eye will be available September 28th for PS4, Xbox One and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store for $14.99

Cat simulator 'Stray' heads to PlayStation and PC in early 2022

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 12:27 PM PDT

The last time we saw Stray was in the form of a cinematic trailer Sony shared in 2020 that highlighted the game's futuristic neon-soaked setting and adorable feline protagonist. At the time, we didn't get to see the game in action, a fact that Annapurna Interactive has now remedied. The publisher shared a slice of gameplay footage from the title during its recent showcase and said it would release Stray sometime in early 2022.

In the opening moments of Stray, our feline protagonist finds himself injured and separated from his family. Gameplay involves using his physical abilities as a cat to navigate the environment and solve puzzles. In the time-honored tradition of duos like Ratchet and Clank, partway through the adventure, you'll meet a drone named B-12. They will allow you to converse with the city's other robotic inhabitants and interact with certain objects in the environment. The cat has a playful side to his personality, and you can do things like scratch furniture, interact with vending machines and rub up against the legs of the robots you meet. Good stuff.

When Stray comes out next year, it will be available on PlayStation 4, PS5 and PC. Developer BlueTwelve Studio promised to show off more of the game before then.

'What Remains of Edith Finch' will hit iOS on August 16th

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 12:24 PM PDT

Annapurna Interactive is making lots of announcements today about its future, but the publisher hasn't forgotten its roots either. What Remains Of Edith Finch, the very first game AI released, is coming to iOS on August 16th.

The first-person mystery, which was developed by Giant Sparrow, debuted on PC and PS4 in April 2017. AI brought it to Xbox One and Nintendo Switch later. It's a well-reviewed game that encapsulates much of AI's ethos of releasing "personal, emotional and original" games. Perhaps the iOS release will help it find a whole new audience.

'Skin Deep' is a stinky sci-fi shooter from indie icon Brendon Chung

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 12:21 PM PDT

Brendon Chung knows what people expect out of a first-person shooter. Guns? Check. Strafing? Yep. Ammo drops in strategic yet predictable locations? You betcha.

A sneezing system? Uh, sure. Noxious green clouds that follow you when you're smelly, giving away your location? Um. Actually, yes.

Skin Deep is the latest project out of Chung's studio, Blendo Games, and it's his first-ever FPS title. He's known for developing clever first-person action and puzzle games including Gravity Bone, Thirty Flights of Loving and Quadrilateral Cowboy, and visually, Skin Deep fits perfectly into his repertoire. The only difference is the gun.

"I'd never done one where you just have a gun and you straight-up shoot people," Chung said. "I thought, you know what? This is something that I love. This is a game genre that has been so important to me for a long time... This is kind of my attempt at making a bunch of little things that I like in first-person shooter games, and putting them into a game that I think will be funny."

Skin Deep
Annapurna Interactive

Chung started coding back in elementary school, when he would spend hours between classes customizing levels in FPS classics Doom and Quake, and he continued modding as titles like Half-Life, Quake 2 and Doom 3 hit the scene. He got a job at a mainstream studio in Los Angeles, but continued working on his own projects and eventually went fully independent, picking up a handful of accolades in the process.

Despite a deep personal connection to the FPS genre, Chung hasn't released a shooter of his own — but that's going to change when Skin Deep hits Steam. The actual release date is still up in the air, a fact that may be concerning for anyone who remembers waiting for Quadrilateral Cowboy, a game that was "six months away" for well over three years. (On the Skin Deep FAQ page, one of the Qs reads, "Is Skin Deep going to take 4+ years of development time like your previous game Quadrilateral Cowboy?" and the accompanying answer is, "I hope not.")

Regardless of a release date, today publisher Annapurna Interactive showed off a new trailer for Skin Deep. A new, extra-smelly trailer.

Skin Deep is a non-linear espionage shooter set on a spaceship and played from the perspective of an armed, cryogenically frozen insurance agent whose job is to protect the vessel from invading space pirates. The game looks lighthearted yet sophisticated, in classic Blendo fashion; it involves shooting, sneaking and solving puzzles, and all of it is animated in Chung's signature cubist style. This ties back to FPS history, too — Skin Deep and most of Blendo Games' titles are built on a modified port of the Doom 3 engine, idTech4.

Skin Deep

"I've played like a bazillion FPS games because I just really enjoy them, but I feel like there's so much that can be explored and that I wish these games would explore," Chung said.

One of the many odd mechanics in Skin Deep is a sneezing function that appears in particularly dusty or peppery environments.

"If you're crawling through a dusty vent your little sneezy air level will increase, then you'll do a big sneeze noise," Chung said. "And there's a bag of pepper that we have. If you shoot it, a big cloud of pepper flies out. You can pick up a pepper bag and throw it at someone and they'll start sneezing."

And then there's the odor system, which leaves literal clouds of stink behind the player, alerting the space pirates and generally causing problems. There's logic to this system: The player becomes smelly only once they're expelled from the space ship's trash chute, fish bones and all, and then they climb back aboard. The smell clouds disappear once the player figures out how to wash up. All of this falls under a mission titled, Protocol 832: Being Smelly And What To Do About It.

Skin Deep
Annapurna Interactive

"I love it when games just do things that you don't expect," Chung said. "Like for me, one of the big games that was important for me back in the day was Far Cry 2, back in 2008. That game did so much cool stuff for the first-person genre that was not technologically advanced, but they just made design choices that were just interesting and funny. Like you had this map that you had to pull out but it didn't pause, and you had to look at a map while getting shot at with guns. And so I thought, there's so much space to do stuff like that. Why not make people smelly?"

All of Chung's games are part of the same cinematic universe, so to speak, and Skin Deep is closely tied to Flotilla, a space-based battleship game he published in 2010.

"They all kind of talk to each other, they all kind of share characters," Chung said. "We're still figuring out details, but right now the character that we're playing as in this game is the character from a game I made before called Flotilla. It's fun to make these little connections between the different games and have them all kind of share things between them."

There's no word on which of Chung's future projects will receive the smell clouds from Skin Deep.

'Solar Ash' brings surreal 3D platforming to PC, PS4 and PS5 on October 26th

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 12:17 PM PDT

As a kid, Alx Preston spent a significant amount of time as a member of the audience, watching his brother sing in choir and opera groups. One night, he found himself sitting in a pew at the heart of a large, elegant church, letting the sounds of yet another performance wash over him. He was tired. He also happened to be playing a lot of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time at home.

"I kind of fell into a dream state," Preston said. "I was playing a lot of Ocarina of Time at the time, and so the vocals of that mixed with this kind of fantastical vision of going through a forest. I think for me that Ocarina of Time was one of those formative games that really allowed me to see what was possible within the medium."

Preston was the creative energy behind Hyper Light Drifter, a pixelated 2D title that helped define a generation of neon-coated indie hits in the mid-2010s, and he's the founder of LA-based studio Heart Machine. He and a growing team of developers have been working on their sophomore release, Solar Ash, since late 2016. It's a third-person, 3D game set in a dreamlike sci-fi space called the Ultravoid.

Solar Ash
Annapurna Interactive

To put it in terms of Zelda titles, Hyper Light Drifter is A Link to the Past, and Solar Ash is Ocarina of Time.

"[Ocarina of Time] was really the game that felt so much bigger and limitless in its scope and scale and adventures," Preston said. "It built a believable world that I could live in and it was 3D, and so of course I always had some idea I might jump into 3D."

Today, publisher Annapurna Interactive announced Solar Ash will hit PC and PlayStation platforms on October 26th, five years after Heart Machine began working on it.

"Hyper Light was a way for me to get started, it was a way for me to be more grounded and put together a crew and understand, can I do this? Can I actually make games?" Preston said. "And so having answered that question, then the natural next step for me was something in 3D. Can I put something out there that really opens up the world and makes you feel like you can truly escape into something, a creation that is otherworldly, that you otherwise wouldn't have the experience of? A lot of my childhood was spent escaping into those bigger experiences."

Hyper Light Drifter was a deliciously difficult 2D action RPG, and at first glance, Solar Ash looks like the third-person, 3D interpretation of that same game world. It's bright and ethereal, with an emphasis on massive enemies and rapid-fire mechanics. The protagonist, Rei, is a slender assassin on a journey to save her home from the Ultravoid, a supermassive black hole hungry for whole planets.

Even though it's 3D, Solar Ash looks so similar to Hyper Light Drifter that Preston has had to clarify whether it's a sequel a few times over. To be clear, it's not. But to be fair, Preston has personally contributed to the confusion.

Solar Ash
Annapurna Interactive

"I did ambiguously say it's in the same universe," Preston said. "Not like Marvel Cinematic Universe, but literally in a universe. So a million galaxies away, technically sure. It's still in a universe. So it's kind of a goof way of saying it. I would say that there are connected threads between the games, because I am who I am as a creator, as an artist... but it's its own game, it's its own identity in many ways. It's not trying to say 'I'm a sequel' or anything like that to Drifter."

Solar Ash is an action platformer with Heart Machine's DNA baked into its code. It doesn't attempt to do too much, and the team instead has focused on implementing a handful of core mechanics and making them feel as perfect as possible. Solar Ash is filled with radioactive environments and grotesque enemies, and it's all about fluidity and agility, surfing through the ruins of lost civilizations at the center of a black hole.

There are about 25 people on the Solar Ash team, including Hyper Light Drifter and It Follows composer Rich Vreeland, otherwise known as Disasterpeace. That's a bigger dev team than the original Hyper Light Drifter crew, but then again, Solar Ash is a bigger game.

Solar Ash

"For Drifter and for Solar Ash, there are similar threads of really focusing on the core elements that are impactful and getting as much mileage out of those as we possibly can," Preston said. "Because we have a small team making a big-ass project, and the team has been excellent in carrying through on everything that we could. Everyone's done incredible heavy lifting and worn a lot of different hats, as you have to do on this scale of team, for this scale of project."

As Heart Machine's second game, there's a lot riding on Solar Ash. Preston has established his brand as an innovative, thoughtful developer, and Solar Ash is his chance to defend it — not only in the court of public opinion, but in his own mind.

"Audience expectation absolutely factors into it, but for me I'm my own worst critic," Preston said. "Like any artist, like any creative person, you hate your own work until you don't and then you let it go. I mostly focused on, how do we feel we're succeeding internally? Rather than, what is the audience going to expect out of that? Or, what kind of score will you get on Metacritic?"

Of course, if Solar Ash ends up feeling like a trippy sci-fi extrapolation of Ocarina of Time, it should be a success on all fronts.

Jason Schwartzman plays a floating brain in musical adventure 'The Artful Escape'

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 12:05 PM PDT

The Artful Escape is an idealized vision of everything the music industry could be, straight out of the brain of Australian rockstar Johnny Galvatron. In five years of development (at least), The Artful Escape has transformed into a psychedelic adventure game with a living soundtrack of original folk and rock music, a cast of ridiculous characters, otherworldly environments, and a roster A-list voice actors, including Jason Schwartzman, Lena Headey, Michael Johnston, Carl Weathers and Mark Strong.

The Artful Escape is set to hit Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and PC on September 9th, priced at $20. It'll hit Game Pass at the same time, and it's being published by indie hit-maker Annapurna Interactive.

Galvatron is the frontman of The Galvatrons, a high-energy Australian rock group that toured the continent and opened for bands like Def Leppard and Cheap Trick in the late 2000s. However, for the past few years, Galvatron has been a game developer first and foremost. In the 2010s, he used YouTube videos to teach himself how to create a game in Unreal, building off the 3D animation and coding courses he took back in college, right before Warner Music signed him. He then founded a studio, rented some office space, secured a deal with Annapurna, and somewhere along the way, he ended up in a recording booth with Jason Schwartzman.

"We just hung out and spoke about David Bowie and Bob Dylan and video games and stuff," Galvatron said. "And it was just like, it was a moment for me. He came into the studio and he had like a cape and he had a dressing gown and like an umbrella and a little tiny Korg synth. He brought all these things and he put them all around him and he would like, do the line with the cape and then he would throw the cape around another way, and then he would hold the umbrella and do the line. I was just on my feet the whole time."

The Artful Escape
Annapurna Interactive

In The Artful Escape, the main character, Francis Vendetti, goes on a multidimensional journey to discover his true stage persona — which seems to be a David Bowie-esque shred machine — while at the same time reckoning with the legacy of his late uncle, a Bob Dylan-style folk icon. He travels through strange and trippy worlds, playing music and hunting for his true sound.

To give a sense of the game's oddball vibe, Schwartzman plays a giant brain perched atop a pile of discarded fish parts.

"He's a really funny comic support character," Galvatron said. "Like a very lofty British alien, like a brain floating in an aquarium on a flotilla of goldfish fins. It'll make sense when you see it."

For Galvatron, The Artful Escape is exactly that — an escape. His career as a mainstream rockstar was ultimately unfulfilling, filled with red tape, stagnant bureaucracy and awkward interactions. In between shows, he often found himself curled up in the corner of the tour bus, reading Dune or writing his own novel, watching the continent fly by. 

The Artful Escape

As a game developer, he's building the industry he actually wanted to be a part of, one line of code at a time.

"It's kind of what I dreamed the music industry would be, this world of magical doors and these great experiences, instead of like drinking Melbourne Bitter at an RSL in Wollongong, trying not to get beaten up because you look like you're in Poison," Galvatron said. He laughed and, without missing a beat, added, "Can you use that quote in its entirety?"

Sure thing, Galvatron — but only because that sounds like a solid premise for a sequel to The Artful Escape.

'Black Widow' star Scarlett Johansson sues Disney over streaming strategy

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 11:33 AM PDT

Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney over the company's decision to release the movie in theaters and on Disney+ simultaneously. Johansson claims that the move constituted a breach of contract, as The Wall Street Journal reports.

In the suit, Johansson says Black Widow was supposed to be released exclusively in theaters, per her deal with Marvel. As is often the case for movie stars, a large portion of Johansson's salary was tied to its box office success.

To watch Black Widow on Disney+, viewers need to fork over $30 for a Premier Access pass. Disney initially estimated that the film generated $60 million in revenue on Disney+ from its opening weekend earlier this month, along with $80 million in domestic and $78 million international theatrical revenue.

The move may have impacted Black Widow's performance in theaters (though it's worth bearing in mind that many cinemas around the globe are still closed amid the pandemic). The total worldwide box office tally is currently $319 million. As Variety points out, that puts it on track to become one of the lowest-grossing Marvel movies to date. Only one of the six other Marvel movies released since early 2018 has made less than $1 billion in theaters.

Johansson's representatives tried to re-negotiate her deal after news emerged about the new Black Widow release strategy, the suit says, but Disney and Marvel were allegedly unresponsive. Releasing Black Widow on Disney+ simultaneously could cost Johansson over $50 million, according to a WSJ source.

In 2019, before COVID-19 changed everything and with Disney+ on the horizon, Johansson and her team contacted Marvel for confirmation that Black Widow would still be a theatrical-only release. According to an email from March 2019 that's cited in the filing, Marvel's chief counsel Dave Galluzzi confirmed that. "We understand that should the plan change, we would need to discuss this with you and come to an understanding as the deal is based on a series of (very large) box office bonuses," the email states.

Movie theaters around the world were forced to close their doors following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Distributors scrambled to revamp their release strategies. Warner Bros. has adopted a hybrid format this year, with its movies coming to both theaters and HBO Max on the same day (aka day-and-date releases). It will return to theater-first releases next year.

However, that approach was criticized by prominent directors, including Christopher Nolan. Warner Bros. owner WarnerMedia reworked some deals and reportedly paid creative talent who were due a cut of box office revenue north of $200 million. NBCUniversal also released The Boss Baby: Family Business in theaters and on Peacock on the same day.

Disney adopted different tactics. Several of the movies it has released day-and-date (including Mulan, Raya and the Last Dragon and Cruella) were initially locked behind that $30 pass on Disney+. Artemis Fowl, and Pixar movies Soul and Luca skipped theaters entirely in many countries and went straight to Disney+ as part of the regular library.

'Marvel's Avengers' Black Panther expansion arrives August 17th

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 11:14 AM PDT

We knew it was coming, but the War for Wakanda expansion for Marvel's Avengers now has a street date. Square Enix will release the free DLC on August 17th, the publisher announced today. Billed as the largest content update to Marvel's Avengers since the game came out last September, fans can look forward to playing as Black Panther, with God of War actor Christopher Judge there to lend his voice to the character. 

Additionally, the expansion will add two new villains and a host of enemies for players to challenge, as well as a brand-new environment to explore. When you add the expansion, the game includes about 25 hours of single-player story content.

Crystal Dynamics will share more details about War for Wakanda during a Twitch stream the developer has planned for August 16th. In the meantime, if you've been on the fence about Marvel's Avengers, now is a good time to try the game. Until August 1st, you can download and play it for free on PlayStation 4, PS5, Stadia and PC via Steam. And if you decide you want to continue playing it past this weekend's trial period, it's currently 40 percent off.

Robinhood CEO's plan for the future sounds a lot like a bank

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 10:55 AM PDT

Newly public Robinhood has ambitions to be much more than just a stock-trading app, according to its CEO. In an interview with the AP, CEO Vlad Tenev said that, eventually, he wants to turn Robinhood into "the single money app" his users need.

Though Tenev didn't use the word "bank," his description certainly sounds more like a bank than the current iteration of Robinhood.

Over time, we want to be the single money app, the most trusted and most culturally relevant money app worldwide. So, everything that you use your money for, you should be able to do through Robinhood.

Anytime you receive a paycheck direct deposit, we'd like you to do that through Robinhood. Your emergency fund, your bill pay, your day-to-day spending, we'd like for customers to use us for that. And of course, all types of investing ranging from more discretionary investing to long-term retirement savings as well.

Tenev didn't elaborate on exactly how these plans could take shape. And though it's not necessarily surprising the company would want to expand the types of services it offers, the CEO's comments will likely raise more than a few eyebrows.

The app, which became popular for its simple interface and commission-free trading, has also drawn criticism for many of its practices. The SEC fined the company $65 million last year, for misleading users about how it executes trades. It was also hit with a class action lawsuit earlier this year after it restricted trading on GameStop and other "meme stocks." The company has also been accused of making the stock market feel too much like a casino, particularly for younger and less-savvy investors.

GarageBand can teach you how to remix songs from Dua Lipa and Lady Gaga

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 10:20 AM PDT

GarageBand creators have a bunch more tools at their disposal as of today, including sound packs from Dua Lipa and Lady Gaga. You can learn how to remix Dua Lipa's "Break My Heart" and Lady Gaga's "Free Woman" in the app.

Along with videos of the artists telling the stories behind those songs, the Remix Sessions include step-by-step tutorials, which you can play picture-in-picture. An Apple Retail Creative Pro will give some pointers on how to remix the tunes using a GarageBand Live Loops version of each song. You can play around with isolated vocals, instrumental tracks and beats to create completely different versions of the hits.

Apple says these Remix Sessions build on the Today at Apple workshops that take place at its stores (and online over the past year or so). Big names like Alicia Keys, Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift have previously been featured at in-store Music Labs.

There are also seven new GarageBand producer packs created by Boys Noize, Mark Lettieri, Oak Felder, Soulection, Take A Daytrip, Tom Misch and Trakgirl. Each contains royalty-free loops, samples, instruments, drum kits and more that aim to encapsulate the feel of each producer's work. The packs also include videos from the producers, in which they provide words of encouragement and info about their creative process.

Oak Felder said he hopes his pack can help even the playing field and make it easier for newcomers to start producing music. "There is a possibility that you, picking around and making beats on your iPad, can actually turn it into a side hustle," he said.

There's another producer pack which acts as a companion piece to Apple TV+ docuseries Watch the Sound With Mark Ronson. You'll be able to play around with GarageBand versions of samples, drum machines, vocal effects and other elements featured in the show, which premieres on Friday. All of these free downloads are now available from the Sound Library.

Airbnb adds built-in speed test to help hosts include WiFi info in listings

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 10:10 AM PDT

While Airbnb has for a long time allowed hosts to list how fast the WiFi connection is at their rentals, it's not something you see detailed with every home, condo and apartment on the service. As the company continues to try to attract remote workers, it's introducing a speed test tool hosts can access within the Airbnb app.

The tool itself is fairly simple. Provided you've switched to a host account, you'll find it under the "Amenities" section of a listing, and it will only estimate your download speeds. When you complete a speed test, the app will share that information with Airbnb and M-Lab, the organization that provided Airbnb the open-source software the company used to build the tool.

According to a support document from the company, M-Lab will include your test results in a publicly available database it provides for internet researchers. More importantly, those who want to stay at your home or accommodation will see if your WiFi connection is suited to their needs. It should also help ensure listings have accurate estimates.

Airbnb considers anything above a consistent 7 Mbps as a "snappy" connection. "Guests can hang with family and friends on a video call or gather together to stream a rom-com," the company says on its website. Airbnb has started rolling out the WiFi tool to hosts in the US, with global availability to follow in the coming weeks.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)