‘Return to Silent Hill’ will bring Konami’s horror franchise back to movie theaters

Konami’s Silent Hill 2 remake for PC and PlayStation 5 isn’t the only reimagining of the classic 2001 game on the horizon: The company just announced that the story is also being adapted into a new major motion picture. Return to Silent Hill will appar…

The Silent Hill universe is expanding with three vastly different games

Silent Hill fans, hold onto your butts. Konami today dropped a ton of news about the future of its iconic horror franchise, and aside from confirming a long-rumored remake of Silent Hill 2, the studio revealed three new games in the same universe: Sile…

A ‘Silent Hill 2’ remake is coming from Bloober Team and it’s a PS5 console exclusive

As the rumors suggested, a remake of Silent Hill 2 is in the works from Bloober Team. Bloober is the studio behind Layers of Fear and The Medium, and it’s a complete remake, not a remaster of Konami’s 2001 horror game. You’ll remember it as the one tha…

YouTube ends experiment that required a Premium subscription to play videos in 4K

Those who were worried that YouTube would completely limit access to 4K content to Premium subscribers can breath easily. For now. YouTube has revealed on Twitter that it has “fully turned off” the experiment that requires Premium subscription to be able to play videos in 4K resolution. Earlier this month, users started reporting on social networks like Reddit and Twitter that when they accessed the drop-down menu for resolution options, the word “Premium” was right next to 4K/2160p. Not everyone was required to have a Premium subscription to play 4K videos, though, indicating that it was an experimental feature rolled out to a limited number of users.

It’s unclear why YouTube has decided to cancel the experiment, but as 9to5Google notes, it was met with a significant amount of negative feedback. Users were understandably far from happy being asked to pay $12 a month or $120 a year to be able to play videos in the highest resolution available on the website. And those who weren’t part of the experiment were concerned that it would make its way to wide release and be a permanent “perk” for Premium subscribers.

YouTube didn’t say whether it’s permanently shelving the idea of locking 4K videos behind a Premium subscription. In a tweet written in Japanese, YouTube invited users to leave a feedback about the experiment, which could help it ultimately decide how to move forward.

TikTok’s livestreaming updates include adult-only broadcasts

TikTok is once again updating its livestreaming features, and this time the biggest improvements affect the people who can’t watch. For starters, the upgrade now lets TikTok Live users host adult-only broadcasts. If a stream is likely to include lots of colorful language or tackle traumatic subjects, you can make sure the audience is mature enough to handle it. The option will be available in the “coming weeks.” And no, it’s not an officially sanctioned alternative to OnlyFans — TikTok’s policies still forbid sexually explicit content.

The social video service is also raising the minimum age for hosts from 16 to 18 starting November 23rd. TikTok pitches this as a logical extension of its restrictions on teen content, but it also comes after incidents of abuse. Older viewers have sexually exploited teen hosts, for example, while teens have made threats against schools. In theory, the higher minimum age will reduce the number of school-age kids using Live to get into the kinds of trouble that wouldn’t be possible using pre-recorded clips. Accordingly, a feature arriving in the weeks ahead will remind creators to block keywords they’ve filtered out in the past.

There is one upgrade that brings more people into the fold. A recently expanded Multi-Guest feature now lets a host invite up to five other participants using either a grid or panel layout. This can be helpful for pro creators who want to air full-fledged shows, of course, but it could also be helpful for any streamer who wants to bring more friends into a conversation.

TikTok is facing government pressure to implement audience controls like this. American and British officials are worried the social network might harm children, whether through promoting unhealthy behavior or jeopardizing privacy. Age restrictions won’t necessarily prevent abuses of live broadcasts, but they could indicate that TikTok is addressing key concerns.

Konami will reveal what’s next for the Silent Hill series on October 19th

Almost a decade to the day since it released the last Silent Hill game (as long as you don’t include P.T.), Konami is finally ready to reveal what’s next for the franchise. The company will divulge the “latest updates” for the series during a stream that starts at 5PM ET on October 19th.

The publisher announced the showcase in a tweet that includes a link to a placeholder Silent Hill website. Presumably, you’ll be able to watch the stream there.

It seems there’s at least one new game in the pipeline. Composer Akira Yamaoka and Masahiro Ito, the art director on the first three games, shared news of the upcoming stream, as Video Game Chronicle notes. Both have previously hinted that they’re working on a new Silent Hill title. Yamaoka also handled the score for Bloober Team’s The Medium — according to reports, that studio is working on a remake of Silent Hill 2 after teaming up with Konami last year. 

Other Silent Hill projects said to be in the works include an episodic, narrative-driven series and a playable teaser in the vein of P.T. for a new mainline game. P.T. was an interactive teaser for Silent Hills, a planned full game from Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro. However, Konami canceled Silent Hills in 2015 and Kojima left the publisher in contentious fashion. The Silent Hill series has been dormant ever since, other than crossovers such as Pyramid Head showing up in Dead by Daylight.

Meanwhile, a third Silent Hill movie may be on the horizon. Christophe Gans, who directed and co-wrote the first film in 2006, said this year that he’d completed a script for another movie. Gans also hinted this month that Konami was working on several Silent Hill games. It seems likely that we’ll find out more about those very soon. Here’s hoping Konami brings back P.T. as well.

Kanye West is buying controversial ‘free speech’ app Parler

Last week, Kanye West (aka Ye) was locked out of his Twitter and Instagram accounts following a weekend of antisemitic posts. Now, the saga has taken a sharp turn with news that the hip-hop mogul is acquiring the controversial “free speech” social media app Parler. The deal appears to be happening quickly, with the company behind Parler (Parlement technologies) saying that the parties expect to close the transaction in the fourth quarter of 2022. The price was not revealed.

“The proposed acquisition will assure Parler a future role in creating an uncancelable ecosystem where all voices are welcome,” said Parlement Technologies CEO George Farmer. “In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” Kanye added.

Shortly after his return to Twitter, West posted an antisemitic message, which was eventually pulled by the company. “The account in question has been locked due to a violation of Twitter’s policies,” a spokesperson said at the time. The rapper also shared a screenshot on Instagram with another antisemitic message, and was similarly restricted by that site. 

According to the Twitter post above, potential future Twitter owner Elon Musk expressed concerns to West about his tweet, saying “I think he took [them] to heart.” Apparently, he did so by purchasing a rival service. 

Meanwhile, Parler was only recently reinstated to the Google Play after being banned in January 2021 following the US Capitol insurrection. A Google spokesperson said at the time that the removal was due to the app’s lack of “moderation policies and enforcement that remove egregious content like posts that incite violence.” Apple removed the app for similar reasons, but restored it earlier in May.

As their comments suggest, Parler and West are lauding the acquisition as a boon for free speech. However, if Parler allows racist, sexist or antisemitic posts like the one that got Kanye removed from Twitter and Instagram, it could pulled again from the App Store and the Play Store.

Parler launched in 2018 but spiked in popularity after Donald Trump was banned from Twitter and Ted Cruz and others tweeted they were joining the app. Despite declaring itself to be the “free speech social network,” however, some Twitter users said they were banned after joining the app to troll conservatives. Parler also competes against Trump’s own Truth social media app. 

Meta’s VR legs video wasn’t what it seemed

When Meta announced that its Horizon Worlds avatars were getting legs in the near future, we got to see VR Mark Zuckerberg jump up and down to show them off. Apparently, though, what we saw wasn’t a real demonstration of how Meta was able generate their full-body virtual reality avatars. According to UploadVR editor, Ian Hamilton, the event used animations that were created using motion capture:

The process, which is called mocap for short, is widely used in cinema and games and entails recording the movements of a real person or object so they can be turned into computer animated graphics. 

During the event, Meta said that “legs have been one of the most requested features on [its] roadmap, and it’s been a significant area of [the company’s] focus.” Indeed, the addition of legs to Horizon’s legless avatar would be a noteworthy achievement due to the technological constraints of the VR devices we have access to today. VR headsets as we know the weren’t made to track legs. As Meta CTO and Reality Labs team leader Andrew Bosworth had explained to CNN Business earlier this year: “Tracking your own legs accurately is super hard and basically not workable just from a physics standpoint with existing headsets.” Meta’s solution to that problem involves the use of an artificial intelligence model to predict where the user’s legs are supposed to be. 

We’ll have to wait a bit more to see these AI-powered VR legs in action, though, because Meta’s full-body avatars that don’t rely on mocaps won’t be coming out until 2023.

Twitter is testing a way for users to limit their mentions

One of the great things about Twitter is that you can reach out to any public user with a quick @ mention to their username. One of the worst things about Twitter is that it’s all too easy to abuse that feature. But it turns out, the bird network may be working on a way to control those mentions. According to privacy researcher and engineer Jane Manchun Wong, the company is testing out the ability to block @ mentions entirely, or limit them to people who already follow you. (Literally, don’t @ me, bro.)

Twitter privacy designer Dominic Camozzi initially confirmed the feature was in the works, but as The Verge reports, he later deleted that confirmation. Giving users more granular control of @ mentions falls right in line with Twitter’s other recent privacy features, like limiting replies, and being able to unmention yourself from threads. While it might make Twitter seem less open, but mention controls will ultimately make the service a better experience for users who inevitably find themselves targeted by trolls.

TikTok will offer movie showtimes and ticket options after showing trailers

TikTok may soon offer an easy way for you to buy a movie ticket after you see a trailer that catches your attention. It’s offering select movie studios access to a tool called Showtimes on TikTok. The studios will be able to show a full trailer, then display details on showtimes and nearby theaters. They’ll also be able to add a link to a partner site where you can buy tickets.

TikTok says 52 percent of users learn about a new show, movie or actor on the app, and a quarter of people who see an entertainment ad or trailer buy a ticket. This tool may streamline things and (from the studios’ perspective) help consumers follow through on their intent to buy a ticket.

The platform announced Showtimes on TikTok as part of a summit focused on brands and advertising. Another notable update is the fact that creators who are collaborating with mobile gaming companies will be able to include relevant iOS and Android app store links to help folks download the game they’re promoting. Creators will also be able to pin a comment with a link to more details about the service or product they showcase in a video.

There will be updates to the TikTok Creator Marketplace, where brands can find influencers to partner with. TikTok says it will improve search, help brands and agencies to quickly find creators who match a brief and allow them to invite any user (including those who aren’t on the 800,000-strong TikTok Creator Marketplace) to take part in a campaign.

Meanwhile, TikTok has announced a feature called Profile Kit. This will allow users to link their accounts to some third-party apps and display some of their videos there. TikTok’s first partner for this initiative is Linktree. You’ll be able to display some of your TikToks on your Linktree “link in bio” page alongside links to your other social media profiles.