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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
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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
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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
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