Month: August 2024
Star Wars Outlaws is the solution to Ubisoft’s open-world woes
Image: Ubisoft
There was a moment in Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft’s Star Wars Outlaws when I was scouring the depths of a creepy cave, just after finishing a dogfight in space and winning a card game in a boozy cantina, that the game clicked for me. The usual Ubisoft drudgery, where icons on maps become weights on the brain, was gone. Instead, there was an organic, self-determined flow as to why I chose to leave the frozen wastes of one planet to dig beneath the surface of another.
Here was a game reacting to my actions: it was an open-world experience I’d never encountered before.
I felt elated at this realization, with things happening as a result of the consequences of my own gameplay decisions. The game was organically adjusting to my moment-to-moment play. It works because of two clever systems: Outlaws’ faction system where you either grow or destroy your reputation with various criminal syndicates, and Outlaws’ unique approach to ability upgrades.
Kay Vess, the protagonist, forms relationships with all sorts of shady syndicates, all with their own constantly conflicting agendas. As a freelancer, Kay can do missions for any and all of them, but sometimes stealing documents for one faction means undermining an ongoing scheme for another. This raises Kay’s reputation for one and lowers it for the other.
Higher reputation nets you discounts, access to syndicate-controlled areas, special gifts, and so on. Lower results in the opposite, primarily restricted access to areas and antagonistic reactions from members of the syndicate.
Image: Ubisoft
As an example, the result of a recent mission for the Hutt syndicate meant that if I wanted access to the Pyke syndicate area, I’d have to sneak in. Or, I could find ways to raise my reputation with the Pykes. A new mission centered around stealing or buying an item in the currently restricted Pyke area on the jungle planet of Akiva. Before embarking on the Akiva mission, I decided to improve my reputation with the Pykes. This took me to the underground caves on a distant moon of Toshara because the Pykes wanted an item there.
The reason I wanted access to the Pykes in the first place was related to Kay’s abilities. Outlaws ties ability upgrades to collecting specific rare gear and performing certain actions; there is no XP to speak of. I was trying to upgrade Kay’s silent takedown, allowing her to stealthily take out harder enemies instantly. Upgrading that skill required stealing or purchasing that item in Pyke territory. And since my reputation was so bad, I was now on a moon doing a mission for the Pykes to improve things.
This push-and-pull meant that I was traveling to distant planets and choosing missions based on what would improve my moment-to-moment play. I wasn’t following a preordained path, or filling out a checklist, but approaching the world on my own terms.
Image: Ubisoft
The game is structured like this: open-ended but with clear trajectories depending on your goals, cleanly doing away with the usual Ubisoft open-world bloat. Whereas so many of the developer’s other big games, like Far Cry or Assassin’s Creed, often felt like ticking boxes, Outlaws provides a slicker but meatier canvas of play due to this depth and variety while allowing player choice to dictate action.
The game seems to speak directly to so many players’ frustration at the size and drudgery in Ubisoft games, as seen in, most recently, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. Outlaws really does feel as if my experience and choices not only matter but are part of the system. The world reacts, alignments shift, my choice of task changes. While there are legitimate complaints about its stealth system feeling underbaked and missions effectively repeating themselves, my own experience was one of constant joy, due precisely to the ebb and flow of the systems I could play with.
I didn’t realize how badly I wanted an open world that was actually this reactive until I played Outlaws. Yes, there’s some jank and instability, but by Picard’s beard, it is a blast to play with these systems, with the freedom ripe for manipulation of a gunslinging outlaw like Kay.
Image: Ubisoft
There was a moment in Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft’s Star Wars Outlaws when I was scouring the depths of a creepy cave, just after finishing a dogfight in space and winning a card game in a boozy cantina, that the game clicked for me. The usual Ubisoft drudgery, where icons on maps become weights on the brain, was gone. Instead, there was an organic, self-determined flow as to why I chose to leave the frozen wastes of one planet to dig beneath the surface of another.
Here was a game reacting to my actions: it was an open-world experience I’d never encountered before.
I felt elated at this realization, with things happening as a result of the consequences of my own gameplay decisions. The game was organically adjusting to my moment-to-moment play. It works because of two clever systems: Outlaws’ faction system where you either grow or destroy your reputation with various criminal syndicates, and Outlaws’ unique approach to ability upgrades.
Kay Vess, the protagonist, forms relationships with all sorts of shady syndicates, all with their own constantly conflicting agendas. As a freelancer, Kay can do missions for any and all of them, but sometimes stealing documents for one faction means undermining an ongoing scheme for another. This raises Kay’s reputation for one and lowers it for the other.
Higher reputation nets you discounts, access to syndicate-controlled areas, special gifts, and so on. Lower results in the opposite, primarily restricted access to areas and antagonistic reactions from members of the syndicate.
Image: Ubisoft
As an example, the result of a recent mission for the Hutt syndicate meant that if I wanted access to the Pyke syndicate area, I’d have to sneak in. Or, I could find ways to raise my reputation with the Pykes. A new mission centered around stealing or buying an item in the currently restricted Pyke area on the jungle planet of Akiva. Before embarking on the Akiva mission, I decided to improve my reputation with the Pykes. This took me to the underground caves on a distant moon of Toshara because the Pykes wanted an item there.
The reason I wanted access to the Pykes in the first place was related to Kay’s abilities. Outlaws ties ability upgrades to collecting specific rare gear and performing certain actions; there is no XP to speak of. I was trying to upgrade Kay’s silent takedown, allowing her to stealthily take out harder enemies instantly. Upgrading that skill required stealing or purchasing that item in Pyke territory. And since my reputation was so bad, I was now on a moon doing a mission for the Pykes to improve things.
This push-and-pull meant that I was traveling to distant planets and choosing missions based on what would improve my moment-to-moment play. I wasn’t following a preordained path, or filling out a checklist, but approaching the world on my own terms.
Image: Ubisoft
The game is structured like this: open-ended but with clear trajectories depending on your goals, cleanly doing away with the usual Ubisoft open-world bloat. Whereas so many of the developer’s other big games, like Far Cry or Assassin’s Creed, often felt like ticking boxes, Outlaws provides a slicker but meatier canvas of play due to this depth and variety while allowing player choice to dictate action.
The game seems to speak directly to so many players’ frustration at the size and drudgery in Ubisoft games, as seen in, most recently, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. Outlaws really does feel as if my experience and choices not only matter but are part of the system. The world reacts, alignments shift, my choice of task changes. While there are legitimate complaints about its stealth system feeling underbaked and missions effectively repeating themselves, my own experience was one of constant joy, due precisely to the ebb and flow of the systems I could play with.
I didn’t realize how badly I wanted an open world that was actually this reactive until I played Outlaws. Yes, there’s some jank and instability, but by Picard’s beard, it is a blast to play with these systems, with the freedom ripe for manipulation of a gunslinging outlaw like Kay.
Before Midjourney, there was NightCafe — and it’s still kicking
Learn about NightCafe’s origins, some of the challenges the platform faces, and where NighCafe will evolve from here.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Learn about NightCafe’s origins, some of the challenges the platform faces, and where NighCafe will evolve from here.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Woman Mailed Herself an Apple AirTag To Help Catch Mail Thieves
Several items were stolen from a woman’s P.O. box. So she mailed herself a package containing an Apple AirTag, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s office:
Her mail was again stolen on Monday morning, including the package with the AirTag that she was able to track.
It is important to note that the victim did not attempt to contact the suspects on her own… The Sheriff’s Office would like to commend the victim for her proactive solution, while highlighting that she also exercised appropriate caution by contacting law enforcement to safely and successfully apprehend the suspects.
CNN reports on what the authorities found:
The suspected thieves were located in nearby Santa Maria, California, with the victim’s mail — including the package containing the AirTag — and other items authorities believe were stolen from more than a dozen victims, according to the sheriff’s office. Virginia Franchessca Lara, 27, and Donald Ashton Terry, 37, were arrested in connection with the crime, authorities said.
Lara was booked on felonies including possession of checks with intent to commit fraud, fictitious checks, identity theft, credit card theft and conspiracy, and remains held on a $50,000 bail as of Thursday, jail records show. Terry faces felony charges including burglary, possession of checks with intent to commit fraud, credit card theft, identity theft and conspiracy and was held on a $460,000 bail, according to jail records…
Authorities said they’re working on contacting other victims of theft in this case.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 for sharing the news.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Several items were stolen from a woman’s P.O. box. So she mailed herself a package containing an Apple AirTag, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s office:
Her mail was again stolen on Monday morning, including the package with the AirTag that she was able to track.
It is important to note that the victim did not attempt to contact the suspects on her own… The Sheriff’s Office would like to commend the victim for her proactive solution, while highlighting that she also exercised appropriate caution by contacting law enforcement to safely and successfully apprehend the suspects.
CNN reports on what the authorities found:
The suspected thieves were located in nearby Santa Maria, California, with the victim’s mail — including the package containing the AirTag — and other items authorities believe were stolen from more than a dozen victims, according to the sheriff’s office. Virginia Franchessca Lara, 27, and Donald Ashton Terry, 37, were arrested in connection with the crime, authorities said.
Lara was booked on felonies including possession of checks with intent to commit fraud, fictitious checks, identity theft, credit card theft and conspiracy, and remains held on a $50,000 bail as of Thursday, jail records show. Terry faces felony charges including burglary, possession of checks with intent to commit fraud, credit card theft, identity theft and conspiracy and was held on a $460,000 bail, according to jail records…
Authorities said they’re working on contacting other victims of theft in this case.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 for sharing the news.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Engadget review recap: The Pixel 9 phones are surprisingly great, in spite of their price
Welcome back to another Engadget Review Recap (or as I prefer to call it, ERR). This is the second edition of a mostly bi-weekly series rounding up the reviews that our team has published, as well as some insight on what’s coming, what we skipped and how we do our testing. Plus, fun team trivia! If you missed a review in the last two weeks or simply didn’t have the time to read every single thing we publish (how dare you), let this roundup be your quick catch-up.
This week, we’re looking back at the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro reviews, as well as the Dell XPS 13 Copilot+ PC, which is a mouthful of a name if I ever saw one. Other Pixel devices are also being tested as we speak, and the reviews team is pretty busy behind the scenes. On Monday, Apple announced an “It’s Glowtime” event for September 9, which means we’re also expecting new iPhones and Apple Watches to play with soon.
For now, though, here’s what’s been happening on the Engadget reviews team.
Pixel 9 review: A solid, not-too-pricey Android flagship
by Sam Rutherford
First of all, huge news from the Engadget team: Our senior writer Sam Rutherford just had a baby! Sam will be off on parental leave for a bit, and has managed to keep himself extremely busy right down to the wire, filing hands-ons and helping with reviews up until he went off to the hospital. We will be lost without Sam, but are extremely happy for him and his family as they welcome the lovely addition to their lives.
The Pixel 9 review is the last full review you’ll see from Sam for a while, and in it he clearly explains how impressed he is by Google’s premium-ish handset. To him, it’s the go-to Android phone, overshadowing Samsung’s S24 and any other Android flagship worth considering. It’s got a grown-up vibe to it like the Pixel 9 Pros, and has great camera and battery performance. At $799, it delivers plenty for the money.
It’s a little tricky to consider the Pixel 9 in the shadow of its Pro counterparts, since there’s also the Pixel 8a or the future Pixel 9a possibly nipping at its toes with a great set of features for a lower price. If you have the $200 or so to spare, you might be considering the Pros, which we also reviewed last week.
Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL review: Holy 94 points for a Pixel?
by Mat Smith
I kid you not: My jaw dropped when I saw the score that Mat Smith, UK bureau chief, proposed for the Pixel 9 Pro. It’s possibly the highest we’ve ever given any Google-made phone, not to mention also arguably the first time a Pixel has been scored in iPhone territory. In fact, both Mat and myself found ourselves mistaking the Pixel 9 Pro for our own iPhones by touch and when their screens were facing up. Sam also thought the Pixel 9 looked and felt remarkably similar to Apple’s flagships, which is, in a weird way, a compliment to Google.
These phones feel grown up, refined and classy. Gone is the glossy finish that the Pixel 6 and newer came in, and with it also went the tendency for these devices to slide off any non-stable surface. The camera bar also looks more elegant, and the straight edges give the Pixel 9 Pros that iPhone vibe that older models lacked.
I love how Google was able to give its latest flagships the iPhone treatment while retaining its character with the camera bar. I adore the new colors, too, especially the pair of pink Pros I received.
A huge part of why we scored the Pixel 9 Pro as high as we did is the fact that the new smaller Pro doesn’t have many compromises due to its size. The Pixel 9 Pro XL and the smaller version both have the same camera setup and are really only different in display and battery size. The larger flagship charges slightly faster, but the baby Pro lasts so. danged. long. It beat pretty much every recent phone we’ve on our video rundown battery test.
As usual, Google’s cameras beat the competition (especially at night), and while we don’t know if we’d pay to use its Gemini AI services ourselves, the fact that they’re available for free for now means it’s not a downside. Some of the new software, like the Pixel Screenshots app or the Add Me tool in the camera, are nifty and generally effective. Others, like Pixel Studio and Reimagine in the photo editing tools, are somewhat problematic, as detailed by Allison Johnson at The Verge.
If you can avoid using those features, which I think is remarkably easy to do, then you’ll find the rest of the Pixel 9 Pro satisfying. Its upgraded display is bright and beautiful, though Mat, who only slightly bragged in his review that he had larger-than-average hands, didn’t like that the Pro XL had a bigger screen than last year’s model. He’s not wrong, that thing is hard to maneuver, especially for those of us cursed with smaller extremities. For that reason, we took a point off the Pro XL’s score compared to last year’s Pixel 8 Pro. We also wish Google had kept its flagships more competitively priced for one more year, since the Pixel 9 lineup costs pretty much the same as the corresponding devices from Samsung and Apple, instead of a hundred or so dollars cheaper in prior years.
Go on over to Mat’s review for the details and camera samples. For now, suffice to say that the Engadget team is very impressed with the Pixel 9 lineup, and we eagerly await our own verdicts on the other products in the family, like the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Buds Pro 2.
Dell XPS 13 Copilot+ PC: Good, but Intel variants might be better
by Devindra Hardawar
Feels like we might be getting several iterations of the Dell XPS 13 soon. The XPS 13 Copilot+ PC that Devindra reviewed this week feels like one such variant, as if we’re in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s the XPS 13 we reviewed earlier this year but instead of an Intel Core Ultra processor, it uses an Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite chip. That means it lasts a lot longer than your typical PC using x86 system architecture, but also is more likely to encounter potential compatibility issues.
If you don’t plan on gaming on your laptop or need it to run obscure apps, a Snapdragon notebook might work for you, especially if you want long battery life. Gamers who plan on playing Fortnite or League of Legends will need to opt for an x86 system. because the anti-cheat features on those titles will prevent them from working on Arm-based machines.
Considering we’ll likely be getting an XPS 13 with Intel’s Lunar Lake CPU later this year, those who want greater software compatibility in an AI PC with Dell’s premium design won’t have long to wait. The Lunar Lake processors also have neural processing units (NPUs) that are faster than the Snapdragon X Elite’s, too. If you don’t mind waiting, you’ll likely find a variant that satisfies your needs (or your prime timeline) soon enough.
Elsewhere on Engadget: Interviews, gaming news and hands-ons
Speaking of AI PCs powered by Intel, let’s not forget AMD. Devindra had a chat with AMD’s product leads for Ryzen AI and published an article last week around the company’s AI PC strategy. This type of interview informs our coverage and reviews of devices with these components, and they’re a great opportunity for us to unleash our inner nerds (innerds? never mind).
We also got the chance to nerd out with Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman on the Engadget Podcast this week, getting an inside look at what Apple might be unveiling at its event on September 9.
Gamescom took place last week, and the Engadget team covered the event live, with news around titles from franchises like Dune, Indiana Jones, Marvel, Call of Duty and Civilization. Sam published a hands-on with “King of Meat,” which he called a “monstrous mash-up of a co-op platformer.”
Not enough gaming coverage? We’ve got you. Mat published a piece on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which looks like a beautiful RPG from French studio Sandfall Interactive. Our team also produced a series of lists and roundups of various types of games, from the best Apple Arcade options and Netflix games to titles for specific consoles like the Playdate and puzzle and word games you can play daily.
Senior reporter Jess Conditt checked out Razer’s new Wolverine V3 Pro controller for Xbox and PC this week, which is the company’s first fully wireless controller for Xbox consoles and also its first with Hall effects joysticks. Jess spent a few days with the V3 Pro, mostly playing Overwatch 2, and she found it “snappy and surprisingly compact.” She said “the joysticks are precise — they require a little more force than the wireless Forza Horizon 5 Xbox controller I generally use, but they’re nice and accurate.”
On the horizon: Upcoming reviews and how we decide what to cover
We continue to test Pixel devices that are becoming available to the public later in September, while working on testing more AI PCs, leftover Samsung Galaxy products and more. I’m personally extremely excited to check out the new Barbie flip phone from HMD, because I can type so much more quickly on a T9 keypad than on a touchscreen. I think I can, anyway.
Many products are announced every week, not to mention every year, and just this week we saw new gadgets like that Barbie phone, as well as a new AI wearable called the NotePin. Whether we review these devices depends largely on how important they are to our audience (which is usually determined by our understanding of reader interest and how likely they are to want to buy something). Whether a product is ever going to make it to a larger market also matters, so vaporware or mini personal projects on Kickstarter aren’t things we typically review.
Finally, our individual staff members’ workload and desire to test these things also contribute to the decision-making process — if someone on the team liked something so much they bought it with their own money, they are always welcome to write up their experience for the site, as part of our ongoing series around things we bought.
As always, it is shaping up to be a busy few weeks ahead for our team, so please send good thoughts and vibes. Thank you as always for giving us your time, and have a fantastic weekend!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-review-recap-the-pixel-9-phones-are-surprisingly-great-in-spite-of-their-price-140056442.html?src=rss
Welcome back to another Engadget Review Recap (or as I prefer to call it, ERR). This is the second edition of a mostly bi-weekly series rounding up the reviews that our team has published, as well as some insight on what’s coming, what we skipped and how we do our testing. Plus, fun team trivia! If you missed a review in the last two weeks or simply didn’t have the time to read every single thing we publish (how dare you), let this roundup be your quick catch-up.
This week, we’re looking back at the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro reviews, as well as the Dell XPS 13 Copilot+ PC, which is a mouthful of a name if I ever saw one. Other Pixel devices are also being tested as we speak, and the reviews team is pretty busy behind the scenes. On Monday, Apple announced an “It’s Glowtime” event for September 9, which means we’re also expecting new iPhones and Apple Watches to play with soon.
For now, though, here’s what’s been happening on the Engadget reviews team.
Pixel 9 review: A solid, not-too-pricey Android flagship
by Sam Rutherford
First of all, huge news from the Engadget team: Our senior writer Sam Rutherford just had a baby! Sam will be off on parental leave for a bit, and has managed to keep himself extremely busy right down to the wire, filing hands-ons and helping with reviews up until he went off to the hospital. We will be lost without Sam, but are extremely happy for him and his family as they welcome the lovely addition to their lives.
The Pixel 9 review is the last full review you’ll see from Sam for a while, and in it he clearly explains how impressed he is by Google’s premium-ish handset. To him, it’s the go-to Android phone, overshadowing Samsung’s S24 and any other Android flagship worth considering. It’s got a grown-up vibe to it like the Pixel 9 Pros, and has great camera and battery performance. At $799, it delivers plenty for the money.
It’s a little tricky to consider the Pixel 9 in the shadow of its Pro counterparts, since there’s also the Pixel 8a or the future Pixel 9a possibly nipping at its toes with a great set of features for a lower price. If you have the $200 or so to spare, you might be considering the Pros, which we also reviewed last week.
Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL review: Holy 94 points for a Pixel?
by Mat Smith
I kid you not: My jaw dropped when I saw the score that Mat Smith, UK bureau chief, proposed for the Pixel 9 Pro. It’s possibly the highest we’ve ever given any Google-made phone, not to mention also arguably the first time a Pixel has been scored in iPhone territory. In fact, both Mat and myself found ourselves mistaking the Pixel 9 Pro for our own iPhones by touch and when their screens were facing up. Sam also thought the Pixel 9 looked and felt remarkably similar to Apple’s flagships, which is, in a weird way, a compliment to Google.
These phones feel grown up, refined and classy. Gone is the glossy finish that the Pixel 6 and newer came in, and with it also went the tendency for these devices to slide off any non-stable surface. The camera bar also looks more elegant, and the straight edges give the Pixel 9 Pros that iPhone vibe that older models lacked.
I love how Google was able to give its latest flagships the iPhone treatment while retaining its character with the camera bar. I adore the new colors, too, especially the pair of pink Pros I received.
A huge part of why we scored the Pixel 9 Pro as high as we did is the fact that the new smaller Pro doesn’t have many compromises due to its size. The Pixel 9 Pro XL and the smaller version both have the same camera setup and are really only different in display and battery size. The larger flagship charges slightly faster, but the baby Pro lasts so. danged. long. It beat pretty much every recent phone we’ve on our video rundown battery test.
As usual, Google’s cameras beat the competition (especially at night), and while we don’t know if we’d pay to use its Gemini AI services ourselves, the fact that they’re available for free for now means it’s not a downside. Some of the new software, like the Pixel Screenshots app or the Add Me tool in the camera, are nifty and generally effective. Others, like Pixel Studio and Reimagine in the photo editing tools, are somewhat problematic, as detailed by Allison Johnson at The Verge.
If you can avoid using those features, which I think is remarkably easy to do, then you’ll find the rest of the Pixel 9 Pro satisfying. Its upgraded display is bright and beautiful, though Mat, who only slightly bragged in his review that he had larger-than-average hands, didn’t like that the Pro XL had a bigger screen than last year’s model. He’s not wrong, that thing is hard to maneuver, especially for those of us cursed with smaller extremities. For that reason, we took a point off the Pro XL’s score compared to last year’s Pixel 8 Pro. We also wish Google had kept its flagships more competitively priced for one more year, since the Pixel 9 lineup costs pretty much the same as the corresponding devices from Samsung and Apple, instead of a hundred or so dollars cheaper in prior years.
Go on over to Mat’s review for the details and camera samples. For now, suffice to say that the Engadget team is very impressed with the Pixel 9 lineup, and we eagerly await our own verdicts on the other products in the family, like the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Buds Pro 2.
Dell XPS 13 Copilot+ PC: Good, but Intel variants might be better
by Devindra Hardawar
Feels like we might be getting several iterations of the Dell XPS 13 soon. The XPS 13 Copilot+ PC that Devindra reviewed this week feels like one such variant, as if we’re in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s the XPS 13 we reviewed earlier this year but instead of an Intel Core Ultra processor, it uses an Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite chip. That means it lasts a lot longer than your typical PC using x86 system architecture, but also is more likely to encounter potential compatibility issues.
If you don’t plan on gaming on your laptop or need it to run obscure apps, a Snapdragon notebook might work for you, especially if you want long battery life. Gamers who plan on playing Fortnite or League of Legends will need to opt for an x86 system. because the anti-cheat features on those titles will prevent them from working on Arm-based machines.
Considering we’ll likely be getting an XPS 13 with Intel’s Lunar Lake CPU later this year, those who want greater software compatibility in an AI PC with Dell’s premium design won’t have long to wait. The Lunar Lake processors also have neural processing units (NPUs) that are faster than the Snapdragon X Elite’s, too. If you don’t mind waiting, you’ll likely find a variant that satisfies your needs (or your prime timeline) soon enough.
Elsewhere on Engadget: Interviews, gaming news and hands-ons
Speaking of AI PCs powered by Intel, let’s not forget AMD. Devindra had a chat with AMD’s product leads for Ryzen AI and published an article last week around the company’s AI PC strategy. This type of interview informs our coverage and reviews of devices with these components, and they’re a great opportunity for us to unleash our inner nerds (innerds? never mind).
We also got the chance to nerd out with Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman on the Engadget Podcast this week, getting an inside look at what Apple might be unveiling at its event on September 9.
Gamescom took place last week, and the Engadget team covered the event live, with news around titles from franchises like Dune, Indiana Jones, Marvel, Call of Duty and Civilization. Sam published a hands-on with “King of Meat,” which he called a “monstrous mash-up of a co-op platformer.”
Not enough gaming coverage? We’ve got you. Mat published a piece on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which looks like a beautiful RPG from French studio Sandfall Interactive. Our team also produced a series of lists and roundups of various types of games, from the best Apple Arcade options and Netflix games to titles for specific consoles like the Playdate and puzzle and word games you can play daily.
Senior reporter Jess Conditt checked out Razer’s new Wolverine V3 Pro controller for Xbox and PC this week, which is the company’s first fully wireless controller for Xbox consoles and also its first with Hall effects joysticks. Jess spent a few days with the V3 Pro, mostly playing Overwatch 2, and she found it “snappy and surprisingly compact.” She said “the joysticks are precise — they require a little more force than the wireless Forza Horizon 5 Xbox controller I generally use, but they’re nice and accurate.”
On the horizon: Upcoming reviews and how we decide what to cover
We continue to test Pixel devices that are becoming available to the public later in September, while working on testing more AI PCs, leftover Samsung Galaxy products and more. I’m personally extremely excited to check out the new Barbie flip phone from HMD, because I can type so much more quickly on a T9 keypad than on a touchscreen. I think I can, anyway.
Many products are announced every week, not to mention every year, and just this week we saw new gadgets like that Barbie phone, as well as a new AI wearable called the NotePin. Whether we review these devices depends largely on how important they are to our audience (which is usually determined by our understanding of reader interest and how likely they are to want to buy something). Whether a product is ever going to make it to a larger market also matters, so vaporware or mini personal projects on Kickstarter aren’t things we typically review.
Finally, our individual staff members’ workload and desire to test these things also contribute to the decision-making process — if someone on the team liked something so much they bought it with their own money, they are always welcome to write up their experience for the site, as part of our ongoing series around things we bought.
As always, it is shaping up to be a busy few weeks ahead for our team, so please send good thoughts and vibes. Thank you as always for giving us your time, and have a fantastic weekend!
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-review-recap-the-pixel-9-phones-are-surprisingly-great-in-spite-of-their-price-140056442.html?src=rss
Boeing’s Starliner is coming back without a crew on September 6
The Starliner is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station and to make its way back to Earth at 6:04PM Eastern time on September 6 at the earliest. If the weather cooperates and the spacecraft leaves the ISS as planned, it will be landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico with the help of parachutes to slow its descent and inflated airbags at around 12:03AM ET on September 7. While the ground teams at Starliner Mission Control in Houston and at Boeing Mission Control Center in Florida can control the spacecraft remotely if needed, it will be an uncrewed, fully autonomous flight for the Starliner.
NASA recently announced that Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the astronauts that headed to the ISS aboard the Starliner for its first crewed flight, will be coming home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon instead. Wilmore and Williams flew to the ISS in June and were only supposed to spend a little more than a week on the orbiting laboratory. On the way there, however, five of the spacecraft’s maneuvering thrusters had failed, and its helium leak problem that previously caused its launch to be pushed back had worsened. Engineers on the ground conducted tests with help from the astronauts on the ISS to determine whether the Starliner was safe for the crew to ride back to Earth. In the end, NASA decided that it’s safer for Wilmore and Williams to come home on a SpaceX vehicle, because “there was too much uncertainty” around the Starliner’s thrusters.
The space agency will cover Starliner’s return live on NASA+, the NASA app and its website. As for the SpaceX Crew-9 mission that’s replacing the Boeing’s vehicle on the ISS, it’s scheduled to launch no earlier than September 24. Instead of flying with four astronauts as planned, it will fly with two — NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov — to leave two seats empty for its return flight with Wilmore and Williams in February 2025. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/boeings-starliner-is-coming-back-without-a-crew-on-september-6-140023545.html?src=rss
The Starliner is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station and to make its way back to Earth at 6:04PM Eastern time on September 6 at the earliest. If the weather cooperates and the spacecraft leaves the ISS as planned, it will be landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico with the help of parachutes to slow its descent and inflated airbags at around 12:03AM ET on September 7. While the ground teams at Starliner Mission Control in Houston and at Boeing Mission Control Center in Florida can control the spacecraft remotely if needed, it will be an uncrewed, fully autonomous flight for the Starliner.
NASA recently announced that Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the astronauts that headed to the ISS aboard the Starliner for its first crewed flight, will be coming home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon instead. Wilmore and Williams flew to the ISS in June and were only supposed to spend a little more than a week on the orbiting laboratory. On the way there, however, five of the spacecraft’s maneuvering thrusters had failed, and its helium leak problem that previously caused its launch to be pushed back had worsened. Engineers on the ground conducted tests with help from the astronauts on the ISS to determine whether the Starliner was safe for the crew to ride back to Earth. In the end, NASA decided that it’s safer for Wilmore and Williams to come home on a SpaceX vehicle, because “there was too much uncertainty” around the Starliner’s thrusters.
The space agency will cover Starliner’s return live on NASA+, the NASA app and its website. As for the SpaceX Crew-9 mission that’s replacing the Boeing’s vehicle on the ISS, it’s scheduled to launch no earlier than September 24. Instead of flying with four astronauts as planned, it will fly with two — NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov — to leave two seats empty for its return flight with Wilmore and Williams in February 2025.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/boeings-starliner-is-coming-back-without-a-crew-on-september-6-140023545.html?src=rss
Best Meal Delivery Services for Families
These editor-tested meal kits and prepared meal subscriptions with kid-friendly recipes will make back-to-school a breeze.
These editor-tested meal kits and prepared meal subscriptions with kid-friendly recipes will make back-to-school a breeze.