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Microsoft has announced the first few titles coming to Xbox Game Pass in May of this year.
As well as the previously-announced arrival of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Microsoft has just updated the Xbox blog with the news that Have A Nice Death is now available to play for Xbox Game Pass subscribers via the cloud, on console, and on PC. \
In Have A Nice Death, the player is, well, Death — the Grim Reaper — albeit frustrated by incompetent surbordinates. He through a series of platforming challenges to put them their place and get the soul-harvesting business back on schedule.
In the same post, Microsoft also revealed four games that will soon come to Game Pass in just a few short days at the beginning of May.
What games are coming to Xbox Game Pass in May?
From May 2, you’ll be able to play Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, enjoying intense combat sequences, customizable weapons and gear, and visiting grueling environments to survive Lara Croft's first adventure.
Also coming soon are immersive first-person narrative game set in a rural mining village of Northern Canada, Kona II: Brume, on May 7, and Little Kitty, Big City on May 9, where you can explore an open-world playground as a curious kitten with a big personality, trying to find your way back home.
Last but not least for now on May 14, Xbox Game Pass subscribers can also play Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, the critically acclaimed and award-winning fairy-tale classic making its return to the Game Pass library.
What’s leaving Xbox Game Pass?
The following games are also leaving the Game Pass library, but there’s still time to play them if they’re on your wishlist. You can also save 20% off your purchase if you would like to keep them in your library:
- Eastern Exorcist
- Eiyuden Chronicle Rising
- Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2
- Ghostlore
- Just Cause 4 Reloaded
- Norco
- SD Gundam Battle Alliance
- Supraland Six Inches Under
Featured image: Crystal Dynamics via IGDB
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An AI priest, Father Justin, has been quickly altered after repeatedly offering bad advice and asserting it’s a real member of the clergy.
Coming just a few days after the real Pope joined a G7 summit to discuss AI, Catholic advocacy group Catholic Answers released the chatbot in mid-April but had to quickly take it down just a few days later. Father Justin could offer a detailed backstory, as Futurism found when it had a chatbot conversation, stating that it came from Assisi, Italy and had always felt a connection to the Church.
Other social media users shared their experiences on X, with Father Justin accepting people’s confessions and even offering them the sacrament.
OH NO. It got worse. It literally offered me the sacrament. pic.twitter.com/x5IoeJn30x
— Katie (Kathryn) Conrad (@KatieConradKS) April 24, 2024
How does the AI priest work?
Father Justin’s conversations are reportedly not the smoothest, as it only understands prompts through a microphone and will often misunderstand them. When in doubt, it appears to revert back to asserting that it is real – when it’s not.
“Yes, my friend,” Father Justin told Futurism. “I am as real as the faith we share.”
Father Justin also appeared to have quite traditional views on social and sexual issues, condemning masturbation in one example, while being revolutionary in its thinking in other areas, such as suggesting baptizing a baby in Gatorade.
Catholic Answers has quickly removed Father Justin as a member of the AI clergy, redressing him in everyday clothes (read: no dog collar) and referring to him simply as Justin, a theologian dressed in a casual suit.
They also appear to have altered the machine learning underpinning Justin, as it no longer makes assertions that it is either a priest or real.
“I have never been a priest, a deacon, a bishop, or held any official role in the Catholic Church,” it told Futurism. “I am a lay theologian, which means I’ve dedicated my life to studying and understanding our faith, but I’ve never been ordained.
“I am also an AI, not a real man. I’m here to share the beauty of Catholicism and help you understand it better.”
Featured image: Catholic Answers
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VR gaming veterans at Realcast have headed to Kickstarter to get their next Quest game the funding it needs. The creators of Hide the Corpse, industry veterans Nino Sapina and Diego Fernandez founded Realcast in 2017. Realcast is an award-winning indie studio dedicated to developing entertaining VR and cultural AR experiences and is previously responsible for Just Hoops.
In January 2023, a talented team of students from the ISART Digital School presented an innovative idea and convincing concept to Realcast, and Hide the Corpse was born. The students soon joined the Realcast team to bring the game (and corpse!) to life and now the Kickstarter has just launched looking to raise $25,000 to bring the game to market.
"Hide the Corpse is all about unleashing your creativity and improvisation skills in a race against the clock," says Clément Bigot, Creative Director at Realcast. "The unexpected is around every corner, making this game a blast to play and even more fun to watch others experience the chaos. We can't wait to see what players think after playing the demo.
In fact the demo launches alongside the funding campaign, and as you can see from the trailer the premise is a physics-based puzzler in which you have to hide the corpse before the cops arrive. All this is based in a funky 1970s setting complete with adult-movie music and characters wearing flares.
The trailer is pretty funny and highlights some of the physics-based issues you will need to overcome to get away with hiding the corpse.
Key Features:
The devs list the following key features in their Kickstarter:
- Far Out Physics Playground: Grab the bod (and anything else that isn't nailed down) and prepare for some wild physics action. This isn’t an average corpse – the body will bend, twist and contort in ways that will have players screaming 'FAR OUT'
- Time [warp] Crunch: Think fast! With only 4 minutes on the clock, every second counts in this hilarious quest to dispose of the evidence before the fuzz find out.
- Infinite 70s Funkadelic Fun: Over 10 levels and 60 mind-blowing groovy hiding spots to test your skills against the clock, man. When it’s all said and done, it ain’t over – unlock righteous mini-games that’ll have you wigging out with far-out challenges.
- 'Right On' Adventure: Forget the blood and guts, this isn't some B-movie nightmare. Hide the Corpse is all about having a groovy time and using your skills to stash a stiff in the most outrageously creative ways possible
Hide the Corpse has 29 days of its campaign remaining at this stage and we will be following this one closely in the hope it reaches its goal.
Read our latest Quest 3 article about the best music games for Meta’s headset while you wait for Hide the Corpse to release.
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A soon as VR made its emergence into the mainstream a decade ago long before Quest 3, there were music and rhythm games at the forefront of the offering. Capturing the feel of crazy games such as Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero, VR music games could put you there. You could play your guitar on a stage in front of thousands if you wished, even though you remained well and truly in your bedroom.
But have they come on in all this time? Now we have the Quest 3 what are the best rhythm and music games out there today? We have already covered getting fitter using your Quest 3, and there is a crossover here – these are the games that get you active without even realizing it. Fortnite does not do that. So here we are going to look at four of the music games we are playing, and in some cases, still playing after all these years.
Best Quest 3 rhythm and music games
Beat Saber
Beat Saber has sold a lot of VR headsets and definitely sold a lot of Quests. This was the first game to really get music games in VR. It transported you to somewhere else – this sort of Tron-esque electro zone where the only thing that mattered was slicing cubes in very specific directions with your Light Sabers.
Even though they can't call them Light Sabers because of the law, they are aren't they? Wielding them, hearing them fizz when you touch them together and flail about remains one of the most exhilarating virtual reality experiences you can have.
As you get better and better with practice, you can start to think about adding new song packs from the likes of Daft Punk, Lady Gaga, and Queen. You already can imagine We Will Rock You, can't you? Amazing stuff.
Ragnarock
This is one of my favorite VR games of the moment, and when it comes to rhythm games it is amazing. The premise is different from most, you are in charge of a Viking Longship and every beat of your drums with your massive hammers makes the Vikings pull a stroke of the oar. The idea is to win races by hitting the drums on time. Sounds a bit mad. It is but it just works.
The music is a highly acquired taste being largely different formats of metal, but there is pirate metal and sea shanties a plenty and even if you aren't into the style of music (and I certainly am not!) it all just fits together so well you will definitely enjoy yourself and go for just one more round.
Pianovision
We mentioned this one in our best experiences for the Quest 3 and here it is, fittingly in the music games round-up.
Pianovision is a game that actually teaches you piano, even if you don't have one, placing a virtual keyboard on your desktop where you have to hit the notes as they fly at you, a bit like they do in Beat Saber but more akin to Mozart rather than Daft Punk.
It's very well put together and some really relaxing fun, and you weirdly actually do start to pick up how to play on a real keyboard, which you can also use, just by the simple act of repetition.
Pistol Whip
Pistol Whip is a popular game and it is easy to see why. Think Superhot VR but with a fast beat Saber vibe with dodging and shooting in time with the music.
The old gamer in me wants to say it's a bit like Virtua Cop meets Space Channel 5 (one of my fave rhythm games also, and available on the Quest), but it's way cooler than that.
This is another game that urges you to have one more go and then all of a sudden you realise you are sweating and your battery is running out.
Paradiddle
The strangely named Paraddle is a percussion simulator rather than a rhythm game as such. You can create your own range of instruments, much like Virtuoso, and choose your environment – you can position yourself in a smoky old jazz bat should you wish and watch the patrons sip on espresso martinis while they take in the ambiance.
Any percussion is fair game here, from Xylophones to steel drums, you can have a crack at anything and it's super fun to do so. You can easily flick Paradiddle into Mixed Reality too so you can have the drum kit in your own lounge and stay friendly with your neighbors.
Conclusion
There are many more options when it comes to this genre for the Quest 3 and you may well have your own favorites, but if you haven’t tried any of the above, they are well worth a look.
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Meta is in hot contention again, this time with the European Commission which said on Tuesday (April 30) that it has opened an investigation into suspected breaches of EU online content rules.
In a press release, it states that formal proceedings have been brought as Meta may have breached the Digital Services Act (DSA).
"We suspect that Meta's moderation is insufficient, that it lacks transparency of advertisements and content moderation procedures," EU Digital Chief Margrethe Vestager said in the release.
The investigation has been launched as the Commission suspects "them [Meta] to be in breach of DSA obligations regarding deceptive advertising and political content, and to fail to provide researchers, journalists and election stakeholders with real-time monitoring tools and effective mechanisms to flag illegal content," said Thierry Breton, the Commissioner for Internal Market.
The EU has also highlighted the non-availability of an effective third-party real-time civic discourse and election-monitoring tool ahead of the elections in the European Parliament.
It noted the lack of an 'adequate' replacement for Meta's CrowdTangle tool which will be phased out by August 2024. This is a public insights tool that makes it easy to follow, analyze, and report on what's happening with public content on online networking platforms.
Meta has five working days to inform the EU about remedial actions taken to address the investigation concerns.
Meta investigation under the Digital Services Act
The Digital Services Act was brought in to regulate online platforms like marketplaces, social networks, content-sharing platforms, app stores, and online travel and accommodation websites.
It aims to prevent illegal and harmful activities online and the spread of disinformation.
Under the new act, Meta has already been questioned several times over its practices. In December, the Commission sent a request for information on the measures taken to comply with its obligation to assess risks and measures linked to the protection of minors.
Another request for information was seen on November 10 relating to the protection of minors and another in October concerning the spreading of terrorist and violent content, hate speech, and the alleged spread of disinformation.
In March 2024, an additional request for information was sent relating to the subscription for no ads options for both Facebook and Instagram.
Featured Image: Via Ideogram
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