What’s up, gamers? Yes, it’s time for another weekly round-up of all the tech and gaming news you should know about. But first — a quick tease.
LinkedIn confirms it’s scraping data off of your profiles to teach its generative AI. In other news, Nintendo has also declared its intent to sue Palworld developer PocketPair over similarities to Pokémon.
Lots going on! So let’s dive into it.
6. LinkedIn Admits It’s Scraping Users Data To Teach Its AI
Last week, LinkedIn quietly published a post revealing its intention to use your data to train its AI models. “Quiet” was the keyword there, as many users weren’t aware of this change.
But what does that mean?
In short, LinkedIn and its affiliates are using your profile page data, posts and other LinkedIn content to train its AI models and other AI features. In a comment to PCMag, a spokesperson admitted that “affiliates” refers to any Microsoft-owned company.
Pour one out for all the managers who posted their emotional breakdowns on LinkedIn. How ironic that those posts are now being used to teach AI how to pretend to be a human being.
5. Nintendo And Pokémon Serves Lawsuit Against Palworld Developers
Nintendo caught everyone off guard earlier this week when it announced its plans to sue Palword developer Pocketpair for allegedly infringing multiple patent rights.
To give a brief history lesson, when the open-world survival game Palworld launched, many believed it had outright ripped-off Pokémon designs. There were even investigations into how certain Pals had similar animation rigs to existing Pokémon.
So, what makes this lawsuit interesting is that it isn’t for copyright infringement but for patent infringement instead. This means that Nintendo believes Palworld didn’t steal its character designs but rather its gameplay mechanics.
Many have speculated if this means Nintendo is calling out the method of capturing Pals, but it’s hard to say until more details from the lawsuit come to light. Until then, you can freely browse the many gameplay patents the Pokémon company owns.
Regardless, given Sony’s partnership with the game, it’ll be interesting to see how this lawsuit plays out.
4. PayPal Changes Its Logo
PayPal has changed its logo again, only two years after its previous redesign. This new design, though, is the definition of “give us nothing.”
The new logo has decided to move away from the classic blue design and use a boring, standard black font. That’s right — the new logo is someone’s younger brother going into Adobe Illustrator, typing PayPal, and choosing the most boring and inoffensive font they could find.
The Verge was quick to point out that this follows a trend. Johnson & Johnson, PetCo, and GoDaddy have had similar redesigns, opting to replace their unique font and accompanying logo with flat text.
I’m not sure how throwing away your unique brand identity benefits a company, but hey, I’m not a creative director earning six figures. What do I know?
3. Final Fantasy XVI Finally Launches On PC
After spending a year as a PS5 exclusive, Final Fantasy XVI (16 for those who went outside and played) has finally dropped on PC.
The game was one of last year’s best sleeper hits. Some fans were disappointed the series moved away from its classic turn-based combat, opting for a combat system similar to Devil May Cry. And look, it’s been a year, so I can say confidently this was a great move.
You play as Clive Rosfield, a man who’s half chest and half demon. Throughout the game, you fight enormous, mighty, godlike titans that command the armies of other nations in complete anime-like spectacles.
You can pick up the full game and it’s DLC now on Steam or Epic Game Store now.
2. New 30th Anniversary PlayStation’s Pay Homage To Classic Console
To celebrate PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, Sony announced that it will release a sweet-looking retro anniversary collection for the PS5.
The collection is modelled after the classic PS1, and it looks so good. It has that classic vintage-grey colour and that multicolour PS1 logo, but it now comes with a gorgeous neon blue under light, which just makes it pop and look so sexy.
The anniversary collection includes a new limited edition PS5 or PS5 Pro, a new controller design, matching themed verticle stands and a brand new PlayStation Portal design.
Unfortunately, only 12,300 consoles will be released worldwide, making this an especially limited edition. If you’re one of the lucky ones who manage to get your hands on this thing, please know I am incredibly jealous and upset, and I hope that weighs on you.
1. Aussie Developers Drop Picture-Book Themed ‘Plucky Squire’ Game
Aussie Developer All Possible Futures just released its latest game, Plucky Squire, this week, and it looks gorgeous.
You play as a fun little guy called Jot, who can leap from the pages of his 2D storybook and into the real world. There, you travel into many different books and stories, helping to rewrite them.
If you love quirky adventure games like The Legend of Zelda or PlayStation’s latest Astro Bot, you should have a fun time with this one.
You can play the game on PS5, Xbox Series S | X, Nintendo Switch and PC.
You can buy a copy on Amazon ($58), Steam ($43.99), PlayStation ($39.95), and Xbox ($44.95). Nintendo Switch versions for Australia are available for pre-order only as of now.
That’s all for this week! Check in next week for more tech and gaming news round-ups.
Image Credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
The post LinkedIn Admits To Using Your Data & PayPal’s Boring New Logo: Tech & Gaming News This Week appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
