Two pieces of good gaming news today. First: Dinosaur Polo Club has shadow dropped a brand new game today. Second, it's available for free on both PC and Mac from Itch.io. The project is called Read the F*cking Manual, or RTFM, and it is a co-op game based on working in tech support.

Dinosaur Polo Club is known for previous games Mini Metro and Mini Motorways. Both are stellar examples of simple, elegant game design, and a small group within the company took this game jam concept from passion project to a fully fledged release. 

Per the description, "Players must work together — or not — in this atmospheric game of trust and communication." The premise is that one player, the Troubleshooter, has the manual for the console, while the other player, the Terminal Operator, has to describe what's on their screen, which stays out of the Troubleshooter's sight. The workplace setting seems particularly apropos, because this is the sort of team-building activity you might do on the job that could be really fun or downright torturous depending on how much you like your colleagues. And the whole experience seems to dance around the horror genre, because there seem to be different endings depending on how much each person stretches the truth about what's really happening.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/dinosaur-polo-club-has-released-a-new-co-op-game-and-its-free-214638400.html?src=rss

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Toyota is teaming up with Daimler and Volvo to work on fuel cell technology. The Japanese company is signing on to the joint venture cellcentric that Volvo and Daimler launched back in 2020. Once it officially joins, Toyota and cellcentric will collaborate on managing the development and production of fuel cell unit cells. 

"We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to soon be joining Daimler Truck and Volvo Group as partners in building a hydrogen society," Toyota President and CEO Koji Sato said. "cellcentric which possess deep expertise in commercial fields together with Toyota ‘s over 30 years of fuel-cell development in the passenger car sector, can combine their strengths to deliver one of the world-leading fuel cell systems for heavy commercial vehicles."

It's a move that runs counter to where the auto industry has been trending. Last year, Stellantis announced that it would end its hydrogen fuel cell development program. That's the company that owns brands including Chrysler, Citroen, Fiat, Jeep and Peugeot. GM also gave up on hydrogen in 2025. Even Toyota had rethought some of its commitment to hydrogen last year, pivoting to emphasize industrial applications rather than commercial ones.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/toyotas-still-trying-to-make-hydrogen-fuel-cells-happen-202237728.html?src=rss

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The UK's Competition and Markets Authority is once more turning its lens on Microsoft. The tech company will be the focus of an investigation by the regulator to see if it can be assigned strategic market status (SMS). The CMA already has "a major concern" with Microsoft's alleged limiting of competition in the cloud space via productivity software like Word and Excel, chat app Teams, AI companion Copilot and even Windows itself. The SMS designation "would allow the CMA to act" against the company. The investigation will begin in May.

In addition, the UK regulator is also following up on an inquiry into Microsoft and Amazon from 2025, where it sought to exert more control over the domestic cloud services market. As a result of that action, the CMA said Amazon and Microsoft have agreed to a plan involving egress fees and interoperability around cloud services. "These changes will reduce expense and effort for UK customers when using more than one cloud provider," the CMA bulletin states.

The CMA has frequently had Microsoft in its sights. The company sparked an investigation in 2023 for its relationship with OpenAI and in 2024 for its actions hiring staff from Inflection AI.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-uks-antitrust-regulator-is-looking-into-microsofts-possible-monopoly-power-182221704.html?src=rss

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Amazon announced that it is adding new capabilities for ordering food delivery with its Alexa+ artificial intelligence assistant. Users will be able to place orders using natural language on Alexa+ through the GrubHub or Uber Eats platforms, provided they have an Amazon device with a large screen. First, you'll need to connect an account for those delivery services to use the feature. You can ask to see restaurants with a specific cuisine or tell the assistant to go right to a favorite spot. Once you start an order, Alexa+ will also support natural language requests and, if you ask for something generic, the assistant will match it to the most similar item on the menu. It should also support more detailed queries like "what are kid-friendly options?" and be able to submit special requests like "no onions." 

To start, this ordering capability will be available for Alexa+ customers using the Echo Show 8 or larger devices. The screen should reflect your order, with any changes shown in real time. Amazon made the Alexa+ subscription available to all US customers earlier this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/amazon-adds-dynamic-food-delivery-ordering-to-alexa-130000065.html?src=rss

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Your game collection says a lot about you. With a cute new game, you can also give your collection a space that's just as personalized. BOXROOM is a building sim where the whole purpose is creating a space to show off your game library. You can select furniture, paint and lighting, then you choose games from your Steam library to display on your virtual shelves. Titles appear in game boxes, giving it a throwback feel to the days where a game collection had to be physical. Once complete, the room serves as a launcher, allowing you to boot up a title from the game box. The demo is available now, and the team said that BOXROOM will launch in early access soon. 

This is a fun idea, although it's unlikely that you'd fit your entire collection into even this virtual space if your Steam library starts to number in the hundreds, or even thousands, of games. As with an IRL space, you'd need a warehouse rather than a cute, cozy room. But if you wanted to have a curated selection of your go-to titles in a customized virtual space, this might be a fun addition to your already sizable collection. Or, if you want a virtual reality take on a similar idea, EmuVR might be worth a look.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/boxroom-lets-you-build-a-cozy-game-room-for-your-steam-library-215349560.html?src=rss

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Another day, another announcement of game industry job cuts. The latest restructuring is happening at Eidos Montreal, which stated that 124 people are being laid off. As with so many similar cuts, the studio's LinkedIn post credited the downsizing to "a result of changing project needs and impacts across production and support teams." The company is also parting ways with its studio head, David Anfossi. 

Eidos Montreal has worked on titles within the Deus Ex and Tomb Raider franchises, as well as Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy and Marvel's Avengers games. It is one of the many companies owned by Embracer Group, which snapped up a bunch of studios but has been stuck in a downsizing in a loop following an expensive restructuring of its own gaming empire during 2023 and 2024. That activity reportedly included axing a planned new Deus Ex game that Eidos Montreal was working on.

The post from Eidos Montreal didn't specify what projects it is currently active on, although it has said it is involved with the upcoming Grounded 2 from Obsidian Entertainment and the reimagined Fable from Playground Games.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/deus-ex-game-studio-eidos-montreal-cuts-124-jobs-205057796.html?src=rss

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