CRKD, makers of the beloved Nitro Deck controller for Nintendo Switch, launched a new gamepad on Thursday that resembles what a modern-day NES controller might look like. The wireless CRKD Neo S has Hall effect thumbsticks, swappable stick tops and a $50 retail price. It works with Switch, PCs, mobile devices, and smart TVs.
The Bluetooth gamepad carries over much of what made the Nitro Deck feel like the Switch’s “true and final form.” It includes two thumbsticks (both Hall effect-enabled with swappable tops), a D-pad, four action buttons, triggers, mappable back buttons and adjustable vibration.
The CRKD Neo S ships in various creative designs and colorways, several of which tap into Nintendo nostalgia. For example, the gold hue looks similar to Nintendo’s Game & Watch and original Famicom with a familiar red-and-gold color scheme. Meanwhile, the clear Neo S calls back to the transparent variants of the Nintendo 64 controller and Game Boy Color portable console.
We wanted a unique, premium & collectible controller... So, we made it.
👋 Meet NEO S, The Wireless Collectible Controller.
Three variants (blossom, splatter, and junkyard) were designed by CRKD’s creative director, POPeART. His work is inspired by the traditional Japanese aesthetic wabi-sabi, which is based on the principles of imperfection, impermanence and incompletion. Or, as POPeArt puts it, “Nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.”
CRKD, which describes the controller as a “statement” and an “art piece,” hopes you’ll buy the Neo S not only for playing games but also as a collectible. In addition to the bold designs (nine will be available at launch), the company’s mobile app will track your registered products, provide digital proof of ownership and display the accessory’s “rarity rank.” As fetching as the designs may be, it remains to be seen how many gamers will go for a marketing tactic designed to get you to buy extra controllers as a hobby.
Each Neo S variant costs $50. At the time of publication, they’re slated to ship in April. The controller is available for pre-order on CRKD’s website.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/crkds-follow-up-to-the-nitro-deck-is-the-nes-style-neo-s-controller-211222823.html?src=rss
Microsoft’s post-acquisition layoffs at Activision Blizzard have already caught the FTC’s eye. Now we know more about which subsidiary studios will take the hit. First reported by the San Francisco Chronicle (viaEurogamer), California WARN notices list 86 upcoming scheduled layoffs at Skylanders maker Toys for Bob and 76 cuts at Call of Duty: Vanguard developer Sledgehammer Games.
California requires companies to notify the state of upcoming layoffs, thanks to a 1988 law mandating 60 days’ notice about staffing cuts (if they reach specific thresholds). The latest WARN alerts for Activision Blizzard report 86 upcoming cuts at an address in Novato, CA — matching Toys for Bob’s offices — effective March 30. In addition, the San Francisco Chronicle reports on a California state filing indicating Toys for Bob’s offices will close.
Toys for Bob is known for spearheading the “toys-to-life” concept, which Nintendo later embraced with its Amiibos. The Activision Blizzard subsidiary’s most successful projects include the Spyro the Dragon series, Skylanders and Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. The Gamerreported in late January that Toys for Bob would cut 40 percent of its staff, which would have only been around 35 jobs.
In addition, another 76 Activision Blizzard employees will lose their jobs (also on March 30) at an address in San Mateo, CA, matching the headquarters of Sledgehammer Games. The studio has developed or contributed to several Call of Duty games, including CoD: Modern Warfare 3 (2011), CoD: Advanced Warfare (2014), CoD: WWII (2017) and CoD: Vanguard (2021). The studio was founded in 2009. Insider Gamingreported in January that Sledgehammer Games would close its offices and go fully remote.
In late January, Microsoft said it would slash 1,900 jobs across its Xbox, Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax (Bethesda) teams. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint in a federal appeals court on Wednesday, arguing that the substantial round of layoffs “contradicts Microsoft’s representations in this proceeding.” The government agency asked for a temporary pause of Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition, which appeared all but locked up after the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority approved the $69 billion purchase in October.
An estimated 10,500 gaming industry workers fell victim to layoffs in 2023. We’ve already seen 6,000 more in 2024, only slightly over a month into the new year. It’s been part of a devastating year-plus of broader tech-industry layoffs.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-gaming-layoffs-include-86-jobs-at-skylanders-studio-toys-for-bob-182241293.html?src=rss
Four days after the death of former costar Carl Weathers, onetime The Mandalorian actor Gina Carano is suing Disney and Lucasfilm for her departure from the series — with Elon Musk’s help. Carano, whose post-Disney credits include a film produced by conspiracy theorist Ben Shapiro, posted Tuesday on X, “The truth is I was being hunted down from everything I posted to every post I liked because I was not in line with the acceptable narrative of the time.” X confirmed its assistance in a statement to Engadget.
Carano shared news of the lawsuit in a 694-word post on X. In the essay, she claims never to have used aggressive language, compared Republicans to Jewish people during the Holocaust or written anything racist or transphobic. She insists her male costars were “permitted to speak without harassment & re-education courses or termination,” but she “was not afforded the same right to exercise my freedom of speech.”
“Artists do not sign away our rights as American citizens when we enter into employment,” Carano wrote Tuesday. However, since she wasn’t arrested or detained for her views, her rights as an American citizen appear fully intact. Meanwhile, American businesses like Disney have the right not to employ actors whose views clash with their brand.
The actor and former mixed martial arts competitor thanked Musk and X on Tuesday for “giving me an opportunity to bring my case to light” by helping fund her lawsuit. Musk previously said he would pay the legal costs of users who got in trouble for their posts on the platform.
X confirmed its monetary assistance in a statement to Engadget. “As a sign of X Corp’s commitment to free speech, we’re proud to provide financial support for Gina Carano’s lawsuit, empowering her to seek vindication of her free speech rights on X and the ability to work without bullying, harassment, or discrimination,” a company spokesperson wrote.
Carano as Cara Dune in season two of ‘The Mandalorian’
Disney+
Carano’s troubles with Disney arose from social media posts on X (Twitter at the time) and Instagram. In her posts, she questioned the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, blamed the Biden administration for the deaths of vaccinated people, claimed Jeffrey Epstein didn’t kill himself and added “boop/bop/beep” as her pronouns.
The final straw for Disney was when she shared a post on Instagram implying that the treatment of conservatives in Trump-era America had parallels to the targeting of Jews in Nazi-era Germany. The following day, Disney dropped Carano from The Mandalorian and the (since canceled) Rangers of the New Republic series.
“Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future,” a spokesperson wrote in a statement at the time. “Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.” Carano’s agency, United Talent Agency, dropped her around the same time.
Carano’s post-Star Wars career has included Terror on the Prairie, produced by Ben Shapiro’s The Daily Wire. She also starred in the 2022 film My Son Hunter, a “fictional retelling of the lifestyle and scandals of Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/former-mandalorian-actor-gina-carano-sues-disney--with-xs-help-220039820.html?src=rss
Google reportedly plans to develop a YouTube app for the Apple Vision Pro. The Vergesays a YouTube spokesperson confirmed the company’s plans to make a native Vision Pro app, while it optimizes YouTube for Safari as a stopgap. The U-turn comes after developer Christian Selig (creator of the popular Apollo app that Reddit killed in 2023) launched an unofficial YouTube app for Apple’s $3,500 headset.
“We’re excited to see Vision Pro launch and we’re supporting it by ensuring YouTube users have a great experience in Safari,” YouTube spokesperson Jessica Gibby reportedly wrote in an email to The Verge’s Nilay Patel. “We do not have any specific plans to share at this time, but can confirm that a Vision Pro app is on our roadmap.”
Juno, developer Christian Selig’s unofficial YouTube app for Vision Pro
Christian Selig / Juno
Something changed the company’s mind in the last two-and-a-half weeks. One theory is, despite its staggering $3,500 price, Apple’s mixed reality headset appears to be off to a strong start as the company’s most loyal and deep-pocketed fans quickly scooped up pre-orders. Well-sourced analyst Ming-Chi Kuo estimated Apple sold somewhere between 160,000 and 180,000 headsets during its opening weekend.
“YouTube is probably one of the parts of the internet I consume the most, so I was more than a little sad when YouTube announced that they don’t have plans to build a visionOS app, and disabled the option to load the iPad app,” Selig explained last week in a blog post. “This leaves you with Safari, and the website is okay, but definitely doesn’t feel like a visionOS app.”
YouTube supports 3D and 360-degree videos, but neither currently works on Vision Pro. It isn’t yet clear if the company plans to incorporate those into its app.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtube-reportedly-has-an-apple-vision-pro-app-on-its-roadmap-210710272.html?src=rss
Rivian will reveal the R2 on March 7. The company confirmed on Monday in a post on X (Twitter) that customers should “get ready to meet R2 on March 7th.” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe previously said the next-generation platform would be smaller and cheaper than the R1 lineup.
The automaker hasn’t yet said where the event will take place, but it will all but certainly be in Laguna Beach, CA. Last month, its city council publicly posted an approved request in its minutes for a “Rivian R2 Launch,” part of a “worldwide product launch event at the Rivian Theater” on the same date. If that wasn’t enough of a clue, Rivian’s X teaser included audio of waves crashing, beachgoers playing and seagulls squawking.
Rivian representatives reportedly plan to hold the event at the Rivian South Coast Theater in Laguna Beach. The automaker bought the cinema (which opened in 1937 and closed in 2015) in 2021 before renovating and reopening it this past December. The company asked the council for permission to display six vehicles on a grassy public area near the theater, which sounds ideal for a media hands-on area after a formal presentation inside.
The R2 platform is expected to start with a smaller SUV (reportedly about the size of a Jeep Grand Cherokee) priced in the $40,000 to $60,000 range. R1 platform vehicles start at around $80,000, although some models are available for leasing, which makes them eligible for a full $7,500 tax credit.
When Scaringe held an Instagram Q&A last year, he said the vehicle’s expected delivery date had slipped from 2025 to 2026. So, unless Rivian’s plans have changed dramatically since then, expect the March event to precede a long waitlist period before you can take one home. Rivian still hasn’t started construction on an upcoming Georgia factory that will produce the R2 lineup.
Rivian loses about $31,000 on every R1 platform vehicle it makes as the EV maker positions its brand for an all-electric future. The R2 is expected to be more efficient (with more accessible pricing) as the automaker tries to pivot into profitability. The company’s CEO said in late 2023 that it was chatting with a “pipeline” of commercial customers for its electric vans after its four-year exclusivity agreement with Amazon ended. However, it still plans to fulfill its contract with Amazon, which calls for the delivery of 100,000 vans to the online retailer by 2030.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/rivian-will-unveil-the-cheaper-and-more-efficient-r2-on-march-7-174530126.html?src=rss
Apple’s Vision Pro is here — along with a solid collection of third-party launch apps. Although there are some big-name omissions (Netflix, YouTube and Spotify), the headset already supports over a million compatible App Store apps, Apple’s first-party offerings and over 600 apps developed specifically for the “spatial computing” device. Here are the notable third-party Vision Pro apps you can install on day one.
Microsoft 365
Microsoft
Microsoft didn’t skimp on its entry into the Vision Pro era. Seven of the company’s Office apps are available to install on launch day. These include Microsoft Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and Loop.
The Windows maker added several tools unique to the mixed-reality headset. For example, Word has a focus mode to block out distractions, PowerPoint includes an immersive environment for practicing presentations in front of a virtual audience and Excel lets you quickly move documents to other apps using Vision Pro’s pinch-to-drag gesture.
Microsoft Teams uses Vision Pro’s “Persona” feature, which gives you a digital avatar. Persona matches your digital representation’s facial expressions to yours; this may give off uncanny valley vibes to your colleagues, but it could also make your virtual self appear more lifelike. In addition, Microsoft’s VisionOS apps include Copilot, the company’s generative AI assistant that can draft text, create summaries and generate PowerPoint presentations.
Disney+
Disney
Given Disney’s longstanding collaboration with Apple (Steve Jobs sat on the company’s board, and Bob Iger sat on Apple’s until 2019), perhaps it isn’t surprising Disney went all-out with its Vision Pro app.
The app lets you stream Disney+ content in one of four 3D virtual environments: the Disney+ Theater (inspired by Hollywood’s historic El Capitan), the Scare Floor from Monsters Inc., Tony Stark’s Avengers Tower and Luke Skywalker’s land speeder on Tatooine. Although we’ve seen virtual environments in countless Meta Quest (and other VR) streaming apps, Vision Pro’s higher resolution should make them feel more immersive.
Disney’s VisionOS app also includes a selection of supported 3D films. The library consists of “dozens of popular movies,” including Avatar: The Way of Water, Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Elemental and Encanto. (Disney promises the list will expand over time.) You can also buy or rent more 3D movies from the Apple TV apps’ Store tab.
Zoom
Zoom
Zoom is also an early Vision Pro supporter. Like Microsoft Teams, Zoom’s VisionOS app will use Apple’s Personas, displaying you in calls as a 3D virtual avatar that matches your facial expressions and hand movements. The company says you can scale the app’s spatial setup “to the perfect size,” ensuring you feel like you’re in the same room as your colleagues.
A future update to the Zoom app will add support for 3D object sharing, letting designers share and collaborate on 3D models in their virtual space. The app will also eventually include Zoom Team Chat and the ability to pin your fellow meeting participants in space around you. Zoom says the latter will help you “feel more connected to the people in the meeting.”
MLB and NBA
MLB
America’s second and third most popular sports leagues are represented on Vision Pro. The NBA app lets you stream up to five live broadcasts in multi-view while glancing at other game scores and stats off to the side. Meanwhile, the MLB app offers fully immersive environments, including a ballpark with a view from home plate and stats for each pitch. A future update (scheduled for around Opening Day) will add access to “additional MLB.TV content” for subscribers.
The world’s premier baseball league shared its enthusiasm for the app. “If there is an opportunity for a baseball fan to enjoy our sport on any given platform, then we need to have a presence where we can deliver unique storytelling experiences,” wrote MLB Deputy Commissioner Noah Garden.
Max
Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max is available on Vision Pro, offering access to the streaming service’s movies, series, news and sports. The company says select titles will be available in 4K and Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos.
Like other VisionOS apps, Max will offer at least one virtual environment in which you can stream content: the Iron Throne room from Game Of Thrones and House of the Dragon. “The intricate Targaryen-era adornments will make fans feel like they’re watching the programming available on Max in Westeros during the height of their reign,” wrote HBO / Max Content Chair Casey Bloys.
Lowe’s Style Studio
Lowe's
Lowe’s will use the Vision Pro to make it easier to imagine ways to spend money in its stores. The Lowe’s Style Studio app lets headset owners “step into an immersive, interactive 3D kitchen scene,” allowing you to “experiment in ways that weren’t possible until now.” The idea is to inspire you by stepping into a virtual space “curated by Lowe’s professional designers” with hundreds of customizable real-world materials.
Game Room
Resolution Games
Stockholm-based studio Resolution Games launched the Game Room app, which lets you play tabletop classics in mixed reality or fully virtual environments. Games include chess, solitaire, hearts, yacht and (the Battleship-like) Sea Battle.
It supports one to four players in online play against foes using different Apple devices (not just fellow Vision Pro owners). It also supports single-player against AI opponents.
Other confirmed apps and games
Here are more highlights from Vision Pro’s collection of over 600 launch apps:
AmazeVR Concerts - Front-row virtual concerts
Animoog Galaxy - Create music in 3D space
Apple Arcade games(more than 250 games, including NBA 2K24 Arcade Edition, Sonic Dream Team, and TMNT Splintered Fate)
Blackbox - Spatial puzzles
Box - Cloud file management and collaboration, including with 3D objects
CellWalk - Tour a bacteria cell
Complete HeartX - Anatomy, diagnoses and treatments
Decathlon - Shop in 3D
djay - Turntables and mixing
Exploring Mars - Explore Mars with NASA rovers
Fantastical - Calendar and tasks
Healium - Relax in nature scenes
IMAX - View 2D and 3D content
Insight Heart - Learn about the human heart
J.Crew Virtual Closet - Immersive shopping
JigSpace - Interactive presentations in 3D
Lego Builder’s Journey - Build with 3D LEGO bricks
Loóna - Relaxing 3D dioramas
Lungy: Spaces - Breathing exercises and meditation
MindNode - Mind maps in spatial reality
Mytheresa: Luxury Experience - Shopping with live consultations
Navi - Real-time translation with live captions
NowPlaying - A peek behind the music
Numerics - Live business widgets
Odio - Personal sound spaces
OmniFocus and OmniPlan - Project management visualizations
PGA Tour Vision - Immersive golf experience
Red Bull TV - 3D maps of races / immersive videos
Sky Guide and Night Sky - Your personal planetarium
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/here-are-the-most-useful-apple-vision-pro-apps-at-launch-222817206.html?src=rss
Amazon launched a new generative AI shopping assistant, Rufus, on Thursday. The chatbot is trained on Amazon’s product catalog, customer reviews, community Q&As and “information from across the web.” It’s only available to a limited set of Amazon customers for now but will expand in the coming weeks.
The company views the assistant as customers’ one-stop shop for all their shopping needs. Rufus can answer questions like, “What to consider when buying running shoes?” and display comparisons for things such as, “What are the differences between trail and road running shoes?” It can also respond to follow-up questions like, “Are these durable?”
Amazon suggests asking Rufus for general advice about product categories, such as things to look for when shopping for headphones. It can provide contextual advice as well, lending insight into products based on specific activities (like hiking) or events (holidays or celebrations). Other examples include asking it to compare product categories (“What’s the difference between lip gloss and lip oil?” or “Compare drip to pour-over coffee makers”). In addition, it can recommend gifts for people with particular tastes or shopping recommendations for holidays.
Rufus can also answer more fine-tuned questions about a specific product page you’re viewing. Amazon provides the examples, “Is this pickleball paddle good for beginners?” or “Is this jacket machine-washable?”
“It’s still early days for generative AI, and the technology won’t always get it exactly right,” wrote Amazon executive Rajiv Mehta. “We will keep improving our AI models and fine-tune responses to continuously make Rufus more helpful over time. Customers are encouraged to leave feedback by rating their answers with a thumbs up or thumbs down, and they have the option to provide freeform feedback as well.”
Rufus is launching in beta today to only “a small subset of customers,” and it will appear (for those in the beta) after updating the Amazon mobile app. The assistant will continue rolling out to US customers “in the coming weeks.” Once you’re allowed into the beta, you can summon Rufus by typing or speaking your questions into the search bar. A Rufus chat box will appear at the bottom of the screen.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-launches-rufus-an-ai-powered-shopping-assistant-204811837.html?src=rss
If you’ve considered splurging on a premium monitor, Samsung has some deals worth investigating. The company’s offerings, including the 55-inch Odyssey Ark (available for a record-low $2,000), 57-inch Odyssey Neo G9 ($500 off) and 49-inch Odyssey OLED G9 ($400 off) are among the models discounted in a wide-ranging monitor sale on Amazon and Samsung’s website.
The 55-inch Odyssey Ark is a 4K behemoth with a 1000R curvature to ensure all sides of the screen face you at a roughly equal distance. It supports 165Hz refresh rates, making for fairly smooth gaming and other tasks, and it has a 1ms response time. You can even rotate its screen into portrait orientation, although that’s more of a niche bonus than an essential feature for most people.
Samsung fixed one of our biggest gripes about the first-generation version, adding the DisplayPort compatibility and multi-input split view that were perplexingly missing from that inaugural model. The one on sale is the latest variant, launched in 2023.
Usually $3,000, you can cut that in third on Amazon and Samsung, taking the 55-inch Odyssey Ark home for $2,000.
Samsung
The 57-inch Odyssey G9 Neo has a more elongated (32:9) aspect ratio. This lets you squeeze more apps onto your desktop multitasking setup while supplying a wider field of view for gaming. Despite its different size and shape, it has the same tight 1000R curve as the Ark.
The monitor has 8K resolution, a 240Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time. Its mini LED technology uses 2,392 local dimming zones and “the highest 12-bit black levels.” Ports include DisplayPort 2.1, HDMI 2.1 and a USB hub.
Usually $2,500, you can shave $500 off the 57-inch Neo G9 monitor, taking it home for $2,000. That pricing is available on Amazon and Samsung.
Samsung
The 49-inch Odyssey G9 OLED also has a 32:9 aspect ratio. Its OLED / Quantum Dot screen produces rich colors and deep blacks to make your games pop more, and its solid-black text can help your workspace lettering jump out more.
This model’s curve (1800R) is less pronounced than the 55-inch Ark and 57-inch G9 Neo’s, but it still supplies a gentle curve inward. It includes built-in speakers, and it has a 240Hz refresh rate with a “near-instant” (0.03ms) response time. It includes connections for HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort.
The 49-inch G9 OLED retails for $1,600, but you can get it for $1,200 on Amazon. (It’s $1,300 on Samsung’s site.)
We only highlighted some of the standout monitors, but you can browse through the full sale on Amazon and Samsung.
While not quite Apple’s most powerful tablet, the iPad Air is still the best choice for most customers. Its blend of nearly iPad Pro-level specs and features with more accessible pricing made it one of Engadget’s top iPad picks for 2024. If you’ve been eyeing a new model and don’t want to spend a fortune, you can snag the latest iPad Air at Best Buy for a record-low $450 (usually $600).
The 2022 iPad Air has a 10.9-inch screen with True Tone (auto-adjusting display warmth), P3 wide color (for a vivid and accurate color presentation), and an anti-reflective coating. Powering it is the M1 chip, which places it a generation behind the more expensive ($750 and up) 11-inch iPad Pro. However, the M1 is still more than zippy enough for nearly anyone’s everyday tablet use.
The $450 price gets you the base model with 64GB of storage. If that isn’t enough, Best Buy also has the 256GB model discounted to $600 (usually $750). Both storage tiers ship in five color options: space gray, starlight, blue, purple and pink.
The iPad Air works with Apple’s best tablet accessories, including the second-generation Apple Pencil and the Magic Keyboard, which transform it into a laptop-like portable workstation. It also includes a USB-C port for universal charging and connecting external drives or cameras.
Apple is rumored to launch a new iPad Air model in the coming months, so you may consider holding off if saving money isn’t your highest priority. But on the other hand, this is almost certainly the most bang for your buck you’ll get from a $450 iPad anytime soon.
Dave the Diver is coming to PS5 and PS4. The 2023 breakout hit won Indie Game of the Year at The Game Awards — stretching the definition of “indie” — and was included in Engadget’s Best Games of 2023. It arrives on Sony’s consoles in April, and a Godzilla crossover DLC (sure, why not!) follows it in May.
The game has you exploring a vast underwater world full of mysteries during the day, and helming a sushi restaurant at night. As Engadget’s Lawrence Bonk wrote, “The daytime adventures are sort of like an underwater Metroidvania while the nighttime restaurant management is a combination of a Kairosoft sim and the arcade classic Tapper.” It doesn’t sound like it would work, but it does.
Dave the Diver launched on PC in June and arrived on Switch in late October.
Sony touts the game’s DualSense support. “The controller’s haptics offer the realistic feeling of a hooked fish tugging the line,” the company wrote in an announcement blog post. “The adaptive triggers respond differently depending on which weapon you’re using, making the combat and fishing experience even more immersive.”
As for the Godzilla DLC, we don’t know much yet other than it will introduce “even more enormous threats lurking in the depths” as you “prepare to meet the King of the Monsters in the Blue Hole.”
You can watch the trailer for Dave the Diver on PlayStation below, including a peek at Godzilla near the end.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dave-the-diver-is-bringing-godzilla-with-him-to-ps5-this-spring-233136441.html?src=rss