Dominique Luchart's Blog, page 741
September 17, 2020
Demon’s Souls’ and Final Fantasy XVI’s now-retracted PC launches are an odd coincidence,
As part of its PlayStation 5 launch event yesterday, Sony said Final Fantasy XVI and Demon’s Souls weren’t just strictly PS5 exclusives — trailers for both games revealed they would also be coming to PC. At the time, that meant the biggest game announced during Sony’s showcase as well as one of the PS5’s most notable launch titles wouldn’t require a PS5 to play them. If you added the fact that both Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Horizon Forbidden West will also be coming to PS4, you might well have decided to wait on picking up a PS5 at launch.
But shortly after the event, Sony and Square Enix went into damage control, saying that Final Fantasy XVI and Demon’s Souls actually aren’t coming to PC after all.
It’s an odd coincidence, and it makes the PS5’s lineup look a lot stronger if both games are exclusive to Sony’s next-gen console. Demon’s Souls is a highly anticipated remake of the 2009 PS3 classic, and it will be one of just six first-party PS5 launch titles.
And Final Fantasy XVI is the next numbered game in one of gaming’s most popular franchises — one that helped build the PlayStation brand. Sony tacitly acknowledged how important the game is to the PS5 by using its surprise announcement to kick off yesterday’s entire presentation — only to reveal in the fine print that the game would come to PC, lessening the announcement’s impact for Sony.
A card at the end of the original Final Fantasy XVI trailer.Image: Sony
Sony explicitly suggested that PC releases would help grow its business last month, saying in its 2020 corporate report that “we will explore expanding our 1st party titles to the PC platform, in order to promote further growth in our profitability.” While we’re not sure they’re first party, it wouldn’t have been weird if Final Fantasy XVI and Demon’s Souls had come to PC. Just this year, two other huge PS4 titles made the jump, with Death Stranding arriving on PC in July and Horizon Zero Dawn appearing in August. Detroit: Become Human arrived on PC as well.
The official statements from Sony and Square Enix about the games’ availability muddy the waters of this whole situation. A Square Enix spokesperson told The Verge on Wednesday that it has “only announced” Final Fantasy XVI for the PS5, pointing us to a press release. And Square Enix told IGN that “we have no further information on if Final Fantasy XVI will be released on platforms other than the PS5.” If it’s true that it’s exclusive to PS5, why can’t Square Enix just say that?
The situation around Demon’s Souls is a bit clearer, as Sony told Kotaku and The Verge that the PC mention in that game’s trailer was included in error and that the game will be exclusive to PS5. But Sony didn’t reply to questions from The Verge asking whether Demon’s Souls would be a timed PS5 exclusive and might end up on PC later. Death Stranding and Horizon Zero Dawn were also PS4 exclusives, after all.
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Google fixes odd bug that made some Pixel Buds audio cut out at 1:50 intervals,
Google is still trying to iron out connectivity issues with its Pixel Buds. The company has confirmed that it has identified the cause of a strange, frustrating bug that caused audio to drop out for some users every one minute and 50 seconds — on the dot. I’ve gotten numerous emails about this issue from Pixel Buds owners, so it’s good to see that Google has managed to resolve it.
According to a post on the company’s support forums, a new firmware update is currently rolling out to the true wireless earbuds that will eliminate the pause after every 1:50. In case you’re unfamiliar with the update process, Google has this guide for installing Pixel Buds firmware.
If you’re not using your Pixel Buds with an Android phone — well, that’s an unusual use case, for one — but Google says you should contact customer support to discuss other options since the firmware can only be updated when the earbuds are connected over Bluetooth to a phone running Android 6.0 and above.
Google has thanked customers who reported the problem as it continues trying to improve the stability of its second-gen Pixel Buds. Last month, the company released a number of new features for the earbuds including a new bass boost EQ setting and fixes that were meant to help the Bluetooth connection. However, when I tested them after the update, I still experienced some dropouts. But if your main issue was the annoying, regular skip at 1:50 intervals, at least that’s now history.
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‘Kerbal Space Program’ celebrates 9th anniversary with Enhanced Edition launch for Xbox One, Playstation 4, ,
Calling all Kerbonauts! New adventures await you on gaming consoles.
The physics-based space simulator “Kerbal Space Program: Enhanced Edition Complete” is celebrating its ninth anniversary with digital launches for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, developers Private Division and Squad announced Wednesday (Sept. 16).
American players can pick up the game bundle for $39.99 in PlayStation Store or the Microsoft Store; check your country’s store for pricing and availability.
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“Kerbal Space Program” is often praised for its realism in depicting the space environment, such as asking players to take orbits into account when planning routes from one planet to another. A new YouTube video celebrating the anniversary says the game attracted more than 450,000 players in June 2020, and nearly 142 million vessels have launched in the space game since its foundation. The game recently launched its “Shared Horizons” expansion, which adds real-life missions by the European Space Agency to its gameplay.
The “enhanced” edition of Kerbal will give many hours of space exploration to fans old and new, including “Kerbal Space Program” and two previously published console expansions, “History and Parts Pack” with historical events and hardware and “Breaking Ground” with robotic parts, bundled at a discount.
“You have access to an array of parts to assemble fully-functional spacecraft that fly – or don’t – based on realistic aerodynamic and orbital physics,” Kerbal said on its website. “Launch your Kerbal crew into orbit and beyond – while keeping them alive – to explore moons and planets in the Kerbol solar system, constructing bases and space stations to expand the reach of your expedition.”
Players can build their space programs in three modes. Science mode allows you to perform experiments to create new technology and advance knowledge. Career mode covers all aspects of building a space program, from construction to funding to strategies. Sandbox will let you build any spacecraft you can imagine, using any parts or technology the game has available.
Kerbal is also a popular game among space streamers, including Scott Manley – who aims to teach orbital mechanics and space science on his channel – and “Everyday Astronaut” Tim Dodd, who brings developments in spaceflight to a wide audience.
A sequel, Kerbal Space Program 2, is in the works now and due for a release in fall 2021.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
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Amazon’s business generated $1.6 billion in 2019 profit for the USPS, new report finds,
A bombshell report in The Washington Post today details the ongoing feud between the Trump administration and the US Postal Service, and it provides insight into just how lucrative Amazon’s business is for the agency.
According to documents obtained by watchdog group American Oversight, Amazon generated $1.6 billion in profit and $3.9 billion in revenue for the USPS in fiscal year 2019, with the postal service delivering 1.54 billion packages for the e-commerce giant. That represented about 30 percent of Amazon’s total volume last year, and, according to the Post, revenue has increased this year.
President Trump has complained for at least the last two years — without citing evidence — that the USPS loses “$1.50 on average for each package” it delivers for Amazon. The president tweeted in 2018 that Amazon was using the USPS as its “Delivery Boy,” putting retailers out of business and paying little in taxes. He reportedly pressured then-Postmaster General Megan Brennan to double the rate the USPS charged Amazon and other companies.
The USPS lost $8.8 billion in fiscal year 2019, more than double its loss from 2018. But its losses are largely blamed on a 2006 requirement from Congress that the post office pre-fund pension and retiree health care costs decades into the future, not Amazon. Last year, those costs included a $320 million increase in retirement benefits expenses and a $3.5 billion increase in workers’ compensation expenses, which was not offset by the 0.7 percent increase in revenue.
Internal USPS memos uncovered in the Post‘s reporting show that “unfunded government mandates” are more of a detriment to the agency’s fiscal health than any arrangement with Amazon, despite the president’s statements to the contrary. When the USPS and Amazon worked to negotiate a new contract in the spring of this year, internal memos warned that if it raised rates too high, it could lose Amazon’s business to competitors.
The president said in August he was intentionally underfunding the USPS to make voting by mail more difficult, but then appeared to shift his position a few days later, tweeting “save the post office.” He also protested the $10 billion emergency coronavirus funding the USPS received in July, though he could have gotten something out of that deal: it was granted in exchange for information about the agency’s most valuable private-sector client contracts, potentially giving him ammo to show the USPS is not fiscally responsible or that Amazon was at least partly to blame for its financial woes.
The new reporting doesn’t seem to support either argument, however; even without the huge chunk of business Amazon gave the USPS last year, the agency still wouldn’t have been able to turn a profit thanks to its business model.
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August 29, 2020
This Game Boy Color is actually a portable Nintendo Wii and it’s so damn clean, Sean Hollister
Transforming classic video game consoles into on-the-go gadget gaming goodness is practically a time-honored tradition — I remember writing about Bacteria’s bulbous portable Nintendo 64 a decade ago.
But @GingerOfMods new “Wii Boy Color” (via NintendoLife) is so clean, so compact, I just have to share it with you.
OK, it’s a little bit thicker than an actual Game Boy Color if you count the rear triggers. But it’s remarkably close — and when have you had a Game Boy that can play Nintendo Wii and GameCube games on the go?
Here it is side by side with gramps. pic.twitter.com/a2ubH1KLo1
— GingerOfMods (@GingerOfMods) August 27, 2020
And let me restate that this isn’t some insanely powerful Android smartphone running an emulator….
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Google reportedly took five days to decide not to remove misleading ads about voting by mail, Kim Lyons
Illustration by Alex Castro
Google took five days to review several ads with misleading information about voting by mail before opting to approve them, The Washington Post reported. The ads were created by Protect My Vote— a group the Post refers to as “shadowy”— and appeared to target people in several US states, including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, and Texas, showing up in response to searches for “mail-in voting.” One of the ads reads “think mail-in voting and absentee voting are the same. Think again! There are different safeguards for each,” a misleading and inaccurate claim.
Google ultimately declined to remove the ads. Spokeswoman Charlotte Smith told the Post “We have zero tolerance for ads that employ voter suppression tactics or undermine…
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A case of coronavirus reinfection shows the complexities of the pandemic, Nicole Wetsman
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
The scary thing finally happened: someone caught the coronavirus twice and got sicker the second time around. A 25-year-old man in Nevada got COVID-19 in March, got better in April, and got sick again in May. He had worse symptoms on the second bout, bad enough that he had to be hospitalized.
Three other cases of confirmed reinfection were also reported this week: one in Hong Kong (the first documented case) and two in Europe. These don’t necessarily make me any more worried about our vaccine prospects, though, and they don’t mean the pandemic will go on forever. We have four documented cases of reinfection. But that’s out of the 24 million cases of this disease so far, and rare shit happens. Most experts expected that we’d see at least…
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I’m addicted to Instagram scams, Zoe Schiffer
I moved to LA mid-pandemic and furnished my apartment almost exclusively from Facebook Marketplace, a luxurious garden of budget goods that exploits all my weak points: deals, online shopping, haggling with strangers on the internet.
One of the first things I bought was a table and four chairs that was not cheap, by my standards ($225!), but did look unique compared to the countless IKEA offerings.
When I went to pick it up, however, it was clear this was in fact an IKEA offering — one that had been shoddily hand-painted by the enthusiastic acting student who sold it to me. I no longer wanted to buy it (why spend $225 on old furniture that costs $120 new?), and I probably should have just told the guy I’d made a mistake…
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T-Mobile is offering a free iPhone 11 Pro to new and existing subscribers, Cameron Faulkner
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
At T-Mobile, you can get a free iPhone 11 Pro if you meet all of the carrier’s qualifications. First off, you have to switch from another carrier and trade in your old device, or if you’re an existing customer, you can get one by adding a line to your plan. For either one, you’ll pay for the phone up front, then T-Mobile will pay you back in billing credits each month over a 24-month period.
It’s worth noting that Apple is likely a month out from announcing the rumored iPhone 12, and with any new iPhone release, there are usually a bunch of carrier incentives. Still, it’s a free iPhone now, if you want it and meet the criteria.
Control Ultimate Edition just launched this week on Steam, following a yearlong exclusive stint…
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May 28, 2020
A NASA astronaut launched a model rocket on eve of his own historic SpaceX launch, Hanneke Weitering,
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NASA astronaut Bob Behnken takes a selfie with a model rocket launching from Florida’s Atlantic coast on May 26, 2020. (Image credit: Bob Behnken/NASA/Twitter)On the eve of his historic launch on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, NASA astronaut Bob Behnken got ready for the big day by launching a rocket of his own — one that’s nowhere near the size of the Falcon 9 rocket he’ll ride to orbit.
Behnken and co-commander Doug Hurley were scheduled to lift off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on the Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station on Wednesday (May 27) at 4:33 p.m. EDT (2033 GMT), but the launch was scrubbed about 17 minutes before liftoff due to bad weather conditions. If their second launch attempt on Saturday (May 30) works out, it will be the first time NASA astronauts have flown to the orbiting lab in a commercial spacecraft and the first time astronauts have launched to orbit from the United States in nearly a decade.
Taking a break from the hustle and bustle of prelaunch preparations, Behnken hit the beach on Tuesday (May 26) and launched a model rocket. Later that evening, he tweeted a photo of what appears to be a version of an Amazon model rocket by Estes lifting off from a sandy launch pad on Florida’s Atlantic coast.
Related: How to watch SpaceX’s historic Demo-2 astronaut launch live online
According to Estes, the Amazon model rocket stands about 30 inches (76 centimeters) tall and can reach heights of up to 650 feet (200 meters). For comparison, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket booster stands 229.6 feet (70 m) tall and can soar more than 150 miles (240 kilometers) above the Earth — more than 1,000 times higher than Behnken’s toy rocket.
But Behnken didn’t spend all of his last day on Earth playing in the sand. “The day before our launch on the @NASA/@SpaceX Demo Mission 2, I took the time to review pre-launch activities, hone my launch operation technique, practice one more docking with @Space_Station https://iss-sim.spacex.com, and review the path home,” Behnken tweeted, referring to SpaceX’s virtual Crew Dragon docking simulator. “We are ready!”
Earlier on Tuesday, Behnken and Hurley were spotted exchanging fist bumps with NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine and deputy administrator Jim Morhard. “@JimBridenstine and I got to give @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug one last fist bump before they become the first astronauts to launch on a commercially made American rocket,” Morhard tweeted.
You can watch Behnken and Hurley launch to the space station live here on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV. Liftoff is scheduled for Saturday at 3:22 p.m. EDT (1922 GMT), and NASA will provide live coverage of the mission beginning at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT).
Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
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