Technology

After a short teaser last month, Paramount Plus has debuted the first full trailer for the upcoming live-action Halo TV series at the 2021 Game Awards, ahead of the show’s streaming debut in 2022. Halo will star Pablo Schreiber (American Gods) as the armored super-solider, while Jen Taylor will reprise her role from the games as Master Chief’s AI companion, Cortana. The trailer still doesn’t give too much of an idea of what to expect from the show, which Paramount says “will take place in the universe” as the Halo games and see humanity face off against the alien forces of the Covenant. But it’s still not clear whether Halo will be trying to adapt the games directly or tell its own story within the world of the franchise. The trailer itself mostly focuses on a few quick shots of Halo’s cas...

The first season of Netflix’s live-action adaptation of The Witcher was a careful balancing act. In some ways, it was the service’s answer to Game of Thrones, a bloody fantasy epic with a story that spanned a continent (and many years). But, in keeping with the source material, it was also a lot of fun. There were creepy monsters to hunt each episode, some great comic relief in the form of an annoying bard, as well as steamy bath scenes and a full-on orgy. It had everything. Season 2 attempts to up the fantasy stakes by focusing on some of the bigger, more existential questions about The Witcher universe, from the origins of monsters to why a young princess’s screams create earthquakes. The result is a show that has a more ambitious, epic feel and one that also loses some of the personalit...

Google has released its annual “Year in Search” review for 2021, providing an overview of societal trends and rankings of the most-searched items of the year. In the “Year in Search 2021” video found above, Google reflects on a year of healing as the world builds its way back up from the effects of COVID-19. “Whether they’re taking care of mental health, honoring a loved one, or reuniting with family, people are finding ways to come back stronger than before,” reads the caption. Apart from the video, Google has also revealed a timeline recapping the most-searched events throughout the year, and a list of the most popular inputs of the year which can be filtered by region. Some of the results were predictable while others came as quite a surprise. Below we list out some of the top searches ...

“How do we know what is real?” It’s a telling question asked by a seemingly real-life Keanu Reeves early on in The Matrix Awakens, a playable tech demo built in the new Unreal Engine 5 by Epic Games. Premiered at this year’s Game Awards, the interactive experience stars Reeves along with Matrix co-star Carrie-Anne Moss and was written by Lana Wachowski, the co-writer/director of the original The Matrix trilogy and director of the upcoming sequel. It’s available starting Thursday to play for free on the PS5 and Xbox Series X / S. In an exclusive interview, Reeves and Moss talked with The Verge about making the Epic demo, how technology is blurring the line between what’s real and virtual, and what to expect from the upcoming Matrix Resurrections movie. Reeves also revealed that he thinks th...

A new clip for The Matrix Resurrections debuted at The Game Awards Thursday evening. In the clip, Keanu Reeves’ Neo and a blue-haired character played by Jessica Henwick walk through a door to board a train heading to Tokyo. But then, they go through another door to enter a mysterious room where a clip from the first movie is being played. Yes, in the new movie. I’m intrigued. The new clip is the latest in a string of trailers Warner Bros. has already released for the upcoming movie, which will release in theaters and on HBO Max on December 22nd. In one released this week, Neo remarks that “I still know kung fu,” which is something I also definitely say every day when I wake up. That trailer also features a cameo from The Game Awards’ trophy, as teased by host Geoff Keighley. A trailer rel...

It’s that time of the year: The Game Awards, a three hour-long event where the awards take backstage to trailers and reveals. This year’s show was a busy one, with news covering everything from Star Wars and The Expanse to Halo and Among Us. We even got a new Alan Wake. Also, Sting was there. If you weren’t able to catch the show live, here are all the biggest announcements you missed. Explore the Matrix in Unreal Engine Epic’s latest demo for Unreal Engine 5 isn’t just a pretty cinematic, but rather an interactive feature you can download for free right now on a PlayStation 5. Even better, it’s a chance to explore the cyberpunk world of The Matrix ahead of the fourth movie’s release later this month — which we just so happened to get a fresh look at tonight, as well. For even more, be sur...

Josef Fares is known for making award-winning co-op gaming experiences. He’s also known for showing up at The Game Awards and dropping some well-placed f-bombs. Tonight, Fares followed up his famous 2017 “Fuck the Oscars” rant with an equally passionate and expletive-sprinkled acceptance speech for the Game of the Year award. This time, Fares wasn’t on an awkward tear about the Oscars, but both of his f-bombs were in reference to the moment that cemented him for all time in the Game Awards Hall of Fame. After arriving on stage to accept the award and make his speech, Fares recalled the journey from his 2017 moment to now. “I was up on that stage, 2017 saying, ‘fuck the Oscars’ and now, actually in a way the Oscars got fucked because The Game Awards is getting way better.” “Actually in a wa...

A team at the Kyoto Prefectural University, headed by its president Yasuhiro Tsukamoto, has developed a mask that offers users an easy and cost-effective way to test for COVID-19. In February of 2022, the team injected a dormant and benign form of coronavirus into female ostriches and extracted antibodies from the eggs that they laid. Those antibodies were then integrated into a fluorescent dye. When the dye is sprayed onto a specially developed mask filter, the fabric will glow green to indicate the presence of coronavirus exposure. The team has conducted initial tests with 32 people infected with coronavirus in which all the masks worn glowed under the UV light, fading over time as the viral potency decreased. President Tsukamoto himself found he was positive for COVID-19 when wearing on...

Alan Wake 2 was just announced at The Game Awards. A brief teaser trailer appears to show the titular protagonist in both New York City as well as the original game’s Pacific Northwest setting, and confirms a release date of 2023. Alan Wake 2 will be released for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series consoles, and the Epic Games Store. Remedy creative director Sam Lake told TGA’s Geoff Keighley on stage that Alan Wake 2 will be the studio’s first ever survival horror game, contrasting with the action focus of the original Alan Wake. Lake also tweeted this: Alan Wake 2 confirmed! Alan Wake 2 confirmed! Alan Wake 2 confirmed! Alan Wake 2 confirmed! Alan Wake 2 confirmed! Alan Wake 2 confirmed! Alan Wake 2 confirmed! Alan Wake 2 confirmed! Alan Wake 2 confirmed! Alan Wake 2 confirmed! Alan Wake 2 co...

Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is coming to PC. It’ll be available on the Epic Games Store, and it’s coming soon — in just one week on December 16th. Previously, the game had been exclusive to PlayStation 5, where it became available earlier this year. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is an enhanced version of Final Fantasy VII Remake, which, like it says in the title, is a remake of the PlayStation classic. Intergrade upgrades the graphics, adds a number of quality of life features, and includes a new chapter starring Yuffie Kisaragi called Intermission. Final Fantasy VII Remake takes place entirely in the Midgar portion of the original, though it adds a significant amount of content to blow it out to a full-fledged RPG. It’s unclear when new games covering parts of the story Rema...

Microsoft is rebranding its Xbox Game Pass for PC subscription to just PC Game Pass. The new name drops the Xbox branding in favor of a simplified PC Game Pass name that should make things less confusing for PC gamers. Previously, Microsoft had Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Game Pass for PC, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions, which could all be mistaken as Xbox-only offerings. The name of the PC subscription is now changing, but the logo will still include an Xbox symbol. We heard a rumor that we’re changing our logo and name. the rumor is true — PC Game Pass (@XboxGamePassPC) December 10, 2021 Microsoft also took the opportunity to list some upcoming games coming to the PC Game Pass on day one: Total War: WARHAMMER III Redfall S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl Atomic Heart Slime Rancher...

The original PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (aka PUBG) is moving to a free-to-play model beginning January 12st, 2022, developer Krafton announced at The Game Awards Thursday. PUBG has been a paid game since it launched on Steam in early access in 2017. It quickly became a huge hit, and it was such a sensation that it inspired Epic Games to make a free battle royale mode for its (at the time) new tower defense game called Fortnite. Fortnite: Battle Royale has since gone on to become an entertainment juggernaut, likely in part because it’s free, and Activision Blizzard has also released its own massively popular free-to-play battle royale shooter, Call of Duty: Warzone. [embedded content] Although PUBG will soon be free-to-play, there will still be some elements that are locked behind a fee ...