Paint is… fun again?
If you didn’t while away hours of schooling career randomly screwing around on Microsoft Paint, did you really have a childhood? In our books, no. Possibly the most iconic of Microsoft’s programs just got a major update that’ll see it survive another generation or two: AI. It’s called Cocreator, but its true nature is that of DALL-E 3, and it’ll land on the Paint app soon.
It was only a matter of time, really. Microsoft has so many fingers dipped into AI pies that it’ll eventually be news when a product doesn’t have some sort of artificial intelligence attached to it. That’ll be a day, huh? We’re already picturing the headlines.
Microsoft first announced its intent to integrate Cocreator into Paint back in September, though it was initially only reserved for Windows insiders. Like someone who just suffered a bad break-up, Cocreator is ready to move on and hit just about anything it can. As long as what it’s hitting has Windows 11 installed. Cocreator is being rolled out gradually, meaning some users will already have access, while others might need to practise discipline a little longer.
Judging by Microsoft’s handy guide for Cocreator, it’ll run just like any other generator out there. Click on the Cocreator icon in the toolbar, hit the keys in the right order (you know, typing), pick a style, and voila! Cocreator will spit out three images to choose from. If you’re really struggling, there’s a built-in tutorial that’ll help you get to grips with its processes and capabilities.
Grand Theft Auto: The Definitive Edition arrives on Netflix this December
We’ll be honest, we missed out on Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition (try saying that quickly three times). Not because we were enlightened and discovered that stealing and killing is bad, but because the company somehow managed to mess up three of the most iconic games of the 2000s. It’s looking to redeem that misstep by getting on the Netflix mobile game hype, officially landing on 14 December 2023.
That means that GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas will be playable on Android and iOS before the year is out. The streamer’s blog post detailing the announcement did little to explain how these games were optimized for mobile and what changes we should expect, if any. What we did get was a couple of plot summaries and a reminder that Netflix’s catalogue of games comes “without any ads, in-app purchases, or extra fees.”
Considering the controversy surrounding The Definitive Edition, which garnered less than positive attention upon launch thanks to it being riddled with bugs, making unnecessary changes to the original art style, and the removal of the original games from digital stores, it’ll be interesting to see how the public’s perception shifts. Who knows? This might be the renaissance Rockstar has been looking for. Especially after Netflix gets ’round to making mobile gaming on TVs a thing.
Beyond Good & Evil 2 remake
Think back. Preferably to 2017’s E3 conference that brought us that stellar Beyond Good & Evil 2 trailer. Now… stop thinking about it. We just didn’t want to be the only ones thinking about what might have been ahead of the Beyond Good & Evil remaster that’s coming out. Oh, right. There’s a Beyond Good & Evil remaster coming out. In the early stages of 2024, apparently, and it’ll be titled Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition. (Nobody tell Ubisoft that the game’s 20th anniversary has already passed).
If developer Ubisoft had its way, we wouldn’t be here talking about the remaster today. The then-unannounced remaster accidentally went live on the Xbox Store, and was even briefly playable through Ubisoft Plus before the company came to its senses and took it all down. While not the most auspicious of starts, it did bring some good news: the game’s official announcement. That all happened through a thread on X.com yesterday.
The gist of the post was that the game was released early, and that “this version is not indicative of the final game,” according to the company. It went on to say that the game would officially be released in “early 2024.”
According to IGN, which got a look at the listing before its removal, the game is promising 4K resolution and 60fps, with “improved graphics, controls, and audio, along with brand-new autosave and cross-save features.” Those will stand alongside the new speedrun mode, and an updated list of trophies.
OneWeb to rule them all
If you’re still holding out hope for Elon Musk’s Starlink to land in South Africa (or rather to hover menacingly), we’d advise giving up on that dream. South Africa’s industry regulator Icasa has made it clear that using Starlink within the borders is illegal. That doesn’t mean all broadband satellite services are so. Eutelsat is launching OneWeb, its own low-earth orbit (LEO) service in South Africa, according to a report from MyBroadband.
The whole idea is to bring low-latency internet to those parts of the country where a traditional fibre or 5G connection might not be so feasible. OneWeb will eventually make the trek across 35 countries in Africa, but it’s kicking things off here first.
Like Starlink, OneWeb uses LEO satellites which offer a major advantage over the previous standard of geostationary (GEO) satellites: reduced latency. Where a GEO satellite operates at around a 35,000km altitude and typically brings a 600ms response time with it, OneWeb’s setup could bring sub-100ms latencies to the country.
There’s no word yet on when OneWeb will officially launch, though it’s not news that would interest the layman, anyway. According to the report, OneWeb is currently only sold to businesses, governments, and enterprises – a departure from Starlink’s business model that sells to both individuals and businesses. That doesn’t mean it’ll remain that way forever but maybe waiting around for Starlink is still the play.