What’s up, gamers? This week, the tech and gaming space has had an abundance of massive announcements. First, the Albanese government announced a plan to restrict social media and potentially gaming access to young Australians. In even more bad news for young gamers this week, Sony announced a brand new PlayStation 5 Pro this week, but it will cost an arm and a leg to buy.
So, let’s dive into all the big announcements and tea from tech and gaming this week so you’re all caught up.
7. Anthony Albanese Government Plans To Ban Social Media For Young Australians
It’s not looking good, chat. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced its intention to ban social media for young people under 16. In the announcement, they also hinted that they might consider adjacent platforms, such as gaming.
The government has said it’s doing this to protect children and help parents manage the content their kids consume on the internet. Additionally, it wants to get kids out there playing sports and not staying cooped up inside on the internet.
In my opinion, this stinks. First, they’re pulling the Helen Lovejoy tactic, which I thought we were all pretty good at calling out. Second, banning social media for kids and monitoring their access puts them more in harm’s way. This can prevent younger people from finding support networks, accessing information about health and safety, making new friends outside of their smaller communities, engaging in new hobbies, and more.
It’s unclear what the ban will look like and how it will be implemented. Will it be as simple as a box that says, “I understand that I’m 16 years or older and can visit this site?” or will it be more nebulous? Regarding the potential gaming ban, would the solution be for a parent to make an account with their email for their kid to play? Or is it a blanket ban? It opens too many loopholes, and given our government’s history of legislating technology, I’m not sure I trust their judgment on this.
In the UK alone, there have been discussions of implementing digital IDs and face scanning to access pornography. Never mind the massive invasion of privacy; having that information available for hackers to steal would be an immense cybersecurity risk. Given the massive number of cybersecurity breaches we’ve experienced, if Australia were to follow the same trajectory, it’s fair to say it won’t be good.
Yes, it’s fun to dunk on kids who play Fortnite, and we shouldn’t have to see the opinions of 14-year-olds on a daily basis, yada yada. But a ban like this, done poorly, would have wide effects on all Australians’ digital privacy, and it is something we should all be pushing back against.
6. PS5 Pro Announced
Sony announced a brand new PS5 Pro this week, and the reaction has been, shall I say, “whelmed“. The new console is set to bring better graphics, more storage and AI-upscaling tech to help games run smoothly and maintain that sweet 60 fps.
So, why was there a backlash? Simply put: it’s really fucking expensive.
The console will launch at the high price of $1,195.95 AUD, without a disk drive or vertical stand. For reference, the original PS5 costs $799.95 AUD right now. So you’re paying $400 extra dollars for better graphics on a console that, frankly, still hasn’t reached its full potential.
I’m still keen to see what this console can do and if the new tech justifies its hefty price tag. Call me cautiously optimistic.
5. Former Sony President Says Those Affected By Layoffs & Corporate Greed Should ‘Drive an Uber’
Ex-Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president Chris Deering admitted this week that he doesn’t believe the game industry layoffs resulted from corporate greed. He gave us this bizarre hot take on games writer Simon Parkin‘s podcast My Perfect Console when the pair discussed industry layoffs.
“I think it’s probably very painful for the managers, but I don’t think that having skill in this area [of game dev] is going to be a lifetime of poverty or limitation.” said Deering.
“It’s still where the action is, and it’s like the pandemic, but now you’re going to have to take a few…figure out how to get through it, drive an Uber or whatever, go off to find a cheap place to live and go to the beach for a year. But keep up with your news and keep up with it, because once you get off the train, it’s much harder.”
This is an immensely tone-deaf response. Just this year, there have been over 10,800 layoffs in the games industry. Most of these developers have to move to the inner city for these jobs, meaning a higher cost of living on a salary that’s barely enough to get by. No one has the money to take a year off and live on a beach, Kendall Roy style.
The man might as well have said, “Let them eat cake,” because, hoo boy, does this take suck.
4. Microsoft Lays Off 650 Xbox Employees
Microsoft announced today that it will lay off 650 employees in its gaming division. This year alone, the company has laid off 1,900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox employees and closed down several game studios, including Redfall-developed Arkane Austin studios.
In an internal memo, Xbox chief Phil Spencer revealed that the layoffs were related to Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard last year. Y’know, that $75.4 billion USD deal that the FTC stalled for a year over worries of monopolisation. That deal.
This adds to the massive list of game devs currently out of work. Let’s hope there are enough cheap beach houses available for over 10,000+ people to take a year off until the job market stabilises (this is a normal and realistic take).
3. New Airpods Can Be Used As Hearing Aids
I’ve been very negative this week, so let’s talk about something kinda cool.
Apple announced that its new AirPods 4 model can also be used as clinical-grade over-the-counter hearing aids for those who need them.
“We’re adding this groundbreaking capability to help more than one billion people living with mild to moderate hearing loss,” said Sumbul Ahmad Desai, Apple’s vice president of health.
It’s estimated that around 3.6 million Australian adults suffer from some level of hearing loss, and the number is expected to double by 2060. Hearing loss is also reported to be twice as common in lower-income groups, meaning those expensive thousand-dollar hearing aids are all the more difficult to obtain for those who need them.
If everything works correctly, this is a huge innovation in the space. It’s not my usual to glaze a company like this, but kudos to Apple’s dev team for making it work.
2. Baldur’s Gate 3 Drops Level Editor, Letting Players Create Custom Campaigns
Earlier this month, everyone’s favourite dating simulator, Baldur’s Gate 3, dropped its final patch, offering official mod support for players. One such modder has found a way to crack the game’s modding toolkit, letting modders create their own homebrew campaigns.
This is huge, as developer Larian Studios has said they don’t plan to create further content or a sequel to the game. With all of this mod support added in, players can now take the reigns and create new stories and games within the engine, similar to what classic Warcraft 3 did, spawning massive titles like Dota and League of Legends.
I, for one, am beyond keen to see what the community comes up with and am ready to sink another hundred hours into the game.
1. iPhone 16 To Ship As A ‘Work In Progress’
Okay, back to the negative stuff.
The Verge reported this week that the iPhone 16, which was designed from the ground up to showcase Apple’s latest AI tech, Apple Intelligence, won’t have any of its features installed at launch.
Many of the features they’ve promised, like an improved Siri and tools to help improve writing, remove objects from photos, and summarise notifications, will be released as a beta for developers in an iOS 18.1 update. But unless you’re running that beta, you won’t be able to use those features until potentially October.
Additionally, further features like image generation (ewww), custom emojis, a more personal Siri and integration with ChatGPT have been given a vague timeline of anywhere between “later this year and in the months following.”
It’s unclear the reason for the delay, but some speculate that despite the big hubbub and overpromising on AI tech’s potential, it’s not working the way it’s intended. This has led to AI hallucinations fabricating false information or, at times, suggesting dangerous health advice.
Either way, if you had any plans to purchase the latest iPhone any time soon to use these features, you might be left waiting a few months until you get what you paid for.
Image Credit: Sony, Tracey Nearmy / Stringer
The post The Flaws In Albo’s Internet Ban & The PS5 Controversy Explained: Tech & Gaming News This Week appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
