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Super Mario Strikers, the first game in the Mario Strikers series that was originally released for GameCube in 2005, will soon be available to play on Switch Online. Nintendo is adding it to its GameCube library for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members, though it will only be accessible from the Switch 2. If you’ll recall, the company announced the addition of a GameCube library to its $50-a-year subscription service as a Switch 2-exclusive upgrade before the console even shipped.  

In Super Mario Strikers, you play soccer (or football to most of the world) in an arena, where there are no penalties and you can quite literally hurt your opponent to get the ball. You can select your captain from the franchise’s characters, including Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario and Waluigi. And you can obtain and use various Mario-themed items, such as bananas, shells and mushrooms for power-ups and to hinder your opponent’s progress. In addition to the captain, your team will also have a goalkeeper and three “sidekicks.” However, it’s only the captain who’s capable of taking a shot called the “Super Strike,” which gives you two points when it’s timed correctly. 

You’ll be able to play Super Mario Strikers matches alone, but you’ll also be able to play local and online multiplayer matches with up to four friends. For local matches, every player must have their own controller. The game will be available from the GameCube library on July 3, alongside other classic GameCube games like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Soulcaliber 2 and F-Zero GX.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-is-adding-super-mario-strikers-to-its-switch-online-gamecube-library-130051271.html?src=rss 

Meta is in currently in acquisition talks with PlayAI, a California-based startup that provides its users with an AI voice cloning tool, according to Bloomberg. According to the news organization, Meta is looking to buy the startup’s technology, as well as to absorb some of its employees into the company. The parties haven’t come to an agreement yet, but if the acquisition pushes through, it could give the company the technology it needs to expand its voice AI offerings. It could roll out more voice features for its AI chatbot and assistant, as well as for its smart glasses from Ray-Ban and Oakley. 

While both companies refused to confirm their talks to Bloomberg, the potential purchase of an AI voice cloning tool doesn’t sound out of left field for Meta based on its recent activities. Company chief Mark Zuckerberg has been personally involved in a hiring spree for high-level AI experts over the past few months to form the company’s new AI Superintelligence team. 

Zuckerberg has reportedly been offering experts from rival companies like OpenAI compensation packages as big as $100 million, and a few had already accepted. Just a few days ago, Meta finalized a $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI, a startup that provides other companies with data labeling and model evaluation services for AI training. In exchange, Scale AI’s founder and CEO Alexandr Wang joined Meta and is believed to be heading its new Superintelligence lab. Before Meta decided to invest in Scale AI, it also considered acquiring Perplexity AI. 

PlayAI’s website says its tool can mimic or clone a user’s voice and can generate voices as real as humans, which can be deployed to websites, apps and phones. While its acquisition could lead to useful voice features for Meta’s apps and websites, the company could also use the tool to make more life-like AI chatbots. Zuckerberg’s vision of the future, after all, is a world where people’s AI friends outnumber human ones. We may already be seeing the beginnings of such a world, considering chatbot romances have become increasingly popular over the past few months. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/meta-is-reportedly-looking-to-acquire-ai-voice-replicator-playai-133032491.html?src=rss 

Google Labs is making virtual outfit try ons available to all with a new experimental AI app called Doppl, the company announced in a blog post. You can upload a photo of yourself and any outfit to see how it will look on you and can even create an AI-generated video of yourself and the clothing in motion.

To use it, first upload a full-body photo of yourself, then choose photos or screen shots of outfits. For instance, you can screenshot or download photos from sources like Pinterest or clothing websites, or take photos of clothing from locations like thrift stores. You could even snap a photo of a friend wearing a desired outfit. 

Once the outfit is selected, Doppl (short for doppelgänger one imagines) will create an AI-generated image of you wearing it even and convert the static image into a moving video. You can continue to browse through outfits, save your favorites and share different looks. It may not work perfectly for you — Google pointed out that “Doppl is in its early days and… fit, appearance and clothing details may not always be accurate.” 

Google recently unveiled a similar try-on feature for its Shopping experience, but Doppl works strictly as a standalone app. It looks like the kind of thing people could have some fun with, particularly on social media, but it may also aid Google in gathering data on users’ buying and shopping habits. The app is now available on iOS and Android, but only in the US for now. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/googles-new-ai-app-doppl-lets-you-try-on-outfits-virtually-120014003.html?src=rss 

Apple has introduced new fee structures for developers using the App Store in the EU in order to meet the requirements of the bloc’s Digital Markets Act. Last month, the European Commission ruled that Apple was not in compliance the legislation and ordered the company to make changes within 30 days. Apple can still file an appeal of the decision until July 7.

The new terms make things a little complicated. When apps promote offers for digital goods or services in the EU, they’ll be subject to an “initial acquisition fee” and a “store services fee” as well as a Core Technology Fee for apps with more than 1 million annual installs. Developers who agree to the StoreKit External Purchase Link Entitlement (EU) Addendum will be charged a Core Technology Commission (CTC) of 5 percent rather than the CTF. The CTC applies to “all sales of digital goods or services that occur within a 12-month period from the date of an install, including app updates and reinstalls” rather than the CTF approach based on installation numbers. The exact rules and exemptions are now listed on a dedicated support page.

There are also two separate tiers of fee structures. Tier 1 is for apps using mandatory store services and Tier 2 covers apps using optional store services. The initial acquisition fee is 2 percent for both tiers, although participants in the Apple Small Business Program and recurring subscriptions after the first year will not be subject to that charge. The Tier 1 store services fee is 5 percent, while Tier 2 is 13 percent normally or 10 percent for program participants.

That’s the approach for the remainder of this year, although Apple said it plans to adopt a single business model of the Core Technology Commission for all developers in the EU beginning January 1, 2026.

Apple is also offering new terms about how developers can promote and communicate offers to users in the EU. The destination for a promo can now be “a website, alternative app marketplace, or another app, and can be accessed outside the app or within the app via a web view or native experience.” The company is also toning down language in the “scare sheets” it displays when a user follows a link to outside the App Store. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/apple-details-new-fee-structures-for-app-store-payments-in-the-eu-204253948.html?src=rss 

Elon Musk has reportedly fired Omead Afshar, Tesla’s head of manufacturing and operations in North America and Europe, according to Forbes. Both CNBC and Bloomberg corroborated the report. Afshar’s exit follows Milan Kovac, the head of engineering on Tesla’s Optimus robot, who left the company in early June.

Afshar was promoted to the role last year, Bloomberg reports, after working for multiple different Musk-owned companies since 2017. The timing of his exit isn’t particularly surprising given the trouble Tesla has faced selling cars. Sales in Europe have shrunk for a fifth consecutive month and the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association reports that registrations of new Teslas dropped by nearly 41 percent in May. The company is also struggling in China, where sales fell 15 percent in the same month.

While Musk appears to be holding Afshar responsible, the blame clearly lies at Musk’s feet. Helping to fund President Donald Trump’s re-election in the US, running the destructive DOGE cost-cutting efforts after his election and just generally maintaining a noxious public presence have permanently tainted Musk and his companies. While SpaceX still benefits from government contracts, Tesla’s sales are vulnerable to public opinion, something the Tesla Takedown movement has been leveraging to its advantage with protests outside of the company’s dealerships. 

Firing Afshar, leaving his position in the US government and launching Tesla’s robotaxi service in Austin are all different attempts from Musk to change the narrative around Tesla. It’s not clear yet whether they’ll actually help.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/elon-musk-reportedly-fired-a-key-tesla-executive-following-another-month-of-flagging-sales-205118891.html?src=rss