Alan Wake 2 is getting its first DLC package, which will consist of three separate chapters letting players explore the weird world of Alan Wake 2 with three new, if familiar, characters. The DLC itself is called Night Springs, and it’ll be available to download and play tomorrow.
Night Springs is a TV show that appears in the Alan Wake universe and if we followed that show’s Twilight Zone theme, these spin-off chapters could be ‘episodes’ of this series, existing in “parallel realities”.
Think of it as Remedy’s take on Marvel’s What If…, because you’ll get to play as Alan Wake’s biggest fan, Rose Marigold, Quantum Break’s Jack Joyce and Control’s Jesse Faden, in each chapter, respectively.
It's a fun idea for DLC and it seems like Remedy is looking to get silly. Sinister voices tell Jesse to “try the coffee.” We get a jump cut to Shawn Ashmore's ‘acting’ as Quantum Break’s Jack Joyce and a talking Billy Bass for fair measure. As mentioned alongside the full reveal, the DLC will be downloadable starting June 8.
Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest 2024 right here!
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/alan-wake-2s-first-expansion-brings-remedys-other-heroes-to-night-springs-225204575.html?src=rss
The historical turn-based strategy series Civilization is getting another mainline sequel—and it's been a long time coming. Civilization VI came out back in 2016, and while we've seen a lot of DLC in the interim, there's been no word on sequels until now.
Civilization VII was officially revealed (well, teased) at the Summer Game Fest live showcase, although we didn't learn much more about what direction the series is going. The legend that is Sid Meier briefly appeared at the end of the trailer, adding that he was "incredibly excited for Civ fans to see Civilization VII, a game that represents the culmination of three decades of strategy innovation and refinement." he added that a full reveal, gameplay and all, will happen sometime in August. It's coming to Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and, apparently, the Switch.
Catch up on all the news from Summer Game Fest 2024 right here!
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/civilization-7-is-coming-in-2025-213656473.html?src=rss
Summer Games Fest kicks off this week, with its titular game showcase starting Friday. Expect a string of SGF events, livestreams, YouTube trailers to follow… and maybe a Silksong update. Please? We’ll be reporting live from LA, offering our thoughts and impressions of many of the games at the event — especially if we get to play any of them.
We break down every event right here, but the biggest events include the Summer Game Fest Live on Friday June 7 at 5PM ET, the Xbox Games Showcase on Sunday June 9, 1PM ET and Ubisoft Forward Monday June 10, 3PM ET. Wait, was there something else on that day? Yes. But we can talk about that later in the week, OK?
Today’s price rise is brought to you by Max, formerly HBO Max, HBO Go, HBO. The standard ad-free plan has shot up to $17 per month, with a yearly price of $170. This is an increase of $1 per month or $20 per year. The ultimate ad-free plan is now $21 per month or $210 per year. What’s on? New episodes of House of the Dragon premiere this month, but that’s about it. We should get the Penguin series in the next few months, Dune: Prophecy by the end of the year and The Last of Us season two at some point.
Skydance’s Behemoth is an action-adventure game that draws on the combat and physics of The Walking Dead games but focuses more on fighting and less on survival. While some parts of the demo made me feel a little queasy, running and evading a colossal monster didn’t. Maybe because I focused on a single objective — the giant monster — I felt… fine. Like SatC and recent Zelda games, you can scale this behemoth (if there’s the right texture of climbable surface). The game is coming to Meta Quest headsets, PSVR2 and PC this fall.
Signed by 13 current and former workers with ties to Google, OpenAI and Anthropic.
A group of current and former employees from leading AI companies, like OpenAI, Google DeepMind and Anthropic, has signed an open letter asking for greater transparency and protection from retaliation for those who speak out about the potential concerns of AI. It says: “Broad confidentiality agreements block us from voicing our concerns, except to the very companies that may be failing to address these issues.”
In a statement sent to Bloomberg, an OpenAI spokesperson said the company is proud of its “track record providing the most capable and safest AI systems.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-what-to-expect-at-summer-game-fest-2024-111751336.html?src=rss
After years of rumors of Sonos getting into headphones, the $449 Sonos Ace are here. They’re well-designed and have impressive audio quality. Integrating the headphones with its family of speakers isn’t what many expected, but the feature works well, according to Engadget’s Billy Steele. They’re also comfortable to wear.
One thing that may mire an otherwise stellar debut is limited support — with its own speakers. Yes, the ability to transfer TV audio from Sonos speakers to the Ace only works with the Sonos Arc soundbar for now. Sonos says support for both generations of the Beam and the Ray is on the way, but there’s no definitive timeline.
If you’ve used Sonos speakers or read any reviews of them, you’re probably familiar with Trueplay, which maps the acoustics of a room with microphones to fine tune sound. There’s a version for the Ace, called True Cinema, which virtualizes surround sound for the room you’re in, to make it seem like you’re not wearing the Ace at all. But… that wasn’t ready either.
Spotify is officially raising its Premium subscription rates in the US come July, following reports of the move in April. The platform is increasing its Individual plan from $11 to $12 monthly and its Duo plan from $15 to $17 monthly — the same jump as last year’s $1 and $2 price hikes, respectively. However, its Family plan is going up by a whopping $3, increasing from $17 to $20 monthly. The only subscribers getting a break are students — also known as the Spotify full-price subscribers of the future — who will continue to pay $6 monthly.
Sony revealed it was working on making the PlayStation VR2 headset compatible with PCs earlier this year. Now we know when it'll happen: August 7. The PC adapter will cost $60.
Samsung has filed a lawsuit against Oura to try to head off intellectual property disputes as the Galaxy Ring launch draws near. The suit says Oura used its patent portfolio to sue smaller wearable tech competitors in the past and has hinted it may do the same against the much larger Samsung. Samsung says the Galaxy Ring doesn’t infringe on Oura’s patents — of course.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-our-verdict-on-sonos-debut-headphones-111557653.html?src=rss
Liz Reid, head of Google Search, has admitted the company’s search engine has returned some “odd, inaccurate or unhelpful AI Overviews” after the feature rolled out to everyone in the US.
The executive’s explanation outlined some new safeguards to help the new feature return more accurate (and less funny) results. Some of the worst AI Overview results doing the rounds were apparently faked, but the glue-on-pizza example was real, as was the viral answer to how many rocks you should be eating. Also real. Reid said Google came up with an answer because it had tapped into a comedy satire site.
The issue for Google is this could erode trust in the search engine’s results and accuracy. Reid said the company tested the feature extensively before launch, but “there’s nothing quite like having millions of people using the feature with many novel searches.” Maybe it needed a little more testing first.
It’s been a long time since we had a first-person shooter from a PlayStation studio. Finally, Firewalk Studios’ Concord has broken cover. Firewalk says it focused on tight movement, precise gunplay and a range of abilities — just as you might expect from a studio led by former Destiny developers. It’s a five vs. five hero shooter, suggesting comparisons to Overwatch 2 — now a Microsoft-owned title. Expect 16 heroes, six game modes and some cinematic scenes between all the fighting. It’s coming to PS5 and PC on August 23, with a beta in July.
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is right around the corner. Expect the company to reveal some of the main features of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, as well as what’s ahead for the likes of watchOS, macOS and visionOS at WWDC 2024. Expect all kinds of generative AI tricks — hopefully even some compelling ones. I’d appreciate more photo-fill features to match Google’s efforts on Android. It seems unlikely we’ll get any major hardware announcements at the event, but you never truly know until Tim Cook wraps things up — maybe we’ll get a next-gen Vision Pro VR headset.
‘ThreadsDeck’ makes Threads on the web much more usable.
Meta is rolling out a new TweetDeck-like column view to all Threads users after it started testing the feature earlier this month. The new look, which some Threads users have nicknamed ThreadsDeck, allows you to pin up to 100 feeds to the Threads home page. Each column can also be set to auto-update. Yeah, it’s TweetDeck but Threads. And you can more easily hide Threads’ trashy for-you feed. At least, mine is particularly trashy. Perhaps I’m the problem.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-google-tightens-up-its-ai-overview-feature-after-suggesting-glue-on-a-pizza-111502061.html?src=rss
Liz Reid, head of Google Search, has admitted the company’s search engine has returned some “odd, inaccurate or unhelpful AI Overviews” after the feature rolled out to everyone in the US.
The executive’s explanation outlined some new safeguards to help the new feature return more accurate (and less funny) results. Some of the worst AI Overview results doing the rounds were apparently faked, but the glue-on-pizza example was real, as was the viral answer to how many rocks you should be eating. Also real. Reid said Google came up with an answer because it had tapped into a comedy satire site.
The issue for Google is this could erode trust in the search engine’s results and accuracy. Reid said the company tested the feature extensively before launch, but “there’s nothing quite like having millions of people using the feature with many novel searches.” Maybe it needed a little more testing first.
It’s been a long time since we had a first-person shooter from a PlayStation studio. Finally, Firewalk Studios’ Concord has broken cover. Firewalk says it focused on tight movement, precise gunplay and a range of abilities — just as you might expect from a studio led by former Destiny developers. It’s a five vs. five hero shooter, suggesting comparisons to Overwatch 2 — now a Microsoft-owned title. Expect 16 heroes, six game modes and some cinematic scenes between all the fighting. It’s coming to PS5 and PC on August 23, with a beta in July.
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is right around the corner. Expect the company to reveal some of the main features of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, as well as what’s ahead for the likes of watchOS, macOS and visionOS at WWDC 2024. Expect all kinds of generative AI tricks — hopefully even some compelling ones. I’d appreciate more photo-fill features to match Google’s efforts on Android. It seems unlikely we’ll get any major hardware announcements at the event, but you never truly know until Tim Cook wraps things up — maybe we’ll get a next-gen Vision Pro VR headset.
‘ThreadsDeck’ makes Threads on the web much more usable.
Meta is rolling out a new TweetDeck-like column view to all Threads users after it started testing the feature earlier this month. The new look, which some Threads users have nicknamed ThreadsDeck, allows you to pin up to 100 feeds to the Threads home page. Each column can also be set to auto-update. Yeah, it’s TweetDeck but Threads. And you can more easily hide Threads’ trashy for-you feed. At least, mine is particularly trashy. Perhaps I’m the problem.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-google-tightens-up-its-ai-overview-feature-after-suggesting-glue-on-a-pizza-111502061.html?src=rss
Last week, Sony published a seemingly innocuous round of interviews that centered the company’s nebulous “creative entertainment vision”. Neil Druckmann, head of the Sony-owned game studio Naughty Dog, was one of those — but his interview wasn’t quite what it seemed.
Druckmann, who headed the team behind The Last of Us series, was apparently wildly misquoted by his own employers. A few days after the interviews were published, he took to X and said, “This is not quite what I said.” He even posted a section of the original interview transcript, which was hugely different.
Sony has since pulled the interview and issued an apology on the old page, saying the article had significant errors and inaccuracies, encompassing “animation, writing, technology, AI and future projects.” So, if all that was inaccurate, what was accurate?
Japan’s hit virtual pet, Punirunes, comes to the US this summer. A play on puni-puni, which means ‘squishy’ in Japanese, it’s a slightly different kind of digital pet. There’s a doughy button at the center of the device that simulates physical contact with your Punirunes. When you pet it, your finger even appears on the device’s screen. Punirunes makes its US debut in August for $40.
Amazon is permanently offering free Grubhub+ restaurant delivery as part of its Prime subscription. If you pay $139 per year for a Prime subscription and are up for spending more to eat, you’ll pay no fee for eligible GrubHub orders over $12. You’ll also see lower service fees, 5 percent credit back on pickup orders and, apparently, exclusive offers. Unlimited grocery delivery from Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh still costs an additional $10 per month.
The attacks have knocked the site offline a few times.
If you couldn’t access the Internet Archive and its Wayback Machine over the past few days, it’s because the website has been under attack. The nonprofit organization has announced it’s in its “third day of warding off an intermittent DDoS cyber-attack.”
The Internet Archive has yet to identify the source of the attacks, but it did talk about how libraries and similar institutions are being targeted more frequently these days. One institution it mentioned was the British Library, whose online information system was held hostage for ransom by a hacker group last year.
The headset is slated to gain PC support this year.
After teasing PC compatibility earlier this year, Sony has apparently created a PC adapter for the PS VR2, according to a Korean filing unearthed by VR and mixed-reality enthusiast Brad Lynch. There are no details on how the adapter works, what it looks like or how much it will cost, but it lends credence to previous evidence that the headset would have a wired PC connection. The company will be hoping that PC support will drive sales of its headset, which hasn’t exactly set the world alight.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-sony-apologizes-for-fabricated-interview-with-last-of-us-studio-head-111549333.html?src=rss
Last week, Sony published a seemingly innocuous round of interviews that centered the company’s nebulous “creative entertainment vision”. Neil Druckmann, head of the Sony-owned game studio Naughty Dog, was one of those — but his interview wasn’t quite what it seemed.
Druckmann, who headed the team behind The Last of Us series, was apparently wildly misquoted by his own employers. A few days after the interviews were published, he took to X and said, “This is not quite what I said.” He even posted a section of the original interview transcript, which was hugely different.
Sony has since pulled the interview and issued an apology on the old page, saying the article had significant errors and inaccuracies, encompassing “animation, writing, technology, AI and future projects.” So, if all that was inaccurate, what was accurate?
Japan’s hit virtual pet, Punirunes, comes to the US this summer. A play on puni-puni, which means ‘squishy’ in Japanese, it’s a slightly different kind of digital pet. There’s a doughy button at the center of the device that simulates physical contact with your Punirunes. When you pet it, your finger even appears on the device’s screen. Punirunes makes its US debut in August for $40.
Amazon is permanently offering free Grubhub+ restaurant delivery as part of its Prime subscription. If you pay $139 per year for a Prime subscription and are up for spending more to eat, you’ll pay no fee for eligible GrubHub orders over $12. You’ll also see lower service fees, 5 percent credit back on pickup orders and, apparently, exclusive offers. Unlimited grocery delivery from Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh still costs an additional $10 per month.
The attacks have knocked the site offline a few times.
If you couldn’t access the Internet Archive and its Wayback Machine over the past few days, it’s because the website has been under attack. The nonprofit organization has announced it’s in its “third day of warding off an intermittent DDoS cyber-attack.”
The Internet Archive has yet to identify the source of the attacks, but it did talk about how libraries and similar institutions are being targeted more frequently these days. One institution it mentioned was the British Library, whose online information system was held hostage for ransom by a hacker group last year.
The headset is slated to gain PC support this year.
After teasing PC compatibility earlier this year, Sony has apparently created a PC adapter for the PS VR2, according to a Korean filing unearthed by VR and mixed-reality enthusiast Brad Lynch. There are no details on how the adapter works, what it looks like or how much it will cost, but it lends credence to previous evidence that the headset would have a wired PC connection. The company will be hoping that PC support will drive sales of its headset, which hasn’t exactly set the world alight.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-sony-apologizes-for-fabricated-interview-with-last-of-us-studio-head-111549333.html?src=rss
Ahead of Microsoft finishing up its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it said bringing that publisher’s titles to Xbox Game Pass might take some time. We’ve only seen one so far(Diablo IV), but the company now has added a notable one. In fact, it’s a game that isn’t even here yet. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be available on Game Pass on its release day, later this year.
In Black Ops style, it’s a tactical play. Almost every year in recent memory, the latest Call of Duty release has been the best-selling game. Microsoft is relying on the debut of a new Call of Duty game to draw players to its Game Pass. $10 a month is cheaper than the price of the game, but it’s also a subscription. And the company is banking on Xbox gamers continuing that sub.
If you do pick up Xbox Game Pass, you’ll get to play the game on the day of release, as well as access to the ever-increasing Game Pass game library, including recent addition Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2.
Mario, done. Sonic, done. Finally, Zelda is the latest video game to transition to official Lego kits. The Great Deku Tree set includes 2,500 pieces and is two sets in one. Both include a giant tree. The Ocarina of Time set includes a section inspired by the game’s first dungeon as well as a replica of Link’s house in Kokiri Village. The Breath of the Wild build includes plenty of hidden Koroks. And a Master Sword!
Oh, you thought it was over? You. Thought. It. Was. Over? It hasn’t even started. TikTok will face off with the Justice Department this fall to attempt to stop a law that could lead to a ban of the app in the United States. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia set a September date for arguments.
It’s coming. What should we expect at Apple’s keynote this year? WWDC is typically a software-centric event, so we’re expecting new AI tricks as well as updates, like iOS 18, iPadOS 18, tvOS 18, macOS 15 and watchOS 11. There are even rumors Apple might integrate Google’s Gemini AI with Siri and various iPhone apps. We’ll have to wait for June 10 to learn the truth.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-xboxs-call-of-duty-black-ops-6-gamble-111524996.html?src=rss
Ahead of Microsoft finishing up its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it said bringing that publisher’s titles to Xbox Game Pass might take some time. We’ve only seen one so far(Diablo IV), but the company now has added a notable one. In fact, it’s a game that isn’t even here yet. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be available on Game Pass on its release day, later this year.
In Black Ops style, it’s a tactical play. Almost every year in recent memory, the latest Call of Duty release has been the best-selling game. Microsoft is relying on the debut of a new Call of Duty game to draw players to its Game Pass. $10 a month is cheaper than the price of the game, but it’s also a subscription. And the company is banking on Xbox gamers continuing that sub.
If you do pick up Xbox Game Pass, you’ll get to play the game on the day of release, as well as access to the ever-increasing Game Pass game library, including recent addition Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2.
Mario, done. Sonic, done. Finally, Zelda is the latest video game to transition to official Lego kits. The Great Deku Tree set includes 2,500 pieces and is two sets in one. Both include a giant tree. The Ocarina of Time set includes a section inspired by the game’s first dungeon as well as a replica of Link’s house in Kokiri Village. The Breath of the Wild build includes plenty of hidden Koroks. And a Master Sword!
Oh, you thought it was over? You. Thought. It. Was. Over? It hasn’t even started. TikTok will face off with the Justice Department this fall to attempt to stop a law that could lead to a ban of the app in the United States. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia set a September date for arguments.
It’s coming. What should we expect at Apple’s keynote this year? WWDC is typically a software-centric event, so we’re expecting new AI tricks as well as updates, like iOS 18, iPadOS 18, tvOS 18, macOS 15 and watchOS 11. There are even rumors Apple might integrate Google’s Gemini AI with Siri and various iPhone apps. We’ll have to wait for June 10 to learn the truth.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-xboxs-call-of-duty-black-ops-6-gamble-111524996.html?src=rss