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The official Pokémon TV YouTube channel is continuing its summer movie watch party with another classic: Pokémon the Movie 2000. The entire movie is available to watch now for free, for a limited time. It follows Pokémon: The First Movie, which was temporarily released on the channel in July, and next up will be Pokémon 3: The Movie. I have distinct memories of seeing these movies in theaters, so the nostalgia is hitting pretty hard right about now.

In case you need a little refresher on where the second Pokémon movie picks up:

In the Orange Islands, far south of Kanto, a Trainer named Lawrence is on a sinister quest: catching Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, the three Legendary bird Pokémon, in an attempt to awaken Lugia, guardian of the sea! When Ash and friends arrive, the islanders ask him to gather three elemental orbs from different islands—and when the weather across the world goes out of control, this task takes on a new importance, as the capture of the Legendary trio has thrown the environment out of balance! With Lugia’s help, can Ash be the “chosen one” that everyone turns to?

It's not clear how long the movie will stay up on the YouTube channel — The First Movie has already been taken down after its brief run — so if you're interested, you should probably get to it sooner rather than later.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/youtube/you-can-watch-pokemon-the-movie-2000-for-free-on-youtube-right-now-213303624.html?src=rss

We're nearly five years out from the release of the original PlayStation 5 and rumors of Sony's next-gen console are starting to bubble up to the surface. In a YouTube video from Moore's Law is Dead, the leaker shares extensive information about the PlayStation 6's possible specs, starting price and release timing. It's always important to take these early leaks with a large grain of salt and Moore's Law is Dead even adds a disclaimer in the video that the info was sourced from a leaked AMD presentation to Sony back in 2023, adding that some of these specs may have changed by now.

While Sony hasn't confirmed anything, the leaks show the company may be prioritizing lower power output and keeping costs in line with previous generations for the upcoming PS6. The video claims the next-gen console will have three times the rasterization, or 3D rendering, performance compared to the base PS5 and roughly two times what's offered by the PS5 Pro. The YouTuber explained that the PS6 is rumored to have PS4 and PS5 backwards compatibility, while potentially releasing with a price tag of $499. That price point could be an indication that Sony wants to tap into the same success the PS4 had, which was partly thanks to its lower price compared to the competition at the time.

Along with the PS6, Sony is reportedly also working on a handheld that will complement the console. According to the leaked info, the PS6 handheld will get a microSD slot, an M.2 SSD slot, a touchscreen, haptic vibration and dual mics. The PS6 handheld rumors detail specs that should beat out the ROG Xbox Ally X and a USB-C port that could offer video out capabilities. According to the leak, the PS6 handheld could have a price range between $400 and $500. For the PS6 and the PS6 handheld, the leaker claims that Sony will start manufacturing both in mid-2027, with a potential release date window between fall 2027 and early 2028.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/leak-claims-the-ps6-could-have-triple-the-performance-as-the-ps5-for-the-same-price-203801615.html?src=rss

BioShock fans will have to wait even longer to find out if we're going to Rapture, Columbia or a brand new city since the next game in the franchise may be headed back to the drawing board. According to a report from Bloomberg, the latest BioShock game that's being developed by Cloud Chamber failed a review with executives at 2K Games. Bloomberg's sources explained that the execs wanted improvement with the game's narrative, which "will be revamped in the coming months."

2K Games said in a statement to Bloomberg that it currently has a "good game, but we are committed to delivering a great one." As the fourth installment in the hit BioShock franchise, it has to follow up on the success of BioShock Infinite, which was released in 2013 and earned several awards for overall design, gameplay, story and original soundtrack. The latest development hitch also comes along with some major changes in the game studio's leadership. According to Bloomberg, Cloud Chamber's studio head, Kelley Gilmore, left the role, while the studio's creative director, Hogarth de la Plante, was shifted to a publishing position.

While the title isn't confirmed, the game believed to be BioShock 4 was announced in 2019 along with the creation of the Cloud Chamber studio. We still don't have a game six years later and the studio responsible may be at risk of layoffs, as the latest Bloomberg report mentioned a recent all-hands meeting where Cloud Chamber developers were told the company "needs to become more agile and efficient."

The fourth BioShock isn't the only game in the series that seems to be stuck in development hell. According to Bloomberg, the remake of the original BioShock was reportedly shelved earlier this year by 2K Games. The breakout hit that threw players into the unique setting of Rapture came out in 2007 and has since been remastered in 2016 as part of BioShock: The Collection. The remaster was made to support 1080p resolution and higher frame rates, but fans have been waiting for a complete remake that portrays the dystopian underwater city with more modern graphics.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/bioshock-4-hits-a-major-development-snag-and-a-remake-of-the-original-gets-put-on-ice-182523192.html?src=rss

Apple has fallen far behind in the competitive market of AI-powered chatbots, but it may have a plan for an in-house option that aligns with the company's "not first, but best" philosophy. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple created a team called "Answers, Knowledge and Information" earlier this year that's tasked with developing a "stripped-down rival to ChatGPT."

Forming this team represents a major change in direction from Apple's earlier stance on artificial intelligence when the company partnered with OpenAI in 2024 to infuse Siri with ChatGPT instead of developing its own AI chatbot. Now, Gurman reported that this new Apple team will instead develop in-house AI services for a "new ChatGPT-like search experience" that can crawl the web to respond to questions. These new capabilities could be a standalone app, as well as support AI capabilities for Apple's Siri, Spotlight and Safari, according to Gurman's sources. The team is reportedly led by Robby Walker, who previously oversaw Siri, and has been advertising job openings that mention wanting experience with search algorithms and engine development.

Beyond the Answers, Knowledge and Information team, Apple has experienced some growing pains when it comes to artificial intelligence. Earlier this year, the company said it would delay the release of the new-and-improved Siri, adding only that it would roll out "in the coming year." However, Apple is aware of the need to accelerate its Apple Intelligence program to stay competitive. In the latest third-quarter earnings call, the company's CEO Tim Cook said that Apple is open to acquisitions to fast-track its AI roadmap.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/apple-reportedly-has-a-stripped-down-ai-chatbot-to-compete-with-chatgpt-in-the-works-164345473.html?src=rss

Amazon is selling the DJI Mini 4K drone for just $249, which is a discount of $50. The deal is only for Prime members. This is the lowest price we've seen for this particular model since early in the year.

The Mini 4K is a beginner-friendly drone, but it's still got plenty of nifty features. As the name suggests, it can capture 4K video at up to 30 FPS. It can also record 2.7K footage at 60 FPS. There's 2x digital zoom, a 3-axis gimbal and electrical image stabilization. The drone can transmit 1080p video from up to 10km away.

It offers level-5 wind resistance, which is nice, and can fly for up to 31 minutes per charge. The drone allows for one-tap movements and comes with a dedicated remote. Users can also access the companion app for additional controls and to access flight tutorials.

Perhaps the coolest feature here is the size and form factor. The Mini 4K is small enough that it doesn't require FAA registration, so you can take it out immediately after unboxing. It's also foldable, making it easy to store when not in use. This particular model didn't make our list of the best drones, but its more expensive sibling, the Mini 4 Pro, was our very favorite.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/prime-members-can-get-the-dji-mini-4k-drone-on-sale-for-249-150201768.html?src=rss

Darksiders 4 is officially coming. During the THQ Nordic Digital Showcase on Friday, we got a glimpse at the next game in the hack and slash action-adventure franchise, alongside trailers for roughly a dozen other games that are in the works, including Reanimal and The Eternal Life of Goldman. It's been a while since we've seen a new mainline Darksiders title from developer Gunfire Games, and while the fourth entry follows 2019's prequel, Darksiders Genesis, the announcement says it will "continue where the original Darksiders game left off."

Darksiders 4 features all four Horsemen, and you'll get to choose which one to play as. It features "combat, traversal and puzzle solving in a lore rich post apocalyptic world." The teaser doesn't give us much information beyond that and there's no release date just yet, but we do know it'll be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

If you missed the showcase, you can catch up here on everything that was announced (like that new Spongebob game). And according to THQ Nordic, that's only half of what it has up its sleeve. At the end of the showcase, the publisher said a total of 28 games are currently in development, with 15 we still have yet to see.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/darksiders-4-was-not-on-my-2025-bingo-card-204611075.html?src=rss

Scientists are sending several strains of disease-causing bacteria to the International Space Station as part of the Crew-11 mission. This experiment isn't the plot to some cheesy horror film, but a scientific investigation from the Sheba Medical Center in Israel and the US-based company Space Tango with the goal of better understanding how bacteria spread and behave under extreme conditions. The experiment includes E. coli, along with bacteria that cause diseases like typhoid fever and the infection commonly known as Salmonella.

After reaching the ISS, the experiment will see the different bacterial species grow before being returned to Earth to be tested against counterparts that were grown simultaneously in an identical lab under normal conditions. The experiment's results will help scientists understand how bacteria respond to zero gravity and could help astronauts, who are more prone to infections during missions due to stress, exposure to radiation and changes in gravity. However, the research could prove useful beyond space missions. With the onset of superbugs that show antibiotic resistance, the experiment could reveal ways to combat more robust bacterial strains.

"This experiment will allow us, for the first time, to systematically and molecularly map how the genetic expression profile of several pathogenic bacteria changes in space," Ohad Gal-Mor, head of the Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory at Sheba, said in a press release. 

The medical center previously conducted a test with bacteria in simulated space conditions, which showed a reduced ability to develop antibiotic resistance, but the latest experiment is the first one to take place at the ISS. It's not the first time scientists have studied bacteria's behavior in microgravity conditions, since researchers from the University of Houston tested how E. coli would grow in a simulated space environment back in 2017. More recently, NASA launched an experiment tasking astronauts to swab the interiors of the ISS and test them for evidence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasas-latest-mission-to-the-iss-features-a-bacterial-experiment-195004174.html?src=rss

X isn't off the hook yet when it comes to a significant legal case about child sex abuse content on its platform. On Friday, a circuit judge from the US Court of Appeals ruled that X Corp. has to again face claims that it was negligent in taking down child sex abuse content and didn't have an effective reporting infrastructure for these offenses.

This ruling from Judge Danielle Forrest is the latest step in a lawsuit filed in 2021 against Twitter, before it was rebranded to X. The suit lists two underage boys as the plaintiffs and alleges Twitter, now X, "slow-walked its response to reports about, and did not immediately remove from the platform, pornographic content that a trafficker had coerced plaintiffs into producing."

A previous decision with a three-judge panel unanimously decided that X was legally immune thanks to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which offers wide-reaching protections to online platforms from the content that's posted by its users. This latest decision from Judge Forrest agrees with parts of the previous ruling, but claims that X was negligent in this case and has to defend itself against the lawsuit's claims that the platform makes it "too difficult to report child pornography that is posted on Twitter."

The case revolves around a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old boy who were tricked by online sex traffickers into sending sexually explicit photos, according to the lawsuit. The illegal content was then posted to Twitter, and the 13-year-old filed a report against it through Twitter's content reporting interface, as detailed in the suit. The boy's mother also filed a report, didn't receive anything but an automated response, and had to follow up before receiving a response that Twitter didn't find any policy violations and wouldn't take further action, according to the lawsuit. The suit claimed that Twitter eventually removed the post nine days after the initial report, suspended the poster's account and reported the content to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which is required by federal law. The lawsuit could set a major precedent in how social media platforms operate, especially if it makes it to the Supreme Court, but X will first have to defend itself against these claims again in district court thanks to this latest decision.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/x-has-to-prove-it-wasnt-negligent-when-removing-csam-from-its-site-173645506.html?src=rss

YouTube has started testing a new collaboration feature, similar to Instagram's and TikTok's. A Google employee explained on YouTube Help that it will allow creators to add collaborators to a video so that they can be recommended to each other's audiences. The test is only available to a small group of creators for now, but it sounds like YouTube has plans to expand its availability in the future. Lindsey Gamble, an influencer marketing consultant and advisor, has posted a screenshot showing how the experimental feature works on Threads.

As you can see in the image Gamble posted, adding collaborators would show their names next to the creators on their channel. If there are too many, at least on mobile, the collaborators would show as "...and more" next to the creator's name. Tapping on it would bring up the list of people involved in the project, with the Subscribe button next to their name. 

On Instagram and TikTok, the creator who uploads the content will have to invite another account as a collaborator, who'll then have to approve the invitation. That'll most likely be the case here, as well, in order to ensure that creators don't randomly add other users to their videos. It's not clear, however, whether the collaborators can see details typically reserved for the uploader's eyes. As with any experimental YouTube and Google product, the company will be taking the testers' feedback into account before deciding if it'll give the feature a wide release.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/youtube/youtube-is-testing-instagram-style-collabs-153046187.html?src=rss

Instagram is no longer allowing public accounts to go live if they have less than 1,000 followers. Users have been reporting over the past few days that their accounts aren't eligible for Live broadcast on the app anymore. "We changed the requirements to use this feature," reads the notice that pops up when people try to host a livestream broadcast to their followers. "Only public accounts with 1,000 followers or more will be able to create live videos." Now Meta has confirmed the new eligibility requirement to Engadget.

The company told us that it started implementing the new rule in order to ensure that it's providing the best experience for creators that host Live broadcasts and that it's driving improvements in the feature's overall usage experience. It didn't clarify why Instagram won't be able to provide the best experience if users with below 1,000 followers can livestream, as well. 

Meta also told us that the new requirement applies not just to public, but also to private accounts. However, the change has only started rolling out to private accounts, which is likely why its notice states that only public accounts with 1,000 followers or more can go Live for now. That likely means Instagram is killing the ability to do livestreams for up to three close friends only, which was a feature the platform launched in 2024. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/instagram-public-accounts-with-less-than-1000-followers-can-no-longer-go-live-133049758.html?src=rss

Whew, it's been a crazy few weeks for us at Engadget. School may still be out, but there's no summer break for the steady stream of new gadgets coming across our desks. I'll forgive you if you missed a review or two over the last few weeks — we've been busy. Here's a quick rundown of what we've been up to, just in time for you to catch up over the weekend. 

Samsung Z Flip 7

Alongside the Z Fold 7, Samsung debuted an updated version of its more compact foldable, the Z Flip 7. UK bureau chief Mat Smith noted that the company managed to provide a substantial overhaul, but there are some areas that were left untouched. "Certain aspects of the Flip 7 are lacking, most notably the cameras, which haven’t been changed since last year," he said. "Samsung also needs to put more work into its Flex Window."

Oakley Meta glasses

Meta's first non-Ray-Ban smart glasses have arrived. While we wait for a more affordable version to get here, senior editor Karissa Bell put the white and gold option through its paces. "While I don't love the style of the Oakley Meta HSTN frames, Meta has shown that it's been consistently able to improve its glasses," she wrote. "The upgrades that come with the new Oakley frames aren't major leaps, but they deliver improvements to core features."

DJI Osmo 360

Reporter Steve Dent argued that DJI is finally giving Insta360 some competition in the 360-degree action cam space. The design and performance of the Osmo 360 are great, but the problem comes when it's time to edit. "The all-new DJI Studio app also needs some work," he explained. "For a first effort, though, the Osmo 360 is a surprisingly solid rival to Insta360’s X5."

Nothing Phone 3

Nothing's first "true flagship" phone has arrived, ready to take on the likes of the Pixel 9 and Galaxy S25. Despite the company's lofty chatter, Mat argued the Nothing Phone 3 is hampered by a lower-power chip and disappointing cameras. "While I want Nothing to continue experimenting with its phones, it should probably prioritize shoring up the camera performance first," he said.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8

Samsung debuted a big update to its Galaxy Watch line when it unveiled the Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7. Senior buying advice reporter Amy Skorheim spent two weeks testing the new wearable, which impressed her so much she declared it was "Samsung's best smartwatch in years." You can read her in-depth review here.

Everything else we tested

Here are the rest of the reviews you might have missed:

• Legion Go S powered by SteamOS by Sam Rutherford

• Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 by Billy Steele 

• NordVPN, Proton VPN, ExpressVPN and Surfshark VPN reviews by Sam Chapman

• s.p.l.i.t by Jessica Conditt

• Porsche 911 GTS by Tim Stevens

• iOS 26 beta by Mat Smith

• Donkey Kong Bananza by Nathan Ingraham

• Anker Nebula X1 by Steve Dent

• Waterfield Magnetic Case for Switch 2 by Sam Rutherford

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-review-recap-samsung-z-flip-7-oakley-meta-glasses-dji-osmo-360-and-more-130012194.html?src=rss

Welcome to our latest recap of what's going on in the indie game space. A bunch of new games dropped this week that are more than worthy of your attention, including a modern take on an old-school Ninja Gaiden side-scroller and a joyful (perhaps even profound) puzzler about the life of a housefly.

By far the biggest story in indie games over the last few weeks concerns payment processors pressuring the likes of Steam owner Valve and Itch to remove or de-index games that feature adult, NSFW and LGBTQIA+ themes. Under the guise of helping to protect women and children, an conservative activist group in Australia has taken credit for the delistings, as well as stricter rules regarding adult-themed games that Steam and Itch have implemented. But some affected developers suggest this is a smokescreen to push forward an agenda of anti-LGBTQIA+ censorship.

This week, Engadget senior editor Jess Conditt spoke with solo developer Cara Cadaver of Final Girl Games about the impact of the censorship campaign. Valve permanently banned Cadaver's new game, VILE: Exhumed, from Steam for allegedly depicting "sexual content with depictions of real people," though the developer says that assessment is inaccurate. While Cadaver and publisher DreadXP are working on alternative distribution for VILE: Exhumed, Steam is the go-to marketplace for many PC gamers and the ban cuts off what surely would have been a critical source of revenue for the game.

For its part, Itch has started reindexing free adult-themed games on its platform. The company has relied on Stripe and Paypal for processing payments. It has suspended payments via Stripe for 18+ content and it's talking to other potential payment partners "that are more willing to work with this kind of content." In any case, payment processors should not be the arbiters of morality, and they certainly should not be helping activists restrict access to perfectly above-board works of art.

One other piece of news that caught my eye this week is about a game jam that's taking place this month. Participants will have just over three weeks to make games based on real-life investigative reporting. According to Global Game Jam, the teams will gain access to exclusive reporting on organized crime and corruption from around the world and be able to ask journalists behind those stories questions about their work. It's a fascinating idea, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what the developers that get involved come up with.

New releases

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is what I like to call a “hell yeah" game. There are few purer joys than getting about 15-20 minutes into a new game and thinking “hell yeah, this rules.” Even better, that feeling lasted through the other four hours or so I spent with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound.

This is a throwback 2D hack-and-slash platformer from The Game Kitchen — the studio behind the Blasphemous series — and publisher Dotemu, which is building quite the reputation for itself as a purveyor of retro-style games (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, the upcoming Marvel Cosmic Invasion). Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound looks and sounds sumptuous, with gorgeous pixel art and stellar level, character and audio design. It’s got combat that's somehow both sticky and slick, and it’s challenging without being too frustrating.

I've had a tremendous time with this one, which, if memory serves me correct, is the first Ninja Gaiden game I’ve played. I can’t really find any notable faults with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. It’s well worth checking out. It’s out now on Steam, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch.

Here’s another “hell yeah" game. I’ve been looking forward to Time Flies ever since I clapped eyes on it during a Day of the Devs showcase a couple of years ago. You play as a fly and the goal is to check off a bucket list of items before the insect perishes (their lifespan equates to the average life expectancy of a country of your choosing but in seconds).

It’s a clever, funny and slightly rude — in a playful, Thank Goodness You’re Here sort of way — blend of exploration and puzzle game that makes a strong case as to why we should make the most of our limited time. It’s a short game, as it took me about 90 minutes to roll credits. That's pretty much the ideal length for this one.

The controls are simple (only a D-pad, pause button and a way to call up the bucket list are required) and the aesthetic, which features hand-drawn art, is delightfully low-key too. In fact, this would be a perfect fit for the Playdate, which just happens to come from Panic, the publisher of Time Flies. For now, though, you can check out this lovely little game from the team at Playables on Steam, PS5 and Nintendo Switch.

Whatnot Games released the 1.0 version Star Racer on Steam this week after over a year of early access. This is a retro racer very much in the vein of the F-Zero series that features local multiplayer (here's hoping for online multiplayer at some point) and music from Grant Kirkhope of Banjo-Kazooie and GoldenEye 007 fame. You can also create your own tracks and share them with others online.

I love the launch trailer for Star Racer, which blends gameplay with '80s-style animation. I also adore that — per Rock Paper Shotgun — one of the characters is a "detective-looking fella called Thrash Whiplash." If that's not in the running for the best video game character name of the 2020s, we're all going to need to take a long, hard look in the mirror.

We have yet another flavor of pretty, retro-tinged pixel art this week thanks to developers Ancient Corporation and Bitwave Games, as well as publisher Limited Run Games. Their 16 bit-style shoot-'em-up Earthion landed on Steam this week.

It features music from legendary composer Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage, ActRaiser, Shenmue and many more games). That probably should not come as a huge shock given that he co-founded Ancient. 

Earthion is also slated to hit consoles starting in September. Being a Limited Run title, physical editions are of course on the way for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch. Expect those later this year. A physical version is also expected for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive in 2026.

Surgent Studios went in a completely different direction for its follow-up to its well-received Metroidvania from last year, Tales of Kenzera: Zau. Its latest project (released with the help of the publishing arm of Palworld creator Pocketpair), Dead Take, is a first-person psychological horror about an actor who is looking for a friend who has vanished after a Hollywood party.

There's top-tier videogame acting talent here, with Neil Newbon (Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3) and Ben Starr (Clive Rosfield in Final Fantasy XVI) taking on the lead roles, and a litany of other well-known performers — from Laura Bailey to Sam Lake — also making appearances. That cast alone makes this worthy of attention. Dead Take is out now on Steam and the Epic Games Store.

It feels like we've been waiting forever for Hobbit life sim Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game to drop and, following some delays, it's now available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and Steam. (This is now technically an indie game because Take-Two sold off publisher Private Division last year.)

I love games that tell you exactly what they're about in their title and A Game About Digging A Hole sure is one of those. You dig a hole, find buried goodies, and sell them to help you buy better gear. 

Developer DoubleBee and publishers Rokaplay and Headup brought this exploration game to iOS and Android this week after a hugely successful debut on Steam earlier this year. A Game About Digging A Hole has now sold more than 1 million copies.

Perhaps you're looking for a different digging game to check out this weekend. In that case, Mashina may be worth considering. The titular character is a robot that searches for valuable minerals to help repair and expand her community. Mashina can also use the minerals to build machines that can help with her digs, while she can use items she stumbles upon for base decoration.

Developers Jack King-Spooner and Talha Kaya (who previously released Judero) used traditional stop-motion techniques to animate Mashina. This charming-looking puzzle/exploration game is now available on Steam.

Let's wrap up this section with a short, experimental game about anxiety. A Dream About Parking Lots has been out on Steam for a few months and the aptly named Interactive Dreams (with the help of Take It Studio!) brought it to PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch this week. It's said to be based on real dreams and will see you looking for your car among parking lots and mazes while chatting with a therapist. 

Upcoming

Wander Stars — from Paper Castle Games and publisher Fellow Traveller — was supposed to be arriving this week, but the developers have pushed the release date back until September 19. The team wants to carry out some changes to improve the game following feedback from an open beta.

I really like the look of this one, and though turn-based combat isn't usually my cup of tea, I'm very intrigued by the system that's in use here. You'll find and combine words into phrases that convert into devastating attacks. There are more than 200 words and they have cooldowns, so combining them in smart ways will be a key to success. Using words "with honor" can seemingly help you unlock more useful phrases too. Very curious to see how all of that works in practice. We'll get a better idea next month, when Wander Stars lands on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Speaking of games with a killer look, a gameplay trailer for I Hate This Place hooked me in this week. This is an isometric survival horror game that pulls from the visual stylings of its comic book origins. Crafting is vital here, both in terms of your arsenal and strengthening your shelter before nightfall. This stylish title from Rock Square Thunder and publisher Broken Mirror Games is bound for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch later this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/a-terrific-2d-ninja-gaiden-housefly-bucket-lists-and-other-new-indie-games-worth-checking-out-110005806.html?src=rss

A jury in Florida has found Tesla partially liable for a 2019 crash involving the company's Autopilot self-driving feature, The Washington Post reports. As a result, the company will have to pay $43 million in compensatory damages and even more in punitive damages.

Autopilot comes pre-installed on Tesla's cars and handles things like collision detection and emergency braking. Tesla has mostly avoided taking responsibility for crashes involving cars with the Autopilot enabled, but the Florida case played out differently. The jury ultimately decided that the self-driving tech enabled driver George McGee to take his eyes off the road and hit a couple, Naibel Benavides Leon and Dillon Angulo, ultimately killing one and severely injuring the other. 

During the case, Tesla's lawyers argued that McGee's decision to take his eyes off the road to reach for his phone was the cause of the crash, and that Autopilot shouldn't be considered. The plaintiffs, Angulo and Benevides Leon's family, argued that the way Tesla and Elon Musk talked about the feature ultimately created the illusion that Autopilot was safer than it really was. "My concept was that it would assist me should I have a failure … or should I make a mistake," McGee said on the stand. "And in that case I feel like it failed me." The jury ultimately assigned two-thirds of the responsibility to McGee and a third to Tesla, according to NBC News.

When reached for comment, Tesla said it would appeal the decision and gave the following statement: 

Today’s verdict is wrong and only works to set back automotive safety and jeopardize Tesla’s and the entire industry’s efforts to develop and implement life-saving technology. We plan to appeal given the substantial errors of law and irregularities at trial. Even though this jury found that the driver was overwhelmingly responsible for this tragic accident in 2019, the evidence has always shown that this driver was solely at fault because he was speeding, with his foot on the accelerator – which overrode Autopilot – as he rummaged for his dropped phone without his eyes on the road. To be clear, no car in 2019, and none today, would have prevented this crash. This was never about Autopilot; it was a fiction concocted by plaintiffs’ lawyers blaming the car when the driver – from day one – admitted and accepted responsibility. 

In a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation of Autopilot from 2024, crashes were blamed on driver misuse of Tesla's system and not the system itself. The NHTSA also found that Autopilot was overly permissive and "did not adequately ensure that drivers maintained their attention on the driving task," which lines up with the 2019 Florida crash.

While Autopilot is only one component of Tesla's larger collection of self-driving driving features, selling the idea that the company's cars could safely driving on their own is a key part of its future. Elon Musk has claimed that Full Self-Driving (FSD), the paid upgrade to Autopilot, is "safer than human driving." Tesla's Robotaxi service relies on FSD being able to function with no or minimal supervision, something that produced mixed results in the first few days the service was available. 

Update, August 1, 6:05PM ET: This story was updated after publication to include Tesla's statement.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/tesla-found-partially-liable-for-a-deadly-2019-crash-193612682.html?src=rss

In partnership with developers, game marketplace GOG (Good Old Games) has launched a new website called FreedomtoBuy.games that'll let you download select "adult" games for free. GOG believes the website takes a stand "against the quiet erasure of creative works from digital shelves," a response of sorts to recent decisions from Steam and Itch to delist certain violent and sexuality-explicit games from their respective platforms.

GOG is currently offering 13 games for free for the next 48 hours, some with well-known scandals and others that seem to fall into the "NSFW visual novel" bucket that makes up the majority of sexually-explicit games on digital storefronts. The titles available to download are:

• Leap of Love

• Being a DIK — Season 1

• Leap of Faith

• POSTAL 2

• House Party

• HuniePop

• Lust Theory

• Agony + Agony Unrated

• Treasure of Nadia

• Summer's Gone — Season 1

• Fetish Locator Week One

• Helping the Hotties

• Sapphire Safari

POSTAL 2, a graphically violent open-world game, is a notable inclusion because it was banned in New Zealand in 2004 and delisted from the German version of Steam in 2016. HuniePop, one of several "adult-only" games Twitch streamers are explicitly forbidden to stream, makes sense on the list, too. GOG has made a concerted effort to preserve games of all types, including maintaining them so that they run on current hardware. The point of making these games available to download is as much about preservation as it is about highlighting how apparently easy it is to pressure digital storefronts to remove content, though.

Valve's decision to delist titles from Steam was chalked up to a new rule that requires games to abide by the standards set by the payment processors that work with Steam. Itch offered a similar explanation for the delistings on its storefront, pointing to pressure payment processors were receiving from a nonprofit called Collective Shout. In the process, indie games like VILE: Exhumed have been delisted, primarily for depicting things that might make a certain group of people uncomfortable. 

Itch, for its part, seems to be trying to bring back as many games to its storefront as it can. The platform is restoring free NSFW games, and says it's still in talks with its payment partners about restoring paid games to its storefront.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/gog-is-giving-away-a-selection-of-adult-games-to-protest-censorship-215048233.html?src=rss

T-Mobile has sealed the deal on its UScellular acquisition. In exchange for $4.3 billion, T-Mobile gets UScellular’s customers, stores and 30 percent of its spectrum.

If you’re a UScellular customer, you don’t have to do anything. "UScellular customers stay on their existing plans with no changes for now," the carrier said. You can continue to manage your account through UScellular’s website. You can also still turn to the T-Mobile-owned carrier for customer support.

The $4.3 billion wasn’t the only price T-Mobile had to pay. To gain the approval of Trump's FCC, the carrier agreed to gut its DEI programs. That followed Verizon doing the same for its Frontier acquisition. The president has used merger approvals as a cudgel to push his agenda (including getting lawsuits settled) in the private sector.

UScellular will now exist only as an infrastructure company. It can now generate revenue from licensing its remaining spectrum and towers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/t-mobile-now-officially-owns-uscellular-204509780.html?src=rss

Microsoft is ending support for its ChromeOS competitor Windows 11 SE. The company will officially stop providing "software updates, technical assistance and security fixes" in October 2026, according to an updated support document spotted by NeoWin. 

When it was announced in 2021, Windows 11 SE was pitched as a simplified, lightweight version of Microsoft's operating system for the classroom. Chromebooks and ChromeOS devices are widely used in schools around the world, so it made sense that Microsoft would want to offer something competitive. Windows 11 SE, and the Surface Laptop SE that launched alongside it, were the company's latest attempt to do just that.

Clearly the plan didn't work, as evidenced by Microsoft's decision to shutdown Windows 11 SE just five years later. The operating system was available on other low-cost devices, but it doesn't appear that it acquired nearly the same-sized audience as ChromeOS. If it had, Microsoft likely wouldn't be dumping it so unceremoniously.

Windows 11 SE isn't the first time Microsoft has tried to spin-off a more efficient version of Windows, though it did seem like the most thought out. For example, the company has also tried Windows 10 S (which lives on as "S Mode" in Windows 11) and the never-launched Windows 10X, a streamlined version of Windows for dual-screen devices. 

While Windows 11 SE devices will work after Microsoft's October 2026 cut-off, the company recommends "transitioning to a device that supports another edition of Windows 11 to ensure continued support and security."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/microsoft-is-killing-its-failed-chromeos-competitor-windows-11-se-200050553.html?src=rss

OpenAI has removed a feature that made shared ChatGPT conversations appear in search results. The "short-lived experiment" was based on the chatbot's link creation option. After complaints, OpenAI's chief information security officer, Dane Stuckey, said the company is working to remove the chats from search engines.

The public outrage stems from a Fast Company article from earlier this week (via Ars Technica). Fast Company said it found thousands of ChatGPT conversations in Google search results. The indexed chats didn't explicitly include identifying information. But in some cases, their contents reportedly contained specific details that could point to the source.

To be clear, this wasn't a hack or leak. It was tied to a box users could tick when creating a shareable URL directing to a chat. In the pop-up for creating a public link, the option to "Make this chat discoverable" appeared. The more direct explanation ("allows it to be shown in web searches") appeared in a smaller, grayer font below. Users had to tick that box to make the chat indexed.

You may wonder why people creating a public link to a chat would have a problem with its contents being public. But Fast Company noted that people could have made the URLs to share in messaging apps or as an easy way to revisit the chats later. Regardless, the public discoverability option is gone now.

In Fast Company's report, Stuckey defended the feature's labeling as "sufficiently clear." But after the outcry grew, OpenAI relented. "Ultimately, we think this feature introduced too many opportunities for folks to accidentally share things they didn't intend to, so we're removing the option," Stuckey announced on Thursday.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-is-removing-chatgpt-conversations-from-google-194735704.html?src=rss

Google's shortened URLs are the horror movie monster of the Google Graveyard: They keep finding a way to stay alive. On Friday, the company said goo.gl links that don't show the above warning will work for the foreseeable future. 

In 2018, Google cut off the ability to create new shortened links. But it kept existing URLs active as a courtesy to those who relied on them. Then, a year ago, the company said its bit.ly rival would shut down completely on August 25, 2025. That appeared to be the final nail in the coffin. Not so fast.

That brings us to Google's change of heart today. "We understand these links are embedded in countless documents, videos, posts and more, and we appreciate the input received," the company explained.

You'll know yours is shutting down if it currently shows a warning message. ("This link will no longer work in the near future.") If it redirects to the destination without that detour, it will live to fight another day. Google says the survivors were chosen based on whether they showed activity in late 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/some-googl-urls-will-live-to-fight-another-day-183508123.html?src=rss

Reddit is reversing course on its plans to put some subreddits behind a paywall, at least for now. CEO Steve Huffman said the company is "shifting resources away" from the effort as it doubles down on search.

During the company's recent earnings call, Huffman said that Reddit was "deprioritizing" its work on "user economy" initiatives in order to put more resources into turning the site into a "go-to search engine." In a follow-up AMA on Reddit, he confirmed this includes pausing work on paid subreddits.

"To stay focused on what matters most, we’re shifting resources away from a few areas, such as work on the user economy," he wrote. "This includes what some have referred to as paid subreddits." Though Huffman added that "it's still an opportunity we believe in," it's a notable departure from comments he made in February, when he said such features would be rolling out in 2025.

Reddit's priorities have apparently changed considerably since then. While paid communities were meant to appeal to Reddit power users, the company still very much needs to grow its user base, according to Huffman. "The folks previously working on user economy will join our efforts to improve the core app, including onboarding and personalization," the CEO explained in another AMA response. "That gets at our most important need today, which is logged-in core user growth."

While Huffman has spent the last year hinting at paid features, it's not hard to understand why Reddit would now be shifting away from that model. Advertising is still very much the most important part of the company's business, as Huffman explained. And adding more core users to the platform will be key to growing that business. To put this in perspective, during the last quarter, Reddit pulled in $465 million in ad revenue and just $35 million from "other" sources, like data licensing and Reddit premium. Even if paywalled subreddits could substantially increase that "other" number, it would still be a small fraction of what the company is making from advertisers.

So while paid subreddits may still be on the company's roadmap, users shouldn't expect to see them any time soon. They can, however, probably expect to see more ads in more places on Reddit over time. For example, Huffman said that the company sees "ads on search return pages … as a future opportunity."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/reddit-puts-its-plans-for-paid-subreddits-on-hold-181455933.html?src=rss

Nintendo has announced that the price of the original Nintendo Switch will change in the United States, citing “market conditions” as the reason for its decision. The new pricing will apply from August 3, and will affect the regular Switch, the Switch Lite and the Switch OLED, as well as select accessories for the console. Amiibo and the Alarmo alarm clock will also see price increases.

The Switch 2 is not affected, nor are the prices of any games or Nintendo Switch Online memberships for Switch or Switch 2. Nintendo doesn’t rule out more wide-ranging price adjustments in the future, though. The company has not yet announced any of the new prices, but Target appeared to briefly update its pricing (since removed), listing the Switch at $340, the Switch Lite at $230 and the Switch OLED at $400. The original Switch is currently priced at $300, the Switch Lite at $200, and the Switch OLED at $350, so these would represent pretty significant increases all round if accurate.

The news follows the Switch price increases in Canada that came into effect today. The console is now $20 CAD more expensive than it was previously, with Nintendo also blaming market conditions (that it still isn’t directly attributing to tariffs in its official messaging) for that adjustment when it announced it back in June.

It looks like the Switch price changes in the US at least won’t be quite as severe as those Microsoft recently announced for the Xbox Series S and Series X. The consoles now start at $380 and $550, respectively, which is an $80 increase for the former and a whopping $100 bump for the flagship Series X.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/the-original-nintendo-switch-is-about-to-get-more-expensive-in-the-us-170646701.html?src=rss