Captain America: Brave New World is flying onto Blu-ray next month, and preorders just opened for multiple editions at Amazon and Walmart. Collectors will want to check out Brave New World's Limited Edition Steelbook version of the 4K Blu-ray release. In addition to Brave New World's handful of standalone physical editions, the Captain America film franchise is getting a new collection featuring all four MCU movies. Captain America 4-Movie Collection is available to preorder on Blu-ray for $50, giving fans a budget-friendly way to own all of the movies on disc. See all editions at Amazon The Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray editions of Captain America: Brave New World include digital copies of the new film, but it's worth noting that the film also launched on digital platforms on April 15. You can rent/buy it for $25/$35 on Prime Video and other streaming services.Continue Reading at GameSpot

The Last of Us season 2 premiere has already gone off to a flying start in terms of introducing at least one (so far) of its variations of infected as Ellie faces off with a terrifying stalker. Season one of the post-apocalyptic series saw a few other types, like clickers, bloaters and runners, but it seems as though this time around, viewers will get to witness a much cleverer and creepier variant of the infected for The Last of Us' highly anticipated second season.

FMC military air sim, is all about flying EVERY type of military aircraft from 1914, to present. and making avatars according to the year the player has chosen Includes: high octane, exicting atmosphere. Unique multi-player. multiple view points. VR and modding support. mission editor Talent Required: 3D Artist (4) Ability to export to FBX format. Experience with UE4 toolset a bonus. Expected to create all aircraft and non playable vehicles 3D Character Artist (4) Experi

By TREVOR HOGG Animating video games or music videos is one thing, but independently producing an animated television series that streams on Netflix is an entirely different animal. This is something Riot Games learned after spending $250 million to create two nine-episode seasons of Arcane, a spin-off of their multiplayer online battle arena video game League of Legends. “Christian Linke, [Co-Creator/Showrunner/Writer of Arcane for Riot Games] used to say that animation is where we come from because it was so much a part of the game and how we thought about the movement of characters,” states Alex Yee, Co-Creator/Showrunner/Writer of Arcane for Riot Games. “When the Warcraft movie came out, I began to see how the advantage of animation was that our characters could do things that people couldn’t do. They could live up to a type of motion the animators had established in the game. This heightened life.” “Riot Games realized that they needed to create a planet because we are creating a backstory for all of these different champions – some felt inspired by Greek mythology, while others were more modern, like the Sheriff of Piltover. A team at Riot Games has been working for more than a decade on the world-building aspect of this universe.” —Arnaud-Loris Baudry, Production Designer and Senior Concept Artist, Riot Games A music video aesthetic was incorporated into the animation style for the sequence when Caitlyn leads a covert operation into Zaun to capture Jinx. Pushing the boundaries of animation combines 2D and 3D techniques to produce a painterly style. “A lot of this is the magic of Fortiche,” Yee notes. “The first time we worked with Fortiche, Christian was looking all over the place for something that felt fresh and current. He had this rebellious attitude that matched the gamers’ spirit and the spirit that went with League of Legends.” Riot Games is in Los Angeles while Fortiche is in Paris. “What was a bit tricky was finding ways to work with Fortiche, which is in a different time zone,” states Arnaud-Loris Baudry, Production Designer and Senior Concept Artist at Riot Games. “My team was in charge of everything concerning the IP and did some early visual development. The goal was to give a lot of ideas to the storyboard team. When they decide to use one of our ideas or concepts, we might work for months to find the final design and work with Fortiche to finalize it.” Viktor achieves a god-like transformation, which causes him to want to do the same thing with humanity. Fortiche has been able to elevate the animation style. “Because we use a mix of 2D and 3D techniques, our workflow is a little unusual,” observes Julien Georgel, Art Director at Fortiche. “It’s important for us to think about how things will be made at the concept stage. We need to have a good idea of how things are going to come together and how it’s going to look in the end.” Adding to the stylization was the decision to treat smoke and fire as 2D effects. “For the basic visual effects, we rely on the proven expertise of our long-standing 2D and 3D FX team,” Georgel states. “This season, my attention was particularly focused on innovative special effects, such as those related to Hexcore and the Anomaly. These central narrative elements significantly impacted the entire production, from the characters to the props, background design and compositing. The aim was to ensure seamless visual and narrative consistency, with every detail adding to the story’s impact. At the same time, the characters’ powers were the subject of close collaboration between Arnaud Baudry’s team at Riot Games, my team at Fortiche and our FX department. This teamwork made it possible to create distinctive visual effects for each champion, contributing to their own identity.” The Black Rose practices the Arcane version of Black Magic. Driving the storytelling are the characters. “It’s interesting because I’ve worked on developing characters for the game for a while,” Yee notes. “At first, the characters were like a little sonar ping into some part of the world. They would reveal the environment around them because you create that through their backstory. Then, after a bit, the regions became like these thematic philosophies of the world, so when you would develop a character early on, the first things you had to understand were what is the role that they play in the game and where in the world do they come from. For me, many of the characters are reflections of the pros and cons of these philosophies. Piltover and Zaun were always something that grabbed Christian just for how it was not doing the typical swords and sorcery thing. But Vi and Jinx were close to our hearts, connected many of the early projects Christian and I worked on.” Motion influenced the character designs. “The character designs from the game are specifically tailored to be seen from the top-down angle, at a distance, and move in a specific way aimed to make that experience the best it can be,” states Jason Chan, Senior Principal Visual Development Artist at Riot Games. “But when we’re working on adapting it to more cinematic and storytelling experiences, we have to find a way to make those designs still feel recognizable so there’s not this long period where people don’t recognize these characters, but they still work well for animation and storytelling. How we designed the actual animation itself is a back-and-forth process. We try our best on the design team to keep it in mind so we’re designing the characters in ways that won’t make an impossible task for animators to animate.” Jinx’s relationship with Isha allows her to better understand her big sister, Vi. Storyboards also impacted the character designs and vice versa. “In the fight scenes in the end, there are many technical things that happen based on Vi’s updated gauntlets, which have this rocket power, and Jinx’s new gun, which is a gigantic gun that fires from both ends,” Chan remarks. “Those were designed before the storyboard and ended up influencing the storyboard because it gave the animators new toys to play with in the way that the characters could fight; they ran with it and did some creative stuff. Other stuff that has to happen in the storyboard will also influence the design, like when they were storyboarding the Caitlyn/Vi love scene. They had to come back to me to ensure they could remove their clothes! I had to redesign the clothing so that you could see how it comes apart.” Smeech was hard to animate because of his mechanical parts. A new weapon is introduced in Season 2. “Christian wanted some next evolution for Caitlyn in this battle, so I was going for what would separate this Hextech rifle from what she had before,” Chan explains. “I went over the top and tried to design something a little crazier. It reminds me of Jayce’s hammer when it gets all powered up and shoots. I wanted to do something fun with that. I wished she got to use it longer. Every weapon she gets is destroyed during the show, but they make it feel cool when she uses it. That was fun for me. I built the whole thing out in Blender and animated it, transforming and doing stuff. I sent that over to Fortiche, which ran with it and made it cool.” The costumes were designed to reflect the arc of the characters, with Caitlyn, particularly, going on a journey that has her taking on an authoritarian presence. Only three main pieces of artwork existed for Piltover. “Fortiche did a year of visual development of Piltover, particularly the shape language, colors and materials,” Baudry remarks. “We got inspired and enriched the vision of the city. When we started working on Arcane, we already had almost two rounds of visual development.” Guides were provided to Fortiche by the world-building team at Riot Games. “That was base inspiration. But in Arcane, we also wanted to feel that the city was lived in, and we added a history to the architecture. The upper city was more influenced by New York Art Deco, symmetrical and based on geometry; they value something clean and pure. Zaun is more influenced by European Art Deco, which has more flourish and is asymmetrical with some accents.” “Our approach to the color palette and lighting schemes are based on a combination of intuition and visual references carefully selected with the directors right from the mood board phase. The aim is to create a regular and coherent dynamic throughout the episodes and the season. We deliberately alternate darker moments with high-contrast sequences to intensify the emotional impact of key scenes. This strategy also allows for subtle parallels and foreshadowing between episodes, thus reinforcing the overall narrative.” —Julien Georgel, Art Director, Fortiche When Vi is at her darkest emotional state, she dyes her hair black, such as when she is cage-fighting. Viktor had the most model sheets because he slowly transforms through both seasons. His face went through a mock transformation to illustrate how it would change. Caitlyn strikes an action pose with a highly advance Hextech-powered rifle. Jinx was given a gun that is able to fire from both ends. Ekko is considered to be one of the best-looking characters, which made it difficult to find something for him to grow into for the final episode. “Christian Linke [Co-Creator and screenwriter of Arcane for Riot Games] always wanted to have this bridge, which created tension with the IP and world-building team because, before Arcane, the two cities were on top of each other. However, Christian wanted the show to open and end on this bridge. It symbolizes the division and alliance of two sides of a city.” —Arnaud-Loris Baudry, Production Designer and Senior Concept Artist, Riot Games There was room for environmental exploration. “We were in a special situation with League of Legends because the universe we’re depicting in the show doesn’t appear in the video game,” Baudry states. “The video game is more like a battlefield or chessboard where heroes are summoned and come from different universes. After a while, Riot Games realized they needed to create a planet because we were creating a backstory for all these different champions. Still, some felt inspired by Greek mythology, while others were more modern, like the Sheriff of Piltover. A team at Riot Games has been working for more than a decade on the world-building aspect of this universe.” A signature landmark is Progress Bridge, which connects Piltover with Zaun. “Christian Linke always wanted to have this bridge, which created some tension with the IP and world-building team because, before Arcane, the two cities were on top of each other,” Baudry reveals. “However, Christian wanted the show to open and end on this bridge. It symbolizes the division and alliance of two sides of a city.” During Season 2, Mel comes into her own powers, which are tied to a mysterious organization known as the Black Rose. Color and light are important storytelling tools that direct the viewer’s eye and help convey the desired mood for a shot. “Our approach to the color palette and lighting schemes are based on a combination of intuition and visual references carefully selected with the directors right from the mood board phase,” Georgel notes. “The aim is to create a regular and coherent dynamic throughout the episodes and the season. We deliberately alternate darker moments with high-contrast sequences to intensify the emotional impact of key scenes. This strategy also allows for subtle parallels and foreshadowing between episodes, thus reinforcing the overall narrative.” There is an angelic yet unsettling quality as Viktor heals Huck. Magic is a prominent aspect of the visual language with Zaun conjuring it through chemicals and Piltover via science. “In some ways, we would argue that this idea of magic bleeding out of everything in the world is something that is the principal feature of the League of Legends universe,” Yee states. “The key is trying to figure out how to give these many different regions and people a relationship with magic that felt unique and grounded enough to make the world something where it wasn’t just a battle among the top sorcerers for control. It’s tricky because you don’t want to make the world too dry. You want to seize the opportunities for magic where you can find it.” The transformation of the commune established by Viktor was particularly difficult to conceptualize. “It was first introduced in Episode 106 as an abandoned underground mining village, a refuge for some of Zaun’s most destitute inhabitants,” Georgel explains. “We presented it as a rubbish heap from Piltover and Zaun, surrounded by tents, a place where Viktor, guided by the voice of Sky, decides to build his church. In Episode 206, this squalid place is transformed into an oasis of peace, bathed in unexpected subterranean sunlight, decorated with yellow flowers, and giving the impression of a blue sky. This transformation is the work of Viktor’s cultists, whose obsession with the fractal motif, the leitmotif of the series, is manifested at all levels.” Among the props that had to be designed were the various vehicles. “[T]he characters’ powers were the subject of close collaboration between Arnaud Baudry’s team at Riot Games, my team at Fortiche and our FX department. This teamwork made it possible to create distinctive visual effects for each champion, contributing to their own identity.” —Julien Georgel, Art Director, Fortiche Unique environments to create were the labs and workshops that reflect the work and the personalities of those utilizing them. “We knew from the early stages of outlining the story that we had a lot of scientists – Heimerdinger, Jayce, Viktor, the Mad Scientist Singed and Jinx, who is more of a crafter than an inventor,” Baudry observes. “Our job at Riot Games was to find visual ideas to make them all different. For Jinx, it was a place where no one else would consider of use. It’s really dangerous. We imagined that since Zaun was polluted, maybe it was an old vent system, and you have this big propeller. One of the artists on my team had the idea that maybe it could be an airship stuck inside this vent. For Heimerdinger, since he’s short, I imagined that maybe there were many ways to climb ladders to go and find all of his stuff. Heimerdinger is old, so he probably has a lot of old junk everywhere. Heimerdinger is also careful about the danger of science, so he has a vault where he keeps everything.” A central visual and thematic landmark is Progress Bridge, which connects Piltover with Zaun. Not surprising is the role music plays in the narrative, given that Riot Games and Fortiche started off doing music videos together. “Season 2 is characterized by the presence of musical segments in almost every episode, often conceived from the writing stage,” Georgel remarks. “These narrative sequences allow us to simplify complex information and convey the desired atmosphere without creating too many new assets or going overboard with character animation. Otherwise, with the usual art direction and animation style, they would be way too costly to produce. Thanks to elliptical editing and an adapted visual style, we can focus on the essentials and still achieve the desired results. The choice of artistic style is always in harmony with the atmosphere of the sequence and the music: charcoal, with Cait and Vi in color for the funeral [Episode 201], vintage posters for Episode 202, comic-book aesthetics for the task force [Episode 203], and black-and-white press photographs with punk graffiti for the Jinxers’ riot [Episode 204].” The commune established by Viktor has a Fibonacci motif, which visually reflects the corruption caused by him combining Hextech and Chemtech. A long time was spent on Viktor’s minions, trying to find a sweet spot where they were unsettling but also angelic and perfect. Helping audience members understand the geography of Piltover and Zaun are 12 landmarks with one of them being the clock tower. The strong vertical and symmetrical design elements of New York Art Deco inspired the shape language for Piltover and its opera house. A matte painting of a rooftop view of Piltover at magic hour. Various Pre-Zaun street assets that contributed to making the city feel historical and lived in. When designing Heimerdinger’s Lab, the short stature of the academic was kept in mind. A significant prop design was the Hextech rifle, which has several moving parts that widen the canvas of experimentation for animators. Jinx is more of artisan than a scientist, so her inventions are assembled in a dangerous workshop environment. The Hextech lab is where extremely dangerous experiments take place, so it has a vault-like aesthetic. Atmospherics such as steam were added to the Atlas Guantlets worn by Vi to emphasize the powerful nature of the weapon. Somewhat battle-scarred, Riot Games has come out wiser and emboldened by the experience of making Arcane. “I count myself extremely fortunate to have gotten to see a company that mastered its movement with a bunch of people who didn’t know what they were doing but wanted to do something great,” Yee states. “I’ve now had the opportunity to see that life cycle twice, first at Riot and then again with Arcane at Fortiche. It’s a magical feeling. It’s one of those things you think: how could something like that ever happen again? What inspires me is that initial spirit of Riot – this desire to push forward, innovate, disrupt and break open the boundaries of what is possible. It’s a big thing to stand behind that kind of an effort, and it’s incredible to see what it can create in the world.”

Welcome home, PlayStation 5 players! I’m excited to share some news about our cozy fantasy life-sim adventure, Palia. First and foremost, we’re bringing Palia’s enchanting world to the PS5 on May 13 – complete with all the bells and whistles that only Sony’s hardware can deliver. I have a lot to share with you, so let’s get right into it! Play Video Palia has more than 6 million players, which means that some of you are already familiar with our game. For those who aren’t, Palia is a stress-free refuge where you and your friends can unwind together and explore a gorgeous fantasy world at your own pace. It’s filled with crafting opportunities, customization options, and plenty of exploration to keep you busy for years to come. We know that self-expression is one of the cool things that makes us human, and we’ve extended that into our little corner of the virtual world. Every Palia resident can design and decorate their own home to perfectly suit their individual tastes. Want to live in a cozy cabin and bask in the glow of a crackling fireplace? Go for it! Or maybe you’re looking for something a little more stately. How about an upscale Tudor Revival-inspired mansion (la di dah!)? Or maybe all you need is a place to store your loot and you couldn’t give a rip about aesthetics. I’m not here to judge, you absolute monster (jk, hehe! We’re all about letting you put your unique stamp on the world – and in the lives of our cast of charming (and romanceable!) Villagers. The PlayStation 5 launch is timed around Palia’s most ambitious updates to date, the long-awaited Elderwood expansion. This drop provides all players a massive new location to explore, Elderwood. What a coincidence! This ancient overgrown forest is brimming with magical essence, some of which has been spreading in the shadows beneath its leafy canopy. You’ll be able to investigate the mysteries behind this stunning new Adventure Zone through an engaging line of story quests that will have you exploring the deepest cave to the tallest tree. During your adventures, you’ll face a variety of fierce(ish) new magical creatures… this is a cozy game after all! Don’t worry, though: You’ll be able to harness the power of the all-new Relic system, which grants buffs for your entire party. At Singularity 6, we’ve been fans of the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller from the moment we first held one. Our team has worked hard to fully integrate the DualSense’s one-of-a-kind suite of cool features in Palia, and we think you’ll love what we’ve been able to do with it. The Light Bar changes color based on what skill is currently in use, such as fishing, hunting, mining, and more. It also flashes gold when you make a Guild Store purchase or sale with in-game gold – ka-ching! Adaptive Triggers are tied to in-game skills, providing real-time feedback while hunting, choppin’ down trees, and performing other in-game skills. When you hook a shark on your fishing line (yes, we have sharks), you’ll definitely know! These features are all incorporated on PlayStation Portal, too, in case you want to tuck in and get really cozy. Palia was designed with online multiplayer and community in mind, and we fully support cross-play multiplayer across PlayStation 5, PC, and additional consoles. The Elderwood Expansion is a particularly exciting moment for our community because everyone will be experiencing it together for the first time on May 13. While this is the first time all you people have the chance to kick back and relax with  Palia on PlayStation 5, we’ve been busy delivering monthly game updates and seasonal content to keep the game fresh since we first released it in late 2023. It truly is a great time to join our friendly and helpful community and carve out your own little cozy space in Palia’s charming world.

After a wait of more than six months since Patch 7, Larian Studios has released its eighth and final patch for Baldur’s Gate 3, adding highly anticipated features like cross-play, photo mode, and split screen play for the Xbox Series S. Larian celebrated the patch release with another of the company’s animated shorts featuring the BG3 cast — but this time with a special metatextual cameo and twist ending. But what’s really got my BG3 diehard friends salivating is the release of 12 new subclasses — one for each of the game’s playable Dungeons & Dragons classes — ready and waiting for exploring new juicy synergies and replaying the whole dang 70-plus-hour game. Other Patch 8 highlights include: Updates to the modding toolkit “Neutral and friendly NPCs will no longer become hostile when, outside of combat, they walk into surfaces created during combat that trigger passives (like electrified surfaces triggering Thunderbolt Strike). Take it easy, lads.” “Fixed a bug causing non-Dark-Urge avatars to say Dark Urge lines. You’re not all obliged to be wretched things with headaches.” “Reminded Minthara that ‘knocked out’ does not mean ‘dead’, so she’ll more reliably appear in Moonrise Towers.” Succeeding on an unexpected Perception check will now ping the thing you noticed on the minimap and in the combat log thank god, I could never whip my camera around fast enough To check out the full patch notes, including tips on how to use photo mode, how to activate cross-play, and a complete list of subclasses, check out Larian’s deep dive on the company’s own blog.

Forward-thinking design ideology from Gustave Eiffel’s era echoes in the modern sensibilities behind contemporary interior architecture found in urban French dwellings. But what throughline links structures like the famed tower with local architecture in a place such as Colmar, France? Borrowing a term coined by the late engineering scholar David Billington – structural art. Fine artists hailing from the area like Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, who collaborated with Gustave Eiffel to create the equally famous Statue of Liberty, left the northeastern Alsace region with an indelible creative charge. An OZA Design project, the Milo Apartment, shares unique DNA with other works whose structural efficiency and material economy yield an expressive personal style. Paralleling Paris’s Haussmannian apartments (rational plans, geometric elements, streamlined adornments) and tangential to the opulent châteaus around its periphery, this residence blends French and German influences with historical references and the surrounding material vernacular sans period style. Özge Öztürk and Alexandre Simeray, the principal architects behind OZA, imbue their work with a sense of nostalgia without pandering to the past. “In our quest to honor Colmar’s artistic heritage, we collaborated closely with local artisans, ensuring that every detail of Milo Apartment reflects the city’s creative spirit. From custom metal fixtures to bespoke furnishings, each element was crafted with care, preserving the essence of Colmar’s artisanal tradition.” The residence occupies part of a former commercial building constructed in 1912 by local architect Georg Bloch. It is situated on Place des Martyrs de la Résistance and surrounded by colorful timber-framed houses, narrow streets, and lively balconies. It stands as a testament to the staying power of progressive design showcasing modern, brutalist properties that were far ahead of their time. An early example of reinforced concrete architecture, the structure boasted integrated electricity, a secured generator, an elevator with an operator, and iconic retail establishments on the ground floor. Businesses continue to fill that space through today. Leaning into the site’s daylit factory concept, the apartment home celebrates the residents’ desire for a more connected family lifestyle within the 2,700-square-foot floor plan, which becomes more expansive in sections that enjoy 12-foot ceilings. The public spaces comprise an entryway, kitchen, living, and dining area – all with dramatic sight lines that bear witness to elegant material play. The private spaces, which can be made more public through architectural devices, include a luxurious variety: the primary bedroom with spa-like ensuite and dressing room; two guest bedrooms that share a large full bathroom; a modest powder room; a generous utility area; and 860 square feet of storage space hidden above some of the secondary spaces. Aesthetics and layout composition follow Frank Lloyd Wright’s oft-represented adage “form and function are one.” The apartment is a captivating amalgam of sheer glass, matte metal, concrete, white brick, light linen curtains, and dark wood paneling that serve to please the eye, make space, and articulate programming in plan. “As we resolved the challenges we had and provided a serene space with a muted color palette that allows the exterior view to become an artwork in the project,” the duo adds. “We presented an extremely cosy and comfortable feeling inside as a result with the idea of ‘comfort via minimalism.’” The foyer’s deep paneling pulls guests in and pushes them out to the trio of spaces comprising the main great room – another nod to Wright’s work. Bespoke kitchen details and long countertop surfaces span the room to suggest places for family and friends to cook or casually commune. In gentle contrast, the dining area, which is framed by open shelving and a tubular metal structure, proposes a more formal space for long dinners and gatherings. Black mullions and corresponding kick plates fix tall glazed panels and doors to the floor. Each length is lined with floor-length, light, cotton-linen panels that can be drawn closed from inside the bedrooms at each resident’s discretion. And black stained wood is juxtaposed with white gypsum wall finishes as a direct reference to Colmar’s coal industry. Milo’s monochrome palette, technical execution, and artistic principles are underpinned by exemplary structural art. The designers continue: “Raw ironwork, locally sourced and assembled with meticulous craftsmanship, pays homage to Bartholdi’s artistic vision and the region’s storied iron industry. The use of brick, concrete, and dark timber further reinforces the industrial aesthetic, while subtle nods to the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower evoke a sense of timeless grandeur.” OZA Design To see other projects by the inimitable duo, visit ozadesign.com. Photography by Edvinas Bruzas.

No matter how much Google has tried over the past couple of years, it's never managed to make Android updates as seamless as iOS updates. On the iPhone, every compatible iPhone across the globe gets the same updates, at the same time.On Android, it's anyone's guess. Google releases the latest and greatest Android updates for Developers and its Pixel devices, and then Android smartphone manufactures get started with developing their own versions. For instance, because Samsung's version of Android 15 is different from what OnePlus is doing, that can sometimes mean key features don't show up on your phone until quite a ways down the line.To mitigate this to some extent, Google has decided to take matters into its own hands, pushing out some security, privacy, and device tracking features to all Android devices at once, using a little known framework called Google Play system updates.And yes, it's confusing. It's not just about the Google Play Store or services, and it's something that you might never come across on your own. Google doesn't send notifications about it, nor is it a part of the regular Software Update screen. So what is it, where is it, and why is it so important?Why are Google Play system updates so important? Credit: Khamosh Pathak As I mentioned above, unless you're on a Pixel, any regular Android update comes straight from your phone's manufacturer, and not Google itself. This is usually where you get big Android updates, like how Samsung phones got updated to Android 15 with the One UI 7 update.But the Google Play System updates are different.It all started in 2019 with Project Mainline, where Google started to split some of the key components of the OS. With this project, Google can enhance Android's security and privacy features without going through the regular channels. This is why, in the past, Google has been able to push features like Android Theft Detection, Remote Lock, and Offline Lock to all Android phones running Android 10 and above overnight. Something like this just isn't possible with regular Android updates.While these are small features, they're not all that Play System updates give you. Google Play System updates are also responsible for Google Play Protect, the framework that scans and reports malicious apps on the Play Store, plus they add new features to the Google Play Store and Google Wallet.Unlike a regular Android update, which might show up at any time, Google Play system updates show up every month without fail. You can check out Google's website to see what's new each month.It's important to make sure you're getting these. Alongside their new features, they also introduce important security updates and bug fixes to the entire Google Play Services platform.Why don't you ever see Google Play system updates?These updates are critical. But sometimes months can go by before you actually have the newest one. That's because Google doesn't promote these updates in any fashion. There are no notifications for them, and they aren't even automatically installed when you perform a regular Android OS update.Weirdly, they are only automatically installed when you reboot your smartphone. And give how smartphones are used these days, that can be months apart. How to check for Google Play system updates Credit: Khamosh Pathak I can't say if Google will eventually change its ways and make Play system updates more prominent. But for now, there's only one way to check for them, and that is to manually install them in the Security updates section in the Settings app. Different phones have different menus, so I'll use Pixels as an example for how to find this page. If you're using a Google Pixel phone, go to Settings > Security & privacy > System & updates. You'll see two sections, Security update and Google Play system update. Tap the latter option to download and install the update. The update will be installed after your device reboots.On any other smartphone, search is going to be your friend. In the Settings app, search for "Play system update," which should help get you where you need to go.

Larian Studios has deployed the final major update for Baldur’s Gate 3. It's a pretty spicy one too, as the developer is adding a bunch of the community's most-requested changes. Among them is full cross-play support. So, no matter whether you're playing on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S or Mac, you can squad up with your buddies and help each other get through the huge RPG. Another welcome arrival is that of a built-in photo mode. This will be available during most parts of the game, including cutscenes. You can also slap stickers on your snaps and apply several effects to them. Along with those updates, Larian has added 12 new subclasses, and it says each of them offer new ways to play the 2023 hit. The additions are as follows: Bard — College of Glamour Barbarian — Path of Giants Cleric — Death Domain Druid — Circle of Stars Fighter — Arcane Archer Monk — Way of The Drunken Master Paladin — Oath of the Crown Ranger — Swarmkeeper Rogue — Swashbuckler Sorcerer — Shadow Magic Warlock — Hexblade Wizard — Bladesinging Larian says each of the subclasses has fresh abilities, animations, visual effects and summons. The latest Paladin subclass comes with new voiced dialogue for the Oathbreaker Knight, the studio says. Steam Trading Cards are new to Baldur's Gate 3 too, enabling Steam players to craft badges and unlock profile backgrounds and emoticons for their accounts. On top of all that, Larian has added support for partial level editing for current characters, items and triggers to its modding toolkit, as well as some quality-of-life updates. The studio says it's passing the reins to the community to make future updates as it's moving onto other projects, which will not include the next game in the series. While it's beavering away on other games, Larian plans to release weekly videos about Baldur's Gate 3 and development of the game on YouTube.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/baldurs-gate-3-gains-cross-play-a-photo-mode-and-more-in-its-final-major-update-155317724.html?src=rss

We've heard of multiple possible colors we might see the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 in, while past form hints at others.