Month: April 2022

The 3D platformer Sephonie is something special. Created by two developers under the studio name Analgesic Productions, the game follows a team of three scientists who find themselves marooned on a deserted island with a vast underground cave system. At first glance, the game appears to have a lot in common with other 3D platformers: Much of it entails running around and exploring the island in order to collect research on the various animal species that inhabit it. The game is very different once you get it in your hand. It feels more like a great skateboarding game than a platformer.

Much of Sephonie takes place in the subterranean labyrinth, which is covered in flora and fauna reminiscent of those found in coral reefs. As one of the scientists, you can run from place to place to explore the landmarks and find species that you can “connect” with by playing a Tetris-like minigame. Scientists are cool, despite their exceptional intellect. The scientists can run horizontally, jump vertically, and dash along walls.

Image: Analgesic Productions

Despite the fact that the scientists perform all these acrobatics on foot, the game does feel like a skateboarding game. When you hold the run button, the character just starts moving. In Sephonie, it’s more about guiding your character as they propel forward rather than directing every step. Running alongside walls is a great way to explore and combine them with other points for a better landing. You can also use special walls like those covered in squishy brain Coral to refresh your speed and allow for wall jumping chains. As in skateboarding games, there’s a certain kind of patience required to get a feel for the controls, and a similar satisfaction once you do. In Sephonie, movement feels less like a means to an end and more like a creative way to express yourself through fluid movement.

Marina Kittaka from Analgesic told Polygon that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and Spyro the Dragon helped inspire Sephonie; both games have wall rides, grinds, and glides. “These are the types of moves that can drastically change how you see a given space, as you grow to understand them,” Kittaka said in an email.

Not only is this movement system compelling in its own right — it also aligns with Sephonie‘s very premise. The entire point of the game is to collect research and better understand the natural environment of Sephonie island. As you progress through the cave system, each area poses new formations that require you to rethink the platforming mechanics. This allows you to get to know more about the island’s geological structure. You “connect” with flora and fauna through the puzzle gameplay embedded inside the game, yes — but I also found myself connecting with the island by cruising along the curves of its cave walls. In the end, the landscape isn’t so much a challenge to be conquered as it is a vehicle to enjoy every moment of movement.

AAPL earnings for Q2 2022 (calendar Q1) will be announced by the company later today, and analysts are expecting the news to be good.

While professional analysts are more cautious than independent ones, all expect significant year-on-year growth almost across the board …

PED30 has collated a spreadsheet showing the consensus expectations of analysts for total revenue, as well as the anticipated breakdown by product category.

The bottom line is that analysts expect Apple to report total revenue of $95. 51B, against $89. 58B for the same quarter last year. That would represent growth of a little under 7%.

Analysts anticipate revenue growth for iPhone, Mac, and wearables (Apple Watch and AirPods). iPad is the only place they anticipate revenue falling year-on-year.

Services are forecast to be the biggest growth area, revenue expected to climb from $16. 9B in fiscal Q2 2021 to $20. 03B the same quarter this year.

Interestingly, noted Apple bulls Katy Huberty and Daniel Ives are not at the top end of this year’s forecasts – the latter actually being the most pessimistic at $90. 87B total revenue. The most optimistic of the institutions is JP Morgan, at $96.43B.

Apple itself once more refrained from offering any guidance for the quarter, again citing concerns over supply-side disruptions. The iPhone maker has warned that component shortages will yet again constrain product supply, but the company’s chief financial officer did suggest we should still be optimistic.

Apple CFO Luca Maestri said in January that the “very strong customer response to our recent launch of new products and services drove double-digit growth in revenue and earnings.”

As always, you’ll be able to tune into the earnings call live on Apple’s investor site, and we’ll of course be bringing you all the news as it happens.

Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks will hold their annual gaming showcase, which is typically aligned with E3 in June, on Sunday, June 12, at 10 a.m. PDT/1 p.m. EDT, Microsoft announced Thursday. In a statement, Microsoft stated that the livestreamed event will feature “amazing titles from Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda as well as our partners throughout the globe.”

The Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase covers games for Xbox and PC, as well as Game Pass releases. The show will be streamed on Xbox’s YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok channels.

Viewers should expect at least two Bethesda games to show up during that event: Bethesda Game Studios’ Starfield and Arkane Studios’ Redfall, both of which are slated for release in 2022. On the Xbox Game Studios side, there are many announced, but still undated games that could appear, including Obsidian Entertainment’s Avowed, Rare’s Everwild, Avalanche Studios’ Contraband, Playground Games’ Fable, The Initiative’s Perfect Dark, Ninja Theory’s Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, Undead Labs’ State of Decay 3, and Obsidian Entertainment’s The Outer Worlds 2.

Almost a year ago, Apple Podcasts launched a new subscription model, which allows creators to host bonus content and ad-free versions of their shows in exchange for a monthly or yearly subscription.

In a post on the Apple Podcasts for Creators page, the company urges creators to prepare for annual subscription plans. Apple highlights that it was always possible to offer monthly or yearly subscriptions, but a future software update will make it more clear.

Creators will soon be able present an annual plan to subscribers with the help of the new plan selector in a future software upgrade. The plan picker appears when listeners tap Subscribe or Try Free on a show or channel with a subscription. The picker will show listeners how much they can save by selecting an annual plan if the monthly cost is less than an annual plan.

For example, to have an ad-free experience of our Happy Hour podcast, users can subscribe for $4. 99/month or $49. 99/year, helping you save two months in the yearly plan.

Soon, new subscribers will see upfront how much they will save when subscribing to the 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast – or, of course, any other show. Users will need to first sign up for a monthly subscription to be able to jump to the annual one.

On this page here, Apple teaches how creators can set up an annual plan for their shows.

It’s important to note that Apple Podcasts take a 30% commission on all podcast subscriptions, and purchases made inside Apple Podcasts are not exposed to third-party clients.

Podcast creators can continue to make money from their podcasts outside of Apple Podcasts Subscriptions. Apple Podcasts Subscriptions represent one additional option, alongside services like Patreon or Memberful.

How do you like this future change? Are you subscribed to any podcast? Comment below to share your views.

The Financial Times is reporting that Apple is set to come under fire on fresh anticompetitive charges from the European Union, which will likely be formally announced next week.

Apple will face the complaint that it unfairly monopolises the mobile payments system on the iPhone, by promoting Apple Pay and restricting other services from having the same access to the iPhone’s NFC hardware.

News of a forthcoming complaint surrounding access to NFC hardware in the iPhone, as it pertains to mobile payments systems, surfaced back in October.

As it stands today, only Apple Pay is able to utilise the NFC chip for seamless contactless payments at retail stores, where users are able to simply hold their iPhone close to a payment terminal to begin a contactless transaction.

NFC access to third-party apps is heavily restricted, with essential NFC modes for mobile payments off-limits to app developers and other NFC operations often requiring the app to be foregrounded in order to work at all. (Some background NFC features are available to third-party apps since iOS 12, but the capabilities are not sufficient to support an Apple Pay like experience.

Apple has previously said that full access to the NFC chip is limited to protect customers from abuse, or invasions of privacy.

The EU commission previously opened formal charges against the App Store as it pertains to streaming music services, indicating Apple unfairly favored Apple Music over Spotify and other rivals. In addition to the NFC investigation, a similar exploration of Apple’s behavior in the mobile games is also underway.

The EU crackdown comes as Apple faces increasing pressure from legislation like the Digital Markets Act, which may force Apple to open up its platforms more than ever before, including allowing app sideloading.