The Verge - Entertainments |
- The voice of Joel from The Last of Us steps away from NFT project after outcry
- Leatherface refuses to be canceled in Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s first trailer
- The latest iPad Air is selling for its lowest price ever
- MLB The Show is making its Nintendo Switch debut on April 5th
- Sony is buying Bungie, the developer of Destiny and original creator of Halo
- XKCD’s Randall Munroe announces What If? 2, with more scientific answers to life’s most absurd hypothetical questions
- Chord’s Mojo 2 is a pricey gadget aimed at improving the sound of wired headphones
- Joe Rogan defends podcast and apologizes to Spotify for backlash
- Live-action Halo TV show release date revealed in new trailers
| The voice of Joel from The Last of Us steps away from NFT project after outcry Posted: 31 Jan 2022 11:16 AM PST  Troy Baker, a prominent voice actor perhaps best known for playing Joel in The Last of Us, is stepping away from an NFT partnership following significant outcry. In the early hours of January 14th, Baker announced on Twitter that he would be partnering with a company called Voiceverse, which creates "Voice NFTs" that each have a "unique AI-generated voice map," but he now says he won't continue the partnership. In his original announcement, it seems Baker expected some backlash — perhaps he has seen some of the gaming community's opposition to NFTs already, like what led to the removal of planned NFTs from the upcoming S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl. "You can hate," part of Baker's tweet read. "Or you can create. What'll it be?" On Monday, he apologized for that choice of language. "Intentions aside, I've heard you and apologize for accusing anyone of 'hating' just by simply disagreeing with me," he said. He had also apologized hours after he first announced the partnership, saying the statement was a "bad attempt to bring levity."
Voiceverse also received heavy criticism following the original partnership announcement, with some pointing out that its NFTs had the potential to replace voice actors, who already have a challenging road in the industry. Voiceverse tried to control some of the damage by posting a Twitter thread to explain the premise of its Voice NFTs (apparently, the actors that lent their voices to Voice NFTs would get royalties) and a screenshotted note claiming that it wants to "disrupt the industry by opening up a new stream of opportunities for Voice Actors, not replacing them." — Voiceverse Origins (@VoiceverseNFT) January 14, 2022 While Baker says he chose not to continue the partnership, Voiceverse claims the two parties "mutually decided" to end it. Baker's reversal comes shortly after Ubisoft received a new wave of pushback for its NFT plans. Fans haven't responded well to the company's Digits NFTs announced in December, and in an interview with Australian publication Finder published last week, Nicolas Pouard, vice president of the company's strategic innovation lab and the head of its blockchain initiatives, said he still believes NFTs are "really beneficial" for players and that fans "don't get it for now." Indie developer Team17 is also under scrutiny for its decision to make Worms NFTs (called MetaWorms, in case you were wondering), though Team17 "has no plans to introduce NFTs or play-to-earn NFT mechanics into any of its indie games label titles," according to a statement given to Eurogamer. |
| Leatherface refuses to be canceled in Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s first trailer Posted: 31 Jan 2022 10:40 AM PST  All Texas Chainsaw Massacre's Leatherface has really wanted deep down is to be unbothered by the outside world and left to his murderous hobbies. But the first trailer for Netflix and Legendary's upcoming sequel makes clear that almost 50 years later, the iconic serial killer still knows no peace despite his attempts to go looking for it. What the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre lacks in terms of having a unique title, it may make up for with its premise, which directly connects it to director Tobe Hooper's original 1974 feature of a similar name. Though most everyone living near Harlow, Texas is familiar with the story of how Sally Hardesty (Olwen Fouéré) narrowly managed to escape Leatherface's (Mark Burnham) clutches, Texas Chainsaw Massacre's out-of-towner protagonists have no idea what they're talking into when they journey to the town. Because Melody (Sarah Yarkin), her sister Lila (Elsie Fisher), and their friends Dante (Jacob Latimore) and Ruth (Nell Hudson) are all focused on opening up a new business together and not exactly learning about their new town, none of them realize how much danger they're in when they wander into Leatherface's home where he's hidden himself away. Texas Chainsaw Massacre's first trailer gives you the sense that, ignorant as its protagonists are about Leatherface, the movie's going to spend a significant amount of time digging into what makes him tick and how this generation of victims truly isn't prepared to deal with his brand of psychopathy. Texas Chainsaw Massacre hits Netflix on February 18th. |
| The latest iPad Air is selling for its lowest price ever Posted: 31 Jan 2022 10:35 AM PST  The 2020 model of the iPad Air has been discounted to its lowest price ever. Normally, this slim tablet costs $599.99 but has been discounted to $499.99 in all colorways at Best Buy. The Verge's Dieter Bohn praised its excellent screen and overall fast performance, calling it the "best tablet for most people" in his review. This model represents a top-to-bottom redesign over its previous iteration, bringing features like a USB-C charging port, which broadens its compatibility with accessories. Our top pick for the best Chromebook you can get, the Acer Chromebook Spin 713, is currently on sale at Best Buy for $499.99, knocking $200 off the regular price of this amazing laptop. In our review from The Verge's own Monica Chin, she gave this lightweight laptop top marks for its excellent display and Thunderbolt 4 support, though its drab aesthetics could have used some improvements. The Spin 713 features a 13.5-inch 2256x1504 display. It also includes an 11th Gen Intel Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM, Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics, and a built-in storage capacity of 256GB that can be expanded via its microSD card slot. A couple of Sony's best noise-canceling wireless earbuds are currently on sale. The latest model, the WF-1000XM4, is currently matching its lowest price ever at B&H Photo and Best Buy, bringing the regular $277.99 price down to $249.99. You can also find the previous model, the WF-1000XM3 at Amazon and Best Buy for $128.00, a solid discount from its original price of $199.99. In our review of the XM4, Verge reviewer Chris Welch admired the noise cancellation and detailed sound profile, enough so to earn these earbuds the top spot on our list of the best earbuds you can currently buy. While the XM3 may show their age at this point, in his 2019 review, Chris Welch gave these earbuds excellent marks for their sound quality and great battery life. The highly-anticipated Pokémon Legends: Arceus was released just a few days ago, but is currently available for $49.99 at eBay, taking $10 off the regular price. Serving as something of a prequel to other Pokémon titles, this installment takes a slightly different approach from previous games in the series. While the overarching goal will always be to "catch them all," Arceus leans heavily into established RPG mechanics like quests and side missions while adding some wrinkles to the familiar gameplay loop by adding a crafting system and eliminating gym leader battles. In our review by Verge staffer Andrew Webster, he mentioned that this title represents "the biggest overhaul to the Pokémon formula since the series debuted." The Corsair Virtuoso RGB wireless headset is currently available in its white and gold colorway at Amazon for its lowest price ever. Normally $179.99, this headset has been discounted to $139.99. While it's unfortunate that this discount doesn't extend to its other colorways, this is the best price we've seen for this headset. The Virtuoso RGB is built with a sturdy aluminum frame and a plush leatherette headband with customizable RGB logos on both earcups. The headset features USB wireless connectivity and is compatible with Sony consoles as well as PC. However, you'll have to rely on its 3.5mm wired connection if you're planning to use this headset with your Nintendo Switch, Xbox, or any compatible mobile device. Some other great deals to check out
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| MLB The Show is making its Nintendo Switch debut on April 5th Posted: 31 Jan 2022 10:26 AM PST  MLB The Show made its debut on Xbox last year, and it's now making its way to the Nintendo Switch. MLB The Show 22 will be released on April 5th on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X / S. This is the first entry in the MLB The Show series for Nintendo's Switch console, and it will include full cross-platform progression, cross-saves, and online multiplayer between PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch consoles. The cover athlete this year is Shohei Ohtani, who had an incredible 2021, hitting 46 home runs and 100 runs batted in. The Japanese baseball star is "the only obvious choice to grace the cover of MLB The Show 22," says Ramone Russell, brand strategist at Sony's San Diego studio, on the PlayStation blog. /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23207583/ce8f795665cb5abb0ba190973dbd4b80fb25ecb4.png) Image: Sony Nintendo Switch owners will be pleased to hear MLB The Show is making its way to the Switch, especially after seeing it arrive on Xbox last year and previously needing to play the game on PlayStation for years. "This is a very exciting moment for all of us, as the storied franchise continues to welcome more players," says Russell. The standard editions of the game are priced at $59.99 on Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PS4. The same standard edition will be priced at $69.99 on the PS5 and Xbox Series X / S. If you purchase the PS4 edition and are planning to upgrade to a PS5, you'll need to purchase the digital edition to take advantage of a $10 upgrade offer. Collector's editions of MLB The Show 22 will also be revealed later this week, and will include dual entitlement to both last-gen and current-gen versions of the game. Microsoft has also announced that MLB The Show 22 will be available day one on Xbox Game Pass. |
| Sony is buying Bungie, the developer of Destiny and original creator of Halo Posted: 31 Jan 2022 10:06 AM PST  Sony is buying Bungie, the developer of Destiny and the original creator of Halo, for $3.6 billion. The acquisition arrives shortly after Microsoft's announcement that it intends to acquire Activision Blizzard in a deal worth $68.7 billion. Bungie will "continue to independently publish and creatively develop our games," Bungie CEO Pete Parsons writes in a blog post. "In SIE, we have found a partner who unconditionally supports us in all we are and who wants to accelerate our vision to create generation-spanning entertainment, all while preserving the creative independence that beats in Bungie's heart," Parsons writes. "Like us, SIE believes that game worlds are only the beginning of what our IPs can become. Together, we share a dream of creating and fostering iconic franchises that unite friends around the world, families across generations, and fans across multiple platforms and entertainment mediums."
Bungie will continue to be a multiplatform and independent studio and publisher, and it will sit alongside the company's PlayStation Studios developers, Jim Ryan, the president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, said in a post on the PlayStation Blog. "Bungie's world-class expertise in multi-platform development and live game services will help us deliver on our vision of expanding PlayStation to hundreds of millions of gamers," he said. Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation Studios, reiterated that sentiment in a separate blog post. "Bungie's technical expertise, coupled with their track record of building highly engaged communities, make them a natural fit for collaboration with PlayStation Studios," he said. "We are excited to make plans to share skills and expertise, and to unlock the potential in having the brilliant minds at Bungie under the PlayStation roof." Bungie is telling the audience flatly that its future games will not become PlayStation exclusives. "No. We want the worlds we are creating to extend to anywhere people play games. We will continue to be self-published, creatively independent, and we will continue to drive one, unified Bungie community," writes Bungie in an FAQ about the deal. In that FAQ, Bungie also discussed how the acquisition will affect the long-running hit Destiny 2:
The acquisition is the latest in a slate of big ones that have been announced just this month. The industry is still reeling from Microsoft's deal for Activision Blizzard, and that arrived just over a week after the news of Take-Two's $12.7 deal for mobile developer Zynga. And last year, Sony bought up a lot of studios to bolster its PlayStation Studios family, including Returnal developer Housemarque and Demon's Souls remake developer Bluepoint Games. |
| Posted: 31 Jan 2022 09:07 AM PST  XKCD creator Randall Munroe has announced his latest science book: What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, which will delve into new out-of-the-box questions that Munroe attempts to answer with hard scientific facts and research. What If? 2 follows 2014's original What If? book — which itself was borne out of an XKCD spinoff blog — that saw Munroe examine absurd questions (like whether you could build a jetpack that ran off downward-facing machine guns or if there's enough paint to cover the entire surface of the earth) with rigorous scientific accuracy, accompanied by Munroe's signature stick figure comics. The new volume will continue in What If?'s absurd scientific footsteps, attempting to answer new questions from readers like how you'd ride a fire pole from the moon to Earth, or what would happen if you tried to build a billion-story-high building or solve global warming by having everyone on earth open their freezer doors. Munroe took a break between the first and second What If? books to publish How To, a spiritual successor to What If? that attempted to answer more mundane questions (like "how to charge a phone" or "how to mail a package") in his signature over-the-top scientific style. But What If? 2 looks to see a return to even higher heights of absurdity by once again throwing out even the very pretense of practicality. What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions will be out on September 13th. |
| Chord’s Mojo 2 is a pricey gadget aimed at improving the sound of wired headphones Posted: 31 Jan 2022 03:00 AM PST  British audio manufacturer Chord has announced a successor to the excellent Mojo, a battery-powered accessory that aims to improve the sound of your wired headphones or speakers when paired with your phone, laptop, tablet, or other digital media source. New features for the Mojo 2 include a USB-C input, better battery life, and new tone controls that effectively work like an equalizer to customize the sound it puts out. The Mojo 2 retails for $725 (£449), which is hardly affordable by any measure. However, if it's as good as its predecessor, then this might be a price worth paying to accompany a pair of suitably premium wired headphones or speakers. It's available globally starting today. The Mojo 2, like the original Mojo, is effectively a battery-powered digital-to-analog converter (aka a DAC) and headphone amplifier. Basically, anything that can play digital audio sources and output them to a pair of headphones has a built-in DAC for turning digitally stored audio into an output analog signal. But the argument goes that a lot of these inbuilt DACs are low-quality, and your audio will sound better if you use a decent external DAC like the Mojo. You plug the Mojo into your phone, laptop, or other devices and your wired headphones into the Mojo's 3.5mm jack. /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23201134/Copy_of_MOJO2_ANGLE_LEFT.jpg) Image: Chord /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23201133/Copy_of_MOJO2_RIGHT_SIDE.jpg) Image: Chord /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23201132/Copy_of_MOJO2_LEFT_SIDE.jpg) Image: Chord /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23201131/Copy_of_MOJO2_TOP_2_2.jpg) Image: Chord A fourth control button offers new tone controls. The big new feature with the Mojo 2 (and the reason it has four buttons compared to the original Mojo's three) is its new tone control system. Much like the equalizers included in many pieces of software, it lets you adjust the relative volumes of a track's different audio frequencies (in this case, its lower bass, mid-bass, lower treble, and high treble). Chord advertises that this process is completely transparent and doesn't degrade the original audio's signal. Other improvements include a 9 percent better battery life for a total in excess of eight hours, as well as a USB-C input for your audio data, which sits alongside the Mojo's existing micro USB, coaxial, and optical inputs. Unfortunately, you'll still have to charge the DAC over a separate Micro USB port. Chord has kept this outdated port around to maintain compatibility with the Chord Poly accessory, which adds support for playing music off a microSD card to the Mojo or streaming over AirPlay, Bluetooth, or a DLNA server. The combination of ports leads to a slightly weird, crowded look on the digital input end of the Mojo 2. At the other end, there are a pair of headphone outputs, which are designed to let you and a friend listen simultaneously. Although the Mojo 2's battery might suggest it's primarily meant as a portable accessory, it's also possible to leave the Mojo 2 permanently connected to a power source and have it bypass the battery entirely. Costing $725 and serving primarily wired headphones in an era where wireless headphones are now the norm, the Chord Mojo 2 is definitely a niche product. But if you've already invested in your dream pair of wired headphones and you want to improve the quality of whatever you're plugging them into, then the Mojo 2 wants to be the accessory for you. |
| Joe Rogan defends podcast and apologizes to Spotify for backlash Posted: 30 Jan 2022 10:00 PM PST  Joe Rogan has issued a response to the ongoing controversy that has seen artists including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removing their music from Spotify because of not wanting to share a platform with his popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. In a nearly ten-minute video uploaded to Instagram, Rogan defends his decision to book contentious guests, apologizes to Spotify for the backlash, and details how the podcast may change in the future. "These podcasts are very strange because they're just conversations," Rogan says. "And oftentimes I have no idea what I'm going to talk about until I sit down and talk to people. And that's why some of my ideas are not that prepared or fleshed out because I'm literally having them in real time, but I do my best and they're just conversations, and I think that's also the appeal of the show. It's one of the things that makes it interesting. So I want to thank Spotify for being so supportive during this time, and I'm very sorry that this is happening to them and that they're taking so much from it." Rogan mentions two podcast guests that much of the controversy has focused on, Dr. Peter McCullough and Dr. Robert Malone. Both of these guests made multiple unsubstantiated claims related to the COVID-19 pandemic on The Joe Rogan Experience, according to fact-checking organization Science Feedback. Rogan says of the guests that they are "highly credentialed, very intelligent, very accomplished people, and they have an opinion that is different from the mainstream narrative. I wanted to hear what their opinion is." Despite the widespread debunking of many of the guests' statements, Rogan takes issue with those episodes being labeled "misinformation." He argues that the guests' positions on certain subjects like the effectiveness of cloth masks, the origin of the virus, or whether vaccinated people could catch and spread COVID would have once got you "removed from social media" but have subsequently become accepted mainstream discourse. He doesn't address their other claims. "I do not know if they're right," he continues. "I don't know because I'm not a doctor. I'm not a scientist. I'm just a person who sits down and talks to people and has conversations with them. Do I get things wrong? Absolutely. I get things wrong, but I try to correct them whenever I get something wrong. I try to correct it because I'm interested in telling the truth. I'm interested in finding out what the truth is, and I'm interested in having interesting conversations with people that have differing opinions. I'm not interested in only talking to people that have one perspective." While unrepentant about booking guests with disputed opinions, Rogan does say he's open to ways in which the podcast could improve. He says he agrees with Spotify's plan to label episodes that include COVID-19 discussion with content advisories and disclaimers. He also says he wants to "have more experts with differing opinions, right after the controversial ones." "I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people's perspectives so we can maybe find a better point of view," he says. "I don't want to just show the contrary opinion to what the narrative is. I want to show all kinds of opinions so we can all figure out what's going on and not just about COVID, about everything, about health, about fitness, wellness, the state of the world itself." Spotify reportedly struck a nine-figure deal with Rogan in 2020 for the rights to host his show exclusively. In documents seen by The Verge, the company deemed that multiple controversial Joe Rogan Experience episodes "didn't meet the threshold for removal." Last year The Verge reported that Spotify reviewed an episode where he advised 21 year olds not to get vaccinated and deemed it to be within the company's content guidelines. Related: |
| Live-action Halo TV show release date revealed in new trailers Posted: 30 Jan 2022 01:44 PM PST  Paramount Plus debuted two new trailers for the long-awaited live-action Halo series, revealing its fast-approaching March 24th, 2022 release date. The first video is a one-minute teaser that previews the longer trailer originally set to debut during tonight's AFC championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals — it flashes between clips of the live-action series and both teams on the field (via IGN). At around the 52-second mark, you can hear the announcer state the fast-approaching release date.
And while the longer trailer was supposed to air during the AFC game, Paramount appears to have released it early. This is a much meatier trailer than the brief trailers released last year, and gives us a more detailed glimpse at the possible storyline — which doesn't seem to follow any specific arcs from the games themselves. We also get a first look at Master Chief's AI assistant, Cortana, as well as the Elites. The Halo show stars Pablo Shreiber of American Gods as Master Chief, with Jen Taylor taking on the familiar role of Cortana, who she voiced since the release of the first Halo game in 2001. Natasha McElhone, who was originally cast to play Cortana, will star as the brilliant Dr. Catherine Halsey. The live-action Halo was first announced in 2018 as a Showtime series, but later became a Paramount Plus exclusive. And while it was originally set to debut in 2021, delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic pushed back the show's release date until 2022. Update January 30th 4:40PM ET: Updated to add an additional trailer released by Paramount Plus, as well as photos from the Halo TV show. |
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