You can now use music from some Pokémon games without invoking the copyright wrath of Nintendo or The Pokémon Company — in certain circumstances. TPC has launched a Pokémon DP Sound Library that, as the name implies, lets you use audio from the original Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl games in personal projects. You can slip sound effects into a social media video, for instance, or even soundtrack your wedding with a favorite theme. Background music is also allowed for any non-commercial event or personal websites.

You can also download the music for personal consumption. The library website streams music on its own if you're just looking to reminisce with some online radio.

To say there are tight restrictions would be an understatement, however. The Pokémon Company has a strict ban on any commercial uses — you can forget about selling a Pokémon-inspired remix album or game. You can't use the content for broadcast radio or TV, advertising purposes or anything that implies an association with TPC. And did we mention that you can't use the media in anything that makes specific "ideological, religious, or political" claims? Add the requirement for a lengthy copyright notice (163 characters, or more than half the maximum Twitter post length) and you'll probably only be using Diamond and Pearl content very sparingly.

This gesture is a start, though, and it suggests The Pokémon Company is aware personal audio use might help the company's reputation more than it hurts. With that said, we wouldn't expect a dramatic change of heart. TPC's frequent partner Nintendo recently slapped GilvaSunner's YouTube-based soundtrack channel with thousands of copyright blocks, effectively forcing him to shut it down. We wouldn't expect TPC to be more lenient for commercial uses, even with the library in place.

It took a few months, but Netflix is now offering its first high-profile mobile game. The streaming service has broadly released Riot Games' League of Legends spinoff Hextech Mayhem for Android and iOS. This isn't a MOBA like League, as you might have gathered — instead, it's a "rhythm runner" that has you playing LoL champion Ziggs as you light bomb fuses, disarm enemies and dodge obstacles in sync with the beat.

Netflix has also released Dungeon Dwarves, its first "idle" game. Hyper Hippo's title (available on Android as we write this) lets you explore monster-laden dens even when you're not playing, and upgrade abilities when you are.

Riot's decision to launch Hextech through Netflix isn't surprising. The two unveiled the game just as Arcane began streaming — even if it's not really connected to the animated series, it serves as a plug for both companies. Riot also hasn't been shy about gaming crossovers, having dropped League of Legends characters into games like Fortnite. It's just a question of whether or not a game like Hextech will be popular enough to grow Netflix's fledgling game business and encourage other big-name projects.

Snap may not be particularly keen on the metaverse — at least, not as it’s been articulated by Mark Zuckerberg — but the company’s latest experiment certainly sounds a lot like a version of one. The company is teaming up with Universal to host a virtual concert featuring Jennifer Lopez and Colombian pop singer Maluma, which viewers can watch as their Bitmoji avatars.

The concert itself won’t take place in the Snapchat app, but would-be spectators can access the show by signing into the concert’s dedicated website with their Snapchat login. Users’ Bitmoji avatars will appear as spectators in the crowd. There are also a handful of interactive effects that will be available during the show, including the ability to start “the wave” and trigger a virtual laser effect. Lopez and Maluma will also appear as 3D Bitmoji avatars.

The event, scheduled for February 3rd, is meant to promote the upcoming rom-com Marry Me (also starring Lopez and Maluma), and is expected to last about 10 minutes, according to the company.

Virtual concerts have become one of the earliest examples of a metaverse-like experience. Fortnite’s in-game concerts are often referenced in discussions of what an eventual metaverse will look like. And Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has said he wants the Fortnite publisher to be a leader in the space. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also referenced concerts in the metaverse, writing last year that in the future people may be able to “teleport instantly as a hologram” in order to attend shows.

But Snap executives have talked about the metaverse very differently. Snap AR exec Sophia Dominguez told Engadget in December that the company’s vision for the future is not to “escape into another world” but create experiences that can bridge physical spaces with virtual ones. (Snap CEO Evan Spiegel put it slightly differently, remarking last fall on the dystopic origins of the word metaverse. “I think the basic notion was that you know as the physical world was sort of crumbling in this dystopian future that people would escape into this virtual world — that's not at all a focus for us,” he said referring to Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash.)

What’s less clear is if Snap intends for Bitmoji-led concerts to be a regular occurrence like Fortnite has (Live streaming platform Oz is powering the tech behind the show). But if the company’s first big foray into metaverse adjacent experiences is a hit, it’s not difficult to imagine Snap could host more Bitmoji-driven live events.

Bloodborne, a game famous for being notoriously difficult to beat, was released in 2015 for the PS4 with modern graphics and visuals. Over the past 13 months, though, game programmer Lilith Walther created a version of the title that makes it look like it was released way back in the 90's for the first PlayStation. Bloodborne PSX reimagines the Victorian city of Yharnam in the art style commonly seen in games from that console era. The blocky and pixelated graphics with the colored health bars would sure look very familiar to a generation of gamers who used to play on the PS1. 

The demake only covers some parts of the whole game, but it does give players access to 10 hunter weapons they can use to slay enemies — some even slow down the game's frame rate as one would expect to happen on a real PS1 title. As Polygon notes, Walther posted updates about the undertaking on Twitter for over 13 months, including one wherein she revealed that the music creator for the project remade the Cleric Beast boss music using a real Roland SC-88 Pro for authenticity. 

Bloodborne PSX is now available as a free download for Windows PC. Players can use a keyboard and a mouse for controls, but they can also dust off their old PS1 controllers and use that instead. Those interested can get a glimpse of the demake below.

It’s another big game studio deal. Sony has announced plans to acquire Bungie, the studio behind the hit sci-fi MMO shooter Destiny, in a deal worth $3.6 billion. Bungie is positioning the acquisition as the start of a new era for the company — one focused on global multimedia entertainment, not just games. One notable point: Bungie will continue to develop for multiple platforms, not just PlayStation, according to a blog post by CEO Pete Parsons. It’s another sign of the video game industry consolidating. In case you forgot, last month Microsoft announced it was buying Activision Blizzard for $69 billion.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Engadget Deals: The best Super Bowl TV deals from Amazon, Best Buy and the rest

• Ford's E-Transit work van offers a cleaner, quieter way to do business

• Tesla is opening more of its European Superchargers to third-party EVs

• Engadget Deals: Apple's 2021 cellular iPad Mini falls to a new all-time low at Amazon

• 'It Takes Two' is being adapted for film or TV

Kia's EV6 is the new benchmark for affordable electric cars

Superior range to the ID.4 and a lower price than the Model Y.

Hyundai

The EV6 is the first Kia vehicle under the company’s new Plan S electrification strategy, leading the way for nearly a dozen new EV models by 2026. It’s not just packing a great range, a competitive price and Level 2 autonomous driving but also some augmented reality tricks. Senior Editor Andrew Tarantola takes a drive.

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Sony's first 2022 State of Play will be a 'Gran Turismo 7' showcase

The event streams tomorrow.

Gran Turismo 7, finally coming to the PS4 and PS5 on March 4th after significant delays, will be the focus of Sony's first State of Play in 2022. The event is set to stream at 5 PM ET this Wednesday (February 2nd) and will feature “just over 30 minutes of new [GT7] PS5 footage and gameplay details.”

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Grindr disappears from Apple's App Store in China

China's Personal Information Protection Law might be to blame.

Reuters

One of the biggest gay dating apps has disappeared from China’s Apple App Store. There was no immediate explanation for the departure, but it came just days after China's Cyberspace Administration launched a campaign to purge illegal online material, porn and rumors ahead of the Winter Olympics.

Grindr’s developers may have removed the app due to the potential for problems stemming from China's Personal Information Protection Law, which governs private data. It requires any cross-border data transfers to go through China's Cyberspace Administration.

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Meta's upgraded 3D avatars work across Facebook, Instagram and VR

Drawing all the company’s parts closer together.

Meta is rolling out updated 3D avatars to Facebook, Messenger and Instagram (via DMs and Stories). The new design lets you bring the same avatar across Meta's platforms, including VR — if you’re using a Quest 2 headset. If you want some degree of separation, you can still create different avatars for Facebook, Instagram and VR, so you can have a more realistic persona for VR meetings and a more fantastical one for your social media presence.

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This is why your Apple two-factor texts include strange tags

The move helps thwart phishing attacks.

If you've noticed Apple's two-factor authentication texts include much more text than you're used to, that’s on purpose. Apple has implemented a system that uses domain-bound codes for sign-ins. The extra tags, for example, "@apple.com #123456 %apple.com," are meant to improve the trustworthiness of auto-filling text codes. The technique theoretically discourages more sophisticated phishing attacks that try to intercept and redirect two-factor verification messages.

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Hazelight Studios and Sonic the Hedgehog production company dj2 Entertainment are aiming to turn It Takes Two into a movie or TV show. Pat Casey and Josh Miller, who wrote both Sonic movies, are onboard to adapt the co-op game for the big or small screen. Although no studio or network has snapped up the project just yet, Variety reports that a bidding war is underway.

“Creating the world and story in It Takes Two was so much fun for me and the team,” Hazelight founder and creative director Josef Fares said in a statement. “Since it has a strong narrative with many crazy characters and just as crazy co-op action moments, the potential is huge for a great adaption to film or television.”

At the 2021 Game Awards, It Takes Two won three honors, including the game of the year gong. EA published it last March and more than three million copies were sold by October. Along with It Takes Two and the Sonic movies, dj2 is working on a Tomb Raider anime for Netflix. It's also developing a Disco Elysium series and a Sleeping Dogs movie.

Although It Takes Two received widespread plaudits for its platforming and asynchronous split-screen gameplay, several critics took issue with the "stay together for the kids" story and an "awful" character called The Book of Love. With some finding the plot to be the weakest aspect of the game, it'll be interesting to see how that translates to a movie or TV show.

If the company formerly known as Facebook is going to help establish the metaverse, it's going to need virtual personas that are consistent across its apps — and it now has just that. As of today, Meta is rolling out updated 3D avatars to Facebook, Messenger and Instagram (via DMs and Stories). The new design lets you bring the same avatar across Meta's platforms, including VR — you can maintain your look as you switch to your Quest 2 and back.

The avatars themselves promise to be truer to your style with more faces, skin tones and expressions. You can also add Cochlear implants, over-the-air hearing aids and wheelchairs. Meta is also being more adventurous with clothing. You can now pick up official NFL apparel (shown above) to flaunt your love of football ahead of the Super Bowl.

You can still create different avatars for Facebook, Instagram and VR, so you can have a more realistic persona for VR meetings and a more fantastical one for your social media profiles. Meta has also promised to "eventually" simplify moving avatars across places, and already lets you sync avatar changes between Facebook and Instagram.

Meta acknowledged the unified avatars were an "early step" in creating the metaverse. This doesn't suddenly create a truly cohesive and immersive digital space. It's a start, though. If nothing else, it provides consistency that might encourage you to try an avatar instead of sticking to a favorite photo.

Following days of controversy stemming from Spotify’s handling of allegations that Joe Rogan has used the platform to spread COVID-19 misinformation, the company said on Sunday it would take new measures to point its users to accurate information about the pandemic. In a blog post attributed to CEO Daniel Ek, the company admitted it hasn’t been transparent enough about its content policy, but stopped short of detailing any specific action against Rogan.

Sometime in the next few days, Spotify says it will add a content advisory to any podcast episode that includes a discussion about COVID-19. That advisory will direct listeners to the company’s COVID-19 Hub. In its current iteration, the page includes links to podcasts from the BBC, ABC News and Foreign Policy. “To our knowledge, this content advisory is the first of its kind by a major podcast platform,” according to Ek. However, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have employed similar measures.

Spotify has also pledged to publicly share its content guidelines. As of today, you can read them through the company’s Newsroom website. In the future, they’ll also be accessible through Spotify’s main website, and the company has promised to translate them into a variety of other languages. Lastly, the company says it plans to start testing ways to highlight its content guidelines in the tools it offers to podcast producers and other creators.

“We know we have a critical role to play in supporting creator expression while balancing it with the safety of our users,” Ek said. “In that role, it is important to me that we don’t take on the position of being content censor while also making sure that there are rules in place and consequences for those who violate them.”

The action comes after musicians like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulled their music from the streaming platform in protest of its handling of Rogan’s podcast and misinformation more broadly. Earlier today, author Brené Brown said she would not release any new episodes of her Spotify-exclusive podcast “until further notice.”

After Young first pulled his catalog from the platform, the company defended its record against misinformation by claiming it had removed 20,000 COVID-related episodes since the start of the pandemic. However, as part of that sweep, Spotify appears to have not removed any episodes of the Joe Rogan Experience. For instance, you can still listen to the controversial episode where Dr. Robert Malone falsely claims “mass formation psychosis” has led people to believe vaccines are effective against COVID-19. The Verge subsequently published the company’s COVID-19 content guidelines. In an internal memo, Spotify said Rogan's content did not "meet the threshold for removal.”

Paramount+’s live-action Halo series will debut on March 24th, according to a teaser the streamer shared today ahead of the AFC Championship Game on CBS. At approximately the 53-second mark of the clip, you can hear the announcer state the release date.

After sharing the first-look teaser back at The Game Awards in December, Paramount+ promised to release a longer trailer partway through today’s match between the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs. CBS will air the trailer during halftime, with the game scheduled to start at 3:05PM ET. We’ll update this article with the full-length trailer once it drops.

First announced back in 2013, the Halo live-action series spent years in development hell before ViacomCBS announced last year the show would premiere on Paramount+ instead of Showtime, as previously planned. Pablo Schreiber, of American Gods fame, is the one donning Master Chief’s signature Mjolnir armor, and the entire project oozes high production values.

Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell has announced that she's removing all her music from Spotify. On her website, she published a short statement saying "irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives." She added that she stands with "Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue." While Mitchell didn't mention COVID-19 or Joe Rogan in particular, she linked to an open letter to Spotify from a group of scientists and doctors criticizing the host for "repeatedly spread[ing] misleading and false claims on his podcast, provoking distrust in science and medicine" throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A few days ago, Young threatened to exit the platform and told his team that it was because "Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines." He also said that Spotify can have "[Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both." Mitchell and Young are friends and have both contracted polio as kids before the vaccine became available. Unsurprisingly, Spotify started deleting Young's catalog from the platform shortly after news about his stance came out, while also claiming that it's taking steps to remove disinformation from its service. 

The company said it pulled over 20,000 COVID-related podcast episodes since the beginning of the pandemic. Rogan's show, however, is still very much available. And that includes the controversial episode with Dr. Robert Malone, who claimed that "mass formation psychosis" led people to believe vaccines were effective in fighting COVID-19. Spotify inked an exclusive deal to host the The Joe Rogan Experience in 2020 and is believed to have paid over $100 million for it. The show is a key element in Spotify's quest to continue dominating the podcast space, so it really doesn't come as a surprise that it was Young's music that had to find a new home.