Licensed To Nil 🚫💿

👀 TLDR

In this week’s What’s Appening, we report on Sony’s decision to stop selling physical video game discs. It might not sound like a big deal if you’re not a collector of physical media, but there’s been a huge backlash as gamers ask: who really owns the games we buy? We also have news on a new Meta app that allows you to vibe code “Gizmos”. We follow a report that the iPhone Ultra has a price point to make your eyes water. The White House and Anthropic soap opera continues with a new twist. And we’ll bring you all the latest from 3Advance.

🎬 Our Top Take

💽⛔️ PlayStation – Sony Says It Will End Physical Games by 2028

We aren’t regular purveyors of video gaming news here on What’s Appening, but a story did cross our paths this week that feels like it is a little more than meets the eye: Sony has announced that it will stop selling games as physical discs within a couple of years. Instead, you’ll get a download code for your new PlayStation game. Indeed, you will still – Sony says – be able to go to a store like GameStop and buy a game, but what you’ll get is the cover with a code inside. Now, while most will say “big whoop,” since games are all online/cloud-based these days anyway, there is an outcry about what this means. Most pertinently, there is the question: Who really owns the game? With physical media, that’s not up for debate, but it’s not so clear with digital copies – you are effectively buying a license to play the game. There is a worrying precedent to this, too, as gamers found that Nintendo was able to “brick” (basically shut off) Switch 2 consoles last year if they suspected jailbreaking. While some understand where the gaming companies are coming from – digital downloads combat piracy – there is a growing sense of unease over the rights of someone who buys a game or gaming device. For what it’s worth, Sony has been absolutely pilloried on social media for the move, so don’t be surprised if we see a U-turn. #InTheGame Read more here. 

📲 App of the Week: Pocket

Fancy trying out a bit of beginner-friendly vibe coding? There’s a good chance to do that via Meta. The social media behemoth quietly launched Pocket this week, an app that lets you build (very simple) online games called Gizmos via AI prompts. Of course, you shouldn’t expect to vibe code the next Call of Duty, but it does hint at something bigger. This “quiet” launch is a testament to the fact that not all features are widely available yet, but we think it’s a pretty good way to get a taste of vibe coding, and you can get really creative with your Gizmos. Check out how to do it here. Note that you’ll also need the Meta AI app to access Pocket. It’s here for iOS and here for Android. 

🧐 Stat of the Week: 3M Views

📈📉 World Cup – The Action Has Been Relentless (So Has the AI Spam)

Despite a controversy or two, most agree that this has been an excellent World Cup, on the pitch at least, though USMNT fans might not feel that way right now. But it’s also been marred by AI fakery going into overdrive on social media. One highly-authentic-looking post, seen by at least 3 million people, faked an image of Swedish player Lucas Bergvall calling for an end to mass migration. The biggest target? Iranian players, who had fake images of themselves with all sorts of anti-US sentiments littered across socials. Some of the images are preposterous – Adolf Hitler at a Germany match, for instance – but some of the deepfakes looked incredibly authentic. It’s worrying. #FakeCup Read more here. 

🗞️ Other Stories

📍 Meanwhile at 3Advance

So you’ve reached the end of our newsletter. You hopefully enjoyed it then! We’ve been running What’s Appening for around four and a half years and are considering its future. Should we keep going? Is it worth it? Is it time to wrap it up? We love seeing it come together, and it’s been a great way to keep in touch with all of you. We’d love to hear what you think, or if you’ve got any ideas to fund it moving forward. Sponsorship? New stewardship? Open to all your thoughts.

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