Day: August 10, 2022

If you read the headline and thought to yourself, “Netflix has games?” You’re not alone. Reportedly, less than 1% of Netflix subscribers are playing these games, which likely means many subscribers aren’t aware they even exist. In fact, if you exclusively watch Netflix on your TV, you likely haven’t even seen these games come across your feeds. They’re real, they’re free to subscribers, and they’re generally really good!

Netflix began dipping its toes into the mobile gaming scene in November, launching five original titles. Since then, it has added 21 new games to the list, with plans to grow its library to around 50 by the end of the year. To date, the games have been downloaded roughly 23 million times, and have about 1.7 million daily active players, representing 0.77% of Netflix’s 221 million subscriber base.

The company is focused on mobile gaming to start, meaning these games are available on smartphones and tablets only right now. You won’t find them on your game consoles, computers, or smart TVs. That also poses a challenge when it comes to advertising, since many of us watch Netflix on devices incomparable with its games. I rarely watch Netflix on a phone or tablet, so I never encountered any mention of them before a report in Polygon this week.

While over 1.5 million Netflix subscribers playing these games every day, I sure don’t know any of them. If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering what games Netflix offers, and how to play them.

All the games Netflix currently offers for free

Here is a complete list of titles you can jump into today. Netflix does warn not all games are available on all devices, but does not specify beyond that generalization. Just be aware when choosing a game that you won’t necessarily be able to play it on your preferred device:

While you might assume—as I initially did—that Netflix’s games are shovelware popped out by the company to justify inflating subscription costs, it turns out the library is really solid. In fact, there are some excellent, well-regarded indie titles on this list, including Into the Breach, Moonlighter, and This is a True Story. Netflix does have some native IP in the list, notably Stranger Things: 1984 and Stranger Things 3: The Game, with an upcoming Queen’s Gambit chess title in the works.

Not each and every game is a winner. Dungeon Dwarves, for example, has 2.1 stars on the iOS App Store with 71 ratings as of this writing. However, you have a chance to see each game’s store page before downloading, so you’ll get a chance to peruse reviews and see if the title is worth your time. And since they’re all free, provided you have an active Netflix account, there’s no harm in downloading a dud or two.

How to play Netflix’s games

If at least one of these titles piques your interest, you can pick up and play it right now. To start, you’ll need an Android phone or tablet running Android 8.0 or later, or an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 15 or iPadOS 15 or later.

There are two ways to find Netflix games to download to your device. You can either open your Netflix app and scroll down on the Home page until you see the “Games” section. Tap a game, then tap “Get Game,” which will open the game’s page in your device’s respective app store.

You can also open the App Store or Play Store and search “Netflix games.” The results will return Netflix games, of course, but if you open Netflix’s developer page on the app store in question, you’ll also see a complete list of all the games (and additional apps) the company offers for download.

When you open a Netflix game for the first time, it may ask you to log in to your Netflix account. I didn’t have to, but then, I was already logged into the Netflix app on my iPhone; it’s possible the game will authenticate with the app so you don’t need to log in again. Beyond that, you simply tell the game which account is playing, just as you do when opening the regular Netflix app.  

Whatever your opinion of Netflix is in 2022, this offering is tough to criticize. It comes at no additional cost to all Netflix subscribers of any tier, and includes some great games (reviews suggest Bowling Ballers is a favorite). Time will tell if more Netflix subscribers end up playing—and more games keep being added—but until then, there’s plenty to keep you busy.

  

It’s gotten to that point where most of us either had a few Lego sets as kids or played with them at our friends’ houses. Besides the classic blocks there’s been a lot of interesting takes on the building series. Remember Bionicle? There was a whole animated television series dedicated to those weird lil guys.

Lego were first produced as wooden blocks in 1932, and in 1947 Lego started to manufacture the toys in plastic. It began making set themes like space, Vikings, and the Wild West in the ‘50s, and expanded into franchises later on. Some of the most beloved Lego sets are massive Star Wars builds, but everyone’s got their own personal favorite.

So here’s the question: what’s your favorite thing about Lego? Do you have a memory of building them with your parents? Destroying your sibling’s creations? Maybe there’s one particular build that holds a special place in your heart. Or, perhaps, you have a very excellent minifig collection that you’re just dying to show off.

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Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Northrop Grumman and Firefly Aerospace are teaming up to build a new first stage for Northrop’s Antares rocket, as well as a new medium lift booster. The newly announced partnership means that Northrop will no longer have to rely on Russia and Ukraine for Antares, and will instead turn to building an all-American version for future launches.

“Through our collaboration, we will first develop a fully domestic version of our Antares rocket, the Antares 330, for Cygnus space station commercial resupply services,” Scott Lehr, vice president and general manager of launch and missile defense systems at Northrop Grumman, said in a statement on Monday.

The Antares 330 will be equipped with Firefly’s Miranda engines, as well as Firefly’s composites for the first stage’s structures and fuel tanks. As for Northrop, the company will provide upper-stage structures and the Castor 30XL motor, in addition to software, vehicle integration, and launch pad operations. The rocket’s new design is meant to enhance its payload capacity, according to the company.

Northrop’s Antares rocket, used for launching cargo missions to the International Space Station, was previously constructed in Ukraine and is equipped with Russian RD-181 engines. The fate of Antares had been in question since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February and the subsequent sanctions imposed on Russia by Western countries. In March, Russia halted its rocket engine supply to the U.S. in retaliation to the sanctions. “Let them fly on something else, their broomsticks,” former head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency Dmitry Rogozin was quoted as saying at the time.

Despite the Russian cutoff, Virginia-based Northrop Grumman possesses two engines it can use for its Antares rocket, the first of which is scheduled to launch in October and the second next year. To fill the gap between the last available engine and the new Antares model being built, Northrop has booked three SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches for its Cygnus spacecraft, Kurt Eberly, director of space launch programs at Northrop Grumman, told SpaceNews.

Aside from providing new engines for Antares, the new partnership also aims to build a new medium-lift launch vehicle, the details of which aren’t yet known. Texas-based Firefly Aerospace has yet to complete a successful launch of its own medium-lift vehicle, called Alpha. One of the rocket’s engines unexpectedly shut down shortly after its inaugural liftoff in September 2021, and Alpha ended up in flames.

That said, the company is understandably hopeful about its new relationship with Northrop. “Firefly prides itself on being a disrupter in the new space industry and collaborating with a proven space pioneer like Northrop Grumman will help us continue that disruption,” Peter Schumacher, interim CEO for Firefly, said in a statement.

More: NASA Reportedly Has ‘Contingencies’ Should Russia Suddenly Abandon the ISS

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK — Tesla, the electric car company run by billionaire Elon Musk, has been accused by a California state transportation regulator of falsely advertising its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features as providing autonomous vehicle control.

In complaints filed with the state Office of Administrative Hearings, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) said Tesla misled prospective customers with advertising that overstated how well its advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) worked.

Tesla “made or disseminated statements that are untrue or misleading, and not based on facts,” the DMV said in complaints dated July 28 and which it made public on Friday.

Vehicles equipped with Autopilot and Full Self-Driving technology “could not at the time of those advertisements, and cannot now, operate as autonomous vehicles,” the DMV added.

The DMV is seeking remedies that could include suspending Tesla’s license to sell vehicles in California and requiring the company to make restitution to drivers.

Tesla, which has disbanded its media relations department, did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

The Los Angeles Times earlier reported the DMV complaints.

Tesla has said Autopilot “enables your car to steer, accelerate and brake automatically within its lane,” while Full-Self Driving also enables vehicles to obey traffic signals and make lane changes.

According to Tesla’s website, both technologies “require active driver supervision,” with a “fully attentive” driver whose hands are on the wheel, “and do not make the vehicle autonomous.”

But the DMV said Tesla’s disclaimer “contradicts the original untrue or misleading labels and claims, which is misleading, and does not cure the violation.”

California is Tesla’s largest U.S. market. The company sold 121,000 vehicles there in 2021, out of an estimated 352,000 sold nationwide.

Since 2016, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened 38 special investigations of crashes involving Tesla vehicles where ADAS systems were suspected of being used. Nineteen deaths were reported from those crashes, including a motorcyclist killed last month in Utah.

NHTSA had no immediate comment on the DMV complaints.

National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy in a Reuters interview last year said “there is zero comparison” between Tesla’s Autopilot and the tool used in aviation.

“Some manufacturers are going to do what they want to do to sell a car and it’s up the government to rein that in,” she said.

BEIJING — Baidu’s electric vehicle (EV) firm Jidu Auto will be one-generation ahead of Tesla in terms of autonomous driving technologies, Baidu chief executive Robin Li said in a statement on Monday.

“Our understanding of smart vehicles is that being electric is the semi-final while being intelligent is the final,” Li added.

Jidu aims to be to be able to deliver 800,000 of its “robot” cars in 2028, Jidu chief executive Joe Xia Yiping said in the statement.

Jidu also plans to deliver its second model for mass production in 2024, Xia said.

Jidu revealed its first “robot” concept car, which has no door handles and can be fully controlled via voice recognition, in June, with the plan to mass produce the model in 2023.

Besides equipping the car with autonomous driving software technology powered by Baidu, Jidu’s “robot” vehicles will have two lidars and 12 cameras. Lidars are detection systems, similar to radars, that use pulsed laser light rather than radio waves.

Tesla does not use lidar censors.

Baidu’s EV-making plan comes as tech companies around the world race to develop smart cars after Tesla’s success in commercializing EVs.

Smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp and Didi Global are among other Chinese tech giants pursuing automaking ambitions.