‘Final Fantasy’ celebrates 30 years of not being very final

On December 18, 1987, developer Square released its first Final Fantasy title to the Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicon console. While Hironobu Sakaguchi thought it would be his last video game, the title was a financial success, leading to a continuous stream of sequels released on every gaming platform since then, including a surprising recent foray onto iOS with Final Fantasy XV Pocket. The first Final Fantasy was included on the recent NES Classic, too, if you were lucky enough to grab one before Nintendo discontinued making them.

Now the publisher is known as Square Enix, and has since released 14 other main Final Fantasy games, with a host of spin-off games and crossover titles, as well. Games in the series tend to have deep (if confusing) plot lines, turn-based RPG mechanics and small groups of heroes bent on battling great evil while they learn more about each other as people in the process.

The publisher is celebrating the title’s 30th anniversary with a ton of commemorative items that it’s been selling all year, including T-shirts, discounted Final Fantasy titles, plush dolls and, yes, even themed ballpoint pens. Whether you’re a long-time fan or just learning about the long-running, ironically-named series, you might enjoy browsing the memorabilia and remembering the first time you played a Final Fantasy title (mine was Final Fantasy Adventure on the Game Boy).

Source: Square Enix

Volkswagen plans 2,800 EV charging stations in the US by 2019

Volkswagen has committed to building an EV charging network in the US. By 2019, VW’s Electrify America division plans to install 2,800 charging stations in 17 of the country’s biggest cities, according to Reuters. It’ll cost the automaker some $2 billion, with California getting almost half of the investment. That might sound like a lot of money, but for context, Volkswagen had paid out over $20 billion for its diesel emissions scandal as of this February.

For comparison, in April Tesla said by year’s end it would have 10,000 Supercharger stations in place by year’s end. It took the company almost five years to install 5,400 of those. The company also promised to boost the number of normal-speed charging stations (Destination Charging) from 9,000 locations to 15,000 this year. Tesla’s first Supercharger rest stops started going online in November.

Tesla has its own woes as well: the company can’t produce its $35,000 Model 3 sedans fast enough to keep up with pre-orders.

Source: Reuters

Facebook’s government data requests continue to rise

Facebook releases a bi-annual report that details all the data requests it gets from governments. The company just shared its latest Transparency Report for the first half of 2017. In addition to the usual information, like account data, content restrictions and internet disruptions, the company is including reports from rights holders related to copyright, trademark and intellectual property counterfeiting.

Facebook says that requests for account data have increased 21 percent across the globe, as compared the second half of 2016. More than half of those requests (57 percent) came along with a non-disclosure order that prohibits Facebook from notifying the account holder of the request. This us up from the 50 percent in the previous report. In addition, Facebook reports a huge increase in the number of content restrictions around violating local law, up by 304 percent. This massive spike in requests was mainly driven by law enforcement in Mexico, who asked that Facebook restrict a video depicting a January school shooting in Monterrey.

Facebook promises that it takes a deep look at each government request to be sure it’s legitimate and legally binding, and that it will fight in court if the request seems sketchy or too broad. “We’ll also keep working with partners in industry and civil society to encourage governments around the world to reform surveillance in a way that protects their citizens’ safety and security while respecting their rights and freedoms,” writes Facebook lawyer Chris Sonderby.

As for intellectual property reports, Facebook says that it has received 224,464 copyright reports, 41,854 trademark reports and 14,279 counterfeit reports. This is the first time the company is tracking these numbers; it’s likely it will compare them in future reports.

Source: Facebook

US Military tests system for on-demand 3D-printed drones

The US military has used drones in combat zones for over a decade to scout and support infantry. Now they’re testing a way to give ground troops another edge: The capability to build UAVs themselves. What’s more, the US Army is partnering with the Marine Corps on a test project that lets troops 3D-print particular drone parts from a tablet-based catalog, which could eventually lead to manufacturing UAVs customized to the mission.

The concept is promising, and so is the flexibility: The software catalog setup lets military units print out an unmanned aircraft system for specific missions. The Army Research Laboratory expects the turnaround time to create UAV parts to be from minutes to hours.

This won’t be the Marine Corps first experiment with 3D-printed drones. Last year, the Corps held an internal program called the Logistics Innovation Challenge that sought ideas from within its ranks. Among the winning submissions was a fixed-wing drone called the Scout, designed by a 26-year-old Corporal that costs $600 and fits in a standard Marine backpack.

Source: US Army

‘Brawlout’ wants to beat ‘Super Smash Bros.’ at its own game

The first Super Smash Bros. game launched on the N64 almost 20 years ago and became an instant classic. Every main Nintendo console since has brought a new entry to the series, but the inevitable iteration on the Switch hasn’t been announced. Tomorrow, gamers will get the next best thing: Brawlout, the 2D fighter heavily inspired by the Smash Bros. franchise. But will reaching Nintendo’s console first let Brawlout win fans’ hearts?

The indie game has plenty to attract players itching for a polished 2D brawler. Brawlout’s roster isn’t deep at 8 playable characters (and 10 slightly-tweaked alternate versions of those, a la Street Fighter’s Ken), but more are scheduled in the next few months. The game is so close to Smash Bros. that veterans will be right at home after a few minutes of play. And at $20, it’s cheap enough to slake your Smash Bros. thirst until that franchise comes to the Switch.

But Brawlout has something not even a top-tier Nintendo title can offer: After it arrives on the Switch, Brawlout is coming to PS4 and Xbox One early next year.

That could propel Brawlout beyond the game it’s imitating. Finally, Smash Bros. fans without a Nintendo console will be able to play the next best thing. And, heck, they might end up preferring the indie underdog — its developers made their own tweaks to the Smash Bros. formula that favor more aggressive play. Specifically, they did away with any sort of shields or blocking and restricted throwing to specific ‘grappler’ characters. Without defensive tools for players to lean on, they must perfect the intricate timing between enemy attacks to make their move.

“Just by living in the same genre there are always going to be fans of [Smash Bros.] who find similarities, but Brawlout is much more closely related to traditional fighting games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. We’ve focused heavily on aggressive mechanics so that new players will be able to easily nail impressive combos while not feeling overwhelmed by friends who’ve had a bit more practice,” Angry Mob CEO Bogdan Iliesiu told Engadget. “It’s easy to learn and difficult to master, which we think is a good way to appeal to both casual players and gamers looking to dedicate the time to honing their skills to become pros.”

Angry Mob strived to make a game the pros would play, and cultivated a group of about 30 skilled beta players for feedback. As part of a much smaller studio than Nintendo, Brawlout’s developers can quickly make changes to please the game’s playerbase, something they see as a strength.

Brawlout launches on #NintendoSwitch December 19th!@NintendoAmerica @NintendoEurope @NintendoVS #eShop
(Headphones 🎧 Recommended) pic.twitter.com/diHtuiy8bh

— BRAWLOUT 🎮 DEC 19 (@brawloutgame) December 8, 2017

But high-skill play isn’t Smash Bros.’ biggest draw — rather, that its roster is stuffed with Nintendo stars and other video game icons. Without some of the most recognizable characters in gaming, Brawlout has an uphill battle to attract new players.

It does have the next best thing, though: A small but growing number of heroes borrowed from successful indie titles. The sword-wielding protagonist from Hyper Light Drifter was added to the game back in August, while the luchador wrestler Juan from Guacamélee joined in early December. Assuming contract negotiations pan out, Angry Mob plans to add another indie game luminary in January and possibly another in March. And the plan is for every platform to get the new brawlers at the same time.

As anyone who publishes on multiple platforms knows, however, it’s a challenge to coordinate new content releases. Because Brawlout is built on Unity, it’s easy to support the game on all platforms, Iliesiu said. But they still have to slog through each particular certification process before adding content.

But first Angry Mob has to release the game on PS4 and Xbox One, which they aim to do in early 2018. There’s still a list of features and guidelines to get running on each platform. Once it comes out on the other consoles, non-Nintendo players will finally get a taste of Smash-like fights. Unintentionally, this will immunize Brawlout from a big problem facing the Smash Bros. community: Dwindling stock of the superior GameCube controller. But even though all leading consoles will carry the game, cross-platform play will still be a pipe-dream. Not impossible, but difficult and unlikely, Iliesiu said.

“[Cross-play is] really tricky for a fighting game because, in a fighting game whenever you do cross platform, you have to have a server. And if you have a server in our game, instead of four frames of input lag, you get like at least eight frames on top of the input lag and the experience won’t be as good. So we have to see. We hope to have a large player base on each platform and that solves it all,” Iliesiu said.

After it’s out on PS4 and Xbox One, the game will be within reach of another milestone: Finally exiting Early Access on Steam, which it’s been in since publicly launching in April 2017. There are a few networking tools to add first, and then the Brawlout team can focus on monetization. As an indie title, Iliesiu made it clear that growing the playerbase was more important than scoring microtransations to unlock content, so new brawlers will be free for everyone. Instead, Angry Mob might focus on selling character skins and other visual additions (which they’ve already started doing with streamer-designed skins), but plans are still up in the air.

In the vacuum left by a Nintendo console without a Smash Bros. game, Angry Mob is racing to grow its community while building the game’s roster. At some point in the future, a Smash Bros. game will arrive on the Switch, and the faithful will come flocking. But Angry Mob believes its game is distinctive in its own right.

“We’ve focused on a different approach to the combat flow, with more focus on aggressive play, so that’s where I’d say our main difference is. We’ve also incorporated a Rage Mode, to allow players to get stronger as they take more damage, which we think lends itself to a more balanced round,” Iliesiu said. “Our biggest surprise was how well it lent itself to a party game, while still retaining the mechanics to allow it to stand as a competitive fighter. While our pro players might come from fans of other platform fighter games, we tend to see a lot of new players who are more interested in having a fun time that has them laughing until they hurt.”

Brawlout costs $20 on all platforms and comes out tomorrow on the Switch. Xbox One and PS4 versions are slated to come out sometime in early 2018, but it’s also available on Steam.

Magic Leap tips its mixed-reality hand with a Sigur Rós app

We really don’t know a lot about Magic Leap, the secretive mixed reality company that made waves back in 2015 with a huge investment from Google. Magic Leap has been experimenting with light-bending nanomaterials, and has promised Madefire mixed reality comics for an undefined launch day and may or may not have leaked a backpack-style prototype. The thing is, no one knows what Magic Leap’s technology consists of.

According to a new report at Pitchfork, however, part of the tech might just be concerned with music. Iceland’s own Sigur Rós has been working with Magic Leap for the past four years, says Pitchfork, on a new audiovisual project called Tónandi, an app that might show up on a Magic Leap device. Pitchfork‘s Marc Hogan got to try out a 10-minute demo of the app, which he says felt like “an entire ecosystem (made) out of sound.” As you can see below, it’s a dreamy sort of aesthetic, and Hogan notes that the app was well aware of his surroundings, instead of just dropping virtual objects on top of real ones.

Image credit: Magic Leap/Pitchfork

While Hogan praises his time in the rig, which he is strictly unable to describe thanks to non-disclosure agreements (no surprise there), he also notes that Tónandi is still somewhat of a work in progress, and a solution searching for a problem. Even the tech-savvy band is at odds to figure out a definitive purpose for the app. Lead singer Jónsi Birgisson told Hogan, “This could maybe replace everything that we know: phones, TVs, computers…”

Bassist Hólm has a more prosaic idea. “This could be the new way to release an album,” he said. “Maybe this is the future of that.” If nothing else, this new experience shows us another tantalizing, yet limited glimpse of Magic Leap’s mixed reality plans as we all hope for an actual product release… some day.

Source: Pitchfork

Apple Watch Series 3 Costs More Than $10/Month on Most Carriers, Can’t Be Reactivated Without Fees

When the Apple Watch Series 3 first launched, carriers in the United States and other countries where the LTE version of the device is available offered three free months of service and waived activation fees.

That fee-free grace period is coming to an end, and customers are getting their first bills that include the $10 per month service charge.

If you have an Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE functionality, you’ve probably already learned that $10 is not all it’s going to cost per month. On carriers like AT&T and Verizon, there are additional service charges and fees, which means it’s not $10 per month for an Apple Watch, it’s more like $12-$14.

On Verizon in California, for example, there’s an additional $1.55 in fees on top of the $10 per month charge.

On AT&T in North Carolina, fees and surcharges add an additional $4.39 to the $10 per month charge, bringing the total to almost $15 per month for an Apple Watch. In some states, these fees on Verizon and AT&T are even higher.

If you’re planning to avoid fees by deactivating service and activating again when it’s needed, that may not be the best plan of action. As Macworld’s Michael Simon points out, line activation fees that come with reactivation can be hefty.

Though the Apple Watch Series 3 is linked to the cellular number of the iPhone on a given carrier, it requires adding an additional line to a cellular service account. When you cancel and re-add a line, there’s an activation fee involved. On Verizon, for example, if you deactivate the Apple Watch Series 3 and then want to activate it again at a later date, there’s a $25 charge. Suspending service doesn’t work, as it requires a $10/month fee, aside from a one-time 30 day free suspension on Verizon. From Macworld:

Because Apple Watch uses NumberShare on Verizon, it’s not considered a month-to-month or prepaid device, so it’s not so easy to skip a month of service. According to the Verizon representative I spoke to, I have two options:

– Suspend my Apple Watch service for up to 90 days at a time. This will cost me $10 a month, so that’s not really an option.

– De-activate the watch completely. That will wipe it from my account and bill. However, I will need to pay a $25 activation fee once I decide to reinstate service. That’s a recurring change. That means Verizon will essentially charge me for two and half months service every time I turn it off and on again.

Like Verizon, AT&T charges $25, while Sprint charges $30. T-Mobile no longer charges activation fees, so it may be more affordable to cancel and reinstate service if you’re a T-Mobile subscriber.

On AT&T and Verizon, though, that $25 re-activation fee is the cost of two months of service, or close to it, when taxes and fees are included, meaning it’s not really worthwhile to start and stop service if you’re going to do it more than once or twice a year.

Macworld was also told that if he stopped and started service he could run into problems when attempting to reactivate the watch, but it’s not entirely clear why.

With the three-month grace period, most Apple Watch owners have likely learned whether or not the $10-$15 per month fees are worth the freedom of an always-on wrist-worn cellular connection. Neither Apple nor the carriers in the United States were fully upfront about the additional service fees and taxes and the hassle involved with deactivation/reactivation, though, so there are bound to be some users who will feel tricked when the first full Series 3 bill comes in.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
Discuss this article in our forums