Opera News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Netflix sounds warning on generative AI's threat to operations and competition; Microsoft's AI for Good initiative targets India's linguistic diversity; Opera unveils AI-powered 'Opera One' browser for iOS following Apple's DMA update in Europe; Amitabh Bachchan cautions against AI face mapping threat in film industry- this and more in our daily roundup. Let us take a look.

Love crossword puzzles but don’t have all day to sit and solve a full-sized puzzle in your daily newspaper? That’s what The Mini is for!

Samsung has unveiled its 2024 range of AI-enhanced TVs, featuring the Neo QLED 8K, Neo QLED 4K, and OLED models. This announcement at the 'Unbox & Discover' event in Bengaluru's Samsung Opera House signals a transformative shift in home entertainment.

The trailer, titled “A Moment Among the Stars—Inherently Unjust Destiny,” feels like a dramatic peek into Honkai: Star Rail’s narrative. Our characters grapple with fate, wondering if they can rewrite the cosmic script.

In the first half of its first season, X-Men ’97 has played it a little safe. That’s not to say things haven’t been rather fun, as the show has put its own spin on the Inferno and Lifedeath storylines, on Magneto inheriting leadership of the X-Men, and on the birth of Nathan Summers — all pillars of X-Men continuity or beloved greatest-hit stories of the 1980s and 1990s.

Target is offering a great opportunity to stock up on essential board games for less. If you add two games participating in the sale to your cart, the retailer will knock 50% off one that’s of equal or lesser value. Some of our favorite tabletop titles are included in this promotion. For instance, if you wanted to pick up the fourth edition of Twilight Imperium and its expansion, Prophecy of Kings, you’d only pay $167.99 instead of the usual price of $204.99 for the star-spanning epic.

The world wasn’t ready for Tenetwhen it was originally released in 2020. That’s both literally true — it was the middle of the pandemic — and spiritually true, because people were still so hung up on the idea of Christopher Nolan as a puzzle-box filmmaker who wanted his movies solved. But now that people are starting to head back to theaters, and Oppenheimerhas clued audiences in to Nolan’s earnestness, maybe it’s finally time to appreciate Tenet for the vibey friendship-movie masterpiece it is. With the movieheading back into theaters on Feb. 23 for a one-week revival, there’s no better time for the reevaluation to begin.

Star Trek contains multitudes. It is philosophy and comedy. It’s space opera and soap opera. It is often a legal procedural. And, just as vitally and consistently as any of its facets, Star Trek is horny.

Max Evry, the author of "A Masterpiece in Disarray: David Lynch’s Dune. An Oral History," has found a half-written script for the sequel, he revealed in WIRED on Wednesday.

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The first trailer for Rebel Moon: The Scargiver quietly dropped on Christmas Day, but even with 1 million views and counting, it’s unclear if Netflix got a prized gift in its stocking or lump of coal.

Zack Snyder was not running into the Justice League problem with his new Netflix movie Rebel Moon. From the beginning, the plan wasalways to cut two different versions of the film: a PG-13 cut for its premiere release that could play to a larger audience, and an R-rated cut that would offer a more unfiltered Snyder-y take on the sci-fi fantasy saga. Was it a content ploy? A new mode for studios to take with filmmakers to avoid warring in the edit room? Both?

It’s never a bad time to find your new favorite sci-fi movie, so why not check out a few new ones before the holidays? Netflix has plenty of great sci-fi picks to choose from, but this month we’re looking to a some surprising choices that you might not expect.

If you're reading this, there's a good chance you're doing so on Chrome. It's the browser I've used daily for over a decade and makes up over 60% of overall browser usage. Trailing way behind is Safari with 18%, followed by Edge and Firefox. I can understand then, why longtime browser contestant Opera has been thinking outside the box to stand out.

Maleficent 3 is officially in the works, according to the Wall Street Journal, and Angelina Jolie will be returning as the titular fairy. 

Nosferatu Director Robert Eggers says Bill Skarsgård is unrecognizable in the role of vampire Count Orlok – even more so than he was as Pennywise.

In the on-going cat and mouse game that is modern cybersecurity, even the really big names in the industry can sometimes be caught by surprise. Google's software security team, the very super-spy sounding «The Threat Analysis Group», announced a hidden exploit in Chrome and Chromium-based browsers on November 24, and Google has since patched it along with a number of other security fixes. 

Once-popular mobile title Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia is closing down its servers on February 29, 2024. Currently, it’s uncertain if you can play the game offline or not, but it seems unlikely.

As of November 29's Amazing Spider-Man: Gang War First Strike #1, the Marvel Universe has erupted in a massive turf war among the many criminal factions of New York City, and all comes down to a single brutal moment that kicks it all off.

For better or worse, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has changed how blockbuster movies are constructed, planned, and made. Fifteen years of billion-dollar successes and lukewarm swing-and-misses have also changed how MCU movies themselves are planned and made: These days, it feels like there’s a particular tension between “Everything must be a saga” thinking and “Maybe these movies should stand alone better?” revisionism. As box-office-defining surefire hits have given way to rushed, muddled movies, and Marvel has expanded into a messy multiverse saga with near-infinite spin-off potential, the franchise’s future is both meticulously mapped out and constantly in flux.

Popular mobile game Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia is shutting down in February.

Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia will end service on February 29, 2024 worldwide, Square Enix announced (2). All in-game gem sales have ceased as of this announcement.

As Shakespeare might have put it (but probably didn’t): Motion smoothing is known by many names, yet it’s just as much of a scourge no matter what you call it.

2D engine GameMaker is now free to use for developers creating non-commercial titles.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

In the wake of Unity’s massive pricing controversy, which saw game developers boycotting the engine, GameMaker is doing something different with its technology: making it free for all non-commercial use. GameMaker is also switching is PC-based commercial license to a one-time fee of $99.99. Console game developers will still need to purchase the “enterprise” license, which is a monthly $79.99 fee, or $799.99 yearly.

YoYo Games' popular 2D engine, GameMaker, is now free for non-commercial on all non-console platforms.

Star Ocean: The Second Story R has plenty of cool and useful characters you can add to your party throughout the game. One who should not be overlooked is Opera Vectra; follow this guide to learn how to recruit this cool and versatile character for your party.

Blowfish Studios, a subsidiary of Web3 pioneer Animoca Brands, is launching its Phantom Galaxies science fiction Web3 game into early access today.

We’re just shy of a month away from the streaming debut of Rebel Moon, the epic space opera from Zach Snyder born from the ashes of a failed Star Wars pitch. The first part of the two-part feature, subtitled A Child of Fire, premieres in December and stars Sofia Boutella (Atomic Blonde) as a former soldier of a ruthless empire wreaking havoc across the galaxy who rallies an army of warriors to fight against her former masters.

Gathering Lakelight Lily flowers in is a very important task, especially if you are intent on leveling and ascending Furina, the 5-star Hydro Archon. Lakelight Lilies are a Local Speciality item introduced with Version 4.2 and could not be obtained prior to the release of that specific update – thus making the process of farming materials for Furina’s Ascension in a little bit more complicated, as you need to rush after these items in order to max the character’s level. Lakelight Lily is a blue-colored flower with a big bubbly bulb at the center and can easily be spotted when exploring.

Argylle is an upcoming spy movie from Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn, starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Henry Cavill. It’s out in February and based on a forthcoming novel by debut author Elly Conway. And, oh yeah, a lot of people think that Elly Conway doesn’t exist and is actually the pen name of international pop superstar Taylor Swift.

Season 2 of HBO’s pirate comedy/romance Our Flag Means Death takes some big turns by episode 7 — maybe not as big as the season 1 turn, when inept pirate captain Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) and Ed “Blackbeard” Teach (Taika Waititi) realized they had romantic feelings for each other, but still… a whole lot of things happen that we figured viewers would want to talk about, once they’d seen it for themselves. So when Polygon sat down with creator and showrunner David Jenkins to talk about season 2, we split the conversation into two parts: an overview of the season’s biggest ideas, and this spoiler-focused conversation about all the surprises in episode 7, including its explosive ending.

Happy October, Polygon readers!

We’re right in the thick of Halloween season, which means you’re probably looking for a great horror movie to watch. But while the endless list of favorites and classics is always a place to start, sometimes you want something off the beaten path. The good news is there are plenty of underrated horror movies out there, from titles you’ve ignored on Netflix to a few hidden gems you may not have heard of before.

Zack Snyder's upcoming sci-fi epic Rebel Moon will be expanding out from the screen and onto the comics page. The director just announced a new tie-in comic, Rebel Moon: House of the Bloodaxe, which will be published by Titan in 2024.

Galactic tyranny sim Stellaris is officially getting weird. Paradox has announced the game's next DLC—named Astral Planes—and it's promising to let you venture into whole new dimensions, where everything is topsy-turvy and the laws of physics go out the window.

As technology matures, it also gets standardized. That means fewer experiments with the interface, the addition of new features in a restricted and well-defined space, and iterative updates that don't change a lot. The same is true for web browsers, which in the last five years, have lost the quirky and exciting phase of the early 2000s. Today, most of the popular browsers that use Chromium, an open-source code developed by Google, such as Google Chrome, Opera, and Microsoft Edge, look and function the same from a broader perspective. Even Mozilla Firefox which is based on the Quantum browser engine uses similar design and UI themes (granted it does have some unique features). But earlier this year, a new browser was launched, and it immediately excited people as it was nothing like other browsers. The Arc browser, despite being built on Chromium, retains its novelty.

Yesterday I had a lovely chat with the brainy folk of Oxide Games, developers of Ashes of the Singularity and the forthcoming Ara: History Untold, a historical 4X strategy game that puts a baroque spin on the classic Civilization format with each player's turn unfolding simultaneously once you've queued up a bunch of commands.

Today, NVIDIA provided an update on the RTX and DLSS technologies available in PC games. The sci-fi adventure game Deliver Us Mars is being updated to support 'Hybrid Ray Tracing Translucency', adding reflection and refraction on windows, helmets, cockpit glass, and other transparent and translucent surfaces. Deliver Us Mars launched in early February 2023 with DLSS 2 and 3, NVIDIA Reflex, ray-traced reflections, and ray-traced shadows. The game earned a 7.5 out of 10 score in Wccftech's review written by Francesco De Meo:

Alan Wake 2 draws ever closer, with its 27th October release now visible on the horizon. As such, we'll likely learn more about the still-mysterious title in the coming days, and courtesy of IGN's First initiative, we've got a surreal gameplay snippet to moon over in the meantime.

Starfield is a sprawling RPG that promises cosmic awe, mysteries of the universe, and a vast galaxy to explore. Even though its narrative and scope are very large and philosophically profound, I find myself instead tickled by many of the small details and silly moments in Starfield. Bethesda RPGs have a certain jankiness to them that persists throughout all their titles, and Starfield is no exception.

There’s more than just slobbering monsters and evil puppets to fight in Lies of P. You’ll also have to take on some tough puzzles — as you progress through the story, you’ll be able to collect special Treasure Hunt quests from items called Cryptic Vessels. These Cryptic Vessels will give you a clue where to go, but don’t always give you all the details you need. You may need to use specific emotes or equip certain weapons to solve these puzzles. Finding them all will unlock the Veteran Explorer achievement / trophy.

Nexus Mods removed a Starfield mod that got rid of the game’s pronoun options in its character creator. The popular mod platform has held steady on its decision, despite reactions from a loud minority of Starfield fans, who have chimed in on the game’s Steam page and community forum. “Frankly, we are not sad to see them go,” Nexus Mods told 404 Media, noting that the “vitriol” came from a small part of the broader mod community.

Actor-director Kenneth Branagh is clearly having the best time with his Hercule Poirot movies. The latest, A Haunting in Venice, marks Branagh and screenwriter Michael Green’s third take on Agatha Christie’s iconic detective, after 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express and 2022’s Death on the Nile. It’s also the loosest adaptation of the three of them by far. In the new movie, Branagh breaks all the adaptation rules. He smashes genres together. He goes fully over the top, which is exactly the direction that his Christie adaptations have been rolling toward. Branagh finally breaks free, making A Haunting in Venice the best entry in the series to date.

Starfield has only officially been out for a couple of days, but fans have used the early access period to recreate some of the most famous spaceships from movies, TV shows, and other video games. They’re incredibly detailed and faithful to the originals; genuinely impressive feats for a game that hasn’t been out very long yet.

While there are many impressive locations and sights to behold in Bethesda’s gargantuan space opera, the most majestic of them all is arguably New Atlantis. Where is New Atlantis in Starfield? We’re glad you asked.

We're thrilled to announce the return of GamesBeat Next, hosted in San Francisco this October, where we will explore the theme of «Playing the Edge.» Apply to speak here and learn more about sponsorship opportunities here. At the event, we will also announce 25 top game startups as the 2024 Game Changers. Apply or nominate today!

Nintendo has teamed up with Niantic for a new Pikmin mobile game that's mostly good for passing time than serious gaming. It's called Pikmin Finder, and as Nintendo Life notes, the companies have released it in time for the Nintendo Live event in Seattle. You can access the augmented reality game from any browser on your mobile, whether it's an iPhone or an Android device. We've tried it on several browsers, including Chrome and Opera, and we can verify that it works, as long as you allow it to access your camera. 

Bethesda games typically open with a big bang, so it’s ironic — and potentially off-putting — that the studio’s first game in literal space does not. Know that Starfield does eventually get its explosive narrative moment. You’ll just need to get through a few campaign missions first.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope released last Fall to critical acclaim as our favorite Mushroom Kingdom heroes teamed up again with those rascally Rabbids on a journey to save the universe. Today, the Rayman in the Phantom Show releases as the last DLC for Sparks of Hope. This new addition introduces new mechanics, environments a new playable character: the beloved Rayman. Separate from the main game’s story line, this new story has players control Rayman, Rabbid Peach and Rabbid Mario as they discover the uncanny TV studio known as Space Opera Network. Fans may even be happy to see the Phantom again. Our old nemesis has given up his operatic ways and has now converted to studio directing — with a bit of a diva attitude too.

Just like Mario did when he ran into the Phantom in the first Mario + Rabbids game, Rayman's encounter with the ghostly opera Rabbid in the Phantom Show DLC sees him getting brutally roasted, from being called an eggplant to getting called out for the Rabbids taking over his games.

When Lies of P released a demo back in June, many players found its dodge to be, well, dodgy. It was sluggish and imprecise and made tackling the game's towering bosses more challenging than it should have been.

Arleen Sorkin, the original voice behind Batman: The Animated Series’ Harley Quinn, died last Saturday. The actress, who was known for her role as Calliope Jones on the long-running soap opera drama Days of Our Lives and her work as a writer on 1990’s Tiny Toon Adventures, was 67.

Xbox has said the launch of Starfield will be the «starting gun» for even more first-party releases on Xbox.

Zack Snyder’s new Netflix movie has its first trailer, but that hasn’t stopped a legion of his fans sowing the seeds for a Snyder Cut-style campaign to get the space epic released in theaters.

From the moment Zack Snyder’s ambitious Netflix space opera Rebel Moon was first announced, one aspect of its backstory has earned more attention than anything else: The film began as a Star Wars pitch.

Gamescom 2023 will be kicking off today, and Geoff Keighley is the host. He recently hopped on Twitter to reveal that Zack Snyder will be promoting the upcoming epic space opera, Rebel Moon. The Snyder-directed film will be available on December 22, though that’s not the only thing he’ll be promoting, as Keighley also stated that the director has a “special announcement” in store.

This is a quick public service announcement to warn you that Starfield has leaked.

The achievements list for Starfield has leaked early.

Through the darkness of future past, the magician longs to see, one chants out between two worlds: Twin Peaks is on PC. Not officially, mind you; I'm talking about the demo for Twin Peaks: Into the Night, a fan game based on the classic David Lynch and Mark Frost soap opera that's just hit Itch.io.

Developer HoYoverse (formerly known as miHoYo) announced the release of the Genshin Impact 4.0 update across all platforms. Titled 'As Light Rain Falls Without Reason', this patch adds the Fontaine area to the game; more specifically, these areas will be available to players: Court of Fontaine Region, Beryl Region, and Belleau Region.

When I read that The Witcher's executive producer, Tomek Baginski, had blamed Americans and young people for the show's «painful» simplifications of the source material, I simply shrugged.

As of now, it is possible to have your Opera GX internet browser automatically wipe your browsing history after 14 days of inactivity, assuming you are already six feet under. Or at the very least, you've shifted to another browser.

Rumors have been running rampant for some time, but today HoYoverse officially pulled the wraps off Genshin Impact’s major 4.0 update. As anticipated, 4.0 introduces the new region of Fontaine, a water-themed land described as a “hub of culture, art, and technology.” Basically, the region has a bit of a European, steampunk flare to it. According to HoYoverse, in Fontaine “trials have become important public events at the Opera Epiclese” and the latest core Archon story quest will see players “witness a masterful magic show by Lyney and Lynette as well as an ongoing trial.” You’ll also be able to explore and even engage in battles underwater in Fontaine. You can check out the overview trailer for Genshin Impact 4.0, below.

Greetings, Travelers. This is the Genshin Impact dev team, and we’re proud to announce that Genshin Impact Version 4.0, As Light Rain Falls Without Reason, will arrive on Aug 16. In today’s blog, we’d like to take you to Fontaine, the upcoming fifth nation of Teyvat, where culture, art, and technology flourish under an intricate system of justice and trial.

I’d like to think that, if he were still alive, Homer would at least be a little envious of the work of Eiichiro Oda. The mangaka and creator of One Piece has created a saga in manga that rivals the work of the Greek poet. Perhaps not because of lyricism — One Piece is peak potty humor — but for the way it uses one crew of seafarers to tell a complicated history of an entire world and its nations’ conflicts.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope: Rayman in the Phantom Show has been confirmed as the next DLC for strategy game, with Nintendo confirming it will be released on August 30th. This new DLC will add Rayman as a playable character, along with a new location called the Space Opera Network.

It seemed pretty obvious from the start that Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope would have DLC. If for no other reason than Ubisoft had done a DLC expansion for the original game between these two franchises. But what surprised some people was that the DLC we got was robust and unique. We got a challenge tower, we got some story content that fit between the main campaign, and now, we’re going to get content featuring Rayman! The best part is that we now know what the content will be, and it will be crazy!

Everyone loves Rayman.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope: Rayman in the Phantom Show has been confirmed as the next DLC for strategy game, with Nintendo confirming it will be released on August 30th. This new DLC will add Rayman as a playable character, along with a new location called the Space Opera Network.

Rayman's long-awaited return mightn't be quite what fans were hoping for — arriving as he is in a bit of DLC for the excellent Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope instead of his own game — but something's (hopefully) better than nothing, and Ubisoft has now confirmed its beloved limb-flinging mascot will be making his entrance on 30th August this year.

Barbie is consistently hilarious, but it might not have been the case if Greta Gerwig snuck in a joke that she thought was “really funny” – and no one else agreed.

If you’re worried about a spouse or family member seeing your internet history after you die, gaming-focused browser Opera GX has a new feature that may come in handy.