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You may be able to give those plastic Rock Band guitars you have stuffed away in the attic a new lease of life. Fortnite Festival (a Rock Band-style mode that debuted in Fortnite in December) now supports several Rock Band 4 controllers across PlayStation, Xbox and PC, as detailed in a blog post. If you have a compatible plastic guitar, you can use it to play new Pro Lead and Pro Bass parts in any Jam Track. These parts have colored notes for each lane that match with the guitar controller buttons. They also include hammer-on and pull-off notes just like Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Epic Games (which bought Rock Band developer Harmonix in 2021 to build music experiences for Fortnite) plans to add support for more peripherals down the line. Hopefully, the developers will make the whammy bar more useful beyond triggering a visual effect too. Epic previously said it would add support for Rock Band guitars. Earlier this year, third-party peripheral maker PDP (which Turtle Beach recently purchased) unveiled a new Xbox and PlayStation wireless guitar controller for Rock Band 4 and Fortnite Festival. Support for the Rock Band peripherals come just as Billie Eilish joins the game as its new music icon. Several of her songs are available to buy and use in Fortnite Festival, and you'll be able to purchase an Eilish outfit (or unlock one through a secondary battle pass) and play as her in the Battle Royale mode. Meanwhile, Epic has added a setting that allows players to hide certain emotes that others often use for trolling in Battle Royale. For instance, after being eliminated, a player might not want to see a rival using the "Take the L" emote, which involves making the shape of an "L" (for "loser") on their forehead and doing a silly dance. The setting won't stop players from using any emotes and it only hides four of them for now. Somehow, one of the emotes that the setting doesn't hide is a personal favorite called "Rage Quit." Starting today, these Fortnite emotes will be hidden with a "confrontational emotes" setting. Spreading for awareness, trigger warning. pic.twitter.com/VkGXnTdRnd Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) April 23, 2024 This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/your-old-rock-band-guitars-now-work-in-fortnite-festival-164054839.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
X just announced a smart TV app for streaming video. Or, more accurately, that it claims it's building one, with absolutely no launch date mentioned. The appropriately-named X TV wants to be your go-to companion for a high-quality, immersive entertainment experience on a larger screen. By high-quality entertainment, X likely means that one Tucker Carlson video where hes really impressed by grocery carts in Russia. Thats not a joke. Carlson is featured prominently in the little teaser video. Coming soon to a television near you: X TV pic.twitter.com/C7VWNa7jG5 News (@XNews) April 23, 2024 X CEO and marketing robot Linda Yaccarino promises real-time content and wide availability, but other than that details are scanter than scant. Theres some corporate speak nonsense about AI, of course, and boasts about effortless casting from a mobile device to a TV. Wait, I thought this was a TV app? So its also a mobile app that casts to a TV? Is there another word for less than half-baked? Does raw work? In other words, we dont know much. This is X. All we get are word salads that dont really mean anything and then, one day, the app may or may not actually appear. If it does, its likely to be hopelessly broken. That sounds harsh, but theres plenty of proof-laden pudding to go around. We got receipts. Back when Twitter first rebranded to X, the company promised the whole thing would soon be powered by AI. X eventually did create a chatbot, Grok, but its not exactly the sharpest algo in the shed. It also doesnt look to be powering the site anytime soon. Elon Musk promised that X would soon become a payments and banking platform, which thankfully hasnt materialized. Remember when Musk said that all major X decisions would be conducted via user poll? When was the last time youve seen one of those? Theres also the whole ongoing blue check fiasco. The long-promised job search tool did launch, but its just kind of crappy. X did pursue original video content for a while, but things seem to have cooled off ever since the Don Lemon/Elon Musk debacle. Two years after Musk purchased the site, its still far from being the everything app. Theres also the question of what kind of content will be streaming on this platform. Again, this is X. Im just not sure how many people want to sit on their living room couch and watch a guy scream into the void about how the video game site Kotaku is ruining American society. The ad spotlights Carlson, as mentioned above, which indicates an endless stream of videos of people complaining about the word woke without actually defining it. Call me crazy, but Id rather watch actual TV. Heck. Even if I wanted to watch a vlog of impotent rage, YouTube is right there. Its on smart TVs now and it works just fine. It has everything Yaccarino promises that one day will come to X TV. Plus, YouTube can teach you stuff, beyond how to block folks with a blue check next to their name. X TV may or may not release in the near or far future on some or all smart TVs. It may be an actual app on the TV or an app on a phone that casts to a TV. It may be powered by AI, or not. It may have tailored search or it may just show you endless loops of Jordan Peterson bursting into tears. Who the heck knows. Be on the lookout for this latest pivot to video or not.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/elon-musk-says-its-his-turn-to-have-the-remote-161914334.html?src=rss
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Razer has rolled out the Viper V3 Pro, its latest high-end wireless gaming mouse. What makes a gaming mouse high-end, you might ask? Mainly, its super lightweight and packed with impressive wireless and sensor tech, all of which makes it extremely responsive in competitive games. Ive had one on hand for about two weeks now and have felt next to zero delay flicking through rounds of Halo Infinite and Apex Legends. The other thing is the price: The Viper V3 Pro is available today for $160 in the US or 180 in Europe. That isnt unheard of Razers own DeathAdder V3 Pro, the top wireless pick in our gaming mouse buying guide, costs the same but its certainly not cheap. If you keep up with the gaming mouse market, heres the short version: The Viper V3 Pro has virtually the same shape and soft-touch coating as last year's midrange Viper V3 HyperSpeed, but its far lighter at 54 grams, plus it has optical switches, a technically superior sensor and a few small design tweaks. Its the follow-up to the popular Viper V2 Pro from 2022 and the ambidextrous complement to the aforementioned DeathAdder V3 Pro, which has a more dramatically contoured ergonomic shape. The Razer Viper V3 Pro (left) and Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 (right), another high-end wireless gaming mouse with a symmetrical shape.Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget For everyone else, the main thing to know about mice like this is that theyre built for competitive gaming above all else. As such, the Viper V3 Pro deliberately excludes features thatd make it more convenient for day-to-day use: Theres no Bluetooth and only two side buttons, while the DPI switch is located on the bottom of the mouse. The scroll wheel can't tilt left or right, and theres no lighting, either. But these omissions make sense if you view the mouse as a tool for esports: They keep the weight down and make it harder to hit buttons by accident. The most important thing with any gaming mouse is its shape, and the Viper V3 Pros should fit most hand sizes well. Its highly similar to Logitech's G Pro X Superlight 2, its chief competitor, but slightly longer and flatter. A modest but noticeable hump in the center rests naturally in your palm, while the sides are gently contoured in then out to welcome the tops of your thumb and ring finger (or pinkie). The main click buttons are grooved, slightly flared and amply sized. None of the angles are aggressive. Razer says it works best with a fingertip or claw grip; I have few issues as someone who uses the latter. But the design isnt so short or flat that its horrible for palm grips. In total, it measures 5.0 x 2.51 x 1.57 inches. The mouses coating is pleasingly soft and smooth. Itll pick up fingerprint smudges over time, but it should be grippy enough for most people out of the gate. (Razer includes some pre-cut grip tape in the box if it still feels too slippery.) The device as a whole is sturdily built, with no sign of flex or creaking in my two weeks of daily use. Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget The Viper V3 Pro isnt the absolute lightest gaming mouse, but calling a 54g device too heavy to move around would be splitting hairs. Notably, it achieves this weight without any cutouts in its top or bottom shell. Rival gaming mice like the Pwnage Stormbreaker or Pulsar X2V2 are similarly light but leave their interiors more open to dust and detritus. The mouses main click buttons are fast, not sticky and on the softer side for a device that uses optical switches. They arent as loud as the clicks on the G Pro X Superlight 2, though the right-click panel on my test unit sounds a little less full than the left-click one. (Thats more of a nitpick than a dealbreaker.) As with most optical mice, the main buttons may not be as satisfying to press as good mechanical switches, but theyre more likely to avoid durability issues over time. Id also give the Viper V3 Pro the edge over Logitechs mouse when it comes to the side buttons and scroll wheel. The Viper's wheel is tighter, quieter and has grippier ridges on its exterior, while its side buttons are a bit less mushy by comparison. In terms of performance, the Viper V3 Pro uses Razers new Focus Pro 35K Optical Sensor en-2. It can reach a maximum of 35,000 DPI, and you can adjust that sensitivity in 1 DPI increments. A max speed of 750 IPS and max acceleration of 70 G accompany that. Per usual with gaming mice, these higher figures are partly marketing fluff: Many older gaming mice have few issues when it comes to sensor accuracy and consistency. The mouse is available in black or white, though Razer says the white model weighs a gram more.Razer Along those lines, the mouse comes with Razers HyperPolling Wireless Dongle, which costs $30 on its own. It advertises a maximum polling rate of 8,000Hz, which technically allows for more precise movements but has a negligible effect on real-world performance. Mostly, it saps battery life: Razer says the Viper V3 Pro can last up to 95 hours at a 1,000Hz polling rate, which is fine, but that dips to just 17 hours at 8,000Hz. Still, while I am far from an pro-level player, I cant foresee many complaints about the Viper V3 Pros responsiveness or connection quality. The shape, weight and sensor all play a role in that as do the large PTFE feet, which let the mouse glide smoothly across surfaces. Somewhat less agreeable is the included cable, which is cleverly angled to reduce drag but isnt the thinnest or most flexible cord I've seen. The dongle still requires running the cable from a PC to a desk, too. Nevertheless, the Viper V3 Pro is well worth a look if you take competitive gaming seriously, prefer an ambidextrous shape and have money to burn. To be clear, there are still several gaming mice thatll feel comfortable and perform well for less cash, especially if youre OK with a wired model. And if you own an older Viper youre still happy with today, theres no pressing need to upgrade. A mouse like this is closer to a Ferrari, when most people can live just fine with a Subaru. That said, Ferraris are pretty nice, right? This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nobody-needs-to-spend-160-on-a-gaming-mouse-but-razers-new-viper-v3-pro-is-excellent-anyway-150017198.html?src=rss
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