Month: October 2024

Microsoft wants to know why you don’t develop games for Xbox (and they’re very serious about it)

For a couple of years now, it has been a common occurrence for new video game releases to entirely skip Microsoft’s consoles. Especially when it comes to indie games and Japanese releases, there seems to be little interest in Xbox from many companies and developers. But why is this happening? That’s exactly what Microsoft wants to know, as they have recently commented. In a post on their development blog, Microsoft has stated that they are investigating ways to address the key aspects that are causing developers to avoid releasing their games on Xbox. To […]

For a couple of years now, it has been a common occurrence for new video game releases to entirely skip Microsoft’s consoles. Especially when it comes to indie games and Japanese releases, there seems to be little interest in Xbox from many companies and developers. But why is this? That’s exactly what Microsoft wants to know, as they have recently commented.

In a post on their development blog, Microsoft stated that they are investigating ways to work on the key aspects for which developers are avoiding releasing their games on Xbox. To this end, they have launched an initiative where people from video game studios, regardless of their position within the company, can communicate directly with Microsoft to discuss their main issues with the brand.

Debora Hendersen, the principal user researcher at Microsoft, has stated that “if you’re not on Xbox, we would love to know why. And honestly, if you’re using our competitor’s products, you probably have a great perspective from which we can learn.” Emphasizing how they seek to make it an inclusive process for developers.

For this initiative, which can currently be joined by only developers based in the US—which already highlights one of the basic problems the company currently faces in reaching more developers—they seek to use all kinds of tools to discover the reasons for this situation. They are using tools similar to those used for studies focused on players, but aimed at the reality of video game developers.

Although the awareness that they have a problem and the willingness to solve and listen to it is a good start, it is not difficult to imagine some of the major issues when launching video games in the company. The need for parity between Series S and Series X, their excessive focus on the North American audience and GamePass, and their erratic and confusing business policy, along with more than suboptimal communication, make working with Xbox less attractive than it should be. But if the studies help them discover the specific reasons for this, it will undoubtedly be beneficial for both developers and players.

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The captures you make with the Ray-Ban Meta “could” be used to train their AI

We could sense it, but for the moment, there was no official confirmation. Could it be possible that Meta was training its own artificial intelligence with the photos and videos users take with their Ray-Ban Meta? The answer seems to be yes, but with nuances. Basically, any image you share with Meta AI could be used to train their AI. In an email to TechCrunch, Meta’s policy communications manager, Emil Vázquez, wrote that “in places where multimodal AI is available (currently the United States and Canada), the images and videos shared with Meta AI could […]

We could sense it, but for the moment, there was no official confirmation. Could it be possible that Meta is training its own artificial intelligence with the photos and videos users take with their Ray-Ban Meta? The answer seems to be a yes, but with nuances.

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Basically, any image you share with Meta AI could be used to train its AI. In an email to TechCrunch, Meta’s policy communications manager, Emil Vázquez, wrote that “in places where multimodal AI is available (currently the United States and Canada), the images and videos shared with Meta AI could be used to improve it.”

A company spokesperson also clarified to the media that the photos and videos captured with the Ray-Ban Meta are not used to train the AI directly. Of course, this changes completely when using Meta AI with them. If, for example, we ask Meta AI to analyze any of our captures, the policies change: now, the company would have free rein to use your content to train its AI.

This is a concerning situation. At first glance, users of Ray-Ban Meta may not understand that by using Meta AI, they are handing over their data on a silver platter without being aware of it. For Meta, this is not the case.

The company spokespersons clarify that this is more than clear in the user interface of the glasses. Meta had already made it public that the public content hosted on Facebook and Instagram was used to train its Llama models. A situation that is already concerning is worsened by confirming that anything the user analyzes through their glasses with Meta AI can be used without their explicit permission.

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Amazon Prime Video is going to show you even more ads

If you are a subscriber to the Amazon Prime Video plan with ads, get ready to see more advertising than ever. Starting in 2025, Amazon will inject more ads, a move that will test the limits of its users’ patience. The Vice President of Prime Video International, Kelly Day, told the Financial Times that Amazon will offer more spaces for advertisers within Prime Video. Although she didn’t provide many details, she did confirm what was feared: that advertising will “increase a little more” next year. Day justified her position by saying that, initially, the option with ads […]

If you are a subscriber to the ad-supported plan of Amazon Prime Video, get ready to see more ads than ever. Starting in 2025, Amazon will inject more advertisements, a move that will test the patience of its users.

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The Vice President of Prime Video International, Kelly Day, stated to Financial Times that Amazon will offer more spaces for advertisers within Prime Video. Although she did not provide many details, she did confirm what was feared: that advertising will “increase a little more” next year.

Day has justified his position by saying that, at first, the ad-supported option of Prime Video had “a very light advertising load.” Subscribers of the ad-supported tier, launched by Amazon at the beginning of the year, saw on average between two to three and a half minutes of ads per hour.

For Day, the increase in ads should not significantly affect the subscriber base. According to her, the loss of subscribers due to ads has been “much, much lower” than expected.

Amazon has also confirmed that it will integrate a new type of interactive advertising known as “shoppable ads.” This is a new way to attract audiences who consume movies and series, which, in principle, has proven to be more effective in practice than traditional ads.

At the moment, the move is proving to be a win for Amazon. With the increase in its advertising revenue and the few cancellations caused by the inclusion of ads, the platform is determined to press its customers even more. According to ArsTechnica, ad-supported subscriptions account for 38% of the streaming market. Additionally, they also represent more than half of the new sign-ups in the first quarter of 2024.

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El nuevo Assassin’s Creed Shadows podría tener multijugador y esto es una gran noticia

Ubisoft ha retrasado el lanzamiento de su esperado nuevo Assassin’s Creed debido a… muchos motivos. No hay una respuesta clara, puesto a que se han dado varias explicaciones y la sensación es rara. Podríamos decir que las reservas eran bajas, el lanzamiento del Star Wars Outlaws no fue como esperaban y el título no estaba todo lo pulido que debería a dos meses del lanzamiento.

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Pues bien, como sabes ahora Assassin’s Creed Shadows saldrá el 14 de febrero en todo el mundo. Entendemos que para animar a todos esos enamorados y enamoradas a regalarlo por el día de San Valentín. Y es posible que la jugada salga bien.

Pero vamos a lo que nos ocupa hoy que es la posibilidad de un modo cooperativo para el AC Shadows, una característica muy poco habitual en los juegos de la saga. Pero hay motivos para creer.

Un modo cooperativo para el AC Shadows en forma de contenido post lanzamiento

Assassin’s Creed Shadows se actualizará tras su lanzamiento con un modo multijugador cooperativo. El rumor procede de Tom Henderson, que ha demostrado ser muy fiable en lo que respecta a los juegos de Ubisoft. Según Henderson, el modo se llama actualmente LEAGUE y estaba en desarrollo incluso antes del anuncio del retraso.

El informante no dio más detalles sobre el modo, aunque subrayó que no será la experiencia multijugador cooperativa en línea que llegará a la franquicia y de la cual tanto se ha hablado.

Assassin’s Creed Invictus, que supuestamente será un juego multijugador dedicado, también se lanzará el año que viene. Sin embargo, las primeras filtraciones apuntan a que Invictus será una experiencia completamente distinta a la de un juego normal de Assassin’s Creed.

Ubisoft Connect DESCARGAR

Según el filtrador xJ0nathan, los jugadores competirán en varias rondas y modos, como un combate a muerte por equipos, un todos contra todos y un juego de velocidad en el que tendrán que llegar a puntos brillantes repartidos por el mapa.

Volviendo al Assassin’s Creed Shadows, sin duda un modo cooperativo interesante podría darle un buen empujón a las ventas, tal y como siempre ha pasado con la también saga de Ubisoft llamada Far Cry. Veremos si acaba siendo cierto.

Epic Games is going all out in the mobile sector: these are their plans for 2024

Epic Games is going to develop a specific store for mobile developers, promising a reduced commission for Unreal developers, a free games program, self-publishing tools, social features, and up to 50 third-party games by the end of the year. In a roundtable discussion, the general manager of Epic Games Store, Steve Allison, stated that up to 50 third-party games could arrive at their mobile games store in the fourth quarter. Epic’s “free games” program, a major user acquisition tool for their PC store, will also be coming to mobile, he said, with […]

Epic Games is going to develop a specific store for mobile developers, promising a reduced commission for Unreal developers, a free games program, self-publishing tools, social features, and up to 50 third-party games by the end of the year.

Epic Games Store DOWNLOAD

In a roundtable, the general manager of Epic Games Store, Steve Allison, stated that up to 50 third-party games could arrive at their mobile game store in the fourth quarter.

Epic’s “free games” program, a major user acquisition tool for its PC store, will also be coming to mobile, it said, with self-publishing tools and social features also on the way.

The creator of Fortnite also announced a new “launch everywhere with Epic” program. From now on, it will charge 3.5% less for Unreal Engine games that launch on Epic Games Store before or at the same time as on other stores and platforms.

Release and Free Games Policy

This is what the general manager of Epic Games Store, Steve Allison, said about the mobile games store during a roundtable following yesterday’s presentation at the Unreal Fest:

“During the holiday season, we will open with our first third-party applications,” he said. “We probably expect between 10 and 50 to be ready, and the most important thing will be the implementation of a payment solution, so that might cause some of them to be released in the following months.”

“The free games program will launch in the fourth quarter, along with third-party applications, and we are going to have some amazing things for players that will also be incredible for developers, because they will help us scale very quickly.”

“And then there are the self-publishing tools, which means that developers can get in without any interaction with us, as they do on PC today, probably in the first half of the year, hopefully as close to January as possible.”

Epic is also working on enabling social and party features through its store, such as in-game chat and cross-platform play, which could be rolled out “a little later in the year,” Allison said. “When these three things come together, we will be ready.”

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And, of course, Tim Sweeney took the opportunity to criticize his old enemies, Apple and Google, during the event. “Apple and Google have a completely broken worldview, which consists of limiting what developers can do, imposing more and more restrictions, preventing things like the metaverse from happening, or taxing them to the point of extracting all their profit,” he said during the keynote.

ChatGPT reaches 50 million weekly users in just two months

The popularity of ChatGPT continues to grow. Since its launch in November 2022, the chatbot has consistently showcased its incredible capabilities and improved more with each passing day. Now, OpenAI has revealed that “every week, more than 250 million people worldwide use ChatGPT to enhance their work, creativity, and learning.” This figure represents a significant leap for the company, which in August managed to gather 200 million users each week. However, this was to be expected: back in June, the number of people using OpenAI’s tools each […]

The popularity of ChatGPT continues to grow. Since its launch in November 2022, the chatbot has consistently showcased its incredible capabilities and improved more each passing day. Now, OpenAI has revealed that “each week, more than 250 million people worldwide use ChatGPT to enhance their work, creativity, and learning.”

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This figure represents a significant leap for the company, which in August managed to gather 200 million users each week. However, it was somewhat expected: already in June, the number of people using OpenAI’s tools each month had reached 350 million, according to The New York Times.

iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence, a new boost for ChatGPT?

Although these numbers are already impressive in themselves, things could go further. In October, Apple will launch the new versions of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, which will give us access to Apple Intelligence. A major innovation that will only be enjoyed by the owners of an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and the new iPhone 16. In the case of iPad and Mac, the compatible devices will be those with Apple Silicon.

This update will also allow us to use ChatGPT, which is integrated into the OS. Siri, for example, will use ChatGPT’s knowledge if the user requires it. Additionally, this means we can use OpenAI’s chatbot without opening an additional account.

Given the circumstances, the large iPhone user base could further boost, if possible, the already staggering figures of OpenAI. A move that would also make it easier for more people to discover the ChatGPT paid subscription options.

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The science fiction and time travel movie that’s an unexpected hit on Netflix

The Netflix catalog always holds unexpected surprises. Movies and series that sneak into its catalog, no one really knows how, and soon become an incredible public success. This is what has just happened with Time Trap, a science fiction and adventure movie that, although it was released in 2017 without much impact, has resurfaced among the platform’s trends. Directed by Mark Dennis and Ben Foster, this 87-minute film is surprising users with its clever time travel plot. Although it is evident that its budget was modest, […]

The Netflix catalog always holds unexpected surprises. Movies and series that sneak into its catalog, and no one really knows how soon they become an incredible public success. This has just happened with Time Trap, a science fiction and adventure movie that, although released in 2017 without much impact, has resurfaced among the platform’s trends.

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Directed by Mark Dennis and Ben Foster, this 87-minute film is surprising users with its clever time travel plot. Although it is evident that its budget was modest, Time Trap has demonstrated that creativity and ingenuity in storytelling can surpass the need for dazzling special effects. The movie plays with time paradoxes and intriguing concepts that keep viewers glued to the screen until the end.

An unknown science fiction gem

Time Trap follows a group of students who venture into the Texas caves in search of a missing archaeology professor, played by Andrew Wilson. What begins as a simple expedition quickly turns into a surreal adventure when the protagonists discover a rift in space-time. Inside the cave, time passes much more slowly than on the surface, leading them to a struggle for survival as they descend deeper in search of answers.

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The film manages to stand out by offering a variant of time travel not so common in this type of movie, where the very passage of time loses meaning. Inspired by 80s classics like Indiana Jones and The Goonies, Time Trap evokes the nostalgia of those youth films that combine mystery, action, and a touch of fantasy.

If you haven’t seen it yet, Time Trap is one of those movies worth discovering. Available on Netflix, this film has become an unexpected science fiction hit that, despite not being very well-known at the time, is now causing a sensation among the platform’s subscribers.

This is what Nicolas Cage looks like in Spider-Noir, the Prime Video series about a different Spider-Man

The live-action Spider-Man Noir series has officially begun filming, and the first images of Nicolas Cage on set have already generated great excitement among fans. This new project, brought to us by Prime Video, presents a version of the iconic Marvel superhero set in the 1930s, during the Great Depression in the United States, following a dark and detective-like aesthetic in the style of classic noir cinema. Although Spider-Man Noir has existed in the comics since 2009, it was in 2018 that the character gained great popularity thanks to the animated movie […]

The live-action series Spider-Man Noir has officially begun filming, and the first images of Nicolas Cage on set have already sparked great excitement among fans. This new project, brought to us by Prime Video, presents a version of the iconic Marvel superhero set in the 1930s, during the Great Depression in the United States, following a dark and detective-like aesthetic in the style of classic noir cinema.

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Although Spider-Man Noir has existed in the comics since 2009, it was in 2018 when the character gained great popularity thanks to the animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, in which Nicolas Cage lent his voice to the most enigmatic arachnid. Now, Cage makes the leap to live action to portray this dark and shrewd Spider-Man, which has further raised expectations about a series that no one quite knows where it will lead.

A Peter Parker tired of life

In the first images that have leaked from the filming set, we can see Cage characterized as this aged version of Peter Parker, although not in the classic spider suit. Dressed in a long coat, the actor exudes the charisma typical of noir novel detectives, a style that Cage himself has confirmed as an inspiration for the character’s tone. However, it seems that not everything went well on his “first day,” as in the photos he is seen on the ground and visibly in pain, which suggests that the action will not be without challenges for this Spider-Man.

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It just premiered and is already the most-watched movie in the history of Apple TV+

Apple TV+ has reached a milestone with the premiere of Wolfs. The film, directed by Jon Watts and starring superstars George Clooney and Brad Pitt, is now the most-watched movie in the platform’s history. This distinction was achieved in less than a week since its release. Wolfs breaks all records and signs on for a sequel. The movie was released on September 27 on Apple TV+ and, according to Apple’s reports to Deadline, it has resulted in a 30% increase in views on the streaming platform. An […]

Apple TV+ has reached a milestone with the premiere of Wolfs. The film, directed by Jon Watts and starring superstars George Clooney and Brad Pitt, is now the most-watched movie in the platform’s history—a distinction it achieved in less than a week since its release.

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Wolfs Breaks all records and signs for a sequel

The movie was released on September 27 on Apple TV+ and, according to reports from Apple to Deadline, it has resulted in a 30% increase in views on the streaming platform. This increase highlights the resounding success of the film and has caught the attention of the service’s subscribers and led others to subscribe.

The plot of Wolfs follows two “fixers” or problem solvers, played by Clooney and Pitt, who must join forces, despite their differences, to resolve complicated situations for their clients. The chemistry between the two actors has been a key element in the reception of the film, as both are two of the most well-known faces in Hollywood, with established careers and a solid fan base.

The most interesting thing is that Wolfs did not have the traditional theatrical release, a strategy that Apple has adopted with certain projects. Unlike other films like Killers of the Flower Moon, which first went through theaters before landing on the platform, Wolfs was released directly on streaming, except for a brief presentation at the Venice Film Festival. A strategy that marks a clear difference from traditional distribution models and highlights how Apple TV+ and other streaming services are redefining the rules of the game in the film industry.

“When George, Brad, and Jon approached us with the idea for Wolfs, it was an easy decision: a sizzling and fun movie starring two Oscar winners that everyone knows are iconic together,” said Matt Dentler, head of feature films at Apple Original Films. “Now, audiences have overwhelmingly chosen to make Wolfs part of their weekend, making the film a global box office hit. We always consider Apple TV+ as the home for the world’s most talented artists to create and deliver their best work, and it’s exciting to see the audience embrace it so overwhelmingly.”

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The reception of Wolfs has been so successful that Apple has already given the green light for a sequel, with Watts once again leading the project. Meanwhile, with upcoming releases like Blitz, by Steve McQueen, and the Formula 1 movie starring Pitt, Apple TV+ continues to strongly invest in high-level cinema.

First trailer of Better Man, the strangest musical biopic you’ll see

Las biopics musicales han estado de moda en Hollywood desde que Rami Malek ganó el Oscar por su interpretación de Freddie Mercury en Bohemian Rhapsody. Sin embargo, nunca hemos visto una como Better Man, la película que retratará la vida y carrera de Robbie Williams. Lo que podría parecer una narrativa convencional sobre el ascenso meteórico del cantante británico toma un giro surrealista que ya apreciamos en el tráiler: en lugar de ver a Williams interpretado por un actor humano, el artista aparecerá en pantalla caracterizado como un mono antropomórfico. Sí, leíste bien. Este enfoque ha dejado al público atónito […]

Musical biopics have been in vogue in Hollywood since Rami Malek won the Oscar for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. However, we have never seen one like Better Man, the film that will depict the life and career of Robbie Williams. What might seem like a conventional narrative about the meteoric rise of the British singer takes a surreal twist that we already appreciate in the trailer: instead of seeing Williams portrayed by a human actor, the artist will appear on screen characterized as an anthropomorphic monkey. Yes, you read that right.

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This approach, which has left many astonished after the release of its first trailer, reflects the vision of director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman), who wanted to portray not how we see the singer, but how he sees himself. Gracey explains that his intention is to offer an internal representation of Williams, moving away from the traditional genre standards and providing a cinematic experience that is, of course, different from the conventional.

A Very Cute Biopic

The film will cover Robbie Williams’ entire career, from his childhood in Stoke-on-Trent, through his dazzling rise with the boyband Take That, to his phase as one of the most successful solo artists in the history of British music. However, Better Man will also address the darker moments of his life, including mental health issues, addictions, and the constant pressure that comes with fame. In Paramount’s words, it is “the story of a meteoric rise, a dramatic fall, and a remarkable resurgence.”