Another company is temporarily cutting the Russian market off from its services following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. On Friday, Sony’s Entertainment unit blocked Russian users from accessing its Crunchyroll anime streaming service and said it w…
First trailer for Apple’s ‘They Call Me Magic’ celebrates a basketball icon
Apple has shared the first trailer for They Call Me Magic, its upcoming four-part documentary on former LA Lakers superstar Earvin “Magic” Johnson. Set to debut on April 22nd, the TV+ exclusive looks to take more than a few cues from Netflix’s The Last…
Apple stops selling LG’s $1,299 UltraFine 5K Display
Days after discontinuing the 27-inch iMac, Apple has also stopped selling one of LG’s UltraFine displays. As spotted by MacRumors, if you visit the company’s website, it no longer lists the 27-inch 5K model that retailed for $1,299 before its removal. …
Ubisoft says no user information was exposed in recent ‘cyber security incident’
South American hacking group Lapsus$ is claiming responsibility for another high-profile hack. On Thursday, Ubisoft said it underwent a “cyber security incident” last week that saw some of its games, systems and services temporarily disrupted. At the t…
‘The DioField Chronicle’ is a new strategy RPG that looks like ‘Final Fantasy Tactics’
In 1997, Square Enix released one of the finest games of the original PlayStation era in Final Fantasy Tactics. Outside of a handful of remasters and spinoffs, however, the company has been reluctant to return to the genre in a meaningful way. And while we may never get a proper sequel to Tactics, the good news is Square Enix is working on a new tactical RPG.
During Sony’s most recent State of Play on Wednesday, the publisher announced The DioField Chronicle. And if what you loved about Final FantasyTactics was its sprawling story and iconic art by Akihiko Yoshida, you’re in luck because DioField looks to have both on offer. You’ll lead the forces of the Kingdom of Alletain, a neutral island nation that gets dragged into a conflict with the sinister Trovelt-Schoevian Empire. Instead of a turn-based battle system, engagements play out in real-time and it appears you can control more than one character at a time.
Square plans to release The DioField Chronicle later this year on PlayStation 4 and PS5.
‘Heardle’ is like ‘Wordle’ for the musically inclined
Even before its acquisition by The New York Times at the start of the year, Wordle had inspired countless imitators. In the weeks since then, the offshoots have only multiplied. Want to compete with 98 other players for bragging rights? There’s a Wordl…
Capcom’s ‘Exoprimal’ isn’t ‘Dino Crisis’ and that’s OK
Just when you thought video games were getting too serious comes Capcom with Exoprimal, an entirely new IP that will see you and your friends facing off endless waves of dinosaurs that fall from the sky.
In an absolutely bananas trailer the publisher showed off during Sony’s State of Play presentation on Wednesday, we saw a game that looks like a mix of Anthem, Dino Crisis and Dynasty Warriors. Exoprimal is both a co-op and competitive game. In the game’s main mode, Dino Survival, you’ll team up with four other players to take on hordes of dinosaurs and an opposing team of five players. If you’ve played Destiny 2‘s Gambit mode, the setup will sound familiar. Each exosuit features a different suite of abilities, and you’ll need to work as a team to defeat both the cold- and warm-blooded killers out for your neck. Capcom said it plans to release Exoprimal in 2023 on PlayStation 4 and PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Steam.
Twitter begins rollout of alt text badges for greater accessibility
Twitter has begun testing two new features the company promises will improve the alt text experience on its platform. The company said it would spend about a month trialing the features, which add easy-to-access descriptions to images, before rolling them out globally at the start of April. As Twitter notes, adding a description or “alt text” to an image allows people with low vision or a cognitive disability to “fully contribute” to the platform. They’re also useful if you don’t have the fastest internet connection.
We’ve gotten a lot of feedback about how to improve the image description (or alt text) experience on Twitter. Today, we’re launching 2 features to 3% of Twitter across Android, iOS, and Web: the public ALT badge and exposed image descriptions. 🧵 (1 of 6) pic.twitter.com/HCYzIYEdal
— Twitter Accessibility (@TwitterA11y) March 9, 2022
If you have access to the test, you can add alt text to an image by tapping the “Add description” button that appears after you upload a picture. As a rule of thumb, you want to be concise but descriptive when writing alt tags. You’ll then see an “alt” badge appear at the bottom left corner of the image you can tap to read the description. Twitted noted it’s also working on a feature that will remind people to add descriptions to images, and said it would have more to share about that functionality “soon.”
Comprehensive support for alt tags shows just how much Twitter has come along on the accessibility front. In 2020, the company famously introduced a voice note feature that didn’t come with accessibility tools like closed captioning. The company eventually apologized for its actions and went on to establish two dedicated accessibility teams. “We know these features have been a long time coming,” the company said Wednesday, alluding to that history. “We’re grateful for your patience.”
Patient dies two months after groundbreaking pig heart transplant
David Bennett, the first human to successfully undergo a heart transplant involving a genetically modified pig heart, has died, according to The New York Times. He was 57. It’s unclear if his body rejected the organ doctors implanted in January. “There…
Bumble suspends service in Russia and Belarus
Bumble has joined a growing list of American companies pulling out of Russia amid the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. On Tuesday, the company announced it was discontinuing operations in Russia and removing its family of dating apps from the App…