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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown will be released on May 22 for PC via Steam. As the name indicates, this is a turn-based strategy RPG. It also happens to be the first turn-based game in franchise history.

It’s being developed by Strange Scaffold, who made the fantastic El Paso, Elsewhere. There’s a new trailer with plenty of gameplay, which is always nice. One thing that sets this tactical RPG apart from rivals like Unicorn Overlord is that the battles take just a few minutes to complete. As a matter of fact, they look even zippier than the streamlined fights found in the Mario + Rabbids series.

The story sounds downright depressing for a TMNT game. “Splinter and Shredder are dead, and as the Turtles approach adulthood, they’re not just growing up… they’re growing apart,” a description reads. To that end, most of the levels are played solo with just a single turtle. Come on guys. Hash things out over a large pizza pie!

There’s no price yet, but preorders are open. Publisher Paramount Game Studios has yet to say anything about a potential console release.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-tactical-takedown-comes-out-on-may-22-191533579.html?src=rss 

The seventh season of Black Mirror is headed to Netflix on April 10, and based on its first trailer, happily returning to concepts and episodes that have come to define the series.

You’ll see plenty of the stars that were already announced to be in the new episodes in the trailer, like Paul Giamatti, Issa Rae and Peter Capaldi, along with clear evidence that Season 7 continues storylines showrunner Charlie Brooker has already promised to revisit — namely the episode “USS Callister,” about a group of startup employees trapped in a Star Trek-inspired simulation by their boss. 

There’s some surprises too — one of the six new episodes appears to return to the world of Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, the interactive Black Mirror episode Netflix released in 2018, before abandoning interactive movies in 2024. If that doesn’t pique your interest, rest assured, load-bearing Black Mirror concepts like “thinking of the human brain as a computer” definitely seem to be present, too.

Brooker describes this season as “a little bit OG Black Mirror” and “back to basics in many ways,” which could be reassuring, depending on your belief that he can recapture the novelty and meanness of the show’s UK run. The series last aired on Netflix in 2023, with a set of episodes that were all over the place in terms of quality. Season 7 could be different, but we’ll have to wait until Black Mirror returns on April 10 to find out for sure.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/black-mirror-is-playing-the-hits-in-its-season-7-trailer-193015633.html?src=rss 

Google is updating Android to support Auracast, a Bluetooth LE technology that makes it possible to create, listen to and switch between public broadcasts of Bluetooth audio on the devices you already own. At its simplest, Auracast could let you to tune your Bluetooth earbuds to a muted TV in a public space and hear its audio. For Google, though, it sounds like the company is primarily interested in using the feature to make hearing aids even more helpful.

Google plans to use Auracast as a way to get Bluetooth audio streaming to hearing aids paired to your phone or tablet. If a TV or streaming device supports Auracast, you’ll be able to use your Android device to connect the hearing aids directly to the source and hear what’s playing. The company says any presets you’ve tweaked to customize how your hearing aids sound will carry over to audio you hear through Auracast, too. On Pixel 9 devices, you can even skip diving into settings to switch to the broadcast and instead scan a QR code to immediately connect your hearing aids.

The feature is coming to the Pixel 9 via the third Android 16 beta, which is also getting released today. Besides Auracast, the pre-release software includes a new accessibility option that lets you outline text to make it easier to read and a “Local Network Protection” feature that will give anyone with an Android 16 device “more control over which apps can access devices on their local network,” Google says.

The final version of Android 16 is still a ways off, but the developer beta is available to download today on supported devices. If you don’t want to experiment with the beta, Google says you can try out Auracast with a Samsung Galaxy device running One UI 7 and compatible hearing aids from GN Hearing or Starkey.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/auracast-support-is-coming-to-android-180050425.html?src=rss 

Fortnite will be available on Arm-based Windows machines later this year. In a blog post, developer Epic Games said that it is working with Qualcomm to get the hugely popular game compatible with the new Windows architecture by offering Windows on Snapdragon support for Epic Online Services Anti-Cheat, also known as Easy Anti-Cheat.

Microsoft has making a big push to convert its computing ecosystem to Arm-based hardware with Windows 11, especially as it puts more resources behind its line of Copilot+ PCs. While Qualcomm said last year that most games should be compatible with its Snapdragon chips, titles with kernel-level anti-cheat tech would pose a problem. And that’s the approach Epic takes to prevent cheating in Fortnite and with its Easy Anti-Cheat program.

Epic didn’t offer any more specific timeline other than “later this year,” but having support for the company’s games and services will be important for getting gamers and game developers to convert to the Arm systems.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/epic-is-bringing-fortnite-to-arm-based-windows-systems-181528822.html?src=rss 

A steady stream (sorry) of expansions has helped keep the terrific PowerWash Simulator in the zeitgeist over the last couple of years, but developer FuturLab has been beavering away on a sequel as well. You won’t have to wait too long for it either, as PowerWash Simulator 2 is slated to debut later this year.

The follow-up has a fresh campaign mode that picks up from where the first game left off, new locations to make scum-free, enhanced soap(!) and the option to customize your home base, which your friends can visit. Also new is the ability to share campaign progress when you play online with your buds. Best of all, there will be a two-player split-screen mode this time around. It’s always great to have more couch co-op games to play.

The supremely relaxing and satisfying PowerWash Simulator was a surprise hit. FuturLab says more than 17 million players have adjusted their nozzles to spray away virtual grime in a wide variety of locations.

PowerWash Simulator 2 is set to hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC in late 2025 (sidenote: have you cleaned your system lately?). More details will be revealed next month. 

Eurogamer reports that the game is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 as well, but no Nintendo platforms were mentioned in FuturLab’s press release. The studio told Engadget that “Whilst we would like to release on Switch 2, there are no current firm plans. We have no timeframe or news there.” That said, Nintendo plans to reveal much more about its new console on April 2, so perhaps we’ll hear about a Switch 2 edition of PowerWash Simulator 2 then.

Meanwhile, there are no plans for a VR version this time, FuturLab told Eurogamer. The studio ended support for PowerWash Simulator VR in January, with CEO Kirsty Rigden saying that version was running at a loss. FuturLab reassigned members of its VR team to other roles.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/powerwash-simulator-2-will-arrive-later-this-year-164534571.html?src=rss 

A year-long subscription to the meditation app Headspace is on sale right now for just $42. The typical price is $70, so this represents a savings of 40 percent. It also breaks down to $3.50 per month. The sale is part of the app’s acknowledgement of Sleep Awareness Week, which is a thing that’s going on right now.

A subscription to Headspace gets you access to the app’s entire library of meditations, sleep sounds, yoga routines and fitness content. It also delivers curated meditations and inspirational videos each day.

Headspace topped our list of the best meditation apps, and with good reason. We loved how the meditation courses are organized, as each one builds on top of skills learned in the previous session. Each course also offers a variety of instructors, just in case you grow fond of a particular person.

The integrated search engine makes it easy to find what you’re looking for and members even get access to tangential stuff like wellness podcasts. The app’s colors are calming and neutral, with an aesthetically pleasing design running throughout. It’s just a simple and well-made meditation app that’s perfect for both experts and newcomers.

There’s a free trial of 14 days, but the promotion ends on March 18. That means you really only have a few days to check things out and make a decision. If you do end up purchasing the year, remember that the price shoots up to $70 when it runs out. Make sure to cancel ahead of time, unless you’re fine with paying full price.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/get-one-year-of-headspace-for-40-percent-off-170017814.html?src=rss 

First announced back in 2023, NVIDIA is finally releasing a playable demo for Half-Life 2 RTX. If you own the original game on Steam (and if you don’t, what’s your excuse?), you can download the preview on March 18. The showcase will allow players to see how Orbifold Studios has reimagined Ravenholm and Nova Prospekt with ray tracing. NVIDIA says the full release will arrive “at a later date.”

Ahead of the demo’s release, NVIDIA is also releasing RTX Remix, the modding toolkit Orbifold used to remaster HL2, to the public. The suite is available to download today, and includes support for many of the company’s latest technologies, including multi-frame generation via DLSS 4. Additionally, NVIDIA says RTX Remix features an “easily mastered” interface that allows modders to add fully ray-traced lighting and AI-enhanced textures to older games without fuss. For more dedicated teams, RTX Remix makes it possible to rebuild every asset in a game.

Beside the chance to see Half-Life 2 in a whole new light, there’s another good reason to revisit the game next week. Viktor Antonov, Half-Life 2’s visionary art director, passed away in February at the age of 52. All video games are a collaborative effort, but if there’s one person who helped make Half-Life 2 so memorable, it’s Antonov. He designed most of City 17 and the Combine technology that gives the game its unique visual identity.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/a-demo-of-half-life-2-rtx-arrives-next-week-on-steam-171908066.html?src=rss 

Your digital life can get just as cluttered and chaotic as your “IRL” life if you’re not too careful. And if you work remote even some of the time, that can add to the massive amount of online information you’re juggling on a regular basis. That’s why many of us on the Engadget team have done a lot of trial and error with a bunch of digital tools to see if any of them can help us keep things organized personally and professionally. Thankfully, there are tons of good productivity tools out there — these are some of our favorites, many of which are free or have free tiers that you can dive into if you’re keen on trying them out.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/the-engadget-teams-favorite-productivity-tools-to-get-things-done-160025276.html?src=rss