Technologies

Square Enix’s Next Game Blends Among Us-Like Murder Mystery With Bloody Carnage

Unveiled at Summer Game Fest, Killer Inn is an upcoming multiplayer murder mystery pitting players against each other in the search for the true killers.

Bet you didn’t have this one on your bingo list. Developed by Tactic Studios in partnership with Square Enix, the game was unveiled during the Summer Game Fest livestream, and it’s far from the famed RPG maker’s bread and butter. Killer Inn, as it’s called, is a multiplayer murder mystery that takes Among Us-like gameplay and ratchets it up by handing players knives, guns and many other weapons to kill or be killed while they search for the original killer.

Killer Inn might be one of those games that is best understood after playing a few matches, but even from the reveal trailer, there’s a lot going on. In each match, 24 players enter a sprawling castle-turned-hotel to determine who the real killers are as they’re picked off one by one. There’s deduction and mayhem aplenty.

Killer Inn’s play phases are patterned after detective-style games, from Among Us to Ultimate Werewolf to Mafia. A match begins with most players as cooperative participants («lambs,» in Killer Inn’s parlance) mixed with a few secret killers («wolves»). Players complete tasks to earn tokens redeemable for items and weapons, while the killers quietly go about their business — until someone discovers a body. On the corpse are clues left by the killer, so the lambs can try deducing the true culprit (or culprits).

Then it’s all about collecting clues and identifying the wolves — but unlike Among Us, there’s no group discussion to present evidence or vote them out. Killer Inn skips the parlor scene and dives straight into action: If you’re sure someone’s the killer, take them out. Use those token-bought guns and blades to put down the villain. Unless you accidentally murder one of your innocent teammates — in which case, you’re turned to stone for the rest of the match. Bummer.

Lambs have another win condition: assembling four keys to escape on the ship that brought them to the murder island. There are other mechanics, too, like finding relative safety in rooms with hotel staff, who will identify any wolves that kill lambs in their line of sight.

Players can choose between 25 premade characters that each have their own unique appearances and abilities, the latter of which improve as the match goes on, often reflecting the nefarious dark sides of the participants. For example, Winston is a surgeon who kills more efficiently with knives and, when leveled up, deals extra damage while covered in blood. The Otaku, by contrast, gains 25 HP from finding clues and eventually builds resistance to status effects. Levels don’t carry over between matches — everyone starts fresh at level one.

Killer Inn doesn’t have a release date, but the game will kick off a closed beta test over Steam in the near future.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Friday, Feb. 20

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 20.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword expects you to know a little bit about everything — from old political parties to architecture to video games. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Political party that competed with Democrats during the 1830s-’50s
Answer: WHIGS

6A clue: Four Seasons, e.g.
Answer: HOTEL

7A clue: Dinosaur in the Mario games
Answer: YOSHI

8A clue: Blizzard or hurricane
Answer: STORM

9A clue: We all look up to it
Answer: SKY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: «Oh yeah, ___ that?»
Answer: WHYS

2D clue: Says «who»?
Answer: HOOTS

3D clue: «No worries»
Answer: ITSOK

4D clue: Postmodern architect Frank
Answer: GEHRY

5D clue: Narrow
Answer: SLIM

Technologies

PlayStation 6 Rumors: Potential 2029 Release, Specs, Pricing and More

While the PS6’s release is still years away, here’s what we know so far about the next-gen console from Sony.

The PlayStation 5 will turn six years old this year. For a game console, that means it’s coming into its twilight years. So, it’s understandable that gamers are starting to wonder what’s next. There’s is nothing official so far from Sony on when the PlayStation 6 might arrive, though.

Still, reports and rumors are circulating about Sony’s next-gen game console. While Sony has a sizable market lead over Microsoft’s Xbox, it now has different competition coming from the new powered-up Nintendo Switch 2 and the upcoming Steam Machine home console from Valve. Both devices offer different challenges for Sony in terms of portability, library of games and pricing.

Here’s what we know about the PS6 so far.

When will the PS6 come out?

Sony, for obvious reasons, hasn’t provided a window for when the PS6 will come out. Speculation puts the console’s release in 2027, which would be seven years after the release of the PS5, and consoles have generally been on a seven-year cycle.

Sony could push the release to 2028, according to a report from David Gibson, senior analyst at MST Financial. He believes the new PlayStation will likely be delayed as the company is expanding the lifecycle of the PS5, according to VideoGame Chronicles. However, a new report from Bloomberg says the release date could be pushed back to 2029, thanks to the current RAM shortage.

Will the PS6 be a handheld?

It does appear that Sony might be developing both a console and a handheld. Rumors were circulating that Sony was creating a handheld on par with the Nintendo Switch to complement the console.

The speculation is that this handheld will be able to play new PS6 games, as well as PS5 and PS4 games. While this seems unlikely from a handheld, it’s possible the device would have enough power to run PS5 games and, in turn, PS4 titles, while PS6 games would be playable at a lower visual quality.

The YouTube channel Moore’s Law Is Dead reported in December that this PS6 handheld is already being tested by developers but that its lower-power mode reportedly doesn’t play PS5 games well, as it lowers the frames of the game when in use.

Sony’s strategy for this generation could be about keeping players in the PlayStation ecosystem at home and on the go, so they won’t be tempted by competitor handhelds such as the Xbox ROG Ally or Steam Deck.

How much will the PS6 cost?

Figuring out the potential pricing for this upcoming generation of consoles is tricky. There are so many unknown factors that complicate the answer.

Current tariffs, for example, have caused Sony, like Microsoft and Nintendo, to raise console prices, making it hard to predict what will happen in the coming years. The tariffs could go away, but if they continue, Sony may have to move its console production to another country that has a minimal tariff or hope that the countries that manufacture its hardware — Vietnam and China — strike a deal with the US.

Another issue is the RAM shortage and the resulting skyrocketing prices. Brought on by the demands of data centers across the globe being built out to handle the growth in AI usage, memory prices have already jumped. Those increases are leading to more expensive desktops, laptops and, really, anything that uses RAM, like tablets, phones and gaming devices.

The sweet spot for any console release would be $500, but that seems more like a pipe dream at this point. What could be used as a marker for hardware prices is Valve’s upcoming Steam Machine later this year, which is speculated to stay in the $600 to $700 range.

As for the handheld portion, the pricing could be more aggressive than the offering of the current handheld market. A video from August, from the YouTube channel Moore’s Law Is Dead, says the pricing for the PS6 portable could be in the range of $400 to $500. This could mean that to get the full PS6 experience, gamers will have to drop at least $1,000.

What are the PS6 specs?

Like other gaming hardware makers, Sony is working closely with AMD for its components. Back in October, the lead architect for the PS5, Mark Cerny, hosted a video with Jack Huynh, SVP and GM of AMD’s computing and graphics group. The video was uploaded to the PlayStation YouTube channel.

While the talk between the two didn’t confirm what technology will power the PS6, they hinted a bit about what’s next with a collaboration between the two companies, called Project Amethyst.

Huynh introduced Radiance Cores, which are AMD’s new technology for ray tracing and path tracing. Another technology, introduced to handle the GPU demands of AMD’s Fidelity Super Resolution and PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution upscaling, is Neural Arrays. And AMD’s Universal Compression can help relieve bottlenecks with the GPU memory bandwidth limitations.

While there are few verifiable details about the chips powering the PS6, Sony will work with AMD to create customized hardware for its PS6, just like Nintendo did with the Switch 2 and Microsoft is doing with the next Xbox.

The PS6 is likely to have at least 16GB of RAM and a 1TB solid-state drive for storage. It will also likely have the latest standards for wireless technology, such as Wi-Fi 7, and the newest media interface, HDMI 2.2.

Sony will also develop some other PlayStation-focused features in the same fashion as the adaptive triggers on the DualSense PS5 controller and more functionality with cloud gaming for PS Plus subscribers.

Many questions are still left to be answered about the PS6, with the ultimate question on whether the 10th generation of game consoles will, in fact, be the last.

Technologies

Google Rolls Out Latest AI Model, Gemini 3.1 Pro

Starting Thursday, Gemini 3.1 Pro can be accessed via the AI app, NotebookLM and more.

Google took the wraps off its latest AI model, Gemini 3.1 Pro, on Thursday, calling it a «step forward in core reasoning.» The software giant says its latest model is smarter and more capable for complex problem-solving.

Google shared a series of bookmarks and examples of the latest model’s capabilities, and is rolling out Gemini 3.1 to a series of products for consumers, enterprise and developers.

The overall AI model landscape seems to change weekly. Google’s release comes just a few days after Anthropic dropped the latest version of Claude, Sonnet 4.6, which can operate a computer at a human baseline level.

Benchmarks of Gemini 3.1

Google shared some details about AI model benchmarks for Gemini 3.1 Pro.

The announcement blog post highlights that the Gemini 3.1 Pro benchmark for the ARC-AGI-2 test for solving abstract reasoning puzzles sits at 77.1%. This is noticeably higher than Gemini 3 Pro’s 31.1% score for the same test.

The ARC-AGI-2 benchmark is one of multiple improvements coming from Gemini 3.1 Pro, Google says.

3.1 Pro enhancements

With better benchmarks nearly across the board, Google highlighted some of the ways that translate in general use:

Code-based animations: The latest Gemini model can easily create animated SVG images that are scalable without quality loss and ready to be added to websites with a text prompt.

Creative coding: Gemini 3.1 Pro generated an entire website based on a character from Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights, if she were a landscape photographer showing off her portfolio.

Interactive design: 3.1 Pro was used to create a 3D interactive starling murmuration that allows the flock to be controlled in an assortment of ways, all while a soundscape is generated that changes with the movement of the birds.

Availability

As of Thursday, Gemini 3.1 Pro is rolling out in the Gemini app for those with the AI Pro or Ultra plans. NotebookLM users subscribed to one of those plans will also be able to take advantage of the new model.

Both developers and enterprises can also access the new model via the Gemini API through a range of products, including AI Studio, Gemini Enterprise, Antigravity and Android Studio.