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- The latest 'Belle' trailer introduces us to the film's dazzling technicolor virtual world
- Wordle' clones are taking over the App Store
- Humble Bundle's simplified game subscription will include a members-only library
- The FTC's antitrust suit against Facebook is cleared to move forward
- Tumblr adds a sensitive content filter to its iOS app
- 'Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection' heads to Nintendo Switch on February 17th
- Twitter's Explore tab will begin hiding blocked and muted accounts
- 'Attack on Titan' gear is coming to 'Call of Duty'
- Lego delays 'Overwatch 2' set amid Activision Blizzard sexual harassment scandal
- Amazon will face a second Alabama union vote in February
- 'Horizon Forbidden West' has reportedly leaked a month before release
The latest 'Belle' trailer introduces us to the film's dazzling technicolor virtual world Posted: 11 Jan 2022 03:40 PM PST With Mamoru Hosoda's latest movie opening in US theaters this Friday, Studio Chizu and the film's distributor have shared a new trailer for Belle. The more than three-minute-long clip shows the movie's opening scene in its entirety, introducing us to U, Belle's metaverse-like virtual world. The trailer is mostly a showcase of Studio Chizu's virtuoso animation work, but we also get to hear an equally great English cover of Millennium Parade's "U" and learn more about the setting. The metaverse has been a hot topic recently thanks in large part to the work Meta has done to promote the concept as the next big evolution of the internet, but Belle director Mamoru Hosoda has thinking about what virtual worlds might mean for our interpersonal relationships for a long time. Back in 2009, he directed Summer Wars. That film imagines a world where everything is connected through a separate digital realm. More than a decade ago, the idea seemed outlandish. Now it feels prescient. |
Wordle' clones are taking over the App Store Posted: 11 Jan 2022 03:20 PM PST If you've spent any time on Twitter in the last week, chances are you've seen the grids of emoji boxes taking over your feed. That's thanks to Wordle, a new puzzle game that's become somewhat of an obsession for many since The New York Timeswrote about it just over a week ago. Like other viral games, Wordle is deceptively simple: you have six chances to guess a new five-letter word. And that's… pretty much it. There's just one puzzle a day, and it's free to play with no ads . Its creator, a software developer named Josh Wardle, is apparently "overwhelmed" by his game's popularity. But the fact that the game doesn't have an app has allowed developers to create their own knockoff version of the game. One particularly egregious example comes from developer Zach Shakked who created an app called "Wordle - The App." At first glance, the app, which is subtitled "Word Game Everyone's Playing!" could easily be mistaken for the original. The word grid looks almost the same, and it even uses the same color scheme. But Shakked's version also asks players to sign up for a "pro" subscription that costs $29.99 after a three-day "free trial." But between naming the app "Wordle" and running search ads against the term in the App Store, Shakked seems to have succeeded in profiting off the popularity of the game originally created by Wardle. "This is absurd. 450 trials at 1am last night, now at 950 and getting a new ones every minute," he wrote in a tweet that has since been made private. "12K downloads, rank #28 word game, and #4 result for "Wordle" in the App Store. We're going to the fucking moon." Shakked and Wardle didn't respond to questions from Engadget. But Shakked isn't the only developer trying to cash in on the popularity of Wordle. His app is one of at least six Wordle clones launched in the App Store in the eight days since the original New York Times article about Wordle. Another, called "What Word - Wordle" which charges a $0.99 in-app purchase to remove ads, claims to be the "No. 1 Word game" in its App Store screenshots. (It is actually ranked No. 7 in word games, according to its App Store listing.) Scammy knockoff apps capitalizing on the popularity of a viral game is nothing new, of course. Game developers have been complaining about the practice for years. Apple didn't immediately respond to questions about Wordle clones in its store. But, thanks to emails released during the Epic v. Apple trial, we do know that copycat apps have long been a source of frustration for Apple executives as well. "Is no one reviewing these apps? Is no one minding the store?" Phil Schiller wrote in a 2012 email. Three years later, he complained that "I can't believe we still don't" have automated tools to find scam apps. Update 1/11 7:52pm ET: App Store listings for the Wordle clones are no longer accessible, and the apps appear to have been removed from the store. We've reached out to Apple for more information. Update 1/11 10:05pm ET: Apple confirmed to Engadget that it had removed the games from its App Store. |
Humble Bundle's simplified game subscription will include a members-only library Posted: 11 Jan 2022 01:49 PM PST Humble Bundle hasn't exactly won fans with donation caps and potentially confusing subscription tiers, but it's hoping to make some amends. As of February 1st, the company's monthly Humble Choice service is consolidating around a single $12 monthly plan that gives you permanent copies of every game offered in a given month. Humble noted the number of games might vary, but you can still skip a month if you don't like the selection and want to remain a member. You'll also have access to more games so long as you're subscribed. A new Humble Games Collection gives you access to a curated, expanding catalog of titles you can access only as a Choice member. The initial mix is limited to just five games (including the relatively well-known Void Bastards) available through the Humble app, but the company clearly hopes the promise of a PlayStation Plus- or Xbox Game Pass-style library will keep you paying even when the monthly Choice selections aren't to your liking. Choice has other modified perks. You'll receive as much as a 20 percent discount on eligible games you buy in the Humble Store, but you'll have to stay subscribed for at least a year. You'll get that discount immediately if you're subscribed by February. Five percent of your membership fee will be donated to charities. This won't thrill everyone. Classic subscribers who switch will lose their 20 percent discount the moment they skip a month, for instance. This could still be less confusing, though, and might be alluring if you want access to a host of indie games regardless of what the monthly catalog has to offer. |
The FTC's antitrust suit against Facebook is cleared to move forward Posted: 11 Jan 2022 01:42 PM PST The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can move forward with its latest antitrust lawsuit against Meta, a US district judge ruled on Tuesday. The decision is a significant win for the regulator, which had seen its first complaint thrown out by Judge James Boasberg last June. Per The Washington Post, Boasberg now says the agency can move forward with its complaint thanks to the "more robust and detailed" evidence it presented with its amended suit, which the FTC filed in August. "Although the agency may well face a tall task down the road in proving its allegations, the Court believes that it has now cleared the pleading bar and may proceed to discovery," the judge said. In October, Meta asked the court to dismiss the suit, arguing the FTC had failed yet again to present a "factual basis for alleging monopoly power." The agency's amended complaint is approximately two dozen pages longer than its original one, but it puts forward many of the same arguments. Specifically, the FTC alleges Facebook used the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp in 2012 and 2014 to secure its dominant position in the social media market. "Today's decision narrows the scope of the FTC's case by rejecting claims about our platform policies. It also acknowledges that the agency faces a 'tall task' proving its case regarding two acquisitions it cleared years ago," a spokesperson for Meta told Engadget. "We're confident the evidence will reveal the fundamental weakness of the claims. Our investments in Instagram and WhatsApp transformed them into what they are today. They have been good for competition, and good for the people and businesses that choose to use our products." Update 5:43PM ET: Added comment from Meta. |
Tumblr adds a sensitive content filter to its iOS app Posted: 11 Jan 2022 01:26 PM PST As part of its ongoing efforts to stay on the right side of App Store rules, Tumblr is adding a Sensitive Content toggle to its iOS app. The setting is enabled by default, and it keeps posts with sensitive tags out of recommendations, blocks search results with sensitive tags and hides blogs "that are explicit in nature." Disabling the toggle will allow users to search for tags that might include posts of a sensitive nature and see recommendations that might include suggestive or sensitive content. Switching off the setting will also allow you to tap through an overlay on blogs that have been marked as explicit. However, you still won't be able to view posts that have been flagged as explicit. It's not entirely clear how Tumblr defines "explicit" in this context (Engadget has asked for clarification). Tumblr banned porn and realistic depictions of human genitals in December 2018 after Apple temporarily removed the app from the App Store. Tumblr says the sensitive content setting only applies to those using the latest version of the iOS app. For now, users will need visit their settings on the Tumblr website to disable the toggle. They'll then be able to access sensitive content in the iOS app after they quit and relaunch it. Last month, Tumblr blocked search terms and recommendations featuring potentially sensitive content on the iOS app to comply with App Store rules. The sensitive content toggle should make the platform a bit more open for iOS users, though still less so than on Android or the web. "These latest updates provide more control to our community on the iOS app to build the experience that fits them best, and to explore the content that they find interesting," Tumblr wrote in a blog post. "While the experience for our community is a top priority, we must also comply with Apple's App Store guidelines and our own guidelines." Update 1/11/21 5:33PM ET: A Tumblr spokesperson told Engadget that "It's important to note, our sensitive content guidelines remain unchanged, but we believe these latest updates will put more control in the hands of our community." |
'Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection' heads to Nintendo Switch on February 17th Posted: 11 Jan 2022 12:20 PM PST Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection will make its way to Nintendo Switch on Feburary 17th, Ubisoft announced on Tuesday. First announced for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2016, the compilation bundles together Assassin's Creed 2, Brotherhood and Revelations. They're the three games that make up the Ezio Auditore saga. It also comes with two short films, Assassin's Creed: Lineage and Embers. The latter serves as the conclusion to Ezio's story. Ubisoft will sell the entire package for $40. According to Ubisoft, each game in the collection comes with every single piece of single-player downloadable content available for those titles. It has also enhanced them with support for Switch-specific features such as HD Rumble. As with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One release of The Ezio Collection, it doesn't appear the Switch version includes the multiplayer mode that debuted with Brotherhood and Ubisoft later polished in Revelations. From a technical standpoint, the Switch versions of AC2, Brotherhood and Revelations look about on par with their original Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 counterparts. That might be a bummer if you were looking forward to seeing Ezio's story with enhanced graphics, but at least you can take the games with you wherever you go. |
Twitter's Explore tab will begin hiding blocked and muted accounts Posted: 11 Jan 2022 12:05 PM PST Twitter says it's doing more to make sure you don't see anything from accounts you have muted or blocked, as well as any keywords you've muted. It's working on updates to hide those keywords and accounts across more areas of the platform.
On the web and the iOS and Android apps, you should no longer see events from muted and blocked accounts in the Explore tab or the What's Happening sidebar. Nor should they appear in emails from the platform or events-based notifications. This is a welcome, long-overdue change that should give users more control over what they see on the platform, since they'll have extra assurance that accounts they don't want to hear from won't pop up outside of the timeline. It should also help folks to avoid spoilers in the sidebar if they mute the name of a show or game. Given the wording of the tweets about this update, it seems Twitter is looking at more ways of blotting out tweets from muted and blocked accounts and keywords. Twitter has tested or rolled out other features to prevent harassment in recent months. It experimented with a Safety Mode that automatically and temporarily blocks accounts that "may use harmful language or send repetitive, uninvited replies." In October, it added a way to remove an unwanted follower without having to block them first. |
'Attack on Titan' gear is coming to 'Call of Duty' Posted: 11 Jan 2022 11:48 AM PST The Attack on Titan anime series is winding down, and Activision is determined to capitalize on the renewed interest. A bundle launching January 20th will bring 10 Attack on Titan items to Call of Duty: Vanguard and Warzone Pacific. The highlight is a Survey Corps outfit inspired by Survey Corps Captain Levi Ackerman, but you'll also have access to three weapon blueprints (including the Titan Piercer blade) as well as a charm, sticker, emblem, finishing move and highlight material. Other yet-to-come season updates include a new character (Isabella Rosario Dulnuan Reyes), her preferred submachine gun, and expansions to both gameplay and items in Vanguard's Zombies mode. The relevant patches for Attack on Titan content will appear roughly a week ahead of time at midnight Eastern time on January 12th for Vanguard and January 13th for Warzone. The addition is an odd one, particularly if you're used to the anime — this is a far more realistic style. You also won't have any giant, naked Titans to fight. Even so, you might not mind if you'd like a video game memento beyond the (now old) Koei Tecmo release. |
Lego delays 'Overwatch 2' set amid Activision Blizzard sexual harassment scandal Posted: 11 Jan 2022 11:07 AM PST You can now add Lego to the list of companies re-evaluating their relationship with Activision Blizzard following allegations the company allowed senior employees to create a workplace rife with sexual harassment and abuse. In a statement spotted by The Verge, the toymaker told The Brick Fan, a site dedicated to Lego reviews, it's delaying the release of an Overwatch 2-themed set that it had planned to release at the start of next month. "We are currently reviewing our partnership with Activision Blizzard, given concerns about the progress being made to address continuing allegations regarding workplace culture, especially the treatment of female colleagues and creating a diverse and inclusive environment," a Lego spokesperson told the outlet. "While we complete the review we will pause the release of a LEGO Overwatch 2 product which was due to go on sale on February 1, 2022." Activision Blizzard has been mired in controversy since California's fair employment regulator filed a lawsuit against the publisher in July. According to a bombshell report The Wall Street Journal published in November, CEO Bobby Kotick knew about many of the worst incidents of sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard and, at times, acted to protect abusers at the company. In the immediate aftermath of The Journal's reporting, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo criticized the company, but they have yet to cut ties with it. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Xbox chief Phil Spencer said Microsoft's relationship with the publisher had changed but declined to share specifics. |
Amazon will face a second Alabama union vote in February Posted: 11 Jan 2022 10:55 AM PST It's now clear when Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama will vote in a mandatory second union election. As Motherboard's Lauren Kaori Gurley notes, the National Labor Relations Board has sent notice that employees at the BHM1 fulfillment center can start voting with secret mail ballots on February 4th, with the vote count beginning on March 28th. Anyone employed at the company from the first week of January 2022 onward is eligible to consider joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The NLRB ordered the new vote after determining that Amazon interfered with the first union election in early 2021. The RWDSU filed 23 objections after the 1,798 to 738 "no" vote, accusing Amazon of installing an unapproved mailbox to intimidate staff as well as handing out anti-union material like badges and signs. After an investigation, the NLRB found that Amazon had a "flagrant disregard" for the mail voting process that made a fair election "impossible." The RWDSU wasn't completely satisfied with the notice. In a statement, the organization claimed the NLRB's decision "fails to adequately prevent" Amazon from skewing the vote. Amazon, meanwhile, repeated its comment from November in response to Engadget's inquiries. It maintained that warehouse workers "overwhelmingly" voted against joining the union, and found it "disappointing" that the NLRB rejected the election. As before, the stakes are high. A pro-union vote would give warehouse workers collective bargaining rights they could use to improve pay and working conditions — both frequent points of contention. Whatever the outcome, it's safe to presume the election will draw renewed scrutiny from politicians and stars who see it as a turning point for labor at the internet shopping giant. |
'Horizon Forbidden West' has reportedly leaked a month before release Posted: 11 Jan 2022 10:52 AM PST Horizon Forbidden West is one of the biggest PlayStation exclusives of the year. Just over a month before the action RPG arrives on February 18th, it appears an unfinished version of the game has leaked. According to Video Games Chronicle, the build includes all the main Horizon Forbidden West content, though some art assets are missing. Screenshots and videos from what's said to be the PS4 version of the game emerged on social media on Monday. Many of those were later taken down from Twitter due to reports submitted by the copyright holder, which suggests the leak is legit. Though it appears Sony Interactive Entertainment has clamped down on the leaks and the build doesn't seem to have popped up on filesharing sites, it's bound to be another frustrating incident for the company. Months before The Last of Us Part II was released, a large portion of the game, including cutscenes with major story spoilers, leaked online. So, if you're one of the many Horizon Zero Dawn fans who's looking forward to the sequel, it's best to tread very carefully on the internet for the next month or so. It might be worth muting certain keywords related to Horizon Forbidden West on social media or even installing browser extensions to help you steer clear of spoilers. |
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