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Any gaming company looking to copy a competitor’s hit might want to think twice. Nintendo’s The Last Hope: Dead Zone Survival has officially been removed from the Switch e-shop due to its overt similarities to Naughty Dog’s hit, The Last of Us, Victoria Kennedy reported at Eurogamer. Sony (which owns Naughty Dog) issued a copyright claim against the game just over a month after its release, a move that has not only taken it off the market but also scrubbed YouTube of its trailer.

The Last Hope isn’t likely to be missed as the game didn’t exactly garner good reviews, with the Digital Foundry saying it was “the worst game we’ve ever tested” and Yahoo simply calling it “horrible-looking.” Widespread comparisons to The Last of Us were immediately made upon the game’s release, including the similarities between the high-quality Ellie and The Last Hope‘s blurry (but almost identically styled) Eva. Yeah, it really didn’t do itself any favors.

If, for some reason, you had a strong affinity for the game, it’s still available for anyone who previously downloaded it. Otherwise, a visit to its page on Nintendo’s e-shop will bring you an error message. If you had avoided the knockoff, well, this is the last time you ever have to think about it.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nintendo-pulls-the-last-of-us-clone-from-its-eshop-following-copyright-claim-092558958.html?src=rss 

Keith Thomas from New York was involved in a driving accident back in 2020 that injured his spine’s C4 and C5 vertebrae, leading to a total loss in feeling and movement from the chest down. Recently, though, Thomas had been able to move his arm at will and feel his sister hold his hand, thanks to the AI brain implant technology developed by the Northwell Health’s Feinstein Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine. 

The research team first spent months mapping his brain with MRIs to pinpoint the exact parts of his brain responsible for arm movements and the sense of touch in his hands. Then, four months ago, surgeons performed a 15-hour procedure to implant microchips into his brain — Thomas was even awake for some parts so he could tell them what sensations he was feeling in his hand as they probed parts of the organ. 

While the microchips are inside his body, the team also installed external ports on top of his head. Those ports connect to a computer with the artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that the team developed to interpret his thoughts and turn them into action. The researchers call this approach “thought-driven therapy,” because it all starts with the patient’s intentions. If he thinks of wanting to move his hand, for instance, his brain implant sends signals to the computer, which then sends signals to the electrode patches on his spine and hand muscles in order to stimulate movement. They attached sensors to his fingertips and palms, as well, to stimulate sensation. 

Thanks to this system, he was able to move his arm at will and feel his sister holding his hand in the lab. While he needed to be attached to the computer for those milestones, the researchers say Thomas has shown signs of recovery even when the system is off. His arm strength has apparently “more than doubled” since the study began, and his forearm and wrist could now feel some new sensations. If all goes well, the team’s thought-driven therapy could help him regain more of his sense of touch and mobility. 

While the approach has a ways to go, the team behind it is hopeful that it could change the lives of people living with paralysis. Chad Bouton, the technology’s developer and the principal investigator of the clinical trial, said:

“This is the first time the brain, body and spinal cord have been linked together electronically in a paralyzed human to restore lasting movement and sensation. When the study participant thinks about moving his arm or hand, we ‘supercharge’ his spinal cord and stimulate his brain and muscles to help rebuild connections, provide sensory feedback, and promote recovery. This type of thought-driven therapy is a game-changer. Our goal is to use this technology one day to give people living with paralysis the ability to live fuller, more independent lives.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai-enabled-brain-implant-helps-patient-regain-feeling-and-movement-073711090.html?src=rss 

Earlier this year, EA said that Star Wars: Jedi Survivor would only come out on the latest PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles in order to take advantage of the latest tech on those consoles. The developer has now changed its tune, however, announcing in an earnings call that the title will come to PS4 and Xbox One consoles after all, The Verge has reported.

“Thanks to the strength of this legendary franchise and community demand, our development team has committed to bringing this Jedi experience to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One,” said EA CEO Andrew Wilson. Jedi Survivor came out on PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5 in April, but there’s no firm date for release on the last-gen consoles. 

Jedi: Survivor, a direct sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, was the headliner in Engadget’s article about disappointing PC ports earlier this year. The problems boiled down to performance, upscaling and other issues — which might make gamers nervous about how it’ll run on the much older Xbox One and PS4 hardware. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/star-wars-jedi-survivor-will-be-ported-to-ps4-and-xbox-one-after-all-064100551.html?src=rss 

TweetDeck has started showing signs that it will not escape Twitter’s massive rebranding unscathed. If you take a look at the tool’s landing page while logged out, you’ll see “XPro” on the upper left corner of the website, indicating its new name. That’s pretty much it at the moment, though — the page still shows the iconic Twitter bird logo, and it still calls TweetDeck a “powerful, real-time tool for people who live on Twitter.” And, yes, its URL is still https://tweetdeck.twitter.com/ in the same way Twitter’s (sorry, we mean X’s) URL is https://twitter.com/. 

Twitter’s rebranding to “X” hit us overnight quite literally in July, with Elon Musk announcing the change in a tweet and then, reportedly, emailing his employees about it afterward. The social network started implementing changes after that by swapping out the Twitter bird with a generic-looking “X” logo, which will apparently “evolve over time,” as well as renaming tweets to “posts” and retweets to “reposts.” Google and Apple both relisted the social network’s app as “X” on the Play Store and the App Store, respectively, by the end of July. 

The move, while sudden, perhaps didn’t come as a surprise for those who’ve followed Musk’s career over the years. Musk is known for favoring the “X” branding and had wanted to rename PayPal to X.com before he was ousted as CEO. The executive also renamed Twitter’s parent company to X Corp. He said the social network’s new name will help it branch out and become an “everything app” with payments and banking features. But critics are doubting the rebranding’s success, with some calling it “the dumbest thing [Musk has] done since taking over” and something that now makes the company less identifiable and less valuable. 

Despite the criticisms, the erasure of the Twitter brand is now well underway. TweetDeck will not remain TweetDeck for very long, and it also won’t be free to use in the near future. The company has previously noted that it will be locked behind a paywall and will be exclusively available to Blue subscribers. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tweetdecks-new-name-is-xpro-052613174.html?src=rss 

If your idea of relaxation involves opening cardboard boxes, you’re in for a good time. Humble Games and Witch Beam have confirmed that Unpacking is coming to iOS and Android on August 24th. You can pre-order the iOS version for $10 today. This has been a long time in coming given that the game first arrived on consoles and PCs in 2021, but it may be worthwhile if you’re new to the concept.

Unpacking is, at its heart, a hybrid puzzle and home decoration game. You have to find space for items as an unseen person moves into a new abode. There’s no time limit or other pressure, and it can be very soothing as you set up a child’s bedroom or the family kitchen. However, it’s particularly clever for the way it tells its story. You’re learning about a woman’s life by seeing where she goes and what she brings with her, rather than dialog. As the title is almost entirely wordless, it’s accessible to a wide range of people.

The game isn’t changing significantly with the move to mobile. However, the developers argue Unpacking is “perfect” for touch as you can drag objects with your finger and sense the world through haptic feedback. Whether or not that’s true, the portability may be appealing. This may be the most appropriate game to play when you’ve just moved to a new place — you can fire it up while your usual gaming hardware is still packed away.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/zen-moving-game-unpacking-comes-to-android-and-ios-on-august-24th-214513079.html?src=rss