YouTube talks now?! YouTube talks now
YouTube’s next big idea is really, really stupid. So stupid, we wonder if it’ll ever make it out of the limited test in the US to the rest of the world. The Google-owned platform calls it ‘Ask YouTube’ and it’s essentially a repackaged version of the AI Overviews currently plaguing regular Google searches. Except these show up in YouTube search.
It’s meant to sit front and centre in the platform’s search functionality whenever you ask a basic how-to question or something similar. You know, the sort of query that might’ve netted YouTube a view or two before. Now, YouTube hopes to answer your query before you ever get that far. It’s a change that could cannibalise views.
For a platform that relies on eyeballs, doing anything that jeopardises that model feels… off. It’s borrowing “text and key moments from relevant videos to provide comprehensive answers,” YouTube said. How YouTube will discern which videos offer the ‘correct’ solution to a problem remains to be seen. The feature is currently only limited to signed-in users on desktop in the US. There’s no word on a wider release yet.
Street Fighter II is so good, it’s coming to a smartwatch
Modern smartwatches are undeniable technical marvels. They track your steps, bodily functions, and even tell the time. All that’s missing now is… Street Fighter II — or so My Play Watch thinks. The company just announced a new type of gaming wearable that combines all of the above into a wrist-hugging mini-console with 14-karat gold.
Only the watches’ gold accents can claim such riches. The rest of the smartwatch is made up of more sensible materials, like the two themed silicone straps. The primary attraction of the watch is the fully playable version of Street Fighter II that includes all eight original characters and uses touchscreen controls to make it happen.
My Play Watch isn’t interested in taking on the big names, and is more than happy to get by with the essentials. The watch is capable of tracking steps, heart rate, calorie tracking — all that jazz — but doesn’t actually include any sort of smartwatch pairing, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi specs. It will yell “Hadoken!” whenever it powers on, though.
The Street Fighter II My Play Watch is available for pre-order overseas (US, Canada, and the EU) for roughly R1,320 ($80) a pop. There’s nothing official for South Africa, but with the company’s other watches appearing on Amazon elsewhere, we reckon it’ll do it again eventually. Then it’s on you to pay the shipping fees, of course.
Analogue’s R3,650 Super Nt+ and Mega Sg+ retro consoles are here to sell your childhood back to you
It’s not hard to make older gamers happy. Just give them a way to play the games they used to before the weight of the world settled on them. Analogue has announced its new Super Nt+ and Mega Sg+ consoles, which play old Super Nintendo and Sega Mega Drive (or Genesis) cartridges, for a mere R3,650 ($220).
The company already has hardware that’ll do this, but the Super Nt and Mega St don’t include wireless controller support via both Bluetooth and 2.4Ghz WiFi. There is a slight catch, of course. The consoles might replicate the originals on a hardware level, but this release won’t ship with any controllers.
You’ll have to raid your own stash and pair them. Analogue has at least made this easy enough. Finally, you’ll have a use for that old GameSir controller that isn’t supported by anything else you own. Preorders for both the Nintendo and Sega replicas opened today, with shipping expected sometime in December.
Attack on Titan PixelByte Controller packs pocket-sized fun
If you’ve ever wanted to introduce mystery to your tech purchases, this is specifically for you. The PixelByte Attack on Titan controller BlindBox is available now from Amazon US. If you’re on the hunt for a pocket-sized controller, are a fan of the Attack on Titan anime, and have roughly R700 to spend… you might as well.
There are seven possible designs you might get. You’ve got a 1:6 chance to get either Eren, Mikasa, Levi, Hange, Sasha, or a Titan. You’ve got a 1:30 chance to get the seventh secret rare design. Anime designs aside, the controller might be pocket-sized, but it still features all the buttons you’d expect.
It will also do double duty as a presentation clicker or media remote in its productivity mode, and there’s even a turbo mode for rapid-fire inputs. It’s compatible with just about every platform as long as it’s got Bluetooth, and the USB-C rechargeable battery should last around 12 hours on a charge.
It’s listed on Amazon for $25 (R412), but shipping and taxes will take the total cost to around R700. That could be a small price to pay for a controller that will fit in any bag, your pocket, or a keyring.
