Apple announced today its next steps in improving accessibility in its products. A host of improvements, features, and options are coming that are designed to help disabled people get the most out of their Apple devices.
In a press release, Apple revealed that substantial new features are coming to iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad. On iPhones, Apple is updating the Made For iPhone program by adding support for new bi-directional hearing aids. These new aids have microphones that’ll allow wearers to have hands-free phone and FaceTime calls. In addition, Apple is also adding support for audiograms (or hearing tests) that will let users import data from their tests to customize audio.
Apple is also adding a background sounds feature, which is designed to help people stay focused by providing consistent noise like white noise, or ocean, rain, or stream sounds. It’s meant to mask environmental sounds, but Apple says that the feature will integrate with system or other audio played on your device.
On Apple Watch, Apple is adding the AssistiveTouch feature that is designed to allow for no-touch navigation of the watch display. Considering that Apple Watches have, until now, relied on touch and voice commands, this is a pretty big feature. In essence, it lets people who may have upper-limb mobility differences to use hand gestures on the hand wearing the watch to move a cursor around its screen. Navigational features are coming to iPad, too, with support for eye tracking on the way. This will allow for users to navigate an iPad screen by moving a cursor with eye gestures that are picked up by the iPad’s camera.
Finally, enhanced VoiceOver support is coming to photos on Apple devices. While VoiceOver has already supported reading out descriptions of images, Apple will soon add capabilities to explore more information about what’s in photographs. For example, for an image of a receipt, the feature will read out what’s on the receipt as if it’s a spreadsheet table.
These are all fantastic features to help improve usability by disabled and neurodivergent folks, and the technology used to power these additions will likely improve many other parts of the Apple user experience down the line. Apple will launch these features later this year.
The PlayStation 5 console may still be incredibly hard to find, but for those of you who were lucky enough to secure one, PS5 accessories are starting to become more readily available. Today all official PS5 accessories are available, and that includes the PS5 media remote, DualSense charging station, and the new DualSense controllers in Cosmic Red and Midnight Black. Sony’s Days of Play Sale will start at the end of the month and several PS4 and PS5 games will be discounted, but there has been no mention of discounts on accessories. Stock up now so you’ll be ready when the big video game sale drops.
Eric Song is IGN’s deal curator and spends roughly 1/4 of his income on stuff he posts. Check out his latest Daily Deals Article and subscribe to his IGN Deals Newsletter.
To help in the wait for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart’s upcoming launch on June 11 for PS5, we’ve gathered each and every weapon and armor set revealed so far for the PS5 exclusive.
From a new armor system that lets you mix-and-match your favorites, to the return of weapons like the Buzz Blades, to the brand new Topiary Sprinkler that stops enemies in their tracks by turning them into garden sculptures, there will be a ton of fun toys to earn and play with in Rift Apart.
In the slideshow below, you can check all of them out.
Insomniac recently spoke with IGN about how Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will utilize the DualSense and 3D Audio to help you feel every shot and control how you use your weapons. For example, the Burst Pistol will shoot out accurately-placed single shots if you pull the trigger down halfway. If you pull it down all the way, it will activate a rapid-fire spread that covers more area.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is out and we spend most of the show discussing it, from whether or not it was worth the wait (hint: it was), to what we think of Mass Effect 1’s quality-of-life upgrades, to how it holds up in 2021, and more! Plus: impressions of the upcoming Xbox exclusive The Ascent, new Xbox Game Pass games for the month of May, and more!
Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, to our new YouTube channel, or grab an MP3 download of this week’s episode. For more awesome content, check out the latest episode of IGN Unfiltered, featuring an interview with noted game industry investigative reporter Jason Schreier about the unfortunate nomadic lifestyle that many developers must live, crunch culture, unionization, and much more:
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.
For a franchise that’s spawned nine mainline films, plus spin-offs, with more in development, it’s a shock there aren’t more Fast & Furious board games. After all, you’d think the series’ blend of visual thrills and (literally) high octane action would be a great fit for the medium. Well, the wait for a new Fast & Furious boardgame experience is over with Fast & Furious: Highway Heist from Funko Games.
This co-operative game lets you take the role of characters from the series, like Dominic or Letty, and work together to win one of three scenarios, all of which recreate climatic chase scenes from the movies. There’s the truck heist from the first Fast & the Furious movie, the tank takedown from the sixth, and the helicopter sequence from the seventh.
Fast & Furious: Highway Heist Quick Look
Box and What’s Inside
Highway Heist was designed by Prospero Hall, a tabletop design team who’ve made a big splash with acclaimed games set in popular franchises like Jaws and Disney Villainous. Like most of their titles, opening the box greets you with a quote to set the scene: “doesn’t matter what’s under the hood. What matters … is who’s behind the wheel”.
Beneath the board there’s a tray full of colourful plastic miniatures: cars, enemy SUV’s and the three big boss vehicles, one for each scenario. While serviceable enough, these are soft plastic and lack detail. Each piece has two holes in the top to fit pegs that represent someone standing atop the vehicle, so they’re not well suited for painting.
The choice of art is interesting. Rather than stills from the films, the Fast & the Furious board game offers blurry faux-impressionist pictures in a post-apocalyptic style. While not the most obvious pick it’s very effective, creating a sense of speed and mimicking a certain car-heavy Australian film franchise.
Rules and How to Play
For a game with the potential for mass-market sales, Highway Heist requires a decent chunk of rules digestion before you can put your foot down. If you’re familiar with modern board games it won’t be a struggle but to friends who prefer hardtop to tabletop may find the number of options a little confusing.
Aside from that, setup is nice and quick. The group picks a scenario to play and each player chooses a character and a car. Some combinations are better suited to particular scenarios. Then you put the big bad – tank, trailer or helicopter – in the middle of the road, surrounded by four enemy SUV’s, and get your engines revving.
On a turn, each player gets to take two actions. Some of these, like Drive and Leap, are automatic. Most, such as Force, which lets you push enemy vehicles around, require a roll of some custom six-sided dice with a mix of blank, nitro, and empty faces. You check what stat it requires, like Speed or Control, then total up the pool from your chosen character and car. The action requires a certain number of green success dots to succeed, else it’s wasted.
Dice-based cooperative games can be frustrating when things don’t go your way. But in Highway Heist you often end up rolling twice per turn, per player, so luck tends to even out.
Plus, any dice that come up with Nitro symbols offer you a tactical choice: discard them, or burn one of a limited stock of matching tokens to turn them into successes. It’s a slick combination, delivering tension for the big rolls while rarely leaving you feeling out of control.
After your turn, you roll another die to see what the enemy figures do. Sometimes opposing SUV’s will ram your cars, or their passengers will leap on your roof to cause havoc. Often, though, you’ll have to draw from a scenario-specific enemy deck of more detailed events. These cause the big scenario foe, and sometimes other enemies, to move and attack. The tank might shell or crush the player cars, the helicopter unleash a rocket and so on.
They also push down toward an “activation” space for an extra-negative effect if you don’t anticipate and plan to prevent them. The “Cargo Thieves” card in the truck heist, for example, places enemy pegs atop your cars who, if not dealt with in time, will steal back some of the loot you’ve managed to gain.
Even with only two actions and enemy activation, Fast & Furious: Highway Heist creates a great sense of kinetic energy and motion. Cars jostle for position on the road, player and enemy pegs alike climb on roofs and jump about. In a smart design choice, motion is relative: rather than moving lots of spaces on a huge board, there’s a presumption of high velocity. The constant bustle on the board gives it the sense of speed it needs.
Adding to the chaos are the stunt cards that move along the bottom of the board. These are special actions that require you to set up particular placements on the board and a successful dice roll to pull off. The reward is an extra Nitro token and a big step toward your scenario goals. However, they’re also a timer. A new stunt gets added to the board each turn, increasing through three levels of difficulty, and an old one is removed. The last, hardest stunt is an instant win if you can pull it off. But if it shuffles off the board, it’s game over.
The stunt mechanic is a bit of a double-edged sword. While it adds strategy and stand-out moments to the fun, some of the cards are super-specific and very hard to complete with only two players. Highway Heist works better with three or the full complement of four. Most of the stunts aren’t actually from the movies, either, but straight from the imaginations of the designers.
You can adjust the toughness by removing more stunt cards to make it harder. And a good thing, too, as the standard difficult setting feels a bit too easy. A good cooperative game needs to set the players a challenge they can aspire to. Married to the limited roster of three scenarios, it does pose a question about the long term replay value of the game.
But while it’s on your table, Highway Heist is a thrilling ride, its moving pieces locking into a satisfying whole. The list of actions and stunt cards give you plenty to think about. The way stunts count down and enemy cards count up winds the tension without remorse. And the dice rolls and Nitro boosts help you feel like you’re always in with a shot right up to the finish line.
Where to Buy Fast & Furious: Highway Heist
Fast & Furious: Highway Heist has a list price of $29.99 and can be ordered directly from Funko Games or other online retailers in the US, as well as in-person at your local game store.
Developer Round8 Studio and publisher NeoWiz have announced Lies of P, a Souls-like action-RPG that’s inspired by the story of Pinocchio. It doesn’t have a release date or window just yet, but it’ll be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC when it’s done.
The developers describe the gameplay as having “a unique ‘lie’ system where what you do and say as the main character dynamically affects gameplay.” NeoWiz offered a bit of insight on the announcement trailer (which you can watch at the top of this page), saying that it’s narrated by someone other than the protagonist (that’s all they’d hint at for now) and the events in the trailer serve as a prologue to the game’s story.
The development team is over 60 people so far and still hiring, with the intent of making a Souls-like that competes with any of the best games in the genre. You can see a bit more of Lies of P in the screenshots above. We’ll have much more on it as development progresses!
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Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.
We already knew that Oculus Air Link – a feature that allows you to wirelessly play PC VR Games on your Quest 2 headset – would support a 120Hz refresh rate at some point. What we didn’t know is that it would be getting a surprise release today.
The feature was first pointed out by a Reddit user, and then confirmed by UploadVR, who demonstrated that the feature was available following the Quest and Quest 2 v29 update.
Previously, if you wanted to play these games at this refresh rate, you needed to connect your VR headset through an Oculus Link cable or a third-party USB-C cable, but a wireless alternative was available through third-party virtual desktop software.
UploadVR tested out the feature, noting that the experience was “very smooth” while playing PC VR games, but adding that performance will vary depending on the strength of your internal network connection.
After the previous v28 update, Oculus’ newer Quest 2 VR headset could already run several native Quest games at 120Hz via Air Link, but the latest v29 update allows users with the gadget (who also happen to have a good gaming PC) to run all VR games that support 120hz to do so wirelessly.
The v29 software update also introduced additional features and functionality to the Quest line of VR headsets, including the new Live Overlay casting feature, allowing you to superimpose yourself over the content display from within your headset while also providing the ability to concurrently record gameplay and yourself.
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Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
A cheaper, ad-supported version of HBO Max will launch in the first week of June for $10 a month, the company announced today.
“We plan to supercharge HBO Max’s growth this year with the launch of the ad-supported HBO Max,” WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar said during today’s Upfront.
The only major difference between the ad-supported tier and the regular tier ($15 a month) is access to day-of releases like Godzilla vs Kong. Those on the cheaper, ad-supported tier will not be able to watch Same-Day Premieres, as WarnerMedia refers to the simultaneous release. It’s unclear if customers on the ad-supported tier will be able to purchase them as part of a one-time purchase within the app.
WarnerMedia executives have touted the cheaper tier for months. After launching at $15 a month (on par with HBO’s cable subscription and earlier streaming services like HBO Now), executives acknowledged that it might be too expensive for many Americans. As HBO Max starts its global expansion, having a cheaper tier that is more inline price wise with Netflix or Disney+ plays to HBO Max’s advantage.
“The team feels really good about their momentum,” AT&T CEO John Stankey said during an earnings call in March. “We haven’t seen our best days.”
Up until today, details about what an ad-supported version of HBO Max looked like remained pretty unknown. We knew ads wouldn’t play before or during HBO originals, like The Nevers, Sex and the City, or The Sopranos, according to WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar. We also knew that ads would feel light, as Kilar also noted during an analyst day earlier this year.
But that’s it. We didn’t know what those ads would look like on television sets, mobile, or desktop. We didn’t know how often they’d play, or if they would be the same ad over and over again (a la Hulu).
Now, there’s a new world of uncertainty for HBO Max and WarnerMedia. Today’s news, alongside a flurry of other announcements made during WarnerMedia’s annual Upfront presentation to advertisers, comes just two days after AT&T announced it was spinning off WarnerMedia. The entertainment company is merging with Discovery (home of Guy Fieri and the Property Brothers) in a deal valued at $43 billion. The goal is to create a super entertainment company.
How this deal affects HBO Max overall is still unknown. It’s likely that we won’t know what HBO Max becomes for a little while longer. For now, however, people who wanted HBO Max but didn’t want to spend $15 a month can now get it for slightly cheaper — as long as they don’t mind dealing with ads.
Darkhawk is a Marvel hero with a devoted fan following. Maybe it’s the snazzy armor, or maybe it’s the appeal of watching an ordinary teenager swap bodies with a powerful android. But while Darkhawk has only played a sporadic role in the Marvel Universe in recent years, that’s poised to change this summer. Marvel is kicking off a new Darkhawk limited series in August, and there’s a brand new hero at the helm.
The new Darkhawk series is written by Kyle Higgins (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Radiant Black) and drawn by Juanan Ramirez (Web of Venom), with a new character design from Pepe Larraz (House of X) and covers by Iban Coello (Venom). Rather than focus on Chris Powell as past Darkhawk comics have, the series will see the mantle pass to a new character named Connor Young.
To get an idea of what this new series holds in store, first check out an exclusive preview of Darkhawk #1 and the redesigned Darkhawk armor in the slideshow gallery below. Then read on to learn more about the new Darkhawk and why the time has come to reinvent an iconic cosmic hero.
Chris Powell’s last hurrah as Darkhawk was recently chronicled in the pages of Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk #1. Higgins and Ramirez laid the foundation for their new series in the final story in that issue. Chris has apparently died, sacrificing his life to stop a mysterious enemy from crossing through a breach point in space. All that remains of Darkhawk is Chris’ amulet, which now contains all the recorded memories of its previous owner. That amulet will return to Earth in search of a new owner worthy to wield the power of Darkhawk.
Fans may well be wondering – why kill off Chris Powell on the character’s 30th anniversary? Why is now the time for a new Darkhawk?
“I wouldn’t say the decision to introduce a new heir was so much about it being ‘time,’ so much as, it’s a direction that I was really intrigued by,” says Higgins. “The last six years, form Power Rangers to the Winter Soldier to Ultraman and now Radiant Black, I’ve really fallen in love with building contemporary superheroes, with origins for our times. This current generation. And so, thinking about a character like Darkhawk, who was always designed through contemporary Everyman lens, it made sense to think about what a teenager right now might be like. And then, taking things one step further, what a teenager who is destined for greatness and can’t wait to achieve it, so he can give back to his community… what it’s like when that path is seemingly shut down. For good. What do you do then? How do you reinvent yourself and find purpose? When the thing you were meant to do, you no longer can?”
Higgins is notable for combining elements of superhero comics and Japanese Tokusatsu in his work, particularly with recent projects like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, The Rise of Ultraman and Radiant Black. Higgins teased that there are some Tokusatsu elements to be found in this new series, even if it’s a bit more on the traditional superhero end of the spectrum.
“There are some elements that are similar, aesthetically at least,” Higgins says. “A staple of the Tokusatsu genre is the transforming hero archetype —Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, Ultraman — and Darkhawk, with its body swap dynamic, certainly fits that mold. I also find that I really respond to the more soulful and spiritual components to a lot of Tokusatsu. And I think, when you have cosmic elements, those two can be a nice mix. So, we may touch on some of that in Darkhawk. Plus, different weapon manifestations, forms and tons of magenta energy. We’re going to have fun in New York City. Especially when a certain contemporary web head swings by…”
Art by Iban Coello. (Image Credit: Marvel)
Darkhawk: Who is Connor Young?
Darkhawk is an interesting study in contrasts – an ordinary teenager from Queens who becomes bonded to a sentient android from “Null Space.” In many ways, Darkhawk is as much an everyman hero as Spider-Man. And that won’t necessary change as the mantle passes from Chris Powell to Connor Young, even if the details of Connor’s life are quite a bit different.
“As we celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Darkhawk — and Chris Powell — my approach to the mantle and the book in general comes from the same place that some of my other recent superhero work comes from: building something new and contemporary, while staying respectful to what’s come before,” Higgins says. “And, to stay true to the spirit of the concept, pushing it in ways that take full advantage of its potential. Hopefully, when it comes to Darkhawk, we’ll be taking the body-swapping-with-an-android-but-still-controlling-it-with-your-consciousness-despite-not-being-genetically-compatible, in some pretty different new directions. And at the core of that, is Connor Young. And the sudden medical diagnosis that upends his entire life.”
When he’s introduced, Connor is a character who seemed to be on top of the world – a high school basketball star with the promise of a lucrative NBA career in his near future. Unfortunately, Connor’s plans are upended when he’s diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Stumbling across a powerful alien amulet only further complicates his shattered life. Higgins makes it clear the new series aims to balance the everyday drama of Connor’s world with the cosmic trappings that come with the Darkhawk amulet, just as previous incarnations of the series have done.
“The Darkhawk technology, the android, its weapons, etc. all have a sci-fi cosmic touch. But first and foremost, Connor is going to be focused on what he knows and cares about: Earth. New York. Woodlawn Heights. His dad and his friends. And now, also, navigating this life-changing diagnosis,” Higgins says. “But, that’s where the cosmic and the grounded start to come together: the way the Darkhawk technology work, a user doesn’t actually transform into Darkhawk. What happens, is that they instantly transport and swap places with an Android, which the user — in the case of humans because of their biology and incompatibilities with the technology — still controls with their consciousness.”
Darkhawk character designs by Pepe Larraz. (Image Credit: Marvel)
Higgins adds, “So what happens when that user has a neurodegenerative condition? How does it affect his abilities? His ability to sync with the android? Are there enhancements? Detriments? What does it mean for his multiple sclerosis? All of that is at the root of this new Darkhawk.”
Darkhawk’s distinctive appearance has certainly played some role in the character’s success. He debuted in 1991, a time when the comics industry was obsessed with flashy, muscular, heavily armored heroes. Between Larraz’s redesigned Darkhawk armor and Ramirez’s interior art, Higgins is adamant the new series will live up to the standard set by the original ’90s comics.
“The Darkhawk design is bold and striking. There’s a reason why the character has really lasted over the last 30 years, despite appearing infrequently. And I think a big part of it is how memorable his look is. In my opinion, the look of a new superhero is 90% of the battle to creating a character that has the potential to stand the test of time. To become potentially iconic, they have to look iconic. Darkhawk is that for me. So, in approaching the modernization of the Android armor, Pepe Larraz was kind of enough to grace us with his immense design talents. The results speak for themselves — they’re so ridiculously cool. Juanan, I’ve known for some time, and have worked on a few small projects together that never quite came to fruition (yet). So, when Marvel included him as an option for Darkhawk, I was really excited by the prospect of building this with him. It’s been so much fun.”
Darkhawk #1 will launch in August 2021, and the series will span five issues in total.
