Tag Archives: author_name|Kris Holt

An all-digital Xbox Series X is coming this holiday season

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Toward the end of the Xbox Games Showcase, Microsoft unveiled a refreshed console lineup. For the first time, the company will offer an Xbox Series X with no disc drive in a robot white colorway. It comes with 1TB of storage and will cost $450. The MSRP of the original Series X is $500, but it often goes on sale (Microsoft itself is currently selling the console for $450).

A Xbox Series X without a disc drive had long been expected. A leak in March suggested that an all-digital robot white model was in the works. As with the PS5 refresh Sony released last year, perhaps Microsoft will offer a disc drive attachment for folks who later decide they want to play physical games on their Series X too.

A special edition Xbox Series X will also soon be available. This model, in galaxy black, does have a disc drive and double the internal storage of the regular Series X at 2TB. It will come with a matching controller and cost $600. 

The Xbox Series S is getting a more modest update. Microsoft released a 1TB model in carbon black last year, and a version with the same storage and original colorway is in the pipeline. The 1TB robot white option will be offered in select markets and cost $350. The company notes that the black model will be available "while supplies last," indicating it's phasing that variant out.

More details on availability and regional pricing will be revealed soon. Microsoft says it also has plans for controller designs to match certain games and more Xbox Series X console wraps.

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/an-all-digital-xbox-series-x-is-coming-this-holiday-season-184539660.html?src=rss

Perfect Dark reboot trailer shows Joanna Dark hunting bad guys in a near-future Cairo

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It's been a long, long time since we learned that a Perfect Dark reboot was in the works, and there are finally some fresh signs of life. A gameplay trailer was shown during the Xbox Games Showcase, though there's no release date or window as yet.

Xbox is billing the reboot as a "first-person secret agent thriller in a near-future world" that includes immersive sim and stealth-action elements. Based on this first look, co-developers The Initiative and may have nailed the brief. 

The clip shows Joanna Dark dropping into a near-future version of Cairo in search of a bad guy who possesses a radioactive device. She's able to capture goons' voice prints to open voice-activated door locks, and she can kick off walls to clamber up drain pipes and gain extra distance for jumps. Along with blasting enemies with guns, Joanna has some hand-to-hand combat skills too.

According to an Xbox Wire blog post, you'll have a range of traversal abilities and gadgets at your disposal, so you'll be able to choose how to complete missions. I'm just a little bummed that there was no sign of a laptop gun. 

The blog post also notes that "at the widest level, Perfect Dark will be a single-player experience." That could be a hint that there will be multiplayer modes too. I have my fingers crossed for that, as the original Perfect Dark was a better multiplayer shooter than Goldeneye 007.

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/perfect-dark-reboot-trailer-shows-joanna-dark-hunting-bad-guys-in-a-near-future-cairo-180150819.html?src=rss

Fallout 76’s next free expansion drops on June 12

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It seemed like a missed opportunity for Microsoft and Bethesda to not have a new Fallout game ready to capitalize on the TV adaptation's success. However, Bethesda does have Fallout 76 up its sleeve at least, and the latest expansion of the multiplayer RPG is just a few days away.

The publisher revealed the Skyline Valley expansion during the Xbox Games Showcase on Sunday. The DLC expands the map for the first time into a new region called Shenandoah. The telethon-themed trailer offers a peek at some of what's in store. For instance, you'll be able to explore the remnants of Vault 63 and try to discover what happened to its dwellers. As you might expect, there will also be Ghouls to contend with. The trailer ends on a spicy tease, as starting early next year, you'll actually be able to play as a Ghoul.

Fallout 76 had a rough debut, but by all accounts the game has gotten much better over time (following in the footsteps of some other Bethesda games). As with other Fallout titles, it had a huge surge in players in the wake of the Prime Video show. On Steam alone, the average number of concurrent players shot up nearly fivefold from 5,975 in March to 25,673 in April.

With so many new and returning players enjoying the game, it’s nice that they won’t have to wait long for more things to see and do. Skyline Valley, which is free for Fallout 76 players on all platforms, will arrive on June 12.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fallout-76s-next-free-expansion-drops-on-june-12-172003045.html?src=rss

Innersloth is spending all its Among Us money on indie games

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The massive success of Among Us changed the lives of the developers at Innersloth. Now, the team is paying that forward by helping to fund a bunch of other indie games under its new label Outersloth (perfect name, zero notes).

Among the projects that Outersloth has backed so far are Mars First Logistics (a Mars rover building sim that went into early access last year), card battler RPG Battle Suit Aces, exploration game Mossfield Archives, single-button boss rush title One Btn Bosses and space dog fighting roguelike Rogue Eclipse. Strange Scaffold (An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs) and Visai Games (the fantastic Venba) are getting a hand from Outersloth too.

Outersloth is also funding the next project from Outerloop Games, the team behind the acclaimed Thirsty Suitors. It's in the very early stages of development and it's called Project Dosa. It will see you exploring the world in an upgradable mech, cooking for a community, fending off bad guys and much more.

It's very cool to see Outersloth giving indie developers another way to finance their games beyond the traditional publisher approach, relying on crowdfunding or going into early access. Meanwhile, Summer Game Fest Live included the first peek at the Among Us animated TV show.

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/innersloth-is-spending-all-its-among-us-money-on-indie-games-224010763.html?src=rss

Aloy is getting the Lego treatment in Horizon Adventures

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The Summer Game Fest Live showcase started with a bang — depending on how much you enjoy both Aloy and Lego games. Lego Horizon Adventures, a spinoff of Guerrilla Games' Horizon series, is coming to PS5 and PC this holiday season. Oh, and it'll be available on Nintendo Switch too.

For the first time, you'll be able to play a Horizon game in co-op, either locally or online. It seems that this version will retell some of the story of the mainline games too, albeit with lots of digital bricks. While Aloy is often funny in the two mainline Horizon series, she's usually deadpan. It'll be interesting to see how that squares with the typically offbeat humor of Lego games.

Lego stalwart Traveller's Tales isn't involved here. Instead, Guerilla is working on Horizon Adventures with Studio Gobo, a team that's helped out on games as varied as Hogwarts Legacy and For Honor. 

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/aloy-is-getting-the-lego-treatment-in-horizon-adventures-212512320.html?src=rss

Microsoft moves to resolve privacy concerns over its Recall feature

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Microsoft has attempted to soothe privacy concerns regarding Recall, an upcoming Windows feature that’s said to help users resurface just about anything they’ve previously done or looked at on a Copilot+ PC. That naturally involves keeping tabs on how you use your computer in one way or another, which has raised privacy concerns over data storage and access. In an attempt to resolve those, Microsoft is making changes before it starts rolling out Recall later this month.

Recall will be opt-in, meaning that the feature won’t take snapshots (i.e. screenshots) of what you’re doing every few seconds or log your activity without your explicit permission. Microsoft will ask whether you want to enable Recall when you set up a Copilot+ PC, which is a positive move.

In addition, those who want to use Recall will need to use a Windows Hello authentication method such as facial recognition or a fingerprint scan. Authentication will be required before Recall allows a user to scroll through or search the activity timeline. But this measure won't necessarily make Recall super secure — all it takes is for someone to know your PIN and they can access it.

On top of that, Microsoft is adding more protections to the Recall snapshots. It will employ “just in time” decryption protected by Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security. Snapshots will only be decrypted and available after user authentication. The search index database is encrypted too.

Microsoft says snapshots will remain on-device (locked to a user account) and won’t be used to train AI models. You can block Recall from snapshotting specific apps, and pause or delete snapshots. The AI processing that powers Recall takes place on-device too.

Recall was designed to help users find something they've done on their Copilot+ PC based on whatever they can remember. So if they remember a shirt they looked at a few weeks earlier and now think they might want to buy, they can describe the item. Recall might do a better job of finding the shirt than you can by scrolling through your the web browser history. 

Recall will be able to unearth details from chats, productivity apps, emails and so on. Microsoft has described it as effectively a photographic memory for your PC. A preview of Recall will be available on Copilot+ PCs, which will start shipping on June 18.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-moves-to-resolve-privacy-concerns-over-its-recall-feature-170318905.html?src=rss

A four-pack of Samsung SmartTag 2 trackers is back on sale for $70

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Bluetooth trackers are handy little devices that can help you keep track of items you're worried about losing. Which model you opt for depends on several factors, such as the physical form factor and the phone operating system or brand you use. In any case, a few of our favorite Bluetooth trackers are on sale, including Samsung's Galaxy SmartTag 2. A four-pack is currently $70, which is $30 off and matches a record low. A single tag has dropped from $30 to $21 — just $1 more than the lowest price we've seen for it.

The Galaxy SmartTag 2 is our pick for the best Bluetooth tracker for folks with Samsung phones. While Samsung perhaps doesn't have as many smartphones out there as Apple (the Find My network uses every iPhone in the vicinity to track AirTags), it has an extensive enough number of devices in the wild to make its own finding network fairly robust. Unfortunately, the Galaxy SmartTag 2 does not yet work with Google's Find My Device network, which would allow any compatible Android device to help hunt for a misplaced tag.

That quibble aside, we quite like the SmartTag 2. Setup is a cinch, for one thing. In our testing we were able to quickly find items tagged with one, while the left-behind alerts worked well when a Samsung phone detected that we were moving away from a SmartTag 2. The design is useful, since it's easy to attach the tracker to a set of keys. It has a louder ring than an AirTag or Tile Pro as well.

The battery will run for about 16 months, according to Samsung, and it's replaceable. The SmartTag 2 is also IP67 rated for water and dust resistance. While the SmartTag 2 may not be quite as precise as an AirTag for finding a misplaced or stolen item, it's still a solid Bluetooth tracker option for Samsung users.

If you're looking for an option that both iPhones and Android devices can help track down, it's worth considering the Tile Mate. A single tag in white is available for $18, which is $7 off the regular price. This has a Bluetooth range of up to 250 feet and can be easily attached to keys as well thanks to a small hole in one of the corners. The battery is not replaceable, unfortunately, but it will power the tracker for up to three years, Tile says.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-four-pack-of-samsung-smarttag-2-trackers-is-back-on-sale-for-70-145444036.html?src=rss

Apple’s Studio Display is $300 off right now

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If you have one of Apple's non-iMac desktops or a MacBook you’d like to plug into a monitor, perhaps it’s time for an upgrade (or to buy a dedicated display in the first place). As it happens, Apple’s Studio Display is on sale right now. The price has dropped by $300 to $1,300 for the VESA mount and tilt-adjustable models, marking a record low for both. It's worth noting that the discount applies to the variants with standard glass, not nano-texture glass.

We gave the Apple Studio Monitor a score of 80 in our review in 2022. We appreciated the quality of the build and the audio, as well as the bright and color-accurate screen. On the downside, restricting the monitor to single-zone backlighting was a disappointment, as were the 60Hz refresh rate (which is becoming increasingly paltry) and the lackluster webcam. The lack of HDR in such an expensive monitor is a bummer too.

Still, for those heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem, this is a solid 5K LCD monitor. The 27-inch, 2,880p display supports 1 billion colors and the P3 wide gamut. The six-speaker array supports spatial audio and there's a triple-mic setup for calls and voice recordings. On the connectivity front, there's a Thunderbolt 3 port and three USB-C slots. The Studio Monitor can also deliver a 96W charge to your MacBook.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-studio-display-is-300-off-right-now-175108626.html?src=rss

Both Octopath Traveler games are now on Xbox Game Pass

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Microsoft has revealed the first wave of Game Pass additions for June, and they include two titles that suddenly joined the lineup today. Octopath Traveler and its sequel are now available on the service across cloud, console and PC.

When Octopath Traveler 2 debuted last year, Xbox was the only major platform it was missing from. Square Enix said last September that the HD-2D RPG would come to Xbox consoles in "early 2024." For what it's worth, the original game took nearly three years to hit Xbox after its 2018 debut on Nintendo Switch — and it only just arrived on PS4 and PS5.

Elsewhere, the Dead Space-esque The Callisto Protocol (from Dead Space co-creator Glen Schofield and his team at Striking Distance Studios) arrives on Game Pass on cloud, console and PC on June 13. Still Wakes The Deep, a narrative horror game from The Chinese Room will join the lineup in all three formats on June 18.

Other titles hitting Game Pass in the early part of June are Cthulhu-inspired tabletop RPG Depersonalization (coming to PC Game Pass) and WWI first-person shooter Isonzo (cloud, console and PC). Both will arrive on June 13.

Several games are leaving Game Pass this month as well. Bramble: The Mountain King, High on Life, Rune Factory 4 Special, Spacelines from the Far Out and The Bookwalker are all departing on June 15.

We're about to learn about several more titles that are bound for Game Pass in the coming months and years too. Microsoft will reveal more details about its upcoming slate at the Xbox Games Showcase, which takes place on June 9 as part of Summer Game Fest. We could, for instance, hear about Microsoft's plans for rolling out more Activision Blizzard games on the subscription service.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/both-octopath-traveler-games-are-now-on-xbox-game-pass-150222800.html?src=rss

Humane is said to be seeking a $1 billion buyout after only 10,000 orders of its terrible AI Pin

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It emerged recently that Humane was trying to sell itself for as much as $1 billion after its confuddling, expensive and ultimately pretty useless AI Pin flopped. A New York Times report that dropped on Thursday shed a little more light on the company's sales figures and, like the wearable AI assistant itself, the details are not good.

By early April, around the time that many devastating reviews of the AI Pin were published, Humane is said to have received around 10,000 orders for the device. That's a far cry from the 100,000 it was hoping to ship this year, and about 9,000 more than I thought it might get. It's hard to think it picked up many more orders beyond those initial 10,000 after critics slaughtered the AI Pin.

At a price of $700 (plus a mandatory $24 per month for 4G service), that puts Humane's initial revenue at a maximum of about $7.24 million, not accounting for canceled orders. And yet Humane wants a buyer for north of $1 billion after taking a swing and missing so hard it practically knocked out the umpire.

HP is reportedly one of the companies that Humane was in talks with over a potential sale, with discussions starting only a week or so after the reviews came out. Any buyer that does take the opportunity to snap up Humane's business and tech might be picking up somewhat of a poisoned chalice. Not least because the company this week urged its marks customers to stop using the AI Pin's charging case over a possible “fire safety risk.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/humane-is-said-to-be-seeking-a-1-billion-buyout-after-only-10000-orders-of-its-terrible-ai-pin-134147878.html?src=rss