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Netflix is officially bringing its games to more devices. So far, the company’s impressive library of games has only been available on iOS and Android. Now, though, Netflix is starting to use its streaming tech to publicly test its titles on TVs and computers.

“Our goal has always been to have a game for everyone, and we are working hard to meet members where they are with an accessible, smooth and ubiquitous service,” Mike Verdu, Netflix’s vice-president of games, wrote in a blog post. “Today, we’re taking the first step in making games playable on every device where our members enjoy Netflix.”

The test appears to be very limited for now. Just two games will be available at the outset: Oxenfree (Netflix just released the sequel as its first game from an in-house studio) and gem-mining arcade title Molehew’s Mining Adventure.

The beta is only open to a small number of Netflix subscribers in the UK and Canada on Amazon Fire TV streaming media players, Chromecast with Google TV, LG TVs, NVIDIA Shield TV, Roku devices and TVs, Samsung smart TVs and Walmart ONN. The company will add support for more devices later.

To play Netflix games on a TV, you can use a controller app that the company just released. When you select a game, your TV will display a QR code. Scan this with your phone to use it as your controller.

The games will also be available to try on Netflix’s website via supported desktop browsers in the next few weeks. You’ll be able to use your keyboard and mouse to control them on PCs and Macs.

Netflix says the goal of the test is to put its game streaming tech and controller app through their paces. Given the complex nature of rights agreements with various publishers, it’s not yet clear whether Netflix will bring all of the games in its library to TVs and web browsers. For instance, you’ll need a Netflix subscription to play Kentucky Route Zero,Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge or Immortality natively on your phone, but those games are all available on other platforms. In any case, there’s a big new player coming to the cloud gaming space.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-starts-testing-game-streaming-on-select-devices-smart-tvs-and-desktop-browsers-175241762.html?src=rss 

Amazon announced a new generative AI feature today that summarizes product reviews. Available initially to “a subset of mobile shoppers in the U.S. across a broad selection of products,” the artificial intelligence tool creates a recap paragraph highlighting common themes from customer feedback. The company first confirmed in June it was testing an AI-powered summarization tool, but it now begins its official rollout. CEO Andy Jassy said earlier this month that AI is “at the heart of what we do.”

The idea behind the ML-generated summary is to let shoppers get the gist of their peers’ impressions without having to file through a swath of reviews manually. The wrap-up includes a short paragraph describing customer consensus: It’s a bit like an AI-powered version of the “Critics consensus” and “Audience says” blurbs you’d find on Rotten Tomatoes. “Customers like the stability, ease of use, and performance of the digital device,” one example summary shared by Amazon reads. “They mention that it’s way faster, the picture / streaming speed is excellent, and it’s a simple device to get connected. They also appreciate the performance, saying that it performs as expected and works great with LG 3D smart TV.”

The summary is followed by clickable tags showcasing relevant themes and common words from customer reviews. (It’s similar to an existing keyword feature in the company’s reviews.) Clicking on one will bounce you to full reviews addressing the chosen theme.

The elephant in the room is Amazon’s reputation with fake reviews. Although the retailer says it “proactively blocked over 200 million suspected fake reviews” in 2022 alone — and it’s known to sue culprits (and get a hand from the FTC in extreme cases) — that hardly means the company detects and blocks all of them. There’s also the question of whether AI-powered fake reviews (using ChatGPT or similar tools) are more challenging for Amazon to spot than human-written ones.

The company’s strategy includes only unleashing the summarization tool on verified purchases while using AI models that allegedly detect sketchy reviews — and calling in human investigators when needed. “We continue to invest significant resources to proactively stop fake reviews,” Amazon Community Shopping Director Vaughn Schermerhorn said. “This includes machine learning models that analyze thousands of data points to detect risk, including relations to other accounts, sign-in activity, review history, and other indications of unusual behavior, as well as expert investigators that use sophisticated fraud-detection tools to analyze and prevent fake reviews from ever appearing in our store. The new AI-generated review highlights use only our trusted review corpus from verified purchases, ensuring that customers can easily understand the community’s opinions at a glance.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-begins-rolling-out-ai-generated-review-summaries-164510165.html?src=rss 

Ubisoft is shaking up a busy calendar of big fall game releases by bringing forward one of several games it has on the docket. Assassin’s Creed Mirage will now arrive on October 5th, one week earlier than previously expected.

The move gives the game a bit more distance from another major open-world action-adventure game in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (which is set to hit PS5 on October 20th). However, Assassin’s Creed Mirage will now be going up against Detective Pikachu Returns, which will debut on Switch on October 6th.

Ubisoft is taking Assassin’s Creed back to its roots with Mirage. It has a smaller scope than recent entries, the last of which (Assassin’s Creed Valhalla) can take around 60 hours to beat — fully completing that game typically takes well over 100 hours. Ubisoft’s internal playtests indicate that Mirage takes around 20-23 hours to beat and roughly 25-30 hours to fully complete.

Mirage is set two decades before Valhalla and it takes place primarily in ninth-century Baghdad. There will be a bigger focus on stealth and parkour than in recent Assassin’s Creed games, while main character Basim Ibn Ishaq can slow down time to help you plan assassinations. Additionally, Mirage will have a full Arabic-language dub and subtitles, which could help the game feel more immersive.

Ubisoft has a busy few months ahead. Along with Mirage, The Crew Motorfest will arrive on September 14th while Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is dated for December 7th. XDefiant, Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR and mobile title Tom Clancy’s The Division Resurgence are all slated to arrive by the end of the year too. Skull and Bones still exists somewhere.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/assassins-creed-mirage-will-arrive-one-week-early-on-october-5th-170039341.html?src=rss 

Along with making the Playdate and some Mac apps, Panic is also a well-regarded games publisher with Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game under its belt. However, it’s been a few years since Panic released a game outside of titles made specifically for the Playdate. Panic is ramping up its publishing efforts and we’ll soon get a peek at what’s in the pipeline when the company hosts its first games showcase. You can watch it on Panic’s YouTube channel at 1PM ET on August 29th.

The stream will run for around 20 minutes and it will include more details on previously announced games Nour: Play With Your Food and Despelote. In addition, Panic will show off some new games and reveal fresh partnerships. You’ll get behind-the-scenes looks at some titles too. “We thought it’d be fun to put on a little show and let the world know about the wonderful games we’ve been working on publishing, from amazing developers all around the world,” Panic co-founder Cabel Sasser said.

One thing you shouldn’t expect from the showcase is any Playdate news. On a positive note, Panic will show off some of the games featured in the showcase at both Gamescom and PAX West.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/panic-will-host-its-first-games-showcase-on-august-29th-155822871.html?src=rss