Technologies

Resident Evil 4 Remake Takes the Horror Level of the Original Up a Notch

It’s scary good.

Resident Evil 4 Remake is a significant improvement over the original game, but not in the ways Resident Evil fans might expect.

With its over-the-shoulder camera and precision aiming, Resident Evil 4 revolutionized not only survival horror but the shooter genre as a whole when it was released in 2005. With this remake, developer Capcom included a slew of enhancements and optimizations that make this once revolutionary game even better.

Buy Resident Evil 4 Remake

$60 at Target

With its previous remakes of Resident Evil, Capcom mainly focused improvements on three areas: controls, presentation and mechanics. This time around, the control and presentation advancements are a little less dramatic, mainly because Capcom is updating a newer video game.

Improvements to presentation in RE4 Remake focus mostly on mood. One issue I and many other Resident Evil fans had with the original RE4 was simple: It wasn’t that scary. This remake, however, addresses that. Capcom ups the fear factor with several improvements to the mood and setting, from the horrific-looking monsters to nerve-wracking areas where Leon’s flashlight is the only light source. These enhancements make RE4 Remake a wonderfully horrific experience for any Resident Evil fan.

The biggest advancements in RE4 Remake are in the game’s mechanics. Capcom has fixed the «Ashley problem.» For those unfamiliar with RE4, Leon from Resident Evil 2 returns to the series. He’s on a mission to rescue Ashley, the president’s daughter, from a cult in rural Spain. After he finds her, Ashley becomes his partner, adding an escort mechanic to the game. In the original, Ashley was controlled by AI and there were many frustrating moments when she’d get in the way of Leon’s shots or be quickly snapped up by enemies, leading to a game-over screen.

In RE4 Remake, Leon can now order Ashley to stay further behind him so she rarely gets caught in the crossfire. She also does a good job of avoiding enemies, making it less likely for her to get abducted. The improvements to Ashley transformed a character who was disdained by fans of the game into someone who’s both charming and endearing.

Capcom also beefed up the backstory and motivations of other characters in RE4 Remake. New documents and files from the villagers and others make them more sympathetic. In turn, the bosses who took advantage of those people feel even more evil than originally depicted. These compelling characters made for a more emotional playing experience, unlike the original, where they came off as campy and hokey.

a chainsaw wielding man with a bag over his head — Dr. Salvador is back and creepy as ever.

Screenshot by Oscar Gonzalez/CNET

I had developed a distaste for the original RE4 because it led the series down a path that took horror out of the franchise. The remake revitalized my fondness for the game, taking me back to 2005, when I first played the original. Back then, seeing a game play so differently from the older Resident Evil titles was mind-blowing. Now this remake creating a true horror vibe with interesting characters is giving me a lot of that same joy.

RE4 Remake comes out on Friday for $60 on PC, PS4, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Technologies

Google’s Pixel 10A Is Coming to Japan With an Exclusive Blue Edition and Special Wallpaper

This model comes with creatively designed stickers and a special look for Pixel’s 10th anniversary.

Don’t be blue: Google is releasing an Isai blue edition of the Pixel 10A to celebrate the Android phone line’s 10th anniversary, setting it apart with its own sticker set, specialized wallpaper and custom icons. But it’ll only be available in Japan.

Announced Tuesday on the Google Japan blog, the Isai blue Pixel 10A has a dark blue look and includes bonus decorations designed in collaboration with Japan’s Heralbony art company. These include an exclusive bumper case and stickers for customization.

This edition of the Pixel 10A will arrive in Japan on May 20, following the April 14 release of the Pixel 10A in its original colors of lavender, berry, fog and obsidian. The Isai blue model costs 94,900 yen, which roughly translates to $595, and includes 256GB of storage.

This makes it slightly less expensive than the US model’s 256GB edition, but it comes with a number of fun extras at no additional cost.

Google’s creation of a country-specific model for Japan may also reflect strong sales in that market. In 2023, the IDC analytics firm (via 9to5Google) reported that the Pixel 7 series accounted for 10.7% of the country’s market share, a 527% increase from 2022.

Technologies

Can’t Wait for New Emoji? Here’s How to Create Your Own on iPhone

Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones can create custom emoji in a few easy steps.

Apple brought new emoji to all iPhones when the company released iOS 26.4 on March 24. The new emoji include «🫍» orca, «🫪» distorted face and «🫈» hairy creature — or as we might normally call it, Sasquatch. According to Emojipedia, there are 3,953 emoji with more on the way, including a pickle. But there’s no emoji for a dog wearing pajamas, a plate with burgers and fries and many other things. But if you have Genmoji on your iPhone you can create these emoji and many more.

Apple released iOS 18.2 in 2024 and the company introduced its own emoji generator, called Genmoji, to Apple Intelligence-capable iPhones at that time. The Unicode Standard, a universal character encoding standard, is responsible for creating new emoji, and approved emoji are added to all devices once a year. With Genmoji, you don’t have to wait for new emoji to appear on your iPhone each year. You can just create them as you need them.

Read on to learn how to use Genmoji on iPhone to create your own custom emoji. Just note that only iPhones with Apple Intelligence, like the iPhone 17 lineup, can use Genmoji at this time.

Note: The new emoji may not display correctly for Apple users whose devices aren’t on a 26.4 software version.

How to make custom emoji

1. Open Messages and go into a chat.
2. Tap the plus (+) button next to your text box.
3. Tap Genmoji.

You can then type a description of an emoji into the text box near the bottom of your screen and tap the check mark on your keyboard to enter that description into Genmoji. You can also tap different suggestions and themes that are right above the text box. And with iOS 26 or later, you can also combine and use emoji to create others rather than describing a new emoji or using suggestions.

Your iPhone will generate a series of new emoji for you to pick from according to your description, and you can swipe through these new emoji. When you find the one you want, tap Add in the top right corner of your screen and the new emoji will be available to use as an emoji, tapback or a sticker. Now you don’t have to wait for the Unicode Standard to propose, create and bring new emoji to devices.

For more iOS news, here’s what to know about iOS 26.4 and iOS 26.3. You can also check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet for other tips and tricks.

Technologies

Save Over 20% on This Handy 10,000-mAh Anker Nano Power Bank

Keep your devices charged on the go with this Anker Nano power bank, now down to just $46.

We’ve just spotted the Anker Nano 45-watt portable power bank for just $46 at Amazon right now. This saves you $14 — a 23% discount on its list price. Though it’s $6 more than the lowest-ever price we saw during Black Friday, it’s still a solid discount when you take the rising cost of tech accessories into account. It also matches the lowest price we’ve seen in 2026. It comes in four colors: black, green, pink and white. They’re all on sale for the same price.

This Anker Nano portable charger weighs approximately 8.2 ounces and measures a compact 3.21×1.99×1.42 inches. Despite its small size, it has a retractable cable and supports fast charging in compatible Apple, Samsung, Google Pixel and other smartphones. It also has a large 10,000-mAh capacity and a smart display so you always know how much juice is left in your power bank.

The Nano can charge an iPhone 17 to up to 50% battery in an estimated 20 minutes, and is powerful enough to charge tablets and laptops. Need to charge your devices while charging your power bank? You can do so safely thanks to pass-through charging so you’ll never have to go without battery life.

We’ve also compiled a list of the best power banks for iPhones and for Android, in case this deal isn’t quite a fit for you.

Why this deal matters

If you travel, have a long commute time or are otherwise always on the go, a portable charger can help you keep your devices fully powered. This 45-watt Anker Nano power bank is compact, includes a loop that lets you keep track of it easily and has a built-in cable so you don’t have to keep up with extra cords. Amazon’s $14 discount makes this a solid deal for anyone looking for a compact power bank.