Creative

Amazon is opening a new game studio in Montreal led by Rainbow Six Siege developers

Amazon is illustrating its commitment to game development with a new studio opening, despite its struggles to make a hit game in recent years. The company on Tuesday announced the new studio’s Montreal-based team, which will create original AAA games with an initial focus on a new online multiplayer title. The new studio will be… Read more

HBO Max somehow beats Netflix and Disney Plus to custom profile photos

I can’t imagine there are many people out there clamoring for the ability to create a custom profile image on their favorite video streaming service, but HBO Max wants you to know that it’s giving customers just that option starting today. Subscribers can now choose from a range of preselected avatars — featuring over 120… Read more

Apple iPad Pro 2021: release date, price, specs and all the news

Home Advice (Image credit: Apple) There’s a new iPad on the way. Or, rather, four to be exact. Apple is said to be about to launch a new iPad Pro next month. While most range refreshes include minor tweaks, this one should bring some major new screen technology into play – and it’s tech that… Read more

Time made a hypey crypto cover and is selling it as an NFT

Time is the latest brand to jump on the NFT craze, with auctions for three magazine covers — including its iconic 1966 front page asking, “Is God Dead?” A more recent spin on the cover, “Is Truth Dead?” from 2017, is also up for auction, as is a brand-new “cover” that’s not actually appearing on… Read more

Burberry designed character skins for China’s biggest video game

Honor of Kings is among the biggest games in the world — and soon, it’ll be among the most fashionable as well. Today, Tencent-owned developer TiMi Studios announced a collaboration with fashion house Burberry on new character skins. The skins were designed by Riccardo Tisci, chief creative officer at Burberry, for the character Yao. “Burberry’s… Read more

Gucci designed virtual sneakers for hypebeasts in Roblox and VRChat

Gucci is diving into virtual luxury footwear with a new exclusively digital pair of sneakers called The Gucci Virtual 25 that can be “worn” in augmented reality (AR) or used in partnered apps like Roblox and VRChat. Surprisingly, the shoes are a lot less expensive than a typical Gucci piece: you can buy the Virtual… Read more

MatPat looks at YouTube’s biggest changes over the last decade — and what lies ahead

An interview with one of gaming’s longest-standing personalities Matthew “MatPat” Patrick was on YouTube for two years before he hit publish on the first entry in the series that changed his life — and YouTube culture as a whole. “Game Theory,” a series that examines the ins and outs of popular video game franchises like… Read more

Fortnite’s experimental story is an attempt to create ‘the entertainment experience of the future’

Epic’s chief creative officer, Donald Mustard, explains the game’s bold narrative ambitions Why does Fortnite have a narrative? It’s a game where 100 players drop onto a cartoonish island, dress up as bananas or Star Wars heroes, gather up guns and other gear, and attempt to eliminate each other until only one remains. When that’s… Read more

You will watch the Snyder Cut in 4:3 aspect ratio because HBO Max respects cinema

Lest anyone worry that HBO Max would tarnish Zack Snyder’s auteur work Justice League, for which the company spent $70 million on reshoots and new digital effects in order to meet the director’s requirements and satisfy years of fan demand for a better cut of the widely panned movie, the service is prefacing all streams… Read more

Motorola’s Ready For brings a DeX-style desktop to the Edge Plus

Motorola is expanding its Edge Plus flagship phone with a new, desktop computer interface called Ready For. Similar to Samsung’s DeX, Ready For allows users to plug their smartphone into a larger screen (using either a USB-C to USB-C or USB-C to HDMI cable), allowing the Edge Plus (and presumably, future Motorola phones) to be… Read more

Fortnite’s season 6 opening cinematic was co-directed by the Russo brothers

The start of Fortnite’s latest season began with a three-minute-long cinematic that set up season 6’s story, along with the game’s first narrative-driven single-player experience. It was like a short, animated action movie — which makes sense, since it was co-directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, the pair best known for their work on The… Read more

Pocket’s sort by time to read feature seems designed for the return of commutes

Pocket, an app for saving articles to read later, is rolling out a sorting option to Android users over the next few weeks that could solve my paralysis when choosing something to read. The new sort by time-to-read feature, spotted by The Verge’s Dan Seifert, means articles can be organized where they fit best, whether… Read more

Creative SXFI Trio Review

Introduction Even though the omnipresence of wireless headphones could lead you to conclude that the market no longer has room for wired models, you’d be wrong. Wired headphones, such as the Creative SFXI Trio, still very much have an audience. Anyone who can’t be bothered with such nuisances as battery charging and the potential loss… Read more

Grassroots online efforts are forming a new queer network of care

Almost exactly one year ago, Theo Hendrie thought he might have to drop out of school. His partner had lost his job, and they were struggling to pay bills and make ends meet. He worried that X Marks The Spot, his newly released anthology, might be the only creative project that he’d ever be able… Read more

Photoshop now runs natively on Apple’s M1 Macs

Lightroom was the first Adobe creative app to make the leap to Apple Silicon, and now the much-anticipated release of Photoshop is here. According to the company, Photoshop for M1 Macs completes most tasks 1.5 times faster than when running on Intel. But the speed improvements extend beyond actual editing; Adobe says a lot about… Read more