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PlayStation Classic jumps on the retro trend December 3rd for $100
With "Classic" game systems occasionally outselling modern ones, Sony is bringing back its own old school system. The PlayStation Classic will launch in December, loaded with 20 "generation-defining" games in their original format for $100 (€99.99 RRP). It's 45 percent smaller than the original system and uses a virtual memory card for saves. It will arrive with two PS1-era replica controllers from the time before analog sticks for local multiplayer and connect to modern TVs via HDMI-out, but you'll have to bring your own USB power adapter.
SpaceX reveals identity of the world's first lunar space tourist
The last time that humanity set foot on the lunar surface, Richard Nixon was still president and Pink Floyd was still in the midst of recording their seminal album about its dark side. And while SpaceX's tourism plans don't involve actually setting down on our nearest celestial neighbor, the company does hope to put Yusaku Maezawa, the billionaire founder of Japanese fashion retailer, Zozotown, as close to it as any human has been in the past couple of decades.
SpaceX booked 'world's first' private passenger for a BFR Moon trip
We haven't seen SpaceX's BFR -- the rocket that it hopes will enable trips around the world, to the Moon, and, eventually, to Mars -- actually take flight yet, but the company says it has already booked a private passenger for a trip around the Moon. No one has been to the Moon since Apollo missions ended in the 70s, but now, in a "world's first" SpaceX is apparently taking reservations. Details like who is going and "why" are to be revealed during a livestream on Monday September 17th at 9 PM ET. Early last year Elon Musk said we'd see two humans take that trip at some point in 2018, but now we're anticipating a delay so that it can occur on the LA-built BFR, instead of a Falcon Heavy carrying a Dragon capsule. Musk has said the spaceship part of BFR could be ready for "short hopper flights" next year and test flights in three to four years. Interestingly, he also tweeted that what's shown above is a new version of the BFR, and in response to a tweet asking if he's the passenger, posted a Japanese flag emoji.
Apple’s iPhone Xs and Xs Max are all about the display
If you've been following the Apple rumors lately, the big news from today's event should come as no surprise. The new flagship iPhone Xs and Xs Max have just been announced, and so far they match up with everything that was rumored. The iPhone Xs sticks with the same notched, 5.8-inch OLED display found on last year's model, which the Xs Max steps up to a massive 6.5-inch panel. That panel also features what Phil Schiller says is the strongest smartphone glass ever made. CEO Tim Cook calls it "the most advanced iPhone we've ever created" -- no surprise there.
Twitter bans Alex Jones and InfoWars permanently
Alex Jones can add Twitter to the ever-growing list of social media sites that he's no longer welcome on. The micro-blogging platform announced on Thursday afternoon that Jones and his InfoWars channel have been "permanently suspended" due to "new reports of Tweets and videos posted yesterday that violate our abusive behavior policy."
Apple will reveal its new iPhones on September 12
Reports have long suggested that Apple has been working on a trio of new iPhones for 2018, and now we know when we'll actually get to see them. The company just sent out invites for an event on September 12 at its massive spaceship of a campus in Cupertino -- one year to the day from last year's event, no less -- and one thing is already clear. It's going to be a very busy morning.
Elon Musk: Tesla will stay public
Remember a couple of weeks ago when Elon Musk, out of the blue, tweeted that he had "funding secured" and would consider taking his car company private at a price of $420 per share? Well, you can forget it, since the billionaire announced tonight in a blog post that Tesla will remain a publicly traded company for now. While questions surrounding the circumstances of his initial announcement remain (partially thanks to Azealia Banks' Instagram Stories feed), Musk said that based on conversations with shareholders, the board of directors and firms like Morgan Stanley, the message received was "please don't do this." Separately, six members from Tesla's board of directors posted a statement of their own confirming the matter is closed and saying that they've dissolved a committee formed in the wake of Musk's tweet to investigate taking the company private. In a series of followups to the tweet explaining his process, Musk said he wanted to pay investors a premium, believed conversations with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund meant it would back the plan and denied he was "stoned" at the time. Now, even though the plan is no longer in play, there's still an SEC investigation -- as well as lawsuits that have been filed by investors and suggestions Musk may not be the person best suited to run the company -- to potentially worry about. Still, for now he closed out his blog post by saying "Moving forward, we will continue to focus on what matters most: building products that people love and that make a difference to the shared future of life on Earth. We've shown that we can make great sustainable energy products, and we now need to show that we can be sustainably profitable. With all the progress we've made on Model 3, we're positioned to do this, and that's what the team and I are going to be putting all of our efforts toward." At least for now, Elon isn't even tweeting about Tesla, instead focusing on SpaceX and a bridge installed at the launch complex in Florida to assist with crewed missions. Update: Musk did eventually tweet, and said: "In talking to our public investors, most were supportive of optimizing for long-term value creation over quarterly earnings. This was also a factor in remaining public."
Uber ends autonomous truck program to focus on self-driving cars
Two years after Uber bought self-driving truck developer Otto to the tune of $680 million, the ride hailing company announced on Monday that the Uber Advanced Technologies Group is shuttering its autonomous truck unit. The company remains committed to further developing its self-driving car platform, which has only killed one pedestrian so far. Uber Freight, a separate service that helps connect shipping companies with drivers, is being spared as well.
Scott Pruitt resigns as head of the EPA
After months of scandal and more than a dozen separate investigations into his lavish spending habits while in office, Scott Pruitt has tendered his resignation as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. President Donald Trump broke the news on Thursday via Twitter.
DOJ demands Disney sell 22 regional sports channels in Fox acquisition
The Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that it will require Disney to divest from 22 regional sports networks in order to complete its $71.3 billion acquisition of select Twenty-First Century Fox assets.
AT&T's $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner is complete
After a judge ruled in favor of the acquisition, AT&T has officially swallowed up Time Warner. Now Warner Bros., HBO and Turner are a part of the company's as-yet-unnamed media business, which is one of four segments: AT&T Communications provides mobile, broadband, video and other communications services to U.S.-based consumers and nearly 3.5 million companies – from the smallest business to nearly all the Fortune 1000 – with highly secure, smart solutions. Revenues from these services totaled more than $150 billion in 2017. AT&T's media business consists of HBO, Turner and Warner Bros. Together, these businesses had revenues of more than $31 billion in 2017. A new name for this business will be announced later. AT&T International provides mobile services in Mexico to consumers and businesses, plus pay-TV service across 11 countries in South America and the Caribbean. It had revenues of more than $8 billion in 2017. AT&T's advertising and analytics business provides marketers with advanced advertising solutions using valuable customer insights from AT&T's TV, mobile and broadband services, combined with extensive ad inventory from Turner and AT&T's pay-TV services. A name for this company will be announced in the future. Another part of the deal, as mentioned above, is the combination of ad inventory and analytics that will stretch across screens from TV to mobile. That business doesn't have a name yet either, but the ability to track and target audiences is a big part of recent media consolidation efforts. The Department of Justice said it hadn't yet decided whether or not to appeal the decision, but did not file to delay the deal's closing. The Wall Street Journal reports that in a letter to the DoJ, AT&T said it would create a "firewall" between Turner and AT&T to remove any competitive advantage.
The next 'Xenoblade Chronicles 2' DLC arrives September 2018
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has already seen a number of DLC updates, but that isn't stopping developer Monolith Soft from adding even more adventures to the game. During Nintendo's E3 2018 press conference on Tuesday, the company revealed that yet another DLC pack -- Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna The Golden Country -- will be arriving to season pass subscribers later this summer.
Watch the 'Death Stranding' gameplay footage to be even more confused
The first game from Kojima Studios, "Death Stranding", left audiences' mouths agape during its initial previews during last year's E3. For 2018, Sony once again wowed the audience, this time with actual gameplay footage. Not that that actually helped anybody understand what the heck is going on.
Donkey Kong DLC for ‘Mario + Rabbids’ arrives June 26th
Truly, we are living in the Golden Age of crossover content. At its E3 press conference on Monday, Ubisoft revealed more details about its upcoming Donkey Kong expansion for "Mario + Rabbids" which is slated for release on the Nintendo Switch later this month, June 26th specifically. The DLC is expected to include four new levels totaling an added 10 hours of gameplay.
'The Elder Scrolls VI' is real
It's been seven years since Bethesda debuted "Skyrim," but the franchise's fans won't have to wait much longer for the sequel. Just after previewing "Starfield," the company's first original IP in a quarter century, Bethesda had "just one more thing" for the assembled crowd: "The Elder Scrolls VI." The iteration number is just about all we know about the upcoming title so far but stay tuned to Engadget for more updates, we'll be reporting from the E3 show floor all week. We're excited to announce our next chapter, The Elder Scrolls VI. pic.twitter.com/3aF5evUsnY — Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) June 11, 2018
'Fallout Shelter' is coming to the PS4 and Nintendo Switch
In addition to blowing the crowd's collective mind with its "Fallout 76" news, Bethesda also had some news for the franchise's more casual fans. The company announced that Fallout Shelter is now available on both the Playstation 4 and the Nintendo Switch, for free. So get building Vault Dwellers! Follow all the latest news from E3 2018 here!
Bethesda unveils co-op 'Wolfenstein: Youngblood' at E3 2018
BJ's legacy lives on in the next iteration of Bethesda's Wolfenstein franchise. Set in 1980, players fight as Jessica and Sophia Blazkowicz, the twin daughters of Anya & BJ - one a weapons expert, the other a bare-knuckle brawler. They're tasked with finding their father, who has gone missing in occupied Paris, as well as making life hell for the 4th Reich. The game is slated for release later this year alongside a VR spinoff, Wolfenstein Cyberpilot.
Naruto, Monkey D Luffy and Goku do battle in 'Jump Force'
The Naruto Shippuden, One Piece, Death Note and DragonBall universes collide in the best way possible in Bandai Namco's newest fighting game, Jump Force. Players will be able to form three-character squads, pulling from a stable of iconic characters spanning half a century of Japanese Weekly Shonen Jump manga titles, to beat the snot out of a variety of marquee villains from their respective series. The game is slated for release at some point in 2019 for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC via Steam.
'Cuphead' will return next year with new DLC
Cuphead fans rejoice! At its 2018 E3 press conference on Sunday, Microsoft announced that the insanely difficult 2D platformer will soon be receiving a whole bunch of new levels thanks to the newly announced DLC pack, "Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course", which slated for release in 2019. Cuphead and Mughead make their glorious return along with a new playable character, Ms. Chalice. Details beyond that are still scarce, but we'll bring you updates as they become available.
'Gears of War 5' is coming to Xbox in 2019
Gears of War has been a stalwart of the Microsoft Xbox library since its first iteration debuted in 2006. And now we're getting a new one, Microsoft announced at its E3 2018 press conference on Sunday. Say hello to Gears 5.
