The AI assistant wars are heating up as Amazon announces Alexa+, an upgraded assistant powered by generative AI, while an upgraded Siri remains unfinished.Amazon Echo speakers with AlexaAmazon has unveiled Alexa+, an AI assistant designed to offer more natural interactions and personalized assistance. The development comes as Apple continues to enhance its own assistant, Siri, through its Apple Intelligence initiative. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The European Union's dominant music service, Spotify, is coming for Apple once again, hoping to hit it where it hurts the wallet.Spotify hopes EU will fine Apple for violating DMASpotify and Apple haven't been on the best of terms in, well, ever, and that doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon. Now, Spotify's CEO hopes to sway regulators to fine Apple over alleged noncompliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA)."It is time for Europe to show that we are going to enforce the law that's already been passed," Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said in an interview with Bloomberg. He went on to add that crackdowns on Apple's conduct had also become a focus for US regulators. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Old-school-style survival horror Post Trauma has a new release date, launching on March 31st for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. A free demo is now on PC as part of the Steam Next Fest. Check out the latest trailer below, highlighting some of the horrors players encounter.The story focuses on train conductor Roman, who suffers a panic attack and discovers a terrifying alternate dimension with various monstrosities. In typical horror game fashion, you must find out whats going on, either fighting off the terrors with melee weapons and firearms or running away.Developed from the ground up on Unreal Engine 5, Post Trauma features fixed camera angles like the original Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Red Soul Games even teases using a pen and paper to note possible clues.The demo occurs from the beginning of the title, offering a look at the puzzles and some combat, making it an ideal way to try before buying.

Sony has announced the next slate of titles coming to PlayStation Plus Essential in March. Its surprisingly headlined by BioWares Dragon Age: The Veilguard on PS5, which launched last October to decent reviews but ultimately underperformed per EAs expectations.Theres also Sonic Colors: Ultimate on the PS4. This remaster of the 2010 classic platformer offers enhanced visuals, a new game mode, and more, though some changes (like the soundtrack) are a little underwhelming. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection rounds out this months offerings on PS4 and PS5.It contains 13 classic titles from the franchise developed by Konami over the years, including beat em up Turtles in Time both the Arcade and SNES versions. Certain titles offer local couch co-op and online play, and you can also remap buttons, save anytime, and more.The three titles will be available starting on March 4th, replacing Payday 3, High on Life, and Pac-Man World Re-Pac.

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Retro-Bit apologizes after uncredited fan translations were discovered in its gamesCompany blames contractor for submitting "to a lesser or higher degree, uncredited work"Image credit: Retro-Bit News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Feb. 26, 2025 Retro-Bit has apologized for releasing a number of 16-bit games with uncredited fan translations.After fans slammed the firm for using uncredited translations in at least four SNES and Mega Drive / Genesis re-releases that were hitherto only available in Japan, Retro-Bit admitted it had "let its guard down." It called the incident an "irresponsible oversight on our end," promising to "reach those whose work was not recognized to offer a means of resolution."The company said it had previously worked with a number of translators and programmers for prior releases, but their usual contractors were not available due to scheduling conflicts.It then blamed its latest translator for submitting "to a lesser or higher degree, uncredited work.""Weve always had a successful understanding of our shared responsibilities with our collaborators and unfortunately in this instance, we let our guard down," Retro-Bit told VGC in a statement.This was an irresponsible oversight on our end and we take full accountability for this outcome and not verifying the submitted translation. To amend this situation, we will set out to reach those whose work was not recognized to offer a means of resolution.The team added that it was now delaying upcoming releases in a bid to safeguard its localization processes and avoid this happening again.One of the most rewarding parts of doing these re-releases is collaborating with many talented members of the retro gaming community while being able to support the original developers," the statement concluded."Our intent was never to take advantage of that relationship and we apologize for disappointing our fans. We deeply value the retro gaming community and appreciate your ongoing support and patience as we improve our processes."

Justin Carter, Contributing EditorFebruary 26, 20252 Min ReadImage via Nintendo.At a GlanceThe Pokmon Company has settled a lawsuit filed against two Chinese firms for allegedly violating its copyright.The PokmonCompany recently settled its copyright infringement lawsuit against Guangzhou Maichi Network Technology and Khorgos Fangchi Network Technology, developers of the mobile game Pocket Monster: Remake.Automaton spotted the Nintendo subsidiary's mid-February announcement about the settlement, where it stated it would "continue to work to protect our intellectual property." According to the settlement's terms, Guangzhou and Khorgos have delisted the game, issued a public apology, and will pay a "substantial economic price" to the Pokmon Company."We have deeply realized that our acts had violated relevant laws during the second-instance trial and settlement process," wrote Guangzhou. "In our future operations, We will place a high priority on intellectual property protection, refrain from infringing upon any related intellectual property rights or interests of the Pokmon Video Games and their rights holders, and avoid engaging in any related acts of unfair competition."Pocket Monster: Remake first came out in 2015, and sees players send their captured beasts (or pocketed monsters, if you will) to fight one another in turn-based company. Several monster and character designs look blatantly similar to those from the flagship Nintendo franchise, and the game reportedly made $42 million in a single year.When the Pokmon Company first filed its suit in 2022, it called for $72.5 million in damages and public apologies from the developers.According to Automaton, the Shenzhen Intermediate Peoples Court sided with the Pokmon Company in September 2024, and accused Khorgos and Guangzhou of violating the country's Unfair Competition Prevention Act. They were later ordered to pay 107 million yuan (or $15 million), but the developers later filed an appeal. After a second hearing in December, the parties settled.Pokmon's league of lawsuitsNintendo and the Pokmon Company are both aggressive litigiants, and sometimes, studios making Pokmon games have faced their own lawsuits.In 2018, for example, PokmonGo developer Niantic reached a $1.5 million settlement after a botched community event for the popular mobile game. Players who traveled to Chicago's Grant Park were besieged by game-breaking technical issues instead of the monsters they'd hoped to collect at the location.More recently, Nintendo took legal action on Pokmon's behalf against developer Pocketpair and its debut game, Palworld. The year-old survival game was accused of infringing on several Pokmon patents. including how in-game monsters are captured. Along with 10 million yen ($65,450), Nintendo hoped to file an injunction that would block Palworld's ongoing release.When it learned of the specific patents it'd been accused of infringing on, Pocketpair stressed it would "continue to assert our position in this case through future legal proceedings."Read more about:NintendoLawsuitsAbout the AuthorJustin CarterContributing Editor, GameDeveloper.comA Kansas City, MO native, Justin Carter has written for numerous sites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his writing can be found at io9 over on Gizmodo. Don't ask him about how much gum he's had, because the answer will be more than he's willing to admit.See more from Justin CarterDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like

First-generation Echo speakers wont get Alexa Plus.Amazon is bringing the new AI-powered Alexa Plus to a wide range of its existing Echo devices but the upgrade will skip many of the earliest models. The majority of the companys first-generation Echos wont get support, according to the Alexa Plus FAQ page, though Amazon says they will continue to work with the standard Alexa.Alexa Plus wont support certain older generation Echo devices, such as the first-generation Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Plus, Echo Tap, Echo Spot, and Echo Show; the second-generation Echo Show wont support it, either. Amazon spokesperson Kristy Schmidt confirmed that is the full list of devices. If so, that still leaves many early Echo devices that will work with Alexa Plus.That means Ill be able to ask Alexa to book a restaurant reservation through my Echo Flex, the quirky modular Echo speaker that plugs straight into a wall outlet. And people can still get an AI-generated song piped through speakers theyve connected their microphone-only Echo Inputs to. And if you have an ancient first- or- second-gen Echo Show 15 or newer Echo Hub, those will apparently get access to the AI-enhanced Alexa, too. Schmidt confirmed that each of those will be compatible.Perhaps its a bummer that some of those other older Echo devices wont use AI to book reservations, track ticket prices, or generate fake songs for you. But at least theyll still be able to do the old Alexa stuff, like turn on your lights or tell you the weather. And given rumors about the struggle Amazon has had getting Alexa Plus to work right, that might be a good thing, at least for a while.

Heres what Amazons alexa.com website will look like.Amazon is refreshing the alexa.com website and the Alexa mobile app so that Alexa Plus subscribers will be able to use the revamped, AI-powered voice assistant. We dont have many details beyond that, but the website and the app could be handy new ways to interact with the revamped Alexa, which was announced at an event this morning.At the event, Amazon showed how youll be able to have conversations with Alexa Plus for things like ordering groceries, controlling smart home devices, and even telling you if someone in your house has recently walked the dog by looking at your home camera footage. Amazon also demoed how Alexa Plus could analyze and summarize documents, and perhaps the new website and app will be used to upload that information.Youll access Alexa Plus from the current Alexa app there wont be a new app to download, spokesperson Devon Corvasce confirms to The Verge. And when we first published this story, alexa.com just took you to a page to learn more about Alexa and to access the Alexa mobile apps, but now it redirects to a page about Alexa Plus.It seems like well have to wait a little bit for the new website and app to be available widely, though. Amazon says that Alexa Plus will initially roll out in the US in the next few weeks, and then subsequently in waves in the coming months. Alexa Plus will cost $19.99 per month or will also be available as part of a Prime membership.Update, February 26th: Amazon confirmed that Alexa Plus wont require a separate app and has changed the current page you see when you visit alexa.com.