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As promised, Xbox offered the first details on MachineGames’ Indiana Jones project during its Developer Direct stream on Thursday. It also confirmed the game’s title — Indiana Jones and the Great Circle — and revealed that it’s coming to Xbox Series X/S, PC and Xbox Cloud Gaming later this year.

No prizes for those who guessed that it’s an action-adventure game that will see Indy try to stop some bad guys who are in pursuit of a mysterious power. The story takes place in 1937, between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. The McGuffin powerful force in question is connected to something called The Great Circle — a perfect circle around the globe that links human-built ancient sites of “great spiritual significance.” 

The first gameplay trailer shows Indy from a first-person perspective as he explores the pyramids of Egypt, traverses snowy mountain tops, sneaks around enemy strongholds and generally tries to stay alive in the face of mortal doom. He also uses his whip to trip up a bad guy (who lets out a Wilhelm scream in the process), punches some Nazis in the face and leaps from one airborne biplane to another. 

In cutscenes and some platforming sequences, the camera will pull back to let you get a better look at the legendary archaeologist. The game uses Harrison Ford’s likeness, but video game stalwart Troy Baker provides the character’s voice.

It’s early days but MachineGames, with the help of Bethesda’s Todd Howard as executive producer, seems to have gotten the look, feel and sound of an Indiana Jones adventure just about right. We’ll find out just how well they’ve pulled off that tough task when the game comes out later this year, but Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has just become one of my most anticipated games.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/indiana-jones-and-the-great-circle-is-coming-to-xbox-and-pc-later-this-year-212759483.html?src=rss 

AI-generated content can be found everywhere online, including your Google News feed. A report from 404 Media revealed that Google is boosting websites filled with AI-generated articles ripped from other outlets. While this isn’t a total surprise, the revelation is disappointing. Google News used to be a place you’d find the latest and most accurate information on most topics. But just because something makes it to Google News doesn’t necessarily mean the information is reliable.

404 Media cited several examples of AI-written articles getting past Google. One example involved a “news site” called Worldtimetodays, that recently published an article about Star Wars. An analysis of the article showed it was highly similar to one published earlier by Distractify. The Worldtimetodays article included the same author photo along with some odd phrasings, as you’d expect with AI. The ripped article read “Let’s be honest, war of stars fans,” instead of Star Wars fans. The site also had articles that were barely rewritten from Heavy, without bothering to replace Heavy’s watermarked images.

As AI advances and becomes even more accessible, we will likely continue to see mass output of plagiarized articles and unreliable information on Google News. Because as of right now, it’s clear Google may not be ready to fully audit the articles populating its news feed. The company told 404 Media that while it tries to filter spam on Google News, it isn’t overly concerned whether an article is written by humans or AI. A Google representative said it’s more about the quality of the content.

“Our focus when ranking content is on the quality of the content, rather than how it was produced. Automatically-generated content produced primarily for ranking purposes is considered spam, and we take action as appropriate under our policies,” the statement read.

Google went on to reiterate that websites are considered for Google News automatically, and new websites may not be immediately detected by the system. The company added that its goal is to reward “original content that demonstrates things such as expertise and trustworthiness,” but it looks like it’s missing the mark by letting these AI-generated articles through in the first place.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/your-google-news-feed-is-likely-filled-with-ai-generated-articles-194654896.html?src=rss 

Avowed, the fantasy roleplaying game from Outer Worlds studio Obsidian Entertainment, is due to hit Xbox and PC in the fall. This is a slight update from the game’s original release window, which was just “2024.” Specifically, Avowed will hit Xbox Series X/S, PC via Xbox and Steam, and it’ll be available through Game Pass on day one.

Avowed is an expansive first-person RPG with old-school fantasy vibes. Players will set off on a journey across the Living Lands, on a mission for the kingdom of Aedyr. A plague is spreading across the island of the Living Lands and players have been sent to investigate what’s going on — along the way, they’ll discover how they’re personally tied to the region and its mysteries.

The game supports multiple play styles, allowing players to approach combat and conversations in their own ways. The world is filled with magic, monsters, firearms, swords and shields, and companions will join the party along the way. If you liked Skyrim, you’ll probably like Avowed.

Obsidian is known for creating Fallout: New Vegas, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Pentiment, Outer Worlds, and other mainstream games. Microsoft purchased the studio in 2018.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/avowed-obsidians-big-fantasy-rpg-will-land-in-fall-2024-203343619.html?src=rss 

We finally have a release date for Ninja Theory’s Hellblade sequel: May 21, 2024. It’s been over four years since Senua’s Saga was announced at the 2019 Game Awards alongside Microsoft’s (then next-gen) Xbox Series X console. 

The first game in the series, Senua’s Sacrifice, focused on the main character’s journey to the realm of the dead, and her battle with mental health issues. Saga will focus on Senua tracking down the Vikings who have been raiding her home town. Expect more “perception puzzles led by her experiences of psychosis,” along with some pretty standard video game combat, but this time, in Iceland!

As you’d expect for a first-party title, Senua’s Saga will arrive on Microsoft’s Game Pass service for Xbox consoles and PC on day one. For those without Game Pass, it’ll be a digital-only release priced at $50. PC users will be able to buy it on either the Xbox store or Steam. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/senuas-saga-hellblade-ii-finally-arrives-on-may-21-203751802.html?src=rss