You’ll also get an unlimited-capacity Scrapbox for your crafting components and a Survival Tent that serves as a placeable fast travel point with basic amenities. If cosmetics are your thing, you’ll also get 1,650 Atoms per month to spend, a members-only armor outfit and a pack of exclusive emotes and icons. Any Atoms and Scrapbox resources you collect will still be available if you drop your subscription.
There’s some degree of value here when it costs money to host private servers. At the same time, this could easily rub some gamers the wrong way. Bethesda recently delayed its big free update, Wastelanders, to the first quarter of 2020 — it may feel like the company is prioritizing an additional revenue grab over improving a game whose reputation is less than sterling. Features like the Scrapbox and Survival Tent could theoretically have been added to the core game without much hassle, either. Fallout 1st may be appealing if you’re deeply invested in the shared-world RPG, but it could have a harder time attracting everyone else.
Barr tweets at least once per day in a clear, repeated format that’s hard to miss in Twitter’s flood of standard text, images and emojis. It’s all caps, with thoughts double-spaced and stacked on top of each other, always starting with, “GAME IDEA.” Barr finishes the thought with phrases like,
RAPIDLY PRESS X
TO PROVE
YOUR PARENT WAS WRONG
ABOUT YOU
And,
THE FINAL BOSS
IS YOUR INABILITY
TO ASK FOR HELP.
The way he composes these tweets, broken up and screaming at the viewer, makes them read like miniature poems about game design and consumption. Many of them are funny, highlighting ironies and inconsistencies about gameplay in general, and poking holes in the industry’s accepted wisdoms.
“I don’t know how I gave myself permission to do that, but I wanted them to come across as separate from the normal flow of Twitter, which is super ostentatious,” Barr said.
The hope is that the GAME IDEA tweets feel like “these weird, out of context missives from a strange idea-generation machine, rather than a human person that you could get any real sense of,” Barr told Engadget. “Which is naive, because of course you can get some sort of sense about what kind of person I am by the kinds of things that I write. Even what kind of mood I’m in. They get pretty dark sometimes, although often that means I’m in a good mood.”
Barr has a tweet routine. Around 10 each morning, he opens Twitter and writes, “GAME IDEA.” Then he waits for inspiration to strike. He sits and thinks about holding a controller, looking down at the buttons, twiddling the thumbsticks, and what it all means. Or, what it doesn’t mean. Eventually, he hits “Tweet.”
“It’s definitely not meant to be a big message about how games are or how they should be, but more that the whole thing of games and the ideas that we have for games are super, super limited,” Barr said. “I like trying to make fun of that, including my own limitations.”
Take Red Dead Redemption 2, for example. Video game fans extol the massive, open-world map, lauding all of the tasks they can accomplish with their digital avatar, praising the sense of scope and choice that the game provides. But of course, Red Dead Redemption 2 is naturally restricted by its input methods, utilizing a set number of buttons with specific actions attached to them. Rather than allowing individual interpretation, the game forces players to act in certain ways. It simply provides a large map for them to repeat those options in an endless, positive feedback loop.
“That’s a very specific kind of person that only does those things.”
“You see Red Dead Redemption and it seems incredibly liberating, like there’s so much you can do and it’s so beautiful,” Barr said. “But if you look at just the buttons that you’ve got, it’s like, move around the world and shoot your gun, and that’s about it. That’s a very specific kind of person that only does those things.”
For video game fans, it feels blasphemous and ungrateful to claim Red Dead Redemption 2 doesn’t offer enough choice, but this lack of digital agency is obvious to people who don’t regularly play. The limitations of video games — even huge, AAA experiences — are often what turn new players off when they pick up a controller. This isn’t exactly scientifically proven, but anecdotal evidence abounds.
The clearest example comes from YouTube gamer Razbuten, who published a video in September titled, “What Games Are Like For Someone Who Doesn’t Play Games.” In it, his wife, who has no experience with video games, plays through a handful of prominent titles while he silently watches and analyzes her reactions. It’s hilarious, but also informative.
Here’s how Razbuten breaks it down near the end of the video:
“Throughout the various games, a pretty common question she asked was, ‘Why can’t I do it this way?’ And my response was, ‘Because.’ The deeper answer is that limitations exist in games because there are only so many potential inputs a title can have, meaning there are a finite number of ways a player can interact with things.”
The lack of choice frustrated his wife, while Razbuten himself expected the limitations and even found the design choices made around those restrictions beautiful.
Barr had a similar experience with his wife, who tried to play Grand Theft Auto V, but gave up after crashing a car into a wall. She was unable to get out of the car or back away from the wall, the only two options in that scenario. She wanted to try something else, but the software wouldn’t let her, so she stopped playing.
Barr also showed his parents Red Dead Redemption 2, and they all marveled at the graphics and animations, and how gorgeous the environments were. And then, the gameplay started.
“My parents were just stunned by the limitations on what the game was really interested in me doing, which was the usual, get told what to do and shoot somebody or punch them,” Barr said. “They were mesmerized by that because they don’t come from that world at all.”
Barr’s tweets are a pause button for the video game industry. They’re an invitation to stop and think, just for a moment, about what video games actually are, why we enjoy them, and how they could be different than the shoot, loot, win cycle dominating the industry. His GAME IDEAs are lighthearted and witty, but the best ones are also poignant. People chime in with weird games that fit into the oddly shaped boxes Barr has built, like Undertale, Untitled Goose Game and Noita. The tweets start conversations. For a philosopher, few outcomes could be better.
Between classes, Barr is building The Artist is Present 2, a sequel that puts players in the iconic red dress of Marina Abramović. It’s the same scenario as the first game, but this time around, you’re the artist herself, and it’s your duty to stare into the eyes of every person who sits in front of you, for as long as they wish. The game starts in her apartment and has players walk through the steps of preparing for the day, putting on the dress, walking to the museum, and then sitting for hours on end. Barr actually told Abramović about this idea, briefly, when he met her.
“She said it sounded really boring, which I thought was pretty funny,” Barr said.
It’s a ridiculous idea for a game, but much like the tweets, there’s a larger point hiding behind the cheek. Eventually, that stillness and staring turns into human connection, even with characters that look like they spawned directly out of MS Paint.
“You’re subsuming your needs and any selfish desires you have for these little computer-generated people, who aren’t real, but they need you to see them,” Barr said. “That’s kind of the feeling that I’m interested in trying to generate, that you feel this responsibility towards these fake people who desperately want you to look at them, and look into their eyes and make them feel seen.”
It reads like a sly plug for The Artist is Present 2, snuck in between hundreds of authentic philosophical musings. However, its true nature is much less conniving.
“I didn’t even think of it,” Barr said. “The point that I’m at, working on the game right now, I’m not thinking about staring. It wasn’t on my mind at all. I was thinking actually that I’ve done one a while ago about the classic line about gazing into the abyss and how it also looks into you. …I was trying to come up with a different spin on that.”
Unlock Clock adds a live wallpaper to your smartphone that tracks the number of times you’ve unlocked your device throughout the day. In this way, you don’t need to find your way to the Digital Wellbeing portion of Android’s settings menu to find how many times you’ve unlocked your phone out of pure habit.
Post Box, meanwhile, bundles together your notifications and holds them until a specific time in the day. You can pick between getting your notifications once, twice, three or four times daily. Post Box will also organize them so that they’re easy to sort through quickly. Of the five apps included in this list, it seems the most useful of the bunch.
We Flip invites you and your friends to focus on one another by playing a game. When you’re in a group, you can all launch the app together. It will then pair your phones with another and start a timer. The goal is to not look at your phone for as long as possible. When someone finally does unlock their device, the game ends for everyone. At this point, the app will display how long the session lasted, in addition to how many times everyone peeked at their phones. It’s a fun concept, but it might be tough to get people on board since everyone has to install the app.
Desert Island is the smartphone equivalent of a game you probably played as an icebreaker. You pick the handful of apps that you can’t live without and then try to go a full day without using anything else. On a subsequent day, you can try using one less app than you did the day before.
Lastly, there’s Morph, which Google says will deliver the exact apps you need at the right time. After installing the app, you pick the apps that you use most frequently in a specific situation. You can set multiple scenarios, such as work, travel and creativity. Morph will then attempt to predict when you’ll want to use those exact apps.
It will be interesting to see if Google integrates any of these apps into the core Digital Wellbeing experience. After a slow start last year, the company has done a better job of pushing the platform out to the wider Android ecosystem. Earlier this month, the company started mandating that manufacturers must include the platform on their phones if they ship with Android 9 Pie or later.
The prototype has a sleek but blocky design, with t-shaped headlights and taillights. Its lower bumper has aluminum skid plates, and it has raised fenders and wide tires to make sure it can grip through any terrain. Inside, the controls are minimal, but an AR windshield displays info like road and traffic conditions.
Most importantly, the concept allows Mitsubishi to explore using a PHEV drivetrain in a small SUV. There’s no guarantee this will lead to a production model, but it’s nice to see a hybrid that pushes the envelope.
Under the current system, copyright cases are expensive and must be heard in federal court. The time and cost involved often deters creators from pursuing legal action. The CASE Act is meant to remedy that by creating a Copyright Claims Board to resolve disputes. It was introduced last spring by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA).
Penalties would be capped at $30,000, which some argue is a small claim and others say could bankrupt many Americans. Anyone accused of copyright would have sixty days to opt-out of the Copyright Claims Board process, in which case the plaintiff would have to seek legal action in court.
“We do not oppose the idea of creating a small claims process to allow copyright owners to assert infringement and be awarded damages for the harm caused. There is evidence that strongly suggests a need for such a system, as many copyright holders have argued. However, we believe that changes are needed to ensure adequate safeguards for due process and the protection of the freedom of speech.”
EEF points out that if for some reason a defendant misses or ignores notification from the board, they could miss the opt-out window and be left to pay the fine of up to $30,000. Others worry that the bill could deny defendants the right to appeal decisions, and some say the system lacks the safeguards needed to ensure that it’s not abused by trolls, as we’ve seen happen with Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedowns.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted the bill out of committee this summer, but it still faces a Senate vote before it’s final.
Customers can choose to have their parcel sent to a Counter location if it’s available in their area. Once their package arrives, they’ll get an email with a barcode that they’ll need to show the store staff. They’ll also have 14 days to collect their package. Although its same- and next-day delivery options remain incredibly convenient, Counter provides a great alternative for those who don’t need their items right away, those worried about porch pirates or those ordering surprise gifts for friends and family.
Amazon says it’s been trialing Counter with GNC (a health and wellness brand), Health Mart (a network of pharmacies) and Stage Stores (a department store specializing in brand name goods) over the last few months in an effort to offer more pick-up locations. Patrick Supanc, the Worldwide Director of Amazon Hub, said customers’ and partners’ response to Counter’s launch “has been tremendous.” He added: “This new network of pickup points gives customers a pickup experience that is fast, flexible and convenient, and partners are thrilled with the strong engagement and additional foot traffic Counter is driving for their stores.”
The Fit itself will come in five types, starting with the no-frills basic one. The “home” type puts a focus on visuals and will have natural-looking fabric seats and genuine leather-wrapped steering wheel, while the “Ness” type is catered towards sporty people and uses water-repellent materials. There’s also a type called “Crosstar” that has 16-inch aluminum wheels and another called “Luxe” with exclusive leather seats and platinum-style chrome plating.
In addition to being the first e:HEV model, the new Fit will also be Honda’s first vehicle with the Connect on-board communication system. It will allow owners to control some vehicle functions remotely via smartphone and automatically links the car to emergency services in case of accidents. The new Fit will go on sale in Japan in February 2020 — unfortunately, it’s not clear if it will make its way to the US.
We don’t know when Mazda’s first EV will go on sale or how far it can travel on a charge, but we can see those doors. The MX-30 features the RX-8’s Freestyle door design on both sides — taking the challenge to Tesla’s Falcon Wing setup on the Model X — but maintains chassis stiffness thanks to the liquid-cooled battery under its floor.
Spotify is bringing back its smart speaker giveaway for another year, and this time it’s being considerably less picky. The streaming music service is offering free Google Home Minis to all new and existing Premium subscribers in the US “while supplies last,” and not just for family plan members. This won’t be quite so thrilling when Google just introduced the upgraded Nest Mini (this comes across as clearing out stock), but it’s hard to object if you’ve been itching to start a smart home setup. Lest you forget, you can set up Spotify to play from Home devices using voice commands. That’s, er, why Spotify is doing this.
Careful with your new speaker, though. Google has confirmed it’s fixing a problem with recent firmware updates that have bricked Home and Home Mini speakers. Until then, some frustrated users have had success by temporarily unplugging the power cable or performing a factory reset, but it doesn’t work for everyone — some have reported that their devices are completely unusable. This doesn’t appear to affect the Home Max, displays like the Home Hub or the new Nest-branded speakers.
Hot on the heels of KFC and Burger King, Pizza Hut is dabbling in plant-based meat substitutes with its witheringly named “incogmeato,” Morning Farms’ Italian ‘sausage’ that’ll decorate the test pizzas. On top of that, the pies will be served in unusual round boxes. The circular shape uses less overall packaging than a square box, keeps the pizza hotter and is industrially compostable. The test starts at one restaurant in Phoenix on October 23rd at 11AM local time, and the $10 pie will only be around “while supplies last.” Given that KFC’s pseudo-chicken only lasted five hours — good luck.
The Lilium Jet air taxi is now flying at speeds over 100 kilometers per hour, powered by 36 electric engines capable of producing up to 2,000 horsepower. The company shared new flight footage and announced that it has completed its first dedicated manufacturing facility, a 3,000 square-meter space at its Munich, Germany, headquarters. Now that it’s completed more than 100 ground and flight tests, the next step is to test its performance at high speeds.
A lower price point, the added flexibility of Hero mode and improved stabilization definitely mean the Max is a capable camera for whatever action you’re shooting. But there are still some inherent turn offs when dealing with 360 video, and the hardware’s more unwieldy than a regular action camera. Of course, if you just want a 360-degree camera that might also double as a regular action cam, then Max makes a good choice.
The major card companies create this new system for online purchases. To start, the new button is available on the Cinemark, Movember and Rakuten websites, but you’ll find it on BassPro, JoAnn Fabric, Papa John’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, SHOP.com and Tickets.com by the end of the year. Users won’t have to create or log in to an account to make a purchase. And they won’t have to enter their card info into every new site.
But wait, there’s more…
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Quantum supremacy is a big deal, because it encapsulates the ability of quantum computers to solve problems that current technology couldn’t even begin to attempt. Google’s paper explains how its 53-bit quantum computer — named Sycamore — took just 200 seconds to perform a calculation that would have taken the world’s fastest supercomputer 10,000 years.
In theory, this capability opens a lot of doors to future technologies, such as designing better batteries and medicine, or minimizing emissions from farming chemicals. It could also help to advance existing technologies such as machine learning. However, Sycamore’s feat has almost no practical use at this stage — it was designed simply to show that a quantum computer could perform as expected.
Nonetheless, it’s an important first step towards a technology that could have a major impact on our lives — even if that’s still some years away. In an interview with MIT Technology Review, Google CEO Sundar Pichai likened the experiment to the first flight by the Wright Brothers. “The first plane flew only for 12 seconds, and so there is no practical application of that,” he said. “But it showed the possibility that a plane could fly.”
Much like the IMk “Kei” car, the Ariya has an illuminated “shield” (not a grill) that’s equipped with radar and other ProPilot 2.0 sensors. That new driver assistance system will even allow for “hands-off” driving in certain situations, Nissan said.
Under the hood (and trunk) there are dual electric front and rear motors with all-wheel torque splitting borrowed from the GT-R, though Nissan didn’t share horsepower or range figures. It doesn’t matter anyway, because no one’s likely to take this particular concept vehicle on a track.
The cool but impractical interior is likely to be significantly changed on a production car. As with other concept EVs we’ve seen, it’s more like a living room than vehicle cabin, with flat floors, a display-dominated dash and few physical controls. The leather and copper-accented cabin is meant to evoke traditional Japanese design.
Despite the far-out interior, Nissan said that the Ariya’s design could make it into production in the “near future.” According to Automotive News, Nissan actually showed the vehicle to dealers last month. Judging by that report, it has a 300-mile range and can hit 60 mph from a standstill in 5 seconds — not bad for a crossover.
