How many of you had “sequel to a game from 1982” on your Nintendo Indie World Showcase bingo card? If so, you just won big. Yars Rising is a modern metroidvania take on the Atari 2600 classic Yars’ Revenge, and all it took was 42 short years to reach fruition. By my math, this is the longest break between sequels in gaming history, and it's not even close.
That’s not the only interesting tidbit about this game. As previously mentioned, it’s a metroidvania, but this one is made by WayForward. For the uninitiated, the company’s basically a metroidvania and retro-gaming factory, going all the way back to the Game Boy Color and the original Shantae. Since then, WayForward has released a slew of fantastic Shantae titles and many other games in the metroidvania genre, including the criminally underrated The Mummy Demastered. WayForward also helped withBloodstained: Ritual of the Night, which is considered the spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The devs know their stuff.
Now, Yars Rising may be the sequel to Yars’ Revenge, but that doesn’t mean it plays anything like it. The original was an early version of what eventually became known as shoot 'em ups, like R-Type and Ikaruga. The new one is a sidescrolling platformer in which you play as a person, and not a flying alien bug. However, there looks to be plenty of narrative nods to the original.
In addition to traditional metroidvania action, the developer promises “a balance of stealth and combat” and plenty of “retro-inspired mini-games.” It’s coming to consoles and PCs later this year. In the meantime, I’ll start preparing for Yars Returns in 2066.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/yars-rising-revives-a-40-year-old-atari-game-as-a-modern-metroidvania-163023972.html?src=rss
How many of you had “sequel to a game from 1982” on your Nintendo Indie World Showcase bingo card? If so, you just won big. Yars Rising is a modern metroidvania take on the Atari 2600 classic Yars’ Revenge, and all it took was 42 short years to reach fruition. By my math, this is the longest break between sequels in gaming history, and it's not even close.
That’s not the only interesting tidbit about this game. As previously mentioned, it’s a metroidvania, but this one is made by WayForward. For the uninitiated, the company’s basically a metroidvania and retro-gaming factory, going all the way back to the Game Boy Color and the original Shantae. Since then, WayForward has released a slew of fantastic Shantae titles and many other games in the metroidvania genre, including the criminally underrated The Mummy Demastered. WayForward also helped withBloodstained: Ritual of the Night, which is considered the spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The devs know their stuff.
Now, Yars Rising may be the sequel to Yars’ Revenge, but that doesn’t mean it plays anything like it. The original was an early version of what eventually became known as shoot 'em ups, like R-Type and Ikaruga. The new one is a sidescrolling platformer in which you play as a person, and not a flying alien bug. However, there looks to be plenty of narrative nods to the original.
In addition to traditional metroidvania action, the developer promises “a balance of stealth and combat” and plenty of “retro-inspired mini-games.” It’s coming to consoles and PCs later this year. In the meantime, I’ll start preparing for Yars Returns in 2066.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/yars-rising-revives-a-40-year-old-atari-game-as-a-modern-metroidvania-163023972.html?src=rss
Amazon Music is joining Spotify in starting to offer a generative AI-powered playlist feature. For now, Maestro is available in beta to a small number of Amazon Music users in the US on iOS and Android.
Folks who are included in the beta will see Maestro on the home screen after they update to the latest version of the app. They can also access the tool by tapping the plus button to create a new playlist.
The idea is to use natural language prompts to create any kind of playlist imaginable. Your prompts can include sounds, activities, emotions and even emoji. Amazon suggests you might ask Maestro to whip up a playlist of songs that sound like the robot emoji (in which case you'll probably hear a bunch of Daft Punk tracks). Other prompts the company suggests include "😭 and eating 🍝," "Make my 👶 a genius," "Myspace era hip-hop" and, bizarrely, "Music my grandparents made out to." Ewwww.
Based on those ideas, it does seem that Maestro is more or less ready to handle whatever prompts you can throw at it, though Amazon notes that the tech is still in beta. As such, Maestro might not always get things right immediately. The company also says that it has safeguards in place to prohibit offensive language and inappropriate prompts.
Amazon plans to roll out Maestro more broadly over time. As things stand, Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers can listen to Maestro playlists instantly and save them for later (or share them with friends). Prime members and users on the ad-supported free tier can listen to 30-second previews of their playlists before saving them.
Earlier this month, Spotify debuted a similar feature for Premium members in the UK and Australia. AI Playlist works in much the same way as Maestro.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-debuts-a-generative-ai-powered-playlist-feature-150848360.html?src=rss
Amazon Music is joining Spotify in starting to offer a generative AI-powered playlist feature. For now, Maestro is available in beta to a small number of Amazon Music users in the US on iOS and Android.
Folks who are included in the beta will see Maestro on the home screen after they update to the latest version of the app. They can also access the tool by tapping the plus button to create a new playlist.
The idea is to use natural language prompts to create any kind of playlist imaginable. Your prompts can include sounds, activities, emotions and even emoji. Amazon suggests you might ask Maestro to whip up a playlist of songs that sound like the robot emoji (in which case you'll probably hear a bunch of Daft Punk tracks). Other prompts the company suggests include "😭 and eating 🍝," "Make my 👶 a genius," "Myspace era hip-hop" and, bizarrely, "Music my grandparents made out to." Ewwww.
Based on those ideas, it does seem that Maestro is more or less ready to handle whatever prompts you can throw at it, though Amazon notes that the tech is still in beta. As such, Maestro might not always get things right immediately. The company also says that it has safeguards in place to prohibit offensive language and inappropriate prompts.
Amazon plans to roll out Maestro more broadly over time. As things stand, Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers can listen to Maestro playlists instantly and save them for later (or share them with friends). Prime members and users on the ad-supported free tier can listen to 30-second previews of their playlists before saving them.
Earlier this month, Spotify debuted a similar feature for Premium members in the UK and Australia. AI Playlist works in much the same way as Maestro.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-debuts-a-generative-ai-powered-playlist-feature-150848360.html?src=rss
Word on the street is that Nintendo won’t release the long-awaited successor to the Switch until next year. As such, the company needs to let fans know what they'll be able to play on the current console over the coming months. To help pad out the schedule, Nintendo has a bunch of indie game releases lined up. We will find out what some of those are during the next Indie World showcase, which is set for April 17 at 10 AM ET.
Nintendo says the stream will last for around 20 minutes and it will include updates on games that are coming to Switch this year. There have not been many indications as to what to expect. However, there may finally, finally be news on the Hollow Knight: Silksong front.
I know, I know, we mention this game every single time one of these streams comes up (and with good reason as it’s one of the most hotly anticipated games right now). That said, there have been some hints that we'll get an update on Team Cherry's sequel soon. A page for it finally appeared on the Microsoft Store this month and it’s just been rated in Australia. So if the Indie World stream does not include a Silksong release date, perhaps we’ll finally find out what it is at the Xbox showcase in June. Keep your fingers crossed.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nintendos-next-indie-world-showcase-is-set-for-april-17-134742460.html?src=rss
Word on the street is that Nintendo won’t release the long-awaited successor to the Switch until next year. As such, the company needs to let fans know what they'll be able to play on the current console over the coming months. To help pad out the schedule, Nintendo has a bunch of indie game releases lined up. We will find out what some of those are during the next Indie World showcase, which is set for April 17 at 10 AM ET.
Nintendo says the stream will last for around 20 minutes and it will include updates on games that are coming to Switch this year. There have not been many indications as to what to expect. However, there may finally, finally be news on the Hollow Knight: Silksong front.
I know, I know, we mention this game every single time one of these streams comes up (and with good reason as it’s one of the most hotly anticipated games right now). That said, there have been some hints that we'll get an update on Team Cherry's sequel soon. A page for it finally appeared on the Microsoft Store this month and it’s just been rated in Australia. So if the Indie World stream does not include a Silksong release date, perhaps we’ll finally find out what it is at the Xbox showcase in June. Keep your fingers crossed.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nintendos-next-indie-world-showcase-is-set-for-april-17-134742460.html?src=rss
When Sonic 3 hits the theaters later this year, you may be able to watch a franchise fan favorite be voiced by one of Hollywood's all-time fan favorite actors. Keanu Reeves will play the broody, tortured Shadow the Hedgehog, according to The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. The antihero, who's both an arch-rival and an ally to Sonic, will be created by Jim Carrey's Dr. Robotnik after the events of Sonic 2, based on the movie's first footage presented at CinemaCon last week.
Shadow has a long history in the Sonic universe and first appeared in Sonic Adventure 2, which came out back in 2001. The black-furred anthropomorphic hedgehog was created in the games to help find a cure for Dr. Robotnik's granddaughter Maria, who had a terminal disease. It's unclear if the movie will follow a similar storyline — though we can again expect Sonic and his gang to stop Dr. Robotnik's plans to take over the world — but we'll likely get more details about the film before it comes out on December 20. Jeff Fowler will still lead the production as its director, while Ben Schwartz and James Marsden are reprising their roles as Sonic and his adoptive father-of-sorts Sheriff Tom Wachowski, respectively.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/keanu-reeves-is-reportedly-playing-shadow-the-hedgehog-in-sonic-3-072847772.html?src=rss
Disney is reportedly planning to add linear cable-style streaming channels to Disney+. According to The Information, the company wants subscribers to spend more time in the app and, by offering more viewing options, it may entice users to stick around. In addition, by running ads on these channels, Disney could boost its bottom line.
There are already a bunch of free, ad-supported streaming (FAST) services such as Roku, Pluto TV and Tubi. Last year, Warner Bros. Discovery brought FAST channels featuring its shows and movies to Roku and Tubi. Disney itself has some FAST channels inside the ABC.com app, including ones dedicated to General Hospital and 20/20. But none of those are inside a subscription service.
The report suggests that Disney may offer channels based on tentpole franchises such as Star Wars and Marvel, along with others showing animated movies from Pixar. Many folks have FAST channels on as background noise while cleaning and so on, and given the high brand affinity for Disney, this makes sense for the company to explore.
Beyond Marvel and Star Wars, Disney has a deep well of shows and movies to pull from for its linear streaming channels. There's absolutely a market for a channel that shows The Simpsons 24/7. There's probably an audience out there that would love to have Boy Meets World or Scrubs on in the background as they go about their day, and of course Disney has a large library of animated kids shows in its locker. A DuckTales channel seems like a no-brainer.
Disney is trying to make Disney+ a one-stop shop for consumers. It recently folded in Hulu and it reportedly plans to do something similar with ESPN when the sports network's standalone streaming service arrives next year. Adding linear streaming channels to the mix could help Disney pull eyeballs away from the likes of Roku and Pluto TV as well.
That said, Disney+ wouldn't be the first subscription streaming service to go down this path. Paramount+ added a Live Channels feature in 2021 to highlight some of the platform's most popular movies and shows. Along with genre-based channels (such as offerings for kids and reality competition fans), others are based on hit franchises such as Paw Patrol, Star Trek and RuPaul's Drag Race.
Another major streaming platform has explored different strategies too. At one point Netflix is said to have considered offering the option to subscribe to and watch other streaming services from within its app, much like Amazon does with Prime Video Channels. The Information notes that while Netflix hasn't moved forward with that plan, the company hasn't ruled it out as it too tries to get users to spend more time in its app.
Update 4/16 11:35AM ET: Added context about the Paramount+ Live Channels.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/disney-may-add-cable-style-streaming-channels-focused-on-marvel-and-star-wars-180035875.html?src=rss
Instagram got a surprise visitor. Meta AI, the company’s AI-powered chatbot that can answer questions, write poetry and generate images with a simple text prompt, is up in your DMs. Meta warned that Meta AI was coming and has spent the last few months adding the chatbot to products like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. We all knew Instagram would be next.
“Our generative AI-powered experiences are under development in various phases, and we’re testing a range of them publicly in a limited capacity,” a Meta spokesperson told Engadget. For some of us at Engadget, the feature appeared in Instagram’s Direct Messaging inbox.
We could tap it to start a conversation with Meta AI, where it could give definitions of words, suggest headlines and… generate images of dogs on skateboards.
TCL, maker of many TVs, is to release its first special — a short romance movie — on TCLtv+ this summer. Minimizing effort (and artistic license), it’s using generative AI, and the result is as creepy, dreamy and blurry as all the other generative AI video we’ve seen so far. Watch the protagonists’ faces contort and blur. Marvel at the tone and color profiles switching for no apparent reason. You have to watch it: a rare laugh on a Monday morning.
The company is asking a judge to deny Epic’s recent motion.
Last month, Epic Games filed a motion asking a California judge to hold Apple in contempt for what it claims are violations of a 2021 injunction. Now, Apple is asking the judge to reject Epic’s request, alleging the motion is an attempt to “micromanage Apple’s business operations in a way that would increase Epic’s profitability.” Epic said Apple’s “so-called compliance is a sham” and accused the company of violating the injunction with its recent moves. Apple maintains it has acted in compliance with the injunction, stating in the new filing: “The purpose of the injunction is to make information regarding alternative purchase options more readily available, not to dictate the commercial terms.”
The company is temporarily removing links to California news for some.
Google, the search giant that brought in more than $73 billion in profit last year, is protesting a California bill that would require it and other platforms to pay media outlets. The company announced it was beginning a “short-term test” to block links to local California news sources for a “small percentage” of users in the state. How will this end up? Let’s take a look elsewhere.
The company pulled its News service out of Spain for seven years in protest of local copyright laws. However, in Australia, the company signed deals worth about $150 million to pay publishers. It also eventually backed off threats to pull news from search results in Canada and forked over about $74 million.
Gaming laptops are now cheaper and more powerful than ever, and many wouldn’t look out of place in a classroom. If you aim to do some serious multimedia work alongside playing video games online, it’s worth looking at a dedicated gaming system. We select the best machines for balancing work with play, with advice on screen sizes, portability and more. Jack will no longer be a dull boy.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-meta-crams-its-ai-chatbot-into-your-instagram-dms-111512763.html?src=rss
Now that Bluesky has opened itself up to the public and introduced some new moderation options, the team’s decided it’s finally time to allow world leaders on board, too. A post from the official Bluesky account on Friday notified users, “By the way... we lifted our ‘no heads of state’ policy.” The policy has been in place for the last year as Bluesky worked through all the early growing pains of being a budding social network.
Bluesky remained an invite-only platform from its launch in February 2023 until February of this year, when it finally ditched the waitlist. Bluesky had said last May that it wasn’t ready for heads of state to join, and even asked users to give its support team notice “before you invite prominent figures.” It’s since grown to more than 5 million users, gaining roughly a million alone in the day after it stopped requiring invite codes.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/bluesky-now-allows-heads-of-state-to-join-the-platform-202700504.html?src=rss