We’ve been getting a real kick out of the offbeat cable TV parody that is Blippo+, which arrived with Playdate’s Season Two, and now it’s looking like non-Playdate owners will be able to experience the strangeness too later this year. Panic, along with Telefantasy Studios, Noble Robot and the artists Yacht, announced at the PC Gaming Show that Blippo+ is coming to PC and Nintendo Switch in fall 2025. And unlike the 1-bit black and white programs we’ve been tuning into on the Playdate, it’ll all be in color.

Blippo+ features a roster of live-action programs that may or may not be alien transmissions, plus a forum called Femtofax that brings you even deeper into the unusual goings-on of the Blippians. Panic revealed with the second week of Season Two games that Blippo+ wouldn’t just be a one-off release, but would instead get weekly content updates every week for the next eleven weeks. When it lands on the other platforms, Blippo+ will have “a time-hopping mechanic so viewers can travel back and forth through weeks of TV programming without losing the magic of ‘non-demand’ linear viewing.”

Panic

It’s absurd, it’s nostalgic — Blippo+ was made with vintage analog broadcast equipment, according to the creators — and it’s totally unpredictable. You really never know what madness it’s going to serve up next, and it’s great. In color, things are only going to get weirder.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playdate-season-2s-blippo-tv-simulator-is-coming-to-nintendo-switch-and-pc-in-color-this-fall-230149046.html?src=rss

Nintendo’s new Switch 2 console sold a record 3 million units after its launch Thursday. But then today Microsoft announced their own upcoming handheld gaming device that’s Xbox-branded (and Windows-powered).

Working with ASUS’ ROG division, they build a device that weighs more than the Nintendo Switch 2, and “is marginally heavier than the Steam Deck,” reports Engadget. But “at least those grips look more ergonomic than those on the Nintendo Switch 2 (which is already cramping my hands) or even the Steam Deck.”
There are two variants of the handheld: the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X. Microsoft didn’t reveal pricing, but the handhelds are coming this holiday… Critically, Microsoft and ROG aren’t locking the devices to only playing Xbox games (though you can do that natively, via the cloud or by accessing an Xbox console remotely). You’ll be able to play games from Battle.net and “other leading PC storefronts” too. Obviously, there’s Game Pass integration here, as well as support for the Xbox Play Anywhere initiative, which enables you to play games with synced progress across a swathe of devices after buying them once…

There’s a dedicated physical Xbox button that can bring up a Game Bar overlay, which seemingly makes it easy to switch between apps and games, tweak settings, start chatting with friends and more… You’ll be able to mod games on either system as well.

The Xbox Ally is powered by the AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor, and has 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage. The Xbox Ally X is the more powerful model. It has a AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor, 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. They each have a microSD card reader, so you won’t need to worry about shelling out for proprietary storage options to have extra space for your games… Both systems boast “HD haptics…” Both systems should be capable of outputting video to a TV or monitor, as they have two USB-C ports with support for DisplayPort 2.1 and Power Delivery 3.0.
“Microsoft has needed to respond to SteamOS ever since the Steam Deck launched three years ago,” argues The Verge, “and it has steadily been tweaking its Xbox app and the Xbox Game Bar on Windows to make both more handheld-friendly…”

But there was always a bigger overhaul of Windows required, and we’re starting to see parts of that today. “The reality is that we’ve made tremendous progress on this over the last couple of years, and this is really the device that galvanized those teams and got everybody marching and working towards a moment that we’re just really excited to put into the hands of players,” says Roanne Sones, corporate vice president of gaming Devices and ecosystem at Xbox, in a briefing with The Verge…

I’ll need to try this new interface fully to really get a feel for the Windows changes here, but Microsoft is promising that this isn’t just lipstick on top of Windows. “This isn’t surface-level changes, we’ve made significant improvements,” says Potvin. “Some of our early testing with the components we’ve turned off in Windows, we get about 2GB of memory going back to the games while running in the full-screen experience.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

If you aren’t thrilled with what EA has done with The Sims, another alternative is coming soon. The indie passion project Paralives launches in Steam Early Access on December 8.

Paralives has all the hallmarks of the life simulation genre. You can build your character, including physical and personality traits. It lets you make friends, move up in your career, fall in love and start a family (or not!). Design is central, too. You can craft your dream home, move walls and resize that stubby love seat into a full-on couch.

The game uses “innovative build tools that are easy to use but powerful for advanced builders.” When designing your living space, you aren’t limited to a grid. You can build on curves and customize any object’s colors and textures. There’s even an in-game measuring tape for those who want to get ultra-precise.

Paralives Studio

The game is the lovechild of Canadian developer Alex Massé, who began the project in 2019. Paralives Studio has now grown to a team of 13 with the sole focus of building “an innovative and fresh life simulation game.” It’s raised funds exclusively through Patreon. The team’s development process is out in the open. You can browse its history and roadmap online, showing the full array of planned features.

Crucially, the young studio says Paralives will never have paid DLC — only free expansions. That’s one way to take a shot at The Sims without even mentioning its name. And unlike the glitzy AI-fest inZoi, Paralives emphasizes depth and flexibility over presentation. Its simple and charming art style is a foundation for feeling and connection.

You can see for yourself in the release date trailer below. Grab Paralives on Steam Early Access (PC and Mac) on December 8.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-sims-like-paralives-hits-early-access-in-december-220014257.html?src=rss

“NASA engineers have spent the past decade developing a rugged, partially autonomous lander designed to explore Europa, one of Jupiter’s most intriguing moons,” reports Gizmodo.

But though NASA “got cold feet over the project,” the engineers behind the project are now suggesting the probe could instead explore Enceladus, the sixth-largest moon of Saturn:

Europa has long been a prime target in the search for extraterrestrial biology because scientists suspect it harbors a subsurface ocean beneath its icy crust, potentially teeming with microbial life. But the robot — packed with radiation shielding, cutting-edge software, and ice-drilling appendages — won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

In a recent paper in Science Robotics, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) outlined the design and testing of what was once the Europa Lander prototype, a four-legged robotic explorer built to survive the brutal surface conditions of the Jovian moon. The robot was designed to walk — as opposed to roll — analyze terrain, collect samples, and drill into Europa’s icy crust — all with minimal guidance from Earth, due to the major communication lag between our planet and the moon 568 million miles (914 million kilometers) away. Designed to operate autonomously for hours at a time, the bot came equipped with stereoscopic cameras, a robotic arm, LED lights, and a suite of specialized materials tough enough to endure harsh radiation and bone-chilling cold….
According to the team, the challenges of getting to Europa — its radiation exposure, immense distance, and short observation windows — proved too daunting for NASA’s higher-ups. And that’s before you take into consideration the devastating budget cuts planned by the Trump administration, which would see the agency’s funding fall from $7.3 billion to $3.9 billion. The lander, once the centerpiece of a bold astrobiology initiative, is now essentially mothballed.
But the engineers aren’t giving up. They’re now lobbying for the robot to get a second shot — on Enceladus, Saturn’s ice-covered moon, which also boasts a subsurface ocean and has proven more favorable for robotic exploration. Enceladus is still frigid, but `has lower radiation and better access windows than Europa.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Back in March, we outlined six features we wanted to see on what was then just a rumored Xbox-branded, Windows-powered handheld gaming device. Today, Microsoft’s announcement of the Asus ROG Xbox Ally hardware line looks like it fulfills almost all of our wishes for Microsoft’s biggest foray into portable gaming yet.

The Windows-11 powered Xbox Ally devices promise access to “all of the games available on Windows,” including “games from Xbox, Game Pass, Battle.net, and other leading PC storefronts [read: Steam, Epic Games Store, Ubisoft Connect, etc].” But instead of having to install and boot up those games through the stock Windows interface, as you often do on handhelds like the original ROG Ally line, all these games will be available through what Microsoft is calling an “aggregated gaming library.”

Asus and Microsoft are stressing how that integrated experience can be used with games across multiple different Windows-based launchers, promising “access to games to can’t get elsewhere.” That could be seen as a subtle dig at SteamOS-powered devices like the Steam Deck which can have significant trouble with certain titles that don’t play well with Steam and/or Linux for one reason or another. Microsoft also highlights how support apps like Discord, Twitch, and downloadable game mods will also be directly available via the Xbox Ally’s Windows backbone.

Read full article

Comments

Coming off its smash indie hit Spiritfarer, Thunder Lotus Games is taking a more action-heavy approach with its next title. The developer debuted At Fate’s End with an announcement trailer during the Xbox Games Showcase at Summer Game Fest 2025, giving us a taste of its captivating visuals and unique combat system.

While Spiritfarer offered a more slow-paced experience filled with charming characters looking for a final peace, At Fate’s End has a contrasting action-packed style where you follow the story of Shan, a heiress to a clan that’s looking to resolve familial disputes by either fighting or talking it out. The gameplay looks equal parts narrative fantasy and intriguing combat style, since you can use tactical dialogue mid-fight or psychological insight about your family to turn the tide of battle. As you progress through the story, you’ll face more of your estranged family members, and you advance your skill tree in different ways depending on whether you defeat or reconcile with them.

Thunder Lotus Games hasn’t set a hard release date yet, but At Fate’s End is expected to release sometime in 2026. The upcoming title will be available on Xbox, PlayStation, Steam and Epic Games. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/at-fates-end-already-looks-like-the-must-play-indie-game-of-2026-204315182.html?src=rss

Two years after it was first announced, we just got an extended trailer for inXile entertainment’s Clockwork Revolution at the Xbox Games Showcase, and it looks kind of incredible — and completely over the top. (A man dubbed “The Knob” pisses his pants a minute and 56 seconds in, and someone else later gets cursed out by an automaton doll).

Clockwork Revolution is a first-person steampunk RPG set in 1895 in a place called Avalon, which is ruled by the time-manipulating Lady Ironwood. As the customizable player-character Morgan Vanette, you’ll have to use her own tactics against her to turn back time and undo the damage she’s caused. As with all things time travel, the butterfly effect will be at play. The new trailer, which is over 5 minutes long, shows us this will be one with a lot of action and bloodshed (plus some brain-shed), and a good share of ridiculousness too.

We still don’t have a release date, though, just the assurance that it’s “coming in due time.” When it does eventually arrive, Clockwork Revolution will be available on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox PC, Steam and Xbox Cloud. It’ll also support Xbox Play Anywhere, and will be available through Xbox Game Pass.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/the-new-trailer-for-clockwork-revolution-is-a-wild-extremely-steampunk-ride-203854022.html?src=rss

Apart from a short teaser in April, we haven’t seen much of the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ upcoming third season, debuting next month. But Paramount+ has finally released the official trailer.

(Spoilers for S2 below.)

As previously reported, the S2 finale found the Enterprise under vicious attack by the Gorn, who were in the midst of invading one of the Federation’s colony worlds. Several crew members were kidnapped, along with other survivors of the attack. Captain Pike (Anson Mount) faced a momentous decision: follow orders to retreat, or disobey them to rescue his crew. Footage shown last October at New York City Comic-Con picked up where the finale left off, giving us the kind of harrowing high-stakes pitched space battle against a ferocious enemy that has long been a hallmark of the franchise. (Of course Pike opted to rescue his crew.)

Read full article

Comments

It’s not Psychonauts 3, but Keeper already looks to be a visually stunning and highly original gaming experience. Double Fine Productions and the company’s art director Lee Petty showed off the official announcement trailer for its latest title during the Xbox Games Showcase at Summer Game Fest 2025. It’s not as hype as the news of Persona 4 Revival or The Outer Worlds 2, but this quirky third-person adventure game looks like a fun departure from your typical AAA title.

As seen in the trailer, Keeper puts you in control of a magically reassembled lighthouse that’s since grown legs and has a strange desire to venture towards the central mountain peak of the island. There’s no dialogue for this game, but you won’t be alone since an equally adventurous seabird joins you on your mysterious mission. There’s little revealed about the storyline, but the trailer shows that the lighthouse’s beam of light can interact with the island’s wildlife, while your trusty winged companion can take care of anything out of your reach.

For diehard fans of the Psychonauts franchise, Keeper‘s vibrant and striking visuals might be the only thing to scratch that itch for a while. Double Fine Productions previously confirmed in June 2023 that it’s not working on Psychonauts 3, following hints at a potential reveal that summer. Double Fine’s Keeper will be available on Xbox Series X / S, Xbox PC, Xbox Cloud, Xbox Game Pass and Steam on October 17.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/psychonauts-developers-trippy-island-adventure-keeper-comes-out-on-october-17-193405665.html?src=rss

In late April Meta introduced its Meta AI app, which included something called a Discover feed. (“You can see the best prompts people are sharing, or remix them to make them your own.”)
But while Meta insisted “you’re in control: nothing is shared to your feed unless you choose to post it” — just two days later Business Insider noticed that “clearly, some people don’t realize they’re sharing personal stuff.”
To be clear, your AI chats are not public by default — you have to choose to share them individually by tapping a share button. Even so, I get the sense that some people don’t really understand what they’re sharing, or what’s going on.

Like the woman with the sick pet turtle. Or another person who was asking for advice about what legal measures he could take against his former employer after getting laid off. Or a woman asking about the effects of folic acid for a woman in her 60s who has already gone through menopause. Or someone asking for help with their Blue Cross health insurance bill… Perhaps these people knew they were sharing on a public feed and wanted to do so. Perhaps not. This leaves us with an obvious question: What’s the point of this, anyway? Even if you put aside the potential accidental oversharing, what’s the point of seeing a feed of people’s AI prompts at all?

Now Mozilla has issued their own warning. “Meta is quietly turning private AI chats into public content,” warns a new post this week from the Mozilla Foundation, “and too many people don’t realize it’s happening.”
That’s why the Mozilla community is demanding that Meta:

– Shut down the Discover feed until real privacy protections are in place.
– Make all AI interactions private by default with no public sharing option unless explicitly enabled through informed consent.
– Provide full transparency about how many users have unknowingly shared private information.
– Create a universal, easy-to-use opt-out system for all Meta platforms that prevents user data from being used for AI training.
– Notify all users whose conversations may have been made public, and allow them to delete their content permanently.
Meta is blurring the line between private and public — and it’s happening at the cost of our privacy. People have the right to know when they’re speaking in public, especially when they believe they’re speaking in private.

If you agree, add your name to demand Meta shut down its invasive AI feed — and guarantee that no private conversations are made public without clear, explicit, and informed opt-in consent.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Originally announced as “Project Bloom,” Game Freak’s upcoming action-adventure game made a formal appearance at the Xbox Games Showcase as Beast of Reincarnation. The studio describes the game as a “one-person, one-dog” RPG and it’s supposed to be coming out in 2026.

Based on the trailer, the game is set in a post-apocalyptic Japan that’s returned to nature due to some kind of beast-born blight. As the main character “Emma the Sealer,” you’ll travel through the wilderness, engaging in “demanding, technical combat” alongside your dog Koo, all in the hopes of “saving humanity” from the sickness that’s plaguing the land. 

Game Freak is best known for its work on the Pokémon games, but the developer has made an eclectic collection of other projects between mainline entries, including Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! and more recently, Pandoland. “Project Bloom” was originally supposed to be published by Take-Two’s Private Division label, but when the label was sold in 2024, Game Freak’s game was taken up by a new publisher called Fictions.

Beast of Reincarnation is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC in 2026. It’ll also be available through Xbox Game Pass at launch.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/beast-of-reincarnation-is-a-one-person-one-dog-rpg-launching-in-2026-192305237.html?src=rss

A renowned Apple engineer who was instrumental in developing modern-day computing has died. Bill Atkinson, who was part of Apple’s original Macintosh development team, died of pancreatic cancer at 74, according to a Facebook post made by his family on June 5.

His contributions to Apple and the Macintosh personal computer are still widely used today, including fundamental UI elements like the menu bar, double-clicking and the selection lasso. However, Atkinson’s work goes much deeper than that, since he’s partly responsible for the foundational design language that influenced Apple’s early days. His legacy includes creating MacPaint, an application that showed the world what a graphics-based system looks like at a time when text-based systems were the norm, and developing QuickDraw, a graphics toolbox that the Macintosh and Lisa computers use. To make computers more user-friendly, Atkinson also designed HyperCard, an Apple application that introduced hypertext to everyday users and not just programmers. Tim Cook paid tribute to Atkinson, posting on X, that he was a “true visionary whose creativity, heart, and groundbreaking work on the Mac will forever inspire us.”

Beyond Apple, Atkinson was one of three co-founders for General Magic, a software and electronics company that supplied products to Motorola and Sony in the 90s. Later, he worked with Numenta in 2007, which was a startup focused on artificial intelligence. Atkinson was also a seasoned nature photographer, publishing a book called Within the Stone that highlights polished and cut rocks with close-up shots. Atkinson is survived by his wife, two daughters, stepson, stepdaughter, two brothers, four sisters, and dog, Poppy.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/influential-apple-engineer-bill-atkinson-dies-at-74-191024913.html?src=rss

Xbox fans don’t need to wait any longer to play Final Fantasy XVI on their Series X/S. Two years after the action RPG debuted on PS5, it got a surprise release on Xbox’s consoles on Sunday. Its sudden arrival was announced during the Xbox Games Showcase as part of Summer Game Fest.

The game’s now available via the Xbox PC app as well. Granted, Final Fantasy XVI has been on Steam and the Epic Games store since last September, but some folks might have been waiting for its arrival on Xbox. Buying Final Fantasy XVI once on any Xbox platform means you’ll be able to play it across console, PC and cloud with synced progression.

A complete edition that includes both Final Fantasy XVI expansions is available for Xbox. There’s a standard edition that includes the base game as well. 

The arrival of Final Fantasy XVI on Xbox means that you can now play all the mainline, single-player Final Fantasy games on Microsoft‘s consoles, save for the Final Fantasy VII remakes. However, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is coming to Xbox this winter — just in time for those new Xbox gaming handhelds.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/final-fantasy-16-suddenly-arrives-on-xbox-series-xs-185542283.html?src=rss

Surely I wasn’t the only one caught off guard that this trailer featuring Milo Ventimiglia, a cybernetic butterfly and a tentacly upside-down hell world turned out to be the announcement of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, right? Nevertheless, that just happened at the conclusion of the Xbox Games Showcase, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is officially on the way. Today’s teaser comes ahead of an official reveal that’s slated for this summer.

The game is set in the year 2035, when “the world is on the brink of chaos, ravaged by conflict and psychological warfare following the narrative events of Black Ops 2 and Black Ops 6.” According to Activision, it’s “the first-ever consecutive release within the series, set more than 40 years after the events of Black Ops 6.” It’s all kinds of futuristic, and will see David Mason and crew facing “a manipulative enemy who weaponizes fear above all else.”

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will be available on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Xbox PC, Xbox Cloud, Xbox Play Anywhere, Battle.net, Steam, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4. Xbox Game Pass subscribers will also get it on launch day.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/heres-our-first-look-at-call-of-duty-black-ops-7-184709483.html?src=rss

Asobo Studio announced at the Xbox Games Showcase that its new entry in the Plague Tale series is a prequel set 15 years before its last game. Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is focused on the smuggler Sophia from A Plague Tale: Requiem, and is scheduled to be released in 2026.

Based on the brief description from the game’s trailer, Resonance follows a young Sophia as she “seeks her independence as a fierce plunderer in the unforgiving world of the 14th century.” The trailer shows Sophia on the run, escaping conflict, exploring mysterious ruins, and generally being pursued by danger, alongside more ominous vignettes showcasing Asobo’s typically lush visuals.

If surviving a plague made the first two games seem grim, escaping a flaming ship or battling in a gladiatorial arena doesn’t make Sophia’s past adventures seem all that more for fun. Still, there’s very little to go on, and quite a bit more to learn before Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy comes out in 2026. 

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is currently set to be released on Xbox Series X / S, PS5, PC and Xbox Cloud Streaming. It’ll also be available from day one through Xbox Game Pass.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/asobo-studios-next-plague-tale-game-is-a-prequel-arriving-in-2026-183305421.html?src=rss