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2026-04-10 16:06:15

Google has removed popular psychological horror game Doki Doki Literature Club! from the Play Store. According to Dan Salvato, who led its development team, and publisher Serenity Forge, Google told them the visual novel was removed because it violated its Terms of Service in its depiction of sensitive themes. The game is “widely celebrated for portraying mental health in a way that meaningfully connects deeply with players around the world,” they said in their announcement. Its free version, which came out first, has been downloaded at least 30 million times, while the paid “Plus” version has had at least one million downloads. The visual novel has repeatedly made Engadget’s lists of favorite games over the years.

Doki Doki Literature Club! has the drawing style and the makings of a typical dating sim, but players find themselves confronted with serious themes, including depression and suicide, soon after starting. Its Play listing was appropriately marked as “Mature 17+,” which means that children won’t be able to download it if their devices have parental controls. In addition, the developers clearly communicate that the game tackles serious issues. "This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed" is the first line of the game. "In-game content warnings for such material can be enabled in the Settings menu at any time,” it also warns players. In settings, there’s link to a page that lists content warnings that apply to the visual novel.

We’ve asked Google for a statement on why the game was removed, and we’ll update this post when we hear back. Salvator and Serenity Forge said they’re doing everything they can to “find a path forward for getting DDLC reinstated on the Google Play Store.” They’re also looking at other methods of distribution for Android devices. At the moment, the game’s Play listing shows that it’s still not available, but it’s still out on Steam, PlayStation, Switch eshop and iOS.

2026-04-10 14:27:05

OpenAI has closed a yawning gap in its ChatGPT subscription pricing with a new $100 per month Pro plan that slots between the $20 per month Plus plan and $200 per month Pro plan. Offering five times more Codex than the $20 option, it appears designed to challenge Anthropic's $100 per month Claude option. "Compared with Claude Code, Codex delivers more coding capacity per dollar across paid tiers," an OpenAI spokesperson told TechCrunch. 

So what's the difference between OpenAI's two Pro plans? The $200 version does offer four times the Codex. However, you get the same advanced tools and models with $100 plan, according to OpenAI's product page. To encourage users to jump in, it will offer double the Codex for a limited time, or 10 times what you get with the Plus plan. 

Users have been screaming for such a plan for a while now, according to posts on OpenAI's developer community forums. "The Plus plan will continue to be the best offer at $20 for steady, day-to-day usage of Codex, and the new $100 Pro tier offers a more accessible upgrade path for heavier daily use," OpenAI said in a post on X. 

With the launch of GPT 5.2 late last year and GPT-5.3-Codex in February, OpenAI significantly boosted the speed and reasoning capabilities of Codex, giving developers a tough choice between ChatGPT and Claude Opus. However, the sticking point for many power users was ChatGPT's $200 per month price — so OpenAI no doubt hopes the new plan will convince those on the fence to switch. 

2026-04-10 06:59:41

Apple is closing three of its retail stores this summer, including its first location to unionize. The tech company said it plans to permanently close Apple Store in Trumbull, CT, Escondito, CA, and Towson, MD. The Apple Store location in Towson, was the first where unionized workers and Apple reached a contract agreement back in 2024. 

MacRumors published a statement from Apple confirming the closures. The company credited noting "the departure of several retailers and declining conditions" at the shopping centers where this trio of stores are housed as the reason for ending operations. "Our team members at Trumbull and North County will continue their roles at nearby Apple Retail stores," the statement reads. "Towson employees will be eligible to apply for open roles at Apple in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement." We reached out to the company for additional comment, and were sent the same statement. 

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which leads the union the Towson workers had joined, released a statement about the closure. "Apple’s claim that the collective bargaining agreement prevents relocation is simply false and raises serious concerns that this closure is a cynical attempt to bust the union," the organization said. "We are exploring all legal options and will work with elected officials and allies to hold Apple accountable."

2026-04-10 05:49:14

A film adaptation of Metal Gear Solid is in the works again, this time from filmmakers Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, the directors of Final Destination: Bloodlines, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The duo are reviving the project at Columbia Pictures as part of a new first-look deal with Sony, the latest attempt in what's been multiple decades of work to turn the blockbuster stealth game into a blockbuster film.

"Metal Gear Solid was nothing short of a groundbreaking cinematic masterpiece that forever revolutionized video games," Lipovsky and Stein said in a statement. "We are thrilled and honored to bring Hideo Kojima's iconic characters and unforgettable world to life."

Lipovsky and Stein's horror bona fides helped make Bloodlines a critical and commercial hit when it came out in 2025, and the directors have a variety of other IP-focused genre films in the works, including a sequel to Gremlins for Warner Bros. and an animated Venom movie for Sony. It remains to be seen how exactly the duo will translate Metal Gear Solid's unique quirks to film, though.

Metal Gear Solid is heavily indebted to director Hideo Kojima's own taste in action and spy cinema, while also being in conversation with video games themselves in a way that wouldn't naturally translate to film. And even if you removed those metatextual rough edges, can it really be Metal Gear Solid without Kojima's equal parts charming and awkward writing? 

Attempts to create a film version of the game date back to 2006, when Kojima first shared that an adaptation was in the works. Columbia Pictures announced a new version of the film in 2012, with Avi Arad, former head of Marvel Studios, producing. In 2014, Jordan Vogt-Roberts, the director of Kong: Skull Island, was attached to direct that adaptation. And six years after that, Oscar Isaac was reportedly cast as Solid Snake. Arad and his son Ari Arad are still producing this latest take on the game, but with Lipovsky and Stein in charge, that older version of Metal Gear Solid is likely dead. Still, hope springs eternal that we’ll get to see a man hide in a cardboard box on the big screen someday.

2026-04-10 04:08:00

You may already know that emulators can run Wii games on a Mac. But one developer has flipped the script. Bryan Keller now has an ancient version of the Mac's operating system running on Nintendo's 2006 game console (via Kottke). Why? Because they said it couldn't be done.

The developer first had the idea in 2013 while a sophomore in college. However, they found renewed motivation five years ago when Redditor u/CussdomTidder posted, "There is a zero percent chance of this ever happening."

YouTube / ESPN / Netflix

Keller used that as fuel to begin plugging away, "feeling encouraged" by the anonymous contrarian. Thus began the process of porting Mac OS X 10.0 (Cheetah) onto a device designed to play Wii Sports and Super Mario Galaxy.

"Last year, when I saw that Windows NT had been ported to the Wii, I felt a renewed sense of motivation," Keller wrote. "Even if my lack of low-level experience resulted in failure, attempting this project would still be an opportunity to learn something new."

Bryan Keller / GitHub

Keller noted that the Wii is a phenomenally hackable console, with other enterprising hackers porting Windows 95 and NT, Linux and NetBSD onto it. Nintendo's system also runs a PowerPC chip similar to those found in older Macs. "Given this close lineage, I felt confident that the CPU wouldn't be a blocker," they wrote. From there, Keller wrote a custom boot loader, patched the kernel and wrote new drivers. They even got the Wii's USB ports working for mouse and keyboard input.

Tthe developer found the process "deeply satisfying," especially given the initial doubt. (I'm talking to you, disparaging Redditor.) "In the end, I learned (and accomplished) far more than I ever expected," Keller wrote. "And perhaps more importantly, I was reminded that the projects that seem just out of reach are exactly the ones worth pursuing."

For the technically minded, the developer's blog goes into extensive detail about the process. And full-on madlads can visit Keller's GitHub to try it for themselves.

2026-04-10 03:50:00

Meta is giving users the ability to edit Instagram comments they leave on posts, though only within a 15 minute window after they're posted. The setup is similar to how the social app handles editing messages, an option it first added in 2024, 11 years after direct messaging was introduced to Instagram in 2013.

You're only able to edit comments you left with your own account, and the process of actually doing so is easy. Just tap on the word "Edit" under your comment to pull up a text box where you can tweak, rework or embellish what you've written, and then press the blue check mark to save it. Meta says comments can be edited as many times as you want in that 15 minute window, so if you need to make more changes, you have that option.

Comments can show up in multiple ways across Instagram — including Stories, as of 2024 — so offering a way to edit them is a welcome addition. The new option is just the latest in a series of changes Meta has introduced to the social app in the last month. Earlier in March, the company announced that it was removing end-to-end encryption from Instagram DMs. At the end of the month, Meta also began testing Instagram Plus, a subscription service that unlocks new features for the app's Stories feature.