GameStop’s retro gaming pivot

Less NFTs, more Nintendo Wiis.                               [The Morning After]( It's Thursday, August 29, 2024. GameStop has announced it’s launching a group of [retro game retail locations]( which will stock physical consoles, discs and cartridges from classic Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox and Sega platforms. The company announced on X it’ll cover 18 classic systems, from NES through to PS Vita. You can search for retro-friendly locations within a 100-mile radius on Gamestop’s website, but most will find these stores as rare as a mint-in-box copy of Chrono Trigger. It does make a degree of business sense for the games retailer. When most of us download our games from online stores — or get them delivered by Amazon — a combination of physical media and a degree of expertise could capitalize on GameStop’s strengths. The biggest challenge could be piracy. — Mat Smith The biggest stories you might have missed [MMORPG Blue Protocol shuts down before most people got a chance to play it]( [Apple event rumor roundup: What to expect at the iPhone 16 keynote]( [Watch out, there’s a new AI pin in town that can transcribe all your conversations]( ​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. [Subscribe right here!]( [Telegram CEO charged and released from police custody]( The billionaire must remain in France for the foreseeable future. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has been formally charged by French prosecutors and is barred from leaving the country. Durov was officially charged on Wednesday with “complicity in distributing child pornography, illegal drugs and hacking software” on the messaging app he founded. He must stay in France “under court monitoring” and check in at a police station twice a week while the investigation continues. [Continue reading.]( [Team shooter Concord doesn’t quite take off]( Despite launching across PC and PS5. [[Concord] Firewalk Studios]( It’s been a long time since we’ve had a first-person shooter from PlayStation. Firewalk Studios’ debut game, the 5v5 team shooter Concord, however, hasn’t captured the imagination of gamers. Is it the lackluster characters or the at-times unashamed Guardians of the Galaxy vibe theft? Well, they probably don’t help, but under 700 concurrent players on Steam (and no fanfare announcements from Sony on player counts / copies sold) point to a dud. Anecdotally, no one’s been asking me to play the team shooter — no one’s even asked what I thought about Concord. However, Engadget’s Kris Holt points out that PlayStation has been having a good year. Helldivers 2, published by Sony, is having a great year while the PlayStation Portal and PSVR 2 hardware continue to find willing buyers, thanks to strong support from handheld gamers. And some VR headset discounts. [Continue reading.]( [Apple’s latest iOS developer betas include an AI object removal tool]( Aw, just like Google. Apple’s latest iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1 developer betas include a few more Apple Intelligence features. The most notable is a Clean Up tool in the Photos app, very much like Google’s Magic Eraser. The Photos app will identify distracting background elements for you, so you should be able to remove them with a tap. Otherwise, you can circle or brush over an object you want to nix. The tool is compatible with every image on your camera roll too. [Continue reading.]( The Morning After is a daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you'll miss if you don't [subscribe](. Craving even more? [Like us on Facebook]( or [follow us on Twitter](. Have a suggestion on how we can improve The Morning After? [Send us a note.]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( You are receiving this email because you opted in at [engadget.com](. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe]( from this newsletter. Copyright © 2024 Yahoo. All rights reserved.