Gaming

We have the solution to Wordle on July 6, as well as some helpful hints to help you figure out the answer yourself, right here. We’ve placed the answer at the bottom of the page, so we don’t ruin the surprise before you’ve had a chance to work through the clues. So let’s dive in, starting with a reminder of yesterday’s answer.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Let’s start by first reminding ourselves of yesterday’s Wordle answer for those new to the game or who don’t play it daily, which was “CRUSH.” So we can say that the Wordle answer today definitely isn’t that. Now, with that in mind, perhaps take another stab at it using one of these Wordle starting words and circle back if you have no luck.

Hints for today’s Wordle

Still can’t figure it out? We have today’s Wordle answer right here, below. But first, one more thing: Let’s take a look at three hints that could help you find the solution, without giving it away, so there’s no need to feel guilty about keeping your streak alive — you put in some work, after all! Or just keep scrolling for the answer.

• Today’s Wordle includes the letter F.
• Today’s Wordle uses one vowel.
• Today’s Wordle conveys a sense of disdain or disbelief.

Today’s Wordle answer

No luck? Don’t sweat it — you can’t get them all! If you just want to see today’s Wordle answer to continue your streak, you can find it below.

The answer to today’s Wordle is …

SCOFF

Today’s Wordle definition

And here’s what it means, according to our good friend ChatGPT:

Tips for tomorrow’s Wordle

It might seem like Wordle is all luck, but there are a few good practices you can use to help get as many clues as possible in just a few guesses, making it that much more likely you can figure out the final word before you run out of tries. The most important guess is your first, and the trick is to load up on vowels (A, E, I, O, and U).

Some popular starting words people have had good luck with are “adieu,” “media,” “arise,” and “radio.” Just make sure not to pick a word with double letters, or you’re wasting precious guesses. The aim here is to try to figure out which vowels the mystery word contains, then layer in common consonants and close in from there.

Your second word, assuming that the first one gave you a good jumping-off point, should begin to lean more heavily on common consonants like R, S, and T. More good ones here we’ve seen are “stern,” “irate,” and “atone.” You never want to reuse any letters from a prior round that showed up as gray — you know they aren’t in the word.

Now that’s all solved and the definition is taken care of, and you’re armed with some tips to crush tomorrow’s Wordle, here are some games like Wordle you can try today.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, July 4th was a quiet day for news, but we’ve still got editorials on e-ink writing, the most-delayed video game ever and more bad news from the makers of ChatGPT.

Earlier this week, engineer and Swift developer Pedro José Pereira Vieito dug into OpenAI’s Mac ChatGPT app and found that it was storing user conversations locally in plain text, rather than encrypting them. Because that app is only available from OpenAI’s website, and since it’s not available on the App Store, it doesn’t have to follow Apple’s sandboxing requirements. OpenAI released an update that added encryption to locally stored chats.

Then, more bad news stemmed from issues in 2023. Last spring, a hacker obtained information about OpenAI after illicitly accessing the company’s internal messaging systems. The New York Times reported that OpenAI technical program manager Leopold Aschenbrenner raised security concerns, arguing that the hack implied internal vulnerabilities.

Aschenbrenner now says he was fired for disclosing information about OpenAI and for surfacing security concerns. A representative from OpenAI told The Times that “while we share his commitment to building safe A.G.I., we disagree with many of the claims he has since made about our work” and added that his exit was not the result of whistleblowing.

It adds to an increasingly messy impression of how the company’s oversight and practices can be behind those closed corporate doors.

– Mat Smith

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It sided with plaintiffs, which were, of course, companies.

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) ban on noncompete agreements was supposed to take effect on September 4, but a Texan court has postponed its implementation. “Noncompete clauses keep wages low, suppress new ideas, and rob the American economy of dynamism,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said when the rule was announced. So, surprise, a lot of companies are unhappy with the agency’s rule. Dallas tax services firm Ryan LLC sued the FTC hours after its announcement. But the Chamber of Commerce’s chief counsel Daryl Joseffer called the ban an attempt by the government to micromanage business decision.

Continue reading.

The best speakers in each category.

Picking a portable Bluetooth speaker can be tough. With so many options, finding the right mix of sound quality, durability, and portability is key. We tested dozens of speakers to help you choose, focusing on versatile portable speakers, not smart speakers. We’ve identified top performers for different needs, whether you want strong bass, long battery life, or a tough build.

Continue reading.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn has gone gold, meaning it should be all but ready for its release on July 18. Developer A44 (Ashen) has also released the game’s PC specs and 20-minutes of raw gameplay footage.

The upcoming “Souls-lite” fantasy action game stars elite soldier Nor Vanek and her furry fox-like companion Enki on a revenge quest to kill the gods of their world. She wields an arsenal of melee, firearms, and magic that can be chained to create stylish combo attacks. Nor Venek also has special traversal abilities to navigate the world, which is being besieged by the angry deities.

We last saw Flintlock during the Xbox Games Showcase a few weeks ago, but you can check out 20 minutes of new gameplay footage in the video below. Set during a later stage of the game, a synopsis adds context to the footage: “Join Nor and Enki as they prepare to step into the deserts of Wanderer’s Rest to take on the personal guard of the god Dukmar. With an entire army hunting for her, Nor will need all of her skills to make it to her eventual destination – the City of Sibyl, where she hopes the gods’ true intentions will finally be revealed.”

Here are the game’s minimum and recommended PC specs:

Minimum

• Operating System: Windows 10
• Processor: Intel Core i5-8400 / AMD Ryzen 3 3300X
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics Card: GTX 1060 / Radeon RX 580 (6GB+ RAM)
• DirectX: Version 11
• Storage: Up To 30 GB Available Space
• Additional Notes: SSD

Recommended

• Operating System: Windows 10
• Processor: Intel Core i7-8700K / AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Graphics Card: GTX 2060 Super / Radeon RX 5700 (8GB+ RAM)
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: Up to 30 GB Available Space
• Additional Notes: SSD

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn launches on July 18 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. It’s also launching day one on Xbox Game Pass. 

Early in Stardew Valley Demetrius comes to your farm and offers to set up a research project in the cave located in the northern part of your farm. The two options presented are bats, which will occasionally leave fruit in the cave, or Mushrooms, which will occasionally spawn in the cave. Demetrius appears to make the offer once you have accumulated 25,000G. This choice is permanent, so you will want to pick the option that works best for you. Here are the benefits of each choice.

Bats

If you choose the Bats, fruit will occasionally spawn in the cave. This is an excellent choice if you want to complete the community bundles as early as possible, since you will need several different kinds of fruit for certain bundles. Otherwise, you will need to plant and grow several fruit trees before waiting for the right season for the tree to grow fruit. The fruit doesn’t spawn every day, since there is only a chance, which increases if there is already some fruit in there. The fruit never despawns, so you don’t have to check every day.

Fruit is useful in the late-game too, since fruit that grows on trees is universally liked, so it’s a great steady supply of gifts for villagers. It can also be used for wine as well, which can be nice if you don’t want to dedicate a large amount of space for fruit trees. If you want a steady supply of fruit without needing trees, choose the bats.

Mushrooms

If you choose Mushrooms, six mushroom boxes will be added to the cave. Every day the boxes will each have one of the five different types of mushrooms, although the chances are heavily weighted towards the Common Mushroom.

You should choose the Mushrooms if you really enjoy exploring the Mines or Skull Cavern. The reason is that the Life Elixir item, which unlocks at Combat level 2, can be crafted using one of each of the other four mushrooms; Red, Purple, Morel, and Chanterelle. Life Elixir heals you completely and there isn’t really another way to consistently find every type of mushrooms. Outside of crafting the Life Elixir, there isn’t really another reason to choose the mushrooms. You do get a free dehydrator with the mushroom cave, but you will unlock the ability to craft them eventually.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is the latest title to join GOG’s DRM-free catalog, and it’s an extremely welcome addition. This is one of the best hack-and-slash titles from PlatinumGames that’s still an absolute blast to play.

The GOG release is basically the same as the Steam one, and from what we can tell, there aren’t any additions. This includes all three DLC missions: Blade Wolf, Jetstream, and VR Missions as well as customization options for Raiden including the White Armor, Inferno Armor, Commando Armor, Raiden’s MGS4 body, and Cyborg Ninja.

The lack of any additional improvements means that you will have to make some tweaks like you have to for the Steam version. For starters, the game doesn’t run above 1080p which can be fixed using MGROverride patch. The game also runs at 59 FPS instead of 60 FPS, which can be fixed using the SilentPatch.

Despite these issues, it’s still an absolute blast to play and runs great on the Steam Deck as well. The GOG release is currently 40% off till July 11, 2024. This brings the price down to $17. It’s also 40% off on Steam as part of the Summer Sale.

Currently, this is the only game from PlatinumGames that is currently available on GOG, but we see no reason for their other PC releases like Bayonetta, The Wonderful 101, Vanquish, and Nier Automata.

Unlike PlatinumGames, Konami has a bunch of classic titles available on GOG, and this random drop on the platform may be the publisher’s initiative.

We hope that Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is ported to modern consoles with improvements to resolution and overall texture quality. It’s an incredible action game that deserves to be played on modern platforms because it’s still stuck on older consoles, which makes PC the best version despite the uneven port.

The first Monaco released in 2013 at a point when Xbox Live Arcade had hit its stride, and there was a new appetite for the type of creative and unique game that existed below the huge budget triple-A, high-fidelity experience. Those kinds of games vastly outnumber the big-budget experiences we are familiar with today, but in 2013 we were discovering such experiences and marveling at their ingenuity. The competition is stiffer for Monaco 2 as it nears release, but creator Andy Schatz is clearly excited to revisit the criminal gameplay saying, “If Monaco 1 is about cat and mouse, Monaco 2 is about complexity and creativity.”

Like the original, Monaco 2 is a game about pulling off heists. You and a team with disparate abilities work together to enter a facility of some kind, get what you need without raising an alarm, and get it out. And if you do raise an alarm – which you will, Schatz assures – then you will still have a good time. Maybe even a better time.

The biggest surprise about Monaco 2 is immediately apparent the moment the game starts. The game is now a full 3D experience. The original game was effectively a 2D pixelated game with players controlling nondescript blocks from an overhead perspective. The game favored information over style and was difficult to read for many. Shifting to 3D leads to dozens of improvements. The different characters look very different from one another, and the sequel can now lean into an art style inspired by Saul Boss, an artist primarily known for his work on Alfred Hitchcock’s movie posters.

The switch to 3D overall improves readability for everything, and also opens up the game to more vertical options. Schatz cites big, memorable heist movies and sequences like the one from Mission: Impossible where Tom Cruise’s character hangs from the ceiling to steal data from a computer. While you may not be literally dangling from a vent and catching sweat as it rolls down your face in the game, the hope is that you will have the same fun and intense emotions.

Schatz showed off a single-player gameplay session (though not yet fully detailed, local splitscreen and online co-op will be available) where he studied the score beforehand by looking at a blueprint of the building he intended to invade. The job is to enter a guarded opera house to plant false rumors at a specific location and steal money while there.

Schatz kicks off the heist with Cosmo and Panzer, a woman in a pink dress and a cute little Pomeranian dog that she can use to distract guards. Once inside, however, he swaps to different characters to take advantage of their abilities by jumping into a house plant where, in theory, your team is hiding. It doesn’t really make sense, but that’s okay because Monaco 2 is all about using different abilities to complete different tasks.

Much of the gameplay from that point forward is about staying out of guard sight lines and tracking their movement, procuring on-site items to help you succeed, and completing objectives however possible. The level is dense and intentionally designed with a complicated layout and hidden secrets. The idea is the more you replay a level, the better you will know it, and the more prepared you will be when you return to pull another heist.

Monaco 2 does not yet have a solid release date, nor is developer Pocketwatch Games ready to share platform details beyond PC. We are overdue, however, for a good cooperative crime game that isn’t a shooter. Schatz’s presentation is promising a concentrated and deep take on the heist fantasy with Monaco’s overdue sequel.

It might have slipped through the nets of gamers worldwide, but Kien, a game that entered development in the early 2000s, has just been released on Game Boy Advance. Back in 2002, a group of aspiring developers got to work on Kien, seeking to produce a game for the GBA platform – fast-forward some 22 years and only one of the original developers remains with the project, but he never gave up hope.

From facing financial ruin to balancing game development and marketing while studying at university, Fabio Belsanti from Italy finally crossed the finish line a couple of weeks ago, releasing Kien in physical form for the Game Boy Advance after a 22-year delay.

Kien is a full-fledged GBA title that sees players assume control of either a fearless warrior or a mystical priestess, fighting through a series of environments on the way to save the planet of Malkut. Here’s the trailer for Kien:

Belsanti, who was the sole developer left working on the project when it was finally released in June, addressed why it felt like the right time to push the game into the market:

I believe we are in a phase similar to the revival of vinyl or cassettes for music – a return to previous, more primitive forms of the medium driven by nostalgia from the generations who lived those eras, and curiosity by those who came after such technology. On a romantic level, the thought of releasing the game on its original console is simply magical. To see Kien come to life on the very platform it was designed for is a dream come true.

The feedback already received on the trailers has been stellar, with retro gaming fans welcoming the arrival of an entirely new game some 15 years after the Game Boy Advance was discontinued. It promises to take them back to days gone by, fuelling their nostalgia-riddled passion for gaming that was likely kickstarted decades ago.

For more Insider Gaming, you can read about Ubisoft’s statement defending XDefiant’s bugs, and sign up to receive the Insider Gaming newsletter

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Calling all geeks, gamers, and hobby enthusiasts! Get ready for the ultimate throwback experience at the ICON Comic & Games Convention 2024: Old Skool Style! This year, we’re channelling the nostalgia of past events, celebrating the very best of tabletop and board gaming.

ICON is the longest-running consumer hobby gaming and comic event in Southern Africa. Each year, thousands of enthusiasts from across the country converge for a long weekend of interactive gameplay, comics, collectibles, hobby-related events, cosplay, and screenings. This is your chance to dive into a virtual Mecca for gamers and hobbyists!

Theme: Old Skool
After a hiatus, ICON is back, going retro and bringing you the best of past events. We’re rekindling the magic of the early days at Edenvale and Jabula Recreation Centres. So dust off your favourite board games, roll your dice, and get ready for a nostalgic journey into the heart of geekdom.

• Friday, 5th July: 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
• Saturday, 6th July: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
• Sunday, 7th July: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

• R250 for a standard weekend pass (3 days)
• R100 per day
• Tickets will be available at the door, with online sales available.

ICON 2024 is packed with activities and competitions for the geek community. Here’s a glimpse of what’s in store:

• Boardgames
• Tabletop Role-playing: Dungeons & Dragons, ICON Classics
• Geek Quiz
• Comics & Collectibles
• Movie Screening: Princess Bride
• Miniature Painting: Paint & Take
• Escape Rooms: Escape Detention
• Starfleet International
• Gaslands: Vehicle-based miniature game
• Bitty Bots: Miniature Robot Carnage
• Star Wars Legion: The Asset Organised Play Event
• Star Wars X-Wing
• ICON Blood Bowl
• Yu-Gi-Oh!: MEGA Deckmaster Event
• Pokemon TCG Tournament
• Cosplay
• Magic the Gathering

And much more! A full schedule, including evening events, will be released closer to the convention.

Want to score free tickets for the whole weekend to ICON 2024? It’s simple!

Comment below with this year’s ICON theme

Remember, the giveaway is open to all South African residents only.

The giveaway closed on 4th July @ 16:00 SAST

Congratulations To Jaydon Hermanus
You are our lucky winner – See you @ ICON – You will be contacted with details.

Established in 1992, ICON has grown into the largest and longest-running event of its kind in South Africa. It’s a vibrant celebration of gaming, comics, and popular culture, where fans of all ages and backgrounds come together to share their passions and discover new interests. ICON is more than just a convention; it’s a community of passionate individuals celebrating what they love.

For more information about the convention, visit our Facebook event page or go to www.unplugyourself.co.za. Follow us on social media: @unplugyourselfza @unplugZA.

See you at ICON 2024!

After an impressive showcase and news that Game Pass Ultimate is coming to Amazon Fire TV, Xbox is seemingly riding high again. To add to this, Xbox just announced the new titles gracing the Game Pass for July. Since Xbox usually releases monthly games in two waves, the Wave 1 titles take us up to first half of July. Here are the new games to look forward to:

Previously released on all main platforms, Journey to the Savage Planet comes to Game Pass on July 3 for the Xbox Series X|S, PC, and cloud. The game is a first-person action adventure set on an uncharted planet named ARY-26. Your task is to find out if this piece of space rock is suitable for future human colonization. Along the way, you will meet zany characters and space monsters. Don’t forget to grab a friend, since this game features co-op!

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 comes to Game Pass on July 3 for the Xbox Series X|S, PC, and cloud. This is a platform fighter that pits all of Nickelodeon’s character roster against one another. Garfield vs Korra the Avatar? You got it. Jimmy Neutron vs Squidward? Say no more! This brawler is not afraid to duke it out. Grab your friends and show them why your knowledge of Nickelodeon comes in extra handy!

Cricket 24 arrives on Game Pass on July 9 for the Xbox Series X|S, PC, and cloud. Gamers who asked for more sports titles on the platform can now rest easier as Cricket 24 and the football giant EA FC24 will delight sports fans on Game Pass.

The Case of the Golden Idol comes to Game Pass on July 9 for the Xbox Series X|S, PC, and cloud. The game is a detective sim wrapped in puzzle mystery mechanics. Discover clues surrounding 12 strange and gruesome deaths and build your own theory. Pick the suspect, find the motive, and unmask the truth. Do you have what it takes to be a master detective?

Neon White arrives on Game Pass on July 11 for the Xbox Series X|S, PC, and cloud. The game is a fast first-person action game about exterminating demons in Heaven. You play as White, an assassin handpicked from Hell to compete with other demon slayers for a chance to live in Heaven. Neon White combines single-player speed-running FPS mechanics with parkour in what promises to be a high octane rush through Heaven.

Tchia makes its way to Game Pass on July 11 for the Xbox Series X|S, PC, and cloud. The game is a mix of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild exploration mechanics and open-world with New Caledonian culture and folklore. It is a charming story with a unique art style that is sure to impress open-world and independent game lovers.

Magical Delicacy comes to Game Pass as a Day 1 new release on July 16 for the Xbox Series X|S, PC, and cloud. The game is a 2D pixel art Metroidvania featuring cooking mechanics, shop management, and town exploration. Magical Delicacy is definitely one of the most intriguing independent platformers of recent years given its attempt to juggle so many different gameplay mechanics. We hope this one comes out of the oven just right.

Flock comes to Game Pass as a Day 1 new release on July 16 for the Xbox Series X|S, PC, and cloud. Flock is a multiplayer co-op puzzle game about the joy of flying and collecting adorable creatures with your friends. Players assume the role of flying shepherds, tending to their own unique herd of flying creatures. A whimsical presentation coupled with collect-a-thon mechanics make this high flyer particularly hard to resist.

Which July Xbox Game Pass release are you looking forward to most? Let us know in the comments and on our social media. Our DMs are always open for you!

Co-development studio Tose has reported a nine-month loss of ¥367 million ($2.28 million) due to numerous projects being cancelled by its clients.

Established in 1979, Tose has a long history as a studio that specialises in working with other publishers and developers.

However, in its recent Q3 earnings report covering September 1, 2023 to May 31, 2024, the developer says its digital entertainment sector suffered a significant decline in profit, resulting in an overall loss for the period (as reported by Automaton).

Tose has gained a reputation as a ‘ghost developer’ over the decades, because of its general policy to avoid taking credit for the games it’s worked on.

As such, it’s practically impossible to create a full list of Tose-developed games, particularly those made in the ’80s and ’90s, because so many of them made no mention of the company or its staff at all.

In recent times, however, the studio’s work has been acknowledged more frequently – its website now lists some of the titles it worked on recently, inclufing the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remake, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion, Scarlet Nexus, WarioWare: Move It and Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince.

Because it mainly relies on work commissioned from other publishers, however, Tose is now suffering the knock-on effects of these publishers’ own financial troubles.

As such, it reports that multiple projects it had been working on have now been cancelled due to its clients’ policy changes, and it won’t be able to recoup profits from those games as a result of their cancellation.

It has lowered its sales forecast for the year by 12.5%, saying it expects things to remain uncertain for a while, but notes that it is working on improving its project management and plans to recover its momentum by steadily launching the games it still has in active development.

Although Tose doesn’t specify which clients have cancelled projects it was working on, the studio is a frequent collaborator with Square Enix, which confirmed in May that it had cancelled a number of unannounced game projects because they don’t fit with its new strategy.