Hot Wheels Reveals Fidget Spinner-Inspired Vehicle For Autism Acceptance Month
Hot Wheels has revealed a new vehicle called the Flippin Fast die-cast ahead of Autism Acceptance Month in April, saying it based the design of the new toy off a fidget spinner to allow for open-ended sensory play.
The new car sports a unique reversible design that allows it to roll whether it’s right way up or upside down, as well as an extra spinner in the middle of the vehicle for fidget spinner-like play. Ahead of Autism Acceptance Month, the vehicle was designed in partnership with ASAN, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, an autism advocacy nonprofit run for and by autistic people.
The design of the Flippin Fast is centered around open-ended, sensory play, with Hot Wheels stressing that there’s no right or wrong way to play with the toy. “Flip it, spin it, or roll it forwards, backwards and even upside down,” the press release encourages.
“We design tons of cars every year, and of course inspiration can come from anywhere,” said Ted Wu, vice-president of global vehicle design at Mattel. “We have a host of designers that come from the automotive industry. We work across cars of every genre and every type, but one of the most important sources of inspiration, of course, is our consumer, the kids that play with our toys, which is why it was really important for us to take that feedback in while we were developing the Flippin Fast car.”
While the sensory-based toy is designed with people on the autism spectrum in mind, Wu says it was also important for it to be “a fun car for anyone who is a Hot Wheels fan.”
Homeworld 3 Devs Reveal What Is Being Changed Thanks To Player Feedback
Last month, Homeworld 3 developer Blackbird Interactive announced it was pushing the game’s release date to May, in order to implement player feedback from February’s open demo. Now, the devs have revealed what exactly they’re working on to get the long-awaited sequel ready for release in May.
In a new update on the game’s Steam page, Blackbird has outlined five major changes they’re implementing in response to player feedback, including tweaks that bring the new title closer in line with classic Homeworld games.
Now Playing: Homeworld 3 | Gamescom ONL 2022
First up, the controls are getting reworked in response to player feedback that said the Modern control scheme was unintuitive and the Classic controls didn’t feel enough like those classic games. First and foremost, Blackbird is making every keyboard input rebindable, meaning players can customize the controls to their liking if the defaults still don’t hit the mark.
The default hotkeys are also getting some sweeping changes, to make the overall experience better for players who don’t want to spend a lot of time customizing their input. There are two defaults for hotkeys, one of them the revamped Modern layout, and one replicating the Homeworld 2 Remastered hotkeys. The camera movement has also seen some tweaks, with the devs saying it handles more like you may remember from Homeworld 2 Remastered now.
The second point of business for the developers is to make combat more exciting, by tweaking some of the more tedious aspects of combat. The changes will make formations feel more organic, as well as making them more strategically useful. Support Frigates now also have more autonomy to heal friendly ships without directly being instructed to. All ships will now have 30% more hitpoints, and the developers have also increased both the duration and cooldown on abilities to make their use more strategic and less spammy.
In terms of bringing back more of that classic Homeworld feel, Blackbird has also fixed the classic Attack Move, where ships can attack in one direction while moving in a different one. The studio explains that Attack Move wasn’t performing as expected in the demo due to needing more time to properly implement it, as well as a bug that impacted certain larger ships.
A number of quality-of-life updates are also in line for Homeworld 3 before its release, including a slider to adjust the scale of the HUD. Blackbird has also fixed an issue impacting the scaling of ships, which in the demo resulted in some ships looking far larger or smaller than they should.
Finally, Blackbird is also making some balance tweaks to War Games, including adding extra objectives to improve the variety between runs. Resources Controllers have also been made free to rebuild if destroyed during a game, however they will now take significantly longer to build.
The full blog post goes into more detail on the pre-launch changes, with the developers explaining the process of finding balance between modern gaming standards and that classic Homeworld feel. Check out everything we know about Homeworld 3 ahead of its release on PC on May 13, with advanced access from May 10.
Gaming Charity SpecialEffect Will Receive Prestigious BAFTA Special Award
BAFTA has announced that UK gaming charity SpecialEffect will be presented with its prestigious Special Award at the 20th BAFTA Games Awards this April. SpecialEffect is a charity that uses technology to improve access to video games for people with physical disabilities.
SpecialEffect was started in 2007 as a collaboration between founder Mick Donegan, a specialist in assistive technology, and his son Bill, a gamer and product designer. SpecialEffect works with game developers to create accessible hardware and improve accessibility of video game software, as well as providing one-on-one assessments and support for severely disabled gamers.
The charity now has thirty employees and raises all its own funds, often aided by high profile fundraising campaigns from industry figures including voice actors, streamers, and game developers.
“I started SpecialEffect not only to help individuals to play video games but also to collaborate with the games industry to make their games more accessible ‘at source,'” Donegan said in a statement. “Since then, we have been privileged to be invited to share our ideas with more and more developers all over the world. Now, 17 years since SpecialEffect began, it’s an absolute honour for SpecialEffect’s work to be recognised by BAFTA.”
“SpecialEffect’s work is essential to the games world and is hugely deserving of a BAFTA Special Award,” said BAFTA’s executive director of awards Emma Baehr. “Their innovative and supportive approach to making games accessible drives progress within the industry, collaborating with developers and studios on new technologies to make games within reach to more people.”
The BAFTA Special Award is awarded sporadically to people and companies who have made major contributions to the games industry. Previous recipients of the award include Epic Games, voice actor Nolan North, Uncharted director Amy Hennig, and PlayStation marketer Chris Deering.
The 20th BAFTA Games Awards will take place on April 11, 2024.
Take-Two Buys Gearbox Entertainment From Embracer For $460M
After months of rumors that Embracer Group was looking for buyers for Borderlands developer Gearbox Entertainment, the studio is now officially being sold to 2K parent company Take-Two Interactive in a deal worth $460 million.
Gearbox was one of Embracer Group’s biggest acquisitions when it bought the company in 2021, in a deal worth up to $1.3 billion. As the deal was based on Gearbox reaching certain milestones, it’s unclear how much of that $1.3 billion Embracer ended up paying out beyond $363 million in guaranteed upfront payments.
Now, as reported by Brian Crecente on X, Take-Two Interactive has purchased Gearbox for $460 million, which will be paid out in Take-Two shares. The purchase includes Gearbox Software in Texas, Gearbox Montreal, and Gearbox Studio Quebec, and will cover Gearbox IP including Borderlands and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms, and Duke Nukem.
The sale doesn’t include Gearbox’s publishing arm in San Francisco, which published Remnant 2, and has publishing rights to the upcoming Hyper Light Breaker and other upcoming titles. The sale also excludes a number of studios purchased by Embracer through Gearbox Software, including Cryptic Studios, Lost Boys Interactive, and Captured Dimensions.
Take-Two has said that Gearbox will operate as a studio within 2K, which has a long history of partnering with Gearbox on the Borderlands series. Gearbox will continue to be led by its founder and CEO Randy Pitchford and his management team.
“My primary interest is always Gearbox, including our talent and our customers,” Pitchford said in a statement. “I want to personally ensure fans of our games that this arrangement will ensure that the experiences we have in development at Gearbox will be the best it can possibly be.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Randy Pitchford and his team of passionate, talented developers to 2K and we look forward to releasing numerous projects in the future as colleagues,” said David Ismailer, president of 2K. “We have loved partnering with Gearbox on every iteration of the Borderlands franchise and are excited to be in active development on the next installment in the series.”
In its own statement, Embracer co-founder and CEO Lars Wingefors refers to the divestment as part of a “transition to becoming a leaner and more focused company,” saying the transaction will “lower business risk and improve profitability.”
After a spree of large-scale acquisitions in the last few years, Embracer has now started downsizing, resulting in company-wide layoffs, cancelled games, and divestment of some of its assets. Last month it was revealed that Saber Interactive, which is currently working on the Star Wars: KOTOR remake, would split off to become an independent company, following a sale to private investors worth $500 million.
Apple Vision Pro Gets First Discount – Save $200 On The New VR Headset
The new Apple Vision Pro 256GB model is $200 off at the Amazon-owned retailer Woot, dropping the price to $3,299 (was $3,499). While that’s a modest discount, it’s also the first price drop we’re aware of for Apple’s augmented reality headset–or “spatial computer,” as Apple markets it. The deal is also notable because the Apple Vision Pro isn’t sold by Amazon, and Woot deals tend to focus on products that were first available on Amazon.
Before you rush over to Woot to grab the Apple Vision Pro, there’s one caveat: the model for sale on Woot comes with the Solo Knit Band, Dual Loop Band, and Light Seal accessories in small sizes. This could limit its wearability, so be sure to check the sizing guides on Apple’s website to confirm everything will fit.
The Apple Vision Pro launched earlier this year to positive reviews. Most reviewers laud the device’s screen, 3D video capabilities, and spatial computing features while noting room for improvement in the headset’s overall design and broader appeal. This is definitely a product for enthusiast AR, VR, and Apple fans–but if that’s you, then this discount is a great way to grab the Vision Pro at a slightly more affordable price point.
That said, you’ll want to act fast if you want one. Woot’s Apple Vision Pro deal is limited to one per customer, and is available until April 23, unless it sells out beforehand. The offer is part of the retailer’s Prime Appreciation Days event, which includes a special Video Game Favorites sale featuring deals on new games like Princess Peach: Showtime! and hardware like consoles, pro controllers, and more.
If you’re interested in VR but don’t want to drop north of $3,000, Woot has the 128GB Meta Quest 2 on sale for $189 (was $250). Alternatively, you can buy the Quest 2 directly from Amazon for $199. The Quest 2 is the best entry-level VR headset on the market. It offers great performance at its price point, and it’s significantly cheaper than the other major VR gaming headsets. For reference, the Quest 3 starts at $499 and the PlayStation VR 2 starts at $549.
