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After years of speculation, Red Dead Redemption is set to launch on PS4 and Nintendo Switch. This is the original 2010 release, and not the long-rumored remaster. The western-themed third-person shooter goes on sale August 17th, just three days after revered lawman and huckleberry spokesperson Doc Holliday’s birthday.

This is the digital version, but a physical release follows on October 13th. Though this is a straight port, the release does include the Undead Nightmare DLC, the zombie campaign that was added to the Game of the Year edition back in the day. The combo pack costs $50, which seems like a lot for a straight port of a 13-year-old game that hasn’t been updated to allow for 4K visuals or a faster framerate. Also, the ports won’t support multiplayer.

As for the potential next-gen refresh, it looks to be dead in the water. Kotaku reports that Rockstar has shelved the project after the debacle surrounding the subpar performance of the GTA Trilogy remake, which was an absolute buggy mess. The company is focusing on new titles, like the forthcoming GTA VI, instead of remakes.

For the uninitiated, the original Red Dead Redemption is both a spiritual successor to an older game called Red Dead Revolver, but actually takes place after the events of Red Dead Redemption 2. It follows former outlaw John Marston as he rounds up some of the gang members that take center stage in the sequel. It’s still a sprawling open-world adventure game, like RDR2, but with a more focused narrative and structure. There’s no swimming, which is a bummer, but you can still tie people to train tracks, which is the opposite of a bummer.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-original-red-dead-redemption-is-coming-to-ps4-and-switch-165058354.html?src=rss 

We’re not too far away from the fall, which of course means there’s a new Call of Duty game on the horizon. Activision has confirmed long-standing rumors that this year’s entry is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III from Sledgehammer Games. The publisher also revealed that the latest game in the rebooted series will hit PC and consoles (perhaps including Nintendo Switch) on November 10th.

There aren’t many other confirmed details yet beyond a teaser video. However, Activision recently implied that, for the first time, players will be able to carry over items like operators, weapons and bundles from one year’s Call of Duty game (in this case, Modern Warfare II) to the next. That was a pretty strong indication that the next entry would be Modern Warfare III and not, say, a return to a World War II setting.

At one point, it seemed like there wouldn’t be an entirely new Call of Duty game this year. Reports in early 2022 suggested that Activision would slow things down a bit and instead deliver a significant expansion for Modern Warfare II while continuing to update Warzone and working on the next mainline game. Ultimately, the publisher decided to stick with its cadence of releasing a full-price Call of Duty game every year.

In February, Bloomberg reported that Modern Warfare III was set to include maps and modes from last year’s game while still feeling like a standalone full-price title. We’ll learn just how Activision is making the transition into Modern Warfare III as it reveals more details in the coming weeks and months.

Meanwhile, it’s looking increasingly likely that Microsoft will close its pending $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard very soon. If so, that could result in Modern Warfare III becoming the first Call of Duty title to hit Xbox Game Pass on its release day.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-next-call-of-duty-game-is-modern-warfare-iii-165748261.html?src=rss 

The battle of the bloviating billionaires could be on hold for the foreseeable future. Elon Musk says he may need surgery, casting more doubt on his proposed cage match with Mark Zuckerberg.

Musk noted on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday evening that he’s receiving an MRI on his neck and upper back today. He’ll find out later this week whether he’ll need surgery before going toe-to-toe with Zuckerberg, which is definitely not an attempt to get a doctor’s note to weasel out of the duel.

Not only would surgery postpone that fight indefinitely, it could impact Musk’s work at his various companies. As CNBC notes, Tesla’s share price dropped by over two percent on Monday morning. Along with running the automaker, Musk is also the owner and chief technical officer of X and CEO of SpaceX.

There wasn’t a confirmed date for the planned fight. Zuckerberg said he proposed an August 26 fight night, but claimed Musk hadn’t responded. “Not holding my breath,” the Meta CEO wrote on Threads.

Both men have been training for the potential showdown and publicly needling each other in the meantime. If and when it happens, Musk said the fight will be streamed on X, with all proceeds going to a veterans’ charity. Zuckerberg couldn’t resist poking fun at Musk over that too. “Shouldn’t we use a more reliable platform that can actually raise money for charity?,” he asked.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/elon-musk-says-he-might-need-surgery-before-any-cage-fight-with-mark-zuckerberg-154237731.html?src=rss 

Call Devolver Digital whatever you want — except a liar. The indie publisher’s inaugural Devolver Delayed showcase delivered on its promise, featuring five games whose release windows have been pushed out of 2023 and into 2024. Which, of course, kind of means Devolver was lying when it initially announced these games, but let’s live in the now.

So, here’s the list of Devolver games that are now due out next year, minus the maniacal corporate joy that underpinned the actual showcase: Skate Story, The Plucky Squire, Stick it to the Stickman, Anger Foot and Pepper Grinder.

Skate Story is the hardest delay to swallow, personally speaking. Developed by Sam Eng, Skate Story is a highly stylized skateboarding game set in a dark, neon-streaked hellscape and starring a demon made of glass. It looks trippy and fast-paced, and I was very much looking forward to playing it this year. Skate Story is now coming to PC in 2024 and it’s available to wishlist on Steam.

Stick it to the Stickman and Anger Foot are both products of Free Lives, the studio behind Broforce, Gorn and Genital Jousting, and a longtime Devolver partner. Both Stickman and Anger Foot are coming to PC next year and are available to wishlist right now.

The Plucky Squire looks to be an extraordinarily cute platforming adventure that swaps between 2D and 3D visuals. This one comes from All Possible Futures and it’s heading to PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch (in 2024, of course). Last on the delay list, Pepper Grinder is a 2D platformer featuring a character with a big drill, and it’s being developed by Oregon-based studio Ahr Ech for PC and Switch.

The Devolver Delayed showcase also provided some relief, in the end. A handful of the publisher’s games have decidedly not been delayed and are still targeting 2023 release windows, including Gunbrella, Wizard with a Gun, KarmaZoo, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood and — most notably, in my book — The Talos Principle II. A sequel to the 2014 award-winning game from Croteam, The Talos Principle II promises more first-person laser-based puzzles, philosophical pontification and existential dread, and it’s all still coming out in 2023 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is actually due out on August 16, just over one week from today. It’s the latest game from Deconstructeam, the Spanish studio behind Gods Will Be Watching and The Red Strings Club, and the preview had me happily building tarot decks and flirting with immortal beings.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/skate-story-and-four-other-devolver-games-have-been-delayed-to-2024-162331587.html?src=rss 

Google is taking aim at the likes of Grammarly with a feature it added to Search recently. The service now includes a grammar checker, which can analyze the construction of a phrase or sentence and offer suggestions if it something seems off.

Punching in a phrase like “grammar check,” “check grammar” or “grammar checker” will make sure the tool activates, as 9to5 Google points out. But Search might still offer grammar suggestions if you don’t include one of those phrases with your query.

If the tool notices an error, including a spelling mistake, Google will rewrite the sentence and indicate what’s different. You’ll easily be able to copy the corrected phrase or sentence by hovering over it. If your grammar is spot on, the tool will give you a dopamine-inducing green checkmark, but not, sadly, a gold star.

Unsurprisingly, the tool is powered by artificial intelligence. It might not always be accurate, especially if you ask it to review a phrase or fragment instead of an entire sentence. If you spot something wrong with a suggestion (or want to help the system understand that its correction was helpful), you can provide feedback.

The tool will only be available in English for the time being, but it’s worth noting that it won’t run if the phrase or sentence violates Search policies. It won’t check the grammar for dangerous, harassing, medical, sexually explicit or terrorist content, or anything to do with violence and gore. You might have to look elsewhere to make sure that a phrase or sentence containing profanity or vulgar language is grammatically correct too.

Google has, of course, offered grammar tools in Gmail and Google Drive for a long time now. Bringing one to Search makes a lot of sense, given that it has a dictionary tool in its extensive bag of tricks. It’ll save you having to open Google Docs or another app. You won’t necessarily have to bust out a dusty copy of The Elements of Style either.

However, many people just focus on the keywords when they search for something on Google and don’t write complete sentences or grammatically correct phrases (e.g. “hard boiled egg how long”). The AI will have to make an educated guess as to whether someone wants their grammar to be checked or not. Otherwise, Search could push the information they’re looking for even further down the page.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-search-now-has-an-ai-powered-grammar-checker-144539934.html?src=rss