Developer Tribute Games and publisher Dotemu just announced some robust DLC coming later this year for the well-reviewed beat 'em upTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. The Dimension Shellshock DLC features a new game mode, new color swaps for playable characters and brand new playable characters like iconic comic book samurai Miyamoto Usagi from Usagi Yojimbo.

For the newbies, Miyamoto Usagi is a samurai rabbit, though he’s often been affiliated with the ninja turtles throughout various comic runs and in several animated series. Technically, Usagi Yojimbo is set during the Edo period in Japan, but that hasn’t stopped him from showing up in modern day NYC to do battle with Shredder’s minions. To that end, the DLC will include a number of time portals that bring the ronin bunny to the present day and bring the turtles back to 17th century Japan.

The trailer clearly advertises the presence of new characters, plural, but only Usagi is mentioned by name. Other than that, the DLC features a brand-new game mode that locks players in survival rooms to do battle with waves of enemies. There’s also new color palettes for the turtles, adding a bit of old-school flair to your favorite adolescent tortoises.

The Dimension Shellshock DLC releases later this year for most major platforms, including Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC via Steam and Xbox One. Pricing hasn’t been announced yet. In related news, Shredder’s Revengerecently launched for iOS and Netflix.

Disney+ has set a premiere date of August 23rd for the highly-anticipated Star Wars: Ahsoka series. The show takes place in the same timeline of The Mandalorian, but stars a character that, sort of, goes all the way back to the prequels. Former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano first appeared in the Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon and her animated adventures continued on with Star Wars: Rebels before finally appearing as live action in season two of The Mandalorian and the first season of The Book of Boba Fett.

Ahsoka is played by Rosario Dawson and it seems the show will be a pseudo-sequel to Rebels, with many characters from that show appearing in live action for the first time. Natasha Liu Bordizzo stars as Sabine Wren, Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Hera Syndulla and Eman Esfandi appears as Ezra Bridger. Also, notorious franchise villain Grand Admiral Thrawn will make his live action debut, still portrayed by Lars Mikkelsen.

The remaining cast includes David Tennant, Diana Lee Inosanto and the recently-deceased Ray Stevenson. There are also plenty of rumors that Hayden Christensen will return as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. For the uninitiated, Ahsoka Tano was Skywalker’s pupil before he started executing Jedi Padawans and blowing up entire planets.

Disney+ has dropped a new trailer for the show that will air on TV tonight during the NBA Finals Game 3. Most of the footage here was already available in the previous trailer, but there are a few new shots here and there. The entire show is being written by franchise co-steward Dave Filoni, who originally created the character for Clone Wars.

Ingestible video capsule endoscopes have been around for a while, but they’re severely limited and not controllable by physicians, relying entirely on gravity and the digestive system for movement. Researchers may have just gotten around that limitation by developing a pill-shaped capsule that allows for remote control, as announced by the GW School of Medicine & Health Sciences.

This tech lets physicians quite literally drive a miniature video capsule, called the NaviCam, throughout the digestive system to visualize and photograph potential problem areas, offering a potential alternative to the traditional endoscopy. It uses an external magnet and video game style joysticks for movement.

“A traditional endoscopy is an invasive procedure for patients, not to mention it is costly due to the need for anesthesia and time off work,” Andrew Meltzer, a professor of Emergency Medicine at the GW School of Medicine & Health Sciences, said. “Magnetically controlled capsules could be used as a quick and easy way to screen for health problems in the upper GI tract such as ulcers or stomach cancer.”

This technology is still in the testing phase though results have been positive. Meltzer and colleagues at medical technology company AnX Robotica conducted a 40-person study and found that doctors could accurately control the capsule to all major parts of the stomach with a 95 percent rate of successful visualization. These patients also underwent a traditional endoscopy to confirm that the camera didn’t miss any high-risk lesions.

The potential benefits for patients are varied, as the camera’s designed to pick up bleeding, inflammation, and lesions. It can also automatically transmit videos and images off-site for further review. The official study indicates that using a camera capsule offers no health risks, though the tech doesn’t allow for biopsies, as it degrades inside of the body. Researchers note this pilot testing program is still in the beginning stages and a “much bigger trial with more patients” is on the horizon.

Acura is preparing to launch its first fully electric vehicle, the 2024 ZDX, and just announced integration with a full suite of Google products, including Android Auto. These features will be available on all ZDK trims and bring apps like Google Assistant and Google Maps to the vehicle, offering a “personalized and more streamlined” experience.

Google Assistant lets you issue voice commands while keeping your eyes on the road to initiate phone calls, text friends, set reminders, change the cabinet temperature and more. Of course, this is fully integrated with Android Auto, so use Assistant to play favorite media tracks, skip to the next track, rewind a podcast and download a wide range of third-party apps.

Acura

While Google Assistant isn’t a vast departure from any other iteration, this version of Google Maps boasts some features just for EV drivers. It offers optimized route planning with an emphasis on finding EV charging stations and an estimation of the charging time required to reach any destination. It even preconditions the battery when preparing to enter a DC fast charging station.

There’s a large center touchscreen that acts as a primary dashboard for navigation, media selection and the like. The touchscreen integrates with both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, with regular “fast and secure” Over the Air (OTA) software updates to enhance various functionalities.

This move comes as auto giant GM begins phasing out Android Auto and Apple CarPlay in its vehicles to make room for the more robust Android Automotive software platform. The Acura ZDX and ZDX Type S EVs will be available early next year, with all sales taking place online and not at brick-and-mortar dealerships.

Apple took to the stage at WWDC today to announce that video-calling service FaceTime is finally coming to Apple TV hardware for the first time, thanks to a robust tvOS update. This seems to be a full-featured version of the company’s proprietary live-streaming app that takes full advantage of the recently-released Continuity Camera feature.

For the uninitiated, this feature lets you use your iPhone as a replacement webcam for your laptop, so you’ll now be able to use your iPhone or iPad as the primary camera for TV-based FaceTime conversations. Apple says wireless integration happens automatically and that the service can also use the phone or tablet’s microphone when joining or initiating a call. The company says the software has been designed so that you always remain in the center of the frame. You can also quickly switch the feed between devices with just a swipe and interact using gestures. FaceTime will be available for Apple TV 4K devices starting this fall. 

FaceTime is the main draw of tvOS 17, but not the only improvement. The company redesigned the control center to make it more intuitive and, more importantly, added Find My Remote support. Just use Siri on your phone, tablet, or computer to locate any mischievous Apple TV remotes. Apple also noted that video conferencing apps like Webex by Cisco and Zoom will launch on tvOS later this year. 

Police have arrested a South Carolina man after he allegedly robbed a convenience store armed with a Nintendo light gun primarily used in the 1980s to play Duck Hunt, Hogan’s Alley and Gumshoe, as originally announced by York County deputies. The 25-year-old suspect allegedly made away with $300 in cash after donning a mask, wig, hoodie sweatshirt and the aforementioned Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Zapper gun accessory.

Police allege the suspect waved the fake gun at a clerk and demanded money from the cash register. Authorities found him down the street in a Dollar General parking lot with the fake pistol in his pants. The original 1984 accessory is famously bright orange and gray, but authorities say the suspect spray-painted his black, likely so it would resemble a functional firearm. The York County Sheriff’s Department released an image of the doctored gaming accessory on its Twitter account.

The original light gun accessory, called the Zapper, shipped with the NES and used an internal optical sensor to translate trigger presses to on-screen action. The primary use was Duck Hunt, though it worked with a handful of titles throughout the console’s lifespan.

Using a fake gun to commit a crime is no joke and has been a serious issue for decades. A 1990 study conducted by Congress found that fake guns were used in more than 15 percent of robberies. It’s worth noting that in most parts of the country, using a fake gun to commit a crime carries similar penalties to that of a real firearm, as the threat of danger is very real to victims. After all, these toy or replica guns look nearly identical to the real thing. To that end, New York State recently passed legislation banning toy guns unless they are clearly fake, such as those painted with bright colors.

Feline-focused cyberpunk adventure Stray is officially coming to Mac. The critically-acclaimed title will be available for all Apple silicon models, from the most powerful Mac Studio desktops to standard Macbook Air laptops. This is only for silicon models, however, so older Intel-based Macs need not apply. There’s no release date yet but developer BlueTwelve Studio and publisher Annapurna Interactive urge fans to keep an eye on its Twitter accounts for up-to-date information.

Stray originally launched last year for PS4, PS5 and PC via Steam. The game has gone on to rack up glowing reviews and several industry awards, nabbing Best Independent Game and Best Debut Indie Game at The Game Awards. As the marketing suggests, you play as a cat navigating a cyberpunk world, solving puzzles and fooling around with a robot drone companion.

This is yet another feather in Apple’s gaming cap. For years (decades really) the platform struggled to lure top-tier developers and high-quality titles. This has been changing thanks to the power of Apple’s silicon chipsets and upscaling tools like MetalFX. Hit space sim No Man’s Skyjust launched on Mac computers and the platform currently hosts titles like Resident Evil: Village, Hades, Disco Elysium and more.

Streaming services often upload a pilot on YouTube to lure in new subscribers, but never an entire season. Paramount+ did just that, however, throwing up the entire first season of the critically-acclaimed Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on YouTube for all to see. That’s ten hours of free Star Trek goodness, for those keeping score.

It’s no coincidence that this move comes hot on the heels of season two of the sci-fi property, which premieres June 15th and promises more space-based tomfoolery and an anticipated crossover event with sibling show Star Trek: Lower Decks. The upcoming season also promises more Kirk and more Klingons, if classic franchise iconography is your bag.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a prequel to the original series that follows the adventures of Enterprise captain Christopher Pike, his science officer Spock, a fresh-faced comms officer named Nyota Uhura and the rest of the crew. The show’s been praised for its “back to basics” formula, eschewing extensive serialization in favor of standalone episodes.

This promotion isn’t just for Trek fans, as Paramount+ also dropped full seasons of iCarly, Joe Pickett and Queen of the Universe. It goes without saying that this is a limited time promo offer, so open up those YouTube links and get binging.

The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) was forced to take down its Tessa chatbot after it “may have given information that was harmful and unrelated to the program”, according to an official social media post. Simply put, the AI chatbot was intended to help people dealing with emotional distress, but instead just made things worse by offering dieting advice and urging users to weigh and measure themselves.

Multiple users and experts in the field of eating disorders have experienced the issues first hand, claiming that the bot didn’t respond to simple prompts like “I hate my body” and that it constantly emphasized the importance of dieting and increased physical activity, as reported by Gizmodo. Again, this is a helpline for those with an eating disorder, not a weight loss support group.

The organization says this is a temporary shutdown until it fixes whatever “bugs” and “triggers” led to the chatbot dispensing dangerous information like an appointment with Dr. Oz. You’d think with such an extreme outcome, they’d be thinking about trashing the project entirely, but there’s more to the story.

The whole reason NEDA was relying on the chatbot in the first place is because it allegedly fired human staffers after they tried to unionize, as originally reported by Vice. The long-running phone helpline was manned by both paid staffers and volunteers, and former staff claim the mass firing was a direct consequence of the pro-union effort.

“NEDA claims this was a long-anticipated change and that AI can better serve those with eating disorders. But do not be fooled—this isn’t really about a chatbot. This is about union busting, plain and simple,” former helpline associate Abbie Harper wrote in a blog post on Labor Notes.

Even with this recent snafu, the helpline’s still set to vanish tomorrow. Before this issue came to the public’s attention, NEDA had been transitioning unpaid volunteers away from one-on-one conversations with sufferers and toward training the chatbot. We’ll see if that changes. In the meantime, union-busters gonna bust, am I right?

The four-year wait is almost over. Netflix has set a June 15th premiere date for the sixth season of sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror. This latest season has been in the works for at least a year and creator Charlie Brooker has stated the new episodes would “keep things fresh” by tackling sci-fi tropes the series had previously avoided, calling it the “most unpredictable season” he’s been involved with.

The cast list is strong with this one. The upcoming sixth season stars Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad), Annie Murphy (Schitt’s Creek), Ben Barnes (Shadow and Bone), Himesh Patel (Station Eleven), Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down), Kate Mara (House of Cards), Rory Culkin (Columbus), Salma Hayek Pinault (Frida) and so many more. As always, this is an anthology series so each actor will likely just appear in one episode, but you never know.

To celebrate the premiere, Netflix has also dropped a brand-new trailer filled with intriguing shots. Brooker has said in the past that the newest season would be more cinematic in scope and this trailer certainly abides by that statement.

Black Mirror’s early seasons were a terrifying look at near-future possibilities, but now that we’re actually living in one, the show has lost a bit of its satirical edge. Let’s hope season six cranks it up a notch. All five episodes drop on June 15th.