Author Archives: Kris Holt

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is delayed until February 14

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You can strike one game off of the busy fall 2024 calender. Ubisoft has delayed Assassin's Creed Shadows until February 14. It was originally supposed to hit PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Mac and iPad on November 15.

You can probably guess the main reason why Ubisoft is pushing the latest entry in the saga back by a few months. While all of the features are largely set, the company needs more time to iterate on them and to polish the game as a whole.

"We understand this decision will come as disappointing news, especially to those who've been waiting patiently for an Assassin's Creed game inspired by Feudal Japan, but we sincerely believe this is in the best interest of the game, and ultimately your experience as a player," Assassin's Creed executive producer Marc-Alexis Côté wrote in a statement on X.

In a financial statement [PDF], Ubisoft said it made the call to delay Assassin's Creed Shadows partly because of what it learned from the release of Star Wars Outlaws. One of the main criticisms levied against that game is that it had too many punishing stealth sequences, especially in the early goings. Ubisoft has rolled out some changes to make those parts of the game less onerous.

Ubisoft confirmed that despite positive reviews, the initial sales of Star Wars Outlaws "proved softer than expected." It's hoping to polish Outlaws and improve the player experience to help the game find a larger audience during the holiday period. To help with that, the title will hit Steam on November 21.

To that end, Ubisoft is hoping that the extra time it's taking with Assassin’s Creed Shadows will allow "the biggest entry in the franchise to fully deliver on its ambition, notably by fulfilling the promise of our dual protagonist adventure, with Naoe and Yasuke bringing two very different gameplay styles."

Meanwhile, Ubisoft says it's shaking up some of its business practices with Assassin’s Creed Shadows. It says this game will mark the return of the company bringing its games to Steam at launch, rather than making them exclusive to Ubisoft Connect on PC for several months. It's also planning to ditch the Season Pass model. There will be no early access period, but those who preorder Assassin’s Creed Shadows will get the first expansion for free.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/assassins-creed-shadows-is-delayed-until-february-14-184514006.html?src=rss

Meta reveals its Orion AR smart glasses

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Alongside the Quest 3S and AI updates, we got a glimpse of Meta's future at Meta Connect. After teasing the device several times in recent months, the company finally gave the world a proper look at its "full holographic" augmented reality glasses, which it's currently calling Orion. Meta is packing a lot of tech into those chunky frames, which aren't coming to market just yet.

The company first revealed five years ago that it was developing holographic smart glasses, but it has actually been working on the project for a decade. It claims that this is "the most advanced pair of AR glasses ever made" and results from "breakthrough inventions in virtually every field of modern computing." For one thing, it uses itty bitty projectors to display holograms onto the glasses.

These glasses appear far less cumbersome to wear than previous mainstream AR products such as Magic Leap, Microsoft's Hololens and even Google Glass. They also don't block you out from the rest of the world like a virtual reality headset (though Meta's headsets do allow you to see what's around you via the onboard cameras). As a result, you can see wearers' full faces, eyes and expressions without having to resort to a weird, eerie workaround like Apple is doing with EyeSight on the Vision Pro.

A person wearing Meta's Orion AR smart glasses
Meta

Meta said Orion is lightweight and works both indoors and outdoors. The company claims that the glasses allow for "digital experiences that are unconstrained by the limits of a smartphone screen" as they overlay holographic elements on top of the real world. In addition, Meta said Orion integrates contextual AI to help you gain a better understanding of the world around you.

The company added that you'll be able to look inside a fridge with the glasses on and get Meta AI to come up with a recipe based on what you have. You should be able hop onto video calls via Orion and view and send messages on Messenger and WhatsApp. Based on images that Meta shared, there will also be holographic versions of various other apps, such as Spotify, YouTube and Pinterest. 

A person wearing Meta's Orion AR smart glasses and looking at a holographic overlay of a video call and apps.
Meta

There's one key reason why Meta has been able to keep Orion lightweight: not all of the required tech is actually in the frame of the glasses. Orion comes with a required wireless puck that handles much of the processing and beams apps and content to the device. There's also a bracelet that you'll need to wear for gesture control. 

You're likely going to have to wait a few years to get your hands on this device (or at least a version of it). For the time being, Meta employees and "select external audiences" are able to use Orion. That's in order to help the company learn more and iterate on the product as it works toward a consumer version of the AR glasses.

Still, Meta claims that Orion is not just a research prototype but is instead "one of the most polished product prototypes we’ve ever developed, and is truly representative of something that could ship to consumers." By continuing to work on the product internally, "we can keep building quickly and continue to push the boundaries of the technology, helping us arrive at an even better consumer product faster," the company said. Part of that iteration includes bringing down the price of the glasses to make them more affordable, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

A roadmap that leaked last year indicated that Meta planned to release its first consumer AR glasses in 2027, though the company says it's aiming to do so "in the near future." As it happens, Snap also recently debuted its fifth-gen AR Spectacles, but for now those are only available to developers who are willing to pay a monthly $99 fee.

Catch up on all the news from Meta Connect 2024!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/meta-reveals-its-orion-smart-glasses-175353381.html?src=rss

Meta reveals its Orion AR smart glasses

Posted on by

Alongside the Quest 3S and AI updates, we got a glimpse of Meta's future at Meta Connect. After teasing the device several times in recent months, the company finally gave the world a proper look at its "full holographic" augmented reality glasses, which it's currently calling Orion. Meta is packing a lot of tech into those chunky frames, which aren't coming to market just yet.

The company first revealed five years ago that it was developing holographic smart glasses, but it has actually been working on the project for a decade. It claims that this is "the most advanced pair of AR glasses ever made" and results from "breakthrough inventions in virtually every field of modern computing." For one thing, it uses itty bitty projectors to display holograms onto the glasses.

These glasses appear far less cumbersome to wear than previous mainstream AR products such as Magic Leap, Microsoft's Hololens and even Google Glass. They also don't block you out from the rest of the world like a virtual reality headset (though Meta's headsets do allow you to see what's around you via the onboard cameras). As a result, you can see wearers' full faces, eyes and expressions without having to resort to a weird, eerie workaround like Apple is doing with EyeSight on the Vision Pro.

A person wearing Meta's Orion AR smart glasses
Meta

Meta said Orion is lightweight and works both indoors and outdoors. The company claims that the glasses allow for "digital experiences that are unconstrained by the limits of a smartphone screen" as they overlay holographic elements on top of the real world. In addition, Meta said Orion integrates contextual AI to help you gain a better understanding of the world around you.

The company added that you'll be able to look inside a fridge with the glasses on and get Meta AI to come up with a recipe based on what you have. You should be able hop onto video calls via Orion and view and send messages on Messenger and WhatsApp. Based on images that Meta shared, there will also be holographic versions of various other apps, such as Spotify, YouTube and Pinterest. 

A person wearing Meta's Orion AR smart glasses and looking at a holographic overlay of a video call and apps.
Meta

There's one key reason why Meta has been able to keep Orion lightweight: not all of the required tech is actually in the frame of the glasses. Orion comes with a required wireless puck that handles much of the processing and beams apps and content to the device. There's also a bracelet that you'll need to wear for gesture control. 

You're likely going to have to wait a few years to get your hands on this device (or at least a version of it). For the time being, Meta employees and "select external audiences" are able to use Orion. That's in order to help the company learn more and iterate on the product as it works toward a consumer version of the AR glasses.

Still, Meta claims that Orion is not just a research prototype but is instead "one of the most polished product prototypes we’ve ever developed, and is truly representative of something that could ship to consumers." By continuing to work on the product internally, "we can keep building quickly and continue to push the boundaries of the technology, helping us arrive at an even better consumer product faster," the company said. Part of that iteration includes bringing down the price of the glasses to make them more affordable, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

A roadmap that leaked last year indicated that Meta planned to release its first consumer AR glasses in 2027, though the company says it's aiming to do so "in the near future." As it happens, Snap also recently debuted its fifth-gen AR Spectacles, but for now those are only available to developers who are willing to pay a monthly $99 fee.

Catch up on all the news from Meta Connect 2024!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/meta-reveals-its-orion-smart-glasses-175353381.html?src=rss

Prime Day starts tomorrow and the Ring Pan-Tilt indoor Cam is already on sale for a record-low of $50

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Ring devices are on sale for October Prime Day already, joining a bevy of other Amazon devices that have discounts you can snag right now. Take, for instance, the Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam, which was unveiled back in May. The device is on sale for $50. That's a discount of $30 and its lowest price to date.

There's no prizes for guessing what this camera can do — it has a motorized base that can rotate 360 degrees to give you a complete view of the room (as long as it's positioned optimally, of course). The camera also has a tilt range of 169 degrees and it captures HD video. It has the same features as other indoor Ring cams, such as Live View and two-way talk. Those with a Ring Protect Plan will gain access to additional features. There's also a physical privacy shutter that disengages the mic and camera.

Elsewhere, the new Ring Battery Doorbell is 40 percent off and down to $60 and the Doorbell Pro is 35 percent off and down to $150. These are both some of the newest video doorbells Ring has debut over the past year, and both have easy-to-remove batteries that you'll recharge periodically to keep the devices running.

Also, the regular Ring Indoor Cam has dropped to $30, which again marks a record low. It's 50 percent off the usual price of $60. Likewise, the Ring Stick Up Camera Pro is half off and has reached a record low price. This model, which is designed to withstand regular rain and snow while capturing footage in 1080p HDR, is on sale for $90.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice, and stay tuned to Engadget.com for all of the best tech deals coming out of October Prime Day 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/prime-day-starts-tomorrow-and-the-ring-pan-tilt-indoor-cam-is-already-on-sale-for-a-record-low-of-50-144458370.html?src=rss

Palworld suddenly arrives on PS5

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There have been murmurings for some time that Pocketpair was planning to bring Palworld, one of the biggest games of the year, to PlayStation 5. However, it was a bit of a surprise to find out during Sony's State of Play stream that the action-adventure game is available for the console today.

Palworld (which is often described as "Pokémon with guns") landed on Xbox and PC in Early Access in January and was an immediate hit, selling over a million copies in just eight hours. Within a month, it had reached more than 25 million players. According to Microsoft, it had the biggest ever debut for a third-party title on Game Pass. 

However, it quickly emerged that The Pokémon Company was investigating Palworld. Fast forward eight months, and the company and Nintendo filed suit against Pocketpair in Japan. In a post on X, the developer said that the PS5 version of the game is now available in 68 countries and regions around the world, but Japan isn't one of them. The release date for the country has yet to be decided. 

"This lawsuit seeks an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages on the grounds that Palworld, a game developed and released by the Defendant, infringes multiple patent rights," Nintendo said after filing the suit last week. Pocketpair's CEO said the game "cleared legal reviews" and the studio said it would "begin the appropriate legal proceedings and investigations into the claims of patent infringement."

So it's not exactly ideal timing for Palworld to land on PS5. But hey, if you're willing to buy a game that could potentially be forced to shut down in a few months or years due to a lawsuit, you can now do that on your PlayStation.

Update, Sept. 25, 2024, 3:13AM ET: Added information that Palworld for the PS5 is not yet available in Japan.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/palworld-suddenly-arrives-on-ps5-224601245.html?src=rss

Palworld suddenly arrives on PS5

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There have been murmurings for some time that Pocketpair was planning to bring Palworld, one of the biggest games of the year, to PlayStation 5. However, it was a bit of a surprise to find out during Sony's State of Play stream that the action-adventure game is available for the console today.

Palworld (which is often described as "Pokémon with guns") landed on Xbox and PC in Early Access in January and was an immediate hit, selling over a million copies in just eight hours. Within a month, it had reached more than 25 million players. According to Microsoft, it had the biggest ever debut for a third-party title on Game Pass. 

However, it quickly emerged that The Pokémon Company was investigating Palworld. Fast forward eight months, and the company and Nintendo filed suit against Pocketpair in Japan. In a post on X, the developer said that the PS5 version of the game is now available in 68 countries and regions around the world, but Japan isn't one of them. The release date for the country has yet to be decided. 

"This lawsuit seeks an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages on the grounds that Palworld, a game developed and released by the Defendant, infringes multiple patent rights," Nintendo said after filing the suit last week. Pocketpair's CEO said the game "cleared legal reviews" and the studio said it would "begin the appropriate legal proceedings and investigations into the claims of patent infringement."

So it's not exactly ideal timing for Palworld to land on PS5. But hey, if you're willing to buy a game that could potentially be forced to shut down in a few months or years due to a lawsuit, you can now do that on your PlayStation.

Update, Sept. 25, 2024, 3:13AM ET: Added information that Palworld for the PS5 is not yet available in Japan.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/palworld-suddenly-arrives-on-ps5-224601245.html?src=rss

Lego Horizon Adventures hits PS5, PC and Switch on November 14

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Lego Horizon Adventures is one of a very few first-party games that Sony is releasing this year, and now we have a release date, thanks to the State of Play the company aired on Tuesday. The kid-friendly spin on the Horizon series is coming to PlayStation 5, PC and Switch on November 14.

The soonish release date isn’t a huge shock, since the game was already lined up for a holiday 2024 slot. However, Sony jumped the gun by accidentally revealing the arrival date on the PlayStation website’s a few weeks back. Whoops!

We had the chance to try out Lego Horizon Adventures at Summer Game Fest in June and came away with positive impressions. It's generally faithful to the combat of the mainline Horizon games, with Aloy sneaking around for optimal angles from which to attack enemies and using her Focus to find weak spots on giant dinosaur-like machines. However, that's aligned with the kind of offbeat humor you'll find in many other Lego games rather than the broadly stoic seriousness of Horizon Forbidden West. Local and online co-op will also be available for the first time in a Horizon game.

This is a chance for Sony to bring the series to a whole new audience. Until now, the Horizon series has only been available on PlayStation consoles and PC (and PS VR2 in the case of Horizon Call of the Mountain). This could also be a bit of a test run for Sony to see if some of its older games might find new digs, and many more players, on Nintendo systems.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/lego-horizon-adventures-hits-ps5-pc-and-switch-on-november-14-223756234.html?src=rss

Lego Horizon Adventures hits PS5, PC and Switch on November 14

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Lego Horizon Adventures is one of a very few first-party games that Sony is releasing this year, and now we have a release date, thanks to the State of Play the company aired on Tuesday. The kid-friendly spin on the Horizon series is coming to PlayStation 5, PC and Switch on November 14.

The soonish release date isn’t a huge shock, since the game was already lined up for a holiday 2024 slot. However, Sony jumped the gun by accidentally revealing the arrival date on the PlayStation website’s a few weeks back. Whoops!

We had the chance to try out Lego Horizon Adventures at Summer Game Fest in June and came away with positive impressions. It's generally faithful to the combat of the mainline Horizon games, with Aloy sneaking around for optimal angles from which to attack enemies and using her Focus to find weak spots on giant dinosaur-like machines. However, that's aligned with the kind of offbeat humor you'll find in many other Lego games rather than the broadly stoic seriousness of Horizon Forbidden West. Local and online co-op will also be available for the first time in a Horizon game.

This is a chance for Sony to bring the series to a whole new audience. Until now, the Horizon series has only been available on PlayStation consoles and PC (and PS VR2 in the case of Horizon Call of the Mountain). This could also be a bit of a test run for Sony to see if some of its older games might find new digs, and many more players, on Nintendo systems.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/lego-horizon-adventures-hits-ps5-pc-and-switch-on-november-14-223756234.html?src=rss

Warner Bros. Discovery teams up with Google to generate captions using AI

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Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has agreed a deal with Google Cloud to use the latter's Vertex AI to generate captions for programming across a variety of platforms. WBD claims that its Caption AI system can significantly reduce production time and costs while improving the accuracy of captions for US-based viewers.

The tech will be used for unscripted programming at the outset, which could include news, sports and reality TV across the likes of Max, CNN and Discovery+. WBD claims the system can reduce the time it takes to create captions by up to 80 percent and captioning costs by up to 50 percent. There will still be a level of human review for quality assurance, and the company claims this approach will help refine and train Caption AI's workflow to improve it over time.

However, captioning requires a lot of skill, especially for live TV where transcribers have to keep up with what's being said as accurately as possible. Unscripted programming also tends to include a lot of overlapping chatter and it's unclear just how effective AI will be at transcribing that accurately. However you slice it though, relying more on AI-generated transcriptions will mean less work for people in the space.

It'll be interesting to see whether WBD expands this tech to subtitles for scripted programming. Subtitling (something I admittedly used to do for a living) is a skilled art. Among other things, it involves accurately capturing sound effects, music cues and non-verbal utterances; properly explaining idioms for localization purposes; and making sure subtitles are timed properly. There's a ton of nuance involved, and it would be difficult for AI to get it right.

It's hardly surprising that WBD is looking at Caption AI as a way to save money. The company has been aggressively cutting costs (and trying to bolster its revenue) since it formed in 2022 with the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/warner-bros-discovery-teams-up-with-google-to-generate-captions-using-ai-161345238.html?src=rss

Behaviour Interactive snaps up Darkest Dungeon developer Red Hook Studios

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It’s been a topsy turvy year for Dead by Daylight maker Behaviour Interactive, which has released two spin-offs, laid off dozens of workers and shut down a studio that was working on another offshoot of its tentpole project. Now, Behaviour is bringing another developer into the fold, as it has bought Darkest Dungeon developer Red Hook Studios.

The Vancouver-based outfit will continue to operate as a “fully independent studio,” albeit under Behaviour’s umbrella. Terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed, but Red Hook likely won’t have come cheap — nearly seven million copies of the Darkest Dungeon games have been sold to date. Behaviour has also kept on Red Hook’s entire 29-strong staff.

"Earlier this year, we established an ambitious goal for our future as a publisher — to make Behaviour synonymous with horror, and surround Dead by Daylight with a library of similarly exceptional horror games,” Behaviour CEO and co-founder Rémi Racine told GamesIndustry.biz in a statement. “Our acquisition of Red Hook is another emphatic step towards this objective, with more to come."

This is the fourth studio Behaviour has snapped up in the past two years, following SockMonkey Studios, Codeglue and Fly Studio. It also opened a new studio in the UK last year and forged partnerships with third-party developers such as Supermassive, which made the recently released The Casting of Frank Stone.

However, things haven’t been entirely plain sailing for the publisher. It fired around 140 workers this year across two rounds of layoffs amid restructuring efforts.

Last week, Behaviour canceled Project T, a co-op shooter set in the DbD universe. It also closed the studio that was working on the game, Seattle-based Midwinter Entertainment, two years after buying it. All Midwinter workers were offered roles at Behaviour’s studios in Canada.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/behaviour-interactive-snaps-up-darkest-dungeon-developer-red-hook-studios-142036727.html?src=rss