After recent confirmation that Indiana Jones and The Great Circle would be Xbox console exclusive, Xbox Head Phil Spencer explains why it’s now coming to PS5 after Xbox.

On Tuesday, Xbox confirmed that Indiana Jones and The Great Circle would no longer be an Xbox console exclusive, and it would be coming out on the PlayStation 5 platform. This is after the Xbox Head, Phil Spencer himself, said on an Xbox podcast episode back on February 15 that the title would be an Xbox exclusive. On that same podcast, Spencer revealed other Xbox-developed titles would come to the PlayStation platform, leaving Indy as an Xbox exclusive. Today, on a stream at Gamescom 2024, Phil Spencer backtracked Xbox exclusivity when asked to comment on the PS5 release announcement.

Phil Spencer said, “Going to the PlayStation announcement, obviously, last spring we launched four games – two of them on the Switch, four of them on PlayStation – and we said we were going to learn,” continuing with, “I think at the showcase I might have said that from our learning, we’re going to do more” regarding the PS5 Indiana Jones announcement. That announcement can be seen below, courtesy of Bethesda.

Phil Spencer explains that the gaming industry’s pressure, including the obscene amount of layoffs that have happened since the beginning of 2024, has forced gaming companies to run more like “a business.” Spencer then says, “I think for us as fans and players of games, we just have to anticipate there’s going to be more change in how some of the more traditional ways that games were built and distributed – that’s going to change for all of us” concluding with “But the end result needs to be better games that more people can play. If we’re not focused on that, we’re focused on the wrong things.”

Overall, Xbox appears to be rethinking its strategy when it comes to console-exclusive releases, even when it comes to titles they’ve previously announced as Xbox console-exclusive, in favour of an approach to make games more accessible by launching them on as many platforms as possible which echoes the “every screen is an Xbox” statement made by Sarah Bond also ironically on February 15, the same day Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was announced as Xbox exclusive.

Nintendo's 135-year history will soon be brought to life inside the walls of a new purpose-built Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, Japan - and ahead of its opening on 2nd October, legendary designer Shigeru Miyamoto has revealed some of its intriguing exhibits in a new video tour.

The Nintendo Museum has been built on the site of the factory where Nintendo originally made its Hanafuda cards, and which was later used for quality checks during the Famicom era. That building and its unremarkable carpark are no longer standing, however, now replaced by a shiny two-floor monument to Nintendo's history and a Mario-themed plaza.

Miyamoto's 13-minute tour begins on the second floor of the museum, where several huge curved glass displays - containing many of the products Nintendo has released since its founding in 1889 - can be found. This whole area is intended to chart the evolution of Nintendo's approach to entertainment, from its earlier non-video game products - including copy machines, baby strollers, RC cars, and pitching machines - into more familiar territory, beginning with 1977's early video game forays, the Color TV-Game 6 and Color TV-Game 15.

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Launched on July 24, 2024, the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 is still less than a month old. We usually don’t start seeing sales on devices so soon, but right now, you can catch a $100 discount on the Motorola Razr Plus 2024. This brings the cost down to $900.

Get the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 for $900

This offer is available from Amazon, as well as the official Motorola page. The discount applies to all color variants of the Motorola Razr Plus 2024: Midnight Blue, Spring Green, Peach Fuzz, and Hot Pink.

The Motorola Razr Plus 2024 is a fantastic foldable phone, competing directly with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6. At $900, though, it might be the best bet in terms of high-end flip phones. Performance is nothing short of amazing, featuring a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor and 12GB of RAM.

The external display has been expanded, covering pretty much the whole front of the phone when folded shut. The main display measures 6.9 inches and features an LTPO AMOLED panel with a 165Hz refresh rate.

We especially like Motorola’s clean software, which is pretty much ad- and bloat-free. The leather and suede exterior finishes look and feel great, too. Not to mention, the hinge has been slimmed down for a much more refined look. The battery is a bit small at 4,000mAh, but such is the nature of flip phones, and the 45W charging ensures you can get it juiced up quickly.

It’s a great overall phone, and I happen to prefer its look and design over Sammy’s alternative. Go buy your Motorola Razr Plus 2024 while the price is low! We’re not sure how long this offer will last, and many would argue it’s the very best flip phone available right now.

Titanium phones seem to be all the rage these days, at least for Samsung and Apple. Samsung has made a big deal about the Galaxy S24 Ultra being made with the material, and now reports claim the company may also use the metal for the rumored Galaxy Z Fold 6 “Slim.”

According to The Elec, Samsung’s parts suppliers say the firm is making the final decision on whether to use stainless steel or titanium for the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Slim’s backplate. This would be the first time the tech giant has used titanium for the backplate on any of its foldables.

Up until now, the company has used either stainless steel or carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) for its backplates. Specifically, it used stainless steel up to the Fold 2, then switched to CFRP with the Fold 3 and onward. The reason why this switch was made has to do with the addition of S Pen recognition, which first appeared on the Fold 3. A digitizer is used in these devices to recognize the stylus and a metal backplate can interfere with that recognition.

It’s reported that this slim variant of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 does not have S Pen recognition support. As such, Samsung is free to use metal again for the backplate. Using titanium as the backplate material over stainless steel is not as straightforward as it would seem. Titanium is stronger and lighter than stainless steel, but it’s also harder to process.

Whatever Samsung decides, the outlet says that decision will be made soon. It also claims that the phone will be released in the fourth quarter of this year.

Don’t get your hopes up if you live in the US, however. This foldable is expected to only release in China and possibly South Korea.

Are you looking for the best headphones around? We have a sister site dedicated to audio, and our coworkers at SoundGuys deem the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones the best for most people. That said, these are pretty pricey at the usual $400 price point. Waiting for the right sale to hit makes all the difference, and right now, the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones are at the same record-low prices we saw during Prime Day: $298.

Get the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones for just $298

This deal is available from Amazon. The discount applies to all color versions of the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones: Black, Midnight Blue, and Silver.

We have a list of the best headphones available over at SoundGuys.com, and the #1 spot belongs to the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones. This is because this model offers great performance across the board. The audio quality is outstanding, and it is still one of the headsets with the best ANC quality around. Even the microphone is excellent.

Additionally, battery life is stunning at nearly 32 hours with ANC on, according to our standard battery test for headphones. Turn off ANC, and that time will go up to an insane 53 hours. Of course, you’ll also get cool features worthy of a high-end headset. These include touch controls, Find My Device support, and Bluetooth multipoint capabilities.

Again, this is the same discount we saw during Amazon Prime Day, and it also happens to be a record-low price for these fantastic headphones. If we were you, we wouldn’t think too long about buying the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones. The price might go back to normal soon, and these are still the best headphones around.

Even the very best smartphones have their pros and cons. As consumers, we take great joy in outlining the positives and enjoying the improvements or novel smarts an updated model brings. However, it’s the negatives that ultimately make or break a device.

A phone could offer the best-in-class performance, but if limited battery life or overheating tampers the experience, it rather negates the feat. Similarly, there’s no point in boasting a crazy quintuple camera array if all five are ordinary. Some manufacturers nerf some features to cut costs or elevate other models in the lineup.

What is your smartphone dealbreaker?

While some users can live with mediocre cameras or battery life if that means a large display or performant base, each one of us will have a different dealbreaker. So, what is yours? We’d love some consumer input from our readers, so vote in our poll below.

We’ve touched on this topic a few times before. In 2017, two of our primary dealbreakers were the lack of a headphone jack and no water resistance — how times have changed. We also polled readers in 2021, with the majority outing poor battery life and a lack of software updates as their bugbears — two problems that still rear their heads. A low-quality display was also among our readers’ top annoyances, but the issue is largely extinct in 2024.

My biggest dealbreaker is battery life, followed by camera performance and durability. If I forget to charge my phone, I want to ensure it’ll still wake me up in the morning. I’m still clinging onto my older phone because it’s built like a shiny tank, and the camera remains impressive. These might be small details, but they matter to me.

Unfortunately, the poll above allows you to pick only one dealbreaker. Ensure that you really give the topic some thought. However, be sure to leave a comment detailing your choice, or tertiary dealbreakers if you are so inclined.

We’re likely just a few weeks away from Apple’s next media event. On September 10, the Cupertino firm is expected to reveal the iPhone 16 lineup, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 3. That may not be all, however. During the same keynote, the iPhone maker could also debut three new AirPods models, including the highly anticipated AirPods 4.

According to the latest Bloomberg Power On newsletter, Apple is still on track to release two AirPods 4 variants this fall. The entry-level edition will likely replace the AirPods 2 as an affordable option, while the higher-end model could be the AirPods 3’s substitute. It’s currently unclear if the cheaper version will be dubbed AirPods SE, AirPods 4 Lite, or something completely different.

In terms of functionality, the higher-end AirPods 4 model is expected to feature active noise cancelation, which is currently exclusive to the Pro and Max editions. Otherwise, both AirPods 4 variants will likely drop the Lightning port and adopt USB-C for charging.

Speaking of USB-C, the AirPods Max 2 could also make an appearance during the same event. Though, beyond switching to the universal charging port and generic enhancements, the premium headphones are expected to remain largely the same.

Otherwise, those anticipating the AirPods Pro 3 will likely have to wait till next year, as we’re only expecting the AirPods Max 2 and two AirPods 4 variants this time around.

If you didn’t already know, I like flip phones. I’ve been using the Motorola Razr Plus (2024) and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 since they came out, and I’ve already theorized about what a flippable iPhone would look like. Now, it’s Google’s turn for my elevator pitch. I think it’s finally time for a Google Pixel Flip, but I think Google should probably wait until 2025 to launch it, and here’s why.

Finally, cooler under pressure

If you’ve ever used a flip phone, be it a Galaxy Z Flip 6, Razr, or even OPPO’s Find N3 Flip, you know that the form factor has its limitations. You end up searching for the perfect mix of battery capacity, a capable chipset, and ample cooling power and find that you can only choose two of the three. Add one of Google’s roasty, toasty Tensor chips to that mix, and you’ve got a recipe for a flip phone that’s dead by noon — at least for now. Alright, I’m exaggerating, but only by a little bit.

I think 2025 will be the perfect time to put that Tensor heat under some flip phone pressure, though, because Google is finally changing its process. After four generations of Samsung-made Tensor chips, all signs point to Google switching to TSMC for what should become known as the Tensor G5. And, if you remember what happened when Qualcomm did the same thing when it moved from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (made by Samsung) to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (made by TSMC), you’ll know that the change in process should come with much better thermal performance.

Qualcomm switched from Samsung to TSMC for better thermals, and it sounds like Google's next.

Of course, that change may or may not come with a boost to raw performance power, but we know that’s not really Google’s priority. The current Tensor lineup already benchmarks behind Qualcomm’s top-tier Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, but we’re usually willing to give it at least somewhat of a pass because of all the AI features it has to power. Would I love to see the Tensor G5 bring a little more power to Pixel? Sure, but I’m happy to settle for better thermals in the meantime.

Once Google controls that heat, it will probably feel a bit more comfortable tackling the other limitations of the flip form factor. As soon as it settles on a chipset that doesn’t chew through the battery like it’s going out of style, it will be able to work out a battery capacity and cooling system that can fit within the pocket-friendly confines I’m looking forward to. And if Google is after a flip phone as thin as the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, it might be a true feat of engineering.

Third time’s the charm (seriously, though)

I’m also perfectly happy for Google to wait another year before launching its first Pixel Flip because that’s about when the best foldable phones hit their stride. It usually takes one or two tries before the hinge feels locked in and the crease begins to shrink. Think about it — the OnePlus Open is OPPO’s Find N3, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is when Samsung finally started using tougher materials, and we’re kind of on the third Motorola Razr redesign as long as we don’t count the 2022 model that only came to China.

So, in 2025, Google will also be developing its third generation of foldable phones. By then, I think it will have learned a thing or two (if it hasn’t already). We’ve already seen quite the design evolution from the first Pixel Fold to the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, and now all Google has to do is find a way to scale it down. Its revamped hinge is a solid improvement over the original, opening easier and settling flatter after just one year of development. Google has also swapped from the sizable top and bottom bezels on its first Pixel Fold to thin ones with a punch hole selfie camera on its second, bringing it in line with most other book-style foldables.

I was also somewhat worried about how Google would combine its signature camera bar with a compact flip form factor, but it seems to have handled that on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, too. The simple answer is that it’s not as married to the camera bar as I initially expected — which is good news for a flip phone. Instead of stretching its sensors across the back panel, it cut the camera bar in half and stacked two sensors on top of each other. So, if I had to guess, a Pixel Flip would then cut that modified camera bar in half again, giving us a two-camera setup similar to what is already on the Pixel 9 — complete with the excellent image processing that we already know it’s capable of.

Perhaps the biggest mystery after that is what Google would do with its cover screen (other than call it the Pixel Window, of course). It could either copy Samsung with an oddly shaped panel, mimic Motorola with one that stretches around the cameras (I doubt it), or follow OPPO with a narrower, phone-shaped display that sits next to the panels instead. I’m not sure which one I’d want, but I know that the revamped Pixel Weather widget would be a must-have, as would flexible app support — please don’t give me a Good Lock-like experience, Google.

Let’s face it: flip phones are just easier

On top of it all, flip phones (like blondes) have more fun. Whereas book-style foldables tend to get lumped in as super-expensive devices for power users, flip phones are usually more affordable and seen as fashion statements. I think Google’s clean, colorful flavor of Android falls into the latter more than the former. Material You is loaded with color-matching options, and its large, relatively simple widgets seem like they’d flow perfectly across a relatively compact cover screen. Oh, and Google’s straightforward Gmail, Google Photos, and Messages interfaces should be easy enough to scale down for a pocket-friendly experience.

The fact that flip phones are typically more affordable should help Google’s chances, too. Unless you’re committed to a book-style foldable, it’s probably impossible to imagine spending $1,800 on your next phone. Dropping around $1,000, on the other hand, is somehow much more acceptable. Google has already bumped the price of its Pixel 9 Pro (the smaller one) to a grand, and the Galaxy Z Flip 6 now costs more than that at $1,100. So, if Google can ready up a Pixel Flip that undercuts Samsung, it might be onto something.

Google's Pixel UI and Gemini features are just the right kind of fun for a flip phone.

Even if Google launches a Pixel 10 Pro Flip (or some equally convoluted name) that matches the Galaxy Z Flip 7 dollar for dollar, I think it’ll be on the right track. Currently, Samsung’s expensive flip phone only really has to compete with the Motorola Razr Plus (2024), which it largely beats by offering longer software support, more reliable cameras, and a few Galaxy AI features ready ahead of the Moto AI rollout. Google can easily roll in with a matching seven years of updates, pack in its Magic Editor and Add Me features, and put Gemini in every last piece of Pixel UI. Once it does, Samsung will finally have to worry about someone not named Apple.

That is, of course, my dream for 2025. It feels like Google should be ready by then, and it all hinges on the switch from Samsung to TSMC for the Tensor G5 chip. If that happens and it works out like I think it will, I’ll carry a Google-branded flip phone for a long time to come.

Samsung is done with all major flagship phone launches for 2024. It started the year by announcing the Galaxy S24 series and followed it up with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 launch in July. The company might launch the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Slim later this year, but its limited availability will make it a niche device. Unsurprisingly, the rumor mill has now turned its attention to the next big thing from the Korean company: the Galaxy S25 Ultra. A new leak has now detailed the phone's screen size and the reduced bezel size.

There's always a certain amount of excitement when it comes to buying a new phone. And while we'd love to just dive in to experience all the new features, there's always a small hiccup that comes from transferring your old data to the new device. Now, this process is relatively painless for the most part, with the option to do a direct transfer using cables or sourcing your important information from the cloud.

The latest incarnation of Amazon's Echo Spot is back on sale. The smart alarm clock has dropped from $80 to $55. The device was available for $45 during an introductory/Prime Day sale in July, but this is the lowest that the Echo Spot has dipped to since then.

The new model has a sharper display and better sound compared with the original one, Amazon claims (the company canned the first Echo Spot in 2019, two years after its debut). The front face of the new Echo Spot is split almost in half with a display up top and speaker at the bottom. Unlike the original model, there's no camera in this one, which is a welcome move. It always seemed odd for Amazon to include one in something many people use as a bedside device.

The Echo Spot has Alexa integration, of course. You can use the voice assistant to play music, control smart home devices and create a routine for waking up. The display can show you information such as the title of the song that's playing, weather details and, naturally, the time of day.

There are a couple of other Echo devices on sale at the moment, including the Echo Show 5. The 2023 model is a third off at $60. It's one of our favorite Alexa-powered smart displays, and it can work as an alarm clock too (the tap-to-snooze feature is very handy for those desiring a few more minutes of shut-eye). The Echo Show 5 does have a built-in camera, but there's a physical shutter you can use to block it.

Meanwhile, an Echo Dot can be yours for $30. That's 20 bucks off the regular price. This is our pick for the best smart speaker that costs under $50, so the value for money is even better thanks to this sale.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

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Many vaccines, including vaccines for hepatitis B and whooping cough, consist of fragments of viral or bacterial proteins. These vaccines often include other molecules called adjuvants, which help to boost the immune system’s response to the protein.

Most of these adjuvants consist of aluminum salts or other molecules that provoke a nonspecific immune response. A team of MIT researchers has now shown that a type of nanoparticle called a metal organic framework (MOF) can also provoke a strong immune response, by activating the innate immune system — the body’s first line of defense against any pathogen — through cell proteins called toll-like receptors.

In a study of mice, the researchers showed that this MOF could successfully encapsulate and deliver part of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, while also acting as an adjuvant once the MOF is broken down inside cells.

While more work would be needed to adapt these particles for use as vaccines, the study demonstrates that this type of structure can be useful for generating a strong immune response, the researchers say.

“Understanding how the drug delivery vehicle can enhance an adjuvant immune response is something that could be very helpful in designing new vaccines,” says Ana Jaklenec, a principal investigator at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and one of the senior authors of the new study.

Robert Langer, an MIT Institute Professor and member of the Koch Institute, and Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a professor at Harvard Medical School, are also senior authors of the paper, which appears today in Science Advances. The paper’s lead author is former MIT postdoc and Ibn Khaldun Fellow Shahad Alsaiari.

Immune activation

In this study, the researchers focused on a MOF called ZIF-8, which consists of a lattice of tetrahedral units made up of a zinc ion attached to four molecules of imidazole, an organic compound. Previous work has shown that ZIF-8 can significantly boost immune responses, but it wasn’t known exactly how this particle activates the immune system.

To try to figure that out, the MIT team created an experimental vaccine consisting of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding protein (RBD) embedded within ZIF-8 particles. These particles are between 100 and 200 nanometers in diameter, a size that allows them to get into the body’s lymph nodes directly or through immune cells such as macrophages.

Once the particles enter the cells, the MOFs are broken down, releasing the viral proteins. The researchers found that the imidazole components then activate toll-like receptors (TLRs), which help to stimulate the innate immune response.

“This process is analogous to establishing a covert operative team at the molecular level to transport essential elements of the Covid-19 virus to the body’s immune system, where they can activate specific immune responses to boost vaccine efficacy,” Alsaiari says.

RNA sequencing of cells from the lymph nodes showed that mice vaccinated with ZIF-8 particles carrying the viral protein strongly activated a TLR pathway known as TLR-7, which led to greater production of cytokines and other molecules involved in inflammation.

Mice vaccinated with these particles generated a much stronger response to the viral protein than mice that received the protein on its own.

“Not only are we delivering the protein in a more controlled way through a nanoparticle, but the compositional structure of this particle is also acting as an adjuvant,” Jaklenec says. “We were able to achieve very specific responses to the Covid protein, and with a dose-sparing effect compared to using the protein by itself to vaccinate.”

Vaccine access

While this study and others have demonstrated ZIF-8’s immunogenic ability, more work needs to be done to evaluate the particles’ safety and potential to be scaled up for large-scale manufacturing. If ZIF-8 is not developed as a vaccine carrier, the findings from the study should help to guide researchers in developing similar nanoparticles that could be used to deliver subunit vaccines, Jaklenec says.

“Most subunit vaccines usually have two separate components: an antigen and an adjuvant,” Jaklenec says. “Designing new vaccines that utilize nanoparticles with specific chemical moieties which not only aid in antigen delivery but can also activate particular immune pathways have the potential to enhance vaccine potency.”

One advantage to developing a subunit vaccine for Covid-19 is that such vaccines are usually easier and cheaper to manufacture than mRNA vaccines, which could make it easier to distribute them around the world, the researchers say.

“Subunit vaccines have been around for a long time, and they tend to be cheaper to produce, so that opens up more access to vaccines, especially in times of pandemic,” Jaklenec says.

The research was funded by Ibn Khaldun Fellowships for Saudi Arabian Women and in part by the Koch Institute Support (core) Grant from the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

A team of MIT researchers will lead a $65.67 million effort, awarded by the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), to develop ingestible devices that may one day be used to treat diabetes, obesity, and other conditions through oral delivery of mRNA. Such devices could potentially be deployed for needle-free delivery of mRNA vaccines as well.

The five-year project also aims to develop electroceuticals, a new form of ingestible therapies based on electrical stimulation of the body’s own hormones and neural signaling. If successful, this approach could lead to new treatments for a variety of metabolic disorders.

“We know that the oral route is generally the preferred route of administration for both patients and health care providers,” says Giovanni Traverso, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT and a gastroenterologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Our primary focus is on disorders of metabolism because they affect a lot of people, but the platforms we’re developing could be applied very broadly.”

Traverso is the principal investigator for the project, which also includes Robert Langer, MIT Institute Professor, and Anantha Chandrakasan, dean of the MIT School of Engineering and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. As part of the project, the MIT team will collaborate with investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, New York University, and the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Over the past several years, Traverso’s and Langer’s labs have designed many types of ingestible devices that can deliver drugs to the GI tract. This approach could be especially useful for protein drugs and nucleic acids, which typically can’t be given orally because they break down in the acidic environment of the digestive tract.

Messenger RNA has already proven useful as a vaccine, directing cells to produce fragments of viral proteins that trigger an immune response. Delivering mRNA to cells also holds potential to stimulate production of therapeutic molecules to treat a variety of diseases. In this project, the researchers plan to focus on metabolic diseases such as diabetes.

“What mRNA can do is enable the potential for dosing therapies that are very difficult to dose today, or provide longer-term coverage by essentially creating an internal factory that produces a therapy for a prolonged period,” Traverso says.

In the mRNA portion of the project, the research team intends to identify lipid and polymer nanoparticle formulations that can most effectively deliver mRNA to cells, using machine learning to help identify the best candidates. They will also develop and test ingestible devices to carry the mRNA-nanoparticle payload, with the goal of running a clinical trial in the final year of the five-year project.

The work will build on research that Traverso’s lab has already begun. In 2022, Traverso and his colleagues reported that they could deliver mRNA in capsules that inject mRNA-nanoparticle complexes into the lining of the stomach.

The other branch of the project will focus on ingestible devices that can deliver a small electrical current to the lining of the stomach. In a study published last year, Traverso’s lab demonstrated this approach for the first time, using a capsule coated with electrodes that apply an electrical current to cells of the stomach. In animal studies, they found that this stimulation boosted production of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite.

Traverso envisions that this type of treatment could potentially replace or complement some of the existing drugs used to prevent nausea and stimulate appetite in people with anorexia or cachexia (loss of body mass that can occur in patients with cancer or other chronic diseases). The researchers also hope to develop ways to stimulate production of GLP-1, a hormone that is used to help manage diabetes and promote weight loss.

“What this approach starts to do is potentially maximize our ability to treat disease without administering a new drug, but instead by simply modulating the body’s own systems through electrical stimulation,” Traverso says.

At MIT, Langer will help to develop nanoparticles for mRNA delivery, and Chandrakasan will work on ways to reduce energy consumption and miniaturize the electronic functions of the capsules, including secure communication, stimulation, and power generation.

The Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s portion of the project will be co-led by Traverso, Ameya Kirtane, Jason Li, and Peter Chai, who will amplify efforts on the formulation and stabilization of the mRNA nanoparticles, engineering of the ingestible devices, and running of clinical trials. At NYU, the effort will be led by assistant professor of bioengineering Khalil Ramadi SM ’16, PhD ’19, focusing on biological characterization of the effects of electrical stimulation. Researchers at the University of Colorado, led by Matthew Wynia and Eric G. Campbell of the CU Center for Bioethics and Humanities, will focus on exploring the ethical dimensions and public perceptions of these types of biomedical interventions.

“We felt like we had an opportunity here not only to do fundamental engineering science and early-stage clinical trials, but also to start to understand the data behind some of the ethical implications and public perceptions of these technologies through this broad collaboration,” Traverso says.

The project described here is supported by ARPA-H under award number D24AC00040-00. The content of this announcement does not necessarily represent the official views of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health.

Developer: Capcom    Publisher: Capcom    Release: 10/18/96   Genre: Action Marvel Super Heroes in War of the Gems has to be one of my biggest gaming disappointments in 1996. I joined the 32-bit generation a few years late due to being...

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Developer: Jaleco    Publisher: Jaleco   Release: 03/28/89    Genre: Action I love Sunset Riders. It was one of the few arcade games that was able to take my attention away from TMNT. And the superb SNES port remains one...

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The Summer 2024 Anime season has been absolutely excellent, with big-hitters like Oshi no Ko season 2, Tower of God: Return of the Prince, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest, and Suicide Squad Isekai leading online discussions within the anime community.

One of the resident rom-com additions to the season, Too Many Losing Heroines, has proven itself to be the perfect subversion of many of the standard tropes found in shonen rom-coms, and from everything that’s been released from the anime so far, it’s looking to be the summer season’s best.

Too Many Losing Heroines Gives Shonen Rom-Com Fans Everything They Could Ever Want

Produced by A-1 Pictures, the anime adaptation of Too Many Losing Heroines by Muru Imigi and Takibi Amamori follows Kazuhiko, a friendless and plain young man who unexpectedly catches the cool and popular Anna Yanami getting friend-zoned by her childhood friend. In an interesting domino effect, all the popular girls at Kazuhiko’s school are getting rejected left and right by the guys they like.

Kazuhiko subsequently ends up surrounded by said popular girls, and his boring, quiet high school life gets flipped on its head as he helps keep the shockingly eccentric girl-failures’ spirits up in the face of heartbreak. While the plot may initially sound pretty standard for an anime in this genre, the execution of Too Many Losing Heroines makes it stand out in an oversaturated genre for the performances delivered by the main cast and the show’s incredible writing.

Hikaru Toono, the voice actress that plays Anna, is particularly talented, perfectly bouncing between the typical “popular girl” persona and being a total eccentric when she thinks nobody’s watching. The rest of the cast feel equally lively, and when pairing this with A-1’s vivid and stylish animation, the anime has been nothing short of incredible.

Of course, for anime fans not keen on shows that delve into harem tropes, this one may be a miss. While it definitely focuses more on the struggles of the girls after being rejected and moving on, there is still just a hint of a harem brewing beneath the surface. Whether the show will commit to this or truly subvert the genre by staying removed from the harem trope has yet to be seen. Despite that, though, Too Many Heroines’ first three episodes have been infectiously fun and any fan of rom-coms should give it a try.

During Gamescom 2024 Opening Night Live, Machine Games and Bethesda Softworks revealed the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PS5 release date window.

When is the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PS5 release date window?

Players won’t have to wait too long after its initial release on Xbox this December. Geoff Keighley took to the Gamescom Opening Night Live stage to reveal the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PS5 release date window is Spring 2025. This means Machine Games’ next title is likely slated to launch for PlayStation sometime between March and June.

The Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Gamescom date reveal trailer offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse of actor Troy Baker as the titular character, visually portrayed by Harrison Ford. Baker recalls seeing Indiana Jones for the first time, and his excitement to take on the iconic role.

“It’s humbling playing a character so many people, myself included, look up to. As a kid, seeing Indiana Jones in the theater for the first time was a defining moment for me,” says Baker in the video. “I never would have guess that all these years later, I would be the one wearing the hat, but here I am. It’s been a dream come true. A dream I cannot wait for you to live for yourself.”

Machine Games announced it was making an Indiana Jones game back in 2021 with a short teaser trailer. The game is set between the films Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It will take Indy and his new companion Gina across the globe including the Himalayas and the Great Pyramids of Egypt.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle launches December 9, 2024, for Xbox Series X|S and PC. Preorders for the Standard, Premium, and Collector’s Edition are available now for Xbox. Players can now wishlist the game on PS5.

The post Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PS5 Release Date Window Set appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

The last time the developers at MachineGames made an Xbox-exclusive first-person action-adventure based on a movie character, it turned out to be one of the best experiences of the entire original Xbox/PS2 console generation. That game was The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, back when the core of …

After its proper reveal earlier this year, MachineGames has finally provided a release date for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which is coming to PC and Xbox Series X/S on December 9, 2023. Additionally, we learned that it's coming to PS5 in Spring of 2025.

As part of Xbox's …

We already have available the new Redmi Buds 6 Active, semi in-ear headphones with a weight of only 4 grams per earphone. In addition, the aesthetic changes present ...

The post Redmi Buds 6 Active ya a la venta, auriculares con drivers de 14.2 mm first appeared on AndroidPCtv.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is supposed to be the big console and Game Pass exclusive for Xbox this fall, but it won’t be long until it comes to PlayStation 5 too, according to new reports. The port has been rumored for months and is the latest Xbox game to lose exclusivity amid Microsoft’s new multiplatform…

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Well folks, Gamescom Opening Night Live has now come and gone. We had some predictions about how the night could’ve gone including an appeal to finally get a single crumb of a Sonic The Hedgehog 3 trailer for the upcoming movie and a Hideo Kojima sighting, as has become the norm around events put on by Geoff Keighley.…

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It’s time for Gamescom, friendos. Geoff Keighley is back to host another big video game showcase, and this time it’s the Opening Night Live presentation before Gamescom. The German event is taking place from August 21 to 25 in Cologne, but before fans, press, and developers explore the showfloor, we get to see a big…

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Game Pass Standard, a new middle tier in the Netflix-like subscription service’s ever-expanding menu of options, won’t get some games that hit the higher tiers on day one for up to a year or longer, Microsoft revealed today. The cheaper version is going into preview mode for Xbox Insiders for $1 ahead of its official…

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Video game release dates are more a suggestion than a promise these days, and understandably so. Making games is hard and audiences have never been busier and more fickle. Still, it’s disappointing when you find out that sci-fi shooter or fantasy adventure you’ve been waiting for won’t be out any time soon, and a lot…

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Fortnite’s newest season, Absolute Doom, is here. As the name suggests, it’s centered around one of Marvel’s most prominent villains, Doctor Doom. This season is filled with various Marvel-themed skins that you can unlock after purchasing the battle pass. Of course, it also comes with multiple quests you can complete…

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Since its reveal, I’ve been both sceptical and excited to play Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Machine Games has a phenomenal track record, but I couldn’t help but think Indy’s movements looked clunky in recent trailers.

Having seen an extended section of the game, and heard from Game Director Jerk Gustafsson and Creative Director Axel Torvenius, some of those concerns remain, but The Great Circle surprised me in its scope and how impressive it is in its variety and presentation.

The market for foldable smartphones has exploded, with every major manufacturer offering its own take on the concept. While Samsung led the pack when it first introduced the Galaxy Z Fold to the world, things have gotten a lot more competitive recently, with brands like OnePlus offering better value for money with the OnePlus Open for people looking to make the leap to a foldable device. Now, months after its initial launch, the new OnePlus Open Apex Edition is here, and even in this competitive market, it manages to hold its own as a great option for people looking to make a foldable phone their next investment.

Starting things off, the OnePlus Open Apex Edition is a special version of the OnePlus Open inspired by the iconic Hasselblad 503CW 60 Years Victor Red Edition. It features a premium vegan leather back with a diamond pattern, complemented by bold orange accents on the Alert Slider. The changes don’t stop there, though; it also features 1TB of storage, compared to the 512GB on the standard edition, and will feature VIP Mode, a special mode that also allows you to cut off access to the camera and microphone, at the same time you mute sound.

First and foremost, even though this is the top-of-the-range edition of the OnePlus Open, the Apex still manages to match Samsung’s $1,899.99 price tag for their base model of the latest Z Fold 6. If you can do without the special extras the OnePlus Open Apex offers, the standard edition with 512GB of storage will set you back $1,699, $200 less than Samsung’s base model. That’s no small chunk of change, especially when you consider that the Open comes standard with 512GB of storage, compared to the Fold6’s 256GB. More bang for your buck right from the start.

The differences only grow from there, because the Open isn’t just about being cheaper. OnePlus has packed this thing with some seriously impressive hardware that, for most of what you do on your phone, rivals Samsung’s offering. The foldable inner screen is a gorgeous 7.82-inch OLED panel, which is brighter and sharper than the 7.6-inch screen on the Fold6. When unfolded, you’re treated to a mini-tablet experience that feels more expansive and immersive.

“The OnePlus Open Apex Edition is a special version of the OnePlus Open inspired by the iconic Hasselblad 503CW 60 Years Victor Red Edition.”

Even the display on the outer cover is impressive: at 6.31 inches, it’s a hair bigger than the Fold 6’s and has a more traditional smartphone aspect ratio. This makes the Open feel much more like a ‘normal’ phone when folded. No more awkwardly stretched apps or cramped typing. As someone who has bigger hands, this has made it possible for me to actually use the OnePlus Open, while I found the Z Fold tedious and annoying for doing quick tasks. 

Turning to the SoC, this is the one area where the OnePlus Open falls a little behind Samsung’s Fold6, but not by much. It’s powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip—the same silicon found in early 2023 flagships, including the Z Fold5 (which is currently priced at $1919.99 USD for the 512 GB model, a $220 difference). It’s not quite as cutting-edge as the Fold6’s Gen 3 processor, but real-world performance is still blazingly fast, with gaming and productivity comparing very well for most tasks. Couple that with a generous 16GB of RAM (4GB more than the Fold6), and you’ve got a multitasking powerhouse that can be used for everything from content creation to gaming with little issue. 

Even with the slightly less modern SoC, battery life is another area where the Open manages to keep pace and even surpass Samsung’s foldable flagship. Its 4,805 mAh cell edges out the Fold 6’s 4,400 mAh battery, but the real kicker is the charging speed. The Open supports 67W fast charging, juicing up from empty to 100% in just 42 minutes. The Fold 6, meanwhile, is still stuck at 25W charging speeds that feel downright sluggish by comparison.

“The OnePlus Open boasts a versatile triple lens setup, headlined by a 48MP main shooter.”

For creators, OnePlus brings one of the best foldable camera systems to the party, with three solid rear cameras all ready to take on a variety of tasks. The OnePlus Open boasts a versatile triple lens setup, headlined by a 48MP main shooter. Early reviews praise its image quality as being on a par with, if not better than, the Fold 6 in many scenarios. The 64MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom is particularly impressive, offering more reach than Samsung’s 3x telephoto.

To be fair, the OnePlus Open falls short in a few areas, even if it excels in others. Samsung still has a few tricks up its sleeve with the Fold6. Its IPX8 water resistance rating trumps the Open’s IPX4 splash resistance. The Fold6 also supports the S Pen stylus, which could be a big draw for productivity-minded users. There’s no denying that Samsung has more experience in folding games, which could translate into better long-term durability.

“For those on the fence about taking the foldable plunge, the OnePlus Open Apex is an enticing proposition, especially with the new additions the phone brings to an already great device.”

Even with that, OnePlus makes a solid case for the Open Apex, thanks to the advantages the phone brings to the market, especially if you want your phone to be more than a device you show off at parties. OnePlus has crafted a device that feels like it was built from the ground up to be a foldable, rather than a regular phone that happens to bend in half. The hinge mechanism is smooth and sturdy, with a barely perceptible crease when unfolded.

For those on the fence about taking the foldable plunge, the OnePlus Open Apex is an enticing proposition, especially with the new additions the phone brings to an already great device. It delivers flagship-level specs and performance in an innovative form factor, while undercutting the competition on price. The OnePlus Open proves that you don’t have to empty your wallet or make major compromises to get in on the foldable action.

Of course, personal preference will always play a role in smartphone choice. Some users may prefer Samsung’s more established ecosystem, the Fold 6’s specific feature set, or even its new AI capabilities. But purely from a value and capability perspective, it’s hard to deny that the OnePlus Open has set a new standard for what we should expect from a premium foldable device.

The OnePlus Open Apex is undoubtedly a stunning piece of technology, offering some solid additions to an already impressive package. As the foldable phone market continues to heat up, competition like this can only be good news for consumers. It pushes manufacturers to innovate faster and offer better value for money. The OnePlus Open isn’t just a great phone in its own right; it’s a wake-up call to other companies to do better, and the Apex only pushes this further. 

Everybody has several games that mean quite a lot to them. For me, one of these games is Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine. I not only grew up with this game, but I also have a lot of memories of this game. Outside of that, I also met some amazing friends through the community behind this game. I even did several speedruns of this game, and I’m an active member of the community. Now, color me surprised that 25 years after the release of this game, we got new fan-made content for this game. Not just fan made content in the style of fan patches to solve bugs with the game, a whole new level and promises of a level editor to create even more new custom content. This blew me off my socks and in today’s article I want to talk about it. So strap in and let’s get ready to play new content for one of the best Indiana Jones games ever made.

The new level – SED

There is a speedrunning discord server for this game. Well, it was a speedrunning discord server but for a few years now, this server has grown into a server of people who appreciate this game. If you want to join this discord, here is an invite link. When the server started to grow, several modders joined our server. One of these modders is going under the name of Urgon (currently) and what we didn’t know is that he was decompiling the whole game. Not only that, he was creating a level editor based upon an existing level editor.

This existing level editor is for Star Wars Jedi Knight & Mysteries of the Sith. Those games used an engine that formed the basis for the Jones3D engine. While he was developing that editor, he tested his skills by creating a new level. So, basically, parts of this new level are tests of the new level editor and what you can do with it.

Now, information about this new level and the download link can be found at this GitHub repository. If you want to download the actual level, you have to go to this page and click the green button named “Code”. In that dropdown, you can choose “download zip”. You’ll need that later if you want to install/play this custom level. Now, if you read the pre-mod or the installation instructions for this level, you might feel overwhelmed if you aren’t very technically inclined. That’s why two community members wrote two special tools to aid you in preparing your game.

You might ask yourself, like Klamath did in at the end of our stream of this custom level, why are there two tools for basically the same? Well, let me tell you the history about it. When I wanted to play the custom level, I had a bit of trouble myself while figuring out the tutorial. I also found that the required steps were quite a lot to do. So, I decided to start writing a PowerShell script that did all the steps. I announced that in the Indy3D discord that I was writing this. When I almost completed my tool, the_Kovic dropped his version of the tool.

Personally, I didn’t want to throw my work out the window and continued finishing my GUI version. When I finished, I didn’t convert my tool to an EXE and left it just as a script file you could run using a command line or a code editor. The next day, Kovic released a GUI version of his tool and I gave some feedback on his tool. In the days after that, I created an EXE version of my tool and we both kept adding features in our tool. He wrote his tool in C#, which is a bit friendlier to create an EXE. If I didn’t release my first version as a script only and converted it to an EXE, I think it might have been less overwhelming for people.

That said, Kovic thanked me for creating my tool since like he said on our stream: “It put my butt into gear to create a tool and write a GUI, which I normally don’t write“. On top of that, our tools aren’t meant to compete with each other. I can’t write C# and Kovic can’t write PowerShell. And it would be a shame to just delete work because somebody else was quicker or made their tool more user-friendly first. The result now is that we both have two very strong tools with a very similar, maybe even completely the same, feature set.

Outside a different choice of coding language, the biggest differences between both our tools are under the hood. In Kovic’s tool, you get more files than in my tool when you download the tool. And that’s because to prepare your game for custom levels, you need to extract several files in the resource folder. The tool used for extraction has a bug where instead of extracting the folders of the archive into the resource folder, it extracts them into separate folders, like if you would extract a zip file. Kovic packs a modified version of this extraction tool so that part of the process goes a bit faster. In my version, the tool just downloads the latest official versions of the tool and prepare the game that way.

In the end, both our tools give you the same end result. They prepare your game to install custom levels and play them. If you want to try out the_kovic’s tool, you can find the latest version on this releases page. If you want to try our my tool, you can find it on this releases page. Feedback to our tools is always welcome! If you find an issue or if you have an idea, feel free to hit us up, and we will look into it.

Earlier I talked about a stream of the level we did. Klamath, the_Kovic and me did a live stream where we played through this level. Now, I have to emphasize that release of this level is an impressive technical achievement. Creating a level for a 3D game isn’t easy and requires a lot of work. It’s even more impressive when you know that not everything is documented about the engine, and you have to decompile a lot of it. In the next part of this article, I’m going to talk about the level itself and critique it.

If you don’t want spoilers, I’d advise you to skip that section for now and come back later. Now, I want to say that I start reviewing the level in a moment, but this feedback is mostly meant for people who want to make new custom content. What did this new level do right and wrong if you look at it as a player who doesn’t know the technical background of this level? This isn’t meant to break down the amazing work the modders did to make this work.

Reviewing the new level

Editorial note: this review will spoil quite a lot. If you don’t want to get spoiled, you have to skip this section of the article. This isn’t a walkthrough of the level either. Some sections are skipped, I’m only going to talk about the sections I want to talk about.

The new level takes place 25 years after the ending of the original game. Indy returns to his Canyonlands dig site. You are set loose at the tent where Sophia picked Indy up with a helicopter to start the Infernal Machine adventure.

In terms of new content, there isn’t a lot new to see. Some ladders are missing and some parts of the level are blocked off. Also, all treasures are missing that you would usually find in the level.

Before I continue, I want to mention that some parts of this level are made quite difficult on purpose. The developer wanted to give us the feeling we were young kids again, playing this game for the first time, and have us figure out the new puzzles by ourselves. Yet, finding a correct balance between difficulty and unfair is a very fine line to thread. Personally, I think that in some sections, the developer crossed the line into unfair level design.

When running on the top section, you notice that there are some new voice lines. These voice lines are made possible with a voice cloning AI tool that was trained on lines from Doug Lee, the original voice actor for this game. The new voice lines sound amazing, and if you didn’t know better, you’d think that Doug Lee came back to record the new lines. In most cases, these voice lines really fit Indy’s personality and fit right into the game.

We come to our first snag when we want to go to the new content. I can understand not seeing the shovel and being confused, since it’s hanging at the jeep on top. And you know what’s even more confusing, the other side of the jeep model has a shovel in its texture! Anyhow, when you pick up the shovel and dig up the Infernal Machine part, it’s clear that you need to break a wall. Here comes one of the worst parts of this level. The location of this cracked wall is insanely well hidden. It’s in one of the last places you’d look, and several of the first players ran around for hours upon hours in Canyonlands before it was found. And when it was found, it made us annoyed.

It’s a clear example of how players who are used to the level, overlooking the obvious. The wall you need to break has an actual cracked wall texture, but it’s behind something you can’t see through. I think it would have been fine if the location, where it is at, had a bigger ledge so you’d notice it somewhat instead of just having to go on a wild goose chase.

Now, we enter the new area. We come to a big open space where the next set of puzzles are. The first puzzle is actually a jumping puzzle. Now, I highly advise you to not play this level if you haven’t played through most of Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine. Not that there are spoilers, but because some of the jumps in this level are straight up difficult and not what you really expect from this game. Kovic calls it “Kaizo Jones” for a good reason.

There are some small platforms and not having the look key working is going to be a pain in this section. Since, there are some moments where you need to be able to free look and not being able to see beneath or above you will make things a lot more tricky. After you finished these jumps, you might start to notice that the developer of this custom level added some details. Like, the rope bridges are gently moving in the wind. This is something that isn’t present in the original game. It’s a new “COG” script that makes that possible.

These cog scripts are a blessing for custom content. Since, this game isn’t hardcoded at all, so if you learn how to write these cog scripts, you can basically write new mechanics as well. It’s insane what possibilities there are going to be in the future for this game. I hope there is going to be good documentation so that custom level creaters know what’s possible and what’s impossible with the level editor.

While you are exploring this area, you notice that it’s huge. This also explains why it takes quite a while to load this level. Currently, modders are looking into why it’s running so slow. Since, we don’t really know if it’s the level size or something else slowing down the loading of this level.

So, after jumping around the central column, you’ll arive at the shed. Here you notice you can actually enter the shed from the top. Kovic explains it quite well during the stream. If you want to hear some technical explanations on how this level works, I’d advice you to watch our stream. Since there is a lot of interesting development talk in there. Later, Kovic and myself had a contest in trying to quote voice lines from the main game. We got close to 200. Kovic won that because I said a line he already said.

After you picked up everything from this shed and climbed outside, you experience another new mechanic of this game. It’s a mechanic that gets backported from Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb. The fact you can use your whip to go over a zipline.

After you returned and struggled with getting across the other bridge, you will encounter other parts of this level. Here you’ll encounter two voice lines that straight up lie to you. The first voice line is that you need more force, explosives to break a rock that’s blocking your way forwards. Here is the issue with that, you get an explosive barrel later. You need to find an extremely hidden swim tunnel in the water. It’s not the only hidden thing in the water, so investigate behind and underneath rocks quite well. Since, these puzzles in this water border in the unfair territory. What makes that explosive voice line even more evil is that there is a box of TNT in the shed earlier. But what’s the second voice line that lies to you?

Well, that is after you made your way past said boulder. You find a minecart and interacting with it, Indy says that it will run with gasoline. And there is still gasoline left in the shed. Sadly, you can’t pick it up anymore. Now, this is a red haring, you don’t need this minecart at all.

By now, you have learned that this level likes to break the rules of how the main game is designed. You’ll have to think outside of the box sometimes to beat this level. But, for some jumps, you need to use your knowledge of what’s possible and impossible to progress. This makes it quite tricky sometimes to progress. And this brings me to a conclusion we also said on stream. I think that the issue is that people expected a more tame level than what we actually got and that might turn some people off. But, I’m so glad that the quick save system exists in this game. So, abuse the quick save system and make multiple saves since you’ll need them if you aren’t a veteran player of this game.

Anyhow, let’s get back into the flow of the level. After we completed the lever puzzle, we go back towards to the huge open area and take the lift to a new location. What follows is a totally new area where it’s a good thing if you saved up on health packs and you have a great sense of direction.

So, the short minecart ridge comes to an end. It doesn’t take long before you find yourself into a watermaze. This watermaze is unfair in my honest opinion. Klamath had a tricky time solving it and he had to use almost every health pack to get through it. Without Kovic pointing out the right tunnel, I think it would have made the stream quite a bit longer. There was supposed to be a minecart section instead of this swimming maze, but the developer had a hard time making the minecart section to work and he gave up and made this swimming maze.

Now, I’m all fine with this swimming maze, but the map glitches out at certain parts. I have a mediocre sense of direction and I wanted to rely on the map. The map doesn’t always render the tunnels correctly. You sometimes swim off the map or “in nothingness”. Sadly, I have to draw my own map. I wish I still had it, since it would make for a nice screenshot here… But I threw it out but me and my clumsiness… I knocked over my waterbottle over it.

After the swimming maze, we get a new section of “Kaizo Jones”. Where we get some extremely tricky platforming. Here is where you need to use the look key again and be sure you are playing in 4:3. If you are playing in another resolution like 16:9 or 16:10, this will also be one of the moments where you don’t see all the information.

The block puzzle that follows, feels right out of Tomb Raider. The initial reviews of this game called out this game as a Tomb Raider clone. While, this game does the formula a whole lot differently. We even talked about that during the stream. In terms of theming, Infernal Machine is a lot better. Tomb Raider feels like obstacle courses. But that’s thanks to a different engine and control style. If you want to hear the whole discussion, you can watch the stream from this point. Excuse Kovic’s internet being spotty while he was replying.

After the block puzzle, a new path opens in the swim maze. Then, some platforming comes. Something I love is how there is even a troll hidden inside the platforming. It caught me off guard and made me smile. This platforming section was also love to do. It felt like a real test on how well I know the game. This platforming section feels a lot better put together and feel less cryptic on where you need to go next. You really start to notice that the developer was getting more used to the level editor and made better puzzles. The moment of having to use the whip to swing over the gap while the platform underneath you was breaking was amazing.

After that, we get into the finale of this level. We jump into a portal and we land in a playable area which is shown at the end of Shambala, the 4th level in the original game. That area that’s shown to you after you have beaten the Ice Guardian. The path that takes you to Palawan Lagoon. It was possible to explore that using cheats and modified saves, but now it’s in a level for real. Exploring the little house at the end brings us to something you totally don’t expect this custom level to do. You’ll find a parchment inside with a riddle and at the end you notice something in red saying: “MAT -> ZIP”.

There is some meta gaming now going on. You’ll need to make a hard save and exit your game. You’ll need to go to your resource folder & then open the MAT folder. In there you’ll need to rename “SED.MAT” to “SED.ZIP”. You’ll also need to enter the password for the zip, since you get a new cog script to continue the level, which you need to place in your cog folder. In there, there is another surprise. But, that’s something I’m not going to spoil. But, be sure that Kovic is playing with that surprise and maybe I’m going to dig into it. PS, the next paragraph is in white with the right spelling of the password:

Marcus

The way the level ends is bittersweet. If you solve the final puzzle, something special happens and you can beat the level. You could argue that the ending of this level is “lazy” or “creative”… But, it’s an amazing way to wrap up the story in one level with a nice bow.

At the start of the custom level, I felt that it was quite rough around the edges and it had some moments that felt badly designed. In terms of game design that is. If you look at it visually and level flow wise, I personally think that this level would fit right into the original game as a final challenge. But, the further you go into the level, the more you start to notice that the developer of this level is getting used to the tools and the editor and more polished puzzles and area’s are coming through. You notice the journey of the developer and see it becoming better and better.

I want to give a big congrats to everybody who was involved in releasing this custom level. It’s a blast to play and I can’t wait to see more custom levels. The stream I did with this level was one of the best streams ever and it was also quite a lot of fun to write the tool to help people play this custom level. I’m curious what you think about this custom level and/or the content of this article. Feel free to drop something in the comment section down below.

And with that, I have said everything I wanted to say about this for now. I want to thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to welcome you back in another article but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.

Steam store page – Wikipedia – Official website

So, when I’m writing this, it is 2024. I turned 31 years old back in February. I still love playing video games and surfing the internet since I was a young lad. Besides that, I also have a fascination for anything that has to do with dreams and their meanings. And then a game called Hypnospace Outlaw turns up on my radar. A game that promises to bring back the early years of the internet that I remember. Not only that, we are going to have to moderate the internet with a new technology that allows people to surf the internet while they are dreaming. We have to play as an unnamed enforcer to keep the internet safe and on top of that, we can create our own pages and mod this game easily. But before we start spending time on that, let’s find out if the base game is actually good and if it’s worth to start playing this game or if it’s something we should skip. Also, feel free to leave your thoughts and/or opinions on this article and/or the game in the comment section down below. Besides, dear enforcer and MerchantSoft, this isn’t harassment, this is a fair review/critique of the game. Removing this from HypnoOS isn’t the solution.

Dreaming Up Nostalgic Investigations

In this game, you play as an unnamed enforcer for MerchantSoft. A company that developed a headband that allows users to surf the web in their dreams. Your goal is to clean up the HypnoSpace for everybody. You start in late 1999, where your first case is assigned. When your first case is assigned, you are left to your own devices, and you can explore the internet by yourself. And let me tell you, there is a lot of internet to explore.

The story of this game is fascinating. You get to dive and explore through various pages on the internet about various things. A long time before social media was a thing and everybody had a website for their own creations. The HypnoSpace has several zones, with each their own theme. If you remember AOL, you will know what I’m talking about.

If you want to get the most out of this game, I highly advise you to take your time with this game. Don’t rush it at all. This game is sadly rather short if you only follow the main story of the game. It’s only 6 hours long and shorter if you know what you are doing. I mean, the speedruns are only around 11 minutes. The strength of this game is the depth it has. This game has three main chapters, and there are clear triggers that separate the chapters.

The deeper you dig and the more you read up, the more interesting lore gets revealed. I actually started a second playthrough to try and find the things I missed. And honestly, this game is one that gets ruined by playing it with a guide in any sort or form. Do not play this game with a guide. It’s a lot less rewarding if you play it with a guide in your first or second playthrough. The wonder of getting lost in all of these pages is just so nostalgic.

Now, while I was playing, I was wondering if it would appeal to the younger players out there. I’m somewhat on the fence about that. While it tackles a lot of subjects that are still somewhat relevant, I honestly think that it’ll mostly click with those who grew up with the internet of the ’90 to early ’00. With that said, I think that it still might click with the younger people, but know that the internet was very different back then.

Point-And-Click Detective

This game is a point-and-click adventure game in any sense of the word. You get a case, and you have to explore the internet to see if anyone broke the rules or not.

Each infraction you find, will reward you with HypnoCoin. You can use these coins to buy various things in the Hypnospace. This can go from stickers, wallpapers, themes, applications to so much more. But be careful, it’s quite possible that some of these downloads are infected with malware. And back then, malware was a lot more visual and less aimed at serving you a lot of ads or stealing your information.

The controls of this game are quite easy. You mostly click with your mouse and input things sometimes in the search bar. If you know how to do basic things with a computer, you’ll very quickly find your way around with this game as well. While I sometimes struggled with opening apps, I didn’t have too much trouble with the controls. Thankfully, there are some options to tweak the controls to your liking, like disabling that double-clicking opens apps. But, I’m a Windows user and the double click to open apps is just hardwired in my brain.

Visually, this game really looks like you are playing with the old internet. When I noticed that there was a mod that changed the OS into Windows 95, oh boy, I was sold. There are various themes for the OS in this game, and they go from amazing to silly. There is even a fast food theme. Now, if you read that this game is mostly created by a team of 5 people, it’s even more impressive. Not only that, one of the main designers of Dropsy is part of the team.

The creativity of this game never ceased to amaze me. Let me continue on the trend of the visuals and say that the little details on how the webpages look is just so realistic. The little typo’s here and there, the rabbit holes you can jump down, the crazy visuals on various pages… Even the “help me, I can’t remove this” and “Test 1 2 3″… I made me crack up and remember my early days when I used to write webpages in plain HTML with barely any coding knowledge as a young teen.

While I knew that wiggling the mouse sped up the loading of the webpages, I just never really did. I just enjoyed the webpages loading slowly and having that experience again when I was a teenager before Facebook or any other big social media started to take over. Yes, even before MySpace. While I only experienced the late “pre-social media internet”, I do have amazing memories of it.

On top of that, you have the amazing wallpapers and sticker packs you can buy and play around with. With this, you can really make your desktop your own. But, something that really triggered memories for me were the viruses you can encounter. Back as a young teen, I was a lot less careful in what I downloaded and seeing the visual mess some viruses can create in this game, it triggered some nasty memories.

Memories like how one time, I got a very nasty variant of the SASSER worm and each time I installed something new, my computer would lock up and crash. Yes, even when you tried to re-install Windows, it locked up and crashed the installer. After a lot of digging, I found that it was caused by a program starting with boot and I had to screw out my hard drive, connect it with somebody’s computer and then remove the start-up file from there. I also had a piece of malware that looked like the ButtsDisease virus in this game. Where it started to change all the text on a webpage to another word. Oh man, those were the days.

So, during your investigations you can encounter various things. Things like people breaking the rules, and you have to report those. You mostly need to focus on one of 5 categories. Copyright infringement, harassment, illegal downloads/malware, extra illegal commerce and illegal activity. Each law gets several infractions, and you do have to look for them. At one moment, I really that to take notes. I really have to say, taking notes for this game is really helpful, you even have the notes’ app in HypnoOS.

Sticking in your brain

Now, something I have to commend the developers for in this game is that they also took accessibility into account. Something I have to commend the developers for as well is the amount of content in this game, even when the main story is extremely short. I already talked about the visuals and how much I love them, but the music in this game is something else.

Some of the music tracks are really stuck in my mind and I wouldn’t be surprised that if I ever write another article in my favorite game music series, some of them will pop up in that. Some tracks are real earworms and got stuck in my brain. The music for some of the parody products in this game is so good, that I wish they were real.

The music in this game is a mixture of various styles, and I find some of them more catchy than the others, but it’s really impressive at how many styles there are in this game. If you know that this game has over 4 hours of music in it, that’s an amazing feat.

There is even a whole suite where you can create your own pages, music and mods released by one of the main developers of this game. It works only on Windows and you can read more about it on the itch.io page of Jay Tolen here. There were even various community events where your stuff could appear as an Easter egg in the main game. Yet, these tools are now part of the main game and are in your installation folder.

Speaking about this, modding this game is extremely easy. There is even a build in mod browser, and it’s a piece of cake to install and downloads mods. If you use the in-game mod menu, you don’t have to reboot the game for most mods to take effect. Just go to the main menu, choose the mods button and install the mods you want. Now, there are a lot more mods out there then just what you can find in the in-game mod browser, so check them out here.

The game has an autosave, it doesn’t really show when the game gets saved. There are three save slots, so if you want to replay the game, you can pick another save slot. Now, if there is one mod I highly advise is he expanded endgame cases mod. This mod expands the game quite naturally and is a lot of fun and additional challenge. But don’t read the description when you haven’t finished the game, since it contains quite a lot of spoilers.

This game can be quite tricky. Sometimes the solution isn’t the easiest to find. It’s even possible you don’t find the solution to every puzzle out there. Now, there is a built in hint system for this game. It’s somewhat hidden to avoid immersion breaking, but for a small HypnoCoin fee, you can get a hint to progress. I really love this system, since I rather have you getting a crowbar to get yourself unstuck than you getting a guide where it’s very easy to other things and spoil the whole experience. Since the fun of this genre depends highly on solving the puzzles with what’s given to you. If you want to get a hint, just search hint.

Overall I have been extremely positive about this game, and I have to say that overall this game is extremely well-made. I rarely found any moments where I thought, this isn’t right. But does that mean that this game doesn’t have any negatives? Well, sadly enough there are a few things I didn’t like about my experience and that I want to talk about.

First of all, I wish the default text-to-speech voice wasn’t the default language of your system if you aren’t English. I’m from Belgium and my text-to-speech voice reads English extremely weird. Thankfully, I had the English soundpack installed on my computer so after I went into the BIOS settings, I was able to quickly change it to the English one and it sounds a lot more natural and better.

Secondly, this is an issue in general with point-and-click games but the replay value just isn’t here. Once you explored everything, you have seen everything. There are various mini-games, but those are quickly beaten. While I personally don’t really see this is a negative, since not every game needs high replay value and sometimes playing it once and having the whole experience engulf you is the idea… I want to mention it, if somebody is looking for replayable games.

Third, you can find more infractions than what’s required to close the case. While I can understand that the game doesn’t tell you how many other things there are out there for immersion reasons, as somebody who wanted to experience everything, I was sometimes a bit annoyed that I couldn’t make sure I found everything. If only there was an option you could toggle to see completion percentage or something of that nature. Since, because of this, it’s possible to lock yourself out of achievements or content in this game.

Yes, this game has achievements and some of them are extremely tricky to get. It took me a lot of researching and exploring in HypnoSpace to find all the material. Thankfully, taking notes really helped me to find it all.

And the final thing is that the final chapters of this game feel a bit rushed and undercooked. One of the final cases is a breeze to solve if you have written notes during your playthrough and it feels like there is content cut out of the game. The ending comes a bit out of nowhere and if you didn’t explore everything or didn’t register certain things, the ending won’t make sense to you and it will loose it’s impact. Thankfully, the mod I shared earlier resolves this to a degree.

That’s all the negative I could say about this game, in my honest opinion. When this game clicks with you, it clicks really well and doesn’t let go at all. But, I’ll leave my final thoughts after the summary of this review. So, I think it’s high time for that since I have touch upon everything I wanted to in this review.

Summary

The bad:

-Text-to-speech should use English by default

-It’s possible to miss content or lock yourself out of it.

-The game is rather short.

-Rushed ending.

The good:

+ Amazing nostalgic trip

+ Amazing music

+ Fantastic writing

+ Easy to use mod tools

+ Great puzzles

+ Great controls

+ …

Final thoughts:

Hypnospace Outlaw is an amazing nostalgic point-and-click adventure trip through the late ’90’s internet. This game might not be for everyone, but when it clicks… Oh boy does it really click. Now, this is also a game you shouldn’t rush. The charm of this game is in all the little details and references that are hidden in the pages and the world building of this game.

While the game is rather at the shortside for point-and-click games, I don’t see it as a big problem to be honest. The journey that this game took me on was a lot more worth it to me than having a long game. Since, I think it would have lost it’s charm if this game kept going and going.

While I personally have more memories with the internet time period that came right after it, the developers are already working on the sequel to this game called Dreamsettler. I honestly can’t wait to play that one, since the quality that this game has is just top notch. The music is catchy, the visuals are amazing and it alls comes together in an amazing nostalgic trip that makes you want to play more.

There are some minor blemishes on this game, but you can work with them. Like I said before, when this game clicks, it really does click extremely well. I’d compare my experience with games like There Is No Game or SuperLiminal. Amazing small titles that leave a lasting impact on those who play it. All of these games are passion projects that turned out amazing and get a recommendation from me.

If you enjoy playing unique point-and-click games and/or if you have nostalgia for the old ’90’s internet, I highly recommend that you give this game a try. While this game is on multiple platforms, I highly recommend that you play the PC version since it has mod support that gives you even more toys to play with and expands the game even more.

I had a blast with this game and it’s a breath of fresh air for me. I’m angry at myself that I rushed my playthrough, but now I have installed several mods and I’m so going to replay this game after I have published this article. I also want to earn every achievement in this game, since I really want to see everything. I’m also extremely hyped for the sequel to this game and I can’t wait to start playing that, since that is going to be an even bigger nostalgic trip for me than this game. And with the amazing set of developers behind this game, I think we get another gem in our hands.

And with that said, I think it’s high time to wrap this article up. I want to thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article, but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.

Score: 100/100

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Cool DIY Super Famicom kit turned into cooler mini-TV kit ⊟

I’m pretty impressed with Columbus Circle’s barebones DIY kits, basically just clone Super Famicoms or Famicoms without cases. You can then put it into whatever container you can imagine, like this toaster!

What Youtuber LimoneWorkshop did, however, is to put the tiny kit into a custom-built miniature Sharp SF-1. And it totally owns.

I’m trying to imagine what I would do with one of these Super Famicom kits, and I think it’s “put it on a shelf and then decide to sell it 3 years later.” But for other people, what a cool idea!

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Taito Milestones out April 15 ⊟

I’ve been obsessive about retro compilations on Switch recently. I want to gobble them all up. Even so, I’m unconvinced about Taito Milestones, the collection of 10 mostly ancient, mostly historically interesting arcade games.

Without knowing a price, I’m not sure how into Alpine Ski or Wild Warriors I’ll be, or how willing I am to try a different version of the Bubble Bobble precursor Chack'n Pop (I have the Famicom cartridge). But The Ninja Warriors is cool, and Qix is always fun. Also, I want everyone to keep making these collections.

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