A new paper released Monday says that 80% of the U.S. workforce will see the impact of large language models on their work. While some will only experience a moderate amount of impact on their day to day workload, close to 20% of those working today will likely find about half of their tasks automated to some extent…
A few names have been attached to every single Marvel Studios movie since the first one, Iron Man, in 2008. Kevin Feige is the one most people know. Louis D’Esposito is another, and a third is Victoria Alonso. Together, those three producers have worked together to build Marvel Studios into a history-making juggernaut…
Netflix has no plans to slow down its gaming ambitions any time soon, as it wants to make sure it has at least one game that each of its more than 230 million subscribers can enjoy. The company’s library of mobile games now has 55 titles following the recent additions of Valiant Hearts: Coming Home and the spellbindingly dystopian Highwater. There’s much more to come in 2023, as Netflix plans to add around 40 more games throughout the year.
The company has revealed a few of those titles, including reverse city-builder Terra Nil (March 28th) and Paper Trail, which will see you folding parts of the world to solve puzzles. Netflix has also struck a deal with Ubisoft for three exclusive games. The second of those, following Valiant Hearts: Coming Home, will arrive on April 18th in the form of Mighty Quest: Rogue Palace. It’s a roguelite set in the same universe as The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot. It’s said to have an improved formula, a more in-depth story and souped-up gameplay.
Also on the way later this year is a follow-up to one of Netflix’s most-played games to date, Too Hot to Handle: Love is a Game, which is based on the hit reality show, Too Hot to Handle. Netflix says weekly content drops have kept players coming back and it’s working with developer Nanobit on the follow-up.
Looking further ahead, the Monument Valley series is coming to Netflix Games. Monument Valley and Monument Valley 2 will be available to Netflix subscribers at no extra cost in 2024.
Versions of the classic mobile puzzle titles are currently available on Apple Arcade. A Netflix spokesperson told Engadget that the games should remain on other services after next year. Meanwhile, developer Ustwo (which is behind last year’s Desta: The Memories Between, also available on Netflix) has hinted that another Monument Valley game is on the way as part of its Netflix deal.
Also in the pipeline is a game based on an unannounced upcoming Netflix IP. Vainglory developer Super Evil Megacorp is working on the exclusive title, which it says will build on the studio’s expertise in team-based combat. You can expect to learn more about this project later this year. Netflix vice-president of external games Leanne Loombe recently told reporters that this game is part of a “big bet” and a “transmedia play” for the company.
All told, Netflix has 70 games in development with its partners and 16 in the works at its internal studios. Most of the games Netflix’s own teams are making are still in the very early stages, though Night School Studio’s Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is slated to arrive later this year. Netflix is promising to release new games every month for the rest of 2023, including “indie darlings, award-winning hits, RPGs, narrative adventures [and] puzzle games.”
Loombe said that since Netflix started offering games in 2021, it has found that players are largely drawn to three types of experiences: recognizable titles from elsewhere, such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and Immortality; ones that encourage daily play, including Solitaire and Knittens; and games based on its own shows and movies, like Stranger Things.
Given Netflix’s designs on becoming a world-class game publisher, I hope it doesn’t focus on those areas exclusively. In any case, it’s off to a strong start. For instance, Poinpy, a vertical platformer that doesn’t fall neatly into any of those three categories, was my favorite game of 2022.
Netflix has said it’s looking into cloud gaming, so you may eventually get to play its library on computers, smart TVs and even consoles. But its focus is primarily on mobile. Making sure more people are aware they can play some great games as part of their subscription will be key to Netflix Games’ growth plan too.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-plans-to-add-roughly-40-more-titles-to-its-mobile-game-library-this-year-140014333.html?src=rss
Owning a sports car doesn’t have to be solely the domain of the rich and the famous, as these much more affordable models make clear.
Amazon plans to lay off thousands of additional workers as big tech companies continue to reconcile with market turmoil and future uncertainty.
OpenAI’s wildly popular and seemingly magical ChatGPT chatbot service is currently down for many users, including those who paid for premium access.
With the second season of Shadow and Bone now available to stream on Netflix, more than a few critics have weighed in—including yours truly! The show is fun, if flawed, and I think it’s a good time. Let’s dive into the things we loved about Shadow and Bone season two, and the things we think could have been done better
Ollie Hicks and Emma Oosterhous, a married couple, have teamed up for their debut graphic novel, Grand Slam Romance. Taking inspiration from real-life queer love stories, softball drama, and magical girl anime, the story follows hot-shot pitcher Mickey Monsoon as they come face to face with their ex, Astra, a softball…
Amazon’s Echo Show 8 is our pick for the best smart display for Alexa users, and it’s now on sale for $75 at various retailers. While we’ve seen this deal before, it’s still about $20 below the 8-inch display’s typical street price and $55 off Amazon’s list price. For reference, the device’s all-time low is $70.
We gave the Echo Show 8 a review score of 87 when it launched a couple of years ago, and we currently recommend it in our guides to the best smart displays and best smart home devices. It generally offers the best blend of price and performance within Amazon’s smart display lineup; the Echo Show 5 is a bit too small for general-purpose use, while the Echo Show 10 and its rotating display are much pricier and bulkier. The 8-inch, 1,280 x 800 resolution display here, on the other hand, is sizable enough to make video calls and photo viewing comfortable but not so large that it’ll look out of place in a kitchen or bedroom. Its built-in speakers are capable of filling a room, and the whole thing is powerful enough to pull up the weather, control your smart home gear, stream video and do other Alexa tasks without much sluggishness. And while no smart speaker or display is really ideal for those protective of their privacy, the Echo Show 8 has a physical camera shutter and mic mute button for when it’s not in use.
Like all Echo devices, the Echo Show 8 will work best if you’ve already invested in other gadgets that work with Alexa. If you’re not in that ecosystem but still want a smart display, the 7-inch Google Nest Hub might be a better buy in this price range, as it integrates better with common Google services like Gmail, Google Calendar and YouTube. (The latter only works through a web browser on the Echo Show.) It lacks a camera for video calls, though that might be a good thing for the more privacy-conscious. Nevertheless, if you’d prefer an Alexa-based smart display, this is a decent deal.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-echo-show-8-drops-back-to-75-144524742.html?src=rss
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