Technology - Kalakshar US

8BitDo’s latest mod kit will make your old GameCube controller wireless and Switch compatible

A new, $26 solderless mod kit from 8BitDo can transform your old GameCube controller into a wireless Bluetooth device that works with Nintendo Switch and Android. It’ll also work with the original GameCube, but for that, you’ll have to buy the $26 Retro Receiver too. The mod kit comes with Hall Effect joysticks, a trigger pack and a rechargeable 300mAh battery, which 8BitDo says should get you around 6 hours of play time. Pre-orders for the kit are now open, and it’ll ship September 25.

Introducing the 8BitDo Mod Kit for Original NGC Controller. Easily modify your original wired NGC controller into a Bluetooth controller, bring wireless compatibility with Switch and Android. Including Hall Effect joysticks and the Trigger Pack.

Pre-oder on eShop now:… pic.twitter.com/oeEUq4WRlP

— 8BitDo (@8BitDo) September 14, 2024

There are numerous adapters on the market that will allow you to use an original wired GameCube controller with the Switch, including 8BitDo’s own GBros. adapter and an official one from Nintendo, but the mod kit cuts out the middleman to bring completely wireless Bluetooth connectivity. All you’d need to do is open up the controller and swap the old PCB with the new one.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/8bitdos-latest-mod-kit-will-make-your-old-gamecube-controller-wireless-and-switch-compatible-214235096.html?src=rss

What to read this weekend: The Night Guest, Is Earth Exceptional? and Into the Unbeing

New releases in fiction, nonfiction and comics that caught our attention.

The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir

Anyone who lives with a difficult-to-diagnose chronic illness and has endured the demoralizing process of trying to get proper treatment can tell you it is, at times, a living nightmare. Advocating for yourself, fighting to be taken seriously; it’s something I’ve dealt with most of my life as a person with autoimmune diseases. So when I read the description of Hildur Knútsdóttir’s psychological horror novel, The Night Guest, it resonated with me immediately:

Iðunn is in yet another doctor’s office. She knows her constant fatigue is a sign that something’s not right, but practitioners dismiss her symptoms and blood tests haven’t revealed any cause. When she talks to friends and family about it, the refrain is the same ― have you tried eating better? exercising more? establishing a nighttime routine? She tries to follow their advice, buying everything from vitamins to sleeping pills to a step-counting watch. Nothing helps. Until one night Iðunn falls asleep with the watch on, and wakes up to find she’s walked over 40,000 steps in the night . . . What is happening when she’s asleep?

The Night Guest is a short, compelling read that puts an unsettling spin on an issue a lot of people can relate to. I pretty much inhaled it.

Is Earth Exceptional? The Quest for Cosmic Life by Mario Livio and Jack Szostak

The origin of life and the question of whether it exists elsewhere is a topic I find to be endlessly interesting (as evidenced by how regularly books about it land among these recommendations). In their new book Is Earth Exceptional? The Quest for Cosmic Life, astrophysicist Mario Livio and Nobel Prize winning biologist Jack Szostak examine what we know about the things that make life possible — the building blocks of life — and explore how they could have emerged on Earth and, hypothetically, elsewhere. At the heart of the mystery is the as yet unanswered question of whether or not life came to be as the result of a freak accident.

As the authors write in their introduction, “Even with the enormous scientific progress we have witnessed in the past few decades, we still don’t know whether life is an extremely rare chemical accident, in which case we may be alone in our galaxy, or a chemical inevitability, which would potentially make us part of a huge galactic ensemble.”

Into the Unbeing by Zac Thompson, Hayden Sherman

In 2034 as imagined by Into the Unbeing, Earth is well past the tipping point of climate change. The planet has been devastated by natural disasters and species have died off in the masses. Looking for anything that can help improve the world’s situation, a team of climate scientists with the Scientific Institute for Nascent Ecology and Worlds (SINEW) ventures out to explore what appears to be an entirely new environment that has popped up out of nowhere near their camp in the Australian outback. But they’re not prepared for what they find.

Into the Unbeing is a new gripping science-fiction series that weaves in cosmic horror. The first issue came out at the beginning of the summer, and Part One just wrapped up this week with issue number four. If you were into Scavengers Reign or The Southern Reach Trilogy, you’ll probably enjoy Into the Unbeing. The art alone will suck you right in.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/what-to-read-this-weekend-the-night-guest-is-earth-exceptional-and-into-the-unbeing-194524310.html?src=rss

ESPN and other channels return to DirecTV as it finally reaches a deal with Disney

After a two-week blackout, ESPN and other Disney-owned channels are back on DirecTV. The Walt Disney Company and DirecTV released a joint statement on Saturday announcing that they are in the process of finalizing a new contract, and that all channels affected by their dispute have been restored. That includes ABC, Freeform, FX and National Geographic channels. Disney yanked its networks off DirecTV at the beginning of September after the two companies failed to reach an agreement before their old contract expired. Inconveniently for sports fans, the blackout coincided with the start of football season.

The new multi-year contract brings Disney’s full linear suite of networks back to DirecTV, with package options for genre-focused channel bundles (sports, family, etc) and Disney’s streaming services — Disney+, Hulu an ESPN+. ESPN’s upcoming direct-to-consumer service, which is expected to launch this fall, will be included for free. In their statement, Disney and DirecTV said the new deal will give customers “the ability to tailor their video experience through more flexible options.” They also added, “We’d like to thank all affected viewers for their patience and are pleased to restore Disney’s entire portfolio of networks in time for college football and the Emmy Awards this weekend.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/espn-and-other-channels-return-to-directv-as-it-finally-reaches-a-deal-with-disney-144938541.html?src=rss

23andMe will pay $30 million to settle 2023 data breach lawsuit

23andMe is close to settling a proposed class action lawsuit filed against the company over a data breach that compromised 6.9 million users’ information. According to the preliminary settlement filing, the DNA testing company has agreed to pay $30 million to affected customers, as well as to conduct annual computer scans and cybersecurity audits for three years. A website will be built to notify people eligible to a portion of the settlement fund and to facilitate payments. Affected users will also be sent a link where they can delete all their information from the service, and they’ll be able to enroll to a three-year Privacy & Medical Shield + Genetic Monitoring program for free. A judge still has to approve those terms.

In October 2023, the company admitted that the DNA Relatives profile information of roughly 5.5 million customers and the Family Tree profile information of 1.4 million DNA Relative participants had been leaked. It later revealed in a legal filing that the bad actors started breaking into customer accounts in late April 2023 and that they had access to its systems until September that year. It said that the hackers used a technique called credential stuffing, which uses previously compromised login credentials to access customer accounts.

The breach led to several class action lawsuits filed against the company, including one that accused 23andMe of failing to notify the plaintiffs that they were specifically targeted for having Chinese and Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. In the settlement agreement [PDF] for the consolidated lawsuit, 23andMe noted that it “denies the claims and allegations set forth in the Complaint” and that it “denies that it failed to properly protect the Personal Information of its consumers and users.”

According to Reuters, 23andMe describes its financial condition as “extremely uncertain.” In its financial report for the 2024 fiscal year, it revealed that it earned a total revenue of $220 million, down 27 percent from a $299 million revenue the year before. A huge chunk of the settlement money will come from cyber insurance, though, which the company expects to cover $25 million out of the $30 million total.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/23andme-will-pay-30-million-to-settle-2023-data-breach-lawsuit-150058702.html?src=rss

Engadget review recap: Foldable, wearable, floatable

Hardware season is in full swing. Apple launched the iPhone 16, AirPods 4 and Apple Watch Series 10 on Monday this week. On the same day, at the very same time, the review embargo for the Pixel Watch 3 lifted, and we managed to get most of our piece up then. Not only that, we also saw Sony announce the PlayStation 5 Pro this week, plus in the last two weeks there has been plenty of news out of the IFA conference in Berlin. There were things like Huawei’s tri-fold phone, reMarkable’s Paper Pro tablet, DJI’s $200 Neo drone, a new GoPro as well as more concept Lenovo laptops.

As you can imagine, it’s been a hectic couple of weeks for those of us who cover consumer tech, and the events are far from over. Reviews of all the big products announced recently will also be coming soon, if they haven’t already, and I am once again back to help you catch up on all the reviews we published in the last two weeks. I will also explain why there are some products we haven’t written up, like the OnePlus Pad 2.

Pixel 9 Pro Fold: Two reviewers, one comprehensive analysis

by Cherlynn Low and Sam Rutherford

Since our foldables expert Sam Rutherford is on parental leave, the task of reviewing the Pixel 9 Pro Fold became mine. But Sam, being the responsible and helpful reviewer that he is, took time out to share his thoughts and impressions with me. He even took the review photos for our piece, and I especially appreciate his using mahjong tiles as an interesting backdrop for his pictures. While I focused my testing on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold as a viable smartphone alternative and its use as a multimedia consumption device, Sam provided his insight by comparing Google’s foldable to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6.

Our review brings together those two perspectives, making for a fairly comprehensive analysis, if I do say so myself. We’ve got camera comparisons between Google and Samsung’s offerings, with evaluation of both their software, battery performance, build, shape and more.

I was also able to shoot a video encompassing all our reviews of the Pixel 9 family of phones, which covers the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL as well as the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. The footage goes into some extra detail around things like the Add Me and Made You Look camera updates, as well as what Emergency SOS via Satellite looks like on a Pixel phone. Check it out at the top of this article!

Pixel Watch 3 review: Fighting against Apple

by Cherlynn Low

Google didn’t make our lives very easy with its Monday embargo on September 9th, especially with Apple’s iPhone 16 launch event happening the same day. But the good news is, our review units had arrived about two weeks prior, so we had enough time with the Pixel Watch 3 to get a better sense for it in the real world. I spent my time with the smaller 41mm model while Sam was able to share some testing insight of the new larger 45mm variant.

Within a couple of days, Sam and I were trading notes about how impressed we were with the Pixel Watch 3’s battery life. Since I hate wearing watches to sleep, Sam graciously filled me in on the watch’s sleep-tracking and auto bedtime features. Once again, teamwork made the dream work here (quite literally for me, as I would not have been able to fall asleep otherwise).

On my end, I focused on workouts and activity-tracking, double-wristing the Pixel Watch 3 with my Apple Watch Series 9 everywhere I went for two weeks. I was stoked that the Google smartwatch was better at automatically detecting my every walk, run and bike ride, but found it a little too thick compared to the competition. I also enjoyed the new customizable run workouts that let me set sprint and rest segments during my treadmill sessions.

I know that a day and a half sounds just about average in terms of battery life for modern smartwatches, but considering older models could barely last 24 hours, the improvements to runtime feel huge. Together with some Google and Pixel integrations, the Pixel Watch 3 finally feels like it’s ready to take on the likes of Samsung and Apple’s flagship wearables.

Ultimate Ears Everboom: A floatable speaker that’s more loud than good

by Billy Steele

In this review, Billy once again shows us what to look for when getting gear for a party outside. Judging by the beautiful pictures accompanying his review, it’s clear that when he’s not testing headphones or grilling meats in his backyard, Mr. Grilly Steele spends ample time at the beach for (work-sanctioned) speaker testing. I support it.

With the UE Everboom, Billy makes clear that the sound quality isn’t stellar, and music lacks in the mid range. But if it’s volume that you want, the Everboom delivers, beaming sound out in 360 degrees. Plus, it does so in a rugged, waterproof body that can also survive a toss into the pool, since, like the company’s other speakers, it floats!

However, with a score of just 75, the Everboom didn’t quite make the cut to be one of the products we award the Recommended title. You’ll likely find a better device for your needs from competing brands like Marshall and Beats.

We didn’t review: OnePlus Pad 2

With everything that’s been happening in the industry and in our own lives lately, we have yet to review the OnePlus Pad 2. Or the 2024 Moto Razrs or Galaxy Watch Ultra, either, for that matter. We continue to test our review units so that experience can inform our evaluation of other products we write up. But time is a resource we never have enough of, and with companies constantly launching new products, it’s hard to keep up.

Our lead tablet reviewer (and deputy editor) Nathan Ingraham has been spending time with the OnePlus Pad 2, and he does have some thoughts to share. He’s a fan of its build and display, finding it light and well-balanced despite being fairly large with a 12.1-inch screen. Speaking of, he also likes the display, appreciating its 301ppi pixel density. In fact, he called this “one of the nicest tablet screens I’ve seen outside of the iPad.”

I’ll have to get Nate to look at a Samsung Galaxy Tab with a nice AMOLED panel before we make that official, but there are other things that set the OnePlus Pad 2 apart. If you own a OnePlus phone, Nate noted that “there are some smart software features” that could make this tablet a better option than an iPad or Galaxy Tab. But, as Nate points out, “the Android software situation, as always, is a rather unimpressive mixed bag.” He called out multitasking and a lack of apps that make good use of larger screens as two areas that need improvement.

Still, for $550 (and currently going for $499 direct from OnePlus), Nate thinks the Pad 2 is a fair value. “I still can’t recommend it over an iPad, but at least it doesn’t break the bank.”

Upcoming/on the horizon

Like I said at the start of this recap, there are plenty of gadgets hiding in our homes, ready to be tested. There’s plenty more to come, including new Copilot+ PCs with AMD and Intel chips, as well as cameras, earbuds and more. If anyone watching this week’s news were so inclined, they could probably make a very educated guess as to what we’re getting ready to publish reviews of, especially given established timelines from previous years. That’s all I’ll say for now.

I did want to say how thankful we are for your patience as we make it through this intensely hectic time of year, and you may see reviews go up this month that are updated after publish with additional details. This might be done in an effort to get articles up in a timely manner while still being able to provide comprehensive insight on our experiences over time. For instance, my Pixel Watch 3 review went up on Monday, but I was able to update it on Wednesday morning with a whole section on the Wear OS and Fitbit app experience.

It’s not anything that was new or that impacted my score, but was simply extra detail that I didn’t have the time to write up while concurrently preparing for the iPhone event. With the packed tech launch calendar coming up, you may see us adopt a similar approach on reviews that might have tight deadlines.

As always, we appreciate all your time reading and watching our work. Have a wonderful weekend.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-review-recap-foldable-wearable-floatable-140035783.html?src=rss

Everything to expect at Meta Connect 2024: AR, AI and the cheaper Quest 3S

It used to go by at least two different names — Oculus Connect and then Facebook Connect — but whatever the moniker, Meta’s fall event is still a big showcase for the company’s latest and greatest achievements in the virtual reality and mixed reality space. Much like last year, we can likely predict the biggest news coming out of Meta Connect 2024 with just two acronyms: AI and AR.

Like every other big tech firm this year, Meta will be desperate to demonstrate how it plans to stay relevant in a future powered by AI. And now that we’re seven months beyond the launch of Apple’s Vision Pro, which arrived alongside a short-lived spike in interest in augmented reality (AR), Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is likely eager to show off his own plans to make AR a reality.

While Zuckerberg isn’t as hot on the metaverse as he was when he renamed his company, the union of AI and AR is one way he can still make the dream of persistent virtual worlds come true. It might look less like Ready Player One, but if AR glasses actually take off, they could still let Meta control another piece of our digital world. And to help get them there, delivering an updated inexpensive VR headset couldn’t hurt.

With all of that in mind, here are a few things we expect to see at Meta Connect 2024, which kicks off virtually on September 25 and runs for two days.

Orion AR glasses

After reportedly killing a pricey next-generation mixed reality headset, which was meant to compete with the Apple Vision Pro, Meta is instead focusing on a pair of augmented reality glasses, codenamed Orion, as its next innovation. As seen in the background of one Mark Zuckerberg photo (above) , and later somewhat confirmed by him, Orion resembles a pair of chunky hipster frames.

Unlike the Quest 3, which fully consumes your vision and uses cameras to show you a low-quality view of the world, Orion could let you see the real world like a normal pair of glasses. But, like Magic Leap and Microsoft’s HoloLens before it, Meta’s glasses could layer holographic imagery on top of your reality. The key difference, of course, is that it appears to be far less cumbersome than those devices.

“The glasses are, I think, going to be a big deal,” Zuckerberg said in an interview on the Blueprint Podcast (via RoadtoVR). “We’re almost ready to start showing the prototype version of the full holographic glasses. We’re not going to be selling it broadly; we’re focused on building the full consumer version rather than selling the prototype.”

Back at Meta Connect 2022, Zuckerberg showed off how the company was thinking of AR glasses, together with an intriguing wrist-based controller:

“It’s probably our most exciting prototype that we’ve had to date,” Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth told The Verge last year. “I might get myself in trouble for saying this: I think it might be the most advanced piece of technology on the planet in its domain. In the domain of consumer electronics, it might be the most advanced thing that we’ve ever produced as a species.”

According to a leaked Meta roadmap, the company plans to release a new pair of Ray-Ban smart glasses next year which would add a small built-in screen alongside its existing camera, speaker and microphone. That would be followed by Meta’s first pair of consumer AR glasses in 2027. It makes sense that we’ll see some sort of concept device this year. Much like Apple’s Vision Pro was effectively that company’s version of an AR/VR concept car to introduce developers to its notion of “spatial computing,” Meta will need to give developers a way to use its platform so they can build their own AR experiences.

Meta via Gary_the_mememachine/Reddit

A cheaper Quest 3 variant

Instead of an upgraded headset, all signs point to Meta releasing a stripped-down version of the Quest 3 called the Quest 3S, reports Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Recent leaked images from Meta’s own Quest Link application has confirmed the headset’s existence. According to Gurman, the company is aiming to make it much cheaper than the current version, reportedly considering price points of $300 or $400, while still delivering an experience close to the Quest 3. It could potentially replace the Quest 2, which remains in the product line priced at $299 long after its 2020 release.

So why would Meta do this? There’s a huge performance gap between the Quest 3 and Quest 2, which makes life difficult for developers. With a cheaper device that’s similar to the Quest 3, potentially using the same processor, it would be easier to build games that can scale across two price points. According to Bloomberg’s Gurman, Meta has also considered releasing some models of the new headset without any bundled controllers, which would push the price down even further.

More AI, of course

Expect Meta to show off even more ways it’s taking advantage of AI across its Quest headsets and the Ray-Ban smart glasses. The company rolled out multi-modal AI search capabilities on those glasses in January, which allowed you to ask the Meta AI about objects or landmarks you were looking at, or for a quick translation. Based on our testing, though, those features were surprisingly half-baked.

Meta will likely discuss ways it’s improving those existing features by implementing its Llama 3.1 large language model (LLM), which it’s positioning as an open source competitor to Google and OpenAI’s LLMs. In particular, the company notes that Llama 3.1 offers dramatically improved translation, math and general knowledge capabilities. There’s certainly room for Meta to introduce new AI capabilities powered by Llama 3.1 in the Ray-Ban smart glasses, but given their limited processing power and battery life, we’ll probably have to wait for an updated model before we see anything truly groundbreaking.

Karissa Bell contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/everything-to-expect-at-meta-connect-2024-ar-ai-and-the-cheaper-quest-3s-130011959.html?src=rss

OpenAI is reportedly moving away from its complicated non-profit structure next year

Sam Altman has told OpenAI staff members during their weekly meeting that the company is changing its rather convoluted non-profit corporate structure next year, according to Fortune. The CEO said OpenAI will move away from being controlled by a non-profit entity and will transition into a more traditional for-profit organization. He didn’t delve into the specifics of how the company will achieve that goal and what OpenAI’s corporate structure will look like exactly. A spokesperson only told Fortune that it remains “focused on building AI that benefits everyone” and that non-profit is “core to [its] mission and will continue to exist.”

OpenAI started as a non-profit organization in 2015 that relied on money from donors. In a page explaining its structure, it said that it only raised $130.5 million in total donations over the years, which it says made it clear that “donations alone would not scale with the cost of computational power and talent required to push [its] core research forward.” The then-purely non-profit organization created a for-profit subsidiary in order to solve that problem. As Fortune explains, OpenAI’s non-profit entity currently controls its for-profit arm, which in turn controls a holding company that takes investments from companies like Microsoft.

Under this structure, the profit that can be allocated to investors, including Microsoft, has a cap. Anything OpenAI makes beyond the cap will go to its non-profit division. And the company’s revenue is booming, according to a report by The Information published in June. OpenAI reportedly doubled its annualized revenue in the first half of the year, thanks to the subscription version of ChatGPT.

The company’s complex structure also allowed OpenAI’s non-profit board of directors to oust Altman in 2023, because they “no longer [have] confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.” Five days later, however, the board was disbanded and replaced, while Altman was reinstated as CEO.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-is-reportedly-moving-away-from-its-complicated-non-profit-structure-next-year-130014948.html?src=rss

iPads will support third-party app stores in Europe starting September 16

Apple has revealed it will allow iPad users in the EU to install third-party app stores on their tablets (without having to sideload them) starting on September 16. You’ll need to install iPadOS 18, which will be available broadly on Monday, to do so.

Back in April, the European Commission designated iPadOS as a “core platform service,” meaning that like iOS, the App Store and Safari, the operating system is subject to stricter rules under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act. As TechCrunch notes, Apple had six months to update iPadOS so that it complied with the DMA, which included opening up the platform to third-party app marketplaces.

Epic Games has already pledged to bring its app marketplace to iPadOS, meaning that folks in the EU should be able to play Fortnite and Fall Guys natively on compatible iPads in the near future. Several other third-party app stores have arrived on iOS in the EU since Apple added official support in March.

While the likes of AltStore PAL and the Epic Games Store aren’t subject to Apple’s usual app review policies, the company notarizes them for security purposes. The developers of third-party app marketplaces also need to pay a Core Technology Fee to Apple once they meet certain thresholds (the EU opened an investigation into this fee in March).

One other key change coming to iPads with the rollout of iPadOS 18 is under the surface, but one that may ultimately change how EU users browse the web on their iPads. Apple will allow third-party browsers to use their own engines on iPadOS instead of having to employ its own WebKit. This means that the likes of Mozilla and Google will be able to offer iPad versions of Firefox and Chrome that run on their own tech.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/ipads-will-support-third-party-app-stores-in-europe-starting-september-16-180414833.html?src=rss

NASA confirms it’s developing the Moon’s new time zone

NASA confirmed on Friday that it’s developing a new lunar time system for the Moon. The White House published a policy memo in April, directing NASA to create the new standard by 2026. Over five months later (government time, y’all), the space agency’s confirmation states it will work with “U.S. government stakeholders, partners, and international standards organizations” to establish a Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC).

To understand why the Moon needs its own time zone, look no further than Einstein. His theories of relativity say that because time changes relative to speed and gravity, time moves slightly faster on our celestial neighbor (because of its weaker gravity). So, an Earth clock on the Moon would gain about 56 microseconds a day — enough to throw off calculations that could put future missions requiring precision in danger.

“For something traveling at the speed of light, 56 microseconds is enough time to travel the distance of approximately 168 football fields,” said Cheryl Gramling, NASA timing and standards leader, in a press release. “If someone is orbiting the Moon, an observer on Earth who isn’t compensating for the effects of relativity over a day would think that the orbiting astronaut is approximately 168 football fields away from where the astronaut really is.”

NASA

April’s White House memo directed NASA to work with the Departments of Commerce, Defense, State and Transportation to plot the course for LTC’s introduction by the end of 2026. Global stakeholders, particularly Artemis Accords signees, will play a role. Established in 2020, the agreements include a growing collection of 43 countries committed to norms expected to be honored in space. Notably, China and Russia have refused to join.

NASA’s Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) program will lead the initiative. One of LTC’s goals is to be scalable to other celestial bodies in the future, including Mars. The time standard will be determined by a weighted average of atomic clocks on the Moon, although their locations are still up for debate. Such a weighted average is similar to how scientists calculate Earth’s Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

NASA plans to send crewed missions back to the Moon through its Artemis program. Artemis 2, scheduled for September 2025, plans to send four people on a pass around the Moon. A year later, Artemis 3 aims to land astronauts near the Moon’s South Pole.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasa-confirms-its-developing-the-moons-new-time-zone-165345568.html?src=rss

Tales of the Shire, a cozy life sim with Hobbits, has been delayed until 2025

Tales of the Shire, a cozy life sim set in the world of Lord of the Rings, has been delayed until 2025. It was previously set for a release sometime this year. Developer Weta Workshop, who assisted with the effects in all of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth films, says the delay was necessary to ensure that players experience a fully realized version of its original vision.

This is a cozy life sim in the vein of Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley and a million others, but this one is set in In Tolkien’s Middle-earth between the events of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Mixing the cozy sim formula with a pre-established IP tends to work. Just ask fans of Disney Dreamlight Valley.

If there’s one aspect of Tolkien’s world that fits this genre, it’s the Hobbits and their Shire. The forthcoming game looks to prioritize meal prep, as we all know Hobbits love a good feast, and will let players design the look of their own personal Hobbit hole. There’s fishing and farming, of course, but also a robust-seeming character interaction system. We aren’t sure if romance is on the table but, come on, that Hobbit population isn’t going to replenish itself.

The developer is holding a live showcase event on September 22 at 10:30AM ET to discuss some new aspects of the game and to go over various mechanics. It will also use the stream to drop an actual release date which, again, will be sometime in 2025. Maybe we’ll also get an update on Hobbit-based romance during the showcase.

🏡 A #HOBBITDAY SHOWCASE 🏡

Join us September 22nd for an inside look at #TalesoftheShire!

Here is just a smattering of what’s in store…
🥘 Sharing home-cooked meals
🐉 Visiting The Green Dragon
🚪 Furnishing your Hobbit hole pic.twitter.com/9AB55H6vyh

— Tales of the Shire (@talesoftheshire) September 10, 2024

This makes me wonder what other culturally significant IPs could benefit from the cozy life sim experience. They were always trying to farm in The Walking Dead, but the presence of zombies would be less cozy and more an endless nightmare. I could see farming or building up a society in some outer rim planet in the Star Wars universe, or maybe Knowhere as seen in the MCU films.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/tales-of-the-shire-a-cozy-life-sim-with-hobbits-has-been-delayed-until-2025-171031409.html?src=rss