Author: Trafficblast

The Xbox One collects data from players, as will the Xbox Series X, as do most objects that can connect to the internet. Now, Microsoft has vowed to be more transparent over what data is collected and what it’s used for, and it’ll be more straightforward to withhold data, too.

In a post on Xbox Wire by Dave McCarthy, the corporate vice president of Xbox Operations, some changes have been outlined. Xbox users will receive “an overview of the required diagnostic data” being collected, the post explains, and details of how it’s being used.

Players will also be given the choice of sharing or opting out of providing additional diagnostic data, depending on their preferences.

Following an update on November 10–the launch date of the Xbox Series X and Series S–players will see the screen below.

Here are the required diagnostic data points that Microsoft will collect:

• Details of errors that might hamper the console’s ability to run games and apps
• Details of console setup success and failure to diagnose issues that would keep you from using the console
• Details of software update success and failure, as well as other console errors

Xbox will also stop collecting data from any voice searches, as well as speech-to-text. Xbox has been fairly open about what data is shared for a while now–here’s everything they share with publishers about how you use the console.

Xbox Series X and Series S will cost $499 and $299, respectively, at launch. Here’s why Microsoft is pricing them so aggressively.

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Nintendo has announced that it will host a mini Direct event, with the focus being on showcasing Nintendo Switch games from its partners. The Nintendo Direct mini will take place on September 17 at 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET / 3 PM BST.

In a press release, Nintendo invites viewers to tune in “for a live-streamed Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase, featuring information on upcoming Nintendo Switch titles exclusively from Nintendo’s publishing partners.” No further information has been provided on the games or companies that will be part of the showcase.

Nintendo has held these mini Directs numerous times in the past, showcasing projects from third-party partners.

There had been some questions of late about what Nintendo’s plans are for the Switch for the remainder of the year, especially as Sony and Microsoft are preparing to launch new consoles. Nintendo recently announced a number of significant releases, the next one being Mario 3D All-Stars, which brings together Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy into one package and will be available on September 18. Beyond that, there’s a re-release of Pikmin 3 Deluxe in October and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity in November.

There are still some announced Switch games that have been noticeably absent of late, including Platinum Games’ Bayonetta 3, Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight: Silksong, and id Software’s Doom Eternal. It could be that we get some sort of update on these titles, among others.

There are only two radio channels in the slice-of-life driving simulator, Road to Guangdong–one plays some blend of milquetoast “oriental” music, while the other broadcasts more upbeat and decidedly modern synthwave-inspired melodies. It’s this gulf between the two genres that also seems to inspire one of the few highlights behind Road to Guangdong: the light-hearted ribbing between you and your Guu Ma–the Chinese honorific for aunts–as you embark on a road trip together. The elderly Guu Ma’s disdain for the pulsating grooves of electronic music means she will always try to change the radio channel back to the vaguely Guangdong-esque music she’s more familiar with, after much grumbling about the unrefined state of modern music. You can, of course, flip the channel back again, if only to annoy her–and cackle at her exasperation as she reaches out to change the music once again.

While this small interaction is mildly amusing, it doesn’t sustain the game’s novelty for long. Road to Guangdong is a long-winding, exhausting ride–and I don’t mean in terms of hours. Not only is its pacing extremely sluggish, its characters’ minimalist expressions are also overly mechanical and too limited in their range to convey any emotion–an unfortunate design choice that only brings more attention to the game’s flat, lacklustre dialogues. This is made more apparent when Guu Ma occasionally sprinkles some canned advice over the course of your endless drives, one of which is a recurring suggestion to change your radio channel. But why would you suggest that, Guu Ma, if the only other option is these trance-like bangers you hate so much?

This unnaturalness–even a sense of aberration–also extends to the rest of the game. You play as Sunny Tong, a young university art graduate whose parents have recently passed away in an accident. They’ve left behind a restaurant for you to manage, and accompanied by your Guu Ma, you’ll be driving your dad’s heavily battered, decades-old car–lovingly nicknamed Sandy–to visit your relatives across Guangdong. At the same time, you’ll also be collecting hand-me-down recipes from them to run the restaurant with. One part interactive novel, one part road trip simulator, Road to Guangdong alternates between driving to your relatives’ homes and interacting with your extended family.

Road to Guangdong isn’t cavalier about its stories’ cultural context, at the very least. This can be observed in how Sunny addresses her relatives by their proper terms of kinship, as well as through Guu Ma’s gruff pragmatism and awkwardness with verbal affections, which are very quintessentially Chinese. A significant part of this is due to developer Just Add Oil Games’ narrative designer and cultural consultant Yen Ooi, who clearly has a hand in shaping the tale. However, everything else about Road to Guangdong quickly falters, for there is little genuine warmth to be found in the interactions with your relatives. Visits to every household are just messy knots of familial complications that Sunny has to untangle, and all these are unravelled with such muted enthusiasm that it all comes off as incredibly drab.

Like a visual novel, conversations take place by choosing from a list of dialogue options, peppered by insights you can pick up on to expand on your conversations. Ultimately, these choices amount to very little, without any marked influence on how the game eventually plays out. Odder still is the distinct lack of music during these narrative segments, other than the jarringly synthetic UI sound effects that ring when you scroll through your responses, which only echo the sheer emptiness of the family dynamics. Towards the end, I was simply clicking through the dialogue just to quickly conclude the narrative chapters. I honestly couldn’t wait to get back on the road.

That’s not to say the driving is any more compelling than these visits–it only serves as a slight reprieve from the tedium of familial exchanges. The family car is a dilapidated heap of junk that’s barely held together by schmaltz and nostalgia, so it can’t go too fast in case the vehicle gives way. Meanwhile, you also need to watch out for your petrol and oil meter before they get too low, and cycle out car parts that can be conveniently picked up in scrapyards along your journey or purchased at gas stations. It bears a remarkable resemblance to Jalopy–both share the same publisher–but the repairs are nothing more than busywork to pad the game with, as scrap parts can be found in sheer excess.

And while the drive itself can be hypnotic and soothing at times, the cathartic joy of cruising down asphalt is absent. The roads in Road to Guangdong are mostly straight and mind-numbingly linear, with the only pit stops you make the scrapyards and gas stations you’ll see every few kilometers. What makes this even duller, and even unnecessarily grating, are the uninspiring pastel-hued scenery–a joyless rendition of the bustling province of Guangdong–as well as the insipid spin on Guangdong music and electronic tunes on the radio. I found myself turning down the master volume and playing external music over it to take away some of the humdrum.

Guu Ma, too, makes for an immensely stale road trip companion. Rather than replicate the flow and cadences of real conversations, small talk with her feels utterly scripted and stilted. Far from conversing with a beloved relative, this dialogue is more akin to interacting with a virtual assistant for your rickety car, as she regurgitates reminders about the state of your sedan at specific intervals. Is your car guzzling too much petrol? Guu Ma will intermittently drop hints about pulling it over for a quick refuel. The needle in your temperature gauge swaying too frequently into the red? Guu Ma tells you the fan belt probably needs servicing. Or perhaps the car is humming too loudly? Like clockwork, she gives a perfunctory response on how this may be due to a faulty car engine or worn-out tire. While truly a veritable fountain of vehicular knowledge, Guu Ma is sadly not much else. She also dishes out banal anecdotes about the family, but they add no shades of intimacy to your relationship with her and your relatives.

Road to Guangdong seems to hold much promise at first, despite its straightforward premise. There can be a tender charm to find in the simplicity of its conceit–the mix of the storytelling strength of visual novels and the unhurried pace of driving sims. After all, anecdotal tales can be powerfully memorable in their brevity, and the idea of long drives along asphalts roads can have a pleasant, leisurely allure. On paper, Road to Guangdong seems to have the mellow, slice-of-life formula down pat, even though you’ll soon realize its execution is anything but.

And as a Chinese player, I had come in expecting more from a studio called Just Add Oil Games–a name that’s a cheeky reference and a literal translation of the Chinese phrase “jia you,” an expression of encouragement and support. But its cast of Road to Guangdong is little more than an ensemble of lifeless, cardboard cutouts of a Chinese family, despite the best efforts of its writer Ooi (who is coincidentally the only member of Chinese descent on her team). In the end, Road to Guangdong doesn’t quite live up to its modest ambitions as an intimate driving experience, as it shapes up to be a meandering road trip that simply can’t end soon enough.

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Xbox All Access is gaming’s answer to a phone plan, where you can pay off your console month-by-month with a bonus Game Pass Ultimate thrown in. Most Xbox All Access users will get a good deal on upgrading to next gen, but those who bought the budget Xbox One S All-Digital (XB1SAD) console will find they owe an extra $20 fee.

Xbox All Access users upgrading from an Xbox One S or X will be able to trade in their old console after reaching 18 monthly payments on their contract, then swapping immediately over to a new contract for an Xbox Series X or Series S. Customers upgrading from the All-Digital will have to pay an extra one-off $20 upgrade fee, which will be included on their first payment towards a Series X or Series S, as mentioned in Xbox’s upgrade FAQ.

The fee will be in addition to a monthly price hike for users switching to a next-gen contract. Where the monthly repayment for the budget All-Digital Xbox One console is just $20, the Xbox Series S will cost $25 per month, while the Series X will be $35.

For more information on the next-gen All Access plans, including upgrading from a current-gen console, check out our guide here.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace released in 1999, and the response has been fascinating–it received mixed reviews and a sour response from older fans, but is now looked back on with a mix of derision and nostalgia. Liam Neeson, who played Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn in the prequel, has now reflected back on the movie–and how one of its other stars was treated by fans.

Talking to SiriusXM show Radio Andy (as picked up on by IndieWire), Neeson talks about Ahmed Best, who played the controversial Jar Jar Binks in The Phantom Menace. Neeson recalls thinking that Best could be “the next Eddie Murphy,” and he was upset by how much criticism the actor drew.

“I know a lot of fans and critics didn’t like it, and my lovely friend Ahmed Best, who played Jar Jar Binks, came in for a lot of criticism,” Neeson says. “To the point where it really hurt his career.”

Neeson says that the fans have turned around on Best now, and are more respectful. Best has previously talked about how the reception of Jar Jar Binks took him to a dark place, but he’s set to return to Star Wars soon to host a new Star Wars game show.

Neeson says that he likes the movie, too. “I got to be a Jedi, got to play with those wonderful lightsabers and stuff…I liked the movie. I’m proud of it. I’m proud to have been a part of it.”

Liam Neeson’s Jinn dies in The Phantom Menace, but the actor made a vocal cameo in Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker.

While the next Star Wars movie is a while away, fans can look forward to The Mandalorian Season 2 starting October 30 on Disney +.

Assemble your Avengers by signing up for a chance to win a copy of Marvel’s Avengers and a PS4 Pro console. In our review of of the game, Phil Hornshaw said that the game’s combat systems showed a lot of depth, and that the multiplayer component provided some “great moments of teamwork that make you feel especially heroic.”

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What excites you about the Marvel’s Avengers game? Let us know in the comments below. Good luck, everyone!