Spotify’s Car Thing, a limited hardware “test” the company began shipping only three years ago, is about to bite the dust. The company wrote on Thursday that the device, which brought Spotify to automobiles without Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, will “no longer be operational” as of December 9.

Car Thing was aimed at drivers who want to listen to Spotify in their cars but don’t have modern systems with built-in streaming apps. The $90 device let you control the service with voice recognition and preset buttons, and it had a four-inch color touchscreen. However, Spotify had already discontinued it by mid-2022.

In our 2021 preview, Engadget’s Billy Steele wrote that the gadget seemed unnecessary at first but proved useful after two weeks of use. “While it seems only Spotify die-hards would be interested in something like this, it does offer an upgrade for older cars,” our audio gear expert wrote. “I’m never getting built-in voice control in [the 2006 Honda] Element, and the ability to keep Waze on my phone and Spotify on another display definitely reduced the need to fiddle with either while driving.”

Billy Steele for Engadget

Spotify’s official explanation for ditching its first hardware product is that it’s “part of our ongoing efforts to streamline our product offerings” (read: save money) and that it lets the streaming service “focus on developing new features and enhancements that will ultimately provide a better experience to all Spotify users.”

Those new features and enhancements are anyone’s guess because the company adds that it doesn’t plan on launching a replacement product or a new version of Car Thing. Of course, you can listen to Spotify in your car with your phone connected through Bluetooth or a cable, and many drivers now have Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, which provide access to much more than a single music app.

Spotify recommends factory resetting the Car Thing and disposing of it after it kicks the bucket in December. The company isn’t offering any refunds or trade-in options — something to keep in mind if it ever rolls out more limited hardware experiments.

Atari just announced that it has acquired the Intellivision brand, along with more than 200 games from Intellivision Entertainment LLC. This puts an end to the very first console war, as Atari and Intellivison were bitter rivals going all the way back to 1979. The original Intellivision console, released by Mattel, went up against the Atari VCS (later named the 2600) a full decade before Nintendo and Sega started their beef.

“Uniting Atari and Intellivision after 45 years ends the longest-running console war in history,” said Mike Mika, the studio head at Atari-owned Digital Eclipse.

The deal doesn’t include the long-delayed Intellivision Amico retro console. Intellivision Entertainment LLC will continue working on the Amico as a separate and rebranded company and will use a license provided by Atari to release Intellivision games on it. The company has had a difficult time getting the console funded after originally announcing it back in 2018. It did manage, however, to release a truly bizarre app for iOS and Android devices that requires two smartphones or tablets to work. One device displays the game and the other acts as a controller. It’s a weird idea and, according to Kotaku, "one janky piece of crap."

As for Atari, it’s already making use of the Intellivision brand by adding items like t-shirts to its online store. Atari CEO and chairman Wade Rosen said on X that the acquisition presented a “very rare opportunity to unite former competitors and bring together fans of Atari, Intellivision and the golden age of gaming.” The ColecoVision, another console from the early 1980s, was also part of this golden age of gaming, but has yet to be snatched up by Atari.

With small and stylish compact cameras like Fujifilm's X100 VI all the rage for influencers, Leica has decided to jump back into the game. The company just unveiled the $1,595 D-Lux 8, a followup to the D-Lux 7 released way back in 2018. While substantially restyled compared to the last model, it carries the same 17-megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor and 24-75mm (35mm equivalent) f/1.7-2.8 lens as before. 

The original was effectively a rebadge of Panasonic's LX100 II, but it's not clear if the D-Lux 8 is using exactly the same sensor or an updated version. In any case, Leica didn't reveal much information, beyond the sensor, resolution and lens, along with the new images. 

From the latter, we can see some substantial differences from the previous model. It has an all-black finish and leather-style wrap, much like its full-frame Q3 compact. The interface has also been simplified, with only a "play," "menu" and d-pad type control on the rear, along with two unlabeled buttons. On top, there's a power switch in place of the "4K" button. All of this is inspired by the Q lineup, the company said.

Leica

Spec-wise, all the company detailed is the sensor and lens, while saying it now supports RAW file capture, a first for the D-lux lineup. Other features, like video, autofocus and more have yet to be revealed. 

Leica also has new accessories including carrying straps, leather protectors, a flash and a hand grip. The company is also showing an app, without saying exactly what it does.

It would be a bit disappointing if the D-Lux 8 is just a spruced up version of the D-Lux 7, launched to take advantage of compact camera craze created by Fujifilm's X100 series. The old model was a solid compact for its time, but offers contrast-detect instead of phase-detect autofocus, along with tame photo and video specs. 

It certainly does look good, though, and that's been a key element in the compact camera renaissance. And for those attracted to the Leica's storied history and that iconic red dot, $1,595 is as low a price as you'll ever see for a new camera from the brand.

Panasonic’s mirrorless cameras have always been popular with pro video shooters, but to date the company hasn’t directly tackled a key segment: influencers. Today, it’s finally jumping in with the S9, a small and stylish full-frame camera with similar capabilities to Sony’s ZV-E1. The S9’s key feature is a dedicated LUT button and app that let you quickly select custom and preset video looks, much like you can with Fujifilm’s simulations.

With the same 24-megapixel sensor as Panasonic’s S5 II, the S9 supports up to 6.2K 30p video and comes with Panasonic’s latest phase-detect and AI-tracking autofocus. It also has advanced in-body stabilization that promises gimbal-like smoothness.

There are a few things missing, though, like a viewfinder and mechanical shutter. Finally, there’s the $1,500 price, which isn’t much less than the more-capable S5 II. So does Panasonic’s first camera for influencers deliver? I tested a pre-production version of the S9 in Japan to find out.

Stylish and petite

At 486 grams (17.1 ounces), the S9 is light for a full-frame camera and just three grams heavier than the ZV-E1. I’ll discuss Panasonic’s new 26mm f/8 lens soon, but with that, the whole system is small enough to slip into a bag and is actually a bit lighter than Fujifilm’s X100 VI.

The S9’s design is cute, but the polycarbonate body doesn’t feel nearly as premium as, say, Fuji’s X100 VI. It comes in a choice of red, blue, green and black in a faux leather covering. It’s not as pretty as Fujifilm’s offerings, but is more stylish than most Lumix cameras.

With that smooth design and no handle, though, it’s a bit hard to grip. This isn’t a problem when using lightweight lenses, but with larger ones like the Lumix 24-70mm f/2.8, the S9 could slip right out of your hand. Panasonic did give us a dedicated SmallRig grip that helps a lot, but that’s not included in the price.

The S9 has stripped-down controls compared to most Panasonic cameras. With no top rear dial or joystick, it's trickier to change settings than on larger models like the S5 II.

What it does have that we’ve never seen is a LUT button that Panasonic actually patented. Those letters stand for look-up table, and pressing the button brings up a choice of built-in or custom simulations.

Steve Dent for Engadget

The flip-around screen is great for vlogging, but the S9 lacks an electronic viewfinder, much like Sony’s ZV-E1. It has just a cold shoe on top, so it can't power flashes, microphones, a viewfinder or other accessories.

It’s also missing a headphone port, which is unfortunate for a camera dedicated to video. And while the Fujifilm X-T30 supports a headphone via the USB-C port, the S9 doesn’t have that option, nor does it support wireless sound. As for storage, the single SD card slot enables UHS-II speeds, but is located inconveniently next to the battery compartment

Photography

For a hybrid camera aimed at videographers, the S9 isn’t bad for stills. You can shoot at 9 RAW frames per second, and the buffer will hold up to 55 shots. The S9 doesn’t have a mechanical shutter, though, and distortion can be problematic with fast-moving subjects.

Continuous autofocus for photos works well, though it’s still behind Canon and Sony. The AI is good at locking onto human faces, bodies and eyes, and also works with animals, cars and motorcycles. It’s not a sports or wildlife camera by any means, but the majority of my photos were in focus.

Like the S5 II, the S9 shoots 14-bit RAW images in single-shot mode but drops to 12-bit RAW for burst shooting. As this was a pre-production camera without the final firmware, I was unable to test RAW quality, but I’d expect it to be in line with the Panasonic S5 II.

Photo quality otherwise is good from what I've seen so far, with realistic colors and skin tones. In low light, I wouldn’t go past about ISO 6400 as noise can get bad compared to cameras with similar sensors, like Nikon’s Z6 II.

Steve Dent for Engadget

I liked the S9 as a street photography camera, as it’s discreet, silent and lightweight. However, the new $200 pancake lens that helps make it so light is manual focus only and has just one f/8 aperture setting which may turn off buyers. On top of that, with no electronics in the lens, the zoom window doesn’t pop up to aid focus. As such, you need to rely on the focus peaking assist.

Video

As a video camera, the S9 is generally excellent, but has some pluses and minuses compared to the ZV-E1. On the positive side, the higher-resolution sensor allows for up to 6.2K 30p or supersampled 4K 30p video using the entire sensor width. It also supports full readout 3:2 capture that makes vertical video easier to shoot.

4K 60p requires an APS-C crop, and to get 120 fps video you need to drop down to 1080p. Like the S5 II, it supports a number of anamorphic formats with supported lenses.

Steve Dent for Engadget

The ZV-E1 has half the resolution, so video isn’t quite as sharp, but Sony’s camera can shoot 4K at up to 120 fps and rolling shutter isn’t nearly as bad.

One potential issue with this camera for creators is the limited continuous recording time, which is capped at just 10 minutes at 6.2K and 15 minutes at 4K. That’s due to the small size and lack of a fan, but you can start recording again immediately after it stops — so this would mainly affect event shooters needing to do long takes. We'll see if these recording times remain in the final firmware.

The S9 has excellent in-body stabilization, with up to 6.5 stops using supported lenses. Like the S5 II, it offers a boost mode that’s best for handheld shooting with limited movement, and an electronic mode with a 1.4x crop in the “high” setting.

Steve Dent for Engadget

The latter can smooth out footsteps and other jolts well enough to replace a gimbal in a pinch. It does a better job than the ZV-E1 with abrupt movements, but the latter crops in slightly less at 1.3x.

Autofocus mostly keeps subjects sharp, but it can occasionally lag. The AI-powered face-tracking stays locked on a subject’s eyes and face, though sometimes the autofocus itself doesn’t keep up. However, these could be pre-production issues. 

With the same sensor as the S5 II, quality is very similar. Video is sharp and colors are realistic, with pleasing skin tones. It’s not quite as good in low light as other 24MP cameras like the Canon R6 II, with noise starting to become noticeable at ISO 6400. The ZV-E1, in comparison, can shoot clean video at ISO 12800 and even beyond.

Steve Dent for Engadget

I enjoy shooting Panasonic V-log video as it’s easy to adjust in post and offers excellent dynamic range. It’s one big reason Panasonic cameras are so popular with professional videographers, so it’s nice to see this on a less expensive model.

So what about the new LUT feature? To get the most out of it, you have to go into the new Lumix Lab app. Panasonic has a handful of presets to get you started, or you can load custom LUTs from a variety of creators. You can also make your own in an editing program like DaVinci Resolve.

Steve Dent for Engadget

Applying the LUT bakes the look into the video, which makes it hard to adjust it later on. However, you can shoot standard or V-Log footage and use the LUT as a preview, then apply that same look in post without being locked in.

The LUT button is a clever idea, as it allows creators to create cool shots without the need to futz around in post. However, many may not even be familiar with the term “LUT,” so Panasonic has an uphill battle selling the benefits. By comparison, many influencers understand the advantages of Fujifilm’s simulations.

Wrap-up

Steve Dent for Engadget

With the S9, Panasonic is trying to attract influencers with a small, stylish camera that makes it easy to create interesting video looks quickly. At the same time, it has nearly all the capabilities of higher-end models like the S5 II.

It does have some flaws that make it a hard sell for photographers. And I’m concerned about the $1,500 price tag, as that’s just a bit less than the S5 II, which has an EVF, mechanical shutter, extra card slot, better ergonomics and more.

So far, it comes out well against the ZV-E1, though. I like the extra resolution and sharpness, and it has superior stabilization. It’s also cheaper, but only by about $300 at the moment. It looks like a good first try and I have a few quibbles, but I’ll know more once I’m able to test the production version.

It’s been a long time coming, but Sonos’ first pair of wireless headphones are now in the hands of our tame audio expert. The Sonos Ace takes all of the company’s audio know-how, packaged in a more skull-friendly way. As well as the usual noise cancellation you’d expect with a pair of high-end cans, they also have some home theater-friendly tweaks.

Billy Steele was deeply impressed with the headphone version of its TruePlay tuning, called TrueCinema, which maps your location for better virtual surround. If you already own a Sonos soundbar, you’ll be able to pull the sound to the Ace in a heartbeat for those late-night movie sessions. Plus, Sonos’ ability to upscale audio that hasn’t been mastered in 7.1.4-channel Dolby Atmos should make even the most mediocre sound, uh, sound good.

Billy’s a fan, and you might be too once you’ve read his write up — so much so that we’ve got all the details for how you can pre-order right here.

— Dan Cooper

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Wearable AI Pin maker Humane is reportedly seeking a buyer

Yours for the knock-down price of… around a billion.

Humane

Humane, makers of the AI pin that made the wrong sort of splash on its debut, is reportedly up for sale. The underbaked hardware and software was greeted with poor reviews that ensured it probably wouldn’t become a best seller. Now, the startup has called in financial advisers, hoping a deep-pocketed soul will pick it up for between $750 million and a cool billion. There’s an old saying that we die twice in this world, and I think it goes something like this: First, when your major product flops, and second, when someone picks you up for patent-licensing scraps.

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Ninja Creami review: This machine makes your frozen dreams come true

It’s the dawn of the smart ice cream age.

Photo by Sam Rutherford / Engadget

Ninja has launched a new smart ice cream maker that leverages a recently expired patent used by high-end chef companies. The Creami is, as Sam Rutherford explains, a kitchen-sized drill press that “spins” frozen ice cream bases with your choice of flavors. It may be big and noisy, but he says the quality of product you get out the other end is worth the aggravation.

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Paper Mario The Thousand-Year Door review: A Switch remake (mostly) befitting a masterpiece

It’s been in the wilderness for more than a decade.

Nintendo

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a GameCube-era RPG regarded by many as the best title in the series. Sadly, it was never ported to any successive console until now, as lamented by our Devindra Hardawar. He’s put the updated version through its paces to tell you if it’s worth exploring for a first, or second, time.

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Pixar is losing around 175 of its workers amid a Disney cost-cutting drive. It was reported as far back as January that layoffs were planned for the digital animation pioneer and the studio's headcount is being reduced by around 14 percent.

According to The Guardian, the downsizing is part of moves to scale back on development of original shows and movies for Disney+ as the company tries to make its streaming division more profitable. As such, Pixar is expected to once again focus entirely on making theatrical feature films.

Although it was once an ultra-reliable hit factory, Pixar has had a rough go of things over the last few years. Disney has suggested it was a mistake to have "trained" viewers to expect that Pixar movies will eventually come to Disney+ (where it debuted Soul, Luca and Turning Red after Covid-19 prompted theater closures). That may have played a role in Toy Story spin-off Lightyear failing to meet box office expectations. While last year’s Elemental became a word-of-mouth hit after a slow start, it ultimately earned far less than many of previous Pixar smashes.

Pixar will be hoping it can start to turn the corner next month when it releases Inside Out 2, the sequel to one of its very best films. Disney’s animated division as a whole is focusing more on franchises — Toy Story, Frozen, Zootopia and Moana sequels are all set to arrive over the next few years.

Samsung was among the Microsoft hardware partners unveiling AI-powered PCs on Monday. If you pre-order the company’s Galaxy Book4 Edge, which uses Qualcomm’s Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite processor to run AI models locally, you can get a free 50-inch Samsung Crystal UHD TV as a bonus.

The Galaxy Book4 Edge supports the Windows Copilot+ features Microsoft announced on Monday, including Recall (an AI-powered “photographic memory” for everything you do on your PC) and Cocreator image generation. It processes these AI features locally, so your data won’t leave your device.

The laptop comes in several variants, starting at $1,350. That entry-level price gets you a 14-inch model with a base Snapdragon X Elite processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Although Samsung accepts trade-ins when you buy the laptop, you can only get the free TV when you buy the Galaxy Book at its full price. Of course, if you return it, you’ll need to send the TV back, too, or you’ll have to pay its full $380 price.

The Galaxy Book4 Edge also comes in 16-inch variants. The base model in that size ($1,450) has the same entry-level Snapdragon X Elite processor (3.4GHz) and 512GB storage as the smaller variant. Meanwhile, a higher-end ($1,750) version, exclusive to the 16-inch model, uses a 3.8GHz variant of Qualcomm’s processor and gives you 1TB of storage.

Samsung

The 50-inch TV has a $380 retail price, making the pre-order offer quite the free perk. It has a 3,840 x 2,160 resolution and supports 4K upscaling, HDR and up to a 60Hz refresh rate.

You’ll see the television added to your purchase when you pre-order the Galaxy Book4 Edge from Samsung’s website. Samsung says the promotion is limited to one per customer and is only available while supplies last. The laptop will start shipping on June 18.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Unless you’ve worked in the food service industry, the Ninja Creami probably isn’t like any other ice cream maker you’ve used before. That’s because until recently, the engineering that powers the Creami was owned by the Pacojet company (which was acquired by Groupe SEB in 2023), which made pricey devices intended for use in restaurants. But after the patent expired, Ninja jumped on the opportunity to make a much more affordable version for home cooks. And while making ice cream in your own kitchen is more of a luxury than a true necessity (though I’m sure some may disagree), the Creami makes the process so fast and easy, and produces surprisingly tasty results, that I hope more people will give it a go.

Standard Creami or Deluxe?

The version I tested for this review is the standard Creami, which goes for $200. However, there is a deluxe model that costs a touch more at $230. The latter comes with a few extra settings (most of which are drinks) for things like slushies and Creamiccinos (whatever those are) and a revamped menu system to match. But the biggest change is that the Deluxe uses larger 24-ounce “pints” instead of the 16-ounce containers you get with the standard model. This means it's easier to make bigger batches for parties or other special occasions, while also having options to spin just the top or bottom of a container as needed for smaller mixes.

Design and how it works

Unlike traditional ice cream makers, the Creami doesn’t rely on churning. Instead, you make a liquid ice cream base, freeze it solid (ideally for 24 hours) and then the machine uses what is essentially a drill press to blend (or spin in Creami parlance) everything into a thick and tasty treat. The base of the machine is about 6.5 inches wide and 16 inches tall. That’s significantly smaller than most old-school ice cream churns, but it’s still going to take up some space on your countertop, especially for anyone living in an older home with low cupboards. Make sure you measure before buying.

Aside from its main body, the Creami comes with an outer bowl, two plastic pint containers (plus tops), a large lid and a paddle, which is the blade-like attachment that does all the hard work. The pints fit inside the outer bowl, while the paddle attaches to the top of the lid. Then, after you put everything together, you shove the whole contraption into the machine, twist the handle to lock it in place and you’re ready to go. Admittedly, it sounds complicated, but if you can use a food processor, you can use the Creami. After the first spin, you can always top off your creation with some sprinkles, chocolate chips or anything else you want and then hit the mix-in button to spread things evenly throughout the pint.

My main complaint is that when it’s actively blending, the Creami is kind of loud. It’s noisier than a food processor but slightly quieter than a countertop blender on full blast. The first time I used the Creami, my toddler covered his ears and ran into another room. But the commotion only lasted for a few minutes, and on subsequent attempts, he stuck around (though that’s probably because he learned all that noise meant ice cream was on its way).

How it tastes

Of course, the best part of testing the Creami is trying everything it makes. To start, I relied on Ninja’s surprisingly large catalog of recipes. My son requested something with blueberries, so I landed on this recipe for blueberry honey ice cream with graham crackers, which turned out excellent even though I swapped in coconut-based yogurt (my wife is lactose intolerant) and skipped the graham cracker crumble. Next, I made a sorbet based on this formula, but with key lime juice instead of lemon. It was smooth and tart without a hint of iciness and it may have been my favorite of the bunch. Then my wife used these instructions to create a true vegan option, which tasted rich and creamy even though she used zero dairy.

After this, I went for a more freestyle approach and started throwing things together with abandon. The most surprising thing is how hard it is to mess up a batch, even when things don’t turn out how you intended. For example, while there isn’t a dedicated setting for it, I wanted to see if the Creami could make something close to shaved ice. Even though the texture of my creation was more like froyo than distinct flakes, I was shocked at how good a simple mixture of whole milk with a couple tablespoons of condensed coconut milk can be. So unless you go absolutely buckwild, it’s pretty hard to make something that doesn’t taste good.

That said, there are some important differences between what the Creami makes and more traditional ice cream. Because the base is spun instead of churned, there’s less air inside your finished product. This is good because it increases flavor intensity and delivers a slightly denser, more luxurious mouthfeel. It’s almost closer to a frozen custard than ice cream. The downside is that less air means less insulation, so treats tend to melt faster. I noticed that often after spinning something in the Creami, the consistency was borderline runny, like when you leave a pint from your freezer on the counter for a few minutes too long.

Now, if you’re eating things right away, this might be a bonus, because I prefer a softer product instead of something you need to really bite into. But if you’re not, it’s important to put whatever you made in your icebox almost immediately before it turns back into a puddle. On the flipside, if your base is too cold before you put it in the Creami and it comes out too hard or chunky, you can simply re-spin the pint (there’s a dedicated button for that), which will help smooth it out.

Wrap-up

For someone like me with a relatively small kitchen, anything that takes up valuable space on my countertop or in my pantry has to be more than just OK or even good. And while I’m still not sure I need it, the Creami is something I want to make room for. Sure, what it creates isn’t exactly the same as a more traditional churned product and the machine is far from the prettiest kitchen appliance I own. But the Creami is still undoubtedly a great ice cream maker and it has some advantages over more traditional rivals. Flavors are more intense and textures are smoother. Meanwhile, because most of the parts are machine washable or easily rinsed, cleanup isn’t a chore either. You also get the freedom to control exactly what ingredients you use or mix in, which is almost essential when you live with people with a handful of food allergies/restrictions. And at just $200 for the standard model, it feels very reasonably priced. You just have to remember to use it in moderation, because it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

It’s criminal that there’s been no way to play Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for over a decade. The only way to experience the original 2004 Gamecube title was on that console or the Wii, which thankfully supported Gamecube discs (something that feels like a genuine miracle now). There was no Gamecube hardware support on the Wii U, unfortunately, and The Thousand-Year Door never popped up on its online store. So here we are, 20 years later, with a complete remake for the Switch. It’s fantastic, befitting a game that was already a masterpiece — it’s just a shame that Nintendo took so long to revisit the game.

Here’s some sobering perspective: I first played through The Thousand-Year Door as a senior in college, where my roommates and I made it a communal adventure. Now I’m married with two kids but I still lament the loss of Gamecube titles almost daily. Where’s Eternal Darkness, one of the best horror games ever made? Where’s Skies of Arcadia, an RPG I adored on the Dreamcast and which was later re-released on the Gamecube? I realize re-releases take work, but surely there’s an audience for these beloved titles!

Anyway, back to the remake of The Thousand-Year Door: It’s great, you should play it. It’s an easily accessible RPG for newcomers with a cute setup: Princess Peach has been kidnapped (of course), but this time it's by aliens! It's up to Mario and a group of friends — including a treasure-hunting Goomba named Goombela, and Koops, a cowardly Koopa — to save her by solving the mystery of an ancient civilization.

Like Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario before it, Thousand-Year Door is sort of a hybrid action RPG. You get to explore worlds and level up characters like an RPG, but battles also involve some responsive button mashing to keep you on your toes. A well-timed button could let you jump on an enemy's head more than once, or counter incoming attacks. It's an innovative approach to RPG mechanics that I wish more games picked up – the excellent Sea of Stars was a rare exception.

Nintendo

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is also well worth revisiting for the olds with nostalgia for the original. The graphics are richer and more detailed, with sharper sprites and lighting that makes the environments feel alive (the reflections, in particular, are often stunning). The game's score has also been revitalized to feel less MIDI-like – don't worry, there's also an in-game perk that can change everything back to the original Gamecube tunes.

It’s too bad Nintendo had to lower the frame rate down to 30fps from the Gamecube’s silky smooth 60fps, but it’s not the end of the world. If you can enjoy some of the greatest games ever made in 30fps, like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, The Thousand Year Door is no different. The remake also adds enough new graphical elements to make it look better than the original. I’m sure I nailed the game's timing-based moves more often in 60fps, but they're still fairly easy to pull off (except for those damn counters).

Nintendo

Had Nintendo released this remake earlier in the Switch’s lifespan, I’m sure fewer gamers would be complaining about the 30fps dip. But at this point, the Switch is on its last legs and we’re awaiting news about its successor. Both Sony and Microsoft have had “next-gen” consoles out for so long they’re considering mid-cycle upgrades. It’s simply odd to see a game running more slowly today than it did on the Gamecube 20 years ago, especially when Nintendo is charging $60 for a lesser experience.

Perhaps the Switch 2, or whatever Nintendo’s new console is called, will be able to run The Thousand Year Door at 60fps. But it really doesn’t matter. It’s still a masterpiece, even at half the frame rate.

Video game horses tend to play a fairly uncomplicated role, at least in mainstream titles. Like semi-sentient meat bicycles, they often exist as little more than a way to make the player travel faster, jump farther or occasionally defy the laws of physics. With the exception of Red Dead Redemption 2, an outlier beloved for its equine verisimilitude and breadth of riding-related activities, horses in video games are generally emotionless props, notorious for janky animations and unnatural anatomy.

That’s fine for most players’ needs, but for those who are drawn to certain games in part because they have horses, there's a lot to be desired. Especially since the alternatives — dedicated horse games — haven’t proven to be much better. The genre is plagued with shoddy graphics, unoriginal storylines and drawn-out, repetitive caretaking tasks like hoof-picking. While horse games of the aughts, like the Barbie Horse Adventures series, sparked a lasting interest in the niche for a lot of young gamers, we’ve yet to really see what their maturation can look like for the now-adults still chasing that high.

The biggest actual horse game today, the decade-old MMORPG Star Stable Online, is distinctly tween-girl-coded. Suffice it to say, there’s a hole in the market as big as a Clydesdale. But some extremely passionate developers are trying to change that.

Alice Ruppert, who runs The Mane Quest — the go-to blog for all things relating to horse games — has cultivated a community of “horse-interested gamers and game-interested equestrians” over the last five years by churning out news, reviews, analyses and wishful editorials covering the latest developments in the genre. As a lifelong equestrian who also has a professional background in game design, she’s become an authoritative voice at the intersection of these two worlds.

The way Ruppert sees it, dedicated horse games have long been stuck in place. Budgets for new titles over the years were kept tiny based on the assumption that these games would only land with a very small niche of gamers, namely young girls. Limited resources resulted in the creation of subpar games, with “basic mistakes of game design and usability,” causing those games to be poorly received. Bad sales and negative reviews ensured future projects wouldn’t be given bigger budgets, and the cycle repeats.

There’s been a shift more recently, she says, “as the game development space is getting democratized and more people start trying to make games.” That has introduced a host of new issues, like “very amateur teams launching really big projects… and not being able to deliver,” Ruppert said, but she thinks that's “a better problem to have than just nobody making any games at all.”

After Ruppert panned Aesir Interactive’s Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship (Ostwind in its original German, based on a movie), the studio got in touch and later brought her on as a consultant and eventually creative producer for its 2022 title, Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch. The game is far from perfect, Ruppert admits, but despite joining the project at a pretty late stage, she says she was able to make some contributions toward creating an experience that could be appreciated by people who actually know and love horses.

Aesir Interactive

That included helping to correct funky details that might not have registered to a non-equestrian but would stick out like a sore thumb to anyone in that world — like a bizarre transition when changing a horse’s leading leg in a canter. “Whenever I spotted something that was wrong, I was like, okay no, we need to fix this because the horse game crowd is going to care,” she says.

Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch is an open world adventure game where players can explore on horseback, tame wild horses, breed and train horses, and maintain their own ranch. It takes a realistic approach to breeding and genetics, and the horses each have unique personality traits. The team crowdsourced horse names, too, so the game’s automatic name generator spits out the names of community members’ real horses.

Still, the game drew some harsh criticism after its release, and the reviews overall have been mixed, with common complaints of game-crashing bugs and a world that feels empty. (The team released a final patch for the game in April devoted entirely to bug fixes.) It has its fans, though, and if there’s one thing players seem to agree on, it’s that the horses and the riding mechanics look great.

Aesir also announced last month that it’s releasing a remastered version of Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship. The revamped game includes improvements like “replacing those horse animations that I’ve been complaining about for the past five years,” wrote Ruppert — who has separated from the studio — in a blog post. It’s slated for release in June.

As more and more efforts from the horse games community pop up, “The really promising developments are going to come when either those amateur projects learn and grow into something better, or when more experienced indie devs start picking [them] up,” Ruppert says.

One such example she points to is The Ranch of Rivershine, a horse game developed and published by Canadian studio Cozy Bee Games that’s currently in Early Access. The studio, founded by developer Éloïse Laroche, focuses on cozy games (think Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing), as the name would suggest, and already had a handful of highly rated titles under its belt before putting out The Ranch of Rivershine. That includes Capybara Spa and the baking sim Lemon Cake.

While it may not be “the horse game to end all horse games,” Ruppert says, “I do think it does a lot of things really well.” The Ranch of Rivershine takes a format Cozy Bee Games has shown it excels in, and applied horses. It isn’t groundbreaking — players are tasked with building up their own ranch, where they can breed, take care of and train horses — but it doesn’t necessarily need to be. There are trail rides, cross country competitions, villagers to interact with, auctions and lots of pretty horses. Unlike many of its peers, The Ranch of Rivershine has mostly positive reviews.

Rockstar Games

To this day, Red Dead Redemption 2 stands widely accepted as the best horse game out there despite it not technically being a horse game. Red Dead Online has drawn hordes of equestrian-minded players over the last few years for organized in-game meetups, trail rides, horse shows and other horse-centered activities. The horses themselves, though they’re not without flaws, are far more lifelike than others heretofore have achieved. And the game places importance on actually bonding with them.

It’s so good, it’s become a pain point for projects that have emerged in its wake. AAA games like Red Dead Redemption 2 set a bar that is “almost impossible for an indie game studio to reach, which puts a lot of pressure on creators,” says Jonna Östergren, a 3D animator working with the Hungary-based developer Mindev Games on Unbridled: That Horse Game. Nevertheless, they’re aiming high.

Engadget caught up with the Mindev team recently over a Discord group chat. “I have loved horses for as long as I can remember,” Östergren says, they’ve “been a big part of my life.” So have video games, and in 2017, she started learning how to make them using tools like Unity and Blender. Östergren by chance connected with Jasmin Blazeuski, the founder of Mindev, years later while working on her own horse game that had hit a dead end. “I had big aspirations but I was alone and I was trying to learn all the things, from coding to animation. It was a lot,” Östergren said.

After talking with Blazeuski, “I offered to help them make some 3D models if they needed it. One thing led to another and I became a much bigger part of the team than I had first imagined.”

Unbridled’s creators envision the game as one that allows the player a lot of freedom. “You decide how you want to play and manage your stables,” Blazeuski said. “If you want to make money over competitions, breeding horses or farming — it is all up to you.” They’re striving for realism, in terms of the horses’ physical appearances but beyond that, too. “I have never had a horse game with a simple yet so cute detail such as horses looking outside the stable. Casual, real things horses do, we want them all in the game.”

The emotional elements are crucial. Even in games where horses are the main subject, they often “lack personality and liveliness,” Östergren said. “They are not really their own being with their own mind… That is something that I would love to change in our game. Not making the horse a nuisance that never does what you want it to do, but to make it so that your horse feels alive in the world that you are in as your character.”

The team, also including 3D artist and longtime equestrian, Sara Wermuth, points to childhood games like Horse Illustrated: Championship Season, Riding Champion: Legacy of Rosemond Hill, Pippa Funnell: Ranch Rescue, My Horse Friends, and Pony Girl (1 and 2) as sources of inspiration. Only Unbridled’s programmer, Amon Ahmad, comes from outside the world of horses and horse games, and had to watch “a lot of gameplays from different horse games” to get up to speed.

Between the old and new games, “I noticed that nothing has actually ever changed, apart from the graphics or the style,” Ahmad said. “New functions, new gameplays, new ideas in general are missing.” The team aims to avoid those trappings with Unbridled, which is being built meticulously using the Unreal Engine.

Mindev Games

Horse games have a tendency toward tedious and repetitive tasks or mini-games, which can be detrimental “no matter how much detail and love was put into it,” Östergren said. They don’t want to go down that road. And Unbridled will have unique systems for dressage and jumping to give players a challenge, without predetermined points that will guarantee a well-executed jump, according to Ahmad. Instead, players will have to train their horses and develop a feel for the timing.

But making a game of this scope that is fun, engaging and realistic can be a slow process, not to mention an expensive one. The team’s recent Kickstarter campaign failed to reach its funding goal, and it’s relying on avenues like Patreon for financial support to see the project through. An update posted in February noted that half of the team has picked up part-time jobs to bring in additional income.

The animation alone is a huge undertaking. The complexity of horses’ bone structure, all the bending points, plus “getting the gaits right and all those little details of movement is very difficult [to do] by hand,” Blazeuski said. But, “we will take our time to perfect everything.”

Unbridled: That Horse Game has been in a closed beta since November, allowing the developers to get direct feedback from the community, but the team estimates it’ll be a few years yet before the full release.

Astride, another horse game being developed by a small team with big ambitions, is setting itself apart with its focus on Nordic horse breeds, like the Norwegian Fjord Horse and the Norwegian Dole, as well as gaited breeds like the Icelandic Horse. The studio behind it, Raidho Games, was formed in 2021 after Maja Nygjelten (CEO and concept artist) and Mathilde Kvernland (Community Manager and 3D artist) decided to get serious about their idea to create the horse game they’d always been in search of.

Raidho Games

They put word out on a Norwegian Facebook group for gamers and ultimately expanded the team to five people, including fellow equestrian Tirna Kristine Mellum, who joined as a 3D artist and Project Manager. Using their combined experience with horses in real life to guide the process, Mellum said, “We are hoping to have a horse game where the horses feel like horses.”

“We know what to look for in references” to provide their animator, Marius Mobæk Strømmevold, so the horses’ gaits and other movements look true to life, Nygjelten said. “I think that's very important, to [not] take a random animation from YouTube” but instead provide him with references that they’re confident show the proper result.

The main focus of the game at launch, which is somewhat scaled down from the original vision, will be on breeding horses in the fictional Scandinavian town of Eldheim and training them to compete. “Most [horse games] have show jumping as the first feature, including us… [but] I think we will stand out a lot with the breeding and everything,” Nygjelten says. “We have very realistic horse genetics,” according to Mellum, and that will initially be what the game leans into most.

The early gameplay is centered around the stable and interactions in the Eldheim community rather than grand adventures. It’s being designed to be an online multiplayer game, so players will also be able to meet up with friends. Down the line, the plan is to implement more complex storylines and quests to keep building out the experience.

The project has had some successful funding efforts, including a Kickstarter campaign in spring 2022, but it’s also suffered delays. An Early Access version of the game was released behind schedule last June to very mixed reviews. But, the team emphasizes, it’s still a work in progress.

“Astride still has some years left of development,” says Nygjelten, “The game will continue to grow every single day, and it will probably be very different in a year.”