Month: May 2024
God of War Ragnarök comes to PC on September 19
Sony has ported lots of its biggest games to PC recently, and the next one will be God of War Ragnarok. As part of the State of Play presentation, Sony showed off a trailer for the most recent adventure of Kratos and his son Atreus, and it looks as good as ever. It’ll have unlocked frame rates, ultra widescreen monitor support and plenty more visual trickery for PC players, and it’ll also include the recently-released Valhalla DLC. It’s not a huge surprise, given that the 2018 revival God of War also came to PC a few years ago, but it’ll be welcomed by those who want to continue the journey.
As far as visual upgrades go, Sony confirmed in its blog that it’ll support NVIDIA RTX DLSS, AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution and Intel XeSS for upscaling the whole thing to whatever screen you’re using. And Sony wasn’t kidding about the widescreen support — it’ll work with 32:9 monitors.
God of War Ragnarok (and its 2018 predecessor) are classic entries in the series, with the engrossing single-player narrative-driven vibe of many of Sony’s recent first-party studio games. But the combat is just as good, and Ragnarok adds a lot of new twists to the God of War universe. It’s one of my favorite games of the last few years, and it should look positively excellent on high-powered PCs. It’ll be available on September 19, and you can pre-order it now. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/god-of-war-ragnarok-comes-to-pc-on-september-19-222235889.html?src=rss
Sony has ported lots of its biggest games to PC recently, and the next one will be God of War Ragnarok. As part of the State of Play presentation, Sony showed off a trailer for the most recent adventure of Kratos and his son Atreus, and it looks as good as ever. It’ll have unlocked frame rates, ultra widescreen monitor support and plenty more visual trickery for PC players, and it’ll also include the recently-released Valhalla DLC. It’s not a huge surprise, given that the 2018 revival God of War also came to PC a few years ago, but it’ll be welcomed by those who want to continue the journey.
As far as visual upgrades go, Sony confirmed in its blog that it’ll support NVIDIA RTX DLSS, AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution and Intel XeSS for upscaling the whole thing to whatever screen you’re using. And Sony wasn’t kidding about the widescreen support — it’ll work with 32:9 monitors.
God of War Ragnarok (and its 2018 predecessor) are classic entries in the series, with the engrossing single-player narrative-driven vibe of many of Sony’s recent first-party studio games. But the combat is just as good, and Ragnarok adds a lot of new twists to the God of War universe. It’s one of my favorite games of the last few years, and it should look positively excellent on high-powered PCs. It’ll be available on September 19, and you can pre-order it now.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/god-of-war-ragnarok-comes-to-pc-on-september-19-222235889.html?src=rss
Musk can’t avoid testifying in SEC probe of Twitter buyout by playing victim
Class action alleges secret Twitter stock scheme ahead of Musk’s SEC testimony.
Enlarge (credit: Apu Gomes / Stringer | Getty Images News)
After months of loudly protesting a subpoena, Elon Musk has once again agreed to testify in the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into his acquisition of Twitter (now called X).
Musk tried to avoid testifying by arguing that the SEC had deposed him twice before, telling a US district court in California that the most recent subpoena was “the latest in a long string of SEC abuses of its investigative authority.”
But the court did not agree that Musk testifying three times in the SEC probe was either “abuse” or “overly burdensome.” Especially since the SEC has said it’s seeking a follow-up deposition after receiving “thousands of new documents” from Musk and third parties over the past year since his last depositions. And according to an order requiring Musk and the SEC to agree on a deposition date from US district judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, “Musk’s lament does not come close to meeting his burden of proving ‘the subpoena was issued in bad faith or for an improper purpose.'”
Experience Ragnarök on PC this fall
Image: Santa Monica Studio
Ragnarök is nigh — that is, if you’ve got a PC capable of handling it. During its summer State of Play event, Sony announced that God of War Ragnarök is coming to PC on September 19th. The news was accompanied by a brand-new trailer including the info that the game is now available for preorder.
It’s been just over a year since God of War Ragnarök released, adding another emotional beat to the story of Kratos, the god of war, and his son, Atreus. When we last left the pair in 2018’s God of War, the two had just returned from an epic journey to disperse Atreus’ mother’s ashes from the highest peak in the nine realms. In Ragnarök, Kratos and Atreus’ lives have been upended by the omens heralding the destruction of the realms, an event that is connected to Atreus’ destiny. The two go on a journey — sometimes separate, sometimes together — to figure out that destiny and to put a stop to the god Odin’s evil plans.
In an accompanying blog post and announce video, Sony says God of War Ragnarök will require a PlayStation Network account. It is not clear why and comes weeks after the controversy surrounding a similar requirement for Helldivers 2. Sony eventually backed down and reversed the PSN requirement for Helldivers 2 after blistering player reaction.
Ragnarök is coming to PC at a time when gaming publishers are considering branching out beyond the walled gardens of console exclusivity to reach new players. This is one of the fastest PC ports for a first-party single-player Sony game, releasing a little more than an year after its console launch. Other Sony exclusives like The Last Of Us, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Ghost of Tsushima remained on console for several years before seeing their own PC ports.
The timing of this announcement is also somewhat ironic, however, as earlier this week, PlayStation’s new CEO, Hermen Hulst, commented that while multiplayer games will see day and date releases on PC, the strategy for single-player games is to entice players to experience them on the PlayStation console.
And there’s an interesting if unfortunate merit to that strategy, as Sony’s single-player PC ports have a reputation of being quite poor at launch. Hopefully, though, with the full might of Ragnarök behind him, the God of War will avoid such issues.
Update May 30th: Article updated with PSN requirement information.
Image: Santa Monica Studio
Ragnarök is nigh — that is, if you’ve got a PC capable of handling it. During its summer State of Play event, Sony announced that God of War Ragnarök is coming to PC on September 19th. The news was accompanied by a brand-new trailer including the info that the game is now available for preorder.
It’s been just over a year since God of War Ragnarök released, adding another emotional beat to the story of Kratos, the god of war, and his son, Atreus. When we last left the pair in 2018’s God of War, the two had just returned from an epic journey to disperse Atreus’ mother’s ashes from the highest peak in the nine realms. In Ragnarök, Kratos and Atreus’ lives have been upended by the omens heralding the destruction of the realms, an event that is connected to Atreus’ destiny. The two go on a journey — sometimes separate, sometimes together — to figure out that destiny and to put a stop to the god Odin’s evil plans.
In an accompanying blog post and announce video, Sony says God of War Ragnarök will require a PlayStation Network account. It is not clear why and comes weeks after the controversy surrounding a similar requirement for Helldivers 2. Sony eventually backed down and reversed the PSN requirement for Helldivers 2 after blistering player reaction.
Ragnarök is coming to PC at a time when gaming publishers are considering branching out beyond the walled gardens of console exclusivity to reach new players. This is one of the fastest PC ports for a first-party single-player Sony game, releasing a little more than an year after its console launch. Other Sony exclusives like The Last Of Us, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Ghost of Tsushima remained on console for several years before seeing their own PC ports.
The timing of this announcement is also somewhat ironic, however, as earlier this week, PlayStation’s new CEO, Hermen Hulst, commented that while multiplayer games will see day and date releases on PC, the strategy for single-player games is to entice players to experience them on the PlayStation console.
And there’s an interesting if unfortunate merit to that strategy, as Sony’s single-player PC ports have a reputation of being quite poor at launch. Hopefully, though, with the full might of Ragnarök behind him, the God of War will avoid such issues.
Update May 30th: Article updated with PSN requirement information.
Google finally brings Nest doorbell alerts to the Pixel Tablet
The Pixel Tablet can now be a video intercom for your Nest doorbell. | Image: Google
The Google Pixel Tablet is getting an update that will make it slightly more useful as a smart home device. In a blog post published today, Google said the $400 Pixel Tablet can now pull up a livestream from a Nest video doorbell to show who’s at the front door and give you the option to talk to them or send a quick response.
The feature — which was first teased this summer — works with all Nest doorbells, including the first-gen and second-gen wired versions and the Nest Doorbell battery, and is part of the Google Home Public Preview. The tablet needs to be locked and docked on its charging speaker dock to show a full screen view.
Considering Google Nest Hub smart displays have had the ability to announce visitors and pull up a live view from your doorbell for years, its omission when the Pixel Tablet launched last year was baffling. But it was in line with the way Google presented its new tablet for the home as decidedly not a smart display.
Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
The Nest Doorbell now works with the Pixel Tablet.
Google made a lot of baffling choices with this Pixel Tablet, including not making its speaker charging dock a Nest smart speaker, not putting a Thread radio in it, and not making it a Matter controller — features of all its current smart displays.
I was also sad that Google didn’t give the 11-inch tablet the option of an always-on smart home control display, such as Amazon has done with the Echo Hub. Instead, we got a shortcut to a “home panel” with a fiddly UI.
But with this new update, at least some of that missing functionality is here. And, who knows? Maybe the update is an indication that a second generation of the Pixel Tablet is in the works, and perhaps it will be everything the first-gen isn’t, at least when it comes to the smart home.
The Pixel Tablet can now be a video intercom for your Nest doorbell. | Image: Google
The Google Pixel Tablet is getting an update that will make it slightly more useful as a smart home device. In a blog post published today, Google said the $400 Pixel Tablet can now pull up a livestream from a Nest video doorbell to show who’s at the front door and give you the option to talk to them or send a quick response.
The feature — which was first teased this summer — works with all Nest doorbells, including the first-gen and second-gen wired versions and the Nest Doorbell battery, and is part of the Google Home Public Preview. The tablet needs to be locked and docked on its charging speaker dock to show a full screen view.
Considering Google Nest Hub smart displays have had the ability to announce visitors and pull up a live view from your doorbell for years, its omission when the Pixel Tablet launched last year was baffling. But it was in line with the way Google presented its new tablet for the home as decidedly not a smart display.
Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
The Nest Doorbell now works with the Pixel Tablet.
Google made a lot of baffling choices with this Pixel Tablet, including not making its speaker charging dock a Nest smart speaker, not putting a Thread radio in it, and not making it a Matter controller — features of all its current smart displays.
I was also sad that Google didn’t give the 11-inch tablet the option of an always-on smart home control display, such as Amazon has done with the Echo Hub. Instead, we got a shortcut to a “home panel” with a fiddly UI.
But with this new update, at least some of that missing functionality is here. And, who knows? Maybe the update is an indication that a second generation of the Pixel Tablet is in the works, and perhaps it will be everything the first-gen isn’t, at least when it comes to the smart home.
Spotify Says It Will Refund Car Thing Purchases
If you contact Spotify’s customer service with a valid receipt, the company will refund your Car Thing purchase. That’s the latest development reported by Engadget. When Spotify first announced that it would brick every Car Thing device on December 9, 2024, it said that it wouldn’t offer owners any subscription credit or automatic refund. From the report: Spotify has taken some heat for its announcement last week that it will brick every Car Thing device on December 9, 2024. The company described its decision as “part of our ongoing efforts to streamline our product offerings” (read: cut costs) and that it lets Spotify “focus on developing new features and enhancements that will ultimately provide a better experience to all Spotify users.”
TechCrunch reports that Gen Z users on TikTok have expressed their frustration in videos, while others have complained directed toward Spotify in DMs on X (Twitter) and directly through customer support. Some users claimed Spotify’s customer service agents only offered several months of free Premium access, while others were told nobody was receiving refunds. It isn’t clear if any of them contacted them after last Friday when it shifted gears on refunds.
Others went much further. Billboard first reported on a class-action lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on May 28. The suit accuses Spotify of misleading Car Thing customers by selling a $90 product that would soon be obsolete without offering refunds, which sounds like a fair enough point. It’s worth noting that, according to Spotify, it began offering the refunds last week, while the lawsuit was only filed on Tuesday. If the company’s statement about refunds starting on May 24 is accurate, the refunds aren’t a direct response to the legal action. (Although it’s possible the company began offering them in anticipation of lawsuits.) Editor’s note: As a disgruntled Car Thing owner myself, I can confirm that Spotify is approving refund requests. You’ll just have to play the waiting game to get through to a Spotify Advisor and their “team” that approves these requests. You may have better luck emailing customer service directly at support@spotify.com.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
If you contact Spotify’s customer service with a valid receipt, the company will refund your Car Thing purchase. That’s the latest development reported by Engadget. When Spotify first announced that it would brick every Car Thing device on December 9, 2024, it said that it wouldn’t offer owners any subscription credit or automatic refund. From the report: Spotify has taken some heat for its announcement last week that it will brick every Car Thing device on December 9, 2024. The company described its decision as “part of our ongoing efforts to streamline our product offerings” (read: cut costs) and that it lets Spotify “focus on developing new features and enhancements that will ultimately provide a better experience to all Spotify users.”
TechCrunch reports that Gen Z users on TikTok have expressed their frustration in videos, while others have complained directed toward Spotify in DMs on X (Twitter) and directly through customer support. Some users claimed Spotify’s customer service agents only offered several months of free Premium access, while others were told nobody was receiving refunds. It isn’t clear if any of them contacted them after last Friday when it shifted gears on refunds.
Others went much further. Billboard first reported on a class-action lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on May 28. The suit accuses Spotify of misleading Car Thing customers by selling a $90 product that would soon be obsolete without offering refunds, which sounds like a fair enough point. It’s worth noting that, according to Spotify, it began offering the refunds last week, while the lawsuit was only filed on Tuesday. If the company’s statement about refunds starting on May 24 is accurate, the refunds aren’t a direct response to the legal action. (Although it’s possible the company began offering them in anticipation of lawsuits.) Editor’s note: As a disgruntled Car Thing owner myself, I can confirm that Spotify is approving refund requests. You’ll just have to play the waiting game to get through to a Spotify Advisor and their “team” that approves these requests. You may have better luck emailing customer service directly at support@spotify.com.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Spotify won’t open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process
Spotify will brick the hardware it released in 2022 this December.
Enlarge / Spotify’s Car Thing thing in a car. (credit: Spotify)
Spotify will refund owners of Car Thing, its Spotify-playing device that mounts to car dashboards, Ars Technica confirmed today. On May 23, Spotify announced that it would brick all Car Things on December 9.
Spotify started notifying customers via email on May 24 that they could reach out to this support channel if they have questions about Car Thing’s discontinuation. The email doesn’t explicitly guarantee refunds, though, which could leave some thinking they have no way to get reimbursed for the gadget that initially sold for $90. Further, Spotify’s support page for Car Thing doesn’t mention refunds and only tells owners to reset and properly dispose of or recycle the gadget.
A Spotify spokesperson declined to confirm to Ars if Spotify would offer full refunds to everyone who showed proof of purchase or if there were further requirements. The representative said that owners should contact Spotify via the above link about refunds.