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Nightdive Studios has revealed when you’ll be able to check out its remaster of Star Wars: Dark Forces. The latest version of the first-person shooter is scheduled to hit PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC on February 29, 2024.

The Nightdive team used its KEX engine to revitalize Star Wars: Dark Forces for modern gaming platforms, on which it will be able to run at up to 4K resolution at 120fps. The studio is promising updated lighting and atmospheric effects thanks to advanced 3D rendering. Controller users can take advantage of a weapon wheel and rumble features, along with gyro controls. Of course, you’ll be able to earn trophies and achievements too.

LucasArts originally released the first FPS game in the Star Wars franchise in 1995. The game sees you take control of Kyle Katarn, a mercenary who joins the Rebel Alliance after defecting from the Galactic Empire. Katarn discovers that the Empire is developing the Dark Trooper Project, under which it’s attempting to amass an army of battle droids and stormtroopers with power armor. As far as gameplay goes, it was one of many titles from around that time that took a page (or 12) out of Doom‘s playbook.

Nightdive is well known for modernizing old games for new consoles. The studio also has remasters of System Shock 2 and Turok 3 in the pipeline.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-star-wars-dark-forces-remaster-will-arrive-on-february-28-2024-175502427.html?src=rss 

The crowded field of Twitter clones has just winnowed a bit, as Pebble has officially exited the game, announced via an email to Engadget. The social media site, formerly called T2 Social, was actually created by ex-Twitter employees and this announcement occurs just five weeks after the rebrand to Pebble.

The company is transparent when it comes to the reasoning behind the closure, saying “we were not growing quickly enough for investors to believe that we will break out.” Pebble also noted the crowded field of competitors and the “uphill climb” to garner traffic and sustained use. It simply needed more time to “build out a complete Pebble”, but investors put the kibosh on that idea.

Though the app’s going the way of the dodo, current users will be given some time to login and download their personal archives. Just head to account settings on the web version and look for an option marked “wrap it up please.” Additionally, the company says this might not be the absolute end for Pebble, suggesting that folks “stay tuned” for a potential reinvention of the platform at some point in the future.

Pebble was committed to Twitter’s original mission of becoming a “public town square” and even tried to lure verified Twitter users by allowing them to keep their checkmarks. The app’s shutdown suggests this strategy didn’t work. Good night, sweet prince.

In the meantime, there are still plenty of Twit-alikes out there for those looking to escape endless porn bot scam accounts commenting on every single post you make and blue check bozos bloviating about nonsense. There are the big apps, like Threads and Bluesky, but also Mastodon, Post, Spoutible, Spill, Hive Social, CounterSocial and that Trump one, among others. The last day to post on Pebble is November 1. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/twitter-clone-pebble-is-shutting-down-just-five-weeks-after-a-rebrand-180707578.html?src=rss 

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announced Tuesday that it has suspended GM-owned Cruise’s permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state — effective immediately. The suspension was based on several safety-related issues. It isn’t yet clear if the move is directly related to an incident earlier this month when a Cruise robotaxi pinned a pedestrian under its tire in San Francisco after another car’s hit-and-run.

According to an emailed statement the California DMV supplied to Engadget, the suspension was based on safety-related regulations. These include:

13 CCR §228.20 (b) (6) – Based upon the performance of the vehicles, the Department determines the manufacturer’s vehicles are not safe for the public’s operation.

13 CCR §228.20 (b) (3) – The manufacturer has misrepresented any information related to safety of the autonomous technology of its vehicles.

13 CCR §227.42 (b)(5) – Any act or omission of the manufacturer or one of its agents, employees, contractors, or designees which the department finds makes the conduct of autonomous vehicle testing on public roads by the manufacturer an unreasonable risk to the public.

13 CCR §227.42 (c)- The department shall immediately suspend or revoke the Manufacturer’s Testing Permit or a Manufacturer’s Testing Permit – Driverless Vehicles if a manufacturer is engaging in a practice in such a manner that immediate suspension is required for the safety of persons on a public road.

The CA DMV says it has supplied Cruise with a path back to driverless operation in the state. “The DMV has provided Cruise with the steps needed to apply to reinstate its suspended permits, which the DMV will not approve until the company has fulfilled the requirements to the department’s satisfaction,” the statement reads. The agency added that the suspension doesn’t affect Cruise’s ability to test autonomous vehicles with a safety driver.

Cruise and Waymo received approval from California regulators earlier this year to operate and charge fares for fully autonomous cars in San Francisco at any time of the day. But the DMV asked the company in August to rein in its fleet by half, citing an investigation into crashes involving the autonomous vehicles. At the time, Cruise agreed to operate no more than 50 robotaxis in San Francisco during the day and at most 150 of them at night. However, today’s move abruptly stops those agreements, at least temporarily ceasing all safety-driverless autonomous operations in California until further notice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/california-dmv-suspends-cruises-driverless-permits-181110566.html?src=rss 

GM announced on Tuesday that it’s delaying production of the Equinox EV, Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV. Electrek reported on the comments from the automaker’s earnings call, citing a desire to “protect” GM’s pricing while adjusting to shifting EV demand. The company didn’t commit to a specific timeline to resume production, only saying the delay would last “a few months.”

“We are also moderating the acceleration of EV production in North America to protect our pricing, adjust to slower near-term growth in demand, and implement engineering efficiency and other improvements that will make our vehicles less expensive to produce, and more profitable,” GM CEO Mary Barra said in the company’s Q3 earnings call Tuesday.

Barra said the changes “will make our vehicles less expensive to produce, and more profitable” in the long run. She warned that the EV delays would affect Ultium-based models, including the Equinox EV, Silverado EV RST and GMC Sierra EV.

The move comes a week after GM announced it would delay EV truck production (Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV) at its Orion assembly plant in Michigan until late 2025. GM spokesperson Kevin Kelley said the move was designed to “better manage capital investment while aligning with evolving EV demand.”

The United Auto Workers strike began in September and is the elephant in the room amid GM’s production shakeup. Citing uncertain labor costs related to the strike, the automaker also withdrew its full-year financial guidance. It expects to provide more clarity for investors once new union contracts are signed. “Accepting unsustainably high [labor] costs would put our future and GM team member jobs at risk, and jeopardizing our future is something I will not do,” Barra said.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gm-delays-production-of-chevy-silverado-equinox-and-gmc-sierra-evs-165609448.html?src=rss 

Crunchyroll, a subsidiary of Sony, reached an agreement with Amazon to launch on Prime Video Channels, giving anime-niacs a new way to stream their favorite content, as originally reported by Deadline. Amazon’s Prime Video Channels is a hub that offers access to Amazon’s stable of original content, but also lets users sign up for third-party streamers like Max, Starz, Paramount+ and others.

This agreement brings two tiers of Crunchyroll to Prime Video customers in the US, Canada, Sweden and the UK. The Fan subscription gives you full access to the entire catalog of anime, which includes over 1,000 titles and 30,000 episodes. You also get brand-new series at the same time they air in Japan and the streamer’s full collection of digital manga. The Mega Fan subscription includes all of the above, plus offline viewing and access to four concurrent streams, which is great for those who play fast and loose with their passwords.

Terry Li, EVP of emerging business at Crunchyroll, says this move will allow even the “anime-curious” to “get immersed in our library.” Crunchyroll already has plenty of subscribers, 11 million as of earlier this year, and this should push that count even higher. Sony purchased Crunchyroll from AT&T in 2021 for $1.2 billion, combining it with Funimation to create an absolute behemoth of cartoonery.

Of course, just like Max, Starz and the rest, Prime Video isn’t the only way to access Crunchyroll. You can still download the app and sign up as normal. No matter which way you choose to consume Crunchyroll content, you’ll pay $8 a month for the Fan tier and $10 a month for the Mega Fan tier.

Prime Video Channels is in direct competition with the other streaming hub, Apple TV Channels. As the two continue to gobble up content partners, it seems like consumers will end up with something that looks and feels a whole lot like cable.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/crunchyroll-is-now-an-amazon-prime-video-channel-160253759.html?src=rss 

Meta is facing a massive class-action lawsuit from 41 states as well as the District of Columbia over alleged harms to its young users. Attorneys general from dozens of states joined a lawsuit, filed in California federal court, claiming that Meta knew its “addictive” features were harmful and intentionally misled the public about the safety of its platform.

In addition to the California suit, attorneys general from eight other states filed their own claims against the company. In a statement, California Attorney General Rob Bonta described the filings as part of a “coordinated effort” to hold Meta accountable for alleged misconduct. “Our bipartisan investigation has arrived at a solemn conclusion: Meta has been harming our children and teens, cultivating addiction to boost corporate profits,” Bonta said.

The lawsuit is the latest reckoning over the company’s handling of youth safety and mental health. Lawmakers, regulators and other officials have become increasingly focused on the issue, and whether social media companies are doing enough to protect their youngest users.

Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement, to The Wall Street Journal, the company said it had “engaged in a meaningful dialogue with the attorneys general regarding the ways Meta already works to support young people on its platforms, and how Meta is continuously working to improve young peoples’ experiences.”

Developing…

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/forty-one-states-sue-meta-for-harming-the-mental-health-of-its-youngest-users-162521184.html?src=rss