Author: Nick Cowen

BlizzConline, Blizzard’s virtual replacement for its annual BlizzCon gathering streamed over the weekend and to say things were a bit weird is an understatement. That’s not to say fans didn’t have much to look forward to – the Con’s developer panels, which revealed some details about Overwatch 2, likely satiated some appetites – but the opening keynote felt a little stunted. This is probably down to the fact that Blizzard’s president, J Allen Brack, made his announcements to an empty room, albeit one watched by tonnes of fans. As someone who has been fortunate enough to attend BlizzCon on numerous…

Boeing has called on airlines to down more than 120 of its 777 planes after United Airlines flight 328 suffered a dramatic engine failure over Denver, Colorado at the weekend. The flight was bound for Hawaii from Denver on Saturday, when one of its engines failed just after take-off, catching fire, and scattering debris over the ground below. According to reports, there were no injuries or casualties involving the 10 flight crew and 231 passengers onboard the flight – nor were any reported from those on the ground below. Boeing recommended on Sunday night that any airlines using planes that…

Australia’s health department has pulled advertisements from Facebook, announcing it has no further plans to advertise on the platform going forward. The move is the latest escalation in the spat between Australia and Facebook, over the Australian government’s plans to introduce the New Media Bargaining Code, which will force tech giants to pay for content they link to from Australian publishers. Facebook blocked all Australian news content on its platform last week in response to the bill. At the same time Australian government agencies — the state health department among them — charity organisations and community pages were also banned.…

The UK’s Supreme Court has ruled that Uber now has to classify its drivers as workers rather than self-employed contractors. According to a report on the BBC, Uber needs to contend with the fact that (in the UK, currently) its drivers are now entitled to holiday pay and minimum wage. This ruling, incidentally, is the final round in a labour dispute that has been waged between Uber and its drivers in the UK since 2016. The ruling will have serious implications for Uber in the UK, because it means tens of thousands of Uber drivers are now entitled to worker…

As if 2021 couldn’t get any weirder, news has emerged that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has invested over $3.3 billion in three of the world’s top video games publishers. Yes, you read that correctly. According to a report on Kotaku, Saudi Arabia’s reigning monarch has used the country’s Public Investment Fund to plough over $3.3 billion into Electronic Arts, Take-Two and Activision Blizzard. The report is quick to point out that while the overall sum looks impressive, the investment equates to millions of shares spread out over the three companies, but sums up to a fraction of…

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison says that his government will not be intimidated by Facebook’s decision to block local users posting to local news on its platform. The announcement is the latest salvo in the escalating spat between the Australian government and the social media company over proposed legislation that would force tech giants to pay Australian news publishers for content linked to on their platforms. The proposed bill, named the News Media Code, has been met with resistance most vocally from both Facebook and Google, with the latter threatening to block searches Down Under if the legislation becomes law.…

Nintendo held its 50-minute Nintendo Direct stream last night and, no, there was nothing to confirm the swirling rumours about the Nintendo Switch Pro (or whatever it’s called, if it even exists). Instead, Nintendo-heads were treated to a pretty lengthy list of releases – some of them sequels, some remasters and some ports – they can expect to arrive on the Nintendo Switch in the coming months. Nintendo Switch games incoming Top among them were Splatoon 3, the latest instalment in the popular team-based paint-shooter franchise, and Mario Gold: Super Rush, which is the first Mario Golf title for the…

Microsoft is launching a new Xbox Wireless Headset on 28th May (locally) for a recommended retail price of R1799.00. It’s the first wireless headset of this type Microsoft has launched since the last generation of consoles. According to the press release, the Xbox Wireless Headset will be able to connect with Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PCs and all mobile devices. (Sorry Sony users!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPHvH7D6qQY From the sounds of things the Xbox Wireless Headset is designed to improve on the base-level Xbox Stereo and other headsets currently available for the console. Xbox’s sonic upgrade Microsoft says the headset was designed to support…

For the last few months, Google has been at loggerheads with the Australian government over legislation called the News Media Bargaining Code, that would force the internet giant to pay news media outlets for content they produce that it links to. Google has been pretty bullish in its stance against the bill, at one point threatening to pull out of Australia should the bill become law. Facebook too, has taken a dim view of the proposed legislation, and said it would block Australians from sharing news on its platform, should the bill become law. The Australian government, for its part,…

Nintendo has announced it’ll be streaming a 50-minute Nintendo Direct presentation today at midnight (local time. If you’re reading this from abroad, the times to observe are 23h00 CET and 22h00 UK time. According to Nintendo’s press release the stream will largely focus on games that are currently available, “like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate”, as well as games “coming to the Nintendo Switch in the first half of 2021.” Cards close to the chest As is usually the case with Nintendo, there’s not much in the way of information other than what the publisher included in its press release. That…