Il y a quelques semaines, Infinity Ward, qui développe Call of Duty 23: Modern Warfare 4, a publié une nouvelle vidéo sur les coulisses du développement du jeu. Ils y parlent de la manière d’adapter les animations et le comportement des armes suite à des essais avec les vraies versions sur des stands de tir. Les précédents Call of’ étaient déjà des références sur ces aspects, et on comprend pourquoi : ils mettent les moyens. Mais le plus intéressant, c’est que les développeurs sont revenus sur le bloom, un procédé qui envoie la balle aléatoirement dans un cône lorsque l’on tire à la hanche (et peut-être aussi en visant, corrigez-nous en commentaires). Dans le prochain opus, il sera tout simplement supprimé, et la zone de flou sur la mire sera réduite pour être plus réaliste, tout en permettant de mieux voir ses cibles. Cela peut paraître anodin, vu de l’extérieur, mais les habitués risquent d’être un peu chamboulés : moins d’aléatoire, donc plus de skill.
Bon, on ne va pas vous mentir, on ne porte pas particulièrement la licence Call of Duty dans notre cœur à la rédaction, mais la proposition différente du prochain épisode pourrait davantage nous intéresser – au moins pour son solo, qui ne pourra pas être pire que le précédent. Quant au multijoueur, il sera probablement très bon pour le genre, comme tous les ans. Encore faut-il l’aimer.
Call of Duty 23: Modern Warfare 4 est toujours prévu pour le 23 octobre 2026. Il sera disponible sur Steam, Battle.net et le Microsoft Store, au tarif de 70 €.
Annoncé il y a quelques jours, Blast Vein soulève de nombreuses interrogations si l’on s’en tient à son reveal trailer, qui a, cela dit, le mérite de donner le ton creepy du jeu. Heureusement, la page Steam du titre donne plus de contexte à de premières images qui ont de quoi laisser dubitatif. On y apprend notamment que le boomer shooter aura une structure roguelike dont le early game se rapprochera du survival horror, tandis que la fin de partie donnera au joueur un feeling de toute puissance à la DOOM. Le tout se déroulera visiblement au coeur d’une ambiance assez malsaine, servie par une direction artistique monochrome et glauque à souhait.
Pour l’instant, quelques questions restent en suspens, puisqu’on n’a par exemple aucune explication sur les éléments d’interface étranges en bas de l’écran. Probablement une mécanique de jeu qui nous sera révélée à l’avenir, et il y a fort à parier qu’elle sera liée aux thèmes abordés par le lore du titre. En effet, on a quelques infos à ce sujet, avec notamment un court synopsis : imaginez un comprimé qui promet d’effacer toute souffrance psychologique. C’est l’expérience que vous tentez. AXIOM vous immerge au plus profond de votre esprit et vous y met face à ce qui vous fait le plus mal. À vous de voir si vous êtes capables de le vaincre.
Une histoire qui justifie donc habilement la laideur des ennemis et l’aspect angoissant des environnements en leur donnant un sens concret dans l’esprit torturé du personnage incarné. C’est en tout cas une idée intéressante, même s’il est très surprenant de constater que le studio aux commandes du projet n’avait travaillé jusque-là que sur des jeux de petits robots trop meugnons qui n’avaient absolument rien à voir avec le genre FPS. Mais la prise de risque des devs hors de leur zone de confort ne nous décourage pas et il nous tarde d’en savoir plus sur ce titre pour le moins déroutant. Si vous êtes également dans ce cas, n’hésitez pas à mettre Blast Vein dans votre wishlist via Steam.
Dans le courant de la semaine, l’éditeur Apogee Entertainment a publié une bande-annonce pour la sortie de la nouvelle mise à jour du FPS d’horreur Total Chaos. Désormais, vous pouvez jouer au mode rétro qui utilise des assets retravaillés du mod original de DOOM II et découvrir une nouvelle fin après avoir complété le New Game+ Epilogue. Également, les devs ont amélioré les confrontations avec le Protector afin de les rendre plus fluides et intégré une carte in-game avec des repères de localisation. Pour en apprendre davantage sur les autres ajouts de cette maj, vous pouvez consulter le présent billet de blog Steam.
Même si l’aspect rétro a l’air plutôt réussi, on n’a pas vraiment eu le temps de se pencher dessus. Si vous avez pu jouer à ce nouveau mode, n’hésitez pas à nous en faire part dans l’espace commentaires. Et si vous êtes intéressé par Total Chaos, ce dernier est actuellement en promotion à -40 % sur GoG jusqu’au 1er août, soit un peu moins de 14 €, ou plein pot sur Steam ou l’Epic Games Store pour environ 25 €.
Découvert lors du Steam Néo Fest de juin, Project P.I.T.T., façonné par Froke, un développeur indépendant français, intrigue par son concept décalé. Le principe ? Fabriquer des canards en plastique afin de les jeter dans un trou sans fond. En fonction de votre score cumulé, vous pourrez acheter de nouveaux équipements qui vous permettront d’envoyer plus de canards et autres objets par la suite. Au-delà de cet aspect scoring accompagné de sons satisfaisants et d’effets visuels attrayants, se cache probablement une satire sur la surconsommation qui en demande toujours plus jusqu’au point de non-retour. Au moment où nous avions testé la démo, aucune date de sortie n’avait été communiquée. C’est maintenant chose faite, le dev a publié un billet de blog Steam pour annoncer que ce sera le 19 août prochain.
En attendant la sortie de Project P.I.T.T., vous pouvez ajouter le jeu à votre liste de souhaits Steam et même, jouer à la démo qui est toujours disponible, si vous êtes intéressés.
Comme prévu, le puzzle game Looking for Fael est sorti le 16 juillet dernier. Pour rappel, il s’agit d’un jeu un peu surréaliste développé par les Français de Swing Swing Submarine et La Poule Noire, dans lequel on doit retrouver son colocataire perdu dans des univers parallèles de notre appartement. Les premiers retours de joueurs semblent plutôt enthousiastes, mais malheureusement très peu nombreux. Tout comme ceux de la presse : on ne trouve que les avis d’une poignée de sites français, dont nos confrères de Gamekult, mais aucun internationaux. C’est ce que déplore un membre de La Poule Noire sur Bluesky, se demandant pourquoi seulement 4 % des whishlists ont été converties en achat. Si un manque de communication côté Arte France (l’éditeur) pourrait être une explication, il semblerait que Steam n’ait pas envoyé le traditionnel mail de notification de sortie.
Parce qu’on n’avait que ça à faire hier soir, on a fait un petit stream sur notre chaîne Twitch. On a uniquement joué pendant deux heures, mais on a déjà pu constater des visuels très réussis et des énigmes franchement sympas. Point positif, on peut régler le FOV. Point négatif, on se déplace un peu lentement et on ne peut pas bunny hop. On a un peu moins accroché aux puzzles façon Tetris, espérons qu’on ne reste pas trop bloqués dessus dans la suite. Bref, c’est une très bonne proposition assez originale qui se rapproche un peu d’un The Witness. On essayera de vous proposer un test complet dans les prochains jours.
Et pour soulager vos lombaires, le bureau assis/debout JUMMICO à 144 €.
Et si aucun de ces produits ne vous fait de l’œil, vous pouvez tout de même nous soutenir en ajoutant ?tag=nofrag-21 à la fin de l’URL de n’importe quelle marchandise sur Amazon et ainsi nous permettre de grappiller quelques euros fort utiles.
Les bons plans Gamesplanet
Cette semaine notre partenaire Gamesplanet propose une réduction de 10 % sur les précommandes d’Halo: Campaign Evolved. Cela fait l’édition classique à 54 € et l’édition Premium à 72 €. Attention, ce sont des clefs Microsoft Store. À noter que l’édition Premium permet de jouer dès maintenant, alors que les sans dents devront attendre le 28 juillet. Sinon, il y a plein d’autres magnifiques promotions :
Le jeu coopératif The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu semble ne pas avoir beaucoup évolué depuis sa démo, donc on attend des patchs. Mais il était prometteur. Il est actuellement à – 30 %, soit 20 €.
Sorti discrètement il y a quelques jours, le puzzle game Looking for Fael a du mal à se faire une place chez les joueurs malgré ses qualités. Il est à -10 %, soit 18 €.
Et dans tous les cas, si vous trouvez des choses qui vous intéressent, vous pouvez ajouter ?ref=nofrag à la fin de l’URL pour nous faire gagner quelques centimes. Ça arrivera dans notre porte-monnaie virtuel Gamesplanet et nous permettra de nous payer les clefs que les éditeurs ne nous envoient pas !
On termine cette page de bons plans avec notre boutique ! Si vous avez encore quelques euros à jeter par la fenêtre, on a récemment mis à jour le catalogue Spreadshirt avec les nouveauxlogos. Alors pourquoi ne pas craquer pour un body bébé, un magnet, une gourde ou un tapis de souris ?
The company has released new firmware for the EOS R6 V and R6 III.
Canon
Canon has released firmware updates for its vlogging-focused EOS R6 V, and its enthusiast mirrorless hybrid EOS R6 III, adding some new features and quality-of-life improvements.
The EOS R6 V gets the heftiest update, adding the ability to shoot flash with the camera, which the company promised at launch. This comes with a new menu that allows you to adjust your settings when using a flash, though it’s still a relatively limited implementation. To start, the camera is still primarily designed for video, so it doesn’t have any sort of mechanical shutter. This means you can only use flash at up to 1/60 sec, which will be a big limitation if you’re shooting outdoors. The camera also doesn’t have any of the traditional pins on its hotshoe, meaning your limited to flashes that work with the digital mutli-function shoe, unless you happen to have an adapter. (Sorry, fans of the Godox iT32.)
Still, it’s nice to see Canon following through on its plan to add flash support to the EOS R6 V for the niche situations where it’ll be useful. The V1.10 firmware also adds support for the BR-E2 wireless remote that Canon announced alongside the camera, allows the gridline overlay to display on the live view screen while you’re recording video and fixes several bugs.
The EOS R6 III gains a feature introduced by the EOS R6 V
The list of updates for the EOS R6 III, which, as the names imply, features very similar hardware to the EOS R6 V, is unsurprisingly similar. It too gains support for the BR-E2 and grid lines while recording, and receives several bug fixes. It also gains a feature introduced by EOS R6 V: the ability to use the AF for close-up demos setting across video modes. This feature overrides the camera’s facial recognition system if it detects that you’re holding something up to show the camera, and was previously only available in a specific mode that took away most of your manual exposure, focus and audio controls. Now, you can use it while retaining control over the rest of your image, making it much more flexible.
While it’s a relatively small feature, it’s also not always a given that manufacturers will bring features from their newer cameras to their older ones, even if it seems that they should support them. While the EOS R6 III hasn’t received all of the EOS R6 V’s video tricks, it’s nice to see that one of the camera’s quality-of-life improvements isn’t exclusive to people who aren’t as interested in photography.
The firmware updates for the EOS R6 V and EOS R6 III are available for free from Canon’s website.
About the Author: Mitchell started taking pictures at 10 and hasn’t stopped since. It’s been a wide-ranging adventure, spanning a wide variety of genres and locales, and occasionally dipping into fascinations with video and filmmaking. They honed their technical knowledge doing documentation, programing and QA, writing for The Verge, and just generally messing around on the computer to see what breaks.
Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.
Longtime Slashdot reader sandbagger shares the passing of John C. Dvorak, an early and influential technology journalist for PC Magazine. He was 80. Talking Biz News reports: Aric Mackey writes, "Widely recognized for his profound impact on the technology industry, John's career spanned decades of rapid digital evolution. He was perhaps best known for his influential, long-running column in PC Magazine and his groundbreaking work on the No Agenda podcast. Through his prolific writing, broadcasting, and distinct public voice, he helped shape critical conversations around both technology and political analysis, guiding generations of readers and listeners with his unique perspective.
"To those who knew him personally, John was far more than his public work. He was a beloved husband, devoted father, proud grandfather, and a loyal friend. Those closest to him will remember a man defined by his strong convictions, his exceptionally sharp wit, and an enduring curiosity about the world around him." Dvorak was also part of the startup team at CNET Networks, and appeared on MarketWatch TV.
The company has upgraded its existing folding phones, and added a new model in-between them.
Samsung
Samsung has announced three new folding phones, updating its existing models and adding a new one to its lineup, complete with a new form factor.
The flagship model is getting a rebrand. Formerly known as the Galaxy Z Fold series, this year’s entry is called the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. Like its predecessor, it has a 6.5″ display on the outside, and an 8″ one on the inside. As you’d expect from an “Ultra” phone, it has a triple-camera setup. The main “wide” and telephoto cameras are unchanged from the ones found on the Galaxy Z Fold 7, but the ultrawide has been upgraded from a 12MP Type 1/2.5 (25mm²) sensor with an F2.2 lens, to a 50MP one with an F1.9 lens, which Samsung says will let in 33% more light.
The camera hardware on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is largely the same as that of the Galaxy Z Fold 7, but the ultra wide camera has been upgraded with a higher-resolution sensor and faster lens.Samsung
The company says it has enhanced its HDR mode for the main camera, as well as its low-light “Nightography” mode. The phone’s 8K video also now records in the APV codec, which Samsung says “gives users greater flexibility and quality for editing and production workflows.”
Aside from the upgraded ultrawide camera, Samsung has included the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor with 12 or 16GB of memory (dependent on what storage size you get), along with a higher-capacity 5000 mAh battery, up 600 mAh from the one in the Z Fold 7. The company has also re-engineered the phone’s internal screen to make the crease less visible, while making it brighter and nicer-feeling to open. And despite all this, it weighs the same 215g (7.6oz) as its predecessor, and each half is a hair thinner at 4.1mm.
None of these improvements come cheap, though. Last year’s Z Fold 7 was $100 more than its predecessor, and Samsung has bumped the price again, with the Z Fold 8 Ultra starting at $2100 for the 256GB model.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra (left) retains more or less the same form factor that the series has always had. The new Galaxy Z Fold 8, meanwhile, adopts the “passport” size and shape that’s been popularized by other phone makers like Oppo and Google (and which Apple is rumored to adopt with its folding phone). Samsung
There is, however, now a new option below it: the Z Fold 8, which takes on a slightly different form factor. While the Ultra has a relatively tall and narrow 3:7 outer screen and a nearly-square 1.11:1 inner screen, the new model’s cover is a wider, shorter 10:16, and the inner display is 4:3. The Z Fold 8’s outer display has a 5.5″ diagonal, while the inner one is 7.6″.
While the Z Fold 7 (which was, remember, moreso the predecessor to the phone now called “Ultra”) marked a turning point as a folding phone that didn’t come with big compromises to its camera system compared to its candybar counterpart, that trend hasn’t continued with the Z Fold 8. It drops the telephone camera entirely, and its main 23mm equiv. camera is smaller, slower and lower resolution than the one on the Ultra. The ultrawide, however, is the same 50MP model.
Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra
Galaxy Z Fold 8
Galaxy Z Fold 7
Main camera
200MP Type 1/1.3 (72mm²) 24mm equiv. F1.7 (F6 equiv.)
50MP, 23mm Type 1/1.57 (50mm²) 23mm equiv. F1.8 (F7.6 equiv.)
200MP Type 1/1.3 (72mm²) 24mm equiv. F1.7 (F6 equiv.)
Ultrawide camera
50MP Type 1/2.5 (25mm²) F1.9 (11.5 equiv.)
50MP Type 1/2.5 (25mm²) F1.9 (11.5 equiv.)
12MP Type 1/2.5 (25mm²) F2.2 (F13.3 equiv.)
Telephoto camera
10MP Type 1/3.94 (10mm²) 67mm equiv. F2.4 (F22.7 equiv.)
–
10MP Type 1/3.94 (10mm²) 67mm equiv. F2.4 (F22.7 equiv.)
Size (Folded)
158 x 73 x 8.9mm
124 x 82 x 9.7mm
158 x 73 x 8.9mm
Weight
215g
201g
215g
Battery
5000mAh
4800mAh
4400mAh
Price
$2100
$1900
$2000
Not everything is a downgrade compared to the Ultra, though. The displays may be a different size, but are still just as bright, and the Z Fold 8 has the same processor and storage options. And while it’s thicker both folded and unfolded, it’s also a touch lighter. Even if you don’t prefer the more passport-style form factor, though, the price may be slightly more attractive than the Ultra’s, as the phone starts at “just” $1900.
The Z Flip 8’s camera hardware is largely unchanged; most of its improvements come from software.Samsung
Finally, Samsung has also updated its Z Flip 8, the smaller model that unfolds to be a similar size to a more traditional smartphone. The company doesn’t seem to have made any changes to its cameras – it still has a wide 50MP Type 1/1.57 (50mm²) and ultra-wide 12MP Type 1/3.2 (15mm²) – but it’s lighter and thinner than its predecessor. The company has also updated the processor to that same Snapdragon model (though there’s no option for one with 16GB of RAM like with the larger models), and has made improvements to the front screen’s interface, making it easier to use if you want to avoid opening your phone and potentially getting sucked in by feeds and apps.
The Z Flip 8 retains its position as Samsung’s least expensive foldable, but its $1200 price tag represents a $100 increase over its predecessor’s.
The Z Fold 8 Ultra, Z Fold 8, and Z Flip 8 are all available to pre-order today, and are set to become available on August 7th.
About the Author: Mitchell started taking pictures at 10 and hasn’t stopped since. It’s been a wide-ranging adventure, spanning a wide variety of genres and locales, and occasionally dipping into fascinations with video and filmmaking. They honed their technical knowledge doing documentation, programing and QA, writing for The Verge, and just generally messing around on the computer to see what breaks.
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Viltrox seems set to start selling lenses for the mount.
Viltrox
Viltrox seems poised to start selling lenses for Micro Four Thirds, according to a post on social media platform Xiaohongshu. It shows a puzzle piece about to be slotted into a hole labeled “M4/3,” and teases an announcement coming on July 23rd. While the company hasn’t posted about it on its Instagram pages, the Viltrox US account did comment on a Reddit post about the teaser, saying “Something new coming soon.”
The teaser doesn’t say what to expect, beyond having hashtags that translate to “lens.” But the idea of getting a Micro Four Thirds lens from Viltrox is exciting on its own; the company has become a major player in the world of third-party lenses, and it’s an interesting sign that it’s looking to throw at least some of its weight behind the mount, as we haven’t seen many others do so for a while.
Viltrox
There are a wide variety of companies, well known and not, making manual focus lenses for the system, and a few that continue to sell a handful of autofocus options, too. But beyond Panasonic and OM System, who also make cameras using the mount, there haven’t been any new Micro Four Thirds lenses from a major player in quite some time. Sigma used to have some options for the system, which you can still buy, but they haven’t been updated like we’ve seen with the company’s APS-C and full-frame offerings.
Of course, there are many ways to release a lens for a system. While Viltrox could come out with a lens custom-designed for Micro Four Thirds, with a sensible focal length and a small, compact size. It could also, however, just be swapping out the mount on one of its existing APS-C or, worse, full-frame designs (not that such a move would be unheard of). Even if it is a lens with a larger-than-neccesary image circle, though, it’s still a start. If whatever Viltrox releases ends up being successful, it could lead to the brand giving Micro Four Thirds more attention.
Or it could wind up being something completely unexpected, like a camera that uses the mount. It’s hard to put anything past companies at this point. Whatever it is, we won’t have to wait too long to find out.
About the Author: Mitchell started taking pictures at 10 and hasn’t stopped since. It’s been a wide-ranging adventure, spanning a wide variety of genres and locales, and occasionally dipping into fascinations with video and filmmaking. They honed their technical knowledge doing documentation, programing and QA, writing for The Verge, and just generally messing around on the computer to see what breaks.
Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.
Désormais édités par Kwalee (à qui l’on doit notamment la récente fermeture du studio derrière Luna Abyss), les devs de The Wild Gentlemen ont profité du Convergence Games Showcase pour dévoiler du gameplay de RetroSpace, un immersive sim d’horreur disco-punk à la première personne se déroulant dans l’espace. On y découvre moult façons d’utiliser l’environnement et les objets présents à notre avantage. Par exemple, un simple extincteur peut devenir un jetpack improvisé et votre vaporisateur peut être utilisé pour stun l’ennemi ou créer un piège électrique en arrosant le sol près d’un boîtier sous tension. Concrètement, il ne tient donc qu’à vous de découvrir les possibilités offertes et de résoudre de manière créative une situation donnée. Présenté comme ça, le tout a l’air plutôt fun et on a envie d’en découvrir davantage. Lors du dernier Steam Neo Fest, les membres de la rédac avaient plutôt apprécié la démo pour son univers et son gameplay, rappelant notamment sur bien des aspects System Shock 2.
Du côté du synopsis, la station spatiale dans laquelle vous vivez est entrée dans un trou noir et suite à ce fâcheux incident, une partie de l’équipage s’est transformée en monstres. Dès lors, pour sauver votre peau, vous décidez de trouver un moyen de rejoindre la Terre, quitte à condamner l’humanité. Pour le moment, RetroSpace n’a toujours pas de date de sortie. En attendant de nouvelles infos, vous pouvez toujours ajouter ce dernier à votre liste de souhaits Steam, si vous êtes intéressés.
Sony has released a teaser for a new product announcement in its cinema line. As always, the video is very short on details, showing just the silhouette of a camera, tally lights blazing and a top handle attached, and the tagline “lighting the way forward.”
The company is no stranger to posting teaser videos, but, unlike with the one for what turned out to be the RX10 V, it isn’t giving a lot of time for hype to build. The video says the announcement is coming on July 22nd at 7 AM PT (15:00 BST), which is just around 24 hours after the video was published. Whatever the camera is, it seems we won’t have to wait long to get more details.
About the Author: Mitchell started taking pictures at 10 and hasn’t stopped since. It’s been a wide-ranging adventure, spanning a wide variety of genres and locales, and occasionally dipping into fascinations with video and filmmaking. They honed their technical knowledge doing documentation, programing and QA, writing for The Verge, and just generally messing around on the computer to see what breaks.
Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.
ACR has a new feature that lets you see where your camera’s focus point was set to
Adobe
The latest version of Adobe Camera Raw, 18.4.1, started rolling out a few weeks ago, but it quietly introduces a feature that I’ve personally wanted for years: the ability to see where your camera’s focus point was set to. This makes it much easier to tell whether it was your camera’s autofocus system that messed up, or if you simply put the focus point in the incorrect place (which is especially important when, say, you review cameras for a living).
The way it works is relatively simple (if a bit of a finger workout): you open up a Raw in ACR, and press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + O on Windows, or Command + Option + Shift + O on Mac. You can also right click on the image and select the “Show Autofocus Points” option. After you do, ACR will draw a red box around the camera’s selected focus point or area.
Screenshot: Mitchell Clark
While the feature isn’t a fool-proof way of assigning blame for an out-of-focus image – if the box is in the wrong place, it could either mean that you put it there in error, or that your camera’s tracking failed – it’s still very nice to have access to this information without having to view it on your camera’s screen, or in camera makers’ own software. Sometimes it’s just nice to be able to check where you were trying to focus, or, to pick a random example, to see where the photographers from your favorite camera review site were focusing in the images they uploaded to their sample galleries.
Currently, the feature is available for Raw files from Canon, Sony and Nikon cameras. We confirmed that we weren’t able to see autofocus points from the most recent cameras from any other manufacturer, so hopefully Adobe will expand the models it’s available to in the future. We’d also hope that this feature, which is currently only available in Photoshop’s ACR module, makes its way to Lightroom and Lightroom Classic, too.
ACR 18.4.1 also adds a “presentation” mode that shows the photo you’re editing full-screen with a customizable matte around it, and which lets you use the arrow keys to move through the photos you currently have open within the tool. It also lets you use the company’s AI-powered “Generative Expand” feature to fill transparent edges, and improves bidirectional gradient masks, adding support for feathering and giving you more precise control over them. You can download the update through the Creative Cloud app, or via the standalone installer.
About the Author: Mitchell started taking pictures at 10 and hasn’t stopped since. It’s been a wide-ranging adventure, spanning a wide variety of genres and locales, and occasionally dipping into fascinations with video and filmmaking. They honed their technical knowledge doing documentation, programing and QA, writing for The Verge, and just generally messing around on the computer to see what breaks.
Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.
Vous souvenez-vous de vos après-midi d’hiver passées sur votre bonne vieille PS3 devant Shaun White Snowboarding, ou encore plus récemment de Steep, qui offrait des sensations de glisse et de liberté inégalées alors que vous y traversiez les Alpes en hors-piste ? Eh bien sachez que Dieathlon offre une expérience qui n’a à peu près aucun point commun avec ces jeux-là. Non, ici, il s’agit de survivre à des hordes de monstres assoiffés de sang alors que vous dévalez une montagne à toute vitesse en shootant tout ce qui bouge. Original, non ?
Au développement, on retrouve le petit studio Long Void Games, qui en est pour ainsi dire à son coup d’essai, et a récemment dégoté l’éditeur Loopr Partners (uniquement connu pour Zombutcher, un jeu plutôt glauque bourré d’AI slop). Et si, certes, on comprend au premier coup d’oeil que les visuels rugueux ne sont pas ceux d’un AAA, le concept du titre pourrait faire mouche si bien exécuté. Car oui, côté gameplay, les sensations n’ont pas l’air trop mauvaises. On pourrait presque qualifier le jeu de rail shooter, mais en vue subjective et avec une bonne dose de nervosité.
Même si le déroulé d’une session reste légèrement floue, il semble que l’expérience s’articule selon un système inspiré des roguelikes, puisque des « runs » sont évoquées, elles-mêmes composées de niveaux et entrecoupées par de nouvelles compétences à débloquer. Avec différents passages secrets et embranchements au cours des zones, on peut s’attendre à une bonne rejouabilité. Ainsi, d’une façon similaire à une campagne de Star Fox, chaque run pourra varier de la précédente en empruntant des niveaux différents et en tentant d’optimiser son score.
Difficile de dire si Dieathlon méritera notre argent à ce stade. La perspective de dévaler les pistes un shotgun à la main et de se défouler un bon coup donne envie de s’essayer au titre, mais il y a de quoi se demander s’il saura nous tenir en haleine plus d’une poignée d’heures. C’est donc avec autant de prudence que de curiosité que nous resterons à l’affut des prochaines nouvelles au sujet du projet, qui devrait pointer le bout de son nez sur la fin de l’année. Quoi qu’il en soit, si le jeu vous intéresse, on vous invite à jeter un oeil à sa page Steam et à l’ajouter à votre liste de souhaits.
A new enforcement push goes after suspected DJI clones and leans on the FCC’s recently expanded power to shut off previously‑approved gear.
Xtra
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is proposing a retroactive ban on suspected DJI‑linked drones and cameras, affecting products sold under brands like Xtra and Skyrover. The move escalates last week’s announcement of proposed $25,000 fines against eight companies that allegedly ignored FCC inquiries about DJI‑related gear marketed in the U.S., penalties that were technically for non‑response rather than the hardware itself.
In the past, the FCC’s decisions generally couldn’t touch products that were already approved, but a recent rule adjustment changed that. As The Verge reported, in late 2025, the Commission amended its equipment‑authorization rules so it can now restrict the import and sale of previously approved devices from companies on its national‑security “Covered List,” without formally revoking those original approvals or disabling gear that’s already in users’ hands.
DJI itself was added to the Covered List in late 2025 after a national‑security review under the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, a designation that already blocks new DJI radio‑equipped products from receiving FCC approval in the U.S.
Skyrover’s X1 drone has drawn scrutiny for its close resemblance to DJI’s Mini‑series designs and its ties to SZ Knowact, a manufacturer named in the FCC’s DJI‑linked enforcement action.Skyrover
This could be the first time the FCC uses its new power, with potential bans on products from Cogito, Fikaxo, Lyno Dynamics, Skyhigh Tech, Spatial Hover, SZ Knowact, WaveGo, Xtra and XAG. The Commission says those products “pose an unacceptable risk” to U.S. national security because they are suspected of containing DJI‑designed radio components under different brand names.
Those who already own products from the at-risk companies won’t be impacted by the FCC’s decision and can continue using them. However, affected drones and cameras are expected to disappear from major online retailers and from the brands’ own sites if the order is finalized, and unsold inventory in the U.S. could need to be written off.
The FCC is accepting public comments for 30 days, so the ban won’t take effect immediately. The Commission says it will consider “specific evidence” that might show the products are compliant, though, as The Verge points out, the organization doesn’t have a great track record of listening to public sentiment. If you would still like to voice your opinion, you can do so via the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System on the FCC website.
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It only takes one step, but there’s more you should know
DPReview
It’s been about two weeks since we launched the new DPReview website, and our team is still hard at work. Along with fixing some critical behind-the-scenes bugs, we’ve been collecting your feedback and have already made some fixes where we could act quickly, with much more to come.
In the whirlwind since launch, however, there’s one new feature we haven’t talked about much: it’s now possible to see fewer ads on DPReview.
Ads were a source of frustration on the legacy site, and the new site gives you an easy way to cut down on them.
How to see fewer ads
It’s simple: use DPReview while logged in. That’s it. Logged-in readers see fewer ads, particularly the most disruptive kinds, like motion-heavy and video ads.
To be clear, this isn’t an ad-free experience; you’ll still see ads, just fewer of them. Consider it our way of thanking logged-in readers for your support as we continue to improve the ad experience for everyone.
Don’t have a DPReview account? Now’s a great time to create one. Just click the Register link to get started.
The Sign In link appears in the upper-right corner of the website (L) or in the mobile menu (R). You can also register to create a new account.
We know nobody loves ads. Believe me, we don’t either, but they’re a necessity to keep the site running. It costs real money to operate DPReview, and advertising is an important part of how we cover those costs. It’s not our only source of revenue, but it’s one of the things that lets us offer all of our content for free, whether you visit every day or once in a blue moon.
We also get why people use ad blockers. The reasons aren’t lost on us. We just ask you to keep one thing in mind: when you block ads, you’re not only preventing us from earning revenue, you’re actively costing us money. A photography-rich site uses a lot of bandwidth, and that’s a big part of our expenses. Every time you load our content without ads, we lose money, which makes it harder to do things like pay our writers and maintain our servers.
So if you’ve been browsing with an ad blocker, we ask that you try the new site without it (while logged in). We think you’ll find the ads less intrusive than they were on the legacy site, and you’ll be helping us stay on the internet.
In case you missed it
If you haven’t seen our earlier coverage about the new website, a few links are worth your time:
Gear Patrol founder and CEO Eric Yang – a DPReview user for over two decades – wrote about why we needed to rebuild the site from the ground up, including some helpful historical perspective.
Finally, thank you for bearing with us as we improve the site. We know some things aren’t working as expected and that there’s plenty left to fix and improve. We appreciate your patience while our team works overtime to address those issues so we can remove the beta logo from the site.
About the Author: Dale Baskin is a professional photographer, writer, and filmmaker based in the Pacific Northwest. He is the Managing Editor of DPReview.com.
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The Peak Design Field Bracket is designed as a modular system with optional accessories for greater versatility.
Peak Design
Peak Design’s latest product is much more than just a standard L-bracket.
After becoming a go-to brand for tripods and various ways to carry your camera around, Peak Design is tackling the next piece of the puzzle: the L-bracket. As is its usual style, the company isn’t content with simply making a piece of hardware that makes it easy to switch between portrait and landscape shooting. Instead, it has built the Field Bracket as a modular system, launching it alongside additional accessories that aim to solve multiple issues.
The Field Bracket takes design cues from the “Field” tripod plate the company released last year. Like the Field Plate, the L-bracket doesn’t require a tool for installation. Instead, it uses the company’s “Field Latch” mechanism, which features a tab that pops up with the press of a button, turning into a thumb-drive handle. That means no more relying on having a hex tool on hand at all times.
The bracket is modular, so it can be used as a low-profile base plate as well. It’s designed to fit into Arca-style tripod heads without a separate plate.Peak Design
The tool‑free design makes it quick and easy to attach the part of the bracket that goes up the side of the camera, transforming from a simple base plate into a full L‑bracket for shooting in portrait orientation on a tripod. Users can also adjust the upright position to provide room for tethering cables, making it easier to use in a studio setup. The Field Bracket is camera-specific, with versions for select Sony, Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm and Leica camera systems.
Peak Design says that the Field Bracket is the base of a modular system of accessories. In that spirit, it’s also launching the Beacon Finder Tag, a smaller version of its card-sized tracker that it released with its wallet system and which ties in with Apple’s Find My ecosystem. Peak Design says the tag is the first tracker specifically designed to fit in Arca-compatible camera plates, offering a discreet way to keep track of camera gear.
The Cheese Plate, Hand Strap and Beacon Finder Tag are all optional accessories sold separately. Peak Design
The company has also created a few additional new accessories for the Field Bracket. Its Cheese Plate adds 1/4″-20, 3/8″-16 and cold shoe mounting points for adding accessories like lights, mics, monitors and more. There’s also a hand strap, making it easier to work handheld with it attached to your camera. No matter which accessories are attached, Peak Design says all your camera’s ports and controls will remain easily accessible. It also allows full integration with existing Peak Design accessories, such as its camera straps and Capture Clip.
As is typical for Peak Design product launches, the new gear will first be available via Kickstarter (its 17th such launch). The Kickstarter campaign will allow users to purchase the system at a discount before the retail release. The camera-specific Field Brackets have an MSRP of $150, while the Cheese Plate, Hand Strap and Beacon Finder tag will be sold separately, starting at $40.
Press release:
Peak Design Rethinks the Traditional L-Bracket with New Field Bracket System
A tool-free, modular L-bracket system that gives photographers flexibility on and off their tripod
San Francisco, CA (July 21st, 2026) – Peak Design, Peak Design, a global leader in camera accessories and everyday carry solutions, is proud to announce Field Bracket™, a modular L-bracket system that eliminates many of the compromises of traditional L-brackets. While L-brackets have become indispensable for quickly switching between portrait and landscape tripod shooting, they’ve remained largely unchanged, fixed in form, and often at odds with the rest of a photographer’s kit. Peak Design’s Field Bracket rethinks this accessory category with a modular design that adapts as photographers’ needs change.
At the heart of Field Bracket is a camera-specific baseplate precision-machined from recycled aluminum to hug the contours of each supported camera body. Using Peak Design’s custom Field Latch™ mechanism, photographers can attach or remove Field Bracket’s upright in seconds without tools, transforming the system from a low-profile baseplate into a full L-bracket for portrait tripod shooting. The upright can also be repositioned to provide clearance for tethering and other connected cables, allowing photographers to keep their camera mounted on a tripod without disrupting their workflow.
Field Bracket serves as the foundation for an expandable system. The optional Beacon Finder Tag is the first tracker specifically designed to fit inside an Arca-compatible camera plate, offering a discreet way to help locate and secure camera gear without the bulk of conventional tracking solutions. For added versatility, photographers can replace Field Bracket’s upright with the optional Cheese Plate, creating a lightweight rig with 1/4″-20, 3/8″-16, and cold shoe mounting points for lights, microphones, monitors, and other accessories. For handheld shooting, users can also add the optional Hand Strap, which integrates directly with Field Bracket to provide greater comfort and security. Across the system, Field Bracket preserves access to camera ports and controls while cleanly integrating with Peak Design Capture, Peak Design camera straps, and a wide range of third-party accessories.
“The best camera accessories disappear into your workflow until you need them. That idea shaped every decision we made with Field Bracket,” commented Peak Design Founder and CEO, Peter Dering. “Instead of asking photographers to permanently attach functionality they only use some of the time, we built a system that can transform in seconds while remaining just as rigid and dependable as a traditional L-bracket.”
Field Bracket will launch on Kickstarter as part of Peak Design’s 17th crowdfunding campaign beginning July 21. Customers will have an opportunity to pre-order the system at a limited-time discount before its retail release. Camera-specific Field Brackets will be available for select Sony, Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, and Leica camera systems. The optional Cheese Plate, Hand Strap, and Beacon Finder Tag will be sold separately, allowing photographers to configure the system around their individual needs. Field Bracket carries an MSRP of $149.95, with optional accessories beginning at $39.95.
About the Author: Abby Ferguson holds an MFA in photography and blends a fine-art background with extensive editorial and commercial experience. She built and led an in-house imaging program for a large vacation rental company and has served as an associate editor at Popular Photography. She also teaches at a local community college and serves on its Photographic Technology Program Advisory Board, sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm for the medium.
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Ce qu’il y a de beau avec l’industrie du jeu vidéo, de nos jours, c’est que n’importe quel développeur solo un peu créatif et motivé peut pondre le prochain gros carton du milieu. Bon, il y a peu de chances que ce soit le cas pour Travel Knight Adventure, mais après avoir découvert ce petit jeu indé aux atours fort sympathiques, on s’est dit qu’il valait au moins la peine qu’on vous en touche deux mots.
Pour la remise en contexte côté développement, il s’agit ici du projet d’une unique personne, dont le travail avait déjà pu être observé sur la petite expérience d’arena shooter déjantée FFFF YOU MACHINE, qui, à défaut d’avoir réuni énormément de joueurs, a visiblement été appréciée par chacun d’entre eux pour son concept et ses sensations réussies. Il ne s’agit pour l’instant que d’une démo, si jamais vous voulez y jeter un oeil via Steam.
En ce qui concerne Travel Knight Adventure, on est sur un projet au ton très différent, porté sur l’exploration, et dont la direction artistique, le sound design et l’ambiance au global donnent un rendu très cozy à l’expérience de jeu. On s’y balade dans un open world dit dénué de génération procédurale, vous invitant à traverser forêts, cités et donjons sinueux. Mais si la promenade semble paisible aux premiers abords, le système de combat, lui, se veut au contraire assez nerveux, recelant de nombreuses armes et possibilités à travers une composante RPG non-négligeable.
En effet, le titre n’a pas peur de mixer les flingues, les épées ou encore la magie, ce qui passe notamment par la complétion d’un arbre de compétences au fil du voyage, afin d’orienter votre style de jeu. Il semble même que les JRPG à l’ancienne aient mis leur grain de sel dans la formule, puisqu’une world map apparaît lors des déplacements en bateau ou à cheval. De quoi attiser la curiosité, même si le culot du mélange des genres peut faire un peu peur quant à la maîtrise globale.
Ce qui est sûr, c’est que malgré le polish encore requis côté UI et autres, le jeu a l’air très fun à parcourir. Bien entendu, le développement prend du temps, déjà en cours depuis plusieurs années, mais il est rassurant de constater la rigueur avec laquelle fleewortep donne des nouvelles des features qui progressent via des billets de blogs réguliers. De notre côté, on a hâte d’en savoir plus et on croise les doigts pour que ça donne quelque chose de solide ! Et si c’est votre cas, n’hésitez pas à tester la démo déjà disponible ou encore à mettre Travel Knight Adventure en wishlist via sa page Steam.
À l’occasion des 25 ans de la licence d’Operation Flashpoint, le studio Bohemia Interactive avait annoncé une surprise, à savoir qu’Arma: Cold War Assault aurait sa version remastérisée prochainement. Il n’aura pas fallu attendre très longtemps étant que donné que ce remaster est sorti ce 16 juillet, accompagné d’un trailer de lancement et du classique billet de blog Steam. Pour les heureux possesseurs du jeu de base, Arma: Cold War Assault Remastered vous est offert. Si vous êtes trop nostalgiques de vieux polygones des années 2000, la version d’origine reste toujours disponible et est entièrement dissociée de sa version remaster, ce qui signifie que vos profils et sauvegardes ne sont pas compatibles entre ces deux builds. Désormais, vous pouvez profiter des nombreuses améliorations qui ont été apportées, à savoir :
La prise en charge du système natif 64 bits pour Windows et Linux
Le nouveau moteur graphique OpenGL3.3 préservant l’atmosphère d’origine
Le support des résolutions et périphériques modernes, incluant les écrans larges
Une meilleure prise en charge de la spatialisation audio
Une amélioration de la stabilité et des performances pour les systèmes actuels
Le multijoueur en LAN, la prise en charge de serveurs dédiés et un chat vocal
La fonctionnalité (non finalisée) pour rejoindre des missions
Également, le studio informe que le code source du moteur est désormais accessible au public sur GitHub, sous le répertoire BohemiaInteractive/cwr.
Si vous êtes intéressé par cet opus remastérisé de la licence Arma, vous pouvez vous le procurer sur Steam pour environ 10 €.
The experimental tools enable distraction removal, art style–based edits and more, but only for a small subset of users.
Adobe
Last year, Adobe’s Nextcam team launched Project Indigo, an experimental camera app for iPhones that offered full manual controls and promised a more natural look from smartphone photos. Now, the team has announced AI Playground, an experimental generative AI tool inside of Project Indigo.
In its announcement, Adobe explains that text-based editing (e.g., asking an AI chatbot to make changes to a photo for you) is still clunky, both in its results and usability. This new tool aims to improve that experience by keeping more of the process – both capture and edit – in one app. It says that AI Playground aims to “explore how generative AI can assist mobile photographers at the point of capture.”
AI Playground offers a handful of buttons that, when tapped, trigger specific generative AI prompts engineered by Adobe. These include options for removing distractions, creating a shallow depth of field, applying certain styles, changing lighting and critiquing photos. There’s also a Custom Edit button where users can input their own prompts, either via typing or dictation. For now, Adobe says it is using Google’s Nano Banana model, but that is subject to change, and may even change on a per-button basis.
For now, the AI Playground offers four different buttons: Object Editing, Styles, Photo Guidance and Custom Edit.Adobe
The “Styles” button allows users to apply a range of preset styles, turning photos into drawings or paintings or changing the lighting. Adobe says the available options “represent techniques we have found to be most successful when applied to everyday snapshots,” so it isn’t an endless list. It also clarifies that it trained the model to identify and highlight the main subject to keep focus on the most important parts of the photo.
The AI Playground allows users to remove distractions in the camera app, instead of opening a separate editing app. Adobe
Object Editing offers tools familiar to editing apps, but Adobe says it is “exploring whether simple editing operations can be performed in the camera app using a generative model.” There are buttons for removing distractions and creating a shallow depth of field. If those specific tools don’t cover what you are looking to do, the Custom Edits button lets you change almost anything, similar to standalone generative AI tools. That includes completely swapping out backgrounds and specifying different styles. Adobe also showed off the ability to turn a drawing into a photo-like image, or change a sculpture into a “real” person.
The AI Playground lets you completely reimagine photos, including turning sculptures or paintings into photo-realistic-style people or scenes. Adobe
Adobe also highlighted the feedback section, which looks to be a more robust version of Google’s “Camera Coach,” albeit one that critiques photos after the fact, rather than giving you suggestions as you’re composing. It says that it is aimed at helping users learn or advance their photography by providing critique. The tool can provide both reshooting suggestions since it operates within a camera app, along with editing suggestions. Adobe says it is “working on customizing these prompts to reflect individual phone models and lenses, each of which has unique capabilities,” so that users get suggestions specific to what their phone is capable of.
There are some caveats with the AI Playground. First, while it’s free (for now) and doesn’t require sign-in, Adobe is only rolling this out to a small percentage of Project Indigo users. It says that if AI Playground is successful, there will be a paid version. Adobe also makes it clear that this is an experiment inside of an experimental app, so things are subject to change. You need to be connected to the internet to use AI Playground, and to save transmission and generation time, images are 2K pixels on a side.
The critique tool can provide detailed feedback on how to improve an image. Adobe
The Nextcam team also explains that it has had to create a workaround for HDR images, as image-generation models only output SDR images at this point. So, if you use Nano Banana to edit an HDR photo (even one taken with Project Indigo), it will produce an SDR image. To address this, Adobe says it built a custom ML model to post-process the SDR image and boost it back to HDR, but warns that it isn’t always accurate.
The announcement also briefly addresses ethics as well. Adobe says it is “working to attach metadata to AI-edited images produced from the AI Playground by using technology from Adobe’s Content Authenticity Initiative,” and specifies that some models, such as Nano Banana, apply invisible watermarks to images. At the end of the day, though, Adobe puts the onus on users: “Whether the edits you apply are ‘fair’ or ‘misleading’ depend on what you do, who you share the images with, and how you present them.”
The AI Playground means you can completely alter a photo with a simple prompt. Adobe
Ethics aside, it seems like an interesting move for the app, given that the original goal of Project Indigo was to produce more natural images that offer “SLR-like” quality from your iPhone. DPReview’s Dale Baskin even chose Project Indigo as his Gear of the Year last year, because it unlocked the ability to take more natural images, encouraging him to use his phone for photos more often. The AI Playground tools, however, seem to take things in a very different, more synthetic direction.
Additionally, the results, at least for now, don’t necessarily inspire confidence. The image at the top of this article looks more like a video game rendering than a photograph, with a distinctly synthetic sheen rather than the ‘natural’ look Indigo set out to offer. Plus, in some instances, such as the cycling image above, Adobe acknowledges that the models will change details that you don’t want changed. That includes altering face shape and expressions, even if it isn’t part of the user’s prompt or intent. The company’s workaround is to upload reference photos, which certainly isn’t ideal.
For those interested in testing AI Playground, you’ll need to update the Project Indigo app to version 1.1. If you are one of the selected users, you’ll see a screen pop up inviting you to use the feature. If you’re not a fan of GenAI in your camera app and you get invited, you can simply decline and keep using Project Indigo as you did before. Adobe also says that the Nextcam team is working on non-GenAI computational photography features that it plans to launch soon.
About the Author: Abby Ferguson holds an MFA in photography and blends a fine-art background with extensive editorial and commercial experience. She built and led an in-house imaging program for a large vacation rental company and has served as an associate editor at Popular Photography. She also teaches at a local community college and serves on its Photographic Technology Program Advisory Board, sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm for the medium.
Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.
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