Warner Bros Discovery recently shut down a trio of game studios, including the well-regarded Monolith Productions. This has put one of the coolest game mechanics of the 2010s in limbo. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor's excellent Nemesis system is locked behind a patent owned by Warner Bros all the way until 2036, according to reporting by Eurogamer.
The Nemesis system was featured in both 2014s Shadow of Mordor and the follow-up Middle-earth: Shadow of War. Simply put, its a gameplay mechanic in which enemies remember previous encounters with the protagonist. These antagonists, typically orcs in the LOTR games, would use these humiliating memories to fuel their thirst for revenge as they rose through the ranks. This mechanic also worked both ways, so enemies would remember besting you in a previous encounter.
It was the best part of those two titles and Monolith had planned on bringing back the mechanic for a now-cancelled Wonder Woman game. Now the system is lying unused, locked behind a patent vault in David Zaslavs mega-yacht or whatever. Gigantic multinational corporations are awesome!
*Monolith makes the awesome Nemesis system for Shadow of Mordor, everyone loves it**WB patents it, making it pretty much impossible for other devs to use it**WB shuts down Monolith*RIP the Nemesis system, I guess! pic.twitter.com/z2KVkT97tV Cade Onder (@Cade_Onder) February 25, 2025
Warner Bros Discovery patented the system in 2016, which you can read right here. The patent is active until 2036, so long as the company keeps up with the associated fees. Its worth noting that in the nine years since patenting the system, its only been used in a single game. Thats Shadow of War, which came out in 2017 and was already in development when Warner Bros went ahead with the patent.
It remains to be seen if Warner Bros Discovery will do anything with the Nemesis system. It had nine years of heavy game development to make use of it across its entire IP portfolio, but didnt. In that time period, plenty of Batman games and Hogwarts Legacy all came out. Those would have surely benefited from the unique mechanic. Oh well.
WB will still focus some resources on game development, but the companys efforts will be primarily spent on four franchises. These include Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, the DC universe and Game of Thrones. Three of those four seem like good fits for the Nemesis system to me.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/shadow-of-mordors-innovative-nemesis-system-is-locked-behind-a-patent-until-2036-195437208.html?src=rss
The Nintendo DS' stylus-based messaging app PictoChat wasn't the first place I instant-messaged (that would be my friend's AIM account) but it was absolutely the least overwhelming and most pleasant place it happened. PicoChat, an iMessage app from developer Idrees Hassan that you can download right now, attempts to recapture some of that peer-to-peer messaging magic on your iPhone.
PicoChat looks like a version of PictoChat thats been squeezed into the lower-third of your iPhone, complete with alphanumeric and emoji keyboards, and controls to change the line weight of your drawings. It wouldnt be PictoChat without the ability to draw and write with a stylus, so PicoChat also goes the extra mile and displays an onscreen stylus when you doodle with your finger.
ian Carlos Campbell for Engadget
Nintendo debuted PictoChat alongside the original Nintendo DS in 2004 as more of a curiosity than a play at messaging dominance. The app required both messengers to connect their handhelds over the same Wi-Fi network, which naturally limited its reach as a communication tool. Still, Nintendo included the software on the DS Lite and the DSi in 2006 and 2009, respectively, and the 3DS optional Swapnote app was considered a spiritual successor of sorts when it came out in 2011.
PicoChat can't fully recreate the small, personal feeling of PictoChat while strapped on top of iMessage, but if you miss the cumbersome, but considered messaging of your DS days, it's a pretty great hit of nostalgia.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/the-dream-of-pictochat-on-the-nintendo-ds-lives-on-in-this-imessage-app-194040764.html?src=rss
A new month is almost upon us, which means Sony is about to refresh the lineup of games that all PlayStation Plus members can claim and keep in their collection as long as they maintain their subscription. Between March 4 and March 31, you'll be able to snag Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Sonic Colors: Ultimate and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard (PS5) is the clear headliner this time around. Fans had to wait a decade between new installments in BioWare's series, partly because the studio rebooted its work on the latest title several times. Veilguard, an action RPG, is a direct sequel to 2014's Dragon Age Inquisition. It garnered generally positive reviews and we appreciated the visuals and BioWare's attention to detail with the game's characters.
However, Dragon Age: The Veilguard failed to meet BioWare parent EA's sales expectations. In its first two months, the game brought in 1.5 million players, which is about half of what EA expected in that timeframe. That player count includes those who checked out the game on the EA Play Pro subscription service, so it's not clear how many copies of the game EA has actually sold so far. That disappointing sales performance is perhaps one reason why Dragon Age: The Veilguard is joining the PS Plus Monthly Games lineup a hair over four months after it was released.
Sonic Colors: Ultimate (PS4) is a remaster of a platformer that was originally released on the Wii back in 2010. As for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection (PS4 and PS5), that includes 13 classic TMNT games Konami released between 1989 and 1994, such as the all-time great Turtles in Time. The collection has a number of quality of life features, including online and local multiplayer, a rewind option, the ability to save at any point and button remapping. There's also concept art and "historic TMNT media content."
Until this trio joins the PS Plus Essential lineup on March 4, you can still snag February's games. Those are Payday 3, High on Life and Pac-Man World Re-Pac.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/the-ps-plus-monthly-games-for-march-include-dragon-age-the-veilguard-181028013.html?src=rss
The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro Adventure Combo bundle is on sale via Amazon for $369. This is 18 percent off and represents a record low price, as the normal cost is $449. The bundle includes the well-regarded Action 5 Pro camera, a trio of rechargeable batteries, a protective frame, a lens cover, an extension rod and more.
We heaped praise on the Osmo Action 5 Pro camera in our official review, calling it a worthy GoPro rival. The battery life here is next-level, allowing for over two hours of use when shooting 4K 60p video and four hours when shooting in 1080p. Again, this bundle comes with three batteries, which means twelve full hours of continuous shooting in 1080p. Thats a whole lot of ski jumps or whatever.
Theres also 47GB of internal storage, in addition to a microSD slot. Most action cameras dont even have internal storage, so this is a much-appreciated upgrade. The Action 5 Pro is lightweight and waterproof down to 66 feet. Theres a waterproof case that extends this limit to 200 feet, but that doesnt ship with this particular bundle.
As for the actual footage, we found it to be serviceable, but thought the color was slightly oversaturated. The video is also a bit less sharp than whats produced with rival cameras. Other than these minor nitpicks, however, this is a near-perfect action camera, and those accessories sure sound useful.
The Adventure Combo isnt the only bundle on sale right now, though it is the best value. The Essential and Standard bundles are also on sale, at $319 and $329 respectively.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/this-dji-osmo-action-5-pro-bundle-is-cheaper-than-ever-175747696.html?src=rss
In an utterly shocking, consumer-friendly move, Max won't charge for something previously offered for free. Warner Bros. Discovery said on Wednesday that it's shelving its previously announced plan to charge an extra $10 monthly for sports and news content. Instead, it's cutting the content from the ad-supported tier next month, which sounds reasonable enough.
In 2023, Max said its Bleacher Report (B/R) Sports Add-On tier would only be free until February 2024, when it would become a $10 add-on for all tiers. But that date came and went (and then went some more) without news of the extra fees. Viewers waited silently like students who hoped their teacher would forget their homework assignment. Then, last September, Bloomberg reported that the $10 fee was still in the works and could arrive as soon as that month. Uh oh.
But today's news puts those concerns to rest, at least for paying subscribers. Ad-supported members will lose access to B/R Sports and CNN Max (the news network's streaming redo) on March 30. Warner says those on that tier who want to retain access to sports and news can visit the Max Help Center for more info. So far, that page says nothing about it, so you'll probably want to check back closer to the cutoff date.
B/R Sports streams more than 1,700 live games and events annually across leagues like the NBA (although it loses those rights after this season), MLB, NHL, NCAA, NASCAR and more. Meanwhile, CNN Max is Warner CEO David Zaslav's latest attempt to turn a CNN streaming service into a revenue stream something the debt-ridden company direly needs. This month alone, it made sweeping cuts to its games division and began offering some of its movies on YouTube.
Although Max subscribers will welcome today's announcement, there's reason to question whether the free integration will be permanent. In its press release, where you have to assume words were chosen carefully and pored over by layers of management, Max only said it won't pursue that path "for now."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/max-reverses-course-wont-charge-extra-for-live-sports-and-news-175010512.html?src=rss
Less than two weeks before Donald Trumps inauguration, Meta announced sweeping changes to its content moderation procedures, reportedly at the behest of Mark Zuckerberg and a small group of advisors. Among those caught off guard was the companys own Oversight Board, the independent organization created by Meta to help shape its most sensitive policy decisions. The group is now looking to examine those changes, and in doing so, will test the enforceability of its own powers.
The changes Meta has enacted drastically reshape how the company polices content across Facebook, Instagram and Threads. It ended its fact-checking program in the US, and rolled back hate speech rules that protected immigrants and LGBTQ users on its apps. Unlike its previously proactive approach, it also reoriented its content moderation procedures so that many types of rule-breaking posts will only be removed if other users reported them.
The changes have raised questions about the role of the Oversight Board, which was created, Zuckerberg once said, because Facebook should not make so many important decisions about free expression and safety on our own. If thats what Meta is now doing, critics have asked, what exactly is the point of an ostensibly independent Oversight Board?
But the Oversight Board is already working to address Metas rewritten hateful conduct policy, according to board member Paolo Carozza, who spoke to Engadget. When Zuckerberg announced the changes in early January, the board already had four open cases involving Metas hate speech rules. The board now plans to use those cases to examine the new policies, which were rewritten to allow people to use dehumanizing language to describe immigrants and accuse LGBTQ people of being mentally ill.
We deliberately delayed the decision of those cases after January 7, precisely so that we could go back to Meta again and ask a new round of questions, Carozza, a law professor at Notre Dame who joined the Oversight Board in 2022, told Engadget. We're trying as much as possible to use the tools that we have to find out more information, bring more transparency and more certainty to how it's going to play out in practice.
The board, according to Carozza, has already had briefings with Meta as it pushes for more details about the new hate speech policies. But it could still be some time before its findings are made public. The open cases deal with several aspects of Metas hate speech rules, including immigration, gender identity, hateful symbols and incitement of violence.
In addition to the questions surrounding each case, Carozza said that the board is also grappling with how to prioritize the case decisions given the renewed importance of the underlying policies. There are competing concerns about being quick and efficient versus being more thoughtful and deliberative, he said.
But while the board may hope to provide more transparency about Metas decision-making, its unclear how much influence the board will ultimately end up having. Under its rules, Meta is only required to comply with the groups decisions surrounding individual posts. The boards policy recommendations are non-binding and Meta has a mixed track record at implementing its suggestions.
Its also unclear how the board might be able to weigh in on Metas other changes, like the shuttering of fact-checking programs or shift away from proactive content moderation. We were quite critical of the fact checking program in general, but our ordinary cases make it a little bit hard to get at that problem because it doesn't come up through an appeals process within the scope of the kinds of cases that we get, Carozza says. The board, he notes, could write a policy advisory opinion as it has with rules around COVID-19 misinformation and Metas cross-check rules for celebrities. But the board is only empowered to make those kinds of non-binding recommendations at Meta's request.
That gets at one of the fundamental tensions of the Oversight Board: it may operate independently, but Meta ultimately dictates how much influence it can wield. It would be unrealistic to expect that the standard for value and success of the board is that Meta, 100% of the time, does everything we ever tell them to do, Carozza says, Were one piece of a complicated jigsaw puzzle of accountability and oversight.
Still, the fact that the group wasnt consulted on such major policy moves has raised some uncomfortable questions for the board. Dozens of civil society groups recently signed an open letter urging board members to resign in protest. In a letter to Zuckerberg, some members of Congress said the board is rendered toothless when Meta refuses to follow its own principles.
Carozzo acknowledges the Oversight Boards limitations, but says that the billions of people on Metas apps are ultimately better off with the board intervening where it can. If everybody were to resign en masse the only people who would lose are Metas end users, especially those who are in especially vulnerable situations [and] communities around the world.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/the-oversight-board-will-weigh-in-on-metas-new-hate-speech-policies-174044682.html?src=rss
Amazon just held an event in New York City to reveal the long-awaited revamp of its Alexa chatbot. This refreshed assistant can perform many new tasks, thanks to some AI wizardry, and there are a few different ways for consumers to access the digital companion. Theres voice activation with Echo devices, of course, but the company has also built a dedicated web portal for Alexa+.
This portal will allow Amazon customers to interact with Alexa+ without having to boot up the app or interact with a smart speaker or smart display. This could be handy for making adjustments while at work or for those who feel comfortable drafting lengthy queries with a traditional keyboard. Consumers will also be able to continue using the app, but Amazon promises a redesign in the near future to accommodate the new features offered by Alexa+.
Amazon
For the uninitiated, Alexa+ is a juiced up version of the long-standing chatbot. It leverages conversational AI and integration with Amazon services to assist users in a number of new ways. It has contextual awareness, so it can remember earlier parts of a conversation, and can complete relatively complex tasks. The company showed off demos of the assistant finding recipes, booking dinner reservations, searching for the correct part of a movie and a whole lot more.
It looks pretty cool, but its also fairly expensive. Alexa+ begins rolling out over the next few weeks to select Echo Show devices and costs $20 per month. However, its free for Prime subscribers. Prime currently costs $15 per month in the US. Hopefully that price wont be rising with the inclusion of Alexa+.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/amazons-ai-heavy-alexa-will-be-accessible-on-the-web-164724844.html?src=rss
Amazon held its first major product event of the year on Wednesday and, as expected, it was largely about Alexa. The company first announced its next-gen, AI-powered voice assistant back in 2023, but technical issues forced Amazon to delay its formal unveiling and rollout.
An Alexa upgrade means that Amazon has a swathe of new devices ready to support the latest version of the voice assistant. Amazon's hardware chief, Panos Panay, and his devices and services team were at the event to show off Alexa+.
Here's a rundown of everything Amazon announced at its first devices event of 2025:
Alexa+
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
After lots (and lots) of boring rambling about generative AI from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy at Wednesday's event, Panay took the mic to start sharing the actual news. Alexa+ is the name of the company's upgraded voice assistant. The company will start to roll it out next month, beginning with Echo Show devices. It costs $20 per month, but Prime members get access at no extra cost. Prime currently costs $15 per month, so we have to wonder if a price increase is coming there.
Alexa+ is designed to be more conversational and useful across compatible devices. It can remember your preferences, such as the types of food you like and dislike when asking for a recipe.
Panay claimed that, among other things, smart home management "has transformed with Alexa+." You can use the voice assistant to, for instance, move music from an Echo device to another speaker or a TV, or jump to a certain scene in a movie that's on Prime Video.
Alexa+ can detect your tone and mood. In a live demo, it appeared to try to help Panay remain calm during his presentation. Amazon claims the upgraded voice assistant can answer questions about footage captured with Ring cameras, photos taken with an Echo Show, emails, files such as PDFs, hand-written notes, your calendar, upcoming sports games and much more. Alexa+ can use a service called Suno (which record labels have sued for scraping their music to train its AI modes) to generate custom songs on the fly.
Much like OpenAI has for ChatGPT, Amazon has partnered with a number of news organizations with the aim of answering questions about a variety of topics with current information. Other partners include Uber for ordering rides, OpenTable for booking a restaurant reservation, Spotify, Sonos, Samsung, Xbox, Tidal, Dyson, NASA and "tens of thousands" more. There's Amazon Fresh integration for grocery ordering, and you can see what's in your cart on your screen.
Elsewhere, Alexa+ has some features that are apparently kid-friendly. The voice assistant can use genAI to tell kids customized stories based on what they want to hear about. It can also answer questions they have (hopefully without any of those incorrect or false results that delayed Alexa+).
Panay led into the announcement and demos by noting that Alexa, as it stands, can be frustrating to use but generative AI can help to mitigate those annoyances. He added that an AI chatbot wouldn't be sufficient for Amazon's vision for Alexa and that people need something easy to use that allows them to "actually take action." With Alexa+, Panay claimed that the "intimidation factor" of genAI is no more. Sure!
Alexa.com and new phone apps
Amazon
There are other ways to access Alexa+ other than on an Echo device. Amazon revealed that you'll be able to use the upgraded voice assistant via alexa.com, which looks very basic at the time of writing. Seriously, the screenshot above is all that's on the website, which looks like it was knocked together in five minutes. That'll surely change soon, as a demo at the event indicated that you'll be able to type in queries. Amazon is also revamping the Alexa iOS and Android apps to include access to the upgraded assistant.
New devices
There was diddly squat on this front. It was widely expected that Amazon would introduce new hardware to go along with Alexa+, such as fresh Echo Buds, Echo speakers, smart displays and so on.
But nope! The event was all about the upgraded voice assistant which, at least to start with, requires a screen like an Echo Show, smartphone or computer to use. However, the company says Alexa+ will run on nearly every Alexa-compatible device it has released.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/everything-announced-at-amazons-alexa-ai-event-164613305.html?src=rss
Following years of development, Amazon's next-generation digital assistant is ready for public use. Panos Panay, Amazon's senior vice president of devices and services, demoed Alexa+ at the company's 2025 devices event.
The model powering Alexa+ can detect tone and mood and respond accordingly. Moreover, it's only necessary to say "Alexa" once; the assistant will follow the conversation. Panay said Alexa+ has contextual awareness, with the ability to "remember" earlier parts of a conversation.
"You can have almost any conversation that intimidation factor of AI is gone," Panay said.
Developing...This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/alexa-is-a-smarter-more-conversational-ai-version-of-amazons-digital-assistant-154349563.html?src=rss
The UKs Climate Change Committee (CCC) has advised the government to ensure half of all homes in the UK have heat pumps electric replacements for gas boilers by 2040 as part of its Seventh Carbon Budget to reach net zero by 2050. It also recommended making four out of five cars electric.
The UKs carbon budgets are intended to help it achieve a balance between the greenhouse gasses it produces and how much is taken out of the atmosphere. Besides switching to electric cars and heat pumps and moving away from fossil fuels, the CCC added that reducing consumption of meat and dairy would also help. Although the UK government isnt bound to accept the CCCs guidance, doing so makes the carbon target legally binding. The government can decide how it wants to hit the goal.
The UK has been pushing for heat pumps since 2021, especially ones powered by hydrogen. Engadget senior editor Dan Cooper also broke down how difficult it was for him to completely eschew natural gas in 2022, citing how expensive it was to install a heat pump even with government discounts. While technology is rapidly becoming more efficient, the CCCs plans arent guaranteed to work.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/half-of-uk-homes-will-need-heat-pumps-by-2040-to-hit-climate-goals-151406654.html?src=rss
