Category: Technology

Humble has teamed up with Capcom for Resident Evil fans who may want to get extra copies of the games or people looking to finally give the survival horror series a try. The Resident Evil Humble Bundle comes with 11 titles for the PC, including one version for every major entry in the franchise. It also includes the latest game in the series, Resident Evil Village, which still costs at least $40 to purchase from Steam, along with a 25 percent off coupon for its Winters’ Expansion DLC. The extra content gives players access to Third-Person Mode, expands the Mercenaries Mode and shows what happened to the baby who played a pivotal role in the story 16 years later. 

In addition to RE Village, the bundle contains the following games: Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil HD Remaster, Resident Evil 2 Remake, Resident Evil 3 Remake, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition, Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, Resident Evil Revelations and Resident Evil Revelations 2. Buyers will have to pay at least $35 to get the whole bunch, but they can also get everything minus RE Village and the coupon for its expansion for only $20. For $10, they can get the seven oldest games in the list. All the titles from the bundle are redeemable from Steam and playable on Windows PCs. 

Notably absent from the game list is Capcom’s remake of Resident Evil 4. That one is, perhaps, a bit too new to be included in the bundle, as it was only released in March for $60. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/this-resident-evil-humble-bundle-contains-11-games-for-35-055328479.html?src=rss 

Back in May, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the company’s streaming service would be getting a price hike later in the year. Now, we know when: during Disney’s quarterly earnings call, Iger announced that the ad-free Disney+ premium tier would be raised to $13.99 on October 12. It’s the streaming service’s second $3 price increase in the last year — the current $10.99 subscription price was set in December. Hulu’s ad-free plan is also getting the $3 bump, raising it to $17.99/month for a standalone subscription.

It’s a big price increase, but Disney is offering some relief for customers who are willing to bundle the services. A new Duo Premium subscription that bundles both ad-free tiers of Disney+ and Hulu will be available for $19.99. Disney also announced that starting in November, the $8 ad-supported tier it launched in the US last year will be made available in Europe and Canada.

Iger also warned that Disney would be pushing back against account sharing soon, stating that the company is “actively exploring ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family.” The company expects to start implementing these new policies sometime in 2024. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/disney-is-raising-prices-and-cracking-down-on-account-sharing-001637934.html?src=rss 

President Joe Biden signed an executive order that puts new limits on American investment in certain types of Chinese tech firms. The order is meant to address national security concerns posed by companies that deal with “sensitive technologies,” including semiconductors, quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

“Advancements in sensitive technologies and products in these sectors will accelerate the development of advanced computational capabilities that will enable new applications that pose significant national security risks, such as the development of more sophisticated weapons systems, breaking of cryptographic codes, and other applications that could provide these countries with military advantages,” the executive order states.

The White House described the move as “narrowly targeted,” saying it was meant to bar the funding of “entities that engage in specific activities related to these technology areas that pose the most acute national security risks.” As The Washington Postnotes, responsibility for enforcing the executive order would fall on the Treasury Secretary.

The executive order, which won’t go into effect until 2024, is hardly the first time the US has sought to limit the influence of Chinese tech firms in recent years. Both Biden and his predecessor imposed significant restrictions on Huawei. The White House has also limited the sale of supercomputing technology to Chinese firms and sought to block China’s access to advanced chip-making equipment. The Biden Administration has also pressured ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, to sell the popular app.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/biden-signs-executive-order-restricting-investment-in-chinese-tech-companies-230728855.html?src=rss 

For several years, 8BitDo has offered a dongle that lets folks connect modern controllers to the NES Classic Edition, SNES Classic and Sega Genesis Mini. The latest version of the Retro Receiver brings support for the likes of the Switch Pro Controller, Xbox Elite Series 2 and the DualSense Edge to older hardware in the form of the PlayStation 1 and the PlayStation 2. The $25 dongle includes Windows 10 and 11 support as well.

The device supports lag-free gaming, 8BitDo claims, as well as controller vibration functions. You’ll be able to link controllers to it using Bluetooth or a wired connection.

Along with Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo’s peripherals, the Retro Receiver works with many of 8BitDo’s own controllers. The supported gamepads are:

DualShock 4, DualSense and DualSense Edge

Xbox One, Series, Elite Series 2, Elite Series 2 – Core, and Adaptive Controller

Wii U Pro and Switch Pro Controllers

8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth, Pro 2, SN30 Pro+, SN30 Pro, SN30 Pro for Android, Lite 2, Lite SE, and Lite Controllers; Arcade Stick v3; PS1 Modkit and PS1 Classic Modkit

There is a way to connect such controllers to a PS3 using 8BitDo’s previous Retro Receiver, but having a plug-and-play option for Sony’s first two consoles is a welcome move. It’s especially great to see 8BitDo including support for the Xbox Adaptive Controller, which could make it possible for some folks to play classic PS1 and PS2 games on original hardware for the first time.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/8bitdos-latest-retro-receiver-brings-modern-controller-support-to-ps1-and-ps2-194803743.html?src=rss 

Baldur’s Gate IIIisn’t even fully released yet and it’s already achieved the kind of buzz other developers would sell a kidney for. However, with that buzz comes increased public scrutiny, and it looks like the game failed to credit many of the workers who helped complete the project, as reported by Game Developer.

The issue was originally spotted by freelance localization producer Katrina Leonoudakis, who noted that the game’s credits failed to mention translators who worked on the Brazilian and Portuguese localizations. A company called Altagram Group handled these translations, and it’s worth noting that company executives and department leads appear in the credits. Additionally, translators who localized to other languages, like Italian, were properly credited, though these translations were handled by companies other than Altagram.

The issue goes beyond translators, as reports also indicate that outsourcing studios failed to list many devs involved with the project. The credits list each studio by name, but not specific employees who worked on the game.

For its part, Larian is on top of it. The company notes that “this was all Altagram group” and that it has “compelled them to fix this,” in a statement provided to Eurogamer. The developer goes on to say that a fix is coming soon.

It’s definitely a good thing that the developer is working to resolve the issue, as people deserve credit for their work. However, this has become an all-too-common practice within the games industry. Game Developer spoke to several localization experts and they described a “laissez-faire” attitude when it comes to properly crediting contractors. To that end, there have been multiple instances of this practice in the past year, from translators working onPersona 3 and Persona 4 not being properly credited to artists and developers of high-profile titles like Metroid Dread and God of War: Ragnarok not getting their moment to shine.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/baldurs-gate-3-credits-are-missing-a-bunch-of-outsourced-workers-183726183.html?src=rss 

Epic Games has lost an attempt to force Apple to change its App Store payment practices sooner rather than later. The Fortnite maker asked the Supreme Court to overturn a US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that delayed an injunction against Apple over App Store rules. However, Justice Elena Kagan denied the request without providing an explanation, as Bloomberg reports.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals originally upheld the injunction in April. However, it suspended the injunction in July so Apple could take the case to the Supreme Court. 

Following a blockbuster trial between Apple and Epic Games in 2021, a lower-court judge ruled that Apple violated California’s Unfair Competition law by blocking third-party developers from directing users to alternative payment options. The judge issued the injunction to stop that practice.

For the last three years, the companies have been battling over the issue of in-app payments on iOS. Epic raised the ire of Apple (and Google) when it told mobile Fortnite players they’d get a discount on the in-game V-Bucks currency if they bypassed the iOS and Android payment systems. Apple and Google take up to a 30 percent cut of in-app transactions on iOS and Android.

The mobile platform holders swiftly yanked Fortnite from their respective app stores, Epic sued them both and the legal battles are still rumbling on. The Google case (in which Match Group is involved as a plaintiff) is set to go to trial this November.

Regardless of what happens in the US, Apple and Google are already being forced to open up their platforms to third-party payments systems in certain markets, such as South Korea and the Netherlands. It has also been reported that Apple plans to allow third-party app stores on the iPhone as soon as next year, in large part to comply with incoming European Union rules. Epic is already prepared for that, as its own mobile app store is ready to go.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/epic-loses-bid-to-make-apple-change-its-app-store-payment-rules-right-now-174924222.html?src=rss 

Special counsel Jack Smith was granted a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account as part of his investigation into the events of January 6th, 2020. The warrant was first reported by Politico after court documents detailing the warrant surfaced.

Smith obtained the warrant in January, but had trouble getting the records from Twitter. First, his investigators apparently encountered an “inoperative” website typically used for law enforcement to make legal requests. After they were able to serve the warrant, Twitter was slow to respond, according to court records.

The issue, according to newly unsealed court documents, was a nondisclosure agreement that barred Twitter from disclosing the existence of the warrant, including to Trump. The company argued it had a First Amendment right to notify Trump about the warrant, which resulted in months of legal wrangling between Twitter and the special counsel’s office.

The court sided with the government and Twitter was required to hand over the data. During the litigation, the government amended the nondisclosure order to allow Twitter “to notify the former President of the existence and contents of the warrant” provided they withheld the identity of the case agent.

But the company missed a court-ordered deadline for turning over all its records, and was fined $350,000 after being held in contempt. “Although Twitter ultimately complied with the warrant, the company did not fully produce the requested information until three days after a court-ordered deadline,” the filing states.

The legal wrangling underscores the role Trump’s Twitter account played in the events of January 6th. The company suspended the @realdonaldtrump account the evening of the riot after he tweeted support for the violent mob. Trump’s account was reinstated after Elon Musk acquired the company last year, but the former president has yet to return to the platform.

The company, now known as X, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/twitter-fined-for-belatedly-complying-with-search-warrant-for-donald-trumps-account-173745495.html?src=rss 

Federal regulatory agencies have fined 11 financial institutions a combined $549 million for using “off-channel” messaging apps (WhatsApp, iMessage, Signal and text messages) for conversations about trades and other business. Securities laws require investment firms and banks to preserve communications records and ensure employees only carry out business through authorized channels. “The firms did not maintain or preserve the substantial majority of these off-channel communications, in violation of the federal securities laws,” the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wrote in a statement today.

The Wall Street firms were fined over half a billion dollars in penalties for using messaging apps instead of email, approved messaging platforms or other easily archived channels. Firms penalized by the SEC include Wells Fargo ($125 million), BNP Paribas ($35 million), SG Americas Securities ($35 million), BMO Capital Markets ($25 million), Mizuho Securities ($25 million), Houlihan Lokey Capital ($15 million), Moelis & Company ($10 million), Wedbush Securities ($10 million) and SMBC Nikko Securities America ($9 million). Meanwhile, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) fined Wells Fargo ($75 million), BNP Paribas ($75 million), Société Générale ($75 million) and Bank of Montreal ($35 million).

“Recordkeeping failures such as those here undermine our ability to exercise effective regulatory oversight, often at the expense of investors,” said Sanjay Wadhwa, the SEC’s Deputy Director of Enforcement. “The Commission’s message could not be more clear — recordkeeping and supervision requirements are fundamental, and registrants that fail to comply with these core regulatory obligations do so at their own peril,” said CFTC Director of Enforcement Ian McGinley.

Federal regulators said all firms admitted to the facts about unapproved communications in agreeing to the penalties. “As described in the SEC’s orders, the firms admitted that from at least 2019, their employees often communicated through various messaging platforms on their personal devices, including iMessage, WhatsApp, and Signal, about the business of their employers,” the SEC wrote in a statement. “The firms did not maintain or preserve the substantial majority of these off-channel communications, in violation of the federal securities laws. By failing to maintain and preserve required records, certain of the firms likely deprived the Commission of these off-channel communications in various SEC investigations.”

Both government agencies stressed that the problem was pervasive and not limited to entry-level employees and junior staff. “The failures involved employees at multiple levels of authority, including supervisors and senior executives,” the SEC said.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wall-street-banks-fined-549-million-for-not-backing-up-messaging-app-histories-164552963.html?src=rss