Author: Tshepo Chauke

With Africa’s gaming industry approaching a milestone revenue of $1 billion in 2024, giant tech firms are beginning to show excitement about its growth potential. African gaming has been boosted by increased internet access across the continent, reports VoANews. From about 2014 to 2022, the percentage of people with internet access doubled from about 19% to 40%. Aided also by the increasing affordability of low- to mid-end tech, these have given Africa greater access to the global gaming industry in terms of both playing and development. Interactive storytelling and culture Kenyan game developer Daniel Macharia developed the adventure-action game Nairobbery.…

In a barren blockbuster year where many large franchises are regrouping in hibernation, Alien: Romulus arrives as a rollercoaster of a film at its relatively brisk 119-minute runtime. Following the same narrative format as Alien and others in the series, it’s far from a reinvention of the wheel. Still, it may be the best iteration since the original and is certainly one of the best blockbusters to come out this year. Since David Fincher’s disastrous Aliens 3 in 1992, people have lusted for a quality new instalment to the franchise that remained connected to the first two movies. Neill Blomkamp…

In a bid to make itself a more reliable source of news and information, YouTube has begun the rollout of its new Community Notes-like feature. First announced in June, the feature aims to reduce misinformation by allowing users to provide contextual notes to any information in a video they deem confusing, vague, or incorrect. YouTube has invited a few lucky users to join the beta of its new feature that resembles X’s Community Notes. Users in the program should see an ‘Add Note’ button below the video feed. This will, in theory, allow users to add context to statements in…

Steam Game Recording, Valve’s new addition to the platform, is a native recording feature that means now you don’t have to rely on third-party software to capture those highlights your friends wouldn’t believe without evidence.  It is only available in beta for now, but it is available for sampling in both desktops and the Steam Deck. Earlier this year the online video game retailer launched Steam Families, an overhaul of their old sharing UI, in a bid to enhance the sharing experience on the game hosting platform. Taking a page from music streaming services’ various family-sharing payment features, Family Sharing…

The Tecno Spark 20 arrives a year after the Spark 10 arrived on South African shores and set a new benchmark for the brand’s budget phones, especially over the more lightweight Spark 10C. A year later, the Spark 10 is a little cheaper, which only provides more bang for your buck. The Tecno Spark 20 enters as an upgrade in a challenging, crowded budget phone market. But how much of an upgrade is it? Let’s open the hood and determine exactly for whom these changes are for. Good looking out Firstly, the Spark 20 possesses a much higher build quality…

YouTube is reportedly experimenting with a new way to embed ads into videos in its newest move to circumvent ad blockers. The video hosting site has been working to mitigate losses from ad blocker users that enjoy Premium benefits without paying.  Last October, YouTube’s war with the ad blocker community peaked when it tested pop-up warnings imploring users to either uninstall their ad blockers or subscribe to YouTube Premium. While the effort had some success with many users following suit, it also inspired many others to try out more sophisticated ad blockers. On The Offensive YouTube’s quest for more ad…

“Ah, you want to make a Kurosawa movie.” That’s what screenwriter Josh Friedman said to director Wes Ball after the latter pitched his vision for the latest instalment in the Planet of the Apes franchise, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. And… we get it. The Japanese director’s films often focus on a protagonist’s suffering journey, as he encounters multiple points of view and discovers more about the world surrounding him. Kingdom of the Planet of the Ape’s Noa finds himself split between the different agendas of the characters he comes across during his journey to find himself after losing his…

Wading through the Wild West of the budget earbud market can be a disorienting experience. With so many similar-looking products with wildly varying quality of sound, build, quantity of features, and battery life, it’s harder to tell products apart. Discerning which ones are worth your hard-earned cash can feel impossible. Fear not, we’re here to help. In an area where distinguishing between such products is a challenge, the Soundcore R50i, despite some flaws, sets itself apart by aiming to address these fundamental user needs. As customary from Soundcore, these do a good enough job of what they set out to…

When you consider just how much Dev Patel gave of himself to bring Monkey Man to fruition (a hand and a couple of toes, apparently), it truly is a marvel in artistic effort. From writing to directing to acting, the chaotic fights of the anonymous protagonist seem to parallel the gruelling endeavour to not only get a project greenlit and funded but also the long arduous shooting process, dealing with actors, extras, sets, the elements and so on. And like his alter ego, Patel has triumphed through broken bones, a pandemic, and depleted financing to bring us a fun action…

Back in 1999, Sony Pictures took a risk that would change its future forever — it bought the film rights to popular comic book character Spider-Man from a floundering Marvel Comics teetering on bankruptcy. After a successful trilogy, a failed one, and an animated masterpiece, Sony found itself scrambling for a new approach to its popular franchise. Eventually, rescue came in the form of Disney and Marvel Studios, when a deal was struck to introduce Peter Parker to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s been eight years since Spidey’s MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War, and now Sony finds itself…