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Infinity Nikki is my favorite new release of 2024. It's a cotton candy confection of an open-world game that offers a lot more depth and variety than I expected to find. I enjoy the fabulous wardrobe, the low-key puzzles and the charming side quests. But the most surprising thing about Infinity Nikki was something that I've been ignoring in games for years: the photo mode. I didn't expect this to become a highlight of the Infinity Nikki experience. In fact, when it came up in the long sequence of tutorials during my first session, my initial reaction was, "Oh good, something I can forget about." Anna Washenko / Infold Games Photo mode has become a standard feature in single-player AAA games over the past decade. For those unfamiliar, this feature pauses the gameplay to let you pose your protagonist like an action figure, making them mug with a silly expression or hold up a peace sign. You can slap on a filter or make minute adjustments to the focus, aperture and other details to capture a striking image. Over the years, I've seen people capture Nathan Drake, Ellie and Joel, Aloy and many others striking heroic or hilarious poses. I appreciate those images when they cross my social feeds. And as game graphics become ever more photo-realistic, it makes sense that studios want to give players tools to capture beautiful moments when they happen. But every time I've played a game with a photo mode, I've found that after I take the one picture required by the tutorial, I never open the camera again. Anna Washenko / Infold Games My issue isn't that these games aren't gorgeous enough to warrant documenting. It's that when I'm in the middle of playing something like The Last of Us, it doesn't occur to me to stop for a snap because I'm so focused on the other gameplay mechanics and goals. Sure, there might be some calmer moments to breathe, but running for your life in a post-apocalyptic wasteland just isn't a time for casually browsing filters. And in other games, taking pics simply doesn't feel like an activity the character would do. Come on, there's no way Kratos would ever take a selfie. Like all its predecessors, Infinity Nikki is a beautiful game. Miraland comprises picturesque towns and charming landscapes, equally lovely in their sweeping vistas and hidden nooks. Everywhere you look are tons of carefully constructed little interactions that serve no purpose other than encouraging you to stage a cute image. You press a button to take a hot air balloon ride or to blow bubbles at a cafe table. It's a step up from most implementations, where the most you might be able to do is sit on a chair or bench. Anna Washenko / Infold Games What fully hooked me on becoming a shutterbug, though, is a system where players are prompted to take pictures of notable locations around Miraland. The first time I found one, it was a lush green grotto where I directed Nikki to sit on a log by an underground lake. It was a pretty spot, sure, but what most delighted me was that my outfit matched the setting perfectly. So I didn't just grab a photo and move on to a more important task. Taking the time to look great is the most important task. There's no single style point of view in Infinity Nikki. A few special ensembles offer contextual in-game abilities, but most pieces are there just so you can look exactly how you want. Nikki can be an absurd anime character from fantasy land in tulle and sparkles. Or she can look exactly like someone you might see streaming the game on Twitch or TikTok in an oversized hoodie. Or she can pair a top hat with jean shorts and thigh-high knit boots if you want. (And yes, I did want.) Anna Washenko / Infold Games This game knows you're there at least partly to play dress-up. It also knows that the obvious thing to do when you play dress-up is to immortalize your best fits with a photo shoot. That's why Infinity Nikki's photo mode feels not just enjoyable, but essential. It's a core part of the game loop. When I assemble a new outfit, I want to find a good setting to snap a pic. When I stumble on a striking location, I think about which poses will best showcase it. Most of the time, cameras and photo modes do little to enhance my love of a game. They're the metaphorical cherry on top of the sundae. With Infinity Nikki, though, the photo mode is the ice cream. And it is delicious.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/in-infinity-nikki-photo-mode-achieves-its-ultimate-form-133033817.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
Elon Musk's X has hiked prices for its ad-free Premium+ subscription service to $22 a month, up from $16 before ($168 to $229 annually), TechCrunch reported. That represents a 37.5 percent increase, the largest since Elon Musk purchased the platform previously known as Twitter back in 2022. One stated reason for the hike is that Premium+ is now "completely ads-free," with X claiming that it's a "significant enhancement" to the previous ad-free experience. It also promised a few other features. "Premium+ subscribers will enjoy higher priority support from @Premium, access to new features such as [X's advanced search tool] Radar, and higher limits on our most cutting-edge Grok AI models," the company wrote in a help page article. X also promised that more subscription revenue would be shared with creators. Premium+ prices are also rising by a similar amount in Europe, the UK, Canada and Australia. Existing users on monthly subscriptions will keep their current rates until January 20th, and price for other tiers (Basic and Premium) remain unchanged. X first introduced the Premium+ subscription tier in October 2023, promising an ad-free experience your "for you" and following timelines, along with existing Premium perks like a blue checkmark. However, users quickly noticed that ads appeared elsewhere on X (profiles, replies, Explore and elsewhere). A further update in August 2024 promised to eliminate those too, but X said that users would still see "occasional branded content in less common areas." Now, it seems, those will be vanquished too. X has reportedly lost 2.7 million active users in the last two months, with rival Bluesky gaining nearly the same number over that period. That has likely led to some loss in advertising revenue, which the platform may be hoping to recoup by raising subscription prices. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-hikes-ad-free-premium-subscription-price-from-16-to-22-133016526.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
Around the world, government organizations are calling out Google for monopolistic practices. The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) will reportedly announce Google is in violation of the country's antitrust laws in regards to its search engine, Chrome, and issue a cease and desist letter, Nikkei Asia reported. The watchdog started an investigation into Google's practices last October. The JFTC reportedly accuses Google of requiring smartphone manufacturers to sign a contract stating Chrome will be not only pre-downloaded on all devices, but that it will be placed in a certain spot on the screen. The manufacturers are allegedly forced to do this in order to have the Google Play available on their devices. In the US, federal judge Amit Mehta ruled in November that Google "is a monopolist" in the search engine industry. The Department of Justice (DoJ) then called for Google to sell Chrome as it "will permanently stop Googles control of this critical search access point and allow rival search engines the ability to access the browser that for many users is a gateway to the internet." The DoJ also called for Google to cease favoring Chrome on Android. Google recently released a proposal to appease the DoJ, but stated it will appeal the judge's ruling before a hearing scheduled for April. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-could-be-accused-of-antitrust-practices-in-japan-130039793.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
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