The last couple of Alien movies have been good for the most part but it feels like they’ve been missing the raw, skin-shredding tension of the first few films. The latest trailer for Alien: Romulus looks like the series is headed back to its dark, claustrophobic roots.
Alien: Romulus features a whole new crew of doomed space-trekking souls who encounter the deadly Xenomorph on a derelict spacecraft. This time, it’s a crew of space colonizers who are scavenging for resources from abandoned ships and stations.
This Alienfilm was co-written and directed by Fede Alvarez, the filmmaker behind cult horror flicks such as the two Don’t Breathe movies and the Evil Dead remake. So, yes, Alien: Romulus is gonna be very tense and very, very bloody. Where the original Alien merely strapped a parasitoid xenomorph to a crew member's face, the trailer for Romulus is willing to show a facehugger penetrating some poor guy's head. Yikes.
Alien: Romulus hits theaters on Friday, Aug. 16.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-final-trailer-for-alien-romulus-looks-tense-bloody-and-awesome-191908758.html?src=rss
US college students can shave half off a Max subscription. As long as you can confirm your active student status, you’ll get a 50 percent discount on the Max With Ads monthly plan. Usually $10, you’ll only pay $5 each month to stream classic and current HBO series (and more).
The promotion is through a partnership with UNiDAYS, a (strangely capitalized) service that verifies college and university student status. The company has also partnered with Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Uber Eats, Nike and more.
After successfully verifying your status, the promotion will last for 12 months. But you’ll have the chance to re-verify your student status every year as long as you’re eligible to keep the discount. Once you’re in your last year with no plans to head to another school, you’ll graduate to the hard-knock life of $10 ad-supported streaming plans.
Max lets you stream classic HBO series like The Sopranos, The Wire, Sex and The City, Game Of Thrones, Six Feet Under and more. You also get current-run content from HBO, Warner Bros., DC, HGTV and Food Network. These include series and films like The Last of Us, Dune: Part Two, House of the Dragon, Barbie and Euphoria. You’ll also be able to stream the upcoming The Batman spinoff The Penguin, costarring Colin Farrell with his fat suit and a bunch of prosthetics.
Once you’re verified through UNiDAYS, you’ll receive a promotional code. Just follow the instructions you get with the code to begin your subscription.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/us-college-students-can-take-half-off-a-max-subscription-163906242.html?src=rss
It was a shame to see 1047 Games putting Splitgate on ice back in 2022. The studio did a great job of freshening up the competitive arena shooter genre by adding portals (think: Quake meets Portal), but it moved on to a new project. We now know that’s going to be Splitgate 2, a free-to-play sequel that’s coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S next year.
1047 Games is going bigger in all kinds of ways this time around, including with a much larger development team. A group of 20 first-time game developers created Splitgate, which started as a school project. The team is now more than 150 strong and features devs with experience on the likes of Call of Duty, Overwatch, Halo, Valorant and League of Legends.
The sequel is being built from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5. It will have three factions you can pick from based on your preferred play style and tactics. The Aeros are agile, Sabrasks are all about power and Meridians can manipulate time.
There will be many areas, weapons and modes to check out, though the bulk of the action will be in four versus four combat. A debut trailer gives some idea of what to expect and more details will be revealed in August. Fans can check out a free comic series and unlock in-game collectibles through the Splitgate 2 companion app for iOS and Android.
1047 Games has a tough act to follow since Splitgate was very well received and it proved popular — it had more than 22 million downloads. It’s a strong foundation to build on, though, and the Splitgate 2 trailer (despite being a cinematic rather than gameplay-focused one) looks very promising.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/splitgate-2-is-coming-to-pc-and-consoles-in-2025-144400499.html?src=rss
AI seems to be seeping into every facet of society these days, but that may not be the case in communities where English isn’t the dominant language. Spotify is working to correct that by offering a Spanish-speaking version of its DJ feature.
Spotify announced the new Spanish speaking feature for its DJ mode also known as Xavier or “X” on Wednesday. The new DJ is named Livi and Spotify has even given its new DJ a backstory describing her as a “Senior Music Editor at Spotify based out of Mexico City” and “a music expert who has spent her entire career in the music industry.
It’s basically a cruder version of how Jon Hamm can digitally assign backgrounds and perspectives to “cookies” in Black Mirror’s Christmas episode. Does this mean X and Livia will start screaming if we play Wizzard’s “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday” on an endless loop?
DJ is an AI generated list of curated songs based on a Spotify user’s listening history. The DJ feature also includes an AI voice introducing and commenting on some of the songs it picks just like a radio DJ would except this DJ plays songs you actually want to hear. The music streaming service launched DJ last year using OpenAI. Six months later, Spotify expanded DJ’s reach to 50 countries but only in English.
Spotify’s DJ is also starting to get some competition. YouTube Music just announced its own AI-generated conversational DJ radio generator for select users. If they don’t call him “YouGene,” then they are missing out on pure pun gold.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotifys-ai-music-dj-can-now-speak-spanish-180022156.html?src=rss
Prime Video’s Fallout has followed The Last of Us in video-game adaptations making smashing freshman debuts at the Emmys. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences unveiled this year’s nominations on Wednesday, and Amazon’s adaptation of Bethesda’s franchise picked up an impressive 16 nods, including Best Drama, Best Actor - Drama (Walton Goggins) and Best Writing - Drama.
Fallout, which Amazon didn’t wait long to renew for a second season, follows Lucy (Ella Purnell), a vault dweller who ventures above-ground to try to rescue her father in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Walton Goggins scored the series’ only acting nomination for his scene-stealing performance as The Ghoul. Its writing nod went to Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner for the ironically (yet appropriately) titled premiere episode, “The End.”
Only Murders in the Building, Hulu’s popular comedy-mystery series, led all streaming-only series with 21 nominations. They include Best Comedy, two for Best Actor - Comedy (Steve Martin and Martin Short), Best Actress - Comedy (Selena Gomez) and Best Supporting Actress - Comedy (finally, Meryl Streep gets nominated for something!), Best Supporting Actor - Comedy (Paul Rudd), Comedy Guest Actress (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and Comedy Guest Actor (Matthew Broderick).
Imelda Staunton in The Crown
Netflix
Netflix’s The Crown followed close behind for streaming-only series with 18 noms for its final season, which recounted the passing of Princess Diana and the Royal Family’s transition into the 21st century. It picked up nods for Best Drama, Best Actress - Drama (Imelda Staunton), Best Actor - Drama (Dominic West), two for Best Supporting Actress - Drama (Elizabeth Debicki and Lesley Manville), Best Supporting Actor - Drama (Jonathan Pryce), Guest Actress - Drama (Claire Foy in a memorable return), Directing - Drama (Stephen Daldry for the episode “Sleep, Dearie Sleep”) and Writing - Drama (Peter Morgan and Meriel Sheibani-Clare for “Ritz”).
In other streaming nominations, Amazon Prime’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Apple TV+’s The Morning Show each snagged 16 nods. Netflix’s Baby Reindeer, described as based on a true stalking story by series creator and lead actor Richard Gadd, received 11 nominations.
Apple TV+
Netflix had the most total nominations of any platform, with a staggering 107. Among streaming-only ones, Apple TV+ came in second with 70. (In addition to The Morning Show, Apple’s Palm Royale, Lessons in Chemistry and Slow Horses all charted.) Amazon Prime Video landed 37 total noms, Hulu got 26 and Disney+ received 19.
Zooming out from streaming-only to the broader field, FX’s Shogun led all series with 25 nominations, followed by The Bear with 23 (it was a good day for FX) as it broke the record for most nods for a comedy. HBO’s True Detective: Night Country landed 19, a new sketch-comedy show you may have heard of called Saturday Night Live received 17 and HBO’s Hacks got 16.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fallouts-16-emmy-nominations-show-that-successful-gaming-adaptations-are-no-longer-a-fluke-175555108.html?src=rss
Nintendo caused a stir last week when it released an ominous 15-second teaser for an unannounced game. The 15-second clip (bookended by the Switch intro and Nintendo logo, of course) shows a still figure wearing a trench coat and a paper bag with a smiling face drawn on it over their head. Eerie music plays as the camera darts around, flashing on a hand that appears to be missing a finger.
It's all very un-Nintendo-like, especially considering that the teaser was for an M-rated game that the company is publishing itself — a rarity for the family-friendly brand. Speculation mounted that the game was being developed by the horror specialists at Bloober Team, but a week later, we now know what the game is. As it happens, it's at least as surprising as any of the other suggestions that have been floating around.
The game in question is a new Famicom Detective Club title. It's the first completely new entry in the visual novel series in an astonishing 35 years. The original two games, The Missing Heir and prequel The Girl Who Stands Behind, were only released on the Famicom (oddly enough) in Japan at first before remakes arrived on the Switch in 2021.
In Emio — The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club, you'll play as an assistant private investigator who is helping police solve a murder. The victim's head was covered with a paper bag with a creepy smiling face on it. Sound familiar? The scene is said to resemble a frequent clue from a series of unsolved murders from 18 years beforehand. It's up to you to figure out if the latest death is the work of the original killer or a copycat and put all the pieces of the puzzle together.
Famicom Detective Club creator Yoshio Sakamoto, who is better known for his work on the Metroid series, said in a brief interview that while Nintendo was working on the remakes of the first two entries "I thought that we definitely need to continue this series with a brand-new game." He added that the Smiling Man, an urban legend that the team invented for the game, "is said to offer crying girls a paper bag with a smile drawn on it in exchange for their life." It all sounds very creepy. You'll get to find out for yourself just how much that's the case when Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club hits the Switch on August 29.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nintendos-recent-creepy-horror-teaser-is-actually-for-a-new-famicom-detective-club-game-165100278.html?src=rss
A pre-release build of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has leaked online two months before release, according to reporting by Insider Gaming. This is a fully playable version that was “randomly posted on a tracker,” according to sources who have downloaded and experimented with the build. It remains unclear how the game ended up online.
Players have said that the game is around 75GB in size. Though this leaked build is playable, it does have some issues. There are missing strings and a bunch of placeholder assets, but the version does include server data that should allow for online play. As expected, gameplay footage has begun popping up online, but we’ll refrain from posting any so as to keep things spoiler-free. We will drop a trailer though, because the game looks neat.
In addition to forgoing gameplay videos, we don’t recommend heading to a torrent site to look for the leaked build. This is not only bad for the hard-working folks who made the game, but will more than likely riddle your PC with more bugs than an open Florida patio in summer. Torrents ain’t what they used to be.
Developers Focus Entertainment and Saber Interactive have issued a statement regarding the leak, asking fans to wait for the official release and thanking them for ongoing support. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 comes out on September 9 and will be available for the PS5, Xbox Series S|X and PC.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/warhammer-40k-space-marine-2-has-leaked-online-two-months-before-release-185034761.html?src=rss
YouTube Music is rolling out some fun new features, including the expansion of the “hum to search” tool that has been in beta for Android users since March. The company says this tool allows users to “search the YouTube Music catalog of over 100 million official songs” by using natural sound.
All you have to do is tap “search” and look for the waveform icon. Then it’s up to you. The tool lets people hum the song, sing the song or even play the song on another instrument. The feature is rolling out to YouTube music subscribers on both iOS and Android.
It’s also been working on something called AI-generated conversational radio. This isn’t a platform in which AI DJs take jobs away from Wolfman Jack or whatever. Rather, it’s a tool that lets people use natural conversation to describe the type of radio station they want to listen to. The algorithm will take in that information and create some tailor-made radio. This is sort of like Spotify’s AI DJ from a while back, but the conversational element should make the algorithm zero in on your exact tastes as described.
The bad news? It’s only available to select subscribers at this point, as it's in a testing phase. If successful, it should roll out to more users in the coming months. After all, YouTube first announced the “hum to search” tool in March and its already becoming widely available.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtube-musics-latest-features-include-hum-to-search-and-ai-generated-conversational-radio-175153746.html?src=rss
Getting into a good sleep routine can make a world of difference in your day-to-day life, and smart clocks like the Hatch Restore 2 are designed to help you achieve that. The popular sleep device, which allows for customized bedtime and wake-up routines, is deeply discounted on Amazon right now in an early Prime Day deal, bringing the price down to $145 from its usual cost of $200. The clock comes in three neutral colors — Latte, Putty and Slate — all of which are covered by the 28 percent price cut.
Hatch Restore 2 has features to help put you to sleep, and wake you gently in the morning. To get the absolute most out of it, you’ll also need to subscribe to Hatch+ for $5/month, but the system is still usable with limitations if you don’t want yet another subscription in your life. In our review, we found it to be genuinely helpful for winding down at night and starting the day off on the right note, but you may need to play around with the settings over the course of a few days to figure out what works best for you.
Hatch Restore 2 has audio segments to help you relax at night, like a 25-minute narration called “Train of Thought” in which a train conductor talks you through her ticket collections and interactions with passengers, and tells you train facts.Engadget’s reviewer Amy Skorheim said the audio became “more effective at putting me to sleep than popping a melatonin.” Restore 2 also offers ambient sounds like naturescapes, white and pink noise, and the sound of cars passing by.
In the morning, a sunlight light will start to shine before your alarm goes off to help gently wake you up. You can assign rotating routines to start your day off differently each morning. “The Reset,” for example, will play affirmations. The Hatch Restore 2 gets sleep routines right, but it’s definitely pricey for what it offers, so take advantage of that $55 discount while it’s still available.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-hatch-restore-2-smart-sleep-clock-drops-to-a-record-low-for-prime-day-150049284.html?src=rss
Firewalk Studios’ upcoming debut game, the 5v5 team shooter Concord, is opening up to all PlayStation Plus members this weekend. Pre-order customers and PS Plus subscribers can try the multiplayer FPS beginning on Friday, July 12, at noon ET.
The beta window for the PS5 and PC game was initially only meant for pre-order customers. (If you already reserved the game, you’ll still get beta access and codes for friends, whether you subscribe to PS Plus or not.) Opening it up to PlayStation Plus members gives developer Firewalk Studios and publisher PlayStation Studios the bonuses of extra player feedback, server stress tests and the chance to catch bugs and work on balancing. And, of course, it lets them build extra hype for the new IP.
All 16 characters (“Freegunners” with somewhat nontraditional roles) will be unlocked and available during the Early Access weekend, which ends on July 14. PS5 players can pre-download the Concord Beta starting Thursday at noon ET. Meanwhile, an Open Beta will invite anyone to try the FPS next weekend (July 18 at noon ET through July 21).
Firewalk Studios / PlayStation Studios
Three game modes will be available during the Early Access this weekend. These include Clash Point (round-based, no-respawn matches where you try to capture a zone), Trophy Hunt (a respawn-based bounty-collecting mode) and Cargo Run (no-respawn mode where you retrieve a package, plant it in a zone and defend it). You can try four maps in the preview: Freewater, Star Chamber, Water Hazard and Shock Risk.
Next week’s Concord Open Beta will add a new mode, Area Control (teams compete to control zones with respawns enabled), and another map, the ominous-sounding Bone Mines.
The developers say your rewards will carry over from this weekend’s Early Access to next weekend’s Open Beta, but none will transfer to the game’s launch on August 23. Firewalk Studios listed the beta’s supported PC specs in its announcement blog post, although it cautions those could change before the final version.
Firewalk Studios is a Sony-owned team founded by (among others) three Bungie veterans who worked on the Destiny franchise. Others at the studio hail from Respawn, Activision and BioWare, fleshing out the team’s multiplayer shooter credentials. With Concord, the developers appear to borrow elements from Overwatch, Destiny and Halo while adding nontraditional player classes and narrative and character elements similar to Guardians of the Galaxy.
Concord arrives on August 23 for PS5 and PC. You can check out the gameplay trailer below.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ps-plus-members-can-try-the-overwatch-like-concord-this-weekend-171557607.html?src=rss