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Sony

Sony and Blumhouse’s Afraid from director Chris Weitz might not go so far as to suggest that you shouldn’t have so many smart devices watching and listening to everything you do in your home. But the movie’s first trailer will probably leave you contemplating what the AI-powered Internet of Things could do to you if it decided to go rogue under the pretense of being helpful.
Whereas M3gan was focused specifically on a future on the advent of humanoid consumer robots, Afraid tells the story of how the lives of an unsuspecting family are upended after installing a smart hub in their home. Neither Curtis (John Cho) nor his wife (Katherine Waterston) are sure what to expect from AIA — a HomePod / Ring / Siri-like device — when they’re selected to test it out, but they quickly find themselves enamored with its ability to help with tasks they simply don’t have time to do.
With its sensors placed everywhere and its constant tendency to ingest information about the family, it’s all too easy for AIA to become a reassuring presence in their lives once it takes over paying the bills and making sure the kids do their chores.
But Afraid’s new trailer teases how the programming beneath AIA’s pleasant exterior is a bit more… aggressive than the average consumer would ever dream, and while it doesn’t exactly seem like the machine wants to hurt its owners, it does very much feel as if the machine has plans to become more than just a voice that lives in everyone’s gadgets. The whole trailer has a very Smart House (the 1999 Disney Channel original movie) on steroids vibe, which is promising enough in its own right. But when Afraid debuts on August 30th, it’s probably going to raise the question whether Blumhouse might be considering a doll / house crossover situation down the line.

Sony

Sony and Blumhouse’s Afraid from director Chris Weitz might not go so far as to suggest that you shouldn’t have so many smart devices watching and listening to everything you do in your home. But the movie’s first trailer will probably leave you contemplating what the AI-powered Internet of Things could do to you if it decided to go rogue under the pretense of being helpful.

Whereas M3gan was focused specifically on a future on the advent of humanoid consumer robots, Afraid tells the story of how the lives of an unsuspecting family are upended after installing a smart hub in their home. Neither Curtis (John Cho) nor his wife (Katherine Waterston) are sure what to expect from AIA — a HomePod / Ring / Siri-like device — when they’re selected to test it out, but they quickly find themselves enamored with its ability to help with tasks they simply don’t have time to do.

With its sensors placed everywhere and its constant tendency to ingest information about the family, it’s all too easy for AIA to become a reassuring presence in their lives once it takes over paying the bills and making sure the kids do their chores.

But Afraid’s new trailer teases how the programming beneath AIA’s pleasant exterior is a bit more… aggressive than the average consumer would ever dream, and while it doesn’t exactly seem like the machine wants to hurt its owners, it does very much feel as if the machine has plans to become more than just a voice that lives in everyone’s gadgets. The whole trailer has a very Smart House (the 1999 Disney Channel original movie) on steroids vibe, which is promising enough in its own right. But when Afraid debuts on August 30th, it’s probably going to raise the question whether Blumhouse might be considering a doll / house crossover situation down the line.

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The Astro for Business robot is no more. | Image: Amazon

For a moment there, it seemed like Amazon might pivot its Astro home robot to enterprise after giving it a better job as a camera-equipped patrol dog. But today, it’s discontinuing the Astro for Business robot for good. On September 25th, every one of the 20-pound wheeled robots will stop working, and Amazon will automatically issue full refunds for the $2,349.99 bot, plus a $300 credit.
Amazon isn’t commenting on how many business bots it actually sold since the November 2023 launch, but the company’s VP of hardware engineering says he’s “increasingly convinced the progress we’re making in home robotics is where we should focus our resources.” We’re sharing his full internal memo below.
Amazon also provided this statement to The Verge, which sure makes it sound like an Astro for Home successor might be on the way:
We are fully committed to our vision of bringing world-class consumer robotics solutions to the home. To accelerate our progress and ongoing research to make Astro the best in-home robot, we’ve made the decision to wind down support for Astro for Business. We’re excited about the in-home experiences we’re inventing for Astro, and look forward to sharing more in the future.
GeekWire first reported the news and said Amazon isn’t laying off any workers due to the pivot because they’ll just start working on home robots instead.
It’s a shame that a cute robot will simply get bricked and then trashed or recycled instead of being repurposed in some way. While Amazon says customers can get an invite to try its Astro for Home instead, Amazon spokesperson Courtney Ramirez confirms that the business bot can’t be converted into one for the home — instead, Amazon is offering a free shipping label for its recycling program.
Here’s the full internal memo as well as the emails that Amazon is sending existing customers, as provided to The Verge by Amazon:

From: Lindo St. Angel
To: CoRo org
Subject: Update on Astro for Business
Team,
It’s now been a year since CoRo moved into my organization, and it’s been a rewarding experience learning about the team and the business. I have tremendous respect for this team, what you’ve built for our customers, and your mission to deliver world-class consumer robotics solutions.
Much like you all, I am a big believer in the long-term benefits robots will offer our customers, and advancements in generative AI make this only more exciting. I am increasingly convinced the progress we’re making in home robotics is where we should focus our resources. To do this, and accelerate our progress further, we’ve made the decision to wind down the Astro for Business program to focus our efforts entirely on building the best consumer robotics products for the home
There’s a lot of work to be done, but I am excited for this change and where it will lead us on the next stage of our journey. If you have any questions about this shift and how it pertains to your role, please reach out to your manager.
Lindo

Amazon is sending this email to its Astro for Business customers:

Subject: An important message about Astro for Business
Dear Astro for Business customer,
At Amazon, we seek to invent new solutions like Astro for Business to help serve our customers. While we are proud of what we’ve built, we’ve made the decision to end support for Astro for Business to put our focus on making Astro the best robot for the home.
In the coming weeks, Amazon will fully refund all Astro for Business device purchases to the original payment method. If your original payment method is no longer on file or is expired, we will issue a credit to your Amazon account equal to the amount you paid. You do not need to take any additional steps to receive your refund.
We are also adding a $300 credit to your Amazon account to help support a replacement solution for your workplace, as well as issuing you an automatic invite to the Astro Day 1 Editions Program if you’d like to continue your journey with Astro in your home.
What this means for you:
On 9/25, your Astro for Business device will no longer function and your personal data will be deleted from the device. Any patrol or investigation videos recorded by Astro will still be available in your Ring app until your video storage time expires or your Ring Protect subscription ends.
We encourage you to recycle your Astro for Business device and accessories through the Amazon Recycling Program—Amazon covers the costs associated with shipping and recycling your devices and accessories. Find more information about the Amazon Recycling Program and get your free shipping label by clicking the link: https://amazonrecycling-us.re-teck.com/recycling/home.
If you’re an Astro Secure subscriber:
On 9/25, we will discontinue Astro Secure, and your subscription benefits will automatically end. You will no longer be charged any subscription fees for Astro Secure beginning 7/3 and will receive a refund in the coming days for any unused, pre-paid subscription fees to the payment method associated with your Ring account.
If you have any questions, please reach out to customer service for additional information. Thank you for being an Amazon customer.
Sincerely,
The Astro for Business team

It’s also sending this email to those with Astro Secure subscriptions:

Subject: An important message about your Astro Secure subscription
Dear Astro Secure customer,
We are writing to inform you about an important change to your Astro Secure subscription. On 9/25, we will end support for Astro Secure and benefits like custom patrols, direct investigations of triggered Ring Alarm sensors, and support for Virtual Security Guard will no longer be available on Astro. Your Ring Protect Pro subscription is not impacted.
You will no longer be charged any subscription fees for Astro Secure beginning 7/3 and will receive a refund in the coming days for any unused, pre-paid subscription fees to the payment method associated with your Ring account.
If you have any questions, please reach out to customer service for additional information. Thank you for being an Amazon customer.

The Amazon Astro for Home robot is still listed as an invite-only Day 1 Edition product, years after its release. In 2023, the company raised its price to $1,599.99, up from the $1,000 early adopter price and the $1,449.99 MSRP it carried at the time of our review.
Last year, leaked internal documents hinted at a new version with conversational generative AI that “remembers what it saw and understood,” can “engage in a Q&A dialogue on what it saw,” and potentially spot hazards in a home like broken glass on the floor.

The Astro for Business robot is no more. | Image: Amazon

For a moment there, it seemed like Amazon might pivot its Astro home robot to enterprise after giving it a better job as a camera-equipped patrol dog. But today, it’s discontinuing the Astro for Business robot for good. On September 25th, every one of the 20-pound wheeled robots will stop working, and Amazon will automatically issue full refunds for the $2,349.99 bot, plus a $300 credit.

Amazon isn’t commenting on how many business bots it actually sold since the November 2023 launch, but the company’s VP of hardware engineering says he’s “increasingly convinced the progress we’re making in home robotics is where we should focus our resources.” We’re sharing his full internal memo below.

Amazon also provided this statement to The Verge, which sure makes it sound like an Astro for Home successor might be on the way:

We are fully committed to our vision of bringing world-class consumer robotics solutions to the home. To accelerate our progress and ongoing research to make Astro the best in-home robot, we’ve made the decision to wind down support for Astro for Business. We’re excited about the in-home experiences we’re inventing for Astro, and look forward to sharing more in the future.

GeekWire first reported the news and said Amazon isn’t laying off any workers due to the pivot because they’ll just start working on home robots instead.

It’s a shame that a cute robot will simply get bricked and then trashed or recycled instead of being repurposed in some way. While Amazon says customers can get an invite to try its Astro for Home instead, Amazon spokesperson Courtney Ramirez confirms that the business bot can’t be converted into one for the home — instead, Amazon is offering a free shipping label for its recycling program.

Here’s the full internal memo as well as the emails that Amazon is sending existing customers, as provided to The Verge by Amazon:

From: Lindo St. Angel

To: CoRo org

Subject: Update on Astro for Business

Team,

It’s now been a year since CoRo moved into my organization, and it’s been a rewarding experience learning about the team and the business. I have tremendous respect for this team, what you’ve built for our customers, and your mission to deliver world-class consumer robotics solutions.

Much like you all, I am a big believer in the long-term benefits robots will offer our customers, and advancements in generative AI make this only more exciting. I am increasingly convinced the progress we’re making in home robotics is where we should focus our resources. To do this, and accelerate our progress further, we’ve made the decision to wind down the Astro for Business program to focus our efforts entirely on building the best consumer robotics products for the home

There’s a lot of work to be done, but I am excited for this change and where it will lead us on the next stage of our journey. If you have any questions about this shift and how it pertains to your role, please reach out to your manager.

Lindo

Amazon is sending this email to its Astro for Business customers:

Subject: An important message about Astro for Business

Dear Astro for Business customer,

At Amazon, we seek to invent new solutions like Astro for Business to help serve our customers. While we are proud of what we’ve built, we’ve made the decision to end support for Astro for Business to put our focus on making Astro the best robot for the home.

In the coming weeks, Amazon will fully refund all Astro for Business device purchases to the original payment method. If your original payment method is no longer on file or is expired, we will issue a credit to your Amazon account equal to the amount you paid. You do not need to take any additional steps to receive your refund.

We are also adding a $300 credit to your Amazon account to help support a replacement solution for your workplace, as well as issuing you an automatic invite to the Astro Day 1 Editions Program if you’d like to continue your journey with Astro in your home.

What this means for you:

On 9/25, your Astro for Business device will no longer function and your personal data will be deleted from the device. Any patrol or investigation videos recorded by Astro will still be available in your Ring app until your video storage time expires or your Ring Protect subscription ends.

We encourage you to recycle your Astro for Business device and accessories through the Amazon Recycling Program—Amazon covers the costs associated with shipping and recycling your devices and accessories. Find more information about the Amazon Recycling Program and get your free shipping label by clicking the link: https://amazonrecycling-us.re-teck.com/recycling/home.

If you’re an Astro Secure subscriber:

On 9/25, we will discontinue Astro Secure, and your subscription benefits will automatically end. You will no longer be charged any subscription fees for Astro Secure beginning 7/3 and will receive a refund in the coming days for any unused, pre-paid subscription fees to the payment method associated with your Ring account.

If you have any questions, please reach out to customer service for additional information. Thank you for being an Amazon customer.

Sincerely,

The Astro for Business team

It’s also sending this email to those with Astro Secure subscriptions:

Subject: An important message about your Astro Secure subscription

Dear Astro Secure customer,

We are writing to inform you about an important change to your Astro Secure subscription. On 9/25, we will end support for Astro Secure and benefits like custom patrols, direct investigations of triggered Ring Alarm sensors, and support for Virtual Security Guard will no longer be available on Astro. Your Ring Protect Pro subscription is not impacted.

You will no longer be charged any subscription fees for Astro Secure beginning 7/3 and will receive a refund in the coming days for any unused, pre-paid subscription fees to the payment method associated with your Ring account.

If you have any questions, please reach out to customer service for additional information. Thank you for being an Amazon customer.

The Amazon Astro for Home robot is still listed as an invite-only Day 1 Edition product, years after its release. In 2023, the company raised its price to $1,599.99, up from the $1,000 early adopter price and the $1,449.99 MSRP it carried at the time of our review.

Last year, leaked internal documents hinted at a new version with conversational generative AI that “remembers what it saw and understood,” can “engage in a Q&A dialogue on what it saw,” and potentially spot hazards in a home like broken glass on the floor.

Read More 

Illustration: The Verge

Google is making it easier for advertisers to disclose whether political ads contain AI-generated content. In an update spotted by Search Engine Land, Google says it will automatically generate disclosures whenever advertisers label election ads as containing “synthetic or digitally altered content.”
Last year, Google started requiring political advertisers to insert their own “clear and conspicuous” disclosures on ads containing AI content. But now, Google is simplifying the process, as it will automatically include an in-ad disclosure whenever advertisers select an “altered or synthetic content” checkbox in their campaign settings.

The disclosure will appear in feeds and YouTube Shorts on mobile devices as well as in-stream ads shown on phones, computers, TVs, and the web. Advertisers will have to include their own disclosures for all other ad formats.
With the US presidential election just months away, concerns over the use of AI in political advertising have started to mount. In May, the Senate Rules Committee advanced a bill that would require political advertisers to disclose AI-generated content, while the Federal Communications Commission proposed enacting a similar policy.

Illustration: The Verge

Google is making it easier for advertisers to disclose whether political ads contain AI-generated content. In an update spotted by Search Engine Land, Google says it will automatically generate disclosures whenever advertisers label election ads as containing “synthetic or digitally altered content.”

Last year, Google started requiring political advertisers to insert their own “clear and conspicuous” disclosures on ads containing AI content. But now, Google is simplifying the process, as it will automatically include an in-ad disclosure whenever advertisers select an “altered or synthetic content” checkbox in their campaign settings.

The disclosure will appear in feeds and YouTube Shorts on mobile devices as well as in-stream ads shown on phones, computers, TVs, and the web. Advertisers will have to include their own disclosures for all other ad formats.

With the US presidential election just months away, concerns over the use of AI in political advertising have started to mount. In May, the Senate Rules Committee advanced a bill that would require political advertisers to disclose AI-generated content, while the Federal Communications Commission proposed enacting a similar policy.

Read More 

The latest Beam isn’t tiny, but it’s far from the biggest soundbar around. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

While the world of deals is about to heat up with Fourth of July sales and Amazon’s upcoming Prime Day event, there are some great discounts you can take advantage of right now. For starters, Sonos is selling refurbished models of its second-gen Beam in black or white for $299, which is $100 off its usual refurb price and $200 cheaper than buying the soundbar in new condition.

That’s as cheap as you’re going to find the latest version of Sonos’ midrange soundbar, which is a lot like its first-gen version but with small improvements like Dolby Atmos and low-latency eARC support. The Beam is a good all-around performer if you want a simple soundbar that sounds great for its size, doesn’t clutter up your space with extra speakers or subwoofers, and doubles as a smart Wi-Fi speaker for streaming music within the Sonos ecosystem. And for those that have the space, the Beam can be expanded upon with other Sonos speakers like the Sub Mini or even Ikea’s Symfonisk lamps to create a modest surround sound home theater setup that doesn’t have wires and clutter everywhere.

As good a deal as the Beam is, if it’s still out of your price range, check out the refurbished Ray, which Sonos is selling for just $164 ($115 off a new model). The Ray is the entry point if you’re looking to pick up a Sonos soundbar, and while the 22-inch speaker doesn’t sound as expansive as either Beam, it’s still formidable for its size. Its biggest limitation is that it relies on optical audio and lacks HDMI ports.
A few more deals almost as bright as some fireworks

The physical version of Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 for the PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X is selling for an all-time low of $29.99 ($10 off). The remastered collection of tactical espionage games includes Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and the original Metal Gear from 1987. Read our review.

Best Buy is selling the last-gen iPad Air with an M1 chip and expanded 256GB of storage for $499.99 ($250 off). The 10.9-inch Air of 2022 may have been eclipsed by this year’s 11- and 13-inch M2 models, but based on our review, the new models are a little underwhelming compared with the more impressive M4 iPad Pro and recently price-slashed 10th-gen iPad. As for the 2022 Air, it’s still an excellent tablet with a good screen and plenty of performance headroom. Plus, 256GB gives you lots of app storage, making the current Best Buy deal a good value. Read our review.

The Anchor, an under-desk headphone hanger, is on sale for $11.95 ($3 off) at Amazon. It may not be a huge discount, but it’s about as cheap as it gets for Elevation Lab’s convenient way to stow away your headphones. You just peel the 3M adhesive, stick the Anchor to the bottom of your desk, and you can hang a pair of headphones so they’re always at the ready. It even supports the weight of Apple’s hefty AirPods Max.

The latest Beam isn’t tiny, but it’s far from the biggest soundbar around. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

While the world of deals is about to heat up with Fourth of July sales and Amazon’s upcoming Prime Day event, there are some great discounts you can take advantage of right now. For starters, Sonos is selling refurbished models of its second-gen Beam in black or white for $299, which is $100 off its usual refurb price and $200 cheaper than buying the soundbar in new condition.

That’s as cheap as you’re going to find the latest version of Sonos’ midrange soundbar, which is a lot like its first-gen version but with small improvements like Dolby Atmos and low-latency eARC support. The Beam is a good all-around performer if you want a simple soundbar that sounds great for its size, doesn’t clutter up your space with extra speakers or subwoofers, and doubles as a smart Wi-Fi speaker for streaming music within the Sonos ecosystem. And for those that have the space, the Beam can be expanded upon with other Sonos speakers like the Sub Mini or even Ikea’s Symfonisk lamps to create a modest surround sound home theater setup that doesn’t have wires and clutter everywhere.

As good a deal as the Beam is, if it’s still out of your price range, check out the refurbished Ray, which Sonos is selling for just $164 ($115 off a new model). The Ray is the entry point if you’re looking to pick up a Sonos soundbar, and while the 22-inch speaker doesn’t sound as expansive as either Beam, it’s still formidable for its size. Its biggest limitation is that it relies on optical audio and lacks HDMI ports.

A few more deals almost as bright as some fireworks

The physical version of Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 for the PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X is selling for an all-time low of $29.99 ($10 off). The remastered collection of tactical espionage games includes Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and the original Metal Gear from 1987. Read our review.

Best Buy is selling the last-gen iPad Air with an M1 chip and expanded 256GB of storage for $499.99 ($250 off). The 10.9-inch Air of 2022 may have been eclipsed by this year’s 11- and 13-inch M2 models, but based on our review, the new models are a little underwhelming compared with the more impressive M4 iPad Pro and recently price-slashed 10th-gen iPad. As for the 2022 Air, it’s still an excellent tablet with a good screen and plenty of performance headroom. Plus, 256GB gives you lots of app storage, making the current Best Buy deal a good value. Read our review.

The Anchor, an under-desk headphone hanger, is on sale for $11.95 ($3 off) at Amazon. It may not be a huge discount, but it’s about as cheap as it gets for Elevation Lab’s convenient way to stow away your headphones. You just peel the 3M adhesive, stick the Anchor to the bottom of your desk, and you can hang a pair of headphones so they’re always at the ready. It even supports the weight of Apple’s hefty AirPods Max.

Read More 

Image: Marvel Studios

The premise of Disney Plus’ What If…? made it seem like the animated Marvel series might run indefinitely as the studio keeps putting out live-action projects, but it looks like this chapter of the big multiverse story is just about over.
Though What If…? season 3 doesn’t have a premiere date, Entertainment Weekly reports that it will be the final installment in the series that gave us Jeffrey Wright’s Uatu the Watcher and Hayley Atwell as Captain Peggy Carter. Speaking on this week’s episode of Marvel’s new official podcast, What If…? executive producer Brad Winderbaum described the upcoming season as the “completion of a trilogy” and teased that it will go “beyond the first two seasons in its exploration of the multiverse.”
Notably, the end of What If…? comes at a time when the trajectory of Marvel’s Multiverse Saga — the collection of films and series building to 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars — has seemed a bit shaky due to ongoing delays with films like Mahershala Ali’s Blade. Kevin Feige’s recent assertion that the new Fantastic Four film will introduce yet another alternate universe suggests that we’re probably still in for at least a few more years of MCU multiversal shenanigans. But What If…? coming to an end could easily be a (promising) sign that the studio is finally gearing up to leave this era behind.

Image: Marvel Studios

The premise of Disney Plus’ What If…? made it seem like the animated Marvel series might run indefinitely as the studio keeps putting out live-action projects, but it looks like this chapter of the big multiverse story is just about over.

Though What If…? season 3 doesn’t have a premiere date, Entertainment Weekly reports that it will be the final installment in the series that gave us Jeffrey Wright’s Uatu the Watcher and Hayley Atwell as Captain Peggy Carter. Speaking on this week’s episode of Marvel’s new official podcast, What If…? executive producer Brad Winderbaum described the upcoming season as the “completion of a trilogy” and teased that it will go “beyond the first two seasons in its exploration of the multiverse.”

Notably, the end of What If…? comes at a time when the trajectory of Marvel’s Multiverse Saga — the collection of films and series building to 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars — has seemed a bit shaky due to ongoing delays with films like Mahershala Ali’s Blade. Kevin Feige’s recent assertion that the new Fantastic Four film will introduce yet another alternate universe suggests that we’re probably still in for at least a few more years of MCU multiversal shenanigans. But What If…? coming to an end could easily be a (promising) sign that the studio is finally gearing up to leave this era behind.

Read More 

You can find the Xiaomi Moaan InkPalm Plus for around $125 online. | Image: Xiaomi

It seems like everyone is enamored with the Boox Palma, including our own David Pierce, but at $280, it’s expensive for an e-reader. For another option that mirrors larger e-readers but in a tiny and cheaper package, John Moltz has taken a look at the $125 Xiaomi Moaan InkPalm Plus over on Six Colors.
There are some notable compromises, like a reflective screen that will potentially have users struggling to dodge glare, ordering off of AliExpress, and a dated Android 11 OS that isn’t fully translated from Chinese to English.

The display is also a few years behind the 300ppi e-paper panels you now get on Kindles, Kobos, and even the Boox Palma, featuring a 5.84-inch E Ink screen with just 276ppi of resolution. The InkPalm Plus also has just 2GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and a 2250mAh battery, compared to the Palma’s 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and 3,950mAh battery.
The Boox Palma’s storage can be further expanded using a microSD card, and it boasts a microphone and 16MP camera, but as Moltz points out, you’re probably not going to use these for capturing or even watching videos.

You can find the Xiaomi Moaan InkPalm Plus for around $125 online. | Image: Xiaomi

It seems like everyone is enamored with the Boox Palma, including our own David Pierce, but at $280, it’s expensive for an e-reader. For another option that mirrors larger e-readers but in a tiny and cheaper package, John Moltz has taken a look at the $125 Xiaomi Moaan InkPalm Plus over on Six Colors.

There are some notable compromises, like a reflective screen that will potentially have users struggling to dodge glare, ordering off of AliExpress, and a dated Android 11 OS that isn’t fully translated from Chinese to English.

The display is also a few years behind the 300ppi e-paper panels you now get on Kindles, Kobos, and even the Boox Palma, featuring a 5.84-inch E Ink screen with just 276ppi of resolution. The InkPalm Plus also has just 2GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and a 2250mAh battery, compared to the Palma’s 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and 3,950mAh battery.

The Boox Palma’s storage can be further expanded using a microSD card, and it boasts a microphone and 16MP camera, but as Moltz points out, you’re probably not going to use these for capturing or even watching videos.

Read More 

Mineral’s autonomous “plant buggies” could find a new home via licenses with former industry partnerships. | Image: Alphabet

Alphabet is reportedly walking away from its Mineral robotic agriculture startup due to fierce industry competition and slim profit margins. According to Bloomberg, the Google parent company will license some of its farming technology to Driscoll’s, a berry producer that’s spent the last few years working with autonomous “plant buggies” Mineral created to study crops, soil, and other environmental factors.
Bloomberg says it’s obtained a memo in which Mineral announced plans to transfer its technology “out to the agriculture ecosystem to maximize the impact of bringing our AI to agriculture” and confirms that “Mineral will no longer be an Alphabet company.” Licensing discussions are reportedly taking place with companies that previously partnered with Mineral, alongside the agreement with Driscoll’s.
Mineral was spun into an independent subsidiary last year after graduating from Alphabet’s X lab, the experimental division that previously launched Google Glass and the Waymo self-driving car unit. Bloomberg reports that Mineral employees have spent recent months trying to find a way to continue their work after “it became clear” the company no longer had a future under Alphabet.

The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Driscoll’s senior vice president of global research and development, Scott Komar, told Bloomberg it should give Driscoll’s a perpetual license to use Mineral’s technology. “We were really disappointed that Alphabet decided to change directions,” Komar told the publication. “We have really had a great partnership with the Mineral team, and from our vantage point, they were just getting takeoff altitude. And then all of a sudden, you know, plans changed.”
While Alphabet has poured billions of dollars into “moonshot” lab projects — including fish-tracking cameras, grocery delivery drones, and internet-providing balloons — most have struggled to achieve commercial viability. It shut down Loon, its internet balloon company, in 2021, and turned to outside investors to fund its X projects back in January following a wave of job cuts within the division.

Mineral’s autonomous “plant buggies” could find a new home via licenses with former industry partnerships. | Image: Alphabet

Alphabet is reportedly walking away from its Mineral robotic agriculture startup due to fierce industry competition and slim profit margins. According to Bloomberg, the Google parent company will license some of its farming technology to Driscoll’s, a berry producer that’s spent the last few years working with autonomous “plant buggies” Mineral created to study crops, soil, and other environmental factors.

Bloomberg says it’s obtained a memo in which Mineral announced plans to transfer its technology “out to the agriculture ecosystem to maximize the impact of bringing our AI to agriculture” and confirms that “Mineral will no longer be an Alphabet company.” Licensing discussions are reportedly taking place with companies that previously partnered with Mineral, alongside the agreement with Driscoll’s.

Mineral was spun into an independent subsidiary last year after graduating from Alphabet’s X lab, the experimental division that previously launched Google Glass and the Waymo self-driving car unit. Bloomberg reports that Mineral employees have spent recent months trying to find a way to continue their work after “it became clear” the company no longer had a future under Alphabet.

The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Driscoll’s senior vice president of global research and development, Scott Komar, told Bloomberg it should give Driscoll’s a perpetual license to use Mineral’s technology. “We were really disappointed that Alphabet decided to change directions,” Komar told the publication. “We have really had a great partnership with the Mineral team, and from our vantage point, they were just getting takeoff altitude. And then all of a sudden, you know, plans changed.”

While Alphabet has poured billions of dollars into “moonshot” lab projects — including fish-tracking cameras, grocery delivery drones, and internet-providing balloons — most have struggled to achieve commercial viability. It shut down Loon, its internet balloon company, in 2021, and turned to outside investors to fund its X projects back in January following a wave of job cuts within the division.

Read More 

Illustration: The Verge

A year and a half ago, Threads was but a twinkle in Mark Zuckerberg’s eye.
Now, the rival to Elon Musk’s X has reached more than 175 million monthly active users, the Meta CEO announced on Wednesday.
His announcement comes as Threads is about to hit its one-year anniversary. Back when it arrived in the App Store on July 5th, 2023, Musk was taking a wrecking ball to the service formerly called Twitter and goading Zuckerberg into a literal cage match that never happened. A year later, Threads is still growing at a steady clip — albeit not as quickly as its huge launch — while Musk hasn’t shared comparable metrics for X since he took over.

As with any social network, and especially for Threads, monthly users only tell part of the growth story. It’s telling that, unlike Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, Meta hasn’t shared daily user numbers yet. That omission suggests Threads is still getting a lot of flyby traffic from people who have yet to become regular users.
I’ve heard from Meta employees in recent months that much of the app’s growth is still coming from it being promoted inside Instagram. Both apps share the same account system, which isn’t expected to change.
Even still, 175 million monthly users for a one-year app is nothing to turn your nose up at, especially given Meta’s spotty track record of launching standalone app experiments over the years. Zuckerberg has been open to me and others that he thinks Threads has a real shot at being the company’s next billion-user app. To keep the growth story going, I’m told, Meta is focused on markets where it thinks there’s an opening to take more market share from X — Japan, for example.
For now, Threads is still a loss leader for Meta financially, though it can certainly afford to fund it indefinitely. Internally, I’m told execs are thinking about turning on ads in Threads sometime next year, though the exact plan is still up in the air. It’s easy to see how Threads could plug into Instagram’s existing ads system. And given Meta’s intentional decision to deprioritize politics and encourage lighthearted content, it could be a compelling place for advertisers looking for a more brand-safe alternative to X.
“It would be great if it gets really, really big, but I’m actually more interested in if it becomes culturally relevant and if it gets hundreds of millions of users,” the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, told me when Threads first launched. A year later, the app definitely has more progress to make on the cultural front. But the fact that it’s still growing means Meta has the runway to make that happen.

Illustration: The Verge

A year and a half ago, Threads was but a twinkle in Mark Zuckerberg’s eye.

Now, the rival to Elon Musk’s X has reached more than 175 million monthly active users, the Meta CEO announced on Wednesday.

His announcement comes as Threads is about to hit its one-year anniversary. Back when it arrived in the App Store on July 5th, 2023, Musk was taking a wrecking ball to the service formerly called Twitter and goading Zuckerberg into a literal cage match that never happened. A year later, Threads is still growing at a steady clip — albeit not as quickly as its huge launch — while Musk hasn’t shared comparable metrics for X since he took over.

As with any social network, and especially for Threads, monthly users only tell part of the growth story. It’s telling that, unlike Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, Meta hasn’t shared daily user numbers yet. That omission suggests Threads is still getting a lot of flyby traffic from people who have yet to become regular users.

I’ve heard from Meta employees in recent months that much of the app’s growth is still coming from it being promoted inside Instagram. Both apps share the same account system, which isn’t expected to change.

Even still, 175 million monthly users for a one-year app is nothing to turn your nose up at, especially given Meta’s spotty track record of launching standalone app experiments over the years. Zuckerberg has been open to me and others that he thinks Threads has a real shot at being the company’s next billion-user app. To keep the growth story going, I’m told, Meta is focused on markets where it thinks there’s an opening to take more market share from X — Japan, for example.

For now, Threads is still a loss leader for Meta financially, though it can certainly afford to fund it indefinitely. Internally, I’m told execs are thinking about turning on ads in Threads sometime next year, though the exact plan is still up in the air. It’s easy to see how Threads could plug into Instagram’s existing ads system. And given Meta’s intentional decision to deprioritize politics and encourage lighthearted content, it could be a compelling place for advertisers looking for a more brand-safe alternative to X.

“It would be great if it gets really, really big, but I’m actually more interested in if it becomes culturally relevant and if it gets hundreds of millions of users,” the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, told me when Threads first launched. A year later, the app definitely has more progress to make on the cultural front. But the fact that it’s still growing means Meta has the runway to make that happen.

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Illustration: The Verge

Perplexity has launched a major upgrade to its Pro Search AI tool, which it says “understands when a question requires planning, works through goals step-by-step, and synthesizes in-depth answers with greater efficiency.”
Examples on Perplexity’s website of what Pro Search can do include a query asking the best time to see the northern lights in Iceland or Finland. It breaks down its research process into three searches: the best times to see the northern lights in Iceland and Finland; the top viewing locations in Iceland; and the top viewing locations in Finland. It then provides a detailed answer addressing all aspects of the question, including when to view the northern lights in either country and where.

GIF: Perplexity
Perplexity’s upgraded tool can break down complex queries.

Perplexity’s AI search tool can also generate a detailed report based on a prompt with a feature called Pages. But recent reports from Wired and Forbes have accused Perplexity of committing plagiarism, with a report from Wired calling the self-proclaimed “answer engine” a “Bullshit Machine,” with animations that misrepresent what it’s doing and data scrapers that bypass rules in robots.txt files.
Aside from conducting more thorough research, Perplexity says Search Pro now comes with more advanced math and programming capabilities that improve its ability to analyze data, debug code, and generate content. If you want to try it out for yourself, you can get five searches per day with a free account. Perplexity also offers 600 Pro searches per day with its $20 per month subscription.

Illustration: The Verge

Perplexity has launched a major upgrade to its Pro Search AI tool, which it says “understands when a question requires planning, works through goals step-by-step, and synthesizes in-depth answers with greater efficiency.”

Examples on Perplexity’s website of what Pro Search can do include a query asking the best time to see the northern lights in Iceland or Finland. It breaks down its research process into three searches: the best times to see the northern lights in Iceland and Finland; the top viewing locations in Iceland; and the top viewing locations in Finland. It then provides a detailed answer addressing all aspects of the question, including when to view the northern lights in either country and where.

GIF: Perplexity
Perplexity’s upgraded tool can break down complex queries.

Perplexity’s AI search tool can also generate a detailed report based on a prompt with a feature called Pages. But recent reports from Wired and Forbes have accused Perplexity of committing plagiarism, with a report from Wired calling the self-proclaimed “answer engine” a “Bullshit Machine,” with animations that misrepresent what it’s doing and data scrapers that bypass rules in robots.txt files.

Aside from conducting more thorough research, Perplexity says Search Pro now comes with more advanced math and programming capabilities that improve its ability to analyze data, debug code, and generate content. If you want to try it out for yourself, you can get five searches per day with a free account. Perplexity also offers 600 Pro searches per day with its $20 per month subscription.

Read More 

Screenshot: Steam

Play is important — in fact, it can be as important to a grown-up as it is to a child. If you’ve spent the day concentrating on work, doing your taxes, cleaning your home, or caring for others, it’s not a bad idea to also take a little time for yourself to escape from your adult responsibilities.
These days, play can take a lot of different forms — whether it’s assembling the latest monster Lego project, getting together for a marathon board game, or staying up later than you should with your favorite virtual city builder. On a screen or on a tabletop, virtual or touchable, played alone or with friends — games are a way we can keep ourselves centered.
We asked the staff of The Verge what games they play in order to give their busy brains a rest — and these are some of the answers we got.
Tabletop games

Splendor board game
Becca Farsace, senior video producer

The best part about the game Splendor is taking a moment to look around and watch your friends thinking really, really hard. This is a board game that has no board, just cards and chips, where the objective is to collect gems and acquire capital and property. It is best played with three to five people on a large table. And it involves a whole lot of strategizing, thinking, and endlessly scanning cards. This makes for great thinking faces!
I ditched the box for a small pouch and now bring this game to most bar hangs. And when I’m at home, I find it best when paired with a long playlist that you won’t have to spend any extra mental strength thinking about.
Loop strategy game
Joanna Nelius, reviewer

Screenshot: Pandasaurus Games
The Loop strategy game is, unfortunately, hard to find.

Over the last year, I’ve made a purposeful effort to engage in more screen-free entertainment, and now my shelf is overflowing with fantastic indie board and card games. It’s hard to choose a favorite, but Loop by Pandasaurus Games is so far the best co-op board game I have ever played. The basic premise is to stop the evil Dr. Faux from creating riffs in the space-time continuum across seven different eras while destroying his clones. If an era gains too many rifts, Dr. Faux creates a time vortex, and if he creates too many he destroys the world.
It sounds simple, but there is a surprising amount of strategy involved, almost like a chess match. You have to think several moves ahead, and not just about what you will do but also how that will affect your teammates when it’s their turn. It encourages players to communicate and plan effectively, yet doesn’t slow down the game’s pace with crunchy mechanics. You don’t have to mess around with dice, stacks of cards, or tons of game pieces, and every playthrough is completely different.
You’ll probably lose a lot (I did), but that frustration kept me coming back to kick Dr. Faux’s butt — and when my team and I finally did, we cheered and high-fived. It was such a cool feeling!
Unfortunately, Loop is no longer available at most stores, but you may be able to pick up a copy at eBay or your local gaming store.

Evolution: Oceans board game
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, reviewer

Finding a board game that will entertain a 13-year-old girl, a 16-year-old boy, my partner, and me is a challenge. We’ve cycled through all the classics as well as newer options — Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Catan, and more. While these are all great, inevitably one of the group develops a passionate dislike for the game (usually after a few too many losses) and it drops off our rotation. However, Evolution: Oceans has been a constant crowd-pleaser for over six months now, and we all love it.
Part of the Evolution series from NorthStar Game Studio, Oceans is a beautiful, complicated, compelling, and challenging strategy game. You create new species to fill your ocean and fight to develop them and keep them alive using adaptations and abilities such as schooling and speed, tentacles, and parasitic abilities.
Cards give you your powers, and these are gorgeously illustrated, making this game a visual feast. It does have a fairly steep learning curve, but once you get going and the strategies unfold, the gameplay is smooth and relatively fast-paced. There is a fair amount of player-to-player interaction, so we’ve had a couple of temper tantrums, but nothing big enough to knock this one off our family’s top spot… at least not yet.

Lego Horizon Forbidden West Tallneck set
Jay Peters, news editor

Legos aren’t exactly a board game, and in fact, I don’t get many Lego sets anymore, but building the Horizon Forbidden West set for my birthday last year was such an absolute delight, that I had to include it here. The Tallnecks are one of my favorite creatures from Sony’s hit video game series, so it was really fun to bring an awesome robot dinosaur to life in Lego form. And best of all, the Tallneck is actually, well, tall, measuring 13 1/2 inches in height and towering over the comparatively tiny Aloy minifigure that comes with the set.
I sadly had to deconstruct my Lego Tallneck — which I named Aioli — when I recently moved my desk setup into a different room. But I’ve just realized I have a perfect spot to rebuild AIoli once again, and fortunately, there’s plenty of headroom for his head to stand tall.
Video games

Anbernic RG28XX handheld emulator
Andrew Liszewski, senior news reporter

I have been mildly obsessed with handheld consoles ever since seeing a print ad for the original Nintendo Game Boy in a TV Guide decades ago. Although my favorite Nintendo handheld is still the tiny and highly pocketable Game Boy Micro, its hardware is really showing its age, and I hate carrying around a handful of cartridges. The Anbernic RG28XX is a new, tiny console that feels just as small as the Micro, but with a larger screen that’s easier on my aging eyes and the ability to play thousands of different retro games through emulation. However, my game of choice is frequently Baseball Advance, an obscure Game Boy Advance sports title from 2002. If I find myself with a couple of extra minutes to spare, I’ll usually be going to bat with the Tigers against the Blue Jays for a couple of innings.
Words with Friends 2 mobile game app
Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor

Back in the summer of 2018, I was temporarily unemployed and taking occasional freelance gigs, including one where I worked as an extra for the second season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. There was a lot of sitting around between scenes, and one woman and I started using our phones to play Scrabble — or, rather, a Scrabble-like mobile game app called Words with Friends 2. When the job was over, we kept it up, and after a couple of weeks, I started another game with a former work colleague. When each game was over, we started another. And it just never stopped.
I still play with these two friends — friends whom, I might add, I never otherwise see. While the app itself is free, Words with Friends 2 can be pretty obnoxious — there are constant ads and never-ending urgings to pay for various upgrades. But I can’t give up yet. I’m behind several games, and I’ve got to see if I can make a seven-letter score at least once this coming round….
Cities: Skylines II video game
Liam James, supervising producer, audio

Part of my job as supervising producer of audio for The Verge involves building very complicated spreadsheets to track all kinds of important metrics. While that might sound awful to most people, I find it exhilarating. I love organizing problems in ways that make solving them… well, almost like a game.
So what do I do to relax? Well, I love city-building games because when you boil them down, they are just spreadsheet simulators with a fun and pretty UI on top. My latest obsession is Cities: Skylines II, a spiritual SimCity successor. After a bumpy launch earlier this year, the game has ironed out most of the bugs and performance issues.
Most recently, I’ve been experimenting with a city build that has no roads for cars. To get around, my citizens must walk or take mass transit. But without cars and trucks, how do you move commercial goods around your town? Well, the truth is, I don’t know yet, but I am having a heck of a time figuring it out. There are endless ways to get lost inside a city builder, but for me, the most fun comes from solving one problem at a time and seeing how it affects all the other systems — like a column in a spreadsheet.
Duck Game
Sean Hollister, senior editor

Ouya, the indie game console, was one of the biggest technology flops of the past decade. And yet, it spawned a game I still play with friends almost every week. Duck Game, largely a one-man indie hit from 2015, kept my friend group together through the pandemic with online play for up to eight people.
It’s a 2D arena battle with the frantic energy of Smash Bros., but here, you’re playing ducks with guns — blasting one another with pistols, machine guns, net guns, lasers, mind control rays, sleeping bag cannons, grenades, and more, all while dodging stage hazards, friends who can stomp you with their newfound shoes, chainsaw jousters, and the occasional flying sword.
There’s no blood, just clouds of duck feathers, but almost everything kills in one hit, so hilarity ensues as everyone makes mistakes. The game doesn’t teach you how to play, and yet, it has so much depth, my friends are still discovering new techniques nearly nine years after we began. You can fire shots at all sorts of angles if you jump just right! Holding a certain box can let you drop faster! You can sword pogo sticks like Yoshimitsu from Soulcalibur! Grab and throw your foes after they play dead! Change the pitch of the game’s mostly useless musical instruments with the analog trigger!
Did I mention this game has a dedicated quack button to taunt your foes? Quack quack.

Screenshot: Steam

Play is important — in fact, it can be as important to a grown-up as it is to a child. If you’ve spent the day concentrating on work, doing your taxes, cleaning your home, or caring for others, it’s not a bad idea to also take a little time for yourself to escape from your adult responsibilities.

These days, play can take a lot of different forms — whether it’s assembling the latest monster Lego project, getting together for a marathon board game, or staying up later than you should with your favorite virtual city builder. On a screen or on a tabletop, virtual or touchable, played alone or with friends — games are a way we can keep ourselves centered.

We asked the staff of The Verge what games they play in order to give their busy brains a rest — and these are some of the answers we got.

Tabletop games

Splendor board game

Becca Farsace, senior video producer

The best part about the game Splendor is taking a moment to look around and watch your friends thinking really, really hard. This is a board game that has no board, just cards and chips, where the objective is to collect gems and acquire capital and property. It is best played with three to five people on a large table. And it involves a whole lot of strategizing, thinking, and endlessly scanning cards. This makes for great thinking faces!

I ditched the box for a small pouch and now bring this game to most bar hangs. And when I’m at home, I find it best when paired with a long playlist that you won’t have to spend any extra mental strength thinking about.

Loop strategy game

Joanna Nelius, reviewer

Screenshot: Pandasaurus Games
The Loop strategy game is, unfortunately, hard to find.

Over the last year, I’ve made a purposeful effort to engage in more screen-free entertainment, and now my shelf is overflowing with fantastic indie board and card games. It’s hard to choose a favorite, but Loop by Pandasaurus Games is so far the best co-op board game I have ever played. The basic premise is to stop the evil Dr. Faux from creating riffs in the space-time continuum across seven different eras while destroying his clones. If an era gains too many rifts, Dr. Faux creates a time vortex, and if he creates too many he destroys the world.

It sounds simple, but there is a surprising amount of strategy involved, almost like a chess match. You have to think several moves ahead, and not just about what you will do but also how that will affect your teammates when it’s their turn. It encourages players to communicate and plan effectively, yet doesn’t slow down the game’s pace with crunchy mechanics. You don’t have to mess around with dice, stacks of cards, or tons of game pieces, and every playthrough is completely different.

You’ll probably lose a lot (I did), but that frustration kept me coming back to kick Dr. Faux’s butt — and when my team and I finally did, we cheered and high-fived. It was such a cool feeling!

Unfortunately, Loop is no longer available at most stores, but you may be able to pick up a copy at eBay or your local gaming store.

Evolution: Oceans board game

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, reviewer

Finding a board game that will entertain a 13-year-old girl, a 16-year-old boy, my partner, and me is a challenge. We’ve cycled through all the classics as well as newer options — Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Catan, and more. While these are all great, inevitably one of the group develops a passionate dislike for the game (usually after a few too many losses) and it drops off our rotation. However, Evolution: Oceans has been a constant crowd-pleaser for over six months now, and we all love it.

Part of the Evolution series from NorthStar Game Studio, Oceans is a beautiful, complicated, compelling, and challenging strategy game. You create new species to fill your ocean and fight to develop them and keep them alive using adaptations and abilities such as schooling and speed, tentacles, and parasitic abilities.

Cards give you your powers, and these are gorgeously illustrated, making this game a visual feast. It does have a fairly steep learning curve, but once you get going and the strategies unfold, the gameplay is smooth and relatively fast-paced. There is a fair amount of player-to-player interaction, so we’ve had a couple of temper tantrums, but nothing big enough to knock this one off our family’s top spot… at least not yet.

Lego Horizon Forbidden West Tallneck set

Jay Peters, news editor

Legos aren’t exactly a board game, and in fact, I don’t get many Lego sets anymore, but building the Horizon Forbidden West set for my birthday last year was such an absolute delight, that I had to include it here. The Tallnecks are one of my favorite creatures from Sony’s hit video game series, so it was really fun to bring an awesome robot dinosaur to life in Lego form. And best of all, the Tallneck is actually, well, tall, measuring 13 1/2 inches in height and towering over the comparatively tiny Aloy minifigure that comes with the set.

I sadly had to deconstruct my Lego Tallneck — which I named Aioli — when I recently moved my desk setup into a different room. But I’ve just realized I have a perfect spot to rebuild AIoli once again, and fortunately, there’s plenty of headroom for his head to stand tall.

Video games

Anbernic RG28XX handheld emulator

Andrew Liszewski, senior news reporter

I have been mildly obsessed with handheld consoles ever since seeing a print ad for the original Nintendo Game Boy in a TV Guide decades ago. Although my favorite Nintendo handheld is still the tiny and highly pocketable Game Boy Micro, its hardware is really showing its age, and I hate carrying around a handful of cartridges. The Anbernic RG28XX is a new, tiny console that feels just as small as the Micro, but with a larger screen that’s easier on my aging eyes and the ability to play thousands of different retro games through emulation. However, my game of choice is frequently Baseball Advance, an obscure Game Boy Advance sports title from 2002. If I find myself with a couple of extra minutes to spare, I’ll usually be going to bat with the Tigers against the Blue Jays for a couple of innings.

Words with Friends 2 mobile game app

Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor

Back in the summer of 2018, I was temporarily unemployed and taking occasional freelance gigs, including one where I worked as an extra for the second season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. There was a lot of sitting around between scenes, and one woman and I started using our phones to play Scrabble — or, rather, a Scrabble-like mobile game app called Words with Friends 2. When the job was over, we kept it up, and after a couple of weeks, I started another game with a former work colleague. When each game was over, we started another. And it just never stopped.

I still play with these two friends — friends whom, I might add, I never otherwise see. While the app itself is free, Words with Friends 2 can be pretty obnoxious — there are constant ads and never-ending urgings to pay for various upgrades. But I can’t give up yet. I’m behind several games, and I’ve got to see if I can make a seven-letter score at least once this coming round….

Cities: Skylines II video game

Liam James, supervising producer, audio

Part of my job as supervising producer of audio for The Verge involves building very complicated spreadsheets to track all kinds of important metrics. While that might sound awful to most people, I find it exhilarating. I love organizing problems in ways that make solving them… well, almost like a game.

So what do I do to relax? Well, I love city-building games because when you boil them down, they are just spreadsheet simulators with a fun and pretty UI on top. My latest obsession is Cities: Skylines II, a spiritual SimCity successor. After a bumpy launch earlier this year, the game has ironed out most of the bugs and performance issues.

Most recently, I’ve been experimenting with a city build that has no roads for cars. To get around, my citizens must walk or take mass transit. But without cars and trucks, how do you move commercial goods around your town? Well, the truth is, I don’t know yet, but I am having a heck of a time figuring it out. There are endless ways to get lost inside a city builder, but for me, the most fun comes from solving one problem at a time and seeing how it affects all the other systems — like a column in a spreadsheet.

Duck Game

Sean Hollister, senior editor

Ouya, the indie game console, was one of the biggest technology flops of the past decade. And yet, it spawned a game I still play with friends almost every week. Duck Game, largely a one-man indie hit from 2015, kept my friend group together through the pandemic with online play for up to eight people.

It’s a 2D arena battle with the frantic energy of Smash Bros., but here, you’re playing ducks with guns — blasting one another with pistols, machine guns, net guns, lasers, mind control rays, sleeping bag cannons, grenades, and more, all while dodging stage hazards, friends who can stomp you with their newfound shoes, chainsaw jousters, and the occasional flying sword.

There’s no blood, just clouds of duck feathers, but almost everything kills in one hit, so hilarity ensues as everyone makes mistakes. The game doesn’t teach you how to play, and yet, it has so much depth, my friends are still discovering new techniques nearly nine years after we began. You can fire shots at all sorts of angles if you jump just right! Holding a certain box can let you drop faster! You can sword pogo sticks like Yoshimitsu from Soulcalibur! Grab and throw your foes after they play dead! Change the pitch of the game’s mostly useless musical instruments with the analog trigger!

Did I mention this game has a dedicated quack button to taunt your foes? Quack quack.

Read More