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Following reported delays over political concerns, the European Commission (EC) has penalized Apple and Meta over anti-competitive activities. The fines of 500 million and 200 million respectively (around $570 million and $228 million) are the first to be issued under Europe's new Digital Markets Act (DMA), according to the EC. The fines were issued after what the Commission called extensive consultation with the two companies after the probes were opened in March 2024. Apple violated the DMA by blocking developers from informing customers about sales and other offers outside the App Store. "Consumers cannot fully benefit from alternative and cheaper offers as Apple prevents app developers from directly informing consumers of such offers," the Commission wrote, adding that it failed to demonstrate the restrictions are "objectively necessary." The 500 million fine levied against Apple takes into account the "gravity and duration" of the non-compliant behavior. The EC also ordered Apple to remove the restrictions and refrain from imposing them in the future. However, the Commission also closed its investigation into another Apple matter around app choices "thanks to early and proactive engagement by Apple on a compliance solution." Namely, Apple changed its browser choice screen, made it easier for users to change default settings for things like calls, messages, keyboards and password managers, and agreed to allow users to uninstall apps like Safari. Meanwhile, the EC hit Meta for its "consent or pay" system that forced EU users to either shell out 10 ($11) monthly for an ad-free subscription or be forced to share their data. Meta introduced a new version of the free personalized ads model in November 2024 that supposedly uses less personal data to display ads (while also cutting the subscription price to 6), but the Commission is still assessing that. The 200 million fine thus takes into account the time period between March 2024 and November 2024 when Facebook was violating DMA rules. However, Meta could face further penalties depending on how the EC evaluates the new personalized adds. On a positive note for Meta, the EC rules that Facebook Marketplace is no longer designated under the DMA, following "careful assessment of Meta's arguments and as a result of... additional enforcement and continued monitoring measures." Last month, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg specifically urged President Trump to intervene on potential EU sanctions around the pay for privacy issue. The White House also released a memo in February saying it could retaliate against any European DMA sanctions against US tech companies. However, Meta has its own problems in the US that could have more dire consequences. The Justice Department accused it of squashing competition through acquisition and could force it to sell off key apps like WhatsApp and Instagram. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apple-and-meta-hit-with-first-fines-under-europes-new-digital-markets-act-112545713.html?src=rss
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Its rare for a turn-based RPG to excite the editorial team beyond Engadgets usual core RPG fans. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has many excited, however. Maybe its the dreamy Belle Époque aesthetic and design. Maybe its the gloriously pulpy concept of an all-powerful Paintress dooming humankind to an ever shortening mortal clock. Maybe its the characters, bolstered by a starry voice artist roster, and nuanced animation and story. Maybe, at this point in gaming, its the $50 price tag. Maybe its just the treat of a turn-based RPG for those of us not looking for another real-time action RPGs. Expedition 33 does a great job setting up its world in a way that allows everyone to get on board. Lumiere, which seems to be a chunk of Paris plus change, is doomed to repeat a cycle of death, with a powerful godlike figure, the Paintress, looming on the horizon. The vestiges of humanity send out expeditions each year to the Continent in a bid to stop the death. This is the story of Expedition 33, although its not the 33rd, but closer to the 77th, with the clock counting down from 100. Sandfall Once youre exploring the dangerous world beyond the safety of the city, youll discover that each expedition, while failing at ending the Paintress, made progress in different ways, paying it forward for the expedition that followed. Some groups set up grapplehook points across the world, while others figured how to use the worlds painty powers to tattoo themselves to boost their combat powers. Some tried to reach the Paintress on boats and submarines, but failed miserably. It gets the player excited about exploring the world and the lore, even before youve left the safety of Lumiere. You start the game as Gustave, picking up party members throughout the early part of the game. While not all of them are part of your battle party, Gustave seems to have a connection with many other members of Expedition 33. A farewell party, tinged with hope, pessimism and loss, sets up the journey before things go wrong, pretty much as soon as they land. Expedition 33 introduces its battle system and its take on turn-based RPGs in easy-to-digest parts. First youre taught the basics of parrying and dodging, as well as a Free Aim shooting mode, which gobbles up your activity points just as much as a straightforward attack, but can be used to hit weak points or sabotage powerful attacks of your enemies. Quick-time actions, pressing the right button at the right time, will ensure your skills do even more damage, but are more crucial for parries and dodges. Youll want to refine your ability to parry attacks as soon as possible. Parries have a shorter success window than dodges, but offer extra action points for the character, and if performed perfectly, set up an automatic (and powerful) counterattack. Later abilities, learned from Pictos (sort-of accessories) can augment your parries to offer mild healing, extra action points, and even more powerful counter attacks. From the mid-game onwards, parrying will likely be your life. Sandfall Theres then the addition of elemental attacks, which can apply status effects, augment future attacks and more. Initially, I found the skill sets of each character, which are entirely different, a little complicated. Sure, Gustaves shot ability was laced with Lightning, but it also applied the Mark status effect, which adds 50 percent more damage to whoever attacks the same enemy next. It all soon clicked into place, though, and I was cuing up each characters attack to build upon the last. Alongside their unique skills and spells, each character has their own fight mechanic too. Our preview touched on Gustaves super-charged robot arm, Lunes elemental stains which she can store up and apply to add more oomph to spells, and Maelles battle stances that can risk weakened defense for heavier hits. The party is eventually joined by Sielle, who has a light-dark mechanic that tags enemies, building up momentum to convert into considerable damage, or a mixed hit-and-heal attack. Then theres monkey-monk Monoco who is both the comic relief and blue mage, collecting defeated monsters feet (!) and wielding their moves in combat. Those skills are further complicated by a Beastial wheel, which spins after each attack Monoco makes, and augments certain families of attacks. For example, if wearing the Caster mask, a regen spell will also heal the party substantially. Like I said, initially confusing, but you get to grips with it. In the later game chapters, enemies will often deliver seven-hit combos, with some attacking all of your party each time. Youll find yourself dodging, parrying and leaping over attacks in a bid to shore up ability points, or just keep yourself alive, and it can get a bit stale at times. But! When you nail that boss attack pattern, flawlessly countering the evil older man (there shouldnt be anyone alive over 33!) and his eight laser cane attacks, and your three-person party coalesce into a group counter attack, severing a considerable chunk of his health bar. Urgh. I felt like an athletean artist. Sandfall There are no random encounters, so like Metaphor Re:Fantazio (There are a lot of parallels there) enemies exist in the world, ready for you to sneak attack or just avoid. The auto-save system is forgiving, and even kindly keeps three saves at hand, so you can perhaps retreat from an area youre not quite ready for. And you will get thrashed by a random super enemy when you push your luck. There are also a few difficulty spikes, but its often a matter of attack pattern recognition. While there are distractions and optional areas to explore, Expedition 33 guides you in a relatively linear fashion for most of the game. As more exploration options become available, youre eventually able to easily return to past areas, and go obliterate that one monster with the giant spear that shamed you in the early hours of your playthrough. Most transport options come from befriending a giant plushie-kind-of-mythical-creature called Esquie, who can swim, blast through rocks and evenually fly you around the world. To do so, however, youll have to find his friends. Those friends are stones that add skills. So while he can fly as soon as you meet him, he cant carry you until you find his special stone buddy. I love this kind of RPG nonsense. Gestrahl villages (another species that inhabits the continent) add some welcome comic relief amid all the death, family strife, and betrayal. Fortunately, the cast of Expedition 33 have the dramatic bonafides to deliver on the emotional beats, including Charlie Cox (Daredevil), Jennifer English (Baldurs Gate 3s Shadowheart) Ben Starr (Final Fantasy XVI) and Andy Serkis (do I even have to say?). There are both French and English VAs, and Id recommend playing through at least part of the game in both. It adds a certain je ne sais quoi or at least made me feel somehow cultured. There are numerous other playfully French touches and clichés, including a droopy Eiffel Tower and a series of formidable enemies: a tribe of mimes. Sandfall Sandfall decided to forgo maps; theres an overworld map, accessible by pressing up on the D-pad, but it lacks an overlay, and youll have to zoom in significantly to see the areas labels. The bigger frustration is the lack of mini maps in core areas. While its not an open-world exploration kind of game, theres some latitude for exploring off the beaten path, which is nearly always rewarded with new equipment (or a strong enemy). However, without a map, I often found myself running in circles, struggling to find a way forward. Its a good thing, then, that the environments are gorgeous and filled with detail. I need a camera mode added to this game, as soon as possible. The sinister Monolith, counting down the years, always seems to be visible from cliff sides, valleys, and abandoned train stations, always in a very aesthetically pleasing way. Even the campsite that the group uses to save, rest and develop friendships overlooks the Paintress countdown clock. We covered the faux underwater level from the early part of the game in our preview, but there are several more meticulously designed levels and areas later in the game. One optional distraction partway through is a vertiginous structure made of gravity-defying floating objects and parts of buildings that you can climb up for a (frustrating) mini-game. Theres also a fractured snowy Belle Époque ski resort that you have to hike up, and a broken city, skewered by swords of light, to fight through on your way to confront the giant, weepy Paintess, whos always slumped on the horizon. Side quests and distractions from the main story are minimal until later in the game, and I found myself happily moving on without completing them, hoping for an easy way to backtrack to areas. That doesnt quite ever happen, although a Doctor Who-esque house found within the game, with doors attached to various places across the Continent, would have made a convenient shortcut. Instead, you have to wait until youve found Esquies stone for flying, which comes pretty late into the game. Once Esquie takes to the skies, theres no shortage of mini quests and new areas, including gorgeously hued floating islands, paintings to test your battle strategies and curios that help bolster smaller story beats. I havent finished all of the optional bosses and quests, but the only frustrating ones so far have hinged on some precarious platforming segments. Its not great; it's frustrating. These characters were not built for leaps of faith. And if youre sprinting, dont be surprised if you parkour roll off the platform you landed on, and fall to your death. Without spoiling the story, many of the characters have a degree of plot blindness that stretches incredulity. It can be especially jarring when woven amid a lot of heaviness, themes of loss, death of close friends and the whole attempting-to-save-the-world when no-one even knows if its possible. Sandfall Im willing to forgive the high-concept wankery to an extent (Its an RPG!). Still, when new characters join you, almost certainly connected to mysterious enemies trying to kill you, youd expect other party members might have a few questions. You can tell the team loves RPGs. The director said he was starving for turn-based RPGs and hes helped make quite the meal. The RPG inspirations come from many places. You can easily see the affection for both the Persona and Final Fantasy series in places. Still, during the battles, it was Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario, of all things, that came to mind, with the judicious use of timing and quick button presses being the best way to win or at least survive. Another thing that Expedition 33 does right is a rather fantastic run of battles, cinematic set-pieces and exploration towards the end. The final villain, too, is someone I was hoping to fight no random evil big bad here, like we have suffered in one or ten RPGs past. Expedition 33 is a solid, enjoyable RPG and Ive already started. However, later into the game, and on the higher difficulty level, it devolves into a rhythm action game, especially on damage-sponge bosses. Although that might not be what turn-based RPG fans want, it adds urgency and focus to fights. Its also a gorgeously made and well-considered world. A strong endorsement for it all is that Im still hunting down records of every expedition that came before Gustave, Maelle and Lune.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/clair-obscur-expedition-33-review-an-original-hit-rpg-090012488.html?src=rss
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May the 4th be with you is almost upon us, so get ready for an influx of Stars Wars paraphernalia. That includes new merch, such as Casetify's collaboration with Star Wars. Yes, starting today, Star Wars fans can get a series of branded accessories for devices ranging from iPhones to wireless chargers. One of the most over-the-top items available is a Darth Vader AirPods holder. As you can see above, it's an entire stand for your AirPods that almost looks like a little bobblehead doll. But, it fits your AirPod case (which can also be Star Wars themed) and leaves space for the keychain to poke out. Plus, Casetify claims it's "complete with authentic breathing sound effects" a purchase that truly falls under the category of something you never knew you needed. The Darth Vader head follows similar Casetify products, including a stand that looks like RX-78-2 from Gundam. It also held both AirPods and another case from the anime collaboration. A separate roll out with Neon Genesis Evangelion included an AirPods case based on the head of Evangelion Unit-01. As for the Star Wars collection, you can check out all the products below and purchase items starting at $32. Some of the themed accessories will be available to buy in bundles. Casetify This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/casetifys-latest-airpods-case-is-a-darth-vader-head-080012607.html?src=rss
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