Sonic the Hedgehog is returning with a modern look. The Sega Genesis mascot (and friends) will star in Sonic Superstars, a new take on the 2D platform franchise that trades in his classic 16-bit graphics for a contemporary coat of paint.

The game’s trailer starts by showing the cartoon hedgehog completing the Green Hill Zone in the 1991 original, only to find himself in a split-screen view that catapults his appearance into 2023 standards. Apart from the updated graphics, the title showcases familiar gameplay, some new tricks and a well-known supporting cast — including Tails, Knuckles and Amy Rose. Unsurprisingly, they’re on a mission to take down Dr. Eggman (aka Dr. Robotnik). It also showcases co-cop gameplay with friends.

Sonic Superstars is scheduled to launch this fall. It will be available for PS5 / 4, Xbox Series X / S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!

In the middle of this year’s Summer Games Fest, Geoff Keighley teased a new game with characters from a storied manga artist – and he wasn’t kidding. Sand Land is a new adventure game from Bandai Namco, featuring character design from Akira Toriyama, the man who gave us Dragon Ball’s Goku, the art of the Dragon Quest series, the characters of Chrono Trigger, not to mention countless more manga titles. Sand Land was initially a short manga series written back in 2000 by Toriyama. Now it’s a game. (In fact, in the trailer you can see the protagonist play around with what appears to be a Gameboy Advance, which is cute.)

We got a quick tour of what kind of game Sandland will be, as you’ll take control of a demonic prince, Beelzebub, alongside a cohort of monstrous characters, exploring, well, sandy environments. While you’ll be able to go toe-to-toe with some enemies, you’ll also pilot tanks to gun down enemies from afar, or go up against other military hardware. There appears to be a whole array of vehicles to explore the desert with. There's no release date yet, but hopefully, we’ll hear more in the following days.

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!

Lies of P is a dark, steampunk take on the legend of Pinocchio, and it's due to come out on PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S (plus Game Pass) on September 19th. There's a demo available across all platforms right now, and it'll be live until June 27th. The demo requires an online connection and is free to access.

Lies of P comes from prolific South Korean publisher and developer Neowiz. The studio describes the game as an Souls-like action experience, and it's absolutely drenched in dark fantasy vibes. The latest trailer for Lies of P, shown off during the Summer Game Fest kickoff show today, reveals a sprawling industrial landscape filled with mechanical technologies, cog-wheel robots and bronze finishes. The game is styled after the Belle Epoque era, drawing on late 19th-century French aesthetics. 

Those who pre-order the digital deluxe edition of Lies of P will get early access to the full game. Pre-orders are live on the game's website right now.

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!

There will be no rest for the wicked after Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest opening event wraps up. Immediately afterward, the stream will move onto the Day of the Devs showcase. The spotlight on indie games starts at 5PM ET, but you can tune in early to catch the Summer Game Fest Live reveals.

It'll likely be worth watching Day of the Devs as Double Fine and iam8bit always have intriguing indies to highlight. At the last Summer Game Fest edition, they showed off the likes of the enjoyable Desta: The Memories Between, Birth and Escape Academy. That showcase also included a look at the gorgeous puzzle platformer, Planet of Lana, which hit Game Pass recently.

Several studios have revealed they'll be part of the latest edition of Day of the Devs, including Land & Sea, a team that includes former Alto's Adventure developers. We'll also get looks at Hyper Light Breaker (the follow-up to Hyper Light Drifter), Geometric Interactive's Cocoon, Shape Shop's Mars First Logistics, Moonloop Games' Hauntii and much more

So, be sure to stick around after Keighley’s event. You might just discover a game or two that you fall in love with at first sight and immediately add to your wishlist.

Meanwhile, Engadget is on the ground in Los Angeles for Summer Game Fest. We’ll be bringing you news, updates, reveals and hands-on impressions from all the not-E3 events that are taking place over the next few days.

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!

It's still not clear if Ubisoft's Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake will ever see the light of day — but if you're looking for a new side story in the franchise, the company has you covered. Ubisoft announced Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown at Summer Games Fest 2023, a new action-adventure platformer "inspired by the Metroidvania structure."

Pivoting the franchise's platforming roots to the more exploratory and action focused gameplay featured in Metroid and Castlevania games sounds like a natural twist — but it isn't the only change to the series format that Lost Crown offers. Rather of taking on the role of the titular prince, Lost Crown instead asks players to rescue him as Sargon, a new hero, and part of a group called "The Immortals." Ubisoft promises that the game features intense platforming, giant boss fights, puzzles, and new character abilities and power throughout the journey.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown will release on January 18 2024 for all platforms, including Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, as well as on PC through the Epic Games Store and on Amazon Luna.

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman will publicly address the community for the first time over the company’s planned API changes that have sparked mass outrage on the platform. “Reddit CEO, u/spez, will be here tomorrow to host an AMA about the latest API updates, including accessibility, mod bots, and third-party mod tools,” the company shared in a brief update.

A Reddit spokesperson said the AMA would likely kick off around 10:30 AM PT on Friday, June 9th. News of the AMA comes just after the developers of Apollo and RIF, two of the most popular third-party reddit clients, said they would be shutting down their apps at the end of the month due to the company’s new API pricing.

The AMA will take place just three days before a mass protest among much of the Reddit community over the controversial changes. More than 3,000subreddits, including several with more than 1 million subscribers, have said they plan to “go dark” for 48 hours beginning June 12th.

With the upcoming protests, and the closure of two beloved apps, tensions are likely to run high during the AMA. Notably, Reddit’s post about the upcoming Q&A doesn’t directly refer to third-party clients, though they will likely feature prominently in users’ questions. Instead, the company highlighted accessibility features and moderation tools, both of which stand to be impacted by the API changes as well, though the company has made some concessions in those areas.

Reddit's controversial decision to charge for API access has led the creator of Apollo to shut down the third-party client. "Apollo will close down on June 30th," Christian Selig wrote on Twitter. "Reddit’s recent decisions and actions have unfortunately made it impossible for Apollo to continue."

Selig, who is the only developer working on Apollo, sounded the alarm bell about the changes last week. He estimated that keeping the app running as is under Reddit's new rules, which are set to take effect on June 19th, would cost him around $20 million per year.

This story is developing; refresh for updates.

The spotted lanternfly may look innocent, but these ravenous creatures have been known to decimate crops, causing more than $500 million in damages to various fruit trees since being accidentally introduced to this country nearly a decade ago. The big idea right now is to introduce several species of wasps into the mid-atlantic ecosystem to hunt and eat the lanternflies, but students at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute have developed an alternative plan in the form of a robot death machine.

It’s called TartanPest and uses a combination of technologies and components to autonomously hunt down and destroy lanternfly egg masses. It starts with an electric tractor for movement and a suite of cameras for traversal. This computer vision is also constantly on the hunt for egg masses, containing up to 50 lanternfly eggs. Once it finds a mass on a tree, rock or even a rust metal surface, a robot arm with a spinning brush attachment goes in for the kill, scrubbing the eggs away like so much trash.

"Currently, spotted lanternflies are concentrated in the eastern portion of the nation, but they are predicted to spread to the whole country," said Carolyn Alex, an undergraduate researcher on the TartanPest team. "By investing in this issue now, we will be saving higher costs in the future."

There’s some deep-learning algorithms at work here to locate the egg masses, trained using a large image data set. The robot does work autonomously but requires a human on-hand to fix any issues as they arise. So it’s probably not the most efficient way to eradicate spotted lanternflies. Still, it’s pretty darned cool and everybody loves a good killer robot.

This is just a prototype design for now, as the team designed the construct as part of Farm-ng's 2023 Farm Robotics Challenge. In other words, if lanternflies are getting you down, you have a while to wait before you can unleash an army of killer robots. In the meantime, you can always try an army of killer wasps instead.

If a single point of access for your wireless connections just isn't cutting it, a mesh WiFi system might be what you need. A few different routers, including Google's Nest WiFi Pro 6E routers are currently on sale at Amazon and at Google's own store. A three-pack of the Pro routers is down to $320, which is a 20 percent discount and a record low. The deal is part of a larger sale at Amazon, that also includes deals on other Nest smart home devices like doorbells, cameras and thermostats.

The Nest WiFi Pro routers use the latest WiFi 6E technology, covering up to 6,600 square feet and granting access to the newly opened 6 GHz band, which gives compatible devices faster throughput and more reliable connections, particularly in densely populated areas. The routers are Matter-compatible and act as Thread border routers — something that may come in handy as you expand your connected smart home with new deices like smart plugs and lights. And unlike some routers, the rounded design looks nice enough to display on a shelf and won't make you feel like you need to hide it away.  

The sale further includes the Nest Thermostat, which is down to $99. That's about $10 higher than its lowest price this year, but is still a decent 23 percent discount. The smart thermostat can help you save energy by setting schedules and not unnecessarily heating or cooling your space when you're not home. It also grants control via the app or thought your smart assistant of choice (unless you choose Siri). Before diving in, you may want to make sure your system is compatible.   

A battery version of the Nest Doorbell is on sale as well. It's down to $130 after a 28 percent discount off its $180 price tag. That's also about $10 more than its lowest price ever, which we saw during the shopping holidays last November. The video doorbell will send alerts and footage to your smart phone or compatible smart display and allows you to see, hear and talk to whomever comes to the door.  

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E3 may be dead, but Summer Game Fest kicks off today with an opening-night livestream from the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.

The show is expected to run for two hours, featuring game announcements and updates from many of the industry's most prominent studios and indie publishers. Nearly every big hitter is a partner, including PlayStation, Xbox, EA, Activision and Square Enix. Notable absentees from the show’s promotional materials include Nintendo and Ubisoft. Nintendo participated in E3 when that show was still a thing, but it's not terribly surprising to see the company skip Summer Game Fest, considering it just dropped The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Ubisoft has its own event on Monday, but it isn't officially tied to Summer Game Fest — Ubisoft's name was on the show's website until this week, but it's been scrubbed from the schedule and partner list.

Organized by the team behind The Game Awards, Summer Game Fest’s live event is the first of 10 streams taking place between June 7th and June 12th (plus a bonus Ubisoft event). The opening show will be followed immediately by a Day of the Devs stream from Double Fine and iam8bit, highlighting a number of games from independent developers. You can see the full Summer Game Fest schedule, including what to expect from each show, here.