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Life for Sleepers is fraught. They gain consciousness in a state of indentured servitude, an emulated human mind inside an android body, forced to work until theyre discarded. Those who escape dont last long due to trackers in their bodies, and their hardcoded dependence on a drug known as Stabilizer. Without it, a Sleepers body will eventually reject its biosynthetic organs. If this sounds like tech's worst excesses of the present taken to their most extreme, you're grasping what Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector's creator, Gareth Damian Martin, is driving at. Citizen Sleeper was me drawing on things from when I was in my early 20s, they tell me. In the past, Martin has spoken extensively about how the time they spent as a gig economy worker informed the alienation and atomization of labor that ran through the original game, which they released to widespread critical acclaim in 2022. With Citizen Sleeper 2, Im no longer looking at things from that perspective, Im thinking a little more about how do we continue to build a future when we know that its going to fall apart. We know that theres an inevitable entropy to everything, not just political systems and structures, but our lives and our physical bodies. We know its going to fall apart, and yet each day, we keep getting up and we keep doing things. For story reasons I wont spoil, the protagonist of the upcoming Citizen Sleeper 2 has managed to deactivate their tracker and no longer needs Stabilizer, but that hasnt made their existence any less precarious. Where Citizen Sleeper took place exclusively on a single space station, Citizen Sleeper 2 lets the player explore the Starward Belt, a location thats referenced frequently in the first game. With the change of locale comes a ship and crew for the player to manage, and a dramatic increase in scope. At approximately 250,000 words long, Citizen Sleeper 2s script is nearly double the length of the original games. The stakes are higher too, with a corporate proxy war threatening to engulf the Starward Belt. Jump Over the Age Martin has been working on Citizen Sleeper 2 for nearly two years, or about the same amount of time it took them to complete the original game. All essential systems were already in place, allowing Martin to spend more time on gameplay experimentation and story writing, drawing in particular on two of the most beloved (and deeply human) space operas. You know, Cowboy Bebop is a really good story about the gig economy, Martin says, laughing. And people forget how little the characters in Firefly like each other, right? Theyre more colleagues than friends, so theres something really relatable in that. During their days as a gig economy worker, Martin notes they met many people from different walks of life and places, and while the work pulls people apart almost by design, workers still find solidarity and human connection. The new game inherits many of its predecessors gameplay systems. Each day or cycle, the player has up to five dice to assign to actions that can earn them money or advance the story. The likelihood of completing an action successfully depends on the die the player assigns to it. A five, for instance, has a 50-50 chance of producing either a neutral or positive outcome, while a six guarantees success. Each task also carries with it a risk factor, with negative dice rolls resulting in more severe results on risky and dangerous actions. Then there are what the game calls clocks, the system that binds everything together. Most story objectives require the player to chip away at a task across multiple cycles. At the same time, theres often a competing clock counting down the amount of time before a story deadline. On the surface, all of Citizen Sleepers systems are simple, but they come together in a way that reinforces the games narrative. At least they did at the start. On my first playthrough of Citizen Sleeper, my character eventually earned enough money that securing Stabilizer for them was not an issue. Martin tells me that was by design. I knew I needed to have players on my side, they say of the first game. I needed to win people over. If the game was too harsh, I felt like players wouldnt give it the time that I wanted them to give to it. This time around, I feel in a very different position. Jump Over the Age Citizen Sleeper 2, by contrast, is a more confident game in itself, and in its players to accept a certain degree of suffering. There are story beats and content the players can miss, which was mostly not true in the first game. It also features multiple difficulty settings, and on the hardest one, the players Sleeper can experience permadeath. (If you want to continue that save file, you need to lower the difficulty, but your Sleeper will be forever changed.) I didn't know how Citizen Sleeper 2 was going to end when I started making it, Martin tells me, describing that as a dangerous game for a developer to play. But because I'd made the first one, I felt confident that I could play that game, and that it would come to something really exciting. The intended effect of Citizen Sleeper 2 is for the player to feel like Martin is leading them through a tabletop RPG experience, like Dungeons & Dragons or Blades in the Dark. The story should feel improvised, surprising and moving. Nowhere is that newfound confidence and TTRPG inspiration more apparent than with Contracts, Citizen Sleepers 2 signature new gameplay feature. Contracts take the Sleeper and up to two companions on jobs away from the safety of the Starward Belts population centers. An early one tasks the Sleepers crew with diffusing a damaged corporate battle drone. In practice, that meant deactivating two separate systems on the spacecraft, with the catch being that as soon as I gained access to one system, the timer for both started ticking. Each Contract is a miniature pressure cooker, with self-contained risks that can't be relieved until the Contract is over or the player fails. Jump Over the Age Contracts also allowed Martin to explore one of Citizen Sleepers less fully realized ideas, that the dice are the Sleepers body. During Contracts, negative and neutral rolls made during risky and dangerous actions will cause the Sleepers stress gauge to increase a system reminiscent of the need to obtain Stabilizer in the first game. As the gauge fills, specific rolls will begin damaging the players dice. Each of the Sleepers five dice can sustain three hits before they break; they can't be repaired until fully broken, and not until a Contract is over. Crewmates also have stress gauges, and filling them will leave them out of commission for the remainder of a Contract. Further complicating things is that even after fixing the Sleepers dice, they dont work as expected right away, due to another new mechanic called Glitch. Depending on the components the player uses to fix the Sleepers body, they will fill more or less of the Sleepers Glitch gauge. In turn, that means theres a greater chance of a regular die being converted into a glitched one, which has an innate 80-20 chance of producing either a negative or positive outcome, and skill points do nothing to change those odds. At first getting a glitched die feels punishing, but I think it is one of the smartest systems Martin has added to the game. The fact that glitched dice arent impacted by skills means they also ignore negative modifiers, which made them great for attempting tasks my Sleeper wasnt good at, and it really felt like I was pushing my luck. In a nice touch, theres even an achievement players can earn, an apt nod to Cowboy Bebop named Whatever happens, happens, when they score a positive outcome with a glitched die. Jump Over the Age I never felt comfortable playing Citizen Sleeper 2 the way I did with its predecessor. The game's constant surprises meant I often had to push my Sleepers body to its breaking point to complete some of its more challenging scenarios. In that way, Citizen Sleeper 2 is far more successful at bringing together its narrative and gameplay ambitions. I also found the story profound and essential at a time when it feels like the world isnt moving in the right direction. The characters of Citizen Sleeper 2 are surrounded by endless hardship, and yet they find a way to move forward. Is it pointless that we continue to strive to have human, meaningful relationships and build lives when we know that there are structures bigger than us that might crush us at any moment? Martin asks me. Or is it that, even though those structures are so big and powerful, we still live and work with a sense that we can build something and have meaningful relationships because our realities are very personal, real and direct?" Like any good GM, Martin isnt interested in handing anyone the answer to that question but hopes Citizen Sleeper 2 might lead them to their own. Citizen Sleeper 2 arrives on January 31 on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/citizen-sleeper-2-asks-how-we-stay-human-in-a-hopeless-future-180050858.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
It was an interesting year for robots at CES 2025. While we had hoped the AI boom would bring a new wave of useful robots to the show, it seems that many robotics companies are still figuring out exactly how to best use AI. What we found instead was a mix of adorable robot companions, strange concepts and one, slightly terrifying humanoid. We visited a lot of robots at CES and, for better or worse, some really left an impression on us. These are the ones that stood out the most. TCL Ai Me Karissa Bell for Engadget Of all the surprisingly adorable robots we saw at CES, TCLs Ai Me (pronounced Amy) was one of the cutest. The concept was on display at TCLs booth delighting and bewildering everyone who walked by. With a voice and eyes that are meant to sound like an actual human child, TCL seems to be pitching this as an emotional support/companion robot for kids. At the booth, Ai Me wasnt doing much besides moving around in its wheeled, egg-shaped base, but the company says that the AI-powered robot could be used to control smart home devices or record vlogs, thanks to built-cameras and AI capabilities. For now, its unclear if TCL actually plans to sell this thing, but the company seemed to have put quite a bit of effort into its CES demo. In addition to the one slowly wheeling around a mock-up living room, TCL showed off a lineup of different outfits, including fuzzy bunny suits and a denim vest, for Ai Me. -Karissa Bell Ropet Karissa Bell for Engadget As we walked over to the Ropet booth, a person was waving a plastic hotdog in front of the little robot and small cartoon hotdogs flashed across its eyes in response. I was pretty much sold at that moment, but it turned out to have some other pretty interesting things going on too. Ropet responds to voice, touch and gestures, and has its own cute little emotional reactions. Its conversational if you want it to be, with ChatGPT integration. Mostly its just adorable. -Cheyenne MacDonald Mirumi Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget Mirumi is one of those CES oddities that makes you simultaneously go, What the hell is this? and, Omg I love this. Its small, fluffy and has no other purpose than to make you smile by looking around and staring at you like an innocent baby. I immediately felt the need to protect it with my life. CM Romi Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget Romi is a conversational robot that fits in the palm of your hand and is here for you if you want to chat, vent or just hang out. The newest model of the robot turned up at Unveiled, and we couldnt help but be charmed by its cute facial expressions. It fits nicely in your hands, so you can carry it around the house with you while you walk around complaining about your workday. -CM Miroki Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget Miroki was at CES last year, but the Enchanted Tools team was back showing off the latest version and some new skills, including LLM integration. If you were able to fight through the crowd surrounding it to get up close, you may have seen it rolling around waving at people, blinking its big cartoon eyes and flicking its ears like a deer. Undecided on whether its cute or a little unnerving. -CM Scorpion Not sure which had a bigger presence at #CES2025, robots or "APT." pic.twitter.com/NLZWey94dI Engadget (@engadget) January 10, 2025 Scorpion is an AI bartender from Richtech Robotics that unfortunately wasnt slinging drinks when we saw it (or scuttling around, apparently it doesnt do that), but did perform a synchronized dance to Apt. with the companys Adam bot. Come for the arthropodal robot, stay for the K-pop. -CM Unitree G1 and "Robot Dog" This robot attacked me.Karissa Bell for Engadget Of all the robots we saw at CES 2025, Unitrees take the prize for most terrifying. The company was showing off its new quadruped robot dog and humanoid G1 robots. The quadruped, which is essentially heir take on Boston Dynamics Spot robot, showed off to onlookers by running around the booth, climbing stairs and sitting on its hind legs. But it was the G1 that proved to be the robot we needed to worry about. I was taking photos of the roughly 4-foot tall humanoid when it suddenly ran at me full-speed. I was only a foot or so in front of it at the time due to the crowd in the booth, so the roughly 60-pound G1 slammed directly into my body at an all out run. The surrounding crowd met I was essentially pinned in place for a few seconds while the robot continued to attempt to run through me until its operator was able to regain control. Fortunately, this was a case of user error and not the beginning of a robot uprising. The person holding the gamepad-like controller for the robot had mistakenly mashed the joystick, sending it directly into my body. At least I can now say I know what it feels like to be body slammed by a robot. -KB Mi-Mo Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget One of the more unusual robots we saw at CES, Mi-Mo is a six-legged table with a lamp on top. We didnt see Mi-Mo do much besides shimmy around the show floor and wave, but there are some really interesting ideas behind the AI-powered robot. It runs on multiple large language models and "thinks and acts" based on its environment. Its creators say it could help with childcare and eldercare tasks. Mi-Mo will be available to developers and researchers as a dev kit later this year. -KB Reachy 2 Daniel Cooper for Engadget Pollen Robotics was here at CES showing off Reachy 2, its latest machine thatll cost you $75,000 if you have that sort of cash laying around. Its an adorable open-source machine with a human pilot that, its makers say, is ideal for tele-operation and data acquisition. I just think its cute, especially when it waves at you. -Daniel Cooper Additional reporting by Daniel Cooper.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/the-robots-we-saw-at-ces-2025-the-good-the-bad-and-the-completely-unhinged-174529774.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
It was while walking past the RadioShack booth at CES 2025 that I spied the Kodak stand not far ahead. And it was while musing about the fate of those two storied okay maybe not storied names that I spied another Kodak booth two rows over. For a company thats been dead more than a few times over, its certainly enjoying something of a renaissance. Look, its not as if there havent always been brands that die and get revived in pursuit of a quick buck. Especially if the price is cheap and theres any residual degree of affection for it, but even so there are a hell of a lot of them now. Do we need four different companies selling Kodak-branded wares? Daniel Cooper for Engadget Perhaps the most egregious example at this years show was from Mizari, an LA-based company that sells hardware under a variety of names. This year, it was showing off a lineup of products under the Memorex brand, including e-bikes, scooters and golf caddies. If youre unfamiliar, Memorex made recordable media in the analog era: computer and cassette tapes, VHS, CDs and eventually DVDs. Its slogan was Is it live, or is it Memorex? boasting its superior audio quality. Does that slogan work as well for e-bikes, scooters and golf caddies? Thats less clear. Daniel Cooper for Engadget The companys representatives said that using the Memorex name was an experiment to see how much affection the public has for the brand. Theyre targeting people over the age of 40 who remember what they slammed in their tape decks. At the same time, theyre targeting younger generations who may feel the pull of that retro name, since were apparently in an era where anything old is inherently laudable. Mizari also holds the license for Delorean, albeit just to make e-bikes, scooters and go-karts, for the kids, you know? Daniel Cooper for Engadget RadioShack has been passed from owner to owner since it initially filed for Chapter 11 back in 2015. In May 2023, it was bought by Unicomer, a RadioShack franchisee from Central and South America which is now relaunching the parent brand in the US. It will act, like so many of these companies, as a distributor, adding its name to a variety of products made elsewhere. Its lineup is already 400 products strong, from gaming keyboards and mice to portable projectors and speakers. The idea, as you might have guessed, is to cash in on the fact people likely remember the name of this over some generic product they'll find among the dregs on Amazon. Daniel Cooper for Engadget The two Kodaks nearby share the Kodak name, but very little else: One is showing off the Kodak Mini Shot (lead image), made by Prinics Co. Walk 50 yards further down the plush CES carpet and youll find another Kodak (pictured above), this one selling digital photo frames and tablets. Staffers at both booths are happy to talk about which part of the sprawling Kodak license they are paying for. Hell, the latter Kodak stand was also advertising those same products under the Thomson name, an old French electronics company that was rebranded as Thales 25 years ago. Daniel Cooper for Engadget A little walk and youll soon find a large stand from RCA, which also holds the names Thomson and Blaupunkt. All three are nothing more than names and logos slapped on products that are shipped in from various manufacturers. RCA is famously known for making radio equipment and other electronics before branching into broadcasting, music and movies. So its natural, too, that you can pick up an RCA-branded e-bike and scooter, cashing in on all those bikes RCA made when your pop pop was in diapers. Daniel Cooper for Engadget Next to Mizaris Memorex-branded exhibits was the third Kodak booth Id stumbled across, this one showing off a wide variety of products. This included smartwatches, cameras, binoculars, mirrors with halo lighting and Bluetooth speakers, all made by various licensees. And, quite literally two booths over, was another Kodak stand, this time from C&A Global, which makes Kodak branded photo printers (and the HP Sprocket) as well as projectors and scanners. Daniel Cooper for Engadget Im not sure I need to wave my hands around and try to make some sort of grand point about All Of This. One one hand, it doesnt matter. Lots of low-cost products are sold to folks who arent going to interrogate their purchases. Given how common the practice of buying a dead brand and slapping it on whatever you sell, it must be profitable enough to justify doing it. But it just leaves me scratching my head, wondering whos going to remember the tape company from the 9s and want to ride an e-bike with its logo on the side. Or who would think theres any trust left in the Kodak brand given the near-homeopathic levels of dilution its subjected to. Maybe these companies' real lingering value is to serve as a reminder to all the other tech brands that this is the fate that awaits them if they keep messing up. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/a-tale-of-four-kodaks-173040742.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
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