ArduinoMania

• Read more about High-Resolution ToF 3D Image Sensor Brings Accurate and Robust Depth Sensing Capabilities to Automotive Applications
• Log in or register to post comments

• Read more about EVs Selling Price is Not Fair as Per the Price of its Manufacturing Materials. Why?
• Log in or register to post comments

Meta will no longer release any more Portal devices for consumers, according to The Information and Variety. The company is reportedly repositioning the smart display and home video line as a business product and discontinuing current consumer versions. Variety says Meta will sell all the remaining inventory of previously released models and will continue providing support for existing customers, but it will focus on business applications for future releases. Portal never quite sold as well as Amazon's and Google smart display devices, but it enjoyed an uptick in sales after pandemic lockdowns forced companies to let their employees work from home. 

According to the IDC research firm, Meta sold 600,000 Portal devices in 2020 and 800,000 in 2021, as businesses looked for solutions to make communicating with remote workers easier. Perhaps it was the knowledge that it was business customers that gave the devices' sales a boost these past two years that compelled Meta to change the product line's focus. We'll just have to wait and see how Portals for businesses differ from their consumer counterparts. Meta released several versions of Portal in the past, including the Portal TV, which turns televisions into big smart displays, and the Portal Go that can be taken out of its charging dock and moved around. 

In addition to killing off consumer Portals, Meta has also reportedly shelved plans for its long-rumored dual-camera smartwatch. Previous reports suggested that it was going to be an Apple competitor, but Meta has apparently decided to focus on developing other wearables for now.

Have you ever played Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley and wished you could subjugate the townsfolk? You'll soon have your chance. Devolver and Massive Monster have announced that the cute-but-sinister Cult of the Lamb launches August 11th for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. There's a demo on Steam to help whet your demonic appetite.

The game shares the community building and top-down perspective of games like Animal Crossing, but the plot is anything but kid-friendly. You play a possessed lamb forced to repay a debt to a creepy stranger by growing (what else?) a cult around him. You have to build idols, perform rituals, give sermons as you gradually convert the local population in a randomly-generated world. Naturally, you'l have to battle false prophets and anyone else who refuses to embrace your beliefs.

Sam Eng/Devolver Digital

Cult of the Lamb comes alongside premieres for a trio of new Devolver games due in 2023. Anger Foot is a first-person shoot-and-kick romp from the creators of Broforce and Genital Jousting. Sam Eng's Skate Story (pictured above), meanwhile, is a stylish skateboarder that challenges you to escape captivity in the underworld by eating the Moon — yes, really. All Possible Futures' The Plucky Squire rounds out the list by telling the tale of storybook characters who jump between 2D book pages and the 3D world beyond. The three titles are all coming to PC, while Plucky Squire will also be available on PS5, Switch and Xbox Series X/S.

Reports over the last couple of years have suggested that not only was Meta working on a smartwatch, it was developing one with two cameras. However, that project is on hold, according to Bloomberg, as Meta is focusing on other wearables instead.

The long-rumored smartwatch was pegged as a possible Apple Watch competitor and the report suggests it was expected to go on sale next spring for around $349. A prototype was said to have features including activity tracking, a calendar, photo gallery and heart rate monitoring. It's believed to have had an 18-hour battery life.

Apps included Spotify, as well as ones for Meta's own WhatsApp and Instagram Stories. The prototype reportedly did not have a native app store. Instead, the idea was that you'd manage the device using your Facebook account. Naturally, you would have been able to post to Facebook and Instagram from the watch.

The device reportedly had WiFi, GPS and eSIM support and a removable watch face with two side buttons, one of which was a circular control (it's unclear if this was an Apple Watch crown-style dial). It was said to feature a five-megapixel camera on the watch face and a 12-megapixel one on the rear. The latter was designed to be usable after the watch face was removed.

That second camera appears to have caused issues during development — its positioning reportedly interfered with sensors that turned feedback from the wearer's nerves into digital signals. The company has mulled the idea of using smartwatches as input devices for its take on the metaverse, with users being able to control avatars or engage with VR spaces through gestures.

Along with technical complications, it seems that broader issues at Meta played a role in the device being put on hold. A report last month suggested the company has killed off some Meta Reality Labs projects as it looks to rein in spending. Meta has shaken up its leadership team in recent weeks as well.

Still, the work of the engineers who were on the dual-camera watch project may not be in vain. Meta may use some of the features in other wearables. There's a possibility of the project being revived at a later date too.

Meanwhile, Meta is also said to have scaled back on its ambitions for augmented reality glasses. According to The Information, the company is no longer expected to release its first-generation augmented reality glasses in 2024. That device is now said to be earmarked for use as a demo product. The report suggests Meta is instead focusing on the second-gen AR glasses, meaning it could be several years before the device hits the market. 

In addition, the report suggests Meta will no longer make Portal devices for consumers. The company is said to be planning to turn Portal smart displays into a product line aimed at businesses.

Ustwo, the studio behind Monument Valley and Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, is working on a new game called Desta: The Memories Between. It features a blend of roguelike, turn-based and sports-game mechanics, and it's in development for multiple platforms — though exactly which remains a mystery, as does the game's release date. The studio promises to share more information in the coming months.

ustwo

Desta takes place in two worlds, reality and a limbo made up of the protagonist's memories, and its main gameplay mechanic involves throwing around a blue ball. The story follows Desta, a person in their 20s who returns home after leaving their loved ones in chaos a while back. Desta's dad has died, and when they find his treasured blue ball, they're transported to a dreamlike world where they can confront their past and speak with the people they left behind. Solving physics and spatial puzzles with the ball unlocks dialogue with Desta's friends and family members, and helps them find the necessary words to move forward.

The game is fully voice acted, and ustwo developers are pulling inspiration from games like Hades and Into the Breach for its mechanics.

ustwo

"Desta is the deepest, most ambitious and most replayable title from ustwo games yet, but with all the heart and approachability that the London studio is known for," according to ustwo.

As if official confirmation was actually needed after the leak earlier today, a remake of 2013's The Last Of Us is coming to PlayStation 5 on September 2nd. Sony put together a trailer showing some of the gorgeous visuals of The Last of Us Part I and noted that the remake is coming to PC as well. The bundle also includes the excellent Left Behind expansion.

The developers used original performances from Ashley Johnson, Troy Baker, and the rest of the cast, but utilized a new AI and refreshed the combat. The effects and exploration have been enhanced as well. The team is harnessing 3D audio and the DualSense controller's adaptive triggers and haptic feedback. There will be more accessibility features than the original game had too, building on the extensive options in The Last of Us Part II. More details will be revealed in the coming months.

The remake is a full-price game at $70. Opt for the $80 Digital Deluxe edition and you'll be able to unlock some items and features early, including a speedrun mode, explosive arrows(!), weapon skins and modifiers for faster crafting and healing. The $100 Firefly edition includes all of those bonuses as well as a steelbook cover for the physical version and four issues of the The Last of Us: American Dreams comic. There are pre-order perks for every version too.

That's not the only news about the franchise that was revealed today. It's long been acknowledged that a standalone multiplayer games set in the world of The Last of Us was in the works, and now Naughty Dog has revealed more details about what's in store. Studio co-president Neil Druckmann, the director of the first two games in the series, showed the first concept art at Summer Game Fest.

Naughty Dog

Druckmann said it will be "as big of as any of our single-player games that we've done, and in some ways bigger." It has its own story and a new cast of characters, along with a fresh setting. It's led by a team of Naughty Dog veterans who have worked on the series as well as the Uncharted games. More details will be announced next year. 

Following that announcement, Druckmann touched on the HBO's upcoming The Last of Us series. While lots of set photos have popped up over the last year, he showed the second official still from the show. It shows Joel (Pedro Pascal) and (Bella Ramsay) taking cover. Bump up the brightness on the image, though, and you'll see something lurking in the background.

PlayStation Productions/HBO

It also emerged that Johnson and Baker, who played Ellie and Joel in the games, will appear in the show, but their roles haven't been revealed as yet. Filming will wrap on the first season tomorrow. While the series is expected to arrive next year, Druckmann said that fans will hear more about it "very soon."

Bloober Team is returning to its roots with Layers of Fears, a "psychological horror chronicle" heading to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC in early 2023. The game is a new story chapter in the Layers of Fear universe, building on the spooky psychedelic foundation laid out in the previous installments.

"We are bringing back a franchise that is really special for us, in a new form that will give players a truly fresh gaming experience and that will shed new light on the overall story," Bloober Team CEO Piotr Babieno said in a press release. "Our plan was to recreate the games, but we didn’t want to make it a simple collection of two remastered games. We’ve worked out a new approach, something that is maybe not yet obvious. But I can tell you there’s a reason why we called it Layers of Fears."

Bloober Team launched its original horror franchise in 2016 with Layers of Fear and an expansion subtitled Inheritance. A full sequel came out in 2019, and throughout the years Bloober Team has partnered with major studios to create spooky games including Blair Witch and The Medium.

Last year, Bloober Team entered into a partnership with Konami, the publisher of the Silent Hill franchise, fueling rumors that the studio was working on a remake of Silent Hill 2. These rumors came to a head just before the Summer Game Fest kickoff show this year — but turns out, it was Layers of Fears all along. The studio is reportedly working on multiple games simultaneously, so there's still a chance for Bloober Team to get in on the Silent Hill franchise.

Bloober Team is co-developing Layers of Fears with Anshar Studios, which also helped out with Observer: System Redux.

You no longer need cords (or a PlayStation) to continue the Moss saga. Polyarc has revealed that Moss: Book II is coming to the Quest 2 VR headset on July 21st. The core experience remains intact — you help the mouse heroine Quill as evil forces try to claim the Glass she holds. The difference, of course, is that the Quest 2's stand-alone design and dual controllers promise more gameplay freedom compared to the PSVR version.

You can add Book II to your wishlist now. The launch comes months after the game's March 31st debut on PSVR, but it's arguably worth the wait. The PlayStation release not only tethers you to a console, but relies on a conventional gamepad. This brings the game to a wider audience while taking better advantage of VR's potential.

Fans of Donut Country creator Ben Esposito won't have to wait much longer to play his new game. At Summer Game Fest, Annapurna Interactive announced Neon White is launching on June 16th on both PC and Nintendo Switch. Alongside news of a release date, the publisher also shared a new gameplay trailer, showcasing the game's unusual mix of platforming and card-based shooting. Engadget senior editor Jessica Conditt interviewed Esposito about the game last March and came away excited to play it.