The Verge - Entertainments |
- Humble Bundle will start capping charitable donations in mid-July
- How to install the tvOS 15 beta on Apple TV
- Amazon is ending Evangelion by bringing the final film to Prime Video
- What’s the deal with the Seinfeld soundtrack finally coming out?
- Go read this feature on an engineer who turned ‘free’ Xbox gift cards into millions in Bitcoin
- Ghost of Tsushima is getting an enhanced director’s cut on the PS4 and PS5
- Google TV rolls out new Watch With Me series for celeb-curated streaming
- Google’s iOS app has a secret pinball Easter egg now
- The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles looks like the perfect starting point for newcomers
- Ratchet and Clank’s fidelity mode gets performance boost for 120Hz TVs
| Humble Bundle will start capping charitable donations in mid-July Posted: 01 Jul 2021 05:07 PM PDT  Humble Bundle has announced that it's going to change how payment sliders will work in its storefront by removing the ability to donate all of what you spend to charity and setting an average minimum cut for Humble Bundle itself between 15 to 30 percent (via Kotaku). The change goes into effect in "mid-July." When you buy a bundle of games, ebooks, or software on Humble Bundle, you're traditionally given the option to choose how much of your money goes to Humble Bundle, the creator of what you're buying, and a charity via a slider for each. Those sliders are sticking around, but now they'll have a bit less range. The company justified the change in a blog post announcing its plans:
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22694718/blog_charity.gif) Image: Humble Bundle Humble Bundle first committed to changing how payments would work in April, announcing it would eliminate sliders completely, cap donations to charity at 15 percent, and introduce a series of toggles "with defined splits that clearly show what amount of your purchase will support Humble, publishers, and charity." Users were critical of the idea of shrinking donations while Humble Bundle would have been guaranteed to get a piece of every purchase, and the company ultimately rolled back its planned changes and announced it would explore other ways to improve upon payments. Thursday's news is the company's alternative. Humble Bundle became well-known for its flexible pay-what-you-want bundles. The original form of sliders allowed a customer to kick more of their money towards the developer or a charity, including reducing Humble Bundle's cut to zero in favor of the other two. Humble said going forward after its planned change, splits will vary on bundles, but it expects to take a cut somewhere between 15 to 30 percent. It makes sense that the cost of getting games to participate in bundles would have gone up, with some storefront's like the Epic Games Store writing checks to give away exclusive games for free, but it is disappointing that Humble Bundle has backed away somewhat from the more altruistic model it made its name on. As someone who's used Humble Bundle to buy games in the past, I wasn't as attached to sliders as I was the flexibility they represented — the idea that if I wanted to, I could know all of my money was going to the people who might need it most. Other stores like Itch.io allow you to send more money to developers directly, but Humble Bundle's setup was unique. Come mid-July, it'll just be a little less flexible.  |
| How to install the tvOS 15 beta on Apple TV Posted: 01 Jul 2021 02:14 PM PDT  The next big software update for Apple TV will arrive with tvOS 15. While it won't become widely available until later this year, users who are part of Apple's public beta program can now take it for a spin ahead of time. It's possible and even likely that Apple will continue tinkering with tvOS 15 features ahead of its official launch, but particularly for those looking to test-drive Apple's forthcoming SharePlay feature, the public beta has officially landed. The goodies arriving in tvOS 15 that Apple has disclosed so far are small — you're not going to notice a massive redesign of the tvOS interface, for example — but they're not insignificant, either. Though, a warning: once you install tvOS 15 on a newer Apple TV 4K box, there's no turning back. Uninstalling the beta from your Apple TV device may not be possible with newer models. Resetting an Apple TV HD requires connecting a USB-C cable to your computer (I'll describe the process more thoroughly later), which isn't possible on the Apple TV 4K boxes. The Verge has contacted Apple to ask about whether it's possible to revert back to tvOS 14 on newer Apple TVs and will update this guide if we hear back, but a simple factory reset doesn't cut it. (This is the case with watchOS 8 as well.) WHAT ARE THE NEW FEATURES ON tvOS 15?For one, tvOS 15 will bring support for SharePlay to Apple TV, allowing users to stream movies and TV shows with others over FaceTime on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. It's Apple's spin on group watch features that have largely been supported by individual services. There was just a handful of streaming services that Apple confirmed during WWDC would support the tool — Disney Plus, Twitch, Hulu, and Prime Video included — but we'll likely see wider support before tvOS officially rolls out later this year, as Apple confirmed to The Verge last month that the feature will be available to any streaming service that wants to use it. Two new rows will appear in the Apple TV app in tvOS 15 as well: For All of You and Shared with You. When enabled, Shared with You will populate content that's been shared with a user through Messages — for example, if a friend recommends For All Mankind or Lisey's Story from Apple TV Plus. (Though you'll need to enable it using another Apple device, and I couldn't seem to set it up this way.) For All of You, meanwhile, will surface content that Apple believes would be a good fit for everyone in the household. Some additional features coming to Apple TV in tvOS 15 include support for spatial audio with AirPods Pro or AirPods Max as well as on-screen connectivity notifications for AirPods. Additionally, HomeKit will allow users to view multiple camera feeds at once. And lastly, the update will support pairing two HomePod mini speakers to an Apple TV 4K. WHAT DEVICES ARE SUPPORTED FOR tvOS 15?
HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE tvOS 15 BETA
How to restore your Apple TV HD to its factory settingsIf the beta isn't working for you, you can restore an Apple TV HD (but again, not the Apple TV 4K) to its factory settings.
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| Amazon is ending Evangelion by bringing the final film to Prime Video Posted: 01 Jul 2021 01:31 PM PDT  Amazon is bringing the conclusion to the Rebuild of Evangelion film series — adaptations of the beloved anime Neon Genesis Evangelion created by Hideaki Anno — to Prime Video on August 13th. Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.01 Thrice Upon a Time came out in Japan in March but will be making its global premiere on Prime Video in over 240 countries and territories, Amazon says. Alongside the final fourth film, Amazon will also stream the other films in the series, Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone, Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance, and Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo. The company hasn't said when those films will be available on its service, but hopefully in time to catch up for Thrice Upon a Time's August release. You can watch a trailer for the new movie below: The Evangelion "Rebuilds" are an interesting mix of reworked moments from the original anime and entirely new plot lines and character backstories that only appear in the film series. If you caught up with Neon Genesis Evangelion when it came to Netflix in 2019, there are lots of interesting departures and fully animated Eva battles to discover in the Rebuilds. Plus the show and films' darker psychological themes probably hit too close to home for anyone who's had a mini-existential crisis during the pandemic. That Amazon managed to snag Thrice Upon a Time and its predecessors seems like a pretty big knock against Netflix's anime empire. Most streaming services are now trying to have some kind of anime strategy, either through the acquisition of other platforms or just by throwing money at popular creators. Netflix missing out on scooping up more Evangelion to go with the series and original two feature films it already offers is a loss. More mechs for Bezos, I guess.  |
| What’s the deal with the Seinfeld soundtrack finally coming out? Posted: 01 Jul 2021 12:59 PM PDT  The hottest album of 2021 is about to drop. The soundtrack of the hit '90s sitcom Seinfeld will be released on Friday, July 2nd (via Variety) on "all digital platforms," though specific platforms weren't stated. I expect to hear the bouncy slap bass-driven theme song that never fails to make me laugh blaring out of cars, apartments, and cafes this Fourth of July weekend. Believe it or not, there will be 33 tracks on the album, and it's apparently the first time that this music will be made available in an official fashion. The composer, Jonathan Wolff, told Variety that the soundtrack contains some music that was created for the show but never actually appeared in it. Three jazz songs were made for scenes where Elaine (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) goes to see a date playing in a jazz club in the seventh season. The scenes were eventually cut. According to Variety, there's plenty of variety on the album:
But let's be honest. You, me, and everyone else are just going to absolutely crank that theme song. Soon it'll be easier than ever to play at a moment's notice, but it's interesting to hear that the now-signature bass groove (which was actually created on a keyboard) and the scat-like sound effects that are sprinkled throughout each episode almost didn't make the cut. NBC executives said it was "weird, distracting and annoying," according to the composer in Variety's interview. Seinfeld co-creator Larry David had a predictably Larry David-like response: "Larry was deeply offended, and didn't change anything," the composer says.  |
| Go read this feature on an engineer who turned ‘free’ Xbox gift cards into millions in Bitcoin Posted: 01 Jul 2021 11:52 AM PDT  When you can be in the right place at the right time, you can really make some things happen for yourself. Take, for instance, Volodymyr Kvashuk, who moved from Ukraine to the US for a career in computer science and wound up working as an engineer for Microsoft. According to a new must-read feature from Bloomberg, that was exactly the right time to turn a loophole in Microsoft's payment testing apparatus into a multimillion-dollar Bitcoin scheme — and a sick lake house. Kvashuk's job was to look for flaws in how Microsoft processed payments by buying things like physical hardware using a company card and a fake login. Microsoft knew enough to not send him a Dell PC every time he ordered one, but Xbox gift cards bought online and sent to an email inbox weren't accounted for, which was an opening Kvashuk couldn't ignore. It was also just the thing he needed to earn a few quick millions. As Austin Carr writes:
All Kvashuk needed was a way to get a bunch of codes at once (his co-workers' accounts would do), hide where the purchases were being made (rerouting those requests through foreign servers works), and resell the cards for cryptocurrency (a website called Paxful.com fit the bill) to get a delicious Xbox gift card crime soup going. I'd be remiss to share more because Carr's reporting on this story really is a fun ride. Kvashuk deploys some wonderful logic to justify his gift card operation — basically, gift card money isn't real — which, in a way, reflects the way Microsoft and plenty of other companies have treated gift cards in the past. They obscured the actual value with point systems and hoped customers would treat the cards they bought like funny money. Kvashuk actually did — just in a way no one expected. You can read how Kvashuk did it on Bloomberg right now.  |
| Ghost of Tsushima is getting an enhanced director’s cut on the PS4 and PS5 Posted: 01 Jul 2021 09:58 AM PDT  Sony and Sucker Punch's hit game Ghost of Tsushima is getting an enhanced director's cut edition for both the PS4 and PS5 that will include a new island to explore and all of the content that has been released so far for the original game. The upgraded game will be available on August 20th. The new content takes place on the island of Iki, and Sucker Punch says there will be new story content, characters, environments, armor, enemies, and more. "There are even new animals to pet!" Sucker Punch's Andrew Goldfarb said in a blog post. /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22693702/51281763051_48114bdd53_h.jpeg) Image: Sony Alongside the additional content, Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut will also have some PS5-exclusive features, such as using the haptic feedback and adaptive triggers on the DualSense controller. In addition, the PS5 version of the game will feature lip-synced voices for the Japanese voiceover option, addressing a major criticism from the original release. "There will also be enhancements to 3D audio on PS5, as well as drastically improved load times, 4K resolution options and framerates targeting 60 FPS" for the PS5 version of the game, Goldfarb said. It's unclear how these updates may improve upon the PS5 optimization patch Sucker Punch released last year. If you already own Ghost of Tsushima, a patch will be available with "some" of the new updates when the director's cut is available, according to Goldfarb. Current owners will also be able to bring their save over to the PS5 version. Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut will launch on its own for $69.99 on the PS5 and $59.99 on the PS4. But if you have the PS4 version of the original game, the path to upgrading to the director's cut is a little complex. Here's how Sony lays it out:
This all means that for people who want to upgrade to the PS5 version, it's going to cost $30 whether you take the option to pay $20 now and $10 on August 20th or you choose to just pay $30 at launch.  |
| Google TV rolls out new Watch With Me series for celeb-curated streaming Posted: 01 Jul 2021 09:00 AM PDT  Evidently acknowledging our collective content fatigue, Google TV has announced a new celebrity-curated Watch With Me series that should make finding something to binge a little less painful. Google announced that the Watch With Me series will spotlight series and movies loved by entertainers and artists. In addition to Watch With Me showcasing celebrities' favorite flicks, the series will feature interviews with those curators about why they hand-selected a specific title to be featured. Google TV's algorithm is fairly good at surfacing relevant titles, but the idea is to allow these hosts to guide users specifically through a collection of movies that inspired them. The hub is yet another place to find something good to watch, and the added contextualization of each film may help introduce users to a title they may have missed on the platform. Google TV isn't the first to spotlight titles with celebrity-curated hubs. HBO Max uses the format to spotlight favorites from featured personalities like Gal Gadot and Zack Snyder, and YouTube has similarly experimented with the format. Google TV's new series will kick off with a collection selected by actress Laverne Cox, who chose titles like Moonlight, The Color Purple, Pretty in Pink, and The Matrix, among other groundbreaking films. Google says users will be seeing the watchlist "over the next few days," and when you have it, it can be found in the For You section of the platform.  |
| Google’s iOS app has a secret pinball Easter egg now Posted: 01 Jul 2021 07:16 AM PDT  The Google app on iOS appears to have gotten a new Easter egg: a rather entertaining little pinball app hidden away in the "Tabs" menu. The game appears to have been added a few weeks ago, as spotted by several YouTube videos and a Reddit post in the middle of June. Opening the pinball game is simple: switch over to the Tabs, uh, tab in Google's iOS app, clear out any open tabs, and then wait for the colorful shapes to start creeping up from the bottom of the screen. Swipe up on those shapes, and you'll launch a surprisingly full-featured pinball game directly in the app. Gameplay actually works like a mix of pinball and Brick Breaker, with each level spawning a variety of colorful shapes that shrink and eventually vanish with each hit. Each level adds new bumper variations and more shapes to the mix, and there are even power-ups: a heart adds an extra life, a blue star splits the pinball into two, and a yellow star makes the ball larger and easier to hit. It also works offline, in the event that you're stuck on a plane or subway and somehow manage to only have the Google app on your phone for internet-less entertainment. Is there a real purpose to the pinball Easter egg? Not really. (The same could be said of regular pinball, I suppose.) But the existential nature of pinball is beyond the scope of this blog post — besides, I need to go back and try to beat my high score.  |
| The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles looks like the perfect starting point for newcomers Posted: 01 Jul 2021 06:30 AM PDT  The Ace Attorney series is one of gaming's great pleasures, mashing up courtroom drama with anime sensibilities into something dramatic, heartwarming, and silly in equal measure. But if you're a new player, it can be tough to know where to start. There's the original trilogy starring Phoenix Wright, a handful of spinoffs, and more recent titles that further the story of a hapless defense attorney with a heart of gold. It's like jumping into a long-running soap opera and having to quickly catch up. But it looks like a solution is almost here: Capcom is set to launch a prequel called The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles that offers the same tone and gameplay without all of the narrative baggage. Chronicles is actually a compilation of two games that originally launched in Japan a few years back but have finally received a proper English localization. I had the chance to play through the first few chapters — there are 10 altogether — and the game plays out much like the rest of the series. That means most of your time is spent in a courtroom, where you'll be meticulously going through statements and evidence in search of any contradictions you can find. In practice, this involves a lot of reading; Ace Attorney games play out mostly like a visual novel, with little breaks for investigating crime scenes or evidence. The twist in Chronicles is that it takes place at the dawn of the Meiji period, when Japan first began opening itself up to Western influence in things like art, science, and, yes, law. At the outset of the game, the whole idea of a judge, lawyers, and jury is still relatively new. This gives the game an interesting aesthetic, and it's fun to listen to characters marvel at things like photographs or anesthesia. But more importantly, it offers a completely clean slate: you don't have to know anything about Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth, or any other Ace Attorney characters to jump in. Despite the lack of familiar faces, the game retains the same charm — at least from what I've played. The very first case introduces the new protagonist, a law student named Ryunosuke Naruhodo, who has been accused of killing a visiting professor from Great Britain and is forced to defend himself. The trial is both intense and ridiculous. A key piece of evidence involves how a steak was eaten, and one of the key witnesses is a soldier who appears to be controlled by a baby. As always, slowly breaking these witnesses down by presenting contradictions is extremely satisfying, especially as each character will visibly change in elaborate ways to match their mental state. (The game retains the same 3D visual style as the previous Spirit of Justice, which means these moments are particularly outlandish.) The game even gets serious at times; I was pleasantly surprised to see small moments that touched on the racism and sexism of the time. Much like Phoenix Wright before him, Naruhodo has a real lovable loser vibe that you can't help but root for. The first time he yells "Objection!" is totally heart-warming. What's great about the game, at least so far, is that it translates the things I love about the series — the sense of humor, the melodrama, the over-the-top characters, the thrill of connecting the dots — but in a completely new environment. As a longtime fan, it's been refreshing. But for new players? It's the ideal place to start. The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles launches July 27th on the PS4, Switch, and Steam.  |
| Ratchet and Clank’s fidelity mode gets performance boost for 120Hz TVs Posted: 01 Jul 2021 05:38 AM PDT  The latest patch for Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart has given the game a small but significant performance boost when playing using its fidelity mode on 120Hz displays. According to the patch notes for version 1.002 of the game, fidelity mode now runs at 40 frames per second when used with 120Hz displays, up from the 30 frames per second previously. That's over a 30 percent improvement, which should make the game look a lot smoother and feel a lot more responsive to play in this mode. It's a change that mainly affects just one of the three display modes the PS5 game shipped with, but it's a fascinating example of the kinds of things that will become possible as 120Hz TVs become the norm. It's also an interesting workaround for Sony's current lack of support for variable refresh rates (VRR) on its console, a feature which the company has said it plans to add in a future software update. For the uninitiated, Rift Apart originally shipped with three display modes: Fidelity, Performance, and Performance RT. Performance runs the game without ray tracing at 60 frames per second, at a resolution of between 1620p and 1800p, according to Digital Foundry. Performance RT adds ray tracing support and still runs at 60fps, but resolution is lower at between 1080p and 1440p. Finally, there's fidelity mode, where you get ray tracing and the highest resolutions of between 1800p and 2160p (full 4K), but at the cost of frame rate, which was previously limited to 30fps. But now, if you've got a compatible 120Hz TV, that frame rate sits at 40fps rather than 30. You might be confused about why this requires a 120Hz TV in the first place, and why it won't work on regular 60Hz TVs. After all, 60 is more than 40, which suggests that it should be possible. The reason is that in order for motion to display smoothly, a game's frames should ideally divide equally across a display's refresh rate. It's easy for a 60Hz display to display a 30fps game, for example, because it will show a new frame once every couple of refreshes. But other frame rates that don't equally divide into 60 are more complicated. It's why TV manufacturers have to put in a lot of effort to make sure that movies (which are typically shown at 24 frames per second) can play smoothly and without judder on otherwise 60Hz displays. That's why a 120Hz TV makes smooth 40fps content possible, because each frame can be divided across three refreshes. And users on ResetEra report that playing the game in this mode feels a lot smoother than the previous 30fps mode. It's worth noting that Rift Apart did originally ship with 120Hz support. But this didn't affect the game's frame rate, and instead was designed to reduce input latency. The mode was later removed over the compatibility issues it caused. With its return, however, input latency should also see improvements. Of course, the ideal future is for everything to support variable refresh rates, which allow screens to dynamically scale to whatever frame rate a game is able to produce, rather than being limited to arbitrary frame rate caps. The feature is already supported on Microsoft's Xbox Series X and S consoles, most modern PC graphics cards, and a growing number of HDMI 2.1-equipped TVs. But there's still no sign of the update for PS5 consoles.  |
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