Sony just revealed a trio of PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for April and it's a pretty stacked lineup. These will all be playable on April 7 for subscribers on any tier. After downloading, the games will stay in a player's library as long as the subscription remains active.

First up, there's Lords of the Fallen for PS5. This is a sequel to 2014's Lords of the Fallen, despite having the same exact name. The 2023 release boasts a much larger world than the original, but similar fast-paced gameplay. It's an action RPG with nine character classes and hundreds of weapons to choose from. There's also a dual-world mechanic that's (sort of) like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. It was generally well-reviewed and a success with players. There's another sequel scheduled for release later this year.

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered is a collection of ports first released back in 2024. These updated versions of old-school PlayStation classics boast updated graphics, with the ability to instantly switch back to the retro polygonal look. There's a new challenge mode that offers players the ability to replay levels with customized modifiers to complete achievements. This is a great entry point for Lara Croft fans who never got to play the originals. The collection is available on PS4 and PS5.

Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream is a live-service action RPG for PS5 owners with a heavy emphasis on co-op gameplay. Around 20 players can adventure simultaneously in teams of five parties scattered throughout the world. The story is a bit of a mess, pulling in characters from across the franchise's many entries. This approach sort of reminds me of something like Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, which uses narrative trickery to allow characters from multiple games to team up.

As always, the introduction of new titles means that some old games have gotta go. PS Plus members have until April 6 to download March's lineup, which include PGA Tour 2K25, Monster Hunter Rise, Slime Rancher 2 and The Elder Scrolls Online Collection: Gold Road.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/aprils-ps-plus-monthly-games-include-lords-of-the-fallen-and-a-trio-of-remastered-tomb-raider-ports-172105756.html?src=rss

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Against all odds, A24’s adaptation of The Backrooms actually looks like a proper elevated horror movie. Hell, it’s even got Oscar winner Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave, Serenity) and Cannes favorite Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value) onboard. Judging from the film’s fist trailer, which combines The Backrooms creepypasta-born dread around liminal spaces, and A24’s slick horror aesthetic, you couldn’t tell that its director can’t even legally drink in the US yet. Yes folks, Kane Parsons is just 20.

Parsons, AKA Kane Pixels, made a splash four years ago with his original Backrooms shorts, the first of which has amassed over 73 million views on YouTube. Those were relatively simple episodes created in Blender, but they did an admirable job of feeling genuinely creepy. More recently, Parsons has also dabbled in horror shorts with his series The Oldest View.

While Parsons certainly has a ton of internet clout behind him, he also has a strong eye for slow-burn horror. This trailer alone is making me feel uneasy about heading into my dimly lit basement office. He also won’t be the first internet creator to reach cinemas this year. Markiplier’s adaptation of the indie game Iron Lung was particularly notable, since he funded both the production and theatrical distribution on his own.

The Backrooms joins Genki Kawamura’s adaptation of the game Exit 8 as another new horror film about spooky liminal spaces. It’ll be interesting to see how the two compare. The former started as 4chan stories and images around eerily empty buildings, while the latter was a game where you slowly walked through a repetitive Tokyo subway. There’s more room for Parsons to turn The Backrooms into a narrative of his own, whereas Exit 8 is somewhat restricted by the original game.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-backrooms-trailer-combines-creepypasta-dread-and-a24-prestige-horror-213602238.html?src=rss

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TikTok and Cameo are teaming up to make it easier for TikTok users to request personalized videos. The two companies announced a new integration that makes Cameo accessible directly from TikTok for creators and fans. 

With the update, TikTok creators can add Cameo links directly to their videos and viewers can request a personalized clip without leaving the TikTok app. Creators who aren't currently on Cameo can also sign up for the service without having to onboard through Cameo. 

Up to now, Cameo has been known for its personalized videos from celebrities, but TikTok stars are "among the fastest-growing talent segments" on the app, according to the company. The new integration should make it easier for those creators to reach fans and promote their presence on Cameo.

It's not surprising that Cameo would see TikTok creators as a potentially large untapped audience for its service. It's not as clear what TikTok is getting out of the arrangement. The company could have created its own Cameo-style feature for personalized shoutouts. The app already has several features that allow fans to interact with creators, including by sending virtual gifts in livestreams. Cameo didn't immediately respond to questions about whether TikTok gets a cut of the transactions made via its app or if there are differences in pricing structure between the two apps.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/tiktok-adds-in-app-cameo-integration-for-creators-195411895.html?src=rss

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Palworld developer Pocketpair just announced a bizarre spinoff called Palworld: More Than Just Pals. This looks to be a dating sim with horror elements in which you can romance the various Pals from the original game.

The gameplay description suggests it's set at a mysterious school, and players can not only fall in love with these creatures, but also "dismantle and eat them." The original game already let you eat Pals, but the ability to romance the gun-toting animals is new.

We don't know too much about the specifics of gameplay, though there is a trailer. Developer Pocketpair insists this is not an April Fool's Day joke, despite today's date. There's an active Steam page complete with system requirements, for whatever that's worth. We don't have a release date or price for this one just yet.

This isn't the first Palworld spinoff. The company recently announced Palworld: Palfarm, which is a farming sim where players can punish Pals that aren't working hard enough. There's no release date for that one yet either.

The original Palworld has proven to be a huge hit. It's a cheeky and violent take on Pokémon that has attracted plenty of negative attention from Nintendo. There's no way to date or eat Pokémon in any of Nintendo's games, though Pokopia lets players move in with the creatures and sleep next to them. Many people are particularly fond of turning Machoke into a house husband, who is basically just a big and buff man.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/a-palworld-horror-themed-dating-sim-spinoff-is-on-the-way-185429664.html?src=rss

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Meta has agreed to "substantially reduce” its use of the PG-13 ratings system in relation to its Teen Accounts on Instagram starting April 15.

Last year, the Motion Picture Association objected to Meta directly referencing its movie content rating, which cautions parents against letting their pre-teens engage with certain media. In a cease-and-desist letter seen by The Wall Street Journal at the time, the MPA said that Meta claiming its teen accounts were comparable to PG-13 ratings was "literally false and highly misleading."

The MPA argued that its guidelines for the established movie-ratings system and Meta’s own explanation of the revamped accounts for minors did not align, and that drawing a link could have a detrimental effect on the MPA’s public image by association. It also said that Meta’s system seemingly relies heavily on AI to determine what younger users see on the social media platform.

When introducing the changes in 2025, Meta said that the risk of seeing "suggestive content" or hearing certain language in a movie rated 13+ was a good way of framing something similar happening on an Instagram teen account. It added that it was doing all it could to keep such instances to a minimum. 

Meta has now updated that initial blog post about the changes after coming to an agreement with the MPA, adding a lengthy disclaimer that reads, in part, "there are lots of differences between social media and movies. We didn’t work with the MPA when updating our content settings, they’re not rating any content on Instagram, and they’re not endorsing or approving our content settings in any way."

Meta goes on to explain that it drew "inspiration" from the MPA guidance given its familiarity with parents, as well as feedback it had received from parents, and will continue to do so. The difference is that it won’t make the connection so explicitly in its communications going forward.

"Today’s agreement clearly distinguishes the MPA’s film ratings from Instagram’s Teen Account content moderation tools," said Charles Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of the MPA. "While we welcome efforts to protect kids from content that may not be appropriate for them, this agreement helps ensure that parents do not conflate the two systems – which operate in very different contexts. The MPA is proud of the trust we have built with parents for nearly sixty years with our film rating system, and we will continue to do everything we can to protect that trust."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-will-substantially-reduce-describing-instagram-teen-accounts-as-pg-13-175912683.html?src=rss

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Adults of a certain age will no doubt remember The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, a cartoon from 1989 that starred our favorite sibling plumbers decades before they would take over multiplexes with an animated film franchise. The broadcast channel MeTV Toons has begun airing old episodes of the show, likely to trade on the buzz emanating from the pending theatrical release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. There's just one problem. The episodes seem to have been sloppified by an AI upscaling algorithm, according to a report by Kotaku.

The original series wasn't exactly a visual delight. It was a cash grab cartoon from the 1980s. However, it looks even worse now. MeTV seems to have run the footage through a bargain bin AI upscaler and the results are, in a word, weird.

Everything looks smoothed over in an off-putting way, with some characters looking markedly different from the original footage. Many of the episodes are available on YouTube, so it's easy to do your own comparisons.

The upscaler also seems to have changed the title card to "The Suele Mario Bros. Super Show." These AI tools have never been great with visual representations of written text, but you'd think someone at the station would have given things a look over. Engadget has reached out to MeTV to ask what happened and we'll update this post when we find out.

For the uninitiated, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show ran for just a single season. But this was 1989, so a full 65 episodes aired throughout the year. Seasons didn't mess around back then. It was famous for its live-action segments that starred professional wrestler "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario. It also turned into a Legend of Zelda cartoon every Friday. There's where the famous "well, excuse me princess" meme comes from.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-super-mario-bros-cartoon-is-back-but-looks-really-weird-thanks-to-ai-171536332.html?src=rss

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© Nintendo/Reddit/Engadget/MeTV

The Roblox-like VR title Rec Room is shutting down after operating for a decade. The free-to-play social game is closing its doors because the developers "never quite figured out" how to make it profitable, despite attracting 150 million players.

"We spent a long time trying to find a way to make the numbers work," the team wrote in a blog post. "But with the recent shift in the VR market, along with broader headwinds in gaming, the path to profitability has gotten tough enough that we’ve made the difficult decision to shut things down."

The shut down officially happens on June 1, but the platform is already making serious changes. Starting today, users will no longer be able to make friends, create new accounts or subscribe to the premium service. However, many features locked behind that subscription paywall will be free from now until June.

The devs are also allowing users to download some of the assets connected to rooms they created. This could, in theory, let them port their creations to other platforms in the future. Snapchat owner Snap has already bought up a bunch of Rec Room's assets and some employees will join the social media company, according to a report by GeekWire.

Rec Room first appeared all the way back in 2016, years before the standalone Meta Quest entered the VR scene. It was a massive hit on the PSVR platform before being ported to other hardware. There's even a traditional version of the game available for non-VR platforms. Just like Roblox, it lets folks design their own spaces to hang out in.

VR is in a tough spot right now. Meta was an industry leader, but the company has been laying off hundreds of people from its Reality Labs division. This is the team that makes VR/AR hardware and software. It's been reported that, instead, the company has been funneling more money into ongoing AI efforts. Sony's PSVR2 was also not a gigantic hit.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/rec-room-a-roblox-style-vr-game-is-shutting-down-154350384.html?src=rss

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