The PS5 is the biggest game console in modern history

Sony's upcoming PS5 hardware has appeared at Taiwan's National Communications Commission (NCC), providing us with the first close up photos of the next-gen console. The NCC has published a variety of images (PDF), showing the standard PS5 laying horizontally, the included cables, and the removable base that holds the console in both vertical and horizontal positions.

The photos also show just how big the PS5 truly is. We learned earlier this week that the PS5 is the biggest game console in modern history, even topping the Xbox One VCR-like shape and Sony's own PS3. Sony released official dimensions during its PS5 event this week, but they don't include the "largest projection" or the optional base measurements.

It's clear from these photos that it's going to be a challenge to fit a PS5 into entertainment centers, just as it will be with the Xbox Series X. Both consoles appear to be designed to primarily stand vertically, looking rather unwieldy on their sides.

Unfortunately, the photos don't offer a close look at exactly how you access the NVMe slot on the PS5. Sony is allowing PS5 owners to expand storage space, but we still don't have full details on exactly how this will work. Sony has also teased that the PS5 hardware is customizable in ways that previous generations of PlayStation consoles weren't, so it's possible that at least one side panel of the PS5 is removable.

Sony is launching the PS5 in the US on November 12th, priced at $499.99. A second disc-less PS5 Digital Edition will also be available for $399.99. Sony also revealed earlier this week that PS5 games will cost up to $69.99.

Super Mario 3D All-Stars launches today, but, as is often the case in the world of video games, some people got access to it early thanks to kindly retailers shipping them out so they arrived yesterday. However, a lot of people also gained access to the title by somewhat shadier means, thanks to the fact that it leaked on the net a few days ago.

Because copies are “out there” already, we’ve been hearing reports that the collection suffers from a pretty awful crash bug. It has been claimed that some people are using this bug as yet another stick to beat Super Mario 3D All-Stars with; many have accused Nintendo of a ‘lazy cash grab’ because the titles in the package are partly based on emulation, rather than being built from the ground-up for Switch. Reports that the title is also potentially unstable has only given these individuals more fuel for their fire.

However, we’re now seeing evidence that this particular bug only impacts those who are running the game (retail or downloaded from the web) on a modded Switch console, and the bug is not present in legitimate copies of the game running on unsullied Switch systems:

Ha, looks like people running into crashing issues when quitting Mario 64 or weird skips and hitches in Sunshine are simply playing on custom firmware. I saw some folks talking about this but couldn't reproduce it - now I know why.https://t.co/yx2MTsOpg1

— John Linneman (@dark1x) September 18, 2020

Don’t expect this to be a lasting thing, however; as is so often the case, modders have already overcome the problem.

We quite liked Super Mario 3D All-Stars, as you’ll know if you’ve already seen our review – and watched our comparison video which shows just how much better the games look than they did originally.

Google is correcting a "typo" in its Play Store "stalkerware" policy that currently suggests that apps can be used to track spouses. Stalkerware and other tracking software is dangerous, campaigners say, because it can facilitate domestic abuse and harassment of partners. As it's written, the policy also mistakenly says parents cannot track their children.

The updated developer policy, which comes into effect on October 1st, now explicitly says that Play Store apps which allow parents to track their children are acceptable, but that they cannot be used to track adults (like a spouse) without their knowledge or permission.

Here's the relevant section from the current developer policy which is due to be corrected (emphasis added):

Legitimate forms of these apps cannot be used by parents to track their children. However, these apps can be used to track a person (a spouse, for example) without their knowledge or permission unless a persistent notification is displayed while the data is being transmitted.

Here's that same section in the new policy, which comes into effect on October 1st (again, emphasis added). Google has changed the wording from "legitimate" to "acceptable," but more importantly it's switched around which apps are allowed and which are forbidden.

Acceptable forms of these apps can be used by parents to track their children. However, these apps cannot be used to track a person (a spouse, for example) without their knowledge or permission unless a persistent notification is displayed while the data is being transmitted.

Outside of a couple of other minor wording changes, the rest of the Stalkerware policy appears to be more or less unchanged from August. Google's rules state that apps cannot mislead users about their tracking functionality. Apps must "present users with a persistent notification and unique icon that clearly identifies the app" and they're not allowed to hide tracking behavior. They also have to be explicitly designed and marketed as parental monitoring or enterprise management apps, rather than a "spying or secret surveillance solution." Google has confirmed to The Verge that this persistent tracking notification must be displayed, even when an app is designed to allow parents to track their children.

Google's rule clarification comes amidst a wider campaign to crack down on stalkerware. These apps that are frequently marketed as a way for jealous or suspicious partners to keep tabs on another, and are designed to trick users into believing they're not being monitored, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The Coalition Against Stalkerware, which the EFF helped found last year, says that surveillance like this can facilitate "gender-based and domestic violence, harassment and sexual abuse."

Back in July, Google announced a ban on advertising spyware or surveillance technology with a new ads policy which came into force on August 11th, although a TechCrunch report subsequently found ads for these apps after the ban came into effect.

Alongside yesterday's typo correction, Google also updated its policies around misrepresentation and gambling apps. It has clarified that "coordinated activity that misrepresents or conceals the origin of an app or content" is a violation of its policies, and that a government-published gambling app is now allowed in Brazil. These policies will come into effect on October 21st.

The PS5 has six first-party launch titles, but few are true exclusives

We now know pretty much everything there is to know about the PS5: its price and release date, its hardware specifications and its controller features. Thanks to an informative post from Sony, we also know the system's first-party launch library. And, to be frank, there's not much there.

The PS5 will launch with six exclusive titles, which isn't a bad number at first glance. But on further inspection, one of them comes preinstalled, two of them are remasters, one of them is a standalone expansion and two of them are, technically speaking, the same game.

The list comes from the official PlayStation Blog, which had an incredibly detailed, informative follow-up to Sony's PS5 showcase on September 16. The post is wide-ranging, and discusses everything from release date, to system specs, to accessories. But of particular interest here is the list of first-party PS5 launch titles.

According to Sony, here's what you'll be able to buy alongside your PS5:

• Astro's Playroom
• Demon's Souls
• Destruction All Stars
• Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
• Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition
• Sackboy: A Big Adventure

At first glance, six first-party launch titles seems comparable to the PS4, which had seven first-party games at launch. But, like the PS4's launch library, many of these titles are not true next-gen exclusives. Let's break it down further.

Astro's Playroom doesn't merit much discussion, since you'll get the game preinstalled on your PS5. Whatever the game's quality, you won't have to choose whether or not to buy it.

Demon's Souls is a remastered PS3 game. Based on the trailer we saw, the game looks like a fairly extensive reworking, with slightly different level design and combat. Even if you wanted to go back and play this game on the PS3, you can't get the full experience, since the online servers shut down years ago. Still, Demon's Souls is an 11-year-old game, which many people played before, and the PS5 version looks like it wants to deliver a similar experience overall.

It almost feels like cheating to count Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition as two separate games. The former is a standalone expansion for Spider-Man on the PS4, starring Miles Morales in a brand new, but likely somewhat smaller, open-world adventure. The latter is a remastered version of PS4's Spider-Man, plus the Miles Morales content.

Spider-Man was a fantastic game, and Miles Morales looks equally good so far. But neither game is a PS5 exclusive. You can get Spider-Man on the PS4 right now, and Miles Morales will come out on the PS4 as well as the PS5. Granted, the game will look and probably perform better on the PS5, although it's hard to imagine that boost alone being worth $400-$500.

Destruction All Stars and Sackboy: A Big Adventure are the only true first-party PS5 exclusives in the launch library, and truthfully, we don't know a ton about either game yet. It's possible that they'll be genre-defining system sellers; it's also possible that they'll be the kind of launch titles that no one remembers by time the PS6 rolls around. Given LittleBigPlanet's previous success, I'd put money on Sackboy being a good time, but there's no way to gauge how Destruction All Stars might turn out.

The PS5 launch lineup so far

Granted, the PS5 will have plenty of other titles available at launch, including Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Fortnite, Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. But right now, there's no comprehensive list of third-party launch titles available, and the full lineup may not fall into place for another month or two.

Since you'll be able to play these games on an Xbox One, PS4 or PC, it's hard to recommend a brand-new system for them. We expect that they'll perform better on a PS5, but until we get the system in our hands, we couldn't say how significant the performance boost might be.

In any case, if your mind is absolutely made up, then good luck trying to pre-order a PS5. It's a little chaotic right now, but hopefully the process will become a little easier within the days and weeks to come. Otherwise, it doesn't look like there's anything you absolutely have to play Day One — provided that you already own a PS4, that is.

Apple’s invitation for big event included the tag line “Time Flies,” a hint that we can expect to see a slew of announcements related to its Apple Watch on Tuesday.

At least one analyst believes there’ll be a new model, the Apple Watch 6.

Health and fitness has been a major focus for the product ever since Apple started selling it in 2015. The team has rolled out feature after feature, moving from basic activity tracking to heart rhythm monitoring and more.

But there are technical and scientific limitations to what can be packed into a wrist-worn device. Some of the most challenging applications that have eluded wearable makers so far include noninvasive and continuous blood sugar, as well as blood pressure tracking. If either of those sensors were announced, it would be a major breakthrough, but we don’t expect those Tuesday.

More likely, Apple will roll out some more achievable wins that will still put it ahead of the competition. The Apple Watch has dominated the wearables market for the last five years, but Google’s proposed acquisition of Fitbit could give it an infusion of new talent and cash (if regulators approve the deal), and Amazon made a splashy entrance into the space earlier this year with its Halo fitness wearable.

Workouts for everyone stuck at home

The wellness space is an attractive opportunity for any consumer technology company, because it’s both a big market and largely unregulated. Apple’s growing team includes veteran fitness trainer and consultant, Jay Blahnik, who likely has big plans for Apple Watch. 

In March, CNBC reported that Apple is working on a new app codenamed Seymour that guides users through exercise routines on the Apple Watch and iPhone. Users can follow along via downloadable videos and try out a range of activities from cycling to strength training. By offering this kind of fitness content, Apple is moving closer to Peloton’s territory. Along with its spin bikes and treadmills, Peloton sells a subscription-based video library of fitness classes.

It would be a timely move for Apple, given that many gyms across the country remain closed and home workouts may still seem like a safer option during a pandemic. 

From there, we could see Apple offering more tailored workouts for people with medical conditions like type 2 diabetes, which might even involve personalized coaching. Such a service could be subscription-based, if Apple can show there’s an appetite for it. 

An oxygen sensor 

One long-rumored sensor that we could see from Apple on Tuesday is a pulse oximeter, which would allow the watch to detect blood oxygen levels. A blood oxygen detection feature was detected by 9to5 Mac in a snippet of code back in the spring, strongly suggesting that it’s on the horizon. 

If the code is any indication, Apple could start notifying users if their blood oxygen levels drop to concerning and potentially dangerous levels. 

This new feature will likely be released alongside medical studies, just as Apple has done in the past. The Apple Heart Study, which it unveiled in collaboration with Stanford, looked at how effectively the Apple Watch could be used to detect a condition known as atrial fibrillation. Apple has an electrocardiogram sensor baked into its Apple Watch Series 4 and Series 5 devices to monitor the heart’s rhythm and return health information directly to consumers. 

If Apple announces the sensor, it’s possible that the company will look to screen asymptomatic people rather than honing in those with a specific medical condition. Apple wants its device to be accessible and relevant to a large population of users. But it would need to prove to doctors that it won’t generate unnecessary anxiety and concern by delivering false positive results. 

Or, Apple might look to target users with specific medical conditions, including the covid-19 coronavirus. A pulse oximeter baked into a consumer wearable might well be useful in helping medical professionals monitor patients at home who have been diagnosed with the virus. Doctors are still debating whether the currently-available devices, which work by clipping onto a patient’s finger to measure heart rate and oxygen saturation, might be helpful in monitoring shortness of breath which can be hard for patients to assess themselves.

What do you think will be announced at Tuesday’s event?

The Apple Store is down ahead of Apple's September event, where the company is expected to announce a new redesign for the iPad Air and the Apple Watch Series 6. The new watch lineup will include a higher-end model featuring a new blood oxygen sensor, and an entry-level cheaper model that will replace the $199 Apple Watch Series 3 that Apple currently sells.

Today's Apple event kicks off at 10 AM Pacific Time. Stay tuned to 9to5Mac for full coverage of all the announcements.

Apple's September event is usually the place where Apple announces the latest iPhone. However, the iPhone 12 is not expected to feature in this event. Due to the pandemic, mass production of the iPhone 12 was delayed. This means the new iPhone 12 lineup will start being sold in October, and Apple is believed to be readying another Apple event for then.

Good morning! T-minus 6 hours! #AppleEvent

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 15, 2020

In place of an iPhone launch, today's "Time Flies" event will feature a redesigned iPad Air, new Apple Watch models and likely the unveiling of the 'Apple One' bundle initiative.

The new Air will include thinner bezels and look similar to the iPad Pro lineup in terms of industrial design, but will use a Touch ID power button instead of Face ID to save on cost. The Apple Watch rumors point to the addition of a blood oxygen sensor, and a faster CPU.

Other possible Apple product announcements include AirTags, AirPods Studio over-ear headphones, a new HomePod and a tease of the forthcoming Apple Silicon Macs. However, there is no consensus on whether these products are ready to announce today, or if they are coming later as part of the October iPhone event.

We already knew Rocket League was going free-to-play this summer, and today, the game's developer, Psyonix, announced that the vehicular soccer game will go free-to-play on September 23rd.

The transition to free-to-play also marks the debut of the game arriving on the Epic Games Store, a digital storefront owned by Psyonix's parent company, Epic Games, which acquired the studio last year. After September 23rd, the game will be delisted from Steam; however, the studio explains that, regardless of which PC version you own, both versions will still receive "full support for future updates and features," such as cross-platform play. But you can't get it on Steam for free.

If you buy the game before it becomes free, Psyonix will give you some in-game "legacy" rewards, including all of the Rocket League-branded DLC and over 200 in-game items used to customize your vehicles, such as antennas, decals, and wheels. Psyonix also confirmed that existing players will have access to cross-platform progression linking, allowing them to link their platforms to the Epic Games Account and carry over their progress made on a different game platform.

In addition to switching to a free-to-play model, Psyonix also confirmed earlier this month that Rocket League will no longer require PS4 and Nintendo Switch players to have a subscription to play online. Xbox One owners, unfortunately, still need an Xbox Live Gold membership.

With celebrations for the 35th anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros. underway and the upcoming release of Super Mario 3D All-Stars next week, we thought it would be the perfect time to conduct a survey of Nintendo Life readers to find out the definitive ranking of the 3D Mario games. Similar to our recent reader-ranked poll of the best Final Fantasy games (on Nintendo systems), we’re asking you lovely lot to rate the 3D Mario games you’ve played from the shortlist below.

We’ve included all the mainline 3D Marios, including the DS remake of Super Mario 64 —the first way to play Mario 64 officially on a handheld with new playable characters and mini-games—in addition to 3D Land and 3D World (which is coming to Switch next February in the expanded form of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury ). Those latter entries may not offer the same style of open exploration as the others, but their respective titles leave little doubt that they belong on this shortlist.

Registered Nintendo Life users can click on the stars below and rate the games out of 10. Much like our Top 50 platform polls, the resulting ranking (which we’ll publish soon) is created from those fluid NL User Ratings and is therefore subject to change,even after publication. If you’ve previously rated these games in our database, thank you! If you’re in the middle of a Mario adventure and don’t want to rate it yet, that’s no problem – you can add your score to the game at any time in the future and it will still count and potentially influence the ranking.

If you’re interested in our opinion, feel free to check out our ranked list of the mainline Mario series (including 2D). Otherwise, it’s time to crack on with rating the 3D entries. Everyone ready?Here we go!

Android Auto stability issues seem to pop up pretty regularly, and following the release of Android 11 last week, some users are reporting a lot of pretty major issues between the two.

Google might not directly tie Android Auto to system updates, but major updates can be a source of errors with the in-car experience. As our friends over atAndroid Policerecently spotted, that seems to be the case with Android 11.

Apparently, issues being experienced when Android Auto is connected to a phone running Android 11 vary from person to person. Some users say that music isn’t playing smoothly, others say that the Calendar app is missing — although Android Auto v5.6 apparently fixed that bug — and still others mention muted notifications and phone calls not going through the car’s speakers. Apparently, Waze may also be partially broken for some. A couple of users even had their phones lock up to the point of requiring a factory reset!

Not all drivers seem to be affected by these issues — my Pixel 4 XL seems to be working completely fine with Android Auto on the final 11 build — but there’s definitely a considerable number of people experiencing problems. Google hasn’t promised a fix for these issues yet, but given how widespread problems seem to be, the company will probably have something in the works sooner rather than later.

Some Reddit users did discover a potential stopgap, though. Apparently, turning off Bluetooth device scanning seems to help some users.

Microsoft’s new Xbox Series S should offer impressive next-gen performance for its $299 price, but where does that leave the Xbox One X? According to Microsoft, the 4K-targeting Xbox from 2017 will still hold some advantages over the Series S — at least when it comes to running Xbox One X-enhanced current-gen games.

“Xbox Series S was designed to be the most affordable next-generation console and play next-generation games at 1440p at 60fps,” Microsoft says in a statement toVGC. “To deliver the highest quality backwards compatible experience consistent with the developer’s original intent, the Xbox Series S runs the Xbox One S version of backward compatible games while applying improved texture filtering, higher and more consistent frame rates, faster load times and Auto HDR.”

What this means is that most Xbox One games will run on the Xbox Series S at 1080p or below in backward-compatibility mode, though they will benefit from certain built-in hardware advantages like the faster SSD. Games with unlocked frame rates should also perform better than on the Xbox One S. But specific Xbox One X enhancements like higher resolution won’t apply.

It’s possible that current-gen titles could receive updates just for the Xbox Series S, and this will be the case for some first-party games likeGears 5andForza Horizon 4. Without a patch, though, you’ll essentially be getting the Xbox One S version.VGCreports that the same is true of backward-compatible Xbox 360 titles, though it’s not clear what this means for compatible original Xbox games, all of which run at close to 4K on the One X.

The reason for all of this is simply a function of the two machines’ different priorities. The Xbox One X was designed to play Xbox One games at up to 4K resolution, and it achieved this by adding a much more powerful GPU with fairly minor tweaks to the rest of the spec sheet. The Xbox Series S, meanwhile, exists to run genuine next-gen games at 1080p or 1440p, which is why it’s built around a much faster CPU and SSD than the One X despite in some ways having a less powerful GPU.

The confirmation from Microsoft goes some way to clarifying the messaging around its two next-gen consoles. In short, if you want to play games in 4K, you should be considering the $499 Series X. But if you don’t consider raw resolution output to be a priority, the $299 Series S may well be of interest.

The owner of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has cut ties with Chinese tech giant Tencent in India, in an effort lift the ban on a mobile version of the game.

PUBG Corporation, the South Korean company that develops and publishes PUBG, said Tuesday that it would drop Tencent as the publisher of its PUBG Mobile game in India.

Last week, the Indian government added PUBG Mobile and 117 other apps with links to China to a blacklist including the likes of TikTok and WeChat due to alleged national security risks.

“In light of recent developments, PUBG Corporation has made the decision to no longer authorize thePUBG MOBILEfranchise to Tencent Games in India,” PUBG Corporation said in a statement Tuesday. “Moving forward, PUBG Corporation will take on all publishing responsibilities within the country.”

“As the company explores ways to provide its own PUBG experience for India in the near future, it is committed to doing so by sustaining a localized and healthy gameplay environment for its fans,” it added.

It comes amid a spike in geopolitical tensions between India and China after a border clash in the Himalayas that left 20 Indian soldiers dead. Those tensions have flared up again this week, with both India and China accusing each other’s soldiers of firing warning shots at the disputed border.

PUBG Mobile, a battle royale game similar to Fortnite, was wildly popular in India prior to the government’s decision to block it. According to app data tracker SensorTower, India was the app’s biggest market, with over 175 million installs to date. That means it accounted for about 24% of total downloads globally.

Apple will seek damages against Epic Games for allegedly breaching its contract with the iOS App Store, in a new escalation of the two companies’ ongoing legal fight. The move came in a filing entered on Tuesday, alongside counterclaims for unjust enrichment and tortious interference with Apple’s relationship with its customers.

“Epic’s flagrant disregard for its contractual commitments and other misconduct has caused significant harm to Apple,” the filing reads. “Left unchecked, Epic’s conduct threatens the very existence of the iOS ecosystem and its tremendous value to consumers.”

Epic Games sued Apple in August, after the company’s hit gameFortnitewas removed from the iOS App Store over the implementation of an unauthorized payment system. The complaint, filed August 13th, alleges that Apple is violating antitrust law, using its total control over iOS to extract a commission for all software that passes through the App Store.

Apple’s filing comes in response to an exhaustive motion for a preliminary injunction, filed by Epic over the weekend. Tuesday’s filing lays out a range of defenses against that motion. Among other claims, Apple maintains there were legitimate business justifications for all of the actions it undertook, which would undercut a broader antitrust claim. “At all times, [Apple’s] conduct was reasonable and … its actions were undertaken in good faith to advance legitimate business interests and had the effect of promoting, encouraging, and increasing competition,” the complaint reads.

Apple declined to comment beyond the filing.

A recent ruling on a temporary restraining order made it unlikelyFortnitewill return to the iOS App Store in the immediate future. The same ruling enjoined Apple from taking additional action against another developer account used by Epic to support the Unreal Engine.

Epic’s reply to Apple’s filing is due by September 18th, ahead of a full hearing on September 28th.

LG’s upcoming “Wing” smartphone is expected to be a dual-screen device with a swiveling mechanism, and the screen that flips around could be surprisingly thin, as shown in new leaks of the phone.

Take a look for yourself in this video — when this person, who appears to have the phone, shows a side profile of the device, you can see that the rotating screen appears to be quite thin:

The video also gives us a good look at the Wing’s swiveling mechanism in action, which allows one screen to rotate 90 degrees horizontally above another screen so they can align in a T-like shape.

And in an image shared by leaker Evan Blass on his Patreon, you can get another peek of the thin-looking side profile of the device. Blass’ image also indicates that the Wing will have a triple-camera setup, come in two colors, and support 5G networks.

In August, Android Authorityposted a purported video of the device, though that video just showed the phone in a car cradle, and it was hard to get a good view of how thick the phone was. And LG has hinted at the swiveling mechanism and the silhouette of the Wing in a video teaser for the phone’s launch event.

LG confirmed the “Wing” naming on September 6th, and the launch event is scheduled to begin at 10AM on September 14th.