PlayStation’s Twisted Metal series will be a comedy on Peacock

Needles Kane was the terrifying face of the_Twisted Metal_games. | Image: Sony Interactive Entertainment via Peacock

Sony’s Twisted Metal TV show, an adaptation of the video game series starring Falcon actor Anthony Mackie, will debut on the Peacock streaming service and is officially labeled as a comedy. Early last year, we heard the vehicular combat-themed show was in the works and being produced by Will Arnett and helmed by Michael Jonathan Smith. On Monday, we learned that each episode of the PlayStation Productions show will be 30 minutes and will attempt to make audiences laugh.

It’s understandable if your memory of the Twisted Metal video games is a bit hazy — the first one was released in 1995, and we haven't gotten a new one since 2012. As a refresher, they mainly center on driving around a heavily armored car and trying to defeat others who...

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The Steam Controller’s troubled trackpads made for a better Steam Deck

PC or console? Mouse and keyboard, or controller? It’s a debate that’s raged for nearly as long as video games themselves. So in 2013, Valve — creator of games like Half-Life and Portal, and the founder of Steam, the beating heart of PC gaming — attempted to fuse the two camps together.

The Steam Controller was originally introduced as part of Valve’s Steam Machine push. The initiative attempted to convince partners to build gaming PCs that would sit in a living room like an Xbox or a PlayStation, but run the massive library of PC games already available on Steam. Plenty of PC owners have hooked up their computer to their television, but the Steam Machine project had bigger ambitions to turn living room PC gaming into a platform.

The...

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Elden Ring’s world is full of mystery, but I’d rather wait for a guide

Image: Bandai Namco

It seems like everyone, even people who don’t usually partake in FromSoftware games, is playing Elden Ring. It’s currently the seventh most played game on Steam based on number of concurrent players and has a score of 97 on Metacritic, putting it on track to be this year’s highest rated game.

And while I have enjoyed the bits of Elden Ring I’ve played, I’m not too keen on joining the rest of my Tarnished colleagues in the Lands Between just yet. I’m gonna wait for the guide writers, speedrunners, and wiki editors to catch up, because from my dabblings in FromSoftware games, I know that in order to truly enjoy Elden Ring, I’m gonna need a lot of help that just doesn’t exist yet.

Elden Ring is a game that’s meant to be mysterious. The...

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Russia invades Ukraine: the latest news and updates

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Ukraine

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The Xbox Series X is available at Walmart right now (update: sold out)

The Xbox Series X is selling for $499.99 at Walmart, but you’ll have to act quickly if you want one. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Update 12:50PM ET, February 28th: Walmart has sold out of the Xbox Series X for now, however, theXbox Series S is available today at Woot for $249.99. The disc-less console features less storage and isn’t as powerful as the Series X, but it can handle the same games.

Good news for those who have yet to nab the Xbox Series X: right now, Walmart is selling Microsoft’s next-gen console for its usual price of $499. Even better, unlike previous restocks, this one is open to all and not just those who subscribe to the retailer’s premium subscription service, Walmart Plus. This restock came up very suddenly out of the blue, and it isn’t utilizing Walmart’s typical queue system, so be sure to keep trying to add the console to your cart, even if...

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The Batman is young, dumb, and full of soft-spoken ennui

Robert Pattinson in_The Batman._ | Photo: Jonathan Olley / Warner Bros.

The Batman franchise has seen better days

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I’m obsessed with a stick in Destiny 2: The Witch Queen

Image: Bungie

I’m obsessed with a stick in Destiny 2: The Witch Queen. That’s a sentence I never thought I’d utter before the new glaive weapon arrived in the game last week. Released as part of The Witch Queen expansion, the glaive is a powerful and versatile... stick. Or “stabby stabby murder sticks,” as Bungie described the glaives last week. You can melee with it and slay enemies at close range, shoot a projectile from afar, or block an attack.

I’ve been hooked on the glaive ever since it dropped at the beginning of The Witch Queen campaign. I feel truly invincible with the glaive in Destiny 2, and it’s the first new weapon type in years that has made such an immediate impact on the way I play the game.

When I first started using the glaive, it...

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The Xbox Series S is $249.99 for the first time

The Xbox Series S is a deceptively small console. It’s about the size of two controllers side-by-side. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

It seems like every time we mention the Xbox Series S, it gets a little cheaper. The entry-level Xbox has slowly gone from dropping $10 to $30 off its regular $299.99 price, and now to a full $50 off. Woot has the Xbox Series S for $249.99 today only, or until inventory runs out. And unlike some previous Woot deals, this one’s not limited to Amazon Prime subscribers. To put it in perspective, that is half the cost of its bigger sibling, the still-elusive Xbox Series X — but to say this is half the console would not do the little white Xbox enough justice.

Microsoft’s cheaper Xbox Series S does not feature a disc drive, but it plays the same games as the Xbox Series X at a more modest QHD (2560 x 1440) resolution and up to 120fps in...

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Naomi Osaka is coming to Fortnite

The weird world of Fortnite is adding another celebrity to its ranks.

Tennis star and noted Overwatch fan Naomi Osaka will be joining the battle royale with two different character skins that go on sale starting March 3rd. One outfit has some clear tennis influences, while the other is called the “dark priestess” outfit, and both come with an assortment of matching accessories. Osaka will be showing off her in-game character a bit early when she streams with Twitch star Berleezy on March 1st at 7PM ET.

Real-world stars have steadily been creeping their way into Fortnite, most recently with the addition of Silk Sonic duo Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, along with multiple versions of TomHolland. When it comes to athletes, Osaka joins some...

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MSCHF just turned the SATs into a battle royale with a big cash prize

MSCHF calls it the MSAT. | Image: MSCHF

It’ll cost $52 for you to enter, but you could take home thousands — at least. This is the latest project from art collective MSCHF: a one-off, winner-takes-all, massively multiplayer version of the SATs named the MSAT.

The SAT — for non-US readers — is a multiple-choice test taken across the United States for college admissions. Because it’s so widely taken, it’s something of an object of cultural horror. “I actually took the ACT, but as 95 percent of my friends took the SAT, I remember them being out of their minds stressed and spending almost a full 12 months preparing with private tutors and study classes,” MSCHF founder Daniel Greenberg tells The Verge.

So, Greenberg and his colleagues made the MSAT. Registration is open for the...

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Huawei gets into e-readers with the 10.3-inch MatePad Paper

The Huawei MatePad Paper. | Image: Huawei

Huawei has announced its first ever e-reader, the MatePad Paper. But this is a little different from a typical Kindle. For starters, it’s compatible with Huawei’s M-Pencil stylus, so it can be used for taking notes in addition to just reading like the reMarkable 2 or Onyx Boox Note Air 2, and there’s also a built-in microphone for voice recording. It also has a larger 10.3-inch E Ink display compared to the roughly 7-inch screens found on most Kindles.

These specs mean that the MatePad Paper has the potential to be a productivity device, in addition to a device aimed purely at consumption. It’s almost more like an Android tablet that happens to be equipped with an E Ink screen, right down to the fact that it’s running Huawei’s HarmonyOS...

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Toyota shuts down its Japanese factories after reported cyberattack

Toyota will idle lines in several factories, producing about 13,000 fewer vehicles than expected. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

A cyberattack has forced Toyota to shut down its factories in Japan, forcing the automaker to lose about 13,000 cars of output, Reuters reports. The attack was directed at a key supplier of plastic and electronic components to the company.

There was no immediate information as to who was behind the cyberattack, with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida telling reporters that his government would investigate whether Russia was involved. “It is difficult to say whether this has anything to do with Russia before making thorough checks,” he said, according to Reuters.

“It is difficult to say whether this has anything to do with Russia before making thorough checks”

Japan is backing the US and other Western allies that are seeking to impose...

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Samsung officially kills off the Galaxy Note brand, but the stylus stays

Samsung’s Note brand will be replaced by the new Ultra line of devices. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Samsung is officially killing off the Galaxy Note... brand name. The news was confirmed by Samsung’s smartphone chief Roh Tae-moon, who told reporters at Mobile World Congress 2022 that “Galaxy Note will come out as Ultra” going forward, referring to Samsung’s recently released Galaxy S22 Ultra, via Dailian.

The news isn’t exactly a surprise. Samsung hasn’t released a Galaxy Note device since the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra were released in 2020. And this year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra, which featured the return of an integrated stylus, is a Galaxy Note device in everything but name.

The convergence of the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note lines of products has been fated for years. When Samsung first launched the Galaxy Note over a decade ago —...

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Watch The Verge’s Steam Deck review

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Three weeks ago, I opened up a cardboard box containing the Steam Deck, Valve’s incredible new gadget that attempts to make PC gaming portable — and sometimes wildly succeeds. Today, you no longer need to read a 4,000-word review or listen to me explain my giant cartoon heart eyes for 30 minutes on The Vergecast to understand my very big feelings: we’ve got a video that shows you the Deck’s biggest wins and its biggest failings.

And it starts with an original Nintendo Game Boy.

OG Game Boy alert

That’s right: not a Nintendo Switch. My family’s carefully preserved 1989-era Game Boy, previously featured here. You’ll understand why long before you finish.

Plus, you’ll see and hear a few things that didn’t fit into my text review. How does...

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TikTok expands maximum video length to 10 minutes

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Is TikTok still a short-form video platform? It seems less and less so, after the company announced today that it’s expanding the maximum length for uploads to 10 minutes. TikTok has been testing ever-longer uploads for years, recently introducing three-minute videos last July, but this latest update is the largest increase yet, and will now roll out globally.

“We’re always thinking about new ways to bring value to our community and enrich the TikTok experience,” said a company spokesperson in a statement given to The Verge. “Last year, we introduced longer videos, giving our community more time to create and be entertained on TikTok. Today, we’re excited to start rolling out the ability to upload videos that are up to 10 minutes, which...

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Lenovo’s IdeaPad Duet 3 is a mid-sized Chrome OS tablet

The 11-inch Duet 3’s taller aspect ratio should make it more natural to use in portrait mode. | Image: Lenovo

Lenovo has announced a new Chrome OS tablet at Mobile World Congress 2022 that seems like a stellar value, along with a wave of other promising Chromebooks in its IdeaPad productivity lineup. The IdeaPad Duet 3 tablet seems to deliver more of what we liked about the 13-inch Duet 5 tablet, but smaller. It’s an 11-inch tablet, which should make it easier to lug around, and to hold in your hands. Lenovo says it’s the successor to the well-liked 10.1-inch Duet from 2020.

Compared to the larger Duet 5, the Duet 3 bumps the screen’s resolution from 1080p to 2K, while providing a slightly taller aspect ratio at 5:3 compared to 16:9 in the Duet 5. This should make the Duet 3 feel a little more natural to hold and view in portrait mode. The most...

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They spent $3 million on a Dune script bible — now what?

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Spice DAO’s quest to honor a nonexistent film

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Oppo announces 150W fast charging, coming soon to a OnePlus phone

Oppo has announced a new 150W SuperVOOC fast-charging standard today which it claims will be able to charge a 4,500mAh battery from 1 percent to 50 percent charge in just five minutes, and to 100 percent in just 15. It’s going to appear first in an unnamed smartphone from sub-brand OnePlus in the second quarter of this year. OnePlus has also offered an update on the global launch of the OnePlus 10 Pro, which came to China earlier this year.

OnePlus didn’t offer any more details on the first phone to feature this technology, such as whether it will be a flagship phone or a part of the company’s midrange Nord lineup, but it said the technology will be on display at its booth during this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Realme is...

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Telehealth visits now available through Amazon Alexa

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Amazon customers can now connect with healthcare providers through Echo devices, the companies announced today. The service is provided by telemedicine company Teladoc, one of the largest telemedicine companies in the United States.

Customers can connect with Teladoc by saying “Alexa, I want to talk to a doctor.” They’ll get a call back on their device from a Teladoc doctor. The service is only for non-emergency visits, like allergies or flu symptoms. At this point, visits are audio-only, but video visits are “coming soon,” according to a press release.

“Whether they’re taking care of their sick child in the middle of the night or wanting to ask a doctor about allergy symptoms in between meetings during the day, we hope this...

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New Qualcomm chips tease CD-quality audio for your earbuds and faster 5G

Qualcomm’s new modem-RF system is the first of its kind to use AI to maximize 5G coverage and speed. | Image: Qualcomm

Qualcomm is using Mobile World Congress to show off some new technology that should improve 5G connectivity and wireless audio. These new capabilities — and the chips that make them possible — are likely to land in the next generation of earbuds and high-end Android phones starting in the second half of this year.

The Snapdragon X70 5G modem-RF system attempts to improve your phone’s 5G connection with the help of an AI processor. This helps it maximize 5G signal for better coverage — particularly important for mmWave signals, which are short-range compared to the broader coverage of low and mid-band frequencies. Qualcomm says this improvement is limited to situations like stadiums and city blocks, and that it doesn’t address one of...

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Honor Magic 4 Pro announced with 100W wireless charging

The Honor Magic 4 Pro. | Image: Honor

Honor’s latest flagship smartphone, the Magic 4 Pro, can be fast-charged wirelessly at 100W, allowing it to be charged to 50 percent in just 15 minutes, the former Huawei sub-brand announced today. As well as 100W wireless charging, the phone is also equipped with 100W wired charging, which Honor says can fully charge the device’s 4,600mAh battery in 30 minutes.

The Magic 4 Pro has been announced alongside the lower-specced Magic 4, which tops out at 66W wired fast charging and doesn’t support 100W wireless charging. The Magic 4 Pro will start at €1099, while the Magic 4 will start at €899. Both will be available in the coming months, though Honor is yet to share exact release dates or markets.

As you’d expect from a modern flagship...

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Facebook removes Russian misinformation network pushing fake news about the war in Ukraine

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Facebook says it’s dismantled a misinformation network comprised of individuals and sites pushing fake news about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The social network’s parent company Meta said the network was “relatively small,” consisting of about 40 accounts, Pages, and Groups on Facebook and Instagram. It’s not clear how recently the group had started operating, but Meta says it had attracted fewer than 4,000 followers on Facebook and fewer than 500 followers on Instagram.

“It’s a sign that while these actors are trying to run these types of influence operations, they’re getting caught sooner and they’re not reaching the audiences that they would have reached even a few years ago,” Nathaniel Gleicher, Meta’s head of security policy,...

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Seawalls alone won’t save coastal cities, major UN report says

6: A general view of Dauan Island on March 26, 2021 in Dauan Island, Australia. As sea levels continue to rise, tides have become more destructive and coastal erosion is occurring at a faster rate. New seawalls are being built in different projects around the islands in an effort to hold back rising sea levels. | Photo by Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Relying solely on seawalls and other engineering fixes won’t be enough to keep communities safe from rising sea levels or other consequences of climate change, a major new United Nations report warns. Seawalls might be able to temporarily fend off rising tides and storm surges, but the report’s authors say more “transformative changes in our behaviour and infrastructure” are needed as the climate crisis worsens.

Greener cities and healthy ecosystems are just as important as built infrastructure for keeping people safe, the report emphasized. And urban planners might need to give up developing some of the most vulnerable coastal areas, or risk building in places that’ll be inundated with water in the future.

Greener cities and healthy...

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Realme announces $725 GT2 Pro flagship with ‘bio-based polymer’ design

Realme has announced the GT2 Pro, its latest flagship phone and the followup to last year’s impressive GT. The former Oppo sub-brand describes it as “the most premium flagship ever by Realme,” and it’s difficult to disagree with that assessment.

The headline feature of the GT2 Pro is how it looks and feels. Continuing the company’s materials collaboration with legendary Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa, the GT2 Pro is the first phone to be made with a “bio-based polymer,” which Realme claims reduces carbon emissions by 35.5 percent during manufacturing.

The “paper green” model I’ve been using has a unique matte finish that feels coarse to the touch and doesn’t pick up fingerprints. I can’t speak to Realme’s environmental claims, but...

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Google disables Maps traffic data in Ukraine to protect citizens

Ukrainian Territorial Defence fighters patrol the streets after the fight in Kharkiv on February 27, 2022 | Photo by SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty Images

Google has temporarily disabled live traffic features offered by Google Maps in Ukraine to protect users’ safety as the country is invaded by neighboring Russia.

The features use anonymous location data collected from Android smartphones to show where there are traffic delays on roads and which businesses and stores are busy. Experts say such data could offer insight into the progress of the invasion. One open source intelligence (OSINT) expert said he saw signs of the Russian invasion early last Thursday after spotting unusual “traffic jams” at the Ukrainian border on Google Maps.

“I think we were the first people to see the invasion,” OSINT expert, Professor Jerry Lewis of the Middlebury Institute, told Motherboard last week. “And we...

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Lenovo’s newest ThinkPads feature Snapdragon processors and 165Hz screens

Here’s the new ThinkPad X1 Extreme. | Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge

Lenovo has dumped a whole bunch of new ThinkPads into the world, and there’s some exciting stuff in there. We’re getting a brand-new ThinkPad X13s powered by Snapdragon chips, a fifth-generation ThinkPad X1 Extreme with a WQXGA 165Hz screen option, and new additions to the P-series and T-series as well.

The news I’m personally most excited about is the screen shape. A few months ago, Lenovo told me that much of its portfolio would be moving to the 16:10 aspect ratio this year. They appear to be keeping their word. Across the board, the new models are 16:10 — taller and roomier than they were in their 16:9 eras.

Some news that’s a bit more... intriguing is the all-new ThinkPad X13s, which is the first laptop to feature the Snapdragon 8cx...

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Lenovo’s new IdeaPad Gaming 3 is a more budget-friendly 16:10 aspect ratio laptop

Later this year, you can snag the 16-inch model with either AMD or Intel processors. | Lenovo

Lenovo has made some hefty updates to its mid-range IdeaPad Gaming 3 lineup for 2022, which includes two Intel 12th Gen- and two AMD Ryzen 6000-series-equipped models, each with a 15.6-inch and 16-inch option. Notably, the 16-inch option for either CPU you opt for has a 16:10 aspect ratio display with the option to go up to 2560 x 1600, like the Legion 5 Pro, which is more desirable because it offers more vertical space for browsing, gaming, or anything else you want to do on a PC. The only thing they’re not particularly great for is watching movies or TV shows, which are traditionally presented in 16:9 aspect ratio.

Despite each of these IdeaPad Gaming 3 laptops looking the same across CPU options, the specs differ in some ways...

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Facebook limits access to some Russian state-controlled media in Ukraine

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Facebook has blocked access to a number of accounts in Ukraine, some of which are associated with Russian state-backed media outlets. It’s also reviewing other governments’ requests to restrict access to these accounts in their countries.

We have been in contact with the Government of Ukraine, and at their request we have also restricted access to several accounts in Ukraine, including those belonging to some Russian state media organizations.

— Nick Clegg (@nickclegg) February 27, 2022

“We have been in contact with the Government of Ukraine, and at their request we have also restricted access to several accounts in Ukraine, including those belonging to some Russian state media organizations,” Nick Clegg, the vice president of global...

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Apple is reportedly working on a device with a 20-inch folding display

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Apple may be working on a device with a 20-inch foldable display, which Apple tracker Mark Gurman describes as an “iPad / MacBook hybrid” in Bloomberg’s Power On newsletter.

It’s not expected until 2026

Gurman says that Apple is, indeed, exploring the possibility of a folding device of the sort, backing up the claims of Ross Young, the CEO and analyst at Display Supply Chain Consultants. Last week, Young brought attention to Apple’s supposed plans to develop a device with a large, folding screen, and Gurman has added some more depth to this rumor.

Gurman claims the device will feature a dual-screen display that omits a physical keyboard and trackpad — navigating and typing on the device will be entirely touchscreen-based. In terms of a...

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EU closes airspace to Russian aircraft and blocks state-backed media

Von der Leyen announced a ban on the state-backed RT and Sputnik networks in the EU. | Photo by STEPHANIE LECOCQ/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the European Union will ban Russian state-run media outlets from airing in the EU, as well as bar Russian aircraft from flying in EU airspace.

Second, we will ban the Kremlin’s media machine in the EU.

The state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, and their subsidiaries,
will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war.

We are developing tools to ban their toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe. pic.twitter.com/7RcPEn6E14

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) February 27, 2022

Von der Leyen outlined the EU’s plan in a thread on Twitter, stating that RT and Sputnik — both state-backed Russian networks — along with their subsidies “will no longer be able to...

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