TechNews

RomUniverse, a website where folks could download pirated copies of various Nintendo games and even pay a premium to get faster downloads, was sued into oblivion back in May of this year. But Nintendo wasn’t done after suing the site for $2.1 million. In new court docs, a judge has ordered the owner of the site to destroy all of his Nintendo ROMs or face legal consequences.

RomUniverse was first sued by Nintendo in 2019 for what its lawyers called “brazen and mass-scale infringement.” Nintendo won that lawsuit in May and was awarded $2.1 million dollars in damages, which would be paid by RomUniverse owner Matthew Storman in $50 monthly payments. At least, in theory. However, in July, Nintendo returned to court after Storman failed to make his first $50 payments. The game publisher requested a permanent injunction against Storman as it feared he might be willing to bring the site back online. And now there’s more.

As spotted by TorrentFreak, the judge has now granted Nintendo’s injunction after taking another look at the case and the ongoing actions of Storman.

The court has now ordered Storman to “permanently destroy all unauthorized Nintendo games or other unauthorized copies of Nintendo’s intellectual property including movies, books, and music.” The judge has given Storman until August 17, 2021, to comply and until August 20 to file a declaration with the court verifying he has followed the judge’s orders. If he fails to do so he could face perjury charges.

Also a result of this new injunction, filed late last week in US District Court, Storman can no longer distribute, copy, sell or even play unauthorized Nintendo ROMs. He is also barred from using any Nintendo trademarks or logos. Truly, the website cannot catch a break from Nintendo, huh?

 

Watch out folks: This summer may just be getting a little bit icy.

Multi-platinum rapper Saweetie, who rose to fame with her hit single “Icy Girl,” is teaming up with McDonald’s to bring a little twist to her favorite menu order for her fans. Starting this week, customers across the United States can order “The Saweetie Meal,” featuring a few of the fast-food chain’s signature items — and a “Saweetie ‘N Sour” sauce.

“McDonald’s and I run deep — from growing up back in Hayward, California, all through my college days — so I had to bring my icy gang in on my all-time favorites,” Saweetie, whose real name is Diamonté Harper, said in a news release.

The company’s partnership with the rapper is just the latest example of major brands, from Adidas to Cadillac, reaching out to diverse consumers, as the nation continues to recover from the racial turmoil following George Floyd’s murder last summer.

Saweetie’s promotion joins a variety of diverse artists

Saweetie marks the first female musician, and the first African-American female musician, to have a celebrity menu collaboration with McDonald’s since the company kicked off its Famous Orders program in 2020.

Previous limited-time meals introduced by the company featured a wide variety of celebrities, including last September’s meal with rapper Travis Scott, last October’s meal with reggaeton artist J Balvin and, most recently, this summer’s meal with the South Korean pop band BTS.

The celebrity-inspired meals have been a hit for the fast-food chain. McDonald’s President and CEO Chris Kempczinski hinted this month that more celebrity meals may be coming, according to USA Today.

In May, McDonald’s announced new investments in diverse-owned media content for the company in an effort to further reflect its diverse customers, workers and communities in its marketing.

Over the next four years, the company says it will allocate advertising dollars to diverse-owned media companies, production houses and content creators. With Black-owned properties specifically, McDonald’s says its diverse-owned media partners will increase from 2% to 5% of the company’s national advertising spending over time.

Representation of diversity is on the rise among major brands

In the past year, many brands and companies have become noticeably more inclusive, featuring more Black and other minorities in their ads and marketing materials as a way to take a stand against racism.

Following George Floyd’s murder last May, companies across the globe began issuing various calls to action — including more diversity in advertising, increased spending on diverse companies and investing a greater amount of money in minority-owned media companies — in an effort to connect with Black and brown consumers.

“With the uprising and the advocacy and the demands after the murder of George Floyd, really there’s been a spotlight shining on the importance of highlighting and making space for Black people, specifically Black women,” said Alfredo Del Cid, head of learning and development at Collective, a diversity, equity and inclusion consulting firm.

A number of major brands have struck deals with major Black celebrities in an effort to maintain and expand their consumers of color.

Earlier this year, Uber Eats partnered with Olympian Simone Biles, featuring the star gymnast in its ads and TV commercials around the time of the Tokyo Olympics.

Cadillac partnered with award-winning actress Regina King, naming her a brand ambassador and the star for its campaign for the newest line of the Escalade SUV.

And Beyoncé partnered with Adidas to launch her “Ivy Park” clothing collection.

“There’s all of these ways that these partnerships are coming together that influence the consumer — because the consumer is ultimately interested in trust, right?” said Christina Ferraz, founder and head consultant of marketing agency Thirty6five.

“That trust with the brand is what’s going to make them invest in the brand. When they see that that brand is doing what they want,” they said.

In a social media world, brands are being held accountable

So far in 2021, large brands are continuing their commitment to invest more of their budgets in minority-owned companies.

General Motors announced in April significant changes to its model for partnering with diverse-owned and diverse-targeted media — allocating 2% of its ad spending in Black-owned media in 2021, and 4% in 2022, with a goal of reaching 8% by 2025.

And in June, Coca-Cola pledged to double its ad spending with minority-owned media, saying it will be five times higher in 2021 than a year earlier, according to a news release.

Ferraz says that in the social-media era, companies and their reputations with diverse consumers are in increasingly intense spotlight.

“Brands now have to be held accountable in a way that they’ve never been held accountable before,” they said.

Editor’s note: McDonald’s is among NPR’s financial supporters.

This year, many of those longing for a blue checkmark on Twitter were filled with hope when the company reopened its public verification process for the first time in almost four years. That hope was short-lived, though, as Twitter proceeded to pause the process, only to reopen it again in June. Well, shockingly, Twitter has paused access to verification again.

The company’s official Twitter Verified account tweeted on Friday that it was temporarily stopping its verification access rollout once more in order to make improvements to the application and review process. Considering the recent incident in July when Twitter verified six fake accounts—including one of an adorable cat in a bucket—that reportedly started sending out Korean-language spam, its decision to pause the process again makes sense.

“We’ve temporarily hit pause on rolling out access to apply for Verification so we can make improvements to the application and review process,” the Twitter Verified account said. “For those who have been waiting, we know this may be disappointing. We want to get things right, and appreciate your patience.”

As reported by the Verge, this doesn’t mean that Twitter won’t verify your account if you’ve already submitted an application. Twitter Verified said on Friday that it was working on reviewing all of the applications it had received as fast as it could. In fact, not everyone on Twitter is able to request for verification yet because the company has slowly been rolling out access to the application.

A Twitter spokesperson told the outlet that it would “resume rolling out applications in the next few weeks.” Hey, at least that’s a sort-of timeline.

The news is no doubt frustrating and annoying to those who want a blue checkmark. I realize that I’m speaking from a place of “privilege” (I guess) since I have a blue checkmark, but you gotta wonder if people who qualify for a blue checkmark will ever get one. It seems like there’s always something going on with verification, from not taking applications for years to pausing because there are too many applications.

At this point, you probably have to be extremely lucky to put in an application at a time when things aren’t going haywire in the verification department, which is not exactly an easy task. If you’re not very lucky, don’t fret. Blue checkmarks may be coveted now, but who knows what will be hip in the future. Maybe we won’t even be on Twitter.

Starting with the Pixel 3, Google has prepared special-use wallpapers for its phones that can be seen in renders and other promo materials, displaying the generation of the device in large type. But despite only being used for marketing purposes, the backgrounds have been highly sought after by fans. Some artists have gone so far as to create near-pixel-perfect copies in the absence of their official versions. Now, Google has made some of these promo wallpapers available to Pixel 4 and 4a users.

The wallpapers, which display ‘P4’ and ‘4a’ on their respective phones, have been made available silently and are somewhat tucked away within the Wallpapers app. If you have either the 4 or 4a, you’ll be able to find the background in the app under the ‘Art’ collection, which contains digital art from a variety of artists and has existed for many years. The photos are tagged “Love, Pixel.,” a phrase which usually appears in the “Keep Looking” collection on Pixel devices older than the 4a 5G.

Mysteriously, the Pixel 4a 5G and 5 have not been updated with their promotional wallpapers, which are made up of ‘5G’ in large, building block style letters and either ‘4a’ or ‘5’ in smaller text over the G. The generic ‘Pixel’ image seen in advertisements like the ‘Pixel vs. Pixel’ series has not been released either, but this has also been recreated by a fan of the smartphone line.

It’s unclear whether Google will continue releasing these wallpapers to newer Pixel phones. If you don’t own either the Pixel 4 or 4a, but still want to use the wallpapers for some reason, you can download both of them in full quality below.

More about Google Pixel:

---

Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:

In June, we got wind that DJI was about to release its most affordable drone yet: the $299 DJI Mini SE. It appeared to be a revamped Mavic Mini for $100 less and a full $150 more affordable than the $449 DJI Mini 2, our current fav under the $500 mark. The only question was, would it have any real improvements over the aging Mavic Mini or just be an affordable rebrand?

This week, DJI quietly put the Mini SE on sale, and we now have the answer.

Here are the only differences between the $399 Mavic Mini and the new $299 Mini SE, as far as we can tell by poring over the company’s spec sheets and FAQ:

• It uses the DJI Mini 2’s newer chassis, with fewer exposed screws, stronger arms, and increased wind speed resistance
• It uses the DJI Mini 2’s lighter, more powerful LiPo batteries, propellers, and charging hub
• There’s a USB-C charging port on the drone, instead of micro-USB
• You don’t have to update the firmware to get 24p video or manual ISO settings
• “DJI Mini SE does not have ‘4K’ printed on the lens, and the rear aircraft status indicator is not clickable.”

The rest seems exactly the same — which, importantly, means you don’t get the far longer range and more reliable connection of the DJI Mini 2’s more capable OcuSync controller. The Mini SE comes with the old folding Mavic Mini design that relied on “enhanced Wi-Fi” instead, and you can’t just swap the controller for the newer one either. There’s also no 4K video, just 2.7K and 1080p, and it likely won’t offer the photo quality improvements we enjoyed in our Mini 2 review.

Technically, DJI says a few other accessories are interchangeable between its three mini drones:

The Mavic Mini battery charging hub cannot charge the DJI Mini SE battery, but the DJI Mini SE battery charging hub can charge the Mavic Mini battery.

Although DJI Mini SE can use Mavic Mini’s battery, the power will decrease and the total weight will exceed 250 g, requiring registration in some countries and regions.

The DJI Mini SE Intelligent Flight Battery, propellers, Two-Way Charging Hub, and 360° Propeller Guard are compatible with DJI Mini 2. The Mavic Mini DIY Creative Kit, Mavic Mini Snap Adapter, Mavic Mini Propeller Holder, and Mavic Mini Intelligent Flight Battery (international version) are compatible with DJI Mini SE.

Like with the Mavic Mini, your wireless range depends on where you buy and where you use it, with the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan getting a version (MT2SS5) with 4 km transmission range, while Europe and Asia may be limited to 2 km or even 500 meters depending on the version.

You can find the DJI Mini SE today at Amazon, Adorama, Best Buy, B&H, and eBay in the United States. At under 249 grams, you don’t need to register it here, though you will need to take the FAA’s incredibly quick and easy test if you’ll be flying for fun.

Twitter is readjusting the contrast on its buttons following feedback about its design updates from earlier this week. Some people have reported eye strain, headaches, and migraines due to the higher visual contrast in the colors of buttons and links, as well as the new font, Chirp.

The changes in contrast also included a black follow button that’s filled in if you’re not following someone, which has caused confusion for many people who are used to it being the other way around. It’s not clear yet if that change will be reversed.

As tends to happen any time a popular site changes its design, immediate reception to Twitter’s changes was mixed. It’s likely that some Twitter users would’ve gotten used to the update over time. But for those who say the new design has caused them pain, the change highlighted a common problem in online accessibility: a lack of choice.

Accessibility isn’t one size fits all; a feature that makes a site more accessible for one person can make it harder to use for another. High contrast is often useful for people who have low vision or are colorblind, but it can be painful for people who are sensitive to bright colors or light.

There is no single most accessible option for Twitter’s interface. The best accessibility comes from flexibility, allowing users to choose the options that work for them. Twitter currently has toggles in its accessibility menu for settings like increased color contrast and reduced motion, as well as display settings that let people choose between light and dark themes or scale text sizes.

It could save a lot of headaches if users had more granular options and could select the level of contrast that suits them, rather than having to wait on Twitter to make universal changes. Twitter didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but its @TwitterA11y account has been soliciting feedback about the changes.

Another Assassin’s Creed Valhalla DLC means yet another new and wacky animal mount for my viking-warrior to ride. This time it’s a bear. Once more Ubisoft tempts me to ride a giant animal that is historically inaccurate. I firmly said no to the giant wolf in 2020. Earlier this year, I also passed on riding the weird and lumpy giant cat that was added with the Wrath of The Druids DLC. And now, yet again, I must put my foot down. No Ubisoft, I will not ride the giant bear…even though I really want to.

Yesterday, The Siege of Paris, the second major expansion for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, was released across all major platforms. It’s good! I liked it a lot, though it does have some unfortunate performance problems, with wonky framerates and screen tearing sometimes ruining the fun. And like before, after finishing up the initial introduction mission in France, I found myself the new owner of a bear.

Ubisoft, this is getting old. First a wolf, then a giant cat, now a bear. Do you really think this will work? I’m strong, stupid, and dedicated, even for silly things like this.

Once again, I’ll let past Zack explain why I don’t ride these silly beasts of burden. Take it away!

This might seem like a weird line in the sand, but hear me out. The thing is, even as the franchise has added more mystical and fantastical bits and bobs, I’ve always been able to figure out a way to make it work in my head. Sure, in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey you can fight a minotaur. But maybe that was just a story that was told so much it became a memory. Remember, the way these games work is through the Animus, itself a bizarre piece of science that is more magical than logical. The Animus uses DNA from past people to present users with their DNA memories. (It doesn’t really make sense.) Memories aren’t perfect. In fact, in this latest game, you can choose between a male or female Eivor because the Animus doesn’t actually know the historical Eivor’s sex. So a myth someone heard their whole lives, something that might have appeared in their dreams even, could contaminate their DNA memory.

But a big wolf cat bear that someone rode for years, using it to help fight wars and save people, something thousands of other people saw, seems too much of a stretch. The Animus might not be perfect, but it’s not that bad at getting the facts right.

As always, perfectly said younger me. Good job. I’ll also add that it’s odd how nobody around Eivor reacts to her riding a giant bear or cat. They all just smile or try to kill you like normal. Nobody is going “Hey, look at that incredibly large wolf! That’s not normal! What a world we live in!”

Of course at this point, after playing the game for over 120 hours, I’m running around with Thor’s hammer and Excalibur. Plus I’m able to use magical abilities that let me slow time or heal on the fly. So it’s probably weird nobody yells about any of that stuff either, but let’s not try to poke holes in my weird hangup, especially not now. It’s far too late for that.

But if I have to be honest with you dear reader, I’m starting to feel like I’m missing out. I see all these people out there riding their giant, non-sensical animals and they are having fun. I too wish to have fun. I deserve a good t—

NO! I’m not going to break. Not yet. You almost had me, Ubisoft and Assassin’s Creed. Though with news that the publisher has plans to support Valhalla with more DLC next year, it’s likely my struggle to never ride these unusual mounts is not yet over.

 

Project Lumina has released a new trailer for Melty Blood: Type Lumina introducing playable character Kohaku (voiced by Yuuki Kuwahara).

“A trickster-type fighter with a long reach that allows her to control the battle flow, and she has a lot of freedom through her traps and attacks that come in waves,” Project Lumina said.

Here is her character description, via the game’s official website:

She and her twin sister Hisui have worked for the Tohno family since they were young. Her trademark outfit is an apron over a classic kimono. Apart from assisting Akiha, she does household chores and tends the garden.Her pharmaceutical knowledge means she is also responsible for Shiki when he falls ill. She is endlessly cheerful, always willing to help, and wears a constant smile. In battle, Kohaku can be seen wielding the sword she keeps hidden in her broom, calling on strange plants, and even dropping fire bombs from above as if by magic. How she is capable of such things is still a mystery to those around her.

Previous character trailers introduced Kouma Kishima, Arcueid Brunestud, Ciel, Akiha Tohno, Hisui & Kohaku, and Hisui.

Melty Blood: Type Lumina is due out for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC via Steam on September 30 worldwide.

Watch the trailer below.

Comment Policy

Comments are welcome and encouraged on Gematsu. However, we ask that you follow a simple set of guidelines:

• Read the full article before commenting.
• Stay on topic.
• No drive-by comments, including trolling, baiting, or shit-posting.
• Know when not to comment. If you do not care about a topic, you do not need to comment.
• No offensive comments. This includes abusive, threatening, pornographic, misleading, or libelous content / language, as well as general harassment and individual attacks.
• No port-begging.
• No console wars.
• Use spoiler tags when posting spoiler or NSFW (non-nude-only) content. For example: <spoiler>Woe is Leomon.</spoiler> State the subject of the content outside of the spoiler tags.
• Be respectful towards other commenters. You do not have to agree with each other, but debate politely. If you find that a commenter is not following this simple etiquette, do not carry on the conversation—simply report it.

Gematsu reserves the right to edit or delete any comments without notice. This comment policy is subject to change at any time.