‘Xenoblade Chronicles 2’ reaches your Switch on December 1st

You don’t have too much longer to get a healthy dose of Japanese-style role-playing on your Nintendo Switch. Monotlith Soft and Nintendo have announced that Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will reach the hybrid console on December 1st, with a Special Edition offering a soundtrack CD and a gigantic 220-page art book. On top of that, there will even be an XC2-themed Pro Controller (below) — it might be worth the wait just to pick up the colorful gamepad even if you have no inclination to explore Alrest’s titan-covered world.

Source: Nintendo (YouTube)

Play ‘Pokémon Gold’ and ‘Silver’ on this pretty new 2DS XL

If you’re planning on pre-ordering the upcoming Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon games, why not get a handheld console to match? Thankfully, Nintendo has your back. The company has just introduced a cool new Poké Ball edition of the 2DS XL, so you can really tap into your inner Ash as you launch your beloved Pikachu into battle.

And hey, while you’re doing that, you could also venture into the eShop to relive the good ol’ days with Pokémon Gold and Silver. The two titles will be available on September 22, but you can pre-order them starting today. And if you do get them before September 21st 2018, you’ll also get Celebi, from Pokémon Gold and Silver, as a gift. You also get Celebi in Ultra Moon and Sun if you buy Gold and Silver.

Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon will be available starting November 17th, while the cool Poke Ball edition of the 2DS XL will be in store shelves on November 7th. Oh, and if you’re in Japan, you get arguably the better option: A Pikachu edition of the 2DS XL instead.

『ポケットモンスター ウルトラサン・ウルトラムーン』の発売に合わせて、オリジナルデザインのNewニンテンドー2DS LLも11月17日に発売。 #NintendoDirectJP pic.twitter.com/EVVF5hQYxK

— 任天堂株式会社 (@Nintendo) September 13, 2017

‘Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus’ heads to Nintendo Switch next year

First-person shooter fans won’t just have to settle for playing last year’s hit Doom on their Switch. During today’s Nintendo Direct, the company revealed that its flagship console is getting the upcoming Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, though Switch players will have to wait until 2018, long after it launches on other systems next month.

Studio MachineGames revealed Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus at E3 this year, the sequel to its successful re-imagined take on the franchise, 2014’s Wolfenstein: The New Order. At the same show, Bethesda confirmed what we saw in some of the first Switch footage — that Skyrim would come to Nintendo’s console, so it’s a pleasant surprise that the company has arranged more third-party ports. Now raise your hand if you ever thought you’d see a Wolfenstein or Doom game on a family-friendly Nintendo system.

The Wolfenstein series returns to Nintendo systems in 2018 with Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus on #NintendoSwitch! #Wolf2 pic.twitter.com/tI7i9gTaVG

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) September 13, 2017

Source: Nintendo Direct (YouTube)

Try the gorgeous RPG ‘Project Octopath Traveler’ tonight on Switch

Project Octopath Traveler is stunning — and tonight, Switch owners can try it out for themselves with a new demo. The game comes from Square Enix and the team behind lauded RPG series Bravely Default. Project Octopath Traveler is also an RPG filled with epic monsters and treacherous adventures, all in a hand-drawn, CGI, pixelated, shadow-filled world that developers have dubbed “HD-2D.” Whatever it’s called, the overall effect is fantastic.

There are eight playable characters in Project Octopath Traveler, each with unique abilities and backstories. For example, Olberic is a warrior who can challenge anyone to a duel, while Primrose is a dancer who uses “Allure” to convince fellow travelers to follow her anywhere.

Following the demo, Nintendo will roll out a survey to gather player feedback so developers can further fine-tune the game.

Nintendo revealed the demo date for Project Octopath Traveler during today’s live stream all about new 3DS, 2DS and Switch games. See all the news from today’s event — including announcements for Switch versions of Doom and Wolfenstein II — right here.

Play ‘Super Mario Odyssey’ in style with this themed Switch bundle

If you’ve been waiting for the next mainline Mario game to pick up a Switch, Nintendo has a bundle just for you. Today during its Nintendo Direct stream, the company announced a Super Mario Odyssey Nintendo Switch bundle, complete with Red joy-cons styled after the mascot’s hat, a red carrying case bearing the game’s logo and a full digital copy of the game.

The Switch console itself doesn’t seem to have a special design — apart from the red controllers — but for new buyers looking for everything they need to enjoy Odyssey on the go, it doesn’t seem like a bad deal. For $379.99, buyers will get the $300 console, a $60 game and an exclusive case with the leftover $20. If you were planning to buy the console to play Mario’s new adventure anyway, this could be a decent option. The new bundle will be available on October 27th, the same day Super Mario Odyssey hits stores.

Hollywood can’t blame Rotten Tomatoes for recent flops

A recent New York Times article highlighted a growing Hollywood industry trend — if a film does poorly at the box office, blame Rotten Tomatoes. The website, which aggregates movie reviews and assigns a percentage score with anything 60 or above labeled “Fresh” and anything scoring lower labeled “Rotten,” is catching a lot of flack for disrupting ticket sales and tanking films. But Yves Bergquist, the director of the Data & Analytics Project at USC’s Entertainment Technology Center decided to throw some data at the issue and see if those claims hold up.

From his findings, they do not. We should note that this work hasn’t been published in a journal and hasn’t been subject to peer review, but this side project of Bergquist’s seems to show that there’s very little connection — if any — between film success and Rotten Tomatoes scores. For 2017, which has been a pretty bad year for movies so far, there was no significant correlation between Rotten Tomatoes scores and box office revenue. That measure took into account the 150 movies released this year that grossed more than $1 million.

And while film execs are quick to point the finger at critics, Bergquist found that overtime, critic and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes have started to converge, growing increasingly inline with each other over the past few years. The post goes on to look at how budgets and things like CGI have affected film performance and critics’ scores, all of which you can check out here, if you’re interested.

Again, this isn’t an official study and Bergquist notes that there are complicated factors at play here. But it’s probably safe to say that executives should spend less time blaming Rotten Tomatoes and more time making better movies.

Via: Variety

Source: Medium

U.S. Senator Raises Questions About Security and Privacy of Face ID

Just a day after Apple unveiled its new flagship iPhone X equipped with a facial recognition system, United States Senator Al Franken (D-MN), who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, sent a letter [PDF] to Apple CEO Tim Cook with some questions on the privacy and the security of the Face ID feature.

Face ID is designed to take a 3D face scan that determines the structure of a person’s face and transforms it into a mathematical model for device authentication and unlocking purposes. Apple has said that Face ID is protected by the same Secure Enclave that keeps Touch ID data safe, and that all processing takes place on the device itself with no data uploaded to the cloud. Furthermore, Apple says Face ID can’t be fooled by a photo or a mask.

In his letter, Franken raises concerns about how Apple plans to use facial recognition data in the future, the diversity of its training, how Apple will respond to law enforcement requests for Face ID data or the Face ID system, and if it might be fooled by a photo or a mask.

Since the announcement, however, reporters, advocates, and iPhone users have raised concerns about how Face ID could impact Americans’ fundamental right to privacy, speculated on the ways in which Apple could use faceprint data in the future, and questioned the quality and security of the technology.

For example, it has previously been reported that many facial recognition systems have a higher rate of error when tested for accuracy in identifying people of color, which may be explained by variety of factors, including a lack of diversity in the faces that were used to train a system. Furthermore, some have expressed concern that the system could be fooled, and thus the device unlocked, by a photo or a mask of the owner of the device.

Franken asks Cook to respond to a series of 10 questions, many of which have already been addressed by Apple. Among the questions:

– Can Apple extract Face ID data from a device, will Apple ever store Face ID data remotely, and can Apple confirm that it has no plans to use faceprint data for purposes other than Face ID?

– Where did the one billion images that were used to train Face ID come from, and what steps did the company take to ensure the system was trained on a diverse set of faces?

– Does Face ID perpetually search for a face, and does Apple locally retain the raw photos of faces used to unlock the device? Will Apple retain the faceprints of individuals other than the owner of the device?

– What safeguard has Apple implemented to prevent the unlocking of the iPhone X when someone other than the owner holds the device up to the owners face? How does it distinguish a user’s face from a photo or mask?

– How will Apple respond to law enforcement requests to access Apple’s faceprint data or the Face ID system itself?

Back when Touch ID was first announced as a new feature in the iPhone 5s, Franken sent Cook a similar letter asking for clarification on how the Touch ID feature works.

Franken asks Tim Cook to respond to all of his Face ID questions by October 13, 2017. Apple is not obligated to respond as this is not a subpoena, but the company will likely cooperate with the request for information.

Related Roundup: iPhone X
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‘The Last of Us’ director Bruce Straley leaves Naughty Dog

It’s the end of an era for fans of Naughty Dog’s games. Bruce Straley, best-known as the co-director (along with Neil Druckmann) of The Last of Us and Uncharted 4, is leaving the studio after 18 years. Straley hasn’t explained the reasons behind the move (he doesn’t have “anything to announce just yet,”) but it’s not for a lack of affection for the studio — this is the “hardest decision” he ever made in his career.

To say he was influential at the studio would be an understatement. He started in 1999 as a texture artist for Crash Team Racing, but quickly became a jack-of-all-trades as the then-tiny studio needed help with everything from design to technology development. He helped lead the art team for the first Uncharted game, but he graduated to the role of game director for Uncharted 2, widely considered one of the highlights of a well-regarded series.

And in both The Last of Us and Uncharted 4, he was instrumental to shaping the gameplay. If you like their careful balance between combat and peaceful moments, you can credit at least some of that decision to him. U4’s strong reception was no mean feat when Straley and Druckmann had to fill the shoes of legendary creative director Amy Hennig after her departure. Arguably, the fourth game was a return to form after the swashbuckling franchise lost some of its edge.

Will this affect future titles? It’s hard to say. Straley wasn’t involved with The Last of Us II, and was taking a break from development at last check. However, it’s very likely that his absence will be felt, no matter how well other team members fill his shoes.

Source: Naughty Dog

Essential Phone goes on sale in Sprint stores September 14th

Sprint stores opened up preorders for the Essential PH-1 last month. Given it’s the exclusive carrier for the smartphone, Sprint is the only choice for those opting for contract deals instead of paying full price for an unlocked device. If you didn’t buy early, don’t worry: You can purchase the PH-1 from the carrier at its stores, online or by phone tomorrow.

We liked what we saw from Android co-founder Andy Rubin’s PH-1, but there’s enough little flaws to potentially nudge folks back toward more tried-and-true smartphones that also run Google’s mobile OS. Sprint only pre-installed the My Sprint and Tidal apps on its phones, which we found to be refreshingly spartan compared to the bloatware stuffed in by most carriers.

Via: The Verge

Source: Sprint

Smart sensors will make sure you lift with your knees bent and back straight

Why it matters to you

Researchers in Canada have developed smart tech to make sure you’re lifting in a way that’s not going to hurt your back.

Devices like the Apple Watch may be able to remind you to stand up every so often and prompt you to get some exercise, but they’re not going to save your back from the perils of incorrectly lifting heavy objects. For that you’ll need a smart insole sensor, developed by researchers at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi in Canada. Its smart algorithm promises to make sure you’re lifting with proper form more effectively than any health and safety video training video can do.

“We developed a smart tool that allows the detection of awkward postures, leading to the appearance of work-related musculoskeletal disorders,” researcher Eya Barkallah told Digital Trends. “The tool is composed of a set of sensors: A helmet containing an accelerometer, and an insole including four force sensors that enable us to calculate the displacement of center of pressure. This latter represents the point of application of the sum of all forces acting between the human body and the ground on which he’s standing. The detection is performed by classifying a posture into one of six predefined classes of postures using artificial neural networks.”

In tests, the device was able to correctly classify wearers’ posture with 95 percent accuracy. While the idea of permanently wearing a helmet may not be practical in all settings, there are some where the system could be extremely helpful. “Some industrial plant such as the aluminum casting industry have very hazardous environments where this system could be used,” Professor Martin Otis, who also worked on the project, told us. “We also have an interest in military and sport applications. For example, it’s possible to measure performance in a specific sport and detect the progression of some movements. We could also monitor isolated workers in forests.”

Going forward, Otis said that the team hopes to convince employee unions and boards of directors that the technology could be a useful tool for them to adopt. They are also looking for a company to partner with that’s interested in evaluating and helping improve the technology for different environments.

A paper describing the project was recently published in the journal Sensors.