nDreams, the developer behind one of my all-time favourite VR titles, Synapse, has announced a new shooter game called Vendetta Forever during this week's VR Games Showcase.
If that wasn't cause for celebration enough, nDreams also released a short, Quest-exclusive demo for the game that I played through for this week's episode of VR Corner. In the video, you can see me play the Quest 3 version, but it will also be available on the Quest Pro, Quest 2 and the PS VR2 at some point in October.
So what is Vendetta Forever? Well the easiest way to describe it is a mash-up of Superhot and Pistol Whip, with some of the best aspects of both games cherry-picked and given a little twist to make them feel fresh and unique. The monochromatic-but-not-quite visuals are definitely more Pistol Whip-y, but the title screen is just full of those iconic Superhot reds, whites and blacks. Then there's the main menu, which is almost a carbon copy of Pistol Whip's, with mutator and level select options, alongside online leaderboards and a nice little shooting gallery area which is something Pistol Whip does lack.
The special, almost intangible loveliness of the Plucky Squire isn't down to either the game design itself or the way it's presented. It's down to both of these things, combined so thoroughly, and with such imagination, that it's hard to stir them apart.
To put it another way, it's not just that this is a fantasy-action game in which your hero receives a bow and arrow from a beautiful elf. It's that, to win that bow and arrow, the hero first has to venture across the authentic wilderness of a child's cluttered bedroom desk, and into a cardboard castle. There, at the top of a tower formed by a stack of beloved books, the hero and the elf must do battle inside the stiff confines of a knock-off Magic: The Gathering card.
This completely rules. And that's just one moment from the preview build of the game I've been playing over the last few days that has elicited such a gasp of wonder and delight. A battle inside a battling card! And then I walk away from it with a golden bow. Yes please, Plucky Squire. Yes please.
The thing I loved the most about the original Splitgate was the fact that, to me at least, it felt like playing the original Halo with my pals at LAN parties back in the early 2000s. Not only that but it came with all the mod cons of the current gaming era, including a wealth of customisable lobbies and crossplay multiplayer so it was incredibly easy to set up our ideal matches.
Despite a large selection of game modes to choose from, the ones my friends and I gravitated towards were the simple Deathmatch lobbies, with the occasional bout of Gun Game thrown in for a bit of variety. We loved running around in these free-for-all game types, switching between weapons as and when we found them on the floor or indeed working our way through the game's catalogue of guns one kill at a time in Gun Game.
Splitgate's blend of Halo-esque nostalgia mixed with the strategic elements of portal-based flanking was an absolute hit in my gaming social circle. In our opinion it played better and had way more maps and options than Halo Infinite's multiplayer, and so Splitgate easily replaced that game as our FPS of choice when it came to meeting up online for a few casual gaming sessions.
I've been playing Arco on and off for the last few weeks on Switch and PC. I'm loving it - I think Arco's pretty wonderful. But the builds I've been playing on are also rather buggy, and I haven't been able to get to the end, either because of show-stopper bugs or random crashes.
What we're going to do in this case is hold back the review until next week, when I'm able to play retail code and know how the final thing runs. Until then, I wanted to give you a brief taste of what this game is like and why I think tactics fans should be excited. Hopefully next week we'll find that the final code is a lot more stable.
I'm going to focus pretty tightly on the combat today, which is an absolute gem. Just to set the scene, though, Arco's a Western story of indigenous people and greedy colonisers, and it plays out across a number of acts with the player shifting between different roles in each act. You take on missions and move from one area to another, helping people, fighting, and generally learning the story of this place.
Stop fumbling for cables in the dark. These WIRED-tested stands and pads will take the hassle out of refueling your phone, wireless earbuds, and watch.
Hey friends, welcome to this week’s episode!! This week, Spaz, Julie, Thorston, Jacob, David, and I take the barest thread of a topic, loans in gaming, and turn it into almost an hour of banter! Hooray! It’s a pretty fun show, so we hope you enjoy it! We are off next week, but we’ll be...
Hey friends, welcome to this week’s show. Sorry for the delay in getting it out, I’ve been swamped at work and the week got away from me. So, this time, Spaz, Julie, Thorston, Jacob, David and I have one of our regular check-ins, where we talk about what we’re playing (which you can see below)...
There has been some rumor and speculation that we would be getting a PS5 Pro as soon as this year. We are halfway through the year and past ‘E3’ season and there is still no word. With the lack of console price drops, is the mid-gen refresh still a thing? There are some people who …
Zenless Zone Zero Update 1.1, also known as Undercover R&B, is the game’s first big update since release. HoYoverse’s newest game has been making waves, but it’s only just begun. Undercover R&B promises a new Bangboo, Agents, W-Engines, story expansions, and tons of new game modes and events. Read on to find out when Update […]
Are you looking to improve your pass game on the field? You have come to the right place as this guide goes into detail about passing in Madden NFL 25 including controls, all pass types, settings, and more.
Table of contentsMadden NFL 25 passing meter explainedBest Passing mechanics and settings in Madden NFL 25Best passing type in Madden 25PlacementPlacement and AccuracyClassic passingHow to throw different pass types in Madden NFL 25How to throw a touch passHow to throw a lob passHow to throw a bullet passHow to throw the ball away
Madden NFL 25 passing meter explained
The passing meter is similar to previous Madden titles, where it determines how well you throw the football to your receivers. It also determines the type of pass you’ll throw such as lob, bullet, or touch. The passing meter changes a bit depending on which passing type you select in settings, so read further to learn more about that.
Best Passing mechanics and settings in Madden NFL 25
Screenshot:...
In May 2024, Sony showed off an intriguing dress-up/exploration game called Infinity Nikki. Now, a new trailer has debuted during Gamescom, as well as news on the pre-registration for the Infinity Nikki Beta.
You can watch the new video for Infinity Nikki below:
That video was a fever dream mixed with a killer soundtrack. I am all for it.
It was also announced that signups are now open for the Closed Beta test, which is a very exciting development. Players can pre-register for the Beta on the Google Play and Apple App Store (sorry, console owners) and earn plenty of rewards, including an outfit and plenty of crystals. The full game will launch on PlayStation 5, PC, Android, and iOS, so even for those who don’t get into the Beta, there will be plenty of time to grind the title on any of the major platforms.
If you are lucky enough to be attending Gamescom, you can play a demo for Infinity Nikki on the show floor. You will be able to explore the nations of Miraland as the stylist, Nikki, and her feline companion, Momo. Former The Legend of Zelda director Kentaro Tominaga is behind the title, so expect a fair bit of exploration, platforming, and puzzle-solving. There’s never too much of that in the gaming world.
As for what else to expect from Gamescom, there have been some major announcements, such as information about the highly anticipated Call of Duty: Black Op 6, Borderlands 4, Dune: Awakening, Persona 3 Reload, and much more. The event runs all week, though, so there are sure to be more reveals that will shake the gaming world. Unfortunately, not all of them will involve Nikki, which is a shame because she looks like a really cool person.
Infinity Nikki is set to release on PlayStation 5, PC, Android, and iOS.
During Gamescom Opening Night Live, it was revealed the Persona 3 Reload: Expansion Passwill include a DLC boss fight with Joker from Persona 5.
Take a look at a teaser for the battle below:
The pass will include the DLC Episode Aigis: The Answer, which was part of Persona 3 FES back in 2007. The Answer takes place after the best ending of Persona 3 Reload. The SEES team sees itself stuck at the dorm in a time loop. A new character Metis shows up to join forces, who is a robot like Aegis. It sounds just like the plot of Happy Death Day.
In addition, a Challenge Battle with Joker will be available. It looks like he wields Arsène and other Personas to make your fight against him a living nightmare. If you played Persona 5 Royal, you would know these Challenge Battles are nothing new. In that title, you could face off against the protagonists of Persona 3 and Persona 4. Maybe we will see a scuffle between the future hero of Persona 6 against the cast of Persona 4 whenever that game gets remade.
Courtesy of Dear Villagers and Team Delusion, we have the launch trailer for Guayota. The puzzle adventure game made it to Switch just recently. Find a bunch of information about it in the following eShop description: Inspired by legends related to the Canary Islands and the Guanches mythology, Guayota depicts the story of a group of explorers, sent by the Spanish...
August 14: Disney Dreamlight Valley is gearing up for its next update, which is known as Dapper Delights. It’ll come to Switch on August 21, 2024. On the same day, Treasures of Time – Act III for the paid Expansion Pass, Disney Dreamlight Valley: A Rift in Time, arrives on the same day. Here’s some additional information about Dapper Delights:...
Mooneye Studios distributed a final trailer for Farewell North, an open world adventure experience. This one just recently arrived on Switch. Here’s an overview of the game, courtesy of the eShop listing: In Farewell North you take on the unique role of a border collie restoring color to your human’s world. Explore the hand-crafted, atmospheric islands inspired by the Scottish...
During today’s Gamescom: Opening Night Live presentation, Floatopia was revealed for multiple platforms, including Switch. It’s set to arrive in 2025. Floatopia, coming from NetEase Games, is a life sim. Players can travel among super-powered worlds to craft their island and engage with friends. Lots of details can be found in the following overview: It’s time to step into a...
May 31: Little Nightmares III has been delayed, and will not be making it out this year as originally planned. Bandai Namco now intends to publish the title in 2025. Little Nightmares III was first unveiled at Gamescom last August. It’s a notable shift for the series as the first two titles were made by Tarsier Studios. This one is...
Following its announcement in June, we now have a release date and proper look at Civilization VII with a fresh gameplay trailer. The video just debuted at Gamescom: Opening Night Live 2024. Civilization VII now has a release date of February 11, 2025. The game will come in the form of a standard version and Deluxe Edition – if you...
What is the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle release date? Announced back in January 2021, not much was known about the upcoming Indiana Jones game apart from Machine Games, the developers of the modern Wolfenstein games, was handling it. Given Machine Games’s affinity for blasting up Nazis, this pairing feels like a natural fit for cinema’s greatest archaeologist.
We finally got a glimpse of the action-adventure game at Xbox Developer Direct 2024, showing off one of the most anticipated upcoming games set to launch later this year. There’s quite a lot to unpack in the presentation, including information about the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle release date, gameplay, and what to expect from the story.
Are you looking to improve your pass game on the field? You have come to the right place as this guide goes into detail about passing in Madden NFL 25 including controls, all pass types, settings, and more.
Table of contentsMadden NFL 25 passing meter explainedBest Passing mechanics and settings in Madden NFL 25Best passing type in Madden 25PlacementPlacement and AccuracyClassic passingHow to throw different pass types in Madden NFL 25How to throw a touch passHow to throw a lob passHow to throw a bullet passHow to throw the ball away
Madden NFL 25 passing meter explained
The passing meter is similar to previous Madden titles, where it determines how well you throw the football to your receivers. It also determines the type of pass you’ll throw such as lob, bullet, or touch. The passing meter changes a bit depending on which passing type you select in settings, so read further to learn more about that.
Best Passing mechanics and settings in Madden NFL 25
Screenshot:...
Happy Tuesday and welcome to another edition of Rent Free. This week's stories include:
A federal appeals court slaps down the federal government's odd argument that it doesn't have to compensate landlords for its eviction moratorium because the moratorium was illegal.
Vice President Kamala Harris sets a first-term goal of building 3 million middle-class homes.
A Michigan judge sides with property owners trying to build a "green cemetery."
But first, a look at an under-the-radar federal regulation change that might make it easier for builders to create more small multifamily "missing middle" homes.
Code Games
In his 1942 book Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy Joseph Schumpeter praised capitalist mass production for bringing almost every basic commodity, from food to clothing, within the affordable reach of the working man. The one exception he highlighted was housing, which he confidently predicted would soon see a similar collapse in prices due to mass-produced manufactured housing.
As it happens, manufactured housing production—which is built in factories and then shipped and installed on-site—peaked in the mid-1970s and has been limping along as a small share of overall home construction ever since.
Nevertheless, the dream that cheap, factory-built homes can deliver lower-cost housing has never died.
It's certainly alive and well in the current White House.
This past week, the Biden-Harris administration released a "fact sheet" of actions it was taking to lower housing costs. It included an in-progress regulatory change that would allow two-, three-, and four-unit homes to be built under the federal manufactured housing code set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
"The HUD Code creates economies of scale for manufacturers, resulting in significantly lower costs for buyers," says the White House in that fact sheet. Letting small multifamily housing be built under the HUD code will extend "the cost-saving benefits of manufactured housing to denser urban and suburban infill contexts," it says.
IRC, IBC, IDK
The proposed change comes at an interesting time for small multifamily housing construction.
Across the country, more and more states and localities are allowing more two-, three-, and four-unit homes to be built in formerly single-family-only areas.
That liberalization of the zoning code (which regulates what types of buildings can be built where) has set off a follow-on debate about which building code (which regulates construction standards) newly legal multiplexes should be regulated under.
Currently, the options are either the International Building Code (IBC) or the International Residential Code (IRC).
The IBC and IRC are model codes created by the non-profit International Code Council, which are then adopted (often with tweaks and changes) by states and localities.
The IBC typically covers apartment buildings of three or more units, while the IRC covers single-family homes. Neither is particularly well-suited for the regulation of smaller multi-family buildings that cities are now legalizing.
The IBC, for instance, requires expensive sprinkler systems that don't do much to improve fire safety in smaller buildings but can make their construction cost-prohibitive.
Zoning reformers have responded by trying to shift the regulation of smaller apartments into the IRC. But that raises its own problems, says Stephen Smith of the Center for Building in North America.
"It's a complicated thing to do because the IRC is not written for small multi-family. It's written for detached single-family," he says. "For traditional apartment buildings with a single entrance and stairs and halls and stuff, it's not really clear how the IRC would work with that."
The White House's proposed changes open the possibility of sidestepping this IRC-IBC dilemma entirely by letting builders of manufactured, multifamily housing opt into a single, national set of regulations.
A Floor or a Ceiling?
The question then is whether this will actually make life easier for builders.
The effect of HUD regulation on the production of single-family manufactured housing is a topic of intense debate.
Prior to the 1970s, manufactured housing was governed by a patchwork of state and local building codes. In 1974 Congress passed legislation that gives HUD the power to regulate manufactured housing.
Critics of HUD regulation argue that its initial implementation caused the steep decline in manufactured housing production in the 1970s.
In particular, they point to the HUD requirement that manufactured housing must sit on a steel chassis as a regulation that increases costs and decreases production.
Brian Potter, a senior fellow at the Institute for Progress and writer of the Construction PhysicsSubstack, contrastingly argues that HUD regulation has actually helped keep the cost of building manufactured housing down.
The production of all housing, not just manufactured housing, plummeted in the 1970s, he notes. Since the 1970s, the costs of non-manufactured, site-built housing have skyrocketed while the costs of building manufactured housing have risen much less, he points out. Potter argues that the effect of the steel chassis requirement is also overstated.
To this day, manufactured housing is the cheapest type of housing to produce when comparing smaller manufactured housing units to smaller site-built single-family housing units. The HUD code has less expensive requirements and allows builders more flexibility in the construction of units.
"The most interesting and attractive thing about the HUD code is that HUD code homes tend to be much, much less expensive than single-family homes," says Potter.
The hope is that allowing newly legal duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes to be built under HUD standards would reduce costs compared to building them under IBC or IRC regulations.
Degrees of Change
While the HUD code has been in existence since the 1970s, its explicit exclusion of manufactured, multifamily housing is a relatively recent development. In 2014, HUD issued a memorandum saying that only single-family housing can be built under the department's manufactured housing standards.
In a 2022 public comment on the proposed updates, the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform argues that the 2014 memorandum was in error and that HUD actually has no regulatory authority to cap the number of units that can be built under the code.
According to the White House fact sheet, the Biden administration's proposed updates to the HUD code would once again allow up to four units of housing to be built under the code once again.
If the HUD code critics are correct, then this will make a minimal difference. Under this theory, builders would just have another cost-increasing building code to choose from. If folks like Potter are correct, however, this should allow builders to opt into less demanding regulations. We might therefore see an increase in the number of two-, three-, and four-unit homes built.
Building code liberalization will still only be effective in places where zoning code liberalization has already happened. Cities and states still have every power to zone out multifamily housing and ban the placement of manufactured housing.
Where cities have made those "missing middle" reforms, however, it's possible the White House's proposed regulatory changes will increase the production of manufactured, multifamily housing while policymakers figure out whether how to change the IBC or IRC to allow more site-built multiplexes.
If the CDC's Eviction Moratorium Was Illegal, Do the Feds Have To Pay for It?
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) banned residential evictions for non-payment of rent in 2020, property owners responded with a flurry of lawsuits, arguing that the federal government owed them compensation for what amounted to a physical taking of their property.
While those lawsuits were ongoing, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in August 2021 that the CDC moratorium was an illegal overstepping of the agency's authority.
This armed the federal government with an audacious response to all those property owners' claims for compensation: Because the CDC's eviction moratorium was illegal and lacked federal authorization, the federal government wasn't required to pay any compensation.
Incredibly, the Court of Federal Claims agreed with this argument—citing past cases that immunized the government from having to pay compensation for clearly illegal, unsanctioned acts of its agents—and dismissed a property owners' lawsuit in the case of Darby Development Co. v. United States.
But this past week, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sided with property owners and reversed that dismal.
The appeals court ruled that the CDC eviction moratorium, while illegal, clearly did have the endorsement of both Congress and the executive branch.
"Taken to its logical conclusion, [the government's] position is that government agents can physically occupy private property for public use, resist for months the owner's legal attempts to make them leave, and then, when finally made to leave, say they need not pay for their stay because they had no business being there in the first place," wrote Judge Armando O. Bonilla in an opinion issued earlier this month.
The case is now remanded back to the federal claims court.
"The government should not be able to hide behind its own illegality to avoid paying damages for that very illegality," Greg Dolin, a senior litigation counsel at the New Civil Liberties Alliance (which filed an amicus brief in the Darby case) told Reason.
Kamala Harris, Supply Sider?
In a speech this past Friday laying out her economic agenda, Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris criticized state and local restrictions on homebuilding for driving up prices.
"There's a serious housing shortage in many places. It's too difficult to build, and it's driving prices up. As president, I will work in partnership with industry to build the housing we need, both to rent and to buy. We will take down barriers and cut red tape, including at the state and local levels," said Harris, promising to deliver 3 million units of housing that's affordable to middle-class families by the end of her first term.
It's always refreshing to hear a politician accurately diagnose the cause of America's high housing costs as a matter of restricted supply. It's even better when politicians promise to do something about those supply restrictions. Harris' remarks are rhetorically a lot better than the explicit NIMBYism coming from Republican presidential contender Donald Trump.
Nevertheless, Harris' actual housing policies, including downpayment subsidies and rent control, will only make the problem worse. Downpayment subsidies will drive up demand and prices while leaving supply restrictions in place. Rent control has a long, long record of reducing the quality and quantity of housing.
Harris' speech was also peppered with lines attacking institutional housing investors who are providing much-needed capital for housing production.
Town's Ban on 'Green Cemetery' Is Dead
If the government doesn't like your cemetery, can it just ban all cemeteries? The answer, at least in Michigan, is no, no it can't.
In the case of Quakenbush et al v. Brooks Township et al, a state circuit court judge sided with a married couple who'd sued their local government when it passed a ban on new cemeteries with an eye toward stopping their development of the state's first "conservation burial forest."
"We're excited and feel vindicated by this ruling. We are delighted that the judge understood that Brooks Township's ordinance violated our right to use our property," said Peter and Annica Quakenbush, the plaintiffs in the case. They were represented by the Institute for Justice.
Quick Links
Jim Burling, the Pacific Legal Foundation's vice president of legal affairs, has a new bookNowhere to Live covering the legal history of zoning in America, the courts' acquiescence to this restriction on property rights, and all the attendant consequences of high housing costs and homelessness that have flowed from it.
A new paper published on SSRN estimates that a 25 percent reduction in permitting times in Los Angeles leads to a 33 percent increase in housing production.
Calmatters covers the killing, or severe injuring, of various bills introduced in the California Legislature this year that aimed to pair back the California Coastal Commission's powers to shoot down new housing production. Read Reason's past coverage of the Coastal Commission here and here.
Hawaii has legalized accessory dwelling units statewide, but they haven't made building them easy.
If you build it, prices drop.
*UPDATED* (and still true)
When you build "luxury" new apartments in big numbers, the influx of supply puts downward pressure on rents at all price points -- even in the lowest-priced Class C rentals. Here's evidence of that happening right now:
The lawmaking and policing powers of late 19th and early 20th century America did not think anarchist agitators deserved the protective penumbra of our Constitution. After Emma Goldman immigrated to the United States in 1885 from czarist Russia, she became a dynamic and hugely popular traveling lecturer on anarchism and other rebellious causes, such as draft resistance and contraception. Consequently, she was arrested a lot—and in 1919, along with hundreds of other accused anarchists, she was deported to what was now Bolshevik Russia. (Goldman's version of anarchism was not the free market kind; she wanted to eliminate private property as well as the state.)
Many anarchists saw a bright side to these legal fights: an opportunity to preach their beliefs in a courtroom setting, where the press often amplified their message. The anarchists sentenced to death in the notorious 1886 Chicago Haymarket bombing case spent three days in court laying out their beliefs; in one of their own trials, Goldman and her sometime consort and lifelong comrade, Alexander Berkman, settled for five hours of speaking their anarchist minds.
Berkman did more than lecture against the state and capitalism; in 1892 he decided to try to kill a murderously strikebreaking Carnegie Steel factory manager, Henry Frick. (While he shot and stabbed Frick, he failed to kill him.) This did not help public opinion of their cause. Neither did the fact that Leon Czolgosz, the 1901 assassin of President William McKinley, was a self-proclaimed anarchist who claimed that Goldman's rhetoric had "set me on fire."
In American Anarchy, the Brandeis historian Michael Willrich argues that those legal battles surrounding anarchism in America forged two distinct and opposing elements of modern American policing and law.
On one hand, the anarchists' enemies, from New York City cops to military intelligence to the departments of Labor and Justice, built a wider and more intrusive system of political surveillance and repression to quell and expel the anarchists. These systems' techniques—often relying on frequently unreliable, nativist, and paranoid citizen snoops and snitches—might seem quaint in the post–Edward Snowden age. They also seem especially brutal, given the cops of that era's habit of giving "the third degree" (that is, terrible beatings) to seditious radicals, and to people the officers merely assumed were seditious radicals. Many prosecutions hinged on the accuracy, or not, of some cop's written notes on what a suspect had allegedly said in public.
This repressive apparatus, Willrich writes, was "cobbled…together by putting public power in the hands of private civilian operatives, harnessing local police to national purposes, and drawing upon surveillance technologies developed both in the U.S.-ruled Philippines and in the internal immigrant 'colonies' of New York." The result was "an inefficient and stunningly violent operation that foiled few actual plots, put thousands of people on trial for speaking out against capitalism or the war….and showed an almost total disregard for…constitutional liberties."
And that planted the seeds of these battles' second great effect: Ironically, they ultimately made First Amendment doctrine more respectful of free expression. After the crackdown on the anarchists died down, and past the Cold War repressions under the Smith Act, it became more difficult to imagine anyone could go to jail in America solely for saying or writing a political heresy. Even when people are targeted for their speech, propriety requires that a more substantial charge be added. (The modern inheritor of the mantle of "enemy for whom constitutional protections can be ignored" is the drug seller and user, though different amendments are implicated.)
Three prosecutions during the World War I–era crackdown on political dissidents under the Espionage Act ended up before the Supreme Court. Free expression lost every time. But in Abrams v. United States, based on a 1918 expansion of the Espionage Act known as the Sedition Act, a dissent signed by two justices established an attitude toward the First Amendment's reach that became standard over the course of the 20th century.
In August 1918, the Army Corps of Intelligence Police had arrested a group of Russian immigrants in New York for distributing allegedly seditious pamphlets. The defendants insisted that the literature—many copies of which were tossed out windows for passersby on the street—was not meant to impede the ongoing U.S. war efforts against Germany, that being the basis for many of the charges. The literature was rather opposed to U.S. interference in revolutionary Russia, with whom we were not at constitutionally declared war.
The Abrams defendants were represented by Goldman's lawyer, Harry Weinberger. His role in Willrich's narrative is as central as hers and Berkman's. (Willrich argues that the war on anarchists essentially created the modern figure of the civil liberties lawyer.) The Supreme Court upheld the convictions, 7–2. But a dissent authored by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes (who had written the earlier, bad decisions in the Espionage Act cases) laid out a First Amendment vision that more strictly limits when government could constitutionally punish expression: only if said expression represents a "present danger of immediate evil or an intent to bring it about."
After reading the dissent, a future founder of the American Civil Liberties Union wrote to Weinberger that "we are going to put it to some use all right." Civil libertarians in and out of the judiciary have been doing so ever since, in ways that have expanded Americans' expressive rights.
***
Things got predictably worse for civil liberties and for anarchists as the war went on. The 1918 Immigration Act, as Willrich sums it up, "authorized the secretary of labor to deport any person identified as a noncitizen and an anarchist." Even your individual beliefs could be elided, since "being a member of an organization that advocated 'anarchistic' ideas was now sufficient cause for deportation." Having built your life here productively for decades and having a family was not enough to save you from being grabbed and shipped out, if a government official thought you didn't believe the state should exist. (In 1903, during the post-Czolgosz wave of anti-anarchist action, Congress passed an immigration law that barred entry to anarchists, though it was difficult to enforce and in its first seven years caught a mere 10 anarchists among millions of immigrants entering.)
The story of the anarchist crackdown is, for good reasons, often used as a crackerjack historical example of the anti-liberty madness that even the supposed land of the free can descend to. This wave of anarchist repression was indeed destructive to many people and organizations—the Industrial Workers of the World, for example, were nearly annihilated by mass raids and arrests.
But the aftermath of these authoritarian spasms suggests we should give at least half a cheer for the Constitution. The rights it lays out were sorely dishonored, but at least they could be called upon eventually.
After World War I ended, President Woodrow Wilson commuted sentences for more than 125 Espionage Act prisoners. One assistant secretary of labor—Louis Post, who actually respected the Constitution—canceled 1,140 deportation orders, nearly three-quarters of the cases he was able to review when briefly in command of the process. The notorious 1919 and 1920 Palmer Raids sent 500 accused radicals to Ellis Island for deportation, but as public opinion and the grinding of the courts turned against the mania, only 23 of them were actually deported. And in 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt gave a general amnesty to the remaining World War I–era political prisoners.
Contrast that with Russia, where many of the anarchists were deported. The Bolshevik state murdered many of them, including two of the Abrams defendants.
Willrich's richly detailed study is especially relevant today, as that expansive sense of First Amendment rights that Willrich traces back to Holmes' Abrams dissent is under fresh fire from legal academics who see the amendment as a barrier to progressive change, from young Americans who think certain possibly hurtful things ought not be legally spoken, and from a culture that in general seems increasingly and angrily eager to shut opponents up. This valuable book shows one big reason why an expansive reading of the First Amendment is important: Without it, human beings have been beaten by cops and exiled from their home, just for saying or writing things the authorities don't like.
Goldman, for one, thought America was better than that. She once told a huge crowd in New York City that when people like her denounced war and conscription, they did this not because "we are foreigners and don't care." They had come here "looking to America as the promised land," and they grappled with the country's errors "precisely because we love America."
This is a village I have made in Minecraft, it's called Tulsequah Village. Nestled in my North Coastal Mountains, a chain of mountains in the northwest corner of my 10 year developing Minecraft world called Sky Pixel. Which I have released now on Planet Minecraft.
My mountain builds that I have been posting recently are all based off of my home within the Pacific Northwest, a regional area of North America compromising the US states of Oregon, Washington and Southern Alaska, as well as the western Canadian province of British Columbia.
My girlfriend and I just bought an Xbox Series X and are looking to get some games that we can both play together. This could include "party games" or campaign-style games like Fallout, RDR, Halo, etc.
My girlfriend isn't a huge gamer (and neither am I, honestly, compared to my teenage years playing MW2 and Halo 3 on Xbox 360) but I am personally more inclined to enjoy video games in general so I want to get us playing something that is just a good, all-around fun time.
We're pretty impartial when it comes to genres. Mostly just hoping to crowdsource opinions on the most fun games y'all have played. The only thing I don't think she'd be totally down for is something really scary (thinking like Dead Space); although, she LOVES the 'Alien' franchise so scary isn't completely off the table.
Anyways, I'd appreciate any input! Thanks in advance.
Whether you work from home or in an office, your desk will quickly become messy and cluttered with all sorts of things. Bits of paper, crumbs, pet hair—you name it. Thankfully, there are tiny vacuum cleaners, dust blowers and dusters that are made for these small surfaces, and maybe even your laptop and accessories. You can use brushes and wipes, but you’ll likely get a more powerful clean with a compact cleaner or tool.
If you aren't sure an actual handheld or tiny vacuum is what you need, another practical cleaning device to consider is a duster or electric dust blower. These are stronger and less wasteful than compressed air cans and can double up as a keyboard or PC cleaning option. The below picks are small enough to fit at your desk and strong enough to fight the mess!
Best Computer Vacuums and Dust Blowers
🔥 Editor's Pick: DataVac Dust Blower
IGN's Commerce Manager, Eric Song recommends this environmentally-friendly dust blower, which draws over 450W from the kilowatt. Plus, he said it's been working well since he bought it (back in 2012). Eric also mentioned a bonus use for this one: using it to blow dry his dog after a bath! Who knew? You can check out his favorite model below, which is on sale right now at 30% off:
More Small Vacuums for Cleaning Your Computer and Desk Space
If you want something lightweight, powerful and easy to use, the below choices provide options for whatever your needs are right now. Most of these vacs are cordless and rechargeable, so there's no extra hassle. Whether you're looking for an all-in-one duster and vacuum or one that comes with different nozzles, you'll find something to help clean up your desk space and beyond.
Tiny, Cute Contenders:
If the above options don't do the trick, these three small desk vacuums are perfect for surface area messes on your desk, coffee table and beyond! Plus, they're super affordable.
Lastly, if you do want to go the compressed air route, but make it fancier, there's a deal on an electric compressed air duster right now:
Pokud hledáte hru, která obsahuje celý skutečný svět, je těžké najít lepšího kandidáta, než je Microsoft Flight Simulator. Od jeho vydání v létě 2020 se tento letecký simulátor stal etalonem v ...
While moving through chapter 3 of Black Myth: Wukong you might stumble upon a large room called Melon Field, as a nearby checkpoint informs us. At first, you won’t find anything in this room, not even the ingredients for new drinks and soaks. But the Melon Fields does have a purpose. Here’s What to Do in the Melon Field in Black Myth: Wukong.
How to Use the Melon Field in Black Myth: Wukong
Screenshot by GameSkinny
The trigger to make the Melon Field area useful is hidden far away from the field itself. First of all, you’ll have to find an NPC that is currently freezing to death near the Towers of Karma checkpoint. You can find the Towers of Karma by starting from Forest of Felicity, moving through the wooden gate and taking the white snow slope to the left of the main path. You can see the slope in the screenshot above.
Video ukazuje úkol s hledáním dvou válečníků, Raňka a Komára, s cílem naverbovat je do vzbouřenecké jednotky, jejíž součástí je i Jindřich, který nadále prahne po pomstě za vraždu svých rodičů. S partou nadaných zločinců a násilných kořalů rozpoutáme partyzánskou válku proti Zikmundovi, uchvatiteli českého trůnu.
U příležitosti Gamescomu v Kolíně nad Rýnem přineslo švýcarské studio Giants Software první gameplay trailer. Ten odhaluje některé z novinek, na které se můžeme těšit ve Farming Simulatoru 25.
Těmito novinkami jsou dva nové typy zvířat. Domácí buvoli a kozy produkují nové druhy mléka. Ve výrobních řetězcích z takového mléka můžete vyrobit lahodné sýry a prodávat je. Zvířata také mohou produkovat potomky. Roztomilá mláďata můžete poté sledovat v ohradách, jak se učí chodit a rostou do produktivních hospodářských zvířat.
V rámci efektů a deformace terénu dojde na bouřky. Tmavé mraky mohou s sebou přinést menší tornáda a kroupy. Před těmito rozmary počasí je nutné zabezpečit všechny balíky, které ještě nemáte pod střechou. Také musíte počítat s tím, že může dojít ke zničení části polí a lesů, jak ukazuje nové video z americké mapy Riverbend Springs, kterou si můžete detailně prohlédnout v nedávné galerii. Pokud by vám to příliš vadilo, můžete v nastavení hry zničení plodin deaktivovat.
Farming Simulator 25 vyjde 12. listopadu/novembra letošního roku na PC, PlayStation 5 a Xbox Series X/S. Už dříve byly potvrzeny české titulky.
Společnost Paradox Interactive znovu musí měnit plány související s vydáním Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. Upírské akční RPG bylo znovu odloženo. V letošním roce jej čekat nemáme.
Vývojáři ze studia The Chinese Room, kde mimochodem vytvořili Everybody's Gone to the Rapture nebo Still Wakes the Deep, potřebují více času. Společnosti se dohodly, že upřednostní další leštění před unáhleným vydáním. Rozhodnutí navazuje na závazek Paradoxu přinášet hráčům vysoce kvalitní hry a aktualizace.
„Ačkoli je hra v natolik dobrém stavu, že jsme mohli zachovat plánované okno pro vydání, Paradox a The Chinese Room se společně rozhodli dát přednost vyleštění,“ uvádějí. Leštění v tomhle případě znamená nejen standardní opravu chyb a problémů a lepší optimalizaci, nýbrž také vylepšení příběhu, který nabízí dvakrát více konců než jeho předchůdce. Mluví také o zpestření boje s klany.
Letošní veletrh Gamescomu opět zahájen živým přenosem Opening Night Live 2024, který jsme pro vás samozřejmě živě streamovali. Nechybělo několik ukázek a nových oznámení, které dokázaly velmi příjemně překvapit. Mezi nimi se našel třeba trailer s ukázkou hraní z velmi očekávaného Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, oznámení prequelu Mafie, překvapení v podobě nové hry od tvůrců SnowRunner a další. Co vše bylo k vidění vám přináším v tomto souhrnu. To nejzajímavější jsme pro vás sepsali v samostatných článcích:
Jako první tady máme potěšující zprávu pro všechny PC hráče, kteří chtějí krabicovku. Dosud to vypadalo, že fyzicky budou pouze verze pro PlayStation 5 a Xbox Series X/S. Od dnešního dne však máme potvrzenou i krabicovku PC verze.
V rámci bonusu za předobjednávku obdrží všichni hráči bonusový úkol The Lion’s Crest. Za jeho splnění získáte sadu brnění a zbraní slavného rytíře Bruncvíka: dřevcovou zbraň (železná zbraň nasazená na dlouhé tyči), dýku, celou plátovou zbroj a ochranný a ozdobnou pokrývkou pro vašeho věrného koně. Na sadě vyniká český erb s bohatým vínovým a zlatým zdobením. Z popisu to zní podobně jako Treasures of The Past DLC u prvního Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
Kromě standardní edice s bonusovým předmětem Lion’s Crest je v nabídce Gold Edition. Ta obsahuje navíc Expansion Pass a Gallant Huntsman’s Kit. Expansion Pass vám v budoucnu zaručí tři rozšíření a bonusový odemykatelný obsah Shields of Seasons Passing, který je k dispozici od prvního dne. Ten vám umožní přizpůsobit si štít.
Gallant Huntsman’s Kit obsahuje loveckou čepici svatého Huberta (patron myslivců), kuši řecké bohyně lovu Artemis a elegantní lovecký plášť biblického Nimroda, jenž je charakterizován jako bohatýrský lovec před Hospodinem.
Pro opravdové fanoušky je tady sběratelská edice. Ta obsahuje vše výše zmíněné a k tomu sošku hlavního hrdiny Jindřicha ze Skalice a věrného oře Šedivky (30 cm), exkluzivní látkovou mapu uliček Kutné Hory, sadu smaltovaných odznáčků Coats of Valor, ikonický dopis naděje, který byl svěřen siru Janu Ptáčkovi, a sadu sběratelských karet King's Rebels.
Co se cen týče, tak 1530 Kč (60 eur) Day One Edition pro PC a 1785 Kč (70 eur) verze pro konzole. Gold Edition bude za 2040 Kč (80 eur) na PC a 2295 Kč (90 eur) na konzolích. Collector's Edition má jednotnou cenu 5100 Kč (200 eur).
Ve Warhorse Studios měli Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 vytvořit tak, aby si ho zahráli nejen dlouholetí fanoušci, ale také úplní nováčci. Hra nás vrací do napínavého světa středních Čech v 15. století v okamžiku, kdy skončil první díl. Hráči se tak ocitnou v kůži Jindřicha, neochvějného syna kováře, jenž se zaplete do bouřlivého příběhu o pomstě, zradě a objevování sebe sama.
„V tomto strhujícím pokračování se budou hráči pohybovat po pečlivě vytvořené středověké krajině od skromné venkovské kovárny po velkolepé královské dvory, a přitom se budou muset orientovat ve zrádných vodách království rozervaného na kusy občanskou válkou,“ dodává tisková zpráva.
Tak jsme se konečně dočkali. Dva roky po oficiálním potvrzení nové Mafie přichází vytoužené odhalení. Dnes už můžeme říct, že dřívější spekulace byly pravdivé. Nová Mafia je opravdu prequelem příběhu, který v roce 2002 ve městě Lost Heaven ve Spojených státech amerických třicátých let 20. století započal taxikář Thomas Angelo. Tenhle charismatický mladík se zapletl s mafiánskou rodinou Salieri.
Mafia: The Old Country láká na objevení původu organizovaného zločinu. Čekat máme drsný mafiánský příběh zasazený do brutálního sicilského podsvětí na počátku 20. století.
„Bojujte o přežití v této nebezpečné a neúprosné době a pusťte se do akce prostřednictvím autenticky zpracované reality a bohatého příběhu, pro který je kritiky oceňovaná Mafia známá,“ dodávají autoři. Rukopis českých vývojářů je v teaser traileru znát.
Pamatujete si ještě na teaser trailer s prasetem, kterému vylézají vnitřnosti? Z této upoutávky se vyklubala hra Reanimal od Tarsier Studios. Tihle lidé jsou podepsáni za prvními dvěma díly Little Nightmares.
Reanimal je nová hororová adventura, ve kterém bratr a sestra procházejí peklem, aby zachránili své ztracené přátele a unikli z pekelného ostrova, který nazývali domovem. Očekávat máme velmi děsivou cestu. Naštěstí půjde o online kooperativní dobrodružství, takže při průzkumu lodi a souše můžeme hrát ve dvou. Nebo se můžeme do všeho pustit sami.
„V tomto znepokojivém příběhu je kladen důraz na napětí a hutnou atmosféru, protože se připojíte ke dvěma sirotkům při zoufalém hledání naděje a vykoupení v těch nejhorších podmínkách,“ uvádějí autoři.
„Projděte fascinujícím, ale děsivým světem, kde je hlavní cesta pouze jednou částí roztříštěného příběhu. Na své nebezpečné cestě objevte nejrůznější tajemné lokace, z nichž každá má svůj vlastní příběh,“ přidávají.
Reanimal je ve vývoji pro PC, PlayStation 5 a Xbox Series X/S. V současné době bez data vydání.
Na zahajovacím večírku německého veletrhu Gamescom si odbyl premiéru první gameplay trailer z Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Můžeme se tedy podívat na nové záběry z tohoto očekávaného středověkého RPG od pražského studia Warhorse, které nás mimo jiné zavede do Kutné Hory. V úvodu traileru, jenž je vybaven českými titulky, je přitom k vidění postava, která vypadá jako český král Václav IV. Nasvědčuje tomu koruna na hlavě nebo poznámka o křehkém příměří se Zikmundem Lucemburským. Dle všeho je to ale Jošt Lucemburský, další syn Karla IV., kterého jsme mohli vidět již v epilogu prvního dílu. Na hlavě nemá korunu, ale knížecí nebo markraběcí čapku, jak nás upozornil petrurban2006.
Ukázka v nás má vzbudit touhu vidět více. To více uvidíme už zítra, 21. srpna/augusta, od devíti hodin ráno našeho času na YouTube. My vám také brzy přineseme naše dojmy z hraní, tak nás nezapomeňte bedlivě sledovat. Současně si můžete připravit své groše a hru si předobjednat prostřednictvím svého oblíbeného digitálního obchodu nebo fyzického prodejce.
Hrdinská akce Marvel Rivals zanechala v betě dobrý dojem. Spousta hráčů se těší na plnou verzi, která dorazí koncem letošního roku. Díky novému traileru víme přesný termín.
Konkurence pro Overwatch od Blizzardu se dočkáme 6. 12. tohoto roku pro PC, PlayStation 5 a Xbox Series X/S. Jak bylo dříve potvrzeno, hra bude free-to-play a postupně bude rozšiřovat svůj obsah o nové mapy, hrdiny a padouchy ze stáje Marvelu. Mezi nimi od vydání budou Captain America a Winter Soldier, jak dokládá dnešní trailer.
První gameplay trailer ze Sid Meier's Civilization 7 přinesl nejen pohled na herní stránku, ale také datum vydání. Očekávané pokračování známé strategie vyjde 11. února/februára nadcházejícího roku. Majitelé dražší Deluxe Edition si budou moci zahrát o pět dnů dříve, tedy 6. 2.
Civilization 7 dorazí ve verzích pro PC, poslední dvě generace konzolí PlayStation a Xbox a Nintendo Switch.
„Vládněte jako jeden z mnoha legendárních vládců historie. Vybudujte svou civilizaci, stavte města a architektonické divy, abyste si rozšířili území, dobývali svět a spolupracovali s konkurenčními civilizacemi ve snaze dosáhnout prosperity. Objevujte vzdálené kouty neprozkoumaného světa. Postavíte říši, která odolá zkoušce času?“ ptá se popisek.
„Sid Meier's Civilization VII tě vyzývá k vybudování té největší říše, jakou kdy svět viděl!“ píše se v tiskové zprávě.
„V Civilization VII utvářejí tvá strategická rozhodnutí jedinečnou kulturní linii tvé neustále se rozvíjející říše. Panuj jako jeden z mnoha legendárních vládců historie a piš svůj příběh. Vyber si v každém věku lidského pokroku novou civilizaci, která bude představovat tvou říši.“
„Vybuduj města a architektonické divy, kterými rozšíříš svá území, vylepši svou civilizaci o technologické zázraky a spolupracuj s konkurenčními civilizacemi – nebo je dobuď. Objevuj vzdálené kouty neprozkoumaného světa. Usiluj o prosperitu buď sám/sama, nebo si zahraj s ostatními v online multiplayeru, který podporuje hraní napříč platformami.“
„Ať už se rozhodneš jít cestou přesně podle historie, anebo vyzkoušíš vlastní možnosti a vlastní cestu, vybuduj něco, čemu věříš. Zanech po sobě odkaz, který bude rezonovat všemi věky ve hře Civilization VII.“
Akční RPG titul Path of Exile 2 je připraven sesadit Diablo. Pokračování populární jedničky má být ve všech směrech lepší a přinést kooperaci až pro šest hráčů.
Dnes vývojáři z Grinding Gear Games prozradili, že cesta Path of Exile 2 začne předběžným přístupem 15. listopadu/novembra letošního roku. Hra je ve vývoji pro PC, PlayStation 5 a Xbox Series X/S.
Děj se odehrává několik let po Path of Exile. Vrátíte se do temného světa Wraeclast a budete se snažit ukončit šířící se korupci v nové kampani rozdělené na šest aktu. Připraveno bude 100 odlišných prostředí, 600 monster a 100 bossů.
Po zrušení ambiciózní hry Life by You si mohli v Electronic Arts malinko oddychnout, že série The Sims přišla o vážnou konkurenci. Na trh se ovšem chystá ještě InZOI, které vypadá neuvěřitelně.
V InZOI má mít hráč možnost vytvářet jedinečné příběhy a zážitky s postavami, které si vytvoří v komplexním editoru. Poté si můžete najít práci, abyste se uživili, a zároveň si prostřednictvím interakcí vytvořit hluboké vztahy. Díky kompletní simulaci komunity, v níž každá postava jedná podle své svobodné vůle, můžete zažít nečekané události a pocítit různé emoce, které život nabízí.
K dispozici bude řada kreativních nástrojů. Zaujme rozhodně realistická grafika (využíván je Unreal Engine 5). Na Steamu si v období od 21. do 26. srpna/augusta budete moci vyzkoušet editor pro tvorbu postav.
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Are you looking to improve your pass game on the field? You have come to the right place as this guide goes into detail about passing in Madden NFL 25 including controls, all pass types, settings, and more.
Table of contentsMadden NFL 25 passing meter explainedBest Passing mechanics and settings in Madden NFL 25Best passing type in Madden 25PlacementPlacement and AccuracyClassic passingHow to throw different pass types in Madden NFL 25How to throw a touch passHow to throw a lob passHow to throw a bullet passHow to throw the ball away
Madden NFL 25 passing meter explained
The passing meter is similar to previous Madden titles, where it determines how well you throw the football to your receivers. It also determines the type of pass you’ll throw such as lob, bullet, or touch. The passing meter changes a bit depending on which passing type you select in settings, so read further to learn more about that.
Best Passing mechanics and settings in Madden NFL 25
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