Technology - Google News

These tech deals contain zero April Fool-ery - The Verge
After years on PlayStation, MLB The Show hits Xbox Game Pass at launch - Ars Technica
Sebastian Stan on Playing Luke Skywalker After Star Wars Icon Mark Hamill: “You Don't Want to F*** Up That Character" - ComicBook.com

These tech deals contain zero April Fool-ery - The Verge

Posted: 03 Apr 2021 06:00 AM PDT

Welcome to April. This month began with, frankly, too many brands insisting on making fools out of themselves. But now that the prankster holiday is behind us, we're focused on deals that are still happening. This has been a fun week to write about deals because a little bit of everything has seen a discount. There have been several deals lately on game subscriptions, so my colleague Taylor Lyles put together a big up-to-date guide to help you find the best prices.

Nomad's Base Station Pro is half off until Saturday night

If you have an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods and are still lamenting the fact that the AirPower charging mat never released, check out this deal. Nomad's Base Station Pro does what the AirPower promised to do — charge three devices simultaneously — and you can get it for $100 instead of $200 through Sunday, April 4th, at 2:59AM ET (Saturday, April 3rd, at 11:59PM PT) when you use the offer code VOX at checkout.

Save up to $150 on Samsung's Galaxy S21

B&H Photo is currently offering the best prices on a new Samsung Galaxy S21 phone that's carrier unlocked and works with most carriers globally. The S21 with 256GB of storage is available in the phantom gray color for $700. This is notable because it's the same price as the 128GB version at Amazon right now.

Get a year of 1Password's family subscription for half off

Verge readers can save on 1Password's password manager for the entire family (up to five people, including those who might live in a different household). One year of the service usually costs $60, but new users can sign up now and spend just $30 over the course of a year. The monthly cost is just $2.50 to get individual access to the app on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows 10, or browser. This deal expires on April 15th.

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After years on PlayStation, MLB The Show hits Xbox Game Pass at launch - Ars Technica

Posted: 02 Apr 2021 07:59 AM PDT

Enlarge / That "PS Studios" logo on an Xbox retail box still looks a bit weird...

It has been over a year now since Sony first announced it would be bringing the previously PlayStation-exclusive series MLB The Show to Xbox as early as 2021. Today, Microsoft announced even better news for Xbox-owning baseball fans: MLB The Show 21 will be included with an Xbox Game Pass subscription the day it launches on April 20.

The move means that over 18 million Game Pass subscribers will have free access to the game on Xbox One and the Xbox Series X/S, or on Android phones via xCloud streaming. That creates a bit of an awkward situation for PlayStation owners, who will have to pay individually for a Sony San Diego-developed and Sony-published game that many Xbox subscribers will get included with their subscription fee.

That's especially notable because Sony has its own subscription service, PlayStation Now, which is not getting MLB The Show on launch day (as of now, at least). Then again, PlayStation Now has famously struggled to compare to Game Pass' "day one" bluster for a while now, especially when it comes to first-party software. Sony's recent "Play From Home" initiative and the PlayStation Plus Collection have opened up access to some Sony-published titles recently, but these, too, have revolved around dated software.

MLB The Show also further establishes major sports games as a key part of the Xbox Game Pass value proposition. NBA 2K21 and Madden 21 both hit the subscription service on March 4, and NHL 21 will be coming to Game Pass in April. Those games were available for months before becoming part of the subscription service, though, making MLB The Show's launch-day availability on Game Pass all the more notable.

"As we said from the beginning, this is an incredible moment for all of us, and bringing the franchise to more players and baseball fans is something that we at MLB, MLB Players, Inc., and Xbox are all excited about," Microsoft said in its announcement today. "We can't wait for Xbox fans to experience the fastest, deepest, and most intense moment-to-moment baseball action yet."

Sony's MLB The Show franchise has been a platform-exclusive selling point since the days of the original PlayStation, when it was simply titled MLB '98. The series has been the only MLB-licensed baseball simulation video game since 2K Sports announced the end of the MLB2K series in early 2014.

"This is a very exciting moment for all of us as the storied franchise will be accessible to more gamers than before," Sony said in February when it officially confirmed the Xbox versions of the game. "We would like to thank everyone at PlayStation, Xbox, Major League Baseball, Major League Baseball Players Association, and the San Diego Studio for working diligently to bring MLB The Show to more users."

Last year saw former PlayStation exclusives Horizon: Zero Dawn and Death Stranding launch on the PC, the latter published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Microsoft, meanwhile, recently confirmed that at least "some" upcoming Bethesda titles will be exclusives to Xbox consoles and the PC following the publisher's $7.5 billion acquisition.

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Sebastian Stan on Playing Luke Skywalker After Star Wars Icon Mark Hamill: “You Don't Want to F*** Up That Character" - ComicBook.com

Posted: 02 Apr 2021 08:55 PM PDT

From the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a galaxy far, far away? Sebastian Stan says he hasn't had talks about succeeding Star Wars icon Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, but the Falcon and the Winter Soldier star isn't ruling out playing the iconic character that you "don't want to [mess] up." When Hamill reacted to Stan's uncanny resemblance to a young Luke during a joint 2017 appearance on Good Morning America, where the Star Wars veteran was asked about another actor playing the role in live-action, Hamill quipped Stan is "way too handsome" to play the farmboy-turned-Jedi before saying the Marvel star "doesn't need" his approval to be Disney and Lucasfilm's new Luke Skywalker.

"I always certainly hear about [Luke Skywalker rumors] and I'm always slightly confused because I'm like if there are these conversations happening, why isn't anybody calling me about it and having a conversation with me about it?" Stan told MTV Asia. "Like anybody, I grew up on Star Wars, and for me, Empire Strikes Back was like one of my favorite movies. And Mark Hamill is one of the most iconic personalities and Luke Skywalker's an iconic character, so obviously, it doesn't sound like it's my choice. It doesn't feel like it's up to me. Whatever that needs to be will sort itself out, and if it includes me in any way, hey — who knows."

Asked if he would like to play Luke Skywalker, Stan said he's "grateful" people see him in the role and that he's "always wondered what happens to Luke when it's the end of Return of the Jedi."

"Like where does he go, what happens to him? I think those questions would be really interesting," Stan said. "And of course, it's another one of those things where you're like, 'Well, you don't want to f— up that character. You want to get that one right.' (laughs) But anyway, we'll see."

When Stan returned to GMA in March to promote Falcon and Winter Soldier, Stan said he would only believe the Luke Skywalker rumors "if Mark Hamill calls me personally to tell me that he feels inclined to share this role with me." On Twitter, Hamill reminded hopefuls that he doesn't "have any say in casting decisions at Lucasfilm."

After portraying an aged Luke in all three chapters of the studio's Star Wars sequel trilogy, a de-aged Hamill and body double Max Lloyd-Jones played a late-twenties Luke when the character made a cameo appearance in the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian. The live-action Star Wars series is currently set five years after 1983's Return of the Jedi.

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"[Pictures online] morphed us together and I thought, 'Oh, that is kind of spooky.' But he's a wonderful actor," Hamill said of Stan during his 2017 visit to Good Morning America. "People say, 'Will you support him to be the young Luke Skywalker when they make those movies?' I thought, 'He doesn't need me. He's an accomplished enough actor to get it on his own, and I shouldn't put my thumb on the scale because it's not my choice.' It's Disney and Lucasfilm's [choice]. I don't want to cut short any other potential Lukes."

Hamill added: "But I'd love to work with him. Heck, I'd play his father any day."

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