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Here's everything that was announced during The Game Awards
The Game Awards is over and done with, leaving an empty theater in Los Angeles and plenty of happy game developers placing pointy statuettes on their mantels. To that end, Larian Studios and its massively successful RPG Baldur’s Gate 3 was the big winner of the night, taking home the prize for game of the year, player’s choice, best multiplayer game and more.
Remedy’s Alan Wake 2 was also on fire, winning best game direction, best narrative and best art direction, among others. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom paraglided away with the statue for best action/adventure and the RPG Sea of Stars won for best indie game, with Cocoon being awarded best debut indie game.
Okay. Now that the actual awards are out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff. The main reason people watch The Game Awards is for reveals and trailers, and this year didn’t disappoint. There were over a dozen announcements, and here are the best and brightest of the bunch.
Light No FireBoy oh boy, a new title from Hello Games, the makers of a little-known space sim called No Man’s Sky. The studio has finally announced a follow up, which has been in development for five years. Light No Fire, another three-word monosyllabic game name, is being billed as the “the first real open world” title, a lofty promise that Hello may be able to pull off. The world is allegedly the same size as Earth, with secrets and mysteries around every corner. It’s also multiplayer, which is neat. Who knows when this one will come out, but it looks gorgeous.
Jurassic Park: SurvivalIt’s been a couple of years since a new Jurassic Park game, and more than that for a proper adventure title. Jurassic Park: Survival actually takes place one day after the events of the first film, and looks to feature plenty of stealthy action as you hide from hungry dinos. There’s no release date, but it’s launching on Xbox X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC.
ODDid you think Hideo Kojima would be spending all of his time on Death Stranding 2? Heck no. The legendary developer has also been busy preparing the cinematic horror game OD, previously called Overdose. It’s described as something “no one has ever experienced or seen before,” which is entirely possible, given Kojima’s pedigree. Filmmaker Jordan Peele is also on board, as are actors Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer and Udo Kier. Details are scant, as it’s a Kojima joint, but the game will release for Xbox X/S and PC at some point.
Marvel’s BladeThat’s right. Everyone’s favorite vampire hunter is getting his own video game. Even better? It’s being developed by Arkane Lyon, the talented team behind Deathloop and Dishonored 2. Sure, the dev also made Redfall, but maybe Arkane can take some of the best parts of that vampire shooter and translate it to Marvel’s hero. There’s no release date and no announced platforms for this one.
ExodusThis is the first game from Archetype Entertainment, a studio staffed by former developers from Bioware, Naughty Dog and other AAA developers. Exodus is a sci-fi RPG that deals with the effects of time dilation, the notion that time passes more slowly to those experiencing high-velocity space travel. It looks cinematic and gorgeous, with a major emphasis on player choice. Exodus has no release date, but it's in development for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Monster Hunter WildsCapcom is busy working on a new Monster Hunter entry. Monster Hunter Wilds is a direct followup to Monster Hunter World and it looks to feature all of the big, bad beasties you can shake a sharpened stick at. It’s on the way to PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, with more information coming this summer.
WindblownMotion Twin, the developer of Dead Cells, is back with another roguelike. Windblown looks to be a fast-paced release that promises “a whole new level of speed to the action rogue-like genre.” It’s also not a sidescroller, which is a definitive break from the Dead Cells formula. Windblown launches in 2024 for PC, though consoles are likely to follow.
Big WalkLooking to relax? House House, the developer behind Untitled Goose Game, has got you covered. Big Walk is, well, a multiplayer walking sim with plenty of secrets to uncover. Cooperation is a major part of the game as you and your friends work to explore the wilderness. Big Walk is slated to arrive on Steam and the Epic Game Store in 2025.
No Rest for the WickedNo Rest for the Wicked is the new project from Moon Studios, the team behind Ori and the Blind Forest and its sequel. It’s a top-down action RPG, departing from Ori’s metroidvania roots, set during the middle ages. The graphics are stunning, which is no surprise considering the developer. It's due to hit early access on Steam in the first quarter of 2024, and will eventually launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Pony Island 2: Panda CircusIndie developer Daniel Mullins made a name for himself with Inscryption and the original Pony Island. Now he’s back with Pony Island 2: Panda Circus, a game that’s not actually about ponies. The trailer is weird and creepy, as one would expect, with sudden shifts from a 3D adventure to a 2D point-and-click and back again. Voice actor SungWon "ProZD" Cho is also on board. The game may not be released until 2026, so put on your waiting cap.
Sega Embraces its RootsSega dropped a trailer for not just one game, but a whole bunch of games based on classic IPs. You can look forward to forthcoming reboots of Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage and Shinobi. Everything old is new again. But, where’s Seaman?
Final Fantasy XVI and God of War Ragnarok get DLCThe DLC faeries were good to us this year. There’s a God of War Ragnarok update launching next week, bringing a new roguelite game mode to Sony’s hit adventure. We also got a surprise drop for the first Final Fantasy XVI DLC. Echoes of the Fallen, set before the base game’s final battle, is available now, with a second DLC planned for next year. To that end, Square Enix dropped a trailer for next year’s installment, The Rising Tide.
Everything elseThose were the biggest reveals, but not all of them. The Game Awards also saw a title reveal and trailer for Supermassive’s Dead by Daylight spinoff, The Casting of Frank Stone. There was an announcement trailer for a remake of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and one for the music-tinged VR title Thrasher, by the makers of Thumper. Finally, we got an actual release date for Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones, February 16, and a surprise launch for Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox systems.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/heres-everything-that-was-announced-during-the-game-awards-173051610.html?src=rssGoogle Calls Drive Data Loss 'Fixed,' Locks Forum Threads Saying Otherwise
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Hideo Kojima’s documentary will be a Disney+ exclusive
Hideo Kojima said his documentary, Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds, will be distributed exclusively by Disney+. The legendary game designer posted Thursday on X (formerly Twitter) that the film, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this summer, will launch globally in the spring of 2024.
Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds tracks the pioneering auteur during the development of Death Stranding while providing a rare glimpse into his creative process as he launched his studio, Kojima Productions. The film also includes “shots from the early days of our independent studio, memories from my childhood and my creative journey,” as the designer said. The film strives to capture the artistic side of gaming, which Kojima embodies as well as anyone.
Kojima ProductionsThe documentary announcement follows the official reveal of Kojima’s next game, OD. Although we don’t know much about it yet, its trailer blends a cinematic art style with horror, aligning with previous leaks. Director and comedian Jordan Peele is even involved. Xbox Game Studios is publishing the title, which Kojima has said will lean heavily on Microsoft’s cloud technology.
“Video gaming is an art,” director Guillermo del Toro summarizes in the documentary trailer (below) about the Metal Gear creator. “But the only person in charge of the orchestra is the auteur.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hideo-kojimas-documentary-will-be-a-disney-exclusive-171555906.html?src=rss23andMe Moves To Thwart Class-Action Lawsuits by Quietly Updating Terms
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Amazon device deals include an Echo Show 5 and smart bulb bundle for $40
If you've been thinking of grabbing or gifting a new Echo device for the holidays, here's a quick PSA: A number of Amazon's smart speakers and displays are currently on sale for the lowest prices we've tracked, and many of them can be bundled with a Sengled smart light bulb for no extra cost. An Echo Show 5 bundle is down to $40, for instance, while one for the Echo Dot is available for $23. Beyond that, the latest Echo Show 8 is available for a low of $105, albeit without any extras. A bundle with the full-size Echo is also $40 off at $60, though that's a few bucks higher than its all-time low. Most of these deals have been lingering since around Black Friday, but each still represents a good chance to save.
We recommend the Echo and Echo Dot in our guide to the best smart speakers, while the 8-inch Echo Show 8 and 5.5-inch Echo Show 5 are picks in our guide to the best smart displays. If you can afford the higher-end model of each pairing, they should be worth it: The Echo sounds decidedly fuller than the Echo Dot, while the Echo Show 8 has a better display, richer speakers and a much sharper camera than the Echo Show 5. But the Dot still performs well for its size and remains a good value for those looking to see if they'd get any use out of an Alexa speaker in the first place, while the Echo Show 5 can be useful on a bedside table as a sort of smart alarm clock.
Amazon's Alexa assistant still has plenty of deficiencies — and all Alexa-based devices carry inherent security and privacy concerns — but for simpler requests and controlling other compatible smart home gear hands-free, each of these devices generally work well. The Sengled bulb, meanwhile, is a fairly simple color model that's compatible with the new Matter standard and normally costs around $20 on its own.
If you want the absolute cheapest Echo speaker, the Echo Pop is also on sale for $17 with the same smart bulb, but most people should get the superior-sounding Echo Dot when it's only a few dollars higher. The Echo Dot with Clock, which includes an LED display for showing the time and other basic info, is worth a longer look at $40, though that's $10 more than the lowest price we've tracked. On the smart display side, the Echo Show 10 is $80 off and down to $170, but we found that auto-rotating display to offer little extra value over the Echo Show 8 in our review.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-device-deals-include-an-echo-show-5-and-smart-bulb-bundle-for-40-160851722.html?src=rss9 Best Chef's Knives for 2023, Tested and Reviewed - CNET
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Google's AI-infused NotebookLM note-taking app is open to everyone in the US
Google’s NotebookLM, a note-taking app that’s infused with a large language model, is now available to everyone in the US. The company built NotebookLM to only pull information from a custom dataset. So you might use it, for instance, to help write a paper based on a specific set of PDFs and only rely on details from those documents.
The idea is that, by sticking to a custom dataset, the information NotebookLM handles will always be relevant to your specific needs as opposed to a more general chatbot that might draw from the entirety of the public internet. Google debuted NotebookLM as Project Tailwind at I/O this year before rebranding it and it says the tech is based on its Gemini Pro model.
Google also notes that personal data isn't used to train NotebookLM, so any sensitive or private details in your sources will remain hidden. That is, unless you share the sources with collaborators.
Along with making NotebookLM more broadly available (Google has been granting access based on a waitlist over the last five months), Google has announced a string of new features for the software. It plans to roll these out over the next few weeks with the aim of easing the transition between reading, taking notes and writing.
Among other things, the chatbot can format your notes into a newsletter, script outline or a marketing plan draft and export everything to Google Docs with one click. You'll be able to pin notes to a Noteboard space above the chat box, save and pin responses from the chatbot as notes and hide the source material if you want to focus on jotting down your thoughts with fewer distractions. You'll soon be able to ask the AI to focus on certain sources (of which you'll be able to have up to 100 in total) or jump to a citation from a chat response or saved note.
NotebookLM will also suggest some actions based on selected text or notes. At the outset, you'll be able to combine notes, summarize several of them or create an outline or study guide.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-ai-infused-notebooklm-note-taking-app-is-open-to-everyone-in-the-us-155239999.html?src=rssIs it Cheaper to Buy Groceries Online and Have them Delivered? I Did the Math - CNET
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23andMe frantically changed its terms of service to prevent hacked customers from suing
Genetic testing company 23andMe changed its terms of service to prevent customers from filing class action lawsuits or participating in a jury trial days after reports revealing that attackers accessed personal information of nearly 7 million people — half of the company’s user base — in an October hack.
In an email sent to customers earlier this week viewed by Engadget, the company announced that it had made updates to the “Dispute Resolution and Arbitration section” of its terms “to include procedures that will encourage a prompt resolution of any disputes and to streamline arbitration proceedings where multiple similar claims are filed.” Clicking through leads customers to the newest version of the company’s terms of service that essentially disallow customers from filing class action lawsuits, something that more people are likely to do now that the scale of the hack is clearer.
“To the fullest extent allowed by applicable law, you and we agree that each party may bring disputes against the other party only in an individual capacity and not as a class action or collective action or class arbitration,” the updated terms say. Notably, 23andMe will automatically opt customers into the new terms unless they specifically inform the company that they disagree by sending an email within 30 days of receiving the firm’s notice. Unless they do that, they “will be deemed to have agreed to the new terms,” the company’s email tells customers.
23andMe did not respond to a request for comment from Engadget.
In October, the San Francisco-based genetic testing company headed by Anne Wojcicki announced that hackers had accessed sensitive user information including photos, full names, geographical location, information related to ancestry trees, and even names of related family members. The company said that no genetic material or DNA records were exposed. Days after that attack, the hackers put up profiles of hundreds of thousands of Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people for sale on the internet. But until last week, it wasn’t clear how many people were impacted.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, 23andMe said that “multiple class action claims” have already been against the company in both federal and state court in California and state court in Illinois, as well as in Canadian courts.
Forbidding people from filing class action lawsuit, as Axios notes, hides information about the proceedings from the public since affected parties typically attempt to resolve disputes with arbitrators in private. Experts, such as Chicago-Kent College of Law professor Nancy Kim, an online contractor expert, told Axios that changing its terms wouldn’t be enough to protect 23andMe in court.
The company’s new terms are sparking outrage online. “Wow they first screw up and then they try to screw their users by being shady,” a user who goes by Daniel Arroyo posted on X. “Seems like they’re really trying to cover their asses,” wrote another user called Paul Duke, “and head off lawsuits after announcing hackers got personal data about customers.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/23andme-frantically-changed-its-terms-of-service-to-prevent-hacked-customers-from-suing-152434306.html?src=rssApple Report Finds Steep Increase in Data Breaches, Ransomware
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Cooler Master’s Framework case gives your laptop a second life
We’ve covered Framework’s modular, easy-to-repair laptops plenty here at Engadget and with good reason. Its mission is to end the need for users to toss out an otherwise perfect machine when just one component goes dead. But, as the company matures, it also has to tackle the issue of what happens when people choose to upgrade for performance reasons. An early buyer might choose to swap their 11th-gen Intel mainboard for any of its successors, or leap across the aisle to get the newly-released AMD edition. That leaves them with an otherwise perfectly functional mainboard they either have to sell on, turn into a hobby project or, more likely, leave on a shelf gathering dust as a just-in-case option. That’s why the company hooked up with Cooler Master to give you a far better alternative.
The Framework x Cooler Master Mainboard Case is a $39 barebones chassis into which you can put your existing Framework mainboard. For that, you get a cool-looking plastic frame and a kickstand, with four VESA mount screws buried inside and, uh, not much else. That’s the point, since you can either cannibalize other components from your laptop, use any compatible spares that are lying around, or pick up fresh ones from Framework on the cheap. I’d say this is aimed not at Framework’s dedicated and talented hobbyist community, which has made a raft of great 3D-printed cases on their own. Instead, it’s pointed at people like me, who break into a sweat whenever a DIY Perks video mentions soldering. (If you’re reading this, doubtless you’ve seen that video about preserving broken laptops but I also bet you’ve never tried to actually do it.)
Photo by Daniel Cooper / EngadgetIf you’re starting from a clean slate, you can probably pick up a better-specced mini PC for less cash. But if you’re already inside Framework’s ecosystem, and you have one of those boards to hand, as well as some other spare components, then this makes perfect sense. After all, that first generation model I tested was packing a Core i7-1165G7; more than enough power for everyday tasks like browsing, productivity work or for use as a media center. The case is flexible enough to let you pick and choose what accessories you need or use, including pre-drilled holes for you to add SMA antennas rather than reusing a laptop WiFi module. Oh, and you’ll need to buy a 100W charger since the mainboard was designed to be used with a battery.
The byword is flexibility both in letting you choose how you want to craft your system, but also a comment on the build quality. $39 doesn’t buy you a lot, and the two halves of the plastic case are a lot flimsier than I would like. It doesn’t help that you don’t so much mount the components onto the backboard as place them in, and then they’re held in place when you screw the lid in. It’s easy enough to drop all of the parts in – although a lack of cable routing for the WiFi was an issue when it came to seal this all up. Not to mention, the first time I screwed it all in, the USB-C ports for the expansion cards didn’t sit properly over the holes for them to pass through.
Photo by Daniel Cooper / EngadgetThe only other roadblock to my initial setup was that I couldn’t get the unit to push video to the TV. You need to set the mainboard into Standalone mode, but the iFixit-style guides don’t make it massively clear about how you go about doing that. Especially if you spend half an hour in the BIOS looking for the setting to no avail before and after installing a batch of updates. In the end I just dumped the board back in the case to see if anything had changed and, to my surprise, it booted straight to the screen. It’s worth hoping Framework remembers its user base might have a broader range of abilities than it expects and that no instruction should be made off-hand.
Once I’d dealt with those teething woes and poked the WiFi cables back into place by shoving a screwdriver through the VESA mount hole, I was ready to go. Since this is a Framework laptop just outside its usual chassis, you get the same pick of USB-C expansion cards as usual. With a HDMI-out and a couple of USB-A ports for peripherals, I was streaming 4K video without issue just as soon as I’d signed into Plex. Fundamentally, for those of us too timid to even think about rolling their own hobby project, it’s tools like this that make these projects accessible.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cooler-masters-framework-case-gives-your-laptop-a-second-life-150051741.html?src=rssToday's Best Savings Rates: Dec. 8, 2023 -- The Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Can Earn You Up to 5.35% - CNET
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