Paramount has shared a new trailer for the upcoming third season of Star Trek: Picard. And while we already knew Picard’s final adventure would reunite Patrick Stewart with most of the principal cast of The Next Generation, it’s still good to see some characters we haven’t seen in a while. The minute-long clip Paramount released during San Diego Comic-Con features voiceovers from nearly all of Picard’s season three cast, including LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden and Michael Dorn. It’s not much more than what Paramount had to offer back in April, but at least this time we get to see the former crew of the USS Enterprise in their new uniforms.
That’s not the only Star Trek news to come out of Comic-Con. Paramount also announced that season two of Strange New Worlds will feature a crossover episode with Lower Decks. Jonathan Frakes will direct the episode, which will feature a combination of live-action and animated footage. Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid will also reprise their roles as the voices of Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler. Season two of Strange New Worlds doesn’t have a release date yet, but Star Trek fans can look forward to watching a new season of Lower Decks starting on August 25th. On that note, Paramount also shared a new trailer for the animated show, which you can see below.
Warner Bros. Games' MultiVersus is a fun take on platform fighters like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Brawlhalla. It's soon going into open beta with a roster packed with characters from across a wide range of WB franchises. Developer Player First Games is about to add one more to the mix: Space Jam: A New Legacy star LeBron James.
The NBA icon will join the lineup when the open beta starts on July 26th. Unsurprisingly, his offense centers around the use of a basketball. He can throw a ball at opponents or dribble one around his feet to damage enemies. James is also able to block projectiles by building a fence. Surprisingly (or not, depending on how much you appreciated his thespian skills in Space Jam), James isn't voicing himself in the game. Actor John Bentley will play him.
WB also announced that a couple of other fan-favorite characters will join the lineup soon, as Rick and Morty are on the way. Many of Rick's abilities are based around his portal gun. He'll be available when season one starts on August 9th. Morty, who will arrive later in the season, can whip himself at opponents and use grenades.
The trio will be added to an ever-expanding and fairly peculiar roster. Big names like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn and Bugs Bunny are all in the mix, as are Arya Stark from Game of Thrones and Shaggy and Velma from Scooby Doo. Tom and Jerry play as a single character, rather than trying to throttle one another.
The Iron Giant, the most recent addition, is portrayed as a gentle-hearted being in the film of the same name who only fights when it's completely necessary. In MultiVersus, he's beating up opponents like the rest of the cast, which the developers justified by saying the game takes place in an alternate universe.
If that's not odd enough, leaks have suggested Ted Lasso, Gizmo from Gremlins (you know, the cute one) and the Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz are coming to the roster as well. For what it's worth, those leaks are from the same person who revealed the game's existence in the first place and who said LeBron, Rick and Morty were MultiVersus-bound too.
The BBC has already started preparing for Facebook's 20th anniversary in 2024: The broadcaster has announced that its factual entertainment team has commissioned a three-part documentary about Mark Zuckerberg and the social network he founded. Facebook's story is pretty well-known at this point, and it's common knowledge that Zuckerberg originally designed it to connect students at Harvard. And that the Winklevoss twins sued the Meta chief, claiming he stole their idea. BBC, however, aims to present a "definitive account" of Mark Zuckerberg and the social network he founded.
That means no dramatized events like in the 2010 David Fincher-directed film starring Jesse Eisenberg. Instead, BBC promises access to "key players, insider testimony, personal journals and rare archive material." Mindhouse, the TV production company behind the project, will also examine the rise of the social media and how it has changed human behavior and interaction. It's unclear if the documentary will also examine Facebook's role in spreading fake news around the world.
Nancy Strang, Minhouse Creative Director, Mindhouse, said in a statement:
"The remarkable story of Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook is one of the tales of our time. He has arguably done more to transform human behaviour and connectivity than any other person this century. I'm thrilled that we've been given this opportunity to tell the extraordinary inside story of the social media giant, and the man behind it."
The docuseries, which has a working title of Zuckerberg, has no premiere date yet. But it will air on BBC Two and will be streamable from BBC iPlayer when it comes out.
Is the Pixel 6a the best Android phone under $500? Tune in for Cherlynn’s review! This week, Devindra and Cherlynn also discuss why losing almost a million subscribers was actually a good thing fo Netflix. And they dive into Qualcomm’s latest hardware for smartwatches, as well as the latest updates from Twitter’s ongoing fight with Elon Musk.
Listen above, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
Alienware’s m17 R5 gaming laptop is a beast that few people need – 46:25
The new Instagram Map is like Google Maps, but with more selfies – 48:16
OnePlus 10T launch set for August 3 – 52:19
Working on – 53:06
Pop culture picks – 58:01
Livestream
Credits Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Sam Rutherford Guest: Lisa Song from ProPublica Producer: Ben Ellman Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos Graphic artists: Luke Brooks and Brian Oh
San Diego Comic-Con 2022 kicked off with a trailer for the movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and it... actually looks promising? The upcoming film has an all-star cast with Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page and Hugh Grant, and blends action, fantasy, comedy and some of D&D's most iconic monsters.
"A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people," the description reads. "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves brings the rich world and playful spirit of the legendary roleplaying game to the big screen in a hilarious and action-packed adventure."
The trailer delivers the dragons you'd expect, including possibly an acid-breathing Ancient Black Dragon and a Red Dragon. We also see a Mimic disguised as a treasure chest, a Displacer Beast, a Gelatinous Cube and an Owlbear — a beast that goes back to the original D&D game. As for realms and spells, there's what looks like the Underdark, a Heat Metal spell, Dimension Door spell and others.
The film is being produced and distributed by Paramount and Hasbro, which controls the rights of the game and recently acquired the popular digital game-playing toolset D&D Beyond. Hasbro is also working on other film and TV adaptations for its toys including Transformers and My Little Pony.
There's increasing pressure on Meta to show more content in chronological order, and the company is responding — if not quite in the way you might have expected. Facebook has launched Home and Feeds tabs that simultaneously offer more control while giving the social network more opportunities to push recommendations. The Feeds tab shows posts from friends, groups and Pages in a linear timeline, but the Home tab uses Facebook's discovery engine to recommend posts, Reels and other content, including from people you don't follow.
The tabs will appear in the shortcut bar of Facebook's Android and iOS apps starting today, and should roll out worldwide this week. The Home tab will open by default, but you can pin the Feeds tab to the shortcut bar to make sure it's always available.
The social media giant has previously made concessions to people who prefer chronological viewing. In March of last year, it gave users quick access to a "Most Recent" setting for the News Feed. As The Vergenoted, though, this appears to be an effort to compete with TikTok's recommendation-driven approach to videos without dropping the usual focus on friends and Pages. Meta lost daily Facebook users for the first time in the third quarter of 2021, and has struggled to return to its previously rapid growth. In theory, this shift toward recommendations will keep users coming back without alienating those who just want to interact with their friends.
SoundCloud has found a powerful partner for its unusual royalty system that ensures lesser-known artists and indie acts are getting the money they deserve. The service has signed a global licensing agreement with Warner Music Group, making the company the first record label to adopt its Fan-Powered Royalties model. Some of the record label's most popular acts are Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Cher, Gorillaz, Hayley Kiyoko, Kelly Clarkson and Lizzo. However, it's most likely the artists who aren't quite as well-known who would benefit the most from the scheme.
This deal ensures every artist across the label's roster gets paid based on users' listening habits. Most streaming services' pro-rata model puts their ad earnings and their customers' subscription payments in one big pot used to pay artists based on their share of total plays across the service. SoundCloud's system, however, sends listeners' subscription money directly to the artists they're listening to.
The service launched the new model in 2021 and implemented it for performers using SoundCloud Premier, Repost and Repost Select. Back then, it said artists could collect as much as five times their previous royalties under the scheme. Company President Eliah Seton said in a statement: "Warner Music Group is known for developing some of today's biggest superstars and helping them build long-term careers by investing in technologies and models which grow and support their fan communities. This makes them an ideal partner for SoundCloud... [The company] is known for our community of music-loving fans and this partnership aligns with our commitment to a fan-powered, artist-centric business."
When SoundCloud introduced the fan-powered royalties model, critics noted that it might potentially be expensive to operate and, while it looks good on paper, it may not work well in practice. Warner signing the deal adds weight to the royalties scheme, though, and other major labels might be more inclined to follow suit.
The final episode of Space Explorers: The ISS Experienceis available starting today and it's closing things out with a bang. The four-part series, which debuted in October 2020, wraps up with the first spacewalk filmed in ultra high-resolution cinematic virtual reality. The episode, which is called "Expand," includes the arrival of a SpaceX crew on the International Space Station for the first time as well. Meanwhile, the astronauts are forced to reckon with the impact of COVID-19 back on Earth.
You can check out "Expand" on Meta Quest and Meta Quest 2 headsets for free. The other Space Explorers: The ISS Experience episodes are still available too. Meanwhile, Felix & Paul, the studio behind the series, plans to livestream the Artemis I launch in VR. The launch of an uncrewed mission to the Moon is currently slated for August 29th, September 2nd or September 5th.
I’m not sure what pulled me back into Overwatch. Correction: It was all Jessica Conditt’s fault. Her incisive overview on the Summer Game Fest, which noted the lack of fresh updates on AAA games – those major games we’re all excited about – got me thinking about which games I’m waiting to play.
One of those is Overwatch 2. Which is coming this year, has a release date and is just wrapping up its public beta. Oh, and it's completely rid of loot boxes. Rejoice!
The fact that the original Overwatch will evolve into its sequel, which will be free-to-play, rewired my brain. Before I knew it, I was back in the game's lobby waiting my turn to play as all of the popular characters (now categorized as Damage players).
I was already used to the notion that your team of heroes had to strike a balance between support (healers), Tank (damage sponges) and Damage (your, er, damage dealers). This dynamic makes for more strategic fights, even in casual match-ups. But it means I often don’t get to play with some of my favorite characters.
Blizzard
In casual games, there seems to be a dearth in Support players, sadly. (Luckily for me, Moria is one of my go-to characters.) Hopefully, Overwatch 2 will redistribute characters across those three categories — not to mention new additions and new skills and supers. Of course, these mandatory squad layouts were one of many major changes and shifts in Overwatch since it first arrived back in 2016.
Once upon a time, the dwarfy, Torbjörn had an upgradable turret gun and threw out armor packs, Reaper had to collect little orbs of death to gain health from his kills. Symmetra, one of the relatively late additions to the game, has had her abilities and ultimates reshuffled several times. At one point, she had two ultimate options, while another changed nerfed her sentry turret down from six turrets down to three. Outrageous!
The most controversial change was made to everyone’s go-to healer, Mercy. In the early stages of Overwatch, her ultimate attack would revive all KOed heroes in range. It was… rather overpowered. These days, it’s a more sensible single-person revive that charges faster – but some may never get over some of these shakeups. (They should.) [Ed. note: I won't.]
There are big changes afoot in Overwatch 2, too. After weeks of playing the beta, I was relieved that many of my primary characters really haven’t changed at all – at least, not yet. It’s unusual to see Bastion wheeling around as a tank (and I’m now bad at playing as Bastion?), while I’m still acquainting myself with Orisa’s changes, which completely shake up her playstyle (no shield?!). This will take some time. A few new skill effects are also a little hard to decipher visually. (You can check out my colleague Jessica’s deeper thoughts on the beta right here.)
I maintain, despite (or thanks to) the many, many additions, that Overwatch has the most iconic character roster of a game since Street Fighter 2. Still, I don’t like having to really dig for the lore and character backgrounds outside of the game to understand the motivations — or, at least, the sassy asides they say to each other. It’s funny I mention SF2, because the beta feels a little like Super Street Fighter 2, which gave us four new characters, a few more locales, but didn’t exactly reinvent the wheel.
The beta remains limited to standard versus matches, though you will occasionally get to test out the cute robot-tug-of-war matches every now and then. It’s mostly the same Overwatch experience. The two new characters, Junker Queen and Sojourn, are both compelling additions to the roster so far (even if there are still too many Damage characters). The Junker Queen, in particular, seems to offer some intriguing new moves to shake up the competitive meta.
I’m still hoping for more beyond the base game matchups though, whether that’s more cooperative set-pieces or something entirely new and different. Is that too much to ask from what will be a free-to-play game? Hopefully, Overwatch 2 will also better expand on narrative bits and pieces.
The addictive ebb-and-flow of the fights feel the same, but I wonder if Blizzard can continually evolve and expand the experience to keep me hooked this time, just like Roadhog would have wanted.
When Netflix's cheaper ad-supported tier launches next year, subscribers may find themselves unable to access some of the service's titles available on its regular plan. As Deadline notes, Netflix co-CEO and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos has admitted during the company's most recent earnings call that the upcoming subscription option will not include all of its licensed content at launch. It will be missing shows and movies from both US and international studios and distributors, unless the company can successfully (and quickly) convince them to change the deal they originally agreed to.
Netflix is in talks with studios to amend their deals and be able to make their shows available for streaming alongside ads. Based on a previous Wall Street Journal report, Netflix is renegotiating its deals with Warner Bros. (the studio behind You), Universal (the producer of Russian Doll) and Sony Pictures Television (producer of Cobra Kai). The service will reportedly have to renegotiate the terms for some of the older shows it carries, as well, including Breaking Bad.
Sarandos said during the earnings call:
"Today, the vast majority of what people watch on Netflix, we can include in the ad-supported. There’s some things that don’t and we’re in conversations with the studios on, but if we launched the product today, members in the ad-tier would have a great experience. We will clear some additional content but certainly not all of it but don’t think it’s a material holdback for the business."
In the same call, Netflix also admitted that it lost nearly 1 million subscribers in the second quarter of 2022. It still turned a $1.44 billion net profit and expects to add a net 1 million subscribers in the next quarter, but it's hoping that some of the measures it's taking will help it grow its userbase yet again. The ad-supporter tier it's launching with Microsoft early next year could help Netflix grow in markets where there's strong ad spending.
