How to set up your Gear VR

You got a free VR headset with your new phone! Here’s how you use it.

Jumping into VR with your new headset is super easy, but there are a few quick things you need to do before having fun in another world. This guide will show you everything you need to do before putting on the headset, so you’re guaranteed to have a good time!

Read more at VR Heads!

Fire TV YouTube app has already stopped working for some users

YouTube will soon officially be removed from the Fire TV, but for some users, the day of reckoning has already come.

At the beginning of December, Google announced that it’d be pulling the YouTube app from Amazon’s Fire TV products. Amazon made a couple piece offerings by reselling Chromecasts and pushing a Prime Video app to Android TV, but even so, it looks like Google is sticking with its decision.

Google will officially remove YouTube access from Fire TV on January 1, 2018, and some users are now seeing a warning message about this when opening the app that reads “Starting on 1/1/2018, YouTube will not be available on this device. You can continue to enjoy your favorite creators and videos in many other ways. Please visit https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7582560 for a list of devices you can use.”

However, for others, the YouTube app has already stopped working. Along with the warning message that allows you to keep using YouTube until January 1, there’s another message that appears and says “Access YouTube and millions of other websites by using a web browser such as Firefox or Silk.” Below this, you’ll still two options for visiting YouTube.com with either of the two browsers.

YouTube warning message (left) and redirecting users to web browsers (right)

Cord Cutter News reports that you’ll only be asked to go to YouTube on a web browser if you have one of them installed, and according to AFTVNews, sideloading another version of the YouTube app will allow you to keep using it with the warning message. This suggests that Amazon is the one pushing people to start using the Fire TV’s web browsers right now, but either way, this is still bad news for consumers.

We’re crossing our fingers that Amazon and Google will be able to make amends sooner rather than later and get the YouTube app back on Fire TV, but until then, make sure you’ve got a web browser installed before the beginning of next month.

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South Korea enacts new cryptocurrency regulations

The South Korean government announced new cryptocurrency regulations today, which led to a 12 percent and eight percent drop in bitcoin and ethereum prices, respectively. After the US and Japan, South Korea is the world’s third largest market for cryptocurrencies. Beginning next month, anonymous cryptocurrency accounts will no longer be allowed under the new legislation and regulators will continually monitor cryptocurrency exchanges going forward. In a statement, the government said, “Cryptocurrency speculation has been irrationally overheated in Korea. The government can’t let this abnormal situation of speculation go on any longer.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that the country’s Justice of Ministry might even propose legislation that would shut down exchanges nationwide, but details about how or when that would happen weren’t provided. This is the latest step by South Korea to reign in the frenzy over cryptocurrencies. In September, it banned initial coin offerings.

While interest in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have surged this year, there’s a hefty amount of volatility in the crypto market, which is a risk that the South Korean government is trying to cull with regulation. This month, bitcoin’s price hit an all-time high that approached the $20,000 mark after starting the year around $1,000. And along with large price fluctuations, some cryptocurrency exchanges have also been hit with major hacks — South Korean exchange Youbit filed for bankruptcy after losing $35 million to a hack earlier this month and $72 million in a hack that took place in April.

In its statement today, the South Korean government warned that cryptocurrencies could be “vulnerable to the damage from investment fraud or hacking attacks on exchanges” and Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon said they could “lead to some serious distorted or pathological phenomenon.”

Via: TechCrunch

Softbank acquires large stake in Uber

After months of courtship, it seems that Softbank has finally agreed on an investment deal with Uber. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Japanese titan has succeeded in a bid to snag a large percentage of the ride hailing company’s shares. Uber has tendered shares equal to 20 percent of the company, though the Wall Street Journal speculates that Softbank is will likely acquire 15 percent of that. This values Uber at $48 billion, which is about a 30 percent discount of Uber’s estimated value of $70 billion. The tender offer expires at noon Pacific however, so investors could still change their minds before then.

The offer comes at a critical time for Uber. The company has struggled for months with lawsuits, a CEO takeover, and a host of internal struggles. On top of that, Uber has been losing competition to rivals like Lyft in the US and Grab and Didi Chuxing in Asia. In fact, Softbank is an investor in several of those competitors as well. When asked if that would be a problem for Uber, board member Arianna Huffington said in October that “This is not marriage; this is a business.” A few months ago, Uber agreed to limit the power of former CEO Travis Kalanick in order to sweeten the deal for Softbank.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Softbank deal would entail investing at least $1 billion into Uber, which is meant to assuage fears that the discounted price would lower the value of the remaining shares.

Source: Wall Street Journal

The best games of 2017

It had just turned April when we declared that 2017 was a great year for video games. The post-holiday quarter is usually fairly quiet for new releases, but in 2017 it brought us legitimate contenders for game of the year in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Horizon Zero Dawn and Persona 5 — and that’s not to mention Resident Evil 7‘s return to form. Now the year is almost over, and we’ve had a stunning Mario game, another great Wolfenstein title and even an Assassin’s Creed game that exceeded all expectations.

Getting an entire editorial team to agree on just one game is tough, and ultimately not that fun, so we didn’t try. Instead, we each picked the one game that stood out to us the most — avoiding duplicates — and then named the title we’re most looking forward to for 2018.

Devindra Hardawar
Senior Editor

Assassin’s Creed Origins

I never expected that an Assassin’s Creed game would end up being one of my favorite games this year. But yes, Origins really is that good. Thanks to strong writing, a compelling lead and a gorgeous rendition of ancient Egypt in 4K and HDR, it’s easily the best game in the series.

I didn’t think I’d have patience for yet another massive open-world game, let alone one in a franchise that’s embodied the worst elements of big-budget game development. But once I moved beyond the (admittedly clunky) opening sequence, I had a hard time putting it down. While the game starts out as a revenge story, I was more compelled by simply helping out the people of Egypt. Throughout its missions and side quests, it’s hard not to feel the same sense of duty that drives Bayek, Origin’s noble main character. Perhaps that’s why, in this age of antiheroes and misfits, he feels like a breath of fresh air.

Runner-up: Life Is Strange: Before the Storm

Somehow, a Life Is Strange prequel without any time-travel powers is actually more compelling than the original. I didn’t expect much from Before the Storm, especially with its new cast, but it ended up being a heartbreaking portrait of teenage angst.

2018: Red Dead Redemption 2

The first Red Dead Redemption is as close to perfect as a game can be. So who needs a sequel? While I have my concerns, I still can’t wait to see what else Rockstar does with that world. As a developer, its narrative strengths are often overshadowed by the wackier and raunchier elements from Grand Theft Auto. If this next game manages to capture a fraction of the original’s magic, it will be worth it.

Kris Naudus
Senior Editor, Database

Dream Daddy

Dream Daddy isn’t the first to break from the heteronormative conventions of traditional dating sims, and it’s easy to dismiss its quirks as mere gimmicks. But unlike titles that turn the genre on its head, like Hatoful Boyfriend and Doki Doki Literature Club, Dream Daddy shines in how it treats its relationships thoughtfully, and how the romance isn’t necessarily the be-all and end-all of the game. The characters aren’t just machines you drop niceness tokens into until a happy ending falls out. The game cares more about the time you spend together than where the relationship ends up. Sometimes you won’t get the good ending, and Dream Daddy wants you to know that’s okay: You’ll always have your quirky daughter Amanda and your terrible dad jokes. Terrible, terrible dad jokes.

Runner-up: Doki Doki Literature Club

If Dream Daddy is a love letter to the frivolity of dating sims, Doki Doki wants you to know that they’re complete bullshit. The choices are unsatisfying and the emotional content is empty. So the game strips away your choices and in the process hits you right in the gut. You can’t save her, but God dammit you will try.

2018: Pokémon for Nintendo Switch

2016 was a pretty solid anniversary year for Pokémon, thanks to the solid 1-2 punch of Pokémon Go during the summer and Pokémon Sun and Moon late last year. However, 2017 has been the year of Switch, with franchises like Zelda and Mario rightfully dominating the headlines. While this year’s Ultra Sun and Moon were somewhat underwhelming, next year may bring us a Pokémon game for Switch. It’s not just that the Switch is looking like it will be Nintendo’s most popular console of all time or that Pokémon is a popular franchise: This will be the first core Pokémon game on a home console. The fact that the Switch is also portable probably factored into the decision to put it there, as it won’t stray too far from the series’ roots. Face-to-face interaction has always been a hallmark of Pokémon, and the Switch’s early marketing played up the social aspect of the system. Pokémon Switch might be the title that truly realizes that potential.

Andrew Tarantola
Senior Editor

Horizon Zero Dawn

One of the oldest tropes in video games is the premise of the lone hero, imbued with unique powers, who must set out on an impossible quest to save the world. It’s the rare gem of a game that demands you save a world you never knew existed, centuries after it was destroyed. In Horizon Zero Dawn, you play as Aloy, a skilled hunter and an outcast from her village, for reasons she must discover for herself by unlocking the secrets of where she and her people came from.

As you battle and hunt your way across a primitive landscape infested with hostile robotic animals (and dinosaurs!), you must carefully navigate treacherous terrain and use a combination of guile, stealth and brute force to stay alive. The game takes around 60 hours to fully complete, while the Frozen Wilds DLC adds another 15 hours. Offering a top-flight mix of original storytelling and voice acting with buttery-smooth controls, Horizon Zero Dawn is well worth beating — and then immediately replaying with New Game+.

Runner-up: Into the Dead 2

If there’s one thing I like more than shooting robots with a bow and arrow, it’s blasting zombies in the face with a double-barrel. Into the Dead 2 is a mobile-based action game that combines the gameplay of survival horror shooters with infinity runners. It’s free to play and a great way to sharpen your zombie-hunting reflexes.

2018: Monster Hunter: World

Taking down robotic T. rexes with naught more than a bow and spear is all well and good, but what if I want to stalk real monsters with a ginormous sword? Luckily, that’s where Monster Hunter: World will come in. In 2018, the storied Japanese franchise will finally make its way back to home consoles for the first time since 2010. A simultaneous worldwide release — a first for the series — will also allow every player, anywhere, to team up and take down their multistory prey. Can. Not. Wait.

Mat Smith
Bureau Chief, UK

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Half of the Engadget team wanted to write about Zelda — and it’s not just because it was the flagship launch title for Nintendo’s Switch. It’s also because Breath of the Wild signaled the biggest shift in the series since the N64’s Ocarina of Time. That was 20 years ago. But hey, Zelda: BotW isn’t just the best game of 2017. It might well be the best game of the past ten years. It pulls the long-running series into modern gaming, and does it with a perfectly pitched difficulty curve. There’s crafting, weapons that degrade, almost too much to collect and do, as well as magical rune “skills” that make each battle, area and dungeon a toy chest of physics and explosive effects.

That’s paired with an incredible degree of navigational freedom. Yes, there are four champions who can (should!) help you with your quest against Ganondorf. Or you can just go right up to the castle, armed with a branch, and try to best the end-of-game boss right from the outset. (Don’t do that.) Without even touching the DLC content that’s equal parts fan service and new challenge, there’s so much to do here — it’s easier to compare BotW to a GTA game in terms of completionist scale.

We’re still playing it.

Runner-up: Overwatch

Because multiplayer games never die. Even if you’re a year late to them.

2018: More Switch ports!

Nothing huge is particularly getting me hyped for 2018. That said, I’m hoping Nintendo continues to deliver remakes to the Switch. I’m in the midst of LA Noire, and I might even pick up Skyrim. These are games I never got into when they were originally released, but they fit perfectly on Nintendo’s hybrid console. Already coming up is the chance to play through the Bayonetta back catalog. That should prime me for entry number three.

Aaron Souppouris
Features Editor

Nier: Automata

It’s hard to adequately recommend Nier: Automata. With every attempt, I end up spewing out a never-ending stream of superlatives without ever really saying why it’s so special to me. I talk about the narrative, which defies expectations at every turn; I talk about the gameplay, which is every bit as good as you’d expect from a Platinum Games title, and even more varied. Then there’s the soundtrack, which mirrors and enhances the shifts, twists and turns of the story. But then, what of the world Yoko Taro has built, in all its splendor? Instead I’ll just say that I know no one who’s finished Nier: Automata and not loved it. It pushes the boundaries of everything it touches, and it’s one of the best games I’ve ever played.

Runner-up: Fire Emblem Heroes

If it was difficult to define my love for Nier: Automata, it’s almost impossible to explain why I’d recommend a free-to-play game that’s cost me close to $1,000 this year. I adore the Fire Emblem series, and Fire Emblem Heroes is a perfect mobile adaptation of its core mechanics. Nintendo and developer Intelligent Systems have done a great job of making a title that’s fun to pick up and play for a few minutes at a time, but with the depth and reward to keep idiots like me spending money every month.

2018: Fire Emblem for Nintendo Switch

It’s been a decade since we’ve had a Fire Emblem game on a home console, but next year Nintendo promises that’ll change with the launch of Fire Emblem for Nintendo Switch. After the somewhat disappointing Fire Emblem Fates for 3DS, I’m excited to see how Intelligent Systems takes advantage of the Switch’s power for what will be the thirteenth game in the series.

Nick Summers
Reporter, Engadget UK

Persona 5

Persona 5 is a game dripping with style. Its colorful, anime-inspired depiction of Tokyo blends with a jazzy, upbeat soundtrack and a kaleidoscopic set of menus. The gorgeous presentation is paired with an immersive RPG structure that’s part high school simulator, part mind-bending dungeon crawler. One minute, you’re hanging out with friends and working at the local convenience store; the next, you’re inside a mobster’s psyche, or “palace,” fighting shadowy monsters as a member of the Phantom Thieves.

It’s an addictive combination. Everything you do in the real world has a direct impact on your Persona-wielding combat skills. Do you hang out with Ryuji and unlock his ultimate Persona? Or earn the money required to buy some new weapons and body armor? Persona 5’s calendar system means that every morning and afternoon matters. Choosing what to do can be stressful, but that’s the point. At the end of the game, you really feel like you’ve spent a year in Tokyo. A unique one filled with mystery, laughs and adventure. I can think of few other games that capture a place and passage of time so well.

Runner-up: Prey

I’m obsessed with Prey‘s alternate history. I won’t go into detail — doing so would spoil the story — but it’s tied to the game’s alien threat and the beautiful, decadent Talos I spaceship. It serves as the perfect backdrop for an immersive sim that includes shape-shifting, shotguns and a multi-purpose “Gloo Cannon.”

2018: Kingdom Hearts 3

Kingdom Hearts 2 is one of my favorite games from the PlayStation 2 era. It was a dazzling action RPG mixing the colorful innocence of Disney with the complexity and scale of Final Fantasy. The spin-offs that followed were fun but failed to recapture the scale and visual flair of the original games. I’m ready for Kingdom Hearts 3. All of the worlds we’ve seen so far — Tangled, Toy Story and Hercules — look incredible. If Square Enix can nail the combat and simplify the story (the lore gets out of hand in later games), it could be truly special.

Jessica Conditt
Senior Reporter

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is a pivotal game for the franchise. Resident Evil is beloved, with entries spanning decades and including some of the best, most commercially successful horror titles of all time. Sometimes it feels like Resident Evil has just always been there, waiting to scare the pants off of us with every new console generation. But over the past few years, the series lost its luster — recent games focused more on action than horror or puzzle-solving, to middling results (and sales).

And then Resident Evil 7 landed in January. This game changes the series in a major way, taking the action from a third-person view to first-person, and offering the entire experience in virtual reality via PlayStation VR. Otherwise, Biohazard marks a triumphant return to the series’ bloody, cockroach-encrusted, mildewing roots. Resident Evil 7 is a tense, dramatic game, guiding players through a compound of violent decay and unspeakable government experiments. There are riddles to solve, derelict rooms to explore and monsters to hunt — and never, ever enough ammo. Resident Evil 7 not only is a fantastic and terrifying game, but it quietly salvaged one of the industry’s most cherished franchises.

Runner-up: What Remains of Edith Finch

There’s a reason this macabre, independent title beat out Horizon, Wolfenstein II, Nier: Automata and Hellblade to win Best Narrative at this year’s Game Awards. What Remains of Edith Finch is a testament to the power of video games as a storytelling platform — and as an emotional syringe.

2018: Where the Water Tastes Like Wine

A train gushing black smog rolls through a red-stained canyon dotted with saguaros. The air hangs heavy and humid on the banks of an Alabama swamp. A man sits alone by a fire before transforming into a massive bird, and a wolf in business attire tells your fortune in a small wood shack. These are the scenes of Where the Water Tastes Like Wine — hand-drawn, backed by twangy folk music and from a creator of Gone Home, the game is set to be an unpredictable journey through the heart of American history and legend.

Timothy J. Seppala
Reporter

Super Mario Odyssey

Super Mario Odyssey makes me smile. I’ve been waiting for an awesome Super Mario 64 sequel since Super Mario Sunshine left me feeling pretty flat. Fifteen years later, I finally got it. Everything about this game radiates happiness, from the way the Italian plumber sleep-talks about ziti and tortellini to his delightful waddle/run and a recurring, mustached T. rex.

Every vibrant kingdom feels wildly different from the last, and there’s no shortage of reasons to revisit them as you progress, either. Two months later and the music still feels fresh as ever too, with a strong mix of original songs and a handful of rearranged favorites.

One night well past my bedtime, my parents came home and excitedly unboxed an NES Power Pad bundle. They didn’t start with Duck Hunt or World Class Track Meet; they picked the original Super Mario Bros. I couldn’t see the TV from my vantage point, but their laughs and that music left an indelible mark on my memory. When I turn on Odyssey, it hearkens back to the moment when I finally got to play. Odyssey has captured my heart like no other game has in a very, very long time.

Runner-up: Wolfenstein: The New Colossus

If Wolfenstein were simply a shooting gallery filled with cardboard cut-out fascists, its catharsis would wear thin after a few minutes. But thanks to impressive characterization and world-building, The New Colossus became one of my favorite games this year. Oh, and yeah, it feels great to kill Nazis again.

2018: Detroit

It only takes me a few hours to drive to the real Detroit, but what I’ve seen and played of David Cage’s version so far has me excited to explore a virtual Motor City. How allegorical will it be for Motown’s real stories of oppression and the disadvantaged? I can’t wait to find out. If there’s a worry, it’s that I’ve played Cage’s games before and they can be heavy-handed and a bit wooden. Describing his last game, Beyond: Two Souls, as “over-ambitious” would be an understatement as well. Let’s hope Cage can stay out of his own way.

James Trew
Managing Editor

Weltenschlächter

At the ripe old age of 28, the Atari Lynx doesn’t get a lot of new games. While other retro consoles have thriving communities keeping them alive, the Lynx has a handful of dedicated fans. And, in turn, perhaps almost a single-digit number of people still making games for it. In that context, it’s been a bumper year for the Lynx, with a bevy of boxed releases, thanks to Atari-Age forum member Der-luchs, whose Luch-soft imprint has released (or re-released) five titles for the Lynx over the past year. Best of all: Weltenschlächter.

Weltenschlächter is a straight-up, no-nonsense arcade shooter. As with many games of the arcade era, the objective is simple: achieve the highest score. You play a budding intergalactic hero, fighting off an endless army of evolving evil aliens. The trick is that they hide behind protective walls, which you need to shoot down first. It’s basically Space Invaders at 90 degrees, with more complex enemies. A bonus round every few levels sees you switch to avoiding oncoming adversaries, presumably as you fly to the next galaxy full of angry pixelated extraterrestrials. It’s fast, fun and addictive, and the music’s pretty good too.

Runner-up: Alpine Games

Alpine Games (2004) was re-released this year, putting it in many middle-aged hands for the first time. If you imagine Epyx’s California Games in the snow, then you’ve just imagined Winter Games (also by Epyx). But you could also be imagining Alpine Games. Pick from among sports like snowboarding, slalom and bobsleigh for instant pick-up-and-play fun.

2018: Wyvern Tales

The Atari Lynx doesn’t have any real RPG games (although, weirdly, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is pretty close). Wyvern Tales — an homage to early Zelda/Final Fantasy–style games — will rectify that. The usual ingredients of weapons, level-up battles, puzzles and magic are here, with towns to explore and shopkeepers full of wisdom.

Wyvern Tales has been in production for seven years, but it finally looks like it will get released in 2018. The cartridges should be able to save progress (unheard of in original Lynx games), which, if nothing else, means there should be plenty of hours of gameplay.

David Lumb
Contributing Editor

Wolfenstein: The New Colossus

Single-player shooters that tell a compelling, nuanced story are few and far between. But those that also confront a serious cultural anxiety while leading players into gleeful carnage are even rarer. Wolfenstein: The New Colossus may have stumbled into the zeitgeist, but its alt-history tale of vengeful resistance fighters prying the world from Nazi rule is delivered with solid writing and fantastic voicework. The sequel to 2014’s The New Order one-ups its predecessor in many (but not all) ways: The upgrade system fades into irrelevance, and the levels aren’t nearly as friendly to stealthy playstyles, but the game soars with its characters and set pieces.

That alone isn’t GOTY material. What’s crucial, and what games usually fail to pull off, is showcasing very uncomfortable realities In The New Colossus‘ case, it’s a hideously evil regime supported by a complicit America. Nazis are easy to hate, but what about the people in our country — our fellow Americans — who, today, permit and enable bigotry-fueled power? Who willingly vote for it? Genre stories mask truth in exaggeration. Wolfenstein: The New Colossus might be one of the pulpiest games out there, but it isn’t afraid to pummel our misplaced assumptions about who we think we are.

Runner-up: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

Since my colleagues have named all the best titles of the year, I’ll pick a game that gets more notice than praise: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. It wasn’t the first battle royale–type game, but it’s single-handedly brought the subgenre into the mainstream and (for better or worse) turned it into eSports material. PUBG deserves recognition for widening a niche mode into a bona fide game category and maintaining around 2.5 million players a day — even though it only left Early Access on December 20th.

2018: The Last of Us: Part 2

The last zombie game to grace anyone’s most-anticipated list might have been Valve’s 2009 classic Left 4 Dead 2. And while The Last of Us: Part 2 technically fits that subgenre, if it lives up to its predecessor, TLOU 2 will be so much more. The original told a heartbreaking story about fatherhood and sacrifice amid the ashes of civilization, with a chilling ending that cemented its place in the gaming canon. The sequel has a lot to live up to. But assuming Naughty Dog gives it the same treatment as Uncharted 4, TLOU 2 could be another iconic title to pull off your shelf when you need an emotional sucker punch.

Snapchat wants to help you relive your best 2017 memories

If you haven’t had enough reminders of how the year 2017 went, Snapchat is here for you. The Next Web noticed that the social media service is offering its users “Your 2017 Story,” which takes Snaps saved to your Memories over the year (the permanent ones you select, not the fleeting ones that disappear after 24 hours) and creates a story you can easily save and share.

To locate the option to create a story for 2017, launch the Snapchat app and open Memories, which is at the bottom of the screen. If you have enough Memories saved from the year, the option to create Your 2017 Story should be up top. If you don’t like the options that Snapchat selects for you, the team at Snap says that you will be able to edit it.

It’s understandable that Snap would be playing on our nostalgia by getting into the retrospective game, though it’s unclear who actually wants to be reminded just how garbage of a year 2017 was. Still, it’s a great way to remind lapsed users to come and check out the service again.

Via: 9to5Mac

Source: The Next Web

Scientists ‘hack’ cells to create 3D shapes from live tissue

Never mind 3D-printing organs — the real dream is to make the tissue itself bend to your will, and UCSF scientists have managed just that. They’ve discovered that they can ‘hack’ special cells that help fold tissue (mesenchymal cells) to create 3D shapes out of live tissue. The trick is to lay out these cells in specific patterns that “tug” on other cells’ extracellular matrix fibers. You can create surprisingly diverse items, ranging from simple bowls and ripples to decidedly unnatural items like cubes and coils.

There’s plenty of work to be done. The researchers want to combine their shape forming work with other discoveries into tissue patterning, and they need to understand how cells change in response to this folding.

The practical implications are already evident, though. This could lead to lab-made organs that are designed to exact specifications using the natural processes of the cells themselves. You could also see soft robots created largely from living material rather than inert substances like rubber. It’s a tad creepy (imagine robots that can grow), but it could also dramatically expand what’s possible in medicine and machinery.

Source: Developmental Cell, UCSF

China will cap QR-code payments to tackle fraud

China’s central bank is issuing regulations over QR-code-based payments. Paying for things by scanning a barcode with the Alibaba or WeChat app is more common than using cash in the region and now the government wants to keep closer tabs on where the money is going. You might laugh at the idea, but QR codes aren’t the punchline in the east that they are here. For instance, plenty of cabbies prefer taking QR payments because it means they don’t have to handle small change.

The payment systems have a dark side, though, facilitating money laundering and allowing shady online retailers to cook the books by sending themselves money. These new regulations could stymie those nefarious deeds.

Starting in April, static QR transactions will have a hard limit of Rmb500 ($76.52) per person, per day. “Additional daily limits of Rmb1,000 ($153.03) or Rmb5,000 ($765.15) apply to barcode payers who have not completed certain authentication procedures,” Financial Times writes.

The People’s Bank of China also believes this move will help settle security issues and foster fair competition between Alibaba and Tencent’s WeChat platforms according to state-sponsored news outlet Xinhuanet. Unlike NFC payments in the west, this proves that QR code payments in the region have become so common that the government can’t afford to ignore them anymore.

Source: Financial Times, Xinhuanet

Renewable energy outstripped coal use in the UK for most of 2017

The UK has been working to significantly reduce its carbon emissions and with that effort, it hit some major green milestones this year. In April, the country went a full day without coal-generated power for the first time in 135 years. And in June, the country saw more than half of its energy being generated by renewables (i.e. solar, wind, hydropower and biomass) for the first time.

Looking back on 2017, renewable energy sources outstripped coal use in the UK quite often. Wind farms generated more electricity than coal plants for more than three-quarters of the year. Solar also did well, providing more energy than coal for more than half of the year. Taking all renewables into account, they, as a group, outperformed coal plants in energy production on 315 days of the year (as of December 12th).

However, the country didn’t do quite as well when it comes to reducing its natural gas use. Wind only outperformed gas on two days in 2017 and when comparing renewables overall with fossil fuel energy production, renewables only outstripped fossil fuels during 23 days this year.

The BBC reports that Andrew Crossland, founder of MyGridGB, which provides analysis of UK carbon emissions and energy use, and a Durham Energy Institute fellow said, “The government has focused on reducing coal use which now supplies less than 7% of our electricity. However, if we continue to use gas at the rate that we do, then Britain will miss carbon targets and be dangerously exposed to supply and price risks in the international gas markets.”

By 2025, the UK plans to close all of the coal plants that can’t effectively capture and store their carbon emissions, and the country is well on its way towards that goal. But getting renewables to consistently outperform gas still poses a challenge. Emma Pinchbeck, executive director of RenewableUK, said, as the Guardian reports, “We want to see more boldness from the Conservative government. In 2018, the government should move to allow onshore wind, now the cheapest form of power for consumers, to be developed in parts of the UK where it is wanted, and agree an ambitious sector deal with the offshore wind industry. The new year could be the first in a golden age for UK renewables.”

Via: BBC, The Guardian

Xbox’s lack of compelling games won’t be fixed next year

Microsoft’s 2017 started six months early. At E3 2016, Xbox chief Phil Spencer closed out the company’s keynote by teasing the “most powerful console ever.” At this year’s show, he finally revealed the Xbox One X, and in November, the hardware was at retail. In the time it takes to earn a bachelor’s degree, Microsoft addressed one of the internet’s loudest complaints about the Xbox One: that it wasn’t powerful enough compared to the PlayStation 4.

A 6-teraflop GPU and 12GB of RAM won’t help Microsoft clear its other hurdle, though, at least not in the short term. Since last year, the company has shuttered a pair of its internal development studios (Fable house Lionhead and Max and the Curse of Brotherhood’s Press Play) and killed off at least two other games: the incredibly promising dragon-owning-simulator Scalebound from PlatinumGames and the internally developed game-creation suite Project Spark.

The number of internal studios and software projects is so low that the company had to announce it would be going on a shopping spree for new studios and games next year. The problem is, on average, games take between two and three years to make, and big AAA tentpoles can easily spend double that time in development. Xbox’s dearth of fresh games you can’t play anywhere else isn’t going to be fixed in 2018.

This fall, the Xbox’s big exclusives were racing sim Forza Motorsport 7, which, while extremely pretty, was more of the same, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The latter has 25 million players on PC, and Microsoft is bragging it racked up over 1 million players in its first 48 hours on Xbox One. The lovably clunky work in progress isn’t the type of thing that’s going to hit beyond Microsoft’s shooter-centric base, however. At the moment it also isn’t the type of game you boot up to show off your fancy new console and TV. The same goes for backwards compatibility with 15-year-old games from the original Xbox.

So how does Microsoft fill the gap between now and whenever its first new purchase comes out? Early 2018 has the cartoony shared-world pirate simulator Sea of Thieves and Crackdown 3, both of which are big maybes. Let me explain. Thieves is developer Rare’s first stab at making a Destiny-like persistent online world. It’d be a feat for any team to make, but aside from the nostalgic Rare Replay collection from 2015, Rare hasn’t had a critical hit in almost a decade.

Crackdown 3 has been delayed multiple times, and based on what I played of it at E3 this year, its being pushed into 2018 wasn’t surprising at all. Will it actually be good when the ambiguous “spring” launch window rolls around? I wish I could say yes with any degree of certainty, but that isn’t the case. State of Decay 2 is supposedly getting a big push from Microsoft, but zombie-survival games aren’t the type of thing that cross over to mainstream success. That brings us back to Microsoft’s well-tread path of racing games and first-person shooters.

You can all but guarantee we’ll have Forza Horizon 4 next fall. And the team at 343 Industries has been quiet for a while, so you can probably expect news of Halo 6 to arrive next year as well. But considering how the last game turned out, you might want to hedge your bets as to how it’ll play and what to expect out of it.

But what about all the exclusives Microsoft debuted at E3 in 2017? Many of them were “console launch exclusives,” meaning that they’ll show up other places. For example, Metro: Exodus will also be available on PC and will almost assuredly make its way to PS4. As for indies, The Artful Escape won’t be out until “it’s damn ready.” Ashen looks promising, but two years later and it doesn’t have a release date. Same goes for Ori and the Will of the Wisp.

The team at Insomniac didn’t get an order for ‘Sunset Overdrive 2’ unless you count their PS4 exclusive ‘Spider-Man’ game out next spring.

There haven’t been any sequels announced for any of Microsoft’s AAA exclusives from the past four years that aren’t named Forza, Gears of War or Halo either. Remedy is working on multiplatform games now, not a sequel to Quantum Break or Alan Wake. The team at Insomniac didn’t get an order for Sunset Overdrive 2 unless you count its PS4 exclusive Spider-Man game out next spring. The perpetually beleaguered Crytek has been focusing on virtual reality and free-to-play games, and its relationship with Microsoft reportedly soured over a sequel to Xbox One launch title Ryse: Son of Rome.

Spencer has gone on the record saying that third-party exclusives like 2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider aren’t viable for any games platform in the long run. But two years later, that’s basically what Microsoft has. The company spent a year and a half trying to convince people they needed an Xbox One X with system specs alone. In the face of Nintendo’s runaway success with the Switch and Sony’s burgeoning lineup of diverse games you can’t play anywhere else, 2018 has to be the year Microsoft starts convincing people there’s a reason to buy any Xbox — not just the most powerful one ever.