It's been two years since Mafia developer Hangar 13confirmed it was working on a new entry in its open-world crime series, and the time has finally come for it to be revealed to the world. It's called Mafia: The Old Country and is heading to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC next year.
While 2016's Mafia 3 shunted the series forward in time to the late 60s (the first two games spanned the 1930s, 40s, and 50s between them), The Old Country is going backward, presenting players with a "gritty mob story set in the brutal underworld of 1900s Sicily."
"Fight to survive in this dangerous and unforgiving era," teases the scant bit of blurb accompanying today's teaser trailer, "with action brought to life by the authentic realism and rich storytelling that the critically acclaimed Mafia series is known for."
Developer Ustwo Games has revealed its widely acclaimed Escher-esque puzzler Monument Valley will return for a third outing on 10th December, and it'll be exclusively available to Netflix subscribers on Android and iOS devices.
Monument Valley 3 is described as protagonist Noor's "most extraordinary adventure yet", and it'll see players searching for a new source of power before the light of the world fades forever.
It promises "stunning new art styles and impossible landscapes", alongside "innovative mechanics and fresh ways to approach challenges". And one of its biggest new features comes in the form of sailing, with players able to roam the world - and solve some of its puzzles - by boat.
ARC Raiders - the free-to-play PvPvE extraction shooter from The Finals developer Embark Studios - has resurfaced following an extended period of retooling, and is now launching as a premium title for PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5 next year.
If you're struggling to remember much about ARC Raiders, that might be because few details have been shared since its announcement back in 2021. It was originally set to release in 2022, but its launch has continued to slip since then - first into 2023 so Embark could focus on The Finals, and latterly while the studio continued to tinker with the title following a genre change.
But it turns out its switch from co-operative third-person shooter to PvPvE extraction shooter (its original form "wasn't really fun", Embark admitted during a recent press event) wasn't to be ARC Raiders' only notable change. It's now been re-announced as a $40 USD premium title, jettisoning its previous free-to-play form, albeit while still remaining a live-service game.
Civilization 7, the very long-awaited latest instalment in developer Firaxis' beloved 4X strategy series, finally has a release date and will be launching for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC on 11th February next year.
But that's not all! As well as providing a date for strategy fans to furiously circle in their 2025 calenders, Firaxis has shared a first look at Civilization 7 in action following June's moody, if ultimately rather uninformative, cinematic trailer. And today's gameplay debut reveals a new aesthetic somewhere between the vibrantly cartoony (and somewhat divise) artstyle of Civilization 6 and the more realistic approach of earlier titles in the series.
And there's more where that came from; Firaxis will be expanding on the features glimpsed in tonight's trailer as part of a 20-minute gameplay showcase set to air at 9.30pm BST/1.30pm PT on Twitch, shortly after Gamescom Opening Night Live is through. And you might also want to stick around Eurogamer, as we'll have plenty to say about Civilization 7 ourselves.
It's been nearly four years since Tarsier Studios waved goodbye to Little Nightmares after being snapped up by Embracer Group, giving developer Supermassive a crack at the much-loved Bandai-Namco-owned horror series. So what's Tarsier been doing since then? Well, it turns out the studio hasn't quite shaken off its fascination with spooky kids in scary places, as one look at its latest project, the newly unveiled Reanimal, makes clear.
Reanimal's gloomy nightmare-fairytale aesthetic, its gangly-limbed monsters, and its two young protagonists - all evident in its announcement trailer - are unquestionably reminiscent of Tarsier's Little Nightmares series. And while that's certainly no bad thing given the studio's oft-brilliant work on those games, it's not entirely clear after a half-hour press briefing, just how substantial a departure - beyond two key features - Reanimal will be from what's come before.
Reanimal tells the story of an orphaned brother and sister trapped in hellish version of the island that used to be their home, as they embark on a quest to rescue their three friends. It's a violent world of gloomy forests and decimated buildings, where empty bags of skins hang from trees and hideous, animalistic creatures roam. It's also one that's aiming for a "darker and grittier" tone compared to Tarsier's previous horror games.
We already knew it was coming, thanks to a post-credits teaser at the end of 2022's The Devil in Me, but developer Supermassive has now confirmed its sci-fi horror outing Directive 8020 will launch for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC next year.
Directive 8020 essentially takes one fist of Alien and another of The Thing then smushes them together, placing players aboard the colony ship Cassiopeia, where its crew must escape an alien organism capable of mimicking its prey.
"Earth is dying and humanity is running out of time," teases Supermassive. "12 light years from home, Tau Ceti f offers a small sliver of hope. When the colony ship Cassiopeia crash lands on the planet, its crew soon realise they are far from being alone... As they battle to survive, they are confronted with the hardest choice of all: to save themselves, they must risk the lives of everyone on Earth."
Paradox Interactive's streak of game delays continues with the news its Chinese-Room-developed Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is now targeting a release in the "first half of 2025", rather than its previously announced "late 2024" window.
In a post on its website, Paradox called the delay a "proactive decision" derived from its commitment earlier this year to deliver "high-quality games" to its players. "Though [Bloodlines 2] is in a good enough place that we could have maintained our planned release window," it wrote, "Paradox and The Chinese Room collaboratively decided to prioritise polish."
Paradox says the delay will "create a quality assurance buffer, giving more time between testing and launch, ensuring we release the game when it's ready." More specifically, The Chinese Room will use the time to expand Bloodlines 2's story, providing twice as many endings as its predecessor, and to "adjust certain areas" such as Fabien - the voice in its protagonist's head.
MachineGames' Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will reportedly launch for PlayStation 5 in the early half of 2025, following an Xbox Series X/S and PC release at the end of this year.
That's according to industry insider Nate the Hate (one of the first people to break the news of Microsoft's multi-platform plans at the start of this year) who made the claim on social media. "MachineGames' Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will release on Xbox & PC this holiday (Dec) as a timed console exclusive," they wrote. "After this timed-exclusive window expires, Indiana Jones & the Great Circle is planned to come to PlayStation 5 in the first half of 2025."
Nate the Hate's claim tallies with a report by The Verge back in February, which said Microsoft was planning to go beyond its initial slate of comparatively low-key multi-platform releases by launching some of its flagship games on competing consoles. These were said to include Starfield and MachineGames' Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, with the latter supposedly due to arrive on PS5 "some months" after its Xbox and PC release.
Nintendo's 135-year history will soon be brought to life inside the walls of a new purpose-built Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, Japan - and ahead of its opening on 2nd October, legendary designer Shigeru Miyamoto has revealed some of its intriguing exhibits in a new video tour.
The Nintendo Museum has been built on the site of the factory where Nintendo originally made its Hanafuda cards, and which was later used for quality checks during the Famicom era. That building and its unremarkable carpark are no longer standing, however, now replaced by a shiny two-floor monument to Nintendo's history and a Mario-themed plaza.
Miyamoto's 13-minute tour begins on the second floor of the museum, where several huge curved glass displays - containing many of the products Nintendo has released since its founding in 1889 - can be found. This whole area is intended to chart the evolution of Nintendo's approach to entertainment, from its earlier non-video game products - including copy machines, baby strollers, RC cars, and pitching machines - into more familiar territory, beginning with 1977's early video game forays, the Color TV-Game 6 and Color TV-Game 15.
Video gaming's premier horn honker, Trombone Champ, is bringing its comedic rhythm-tooting to virtual reality helmets - meaning PC, PlayStation VR 2, and Meta Quest players might want to pucker up in preparation for a vigorous tromboning session this autumn.
Trombone Champ: Unflattened, as the new VR version of the 2022 rhythm-action sensation is known, is one of the first official VR adaptations from Flat2VR Studios - the developer comprising of modders behind unofficial VR versions of games like Half-Life 2 and Doom.
Created in conjunction with original Trombone Champ developer Holy Wow Studios, Trombone Champ: Unflattened is set to feature more than 50 songs across its single-player campaign, with tracks including Ode to Joy, Sakura Sakura, God Save the King, and more.
Call of Duty has become an absolute hard drive hog in recent years, with 2023's entry managing to consume over 200GB of storage in some cases. That all might be about to change, however, as Activision has announced major changes to the way it'll be handing installs with this year's Black Ops 6, promising "smaller and more customised downloads" as a result.
Activision shared the news in a post on its Call of Duty blog, explaining its optimisation work will begin with a revamp of "the experience formerly known as Call of Duty HQ". This revamp is set to roll out over the course of several updates ahead of Black Ops 6's October launch, and will promises to introduce a streamlined interface, direct access to games, more control over downloads, and expanded texture streaming technology to reduce file sizes.
A first update to reorganise game content arrives on 21st August. Then, following Black Ops 6's open beta on 30th August, a new user interface and other "remaining updates" are scheduled for mid-October. After these "larger initial updates", Activision says future Call of Duty downloads will decrease in size and existing files will take up less space on players' device.
Back in June, developer IO Interactiverevealed it was resurrecting and reworking Hitman 3's VR mode, first released for PSVR in 2021, exclusively for Meta Quest 3 - and the studio has now shared first gameplay, showcasing this Reloaded edition's various enhancements.
On a basic level, Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded is the same game that earned itself a Eurogamer Recommended badge back in the day, meaning players can don goggles and immersively sneak through likes of Dubai, Dartmoor, Berlin, Chongqing, and Mendoza.
However, Reloaded - which is being developed with XR Games - is more than just a straight port of Hitman 3 VR's scrappy but enjoyable previous release. It also introduces a new flat-shaded artstyle, more "fluid and natural" movement options, an overhauled UI, and - perhaps most notably - dual-wielding, so players can use a different weapon or item in each hand.
Lonely Mountains: Downhill, the brilliantly serene/controller-snappingly infuriating mountain biking game from developer Megagon Industries, is trading its wheels for a pair of skis later this year, with the arrival of newly announced follow-up, Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders.
Much like its predecessor, Snow Riders is all about getting from up to down as elegantly and/or speedily as possible. This time, though, its gorgeous mountain vistas are blanketed in thick snow and ice, lending a different dimension to proceedings as players attempt to perform tricks, discover shortcuts, and beat their best times with a pair of skis strapped to their feet.
Once again, there'll be challenges to complete and new equipment, outfits, and tricks to unlock during play, but Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders also introduces online competitive and co-operative multiplayer across a variety of modes.
Flame Fatales, the all-women and femmes charity speedrunning event from Games Done Quick, returns for another week-long programme of impressively swift gaming feats this weekend.
This year's Flame Fatales (which will be the event's fourth outing since its launch back in 2021) gets underway on Sunday, 16th August. More specifically, things kick off at 6:15pm BST, with a Horizon Forbidden West Burning Shores 100% speedrun by RE_doc19.
Seven days - and more than 50 speedruns - later - this year's Femme Fatales comes to a close at 4:06am BST with a Super Mario Odyssey Talkatoo% speedrun by CheeseJay. In between, you can expect speedruns for the likes of Persona Dancing, Sonic CD, Broken Age, Stray, the Resident Evil 2 remake, Rez, and plenty more - as outlined in this year's full schedule.
New World: Aeternum, the latest expansion/do-over for Amazon's middling MMO New World, is having an open beta on 13th September ahead of its full PC and console release in October.
Aeternum, if you're unfamiliar, emerged back in June, amid some confused messaging that didn't entirely make it clear exactly what it was. And, truthfully, Amazon's marketing remains as baffling as ever. The gist, though, is that this is the same MMORPG released back in 2021, albeit with new features and a bit of finessing ahead of its debut on Xbox Series X/S and PS5.
It's got a pacier story (told through in-game cinematics and pre-rendered cut-scenes), combat improvements, cross-platform play, enhanced controller support, and more - while still retaining its other MMO bits like classes, crafting, and questing. Then there's New World's first-ever large-scale PvP zone, a new 10-player raid, end-game solo trials, and other additions.
UPDATE 20/8/24: Well, there you go. Following last week's Deadline report, Amazon has officially unveiled Secret Level, a new "adult-animated anthology series featuring original stories set within the worlds of some of the most beloved video games".
It's a 15-episode series from the creators of Love, Death & Robots, and it'll feature stories inspired by Armored Core, Concord, Crossfire, Dungeons & Dragons, Exodus, Honor of Kings, Mega Man, New World: Aeternum, PAC-MAN, Sifu, Spelunky, The Outer Worlds, Unreal Tournament, Warhammer 40,000, and a variety of PlayStation Studios games.
And if that takes your fancy, you'll be wanting to circle 10th December on your calendar - which is when the series arrives on Prime Video - then check out its teaser trailer below.
Springloaded Software, the developer behind 2021's animal-splicing tycoon game Let's Build a Zoo, has unveiled Let's Build a Dungeon - a new "multi-layered" management sim in which players attempt to run a game development studio while creating their own MMORPG.
Let's Build a Dungeon's first layer comes in the form of studio management, with players needing to recruit staff (including artists, programmers, planners, and testers); manage project deadlines, advertising campaigns, and press relationships; negotiate with shareholders, and pitch to publishers, all in the hope of rising from indie start-up to mega-blockbuster studio.
But alongside the business stuff, players also need to get creative and build their own fantasy MMO - which could be anything from a creature-catching RPG to a cosy farming sim - filling it with towns, monsters, dungeons, and quests, all tailored to satisfy their virtual playerbase's demands and expand its audience. And it's even possible to jump into your creation at any time to experience it through the eyes of your players.
Activision sure is dragging out its reveal of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's Zombies mode. But if you're sucker for the undead stuff, there's more where last week's trailer and gameplay reveal came from, with developer Treyarch having now offered a tour of Zombies' Terminus map.
Terminus Island is one of two maps that'll be available at launch (the other being the West Virginian town of Liberty Falls), and Treyarch calls it "one of the largest round-based Zombies maps ever created". Black Ops 6's Zombies mode takes place in the early 90s - five years after the events of Black Ops Cold War's Zombies mode - and Terminus Island serves as a prison for some familiar Requiem faces. After their liberation early at the start of the story, players can explore the prison itself before moving out to investigate its tropical island surroundings.
There's a secret research facility specialising in "weird science" (in case you were wondering where the zombies might spring up from this time), as well as the ocean, and assorted smaller islands - all of which players will visit as part of Terminus' main quest. It's described as a "living world" full of scripted encounters, ranging from zombies smashing out of vats and prison guards still trying to control the undead threat, to less fortunate souls being chomped on.
Chrome is about to trial a new feature that will automatically redact sensitive data when you share your Android screen.
The Chrome Flag description outlines that form info such as passwords and credit card details would be redacted when screen-sharing or recording.
It is not yet known when this feature will be available to try or if it will eventually be rolled out to all users.
Accidentally flashing your password or credit card info is always a worry when you’re sharing your screen. Google is looking to address this concern with an experimental feature for Chrome on Android. When available, Google will automatically detect and redact sensitive data when you’re sharing or recording your screen.
As shared on X by Leopeva64, the feature appears as a new Chrome Flag called “Redact sensitive content during screen sharing, screen recording and similar actions.” Chrome Flags are experimental features that Google has yet to roll out fully, but anyone can try them.
They captured an image of the Chrome Flag and its description that explains how the feature will work. It outlines that “if sensitive form fields (such as credit cards, passwords) are present on the page, the entire content area is redacted during screen sharing, screen recording, and similar actions”
As the description lays out, if you’re sharing your screen or recording it in a way that others might view, this optional tool will add an extra layer of privacy. This level of data protection has hitherto only been available in Chrome’s Incognito Mode, which prevents screen capture by default.
You can’t try out the new Chrome Flag just yet, but it should be available on Chrome Canary in the coming weeks and will work on Android 5 and above. Check out our article on Chrome Flags to learn more about what they are and how to try them.
Garmin has announced its support for Google’s upcoming Satellite SOS feature.
Pixel 9 phones will be able to access Garmin’s emergency response coordination services when cellular coverage is not available.
It will arrive with Android 15 and initially only be available to Pixel 9 users in the US.
When unveiling the new Pixel 9 series last week, Google revealed that the devices will be the first Android phones to offer its Satellite SOS support. Garmin wasted no time in adopting the upgrade, announcing how its support for the feature will allow more users to raise the alarm in an emergency.
Once available, users who are outside of cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity will be able to use Google’s satellite option to connect with Garmin Response. This round-the-clock service is staffed by professionally trained emergency incident coordinators. It can liaise with a global network of law enforcement agencies to react when an alert to an emergency situation is raised.
Until this point, Garmin Response required you to have an inReach-enabled device or affiliated Satellite Emergency Notification Device, as well as an active satellite service plan. This move will bring the SOS service to Google Pixel 9 owners, with Garmin planning on extending it to more of the Android ecosystem in the future. It will initially only be available in the US. Garmin also hopes to expand the coverage more globally, although no timeframes have yet been provided.
Garmin Co-Chief Operating Officer Brad Trenkle gave the following quote in the press release:
“Garmin welcomes the opportunity to expand our proven, premium satellite emergency response coordination services to the Android ecosystem, starting with Google Pixel 9 in the U.S. Each year, Garmin Response supports thousands of SOS activations, likely saving lives in the process. We are looking forward to collaborating with Google to help people connect to emergency services when they need them.”
Google’s Satellite SOS support will be an Android 15 feature, which means it won’t be immediately available on the Pixel 9 handsets but will arrive later in the year. The SOS service will be free to Pixel 9 owners for the first two years.
Zoom just announced that webinar calls can now support up to one million simultaneous participants. This was after various political groups used the video conferencing platform to raise money for Vice President Kamala Harris’ election campaign. The company now offers various tiers for webinar calls that feature max capacities of 10,000 connections through to 500,000 and, of course, one million attendees — for a price. Booking a one-time webinar for a million people will set you back a cool $100,000.
Your library, top charts, subscriptions and more in your browser.
Apple Podcasts on the web has a look and feature set more like the company’s standalone app. The platform is accessible from any web device, with more tools beyond simply playing episodes — even if you don’t have a desktop or mobile app installed. Apple says even without an Apple log-in, you’ll still be able to browse and listen.
Alphabet’s Waymo has revealed its sixth-generation Driver system, with a more efficient sensor setup. Despite having a reduced camera and LiDAR sensor count, it maintains the same safety levels of past rides, the company says. This new system is built into Geely Zeekr EVs, following a collaboration announced back in 2021. It’s a… boxier ride. This is not a Jaguar.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-zoom-can-now-handle-one-million-simultaneous-participants-111523850.html?src=rss
The relationship between tech companies and influencers can be murky. A recent post on Threads showed part of the sign-up form to receive Pixel devices for influencers and YouTubers, mandating that signees feature Google’s hardware “in place of any competitor mobile devices” or else “we will need to cease the relationship between the brand and the creator.”
First, our Engadget editors didn’t get this when they signed up for review samples for the four (yes, four) new Pixel phones. It transpired this was for the Team Pixel program, set up by Google to communicate with creators and, it seems, send them devices.
Google responded: “The goal of #TeamPixel is to get Pixel devices into the hands of content creators, not press and tech reviewers. We missed the mark with this new language that appeared in the #TeamPixel form yesterday, and it has been removed.”
It’s not yet clear if these Team Pixel members have received a new agreement, but will the demands remain, just not baked into a Google form or contract? The company is sending devices out so creators can try out (and talk up) the Pixel 9 series — if they don’t, Google may fail to see the point.
Epic has finally brought the Epic Games Store to mobile devices. The app marketplace is now available on iOS in the European Union (after the bloc required Apple to allow third-party app stores on iPhone and iPad) and on Android worldwide. As a result, Fortnite is once again available on iOS without laborious workarounds. The store is bringing Fall Guys to iOS and Android for the first time, with nearly full parity with the console and PC versions, minus the level builder.
Gamescom is Germany’s huge annual gaming trade show. This year, Microsoft has announced a major Xbox presence throughout the event. The first is the opening night livestream, which kicks off on August 20 at 2PM ET. While that stream isn’t Xbox-centric, we’re expecting some relevant news during the keynote. It will be available via the Gamescom YouTube page. Then there are three streams from Xbox, each focusing on a different slate of games.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-google-apologizes-over-its-pixel-influencer-demands-111513252.html?src=rss
MIT Professor Emeritus John B. Vander Sande, a pioneer in electron microscopy and beloved educator and advisor known for his warmth and empathetic instruction, died June 28 in Newbury, Massachusetts. He was 80.
The Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE), Vander Sande was a physical metallurgist, studying the physical properties and structure of metals and alloys. His long career included a major entrepreneurial pursuit, launching American Superconductor; forming international academic partnerships; and serving in numerous administrative roles at MIT and, after his retirement, one in Iceland.
Vander Sande’s interests encompassed more than science and technology; a self-taught scholar on 17th- and 18th-century furniture, he boasts a production credit in the 1996 film “The Crucible.”
He is perhaps best remembered for bringing the first scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) into the United States. This powerful microscope uses a beam of electrons to scan material samples and investigate their structure and composition.
“John was the person who really built up what became MIT’s modern microscopy expertise,” says Samuel M. Allen, the POSCO Professor Emeritus of Physical Metallurgy. Vander Sande studied electron microscopy during a postdoctoral fellowship at Oxford University in England with luminaries Sir Peter Hirsch and Colin Humphreys. “The people who wrote the first book on transmission electron microscopy were all there at Oxford, and John basically brought that expertise to MIT in his teaching and mentoring.”
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1944, Vander Sande grew up in Westwood, New Jersey. He studied mechanical engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1966, and switched to materials science and engineering at Northwestern University, receiving a PhD in 1970. Following his time at Oxford, Vander Sande joined MIT as assistant professor in 1971.
A vision for advanced microscopy
At MIT, Vander Sande became known as a leading practitioner of weak-beam microscopy, a technique refined by Hirsch to improve images of dislocations, tiny imperfections in crystalline materials that help researchers determine why materials fail.
His procurement of the STEM instrument from the U.K. company Vacuum Generators in the mid-1970s was a substantial innovation, allowing researchers to visualize individual atoms and identify chemical elements in materials.
“He showed the capabilities of new techniques, like scanning transmission electron microscopy, in understanding the physics and chemistry of materials at the nanoscale,” says Yet-Ming Chiang, the Kyocera Professor of Ceramics at DMSE. Today, MIT.nano stands as one of the world’s foremost facilities for advanced microscopy techniques. “He paved the way, at MIT, certainly, and more broadly, to those state-of-the-art instruments that we have today.”
The director of a microscopy laboratory at MIT, Vander Sande used instruments like that early STEM and its successors to study how manufacturing processes affect material structure and properties.
One focus was rapid solidification, which involves cooling materials quickly to enhance their properties. Tom Kelly, a PhD student in the late 1970s, worked with Vander Sande to explore how fast-cooling molten metal as powder changes its internal structure. They discovered that “precipitates,” or small particles formed during the rapid cooling, made the metal stronger.
“It took me at least a year to finally get some success. But we did succeed,” says Kelly, CEO of STEAM Instruments, a startup that is developing mass spectrometry technology, which measures and analyzes atoms emitted by substances. “That was John who brought that project and the solution to the table.”
Using his deep expertise in metals and other materials, including superconducting oxides, which can conduct electricity when cooled to low temperatures, Vander Sande co-founded American Superconductor with fellow DMSE faculty member Greg Yurek in 1987. The company produced high-temperature superconducting wires now used in renewable energy technology.
“In the MIT entrepreneurial ecosystem, American Superconductor was a pioneer,” says Chiang, who was part of the startup’s co-founding membership. “It was one of the early companies that was formed on the basis of research at MIT, in which faculty spun out a company, as opposed to graduates starting companies.”
To teach them is to know them
While Yurek left MIT to lead the American Superconductor full time as CEO, Vander Sande stayed on the faculty at DMSE, remaining a consultant to the company and board member for many years.
That comes as no surprise to his students, who recall a passionate and devoted educator and mentor.
“He was a terrific teacher,” says Frank Gayle, a former PhD student of Vander Sande’s who recently retired from his job as director at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. “He would take the really complex subjects, super mathematical and complicated, and he would teach them in a way that you felt comfortable as a student learning them. He really had a terrific knack for that.”
Chiang said Vander Sande was an “exceptionally clear” lecturer who would use memorable imagery to get concepts across, like comparing heterogenous nanoparticles, tiny particles that have a varied structure or composition, to a black-and-white Holstein cow. “Hard to forget,” Chiang says.
Powering Vander Sande’s teaching, Gayle said, was an aptitude for knowing the people he was teaching, for recognizing their backgrounds and what they knew and didn’t know. He likened Vander Sande to a dad on Take Your Kid to Work Day, demystifying an unfamiliar world. “He had some way of doing that, and then he figured out how to get the pieces together to make it comprehensible.”
He brought a similar talent to mentorship, with an emphasis on the individual rather than the project, Gayle says. “He really worked with people to encourage them to do creative things and encouraged their creativity.”
Kelly, who was a University of Wisconsin professor before becoming a repeat entrepreneur, says Vander Sande was an exceptional role model for young grad students.
“When you see these people who’ve accomplished a lot, you’re afraid to even talk to them,” he says. “But in reality, they’re regular people. One of the things I learned from John was that he’s just a regular person who does good work. I realized that, Hey, I can be a regular person and do good work, too.”
Another former grad student, Matt Libera, says he learned as much about life from Vander Sande as he did about materials science and engineering.
“Because he was not just a scientist-engineer, but really a well-rounded human being and shared a lot of experience and advice that went beyond just the science,” says Libera, a materials science and engineering professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, Vander Sande’s alma mater.
“A rare talent”
Vander Sande was equally dedicated to MIT and his department. In DMSE, he was on multiple committees, on undergraduates and curriculum development, and in 1991 he was appointed associate dean of the School of Engineering. He served in the position until 1999, taking over as acting dean twice.
“I remember that that took up a huge amount of his time,” Chiang says. Vander Sande lived in Newbury, Massachusetts, and he and his wife, Marie-Teresa, who long worked for MIT’s Industrial Liaison Program, would travel together to Cambridge by car. “He once told me that he did a lot of the work related to his deanship during that long commute back and forth from Newbury.”
Gayle says Vander Sande’s remarkable communication and people skills are what made him a good fit for leadership roles. “He had a rare talent for those things.”
He also was a bridge from MIT to the rest of the world. Vander Sande played a leading role in establishing the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, a teaching partnership that set up Institute-modeled graduate programs at Singaporean universities. And he was the director of MIT’s half of the Cambridge-MIT Institute, a collaboration with the University of Cambridge in the U.K. that focused on student and faculty exchanges, integrated research, and professional development. Retiring from MIT in 2006, he pursued academic projects in Ecuador, Morocco, and Iceland, and served as acting provost of Reykjavik University from 2009 to 2010.
He had numerous interests outside work, including college football and sports cars, but his greatest passion was for antiques, mainly early American furniture.
A self-taught expert in antiquarian arts, he gave lectures on connoisseurship and attended auctions and antique shows. His interest extended to his home, built in 1697, which had low ceilings that were inconvenient for the 6-foot-1 Vander Sande.
So respected was he for his expertise that the production crew for 20th Century Fox’s “The Crucible”sought him out.The film, about the Salem, Massachusetts, witch trials, was set in 1692. The crew made copies of furniture from his collection, and Vander Sande consulted on set design and decoration to ensure historical accuracy.
His passion extended beyond just historical artifacts, says Professor Emeritus Allen. He was profoundly interested in learning about the people behind them.
“He liked to read firsthand accounts, letters and stuff,” he says. “His real interest was trying to understand how people two centuries ago or more thought, what their lives were like. It wasn’t just that he was an antiques collector.”
Vander Sande is survived by his wife, Marie-Teresa Vander Sande; his son, John Franklin VanderSande, and his wife, Melanie; his daughter, Rosse Marais VanderSande Ellis, and her husband, Zak Ellis; and grandchildren Gabriel Rhys Pelletier, Sophia Marais VanderSande, and John Christian VanderSande.
MIT Professor Emeritus John B. Vander Sande is credited with bringing the first scanning transmission electron microscope into the United States. This powerful microscope uses a beam of electrons to scan material samples and investigate their structure and composition.
“This discovery has direct implications for low-power electronic devices because no energy is lost during the propagation of electrons, which is not the case in regular materials where the electrons are scattered,” says Long Ju, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and corresponding author of the Science paper.
The phenomenon is akin to cars traveling down an open turnpike as opposed to those moving through neighborhoods. The neighborhood cars can be stopped or slowed by other drivers making abrupt stops or U-turns that disrupt an otherwise smooth commute.
A new material
The material behind this work, known as rhombohedral pentalayer graphene, was discovered two years ago by physicists led by Ju. “We found a goldmine, and every scoop is revealing something new,” says Ju, who is also affiliated with MIT’s Materials Research Laboratory.
In a Nature Nanotechnology paper last October, Ju and colleagues reported the discovery of three important properties arising from rhombohedral graphene. For example, they showed that it could be topological, or allow the unimpeded movement of electrons around the edge of the material but not through the middle. That resulted in a superhighway, but required the application of a large magnetic field some tens of thousands times stronger than the Earth’s magnetic field.
In the current work, the team reports creating the superhighway without any magnetic field.
Tonghang Han, an MIT graduate student in physics, is a co-first author of the paper. “We are not the first to discover this general phenomenon, but we did so in a very different system. And compared to previous systems, ours is simpler and also supports more electron channels.” Explains Ju, “other materials can only support one lane of traffic on the edge of the material. We suddenly bumped it up to five.”
Additional co-first authors of the paper who contributed equally to the work are Zhengguang Lu and Yuxuan Yao. Lu is a postdoc in the Materials Research Laboratory. Yao conducted the work as a visiting undergraduate student from Tsinghua University. Other authors are MIT professor of physics Liang Fu; Jixiang Yang and Junseok Seo, both MIT graduate students in physics; Chiho Yoon and Fan Zhang of the University of Texas at Dallas; and Kenji Watanabe and Takashi Taniguchi of the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan.
How it works
Graphite, the primary component of pencil lead, is composed of many layers of graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in hexagons resembling a honeycomb structure. Rhombohedral graphene is composed of five layers of graphene stacked in a specific overlapping order.
Ju and colleagues isolated rhombohedral graphene thanks to a novel microscope Ju built at MIT in 2021 that can quickly and relatively inexpensively determine a variety of important characteristics of a material at the nanoscale. Pentalayer rhombohedral stacked graphene is only a few billionths of a meter thick.
In the current work, the team tinkered with the original system, adding a layer of tungsten disulfide (WS2). “The interaction between the WS2 and the pentalayer rhombohedral graphene resulted in this five-lane superhighway that operates at zero magnetic field,” says Ju.
Comparison to superconductivity
The phenomenon that the Ju group discovered in rhombohedral graphene that allows electrons to travel with no resistance at zero magnetic field is known as the quantum anomalous Hall effect. Most people are more familiar with superconductivity, a completely different phenomenon that does the same thing but happens in very different materials.
Ju notes that although superconductors were discovered in the 1910s, it took some 100 years of research to coax the system to work at the higher temperatures necessary for applications. “And the world record is still well below room temperature,” he notes.
Similarly, the rhombohedral graphene superhighway currently operates at about 2 kelvins, or -456 degrees Fahrenheit. “It will take a lot of effort to elevate the temperature, but as physicists, our job is to provide the insight; a different way for realizing this [phenomenon],” Ju says.
Very exciting
The discoveries involving rhombohedral graphene came as a result of painstaking research that wasn’t guaranteed to work. “We tried many recipes over many months,” says Han, “so it was very exciting when we cooled the system to a very low temperature and [a five-lane superhighway operating at zero magnetic field] just popped out.”
Says Ju, “it’s very exciting to be the first to discover a phenomenon in a new system, especially in a material that we uncovered.”
This work was supported by a Sloan Fellowship; the U.S. National Science Foundation; the U.S. Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering; the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI; and the World Premier International Research Initiative of Japan.
Artist’s rendition of a newly discovered superhighway for electrons that can occur in rhombohedral graphene. “We found a goldmine, and every scoop is revealing something new,” says MIT Assistant Professor Long Ju.
MIT has a rich history of productive collaboration between the arts and the sciences, anchored by the conviction that these two conventionally opposed ways of thinking can form a deeply generative symbiosis that serves to advance and humanize new technologies.
This ethos was made tangible when the Bauhaus artist and educator György Kepes established the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) within the Department of Architecture in 1967. CAVS has since evolved into the Art, Culture, and Technology (ACT) program, which fosters close links to multiple other programs, centers, and labs at MIT. Class 4.373/4.374 (Creating Art, Thinking Science), open to undergraduates and master’s students of all disciplines as well as certain students from the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), is one of the program’s most innovative offerings, proposing a model for how the relationship between art and science might play out at a time of exponential technological growth.
Now in its third year, the class is supported by an Interdisciplinary Class Development Grant from the MIT Center for Art, Science and Technology (CAST) and draws upon the unparalleled resources of MIT.nano; an artist’s high-tech toolbox for investigating the hidden structures and beauty of our material universe.
High ambitions and critical thinking
The class was initiated by Tobias Putrih, lecturer in ACT, and is taught with the assistance of Ardalan SadeghiKivi MArch ’23, and Aubrie James SM ’24. Central to the success of the class has been the collaboration with co-instructor Vladimir Bulović, the founding director of MIT.nano and Fariborz Maseeh Chair in Emerging Technology, who has positioned the facility as an open-access resource for the campus at large — including MIT’s community of artists. “Creating Art, Thinking Science” unfolds the 100,000 square feet of cleanroom and lab space within the Lisa T. Su Building, inviting participating students to take advantage of cutting-edge equipment for nanoscale visualization and fabrication; in the hands of artists, devices for discovering nanostructures and manipulating atoms become tools for rendering the invisible visible and deconstructing the dynamics of perception itself.
The expansive goals of the class are tempered by an in-built criticality. “ACT has a unique position as an art program nested within a huge scientific institute — and the challenges of that partnership should not be underestimated,” reflects Putrih. “Science and art are wholly different knowledge systems with distinct historical perspectives. So, how do we communicate? How do we locate that middle ground, that third space?”
An evolving answer, tested and developed throughout the partnership between ACT and MIT.nano, involves a combination of attentive mentorship and sharing of artistic ideas, combined with access to advanced technological resources and hands-on practical training.
“MIT.nano currently accommodates more than 1,200 individuals to do their work, across 250 different research groups,” says Bulović. “The fact that we count artists among those is a matter of pride for us. We’ve found that the work of our scientists and technologists is enhanced by having access to the language of art as a form of expression — equally, the way that artists express themselves can be stretched beyond what could previously be imagined, simply by having access to the tools and instruments at MIT.nano.”
A playground for experimentation
True to the spirit of the scientific method and artistic iteration, the class is envisioned as a work in progress — a series of propositions and prototypes for how dialogue between scientists and artists might work in practice. The outcomes of those experiments can now be seen installed in the first and second floor galleries at MIT.nano. As part of the facility’s five-year anniversary celebration, the class premiered an exhibition showcasing works created during previous years of “Creating Art, Thinking Science.”
Visitors to the exhibition, “zero.zerozerozerozerozerozerozerozeroone” (named for the numerical notation for one nanometer), will encounter artworks ranging from a minimalist silicon wafer produced with two-photon polymerization (2PP) technology (“Obscured Invisibility,” 2021, Hyun Woo Park), to traces of an attempt to make vegetable soup in the cleanroom using equipment such as a cryostat, a fluorescing microscope, and a Micro-CT scanner (“May I Please Make You Some Soup?,” 2022, Simone Lasser).
These works set a precedent for the artworks produced during the fall 2023 iteration of the class. For Ryan Yang, in his senior year studying electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, the chance to engage in open discussion and experimental making has been a rare opportunity to “try something that might not work.” His project explores the possibilities of translating traditional block printing techniques to micron-scale 3D-printing in the MIT.nano labs.
Yang has taken advantage of the arts curriculum at MIT at an early stage in his academic career as an engineer; meanwhile, Ameen Kaleem started out as a filmmaker in New Delhi and is now pursuing a master’s degree in design engineering at Harvard GSD, cross-registered at MIT.
Kaleem’s project models the process of abiogenesis (the evolution of living organisms from inorganic or inanimate substances) by bringing living moss into the MIT.nano cleanroom facilities to be examined at an atomic scale. “I was interested in the idea that, as a human being in the cleanroom, you are both the most sanitized version of yourself and the dirtiest thing in that space,” she reflects. “Drawing attention to the presence of organic life in the cleanroom is comparable to bringing art into spaces where it might not otherwise exist — a way of humanizing scientific and technological endeavors.”
Consciousness, immersion, and innovation
The students draw upon the legacies of landmark art-science initiatives — including international exhibitions such as “Cybernetic Serendipity” (London ICA, 1968), the “New Tendencies” series (Zagreb, 1961-73), and “Laboratorium” (Antwerp, 1999) — and take inspiration from the instructors’ own creative investigations of the inner workings of different knowledge systems. “In contemporary life, and at MIT in particular, we’re immersed in technology,” says Putrih. “It’s the nature of art to reveal that to us, so that we might see the implications of what we are producing and its potential impact.”
By fostering a mindset of imagination and criticality, combined with building the technical skills to address practical problems, “Creating Art, Thinking Science” seeks to create the conditions for a more expansive version of technological optimism; a culture of innovation in which social and environmental responsibility are seen as productive parameters for enriched creativity. The ripple effects of the class might be years in the making, but as Bulović observes while navigating the exhibition at MIT.nano, “The joy of the collaboration can be felt in the artworks.”
The Galaxy Ring is one of the most exciting devices of the year for Samsung Health users looking for a carefree and screen-free fitness and health-tracking experience. It's subtle, does the job, and lasts even longer than a Galaxy Watch on a full battery charge. Or does it?
Well, it should, and it used to. Samsung advertises the Galaxy Ring for up to seven days of battery life on a full battery. It's a close approximation, as battery life will vary depending on the ring size. Bigger Galaxy Rings have bigger batteries and more battery life, but the difference isn't that great.
As mentioned in our Galaxy Ring review, we got around six days of use from our Samsung smart ring on a full charge. That's good performance for a carefree user experience, as far as we're concerned. But here's the problem. We're not getting close to that figure anymore.
Galaxy Ring has a battery drain issue
The Galaxy Ring we use for reference has been losing battery charge much quicker than before. Lately, we haven't been able to get more than three days of usage from a full battery.
That's about half of what we used to get on a full charge, and it's not much more than we'd achieve on a Galaxy Watches with a bit of clever feature management.
We're not the only Galaxy Ring users facing this issue. Here's another example from @imparkerburton on X. He used to get eight days of usage, but now the Galaxy Ring drops to a little over 50% after roughly fifteen hours.
The story continues after the video
We're guessing this is a temporary issue Samsung could and will fix through a firmware update. The Galaxy Ring might need some extra battery optimization, and if this is a widespread bug, Samsung will likely address it sooner rather than later. Until then, we'll keep you posted if we find any temporary or permanent solutions.
Are you wondering where all 29 ramp locations in Goat Simulator 3are? The developers did an excellent job with placing ramp locations. Some are easier to spot than others, so we have provided you with the locations of all ramps.
Where To Find All 29 Ramp Locations in Goat Simulator 3
There are a total of 29 ramps spread across San Angora. The ramps are broken down into specific zones that will be recorded in your collectible menu after you jump them in a vehicle or bike, which you can access by pressing the menu key. You will know it is successful when fireworks appear after your jump.
Fairmeadows Ranch
There are a total of six ramps in Fairmeadows Ranch.
The first ramp is in the area where men hide in trashcans.
The second ramp is just off the river, where a guy is fishing off the dock.
The third ramp is just north of the talent show, where you complete a quest to be liked by all the judges.
The fourth ramp above Dilbo’s house. Lots of construction equipment and towers surround it.
The fifth ramp is by Sun and Son’s solar farm business.
The sixth ramp is behind the Fossil Fuel gas station.
Pointy Foods Factory
There is a total of two ramps near the Pointy Foods Factory.
The first ramp is off the highway right before you reach Suburbsville.
The second ramp is located inside the Pointy Foods Factory area.
Suburbsville
There are a total of three ramps in Suburbsville.
The first ramp is located across from the Swekia building.
The second ramp is located down the dirt road from the Yoga studio.
The third ramp is located by the birthday party house and where the nuke drops during the Fallout easter egg event.
Construction Site
There are a total of two ramps at the construction site.
The first ramp goes over a building with a red door.
The second ramp goes through a concrete cylinder.
Downtown
There are a total of five ramps in the Downtown zone.
The first ramp is underneath the double-lane highway by the Quiet Hill Rest Area.
The second ramp is located by the entrance to Port San Angora.
The third ramp is inside this white building in Port San Angora.
The fourth ramp is located at the end of Port San Angora in-between red shipping containers.
The fifth ramp is located by Doretto’s car shop at the foot of the Hoofer Dam.
Goatenburg
There are a total of six ramps in Goatenburg.
The first ramp is underneath the Welcome to Clover St. sign.
The second ramp is at the end of the pier on the beach.
The third ramp is located by the Route 55 sign leading to libertarian Island. The ramp goes through a pink shipping container box.
The fourth ramp is located behind the last 5G tower.
The fifth ramp is located inside the construction building. This ramp was the last one I found in the game, and it took me forever. I didn’t realize the ramp leading up to the building was a ramp.
The sixth ramp is located behind the Fidelite Lounge building.
Hoofer Dam
There are two ramps at the Hoofer Dam landmark.
The first ramp is on the Hoofer Dam itself.
The second ramp is by the Welcome to Mornwood Falls sign.
Sawmill
There is one ramp at the Sawmill location.
The first ramp is above the Sawmill.
Mornwood Falls
There are two ramps in the Mornwood Falls zone.
The first ramp is by the rest area.
The second ramp is squeezed in between a trailer, a small cave with a trinket collectible, and some pigs. The ramp leads into the San Angora Zoo when jumped.
Goat Simulator 3 is available on PC through Epic Games, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
'This book brings together the knowledge and perspectives of numerous past and present games industry leaders and practitioners to form a clear picture of how leadership operates in a game development studio.'
Say what you will about the otherwise calorie-lite first fortnight of the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz campaign, at least it eased for a moment the shrill catastrophizing that has marked Democratic messaging against former President Donald Trump over these past nine years.
"Gone are [President Joe] Biden'ssoberexhortations about the battle for the soul of the nation and a democracy under attack," TheWashington Postobserved earlier this month. "In its place are promises of 'freedom' and 'a brighter future' and, at times, audible giggles and laughter."
Well, the darkness came back with a vengeance in Chicago during Monday's opening night of the Democratic National Convention. Staged as a somewhat awkward and late-running "Thank you Joe" celebration, Day One demonstrated that the party remains in thrall both to the millenarian temptation and its flip side of messianic zeal.
"We're facing inflection point, one of those rare moments in history when the decisions we make now will determine the fate of our nation and the world for decades to come," Biden barked, familiarly. "That's not hyperbole. I mean it literally. We're in a battle for the very soul of America."
As puzzling as it may seem to those scores of millions of us who never once voted for the man during his half-century in elected office, we heard serial testimonials during Biden's valedictory night about the president's soulcraft. "He has brought us together, and revived our country, and our country's soul," Convention Chair Minyon Moore claimed, improbably. Sen. Chris Coons (D–Del.) extolled the president's "determination to heal the soul of our nation." Daughter Ashley reassured us that "He never stops thinking about you."
If only these sentiments were merely the good-natured embellishments of retirement banquets. Democrats, as they did massively for former President Barack Obama and are already cranking up for Harris and Walz, positioned Biden as a benevolent, borderline omniscient parental figure, ennobling citizens with meaning through the munificence of their gaze.
"They saw us, they fought for us, they heard us," Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said of Biden and Harris. The 2024 ticket, Harrison continued, "will invest in our hopes, and our dreams, and our futures." Hillary Clinton posited that "We're not just electing a president. We are uplifting our nation." California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis testified of the Democratic nominee that "She cares. She cares so much that if you are lucky enough to be her friend, she called you on her birthday, and sometimes she sings to you."
It was only the Democrats' miserable show-running organization that prevented Biden from being serenaded by James Taylor with a rendition of "You've Got a Friend," a song he also performed for Obama at the 2012 Democratic convention, and that Carole King dedicated to both Clinton and Bernie Sanders in 2016. These politicians seeking access to the nuclear codes are not some distant, calculating power-seekers, but rather neighborly types who just want to lend a hand!
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D–Ga.), a Baptist pastor, was the most effective at tying together the Democratic strands of millenarianism and messianism. After busting Trump's chops for hawking Bibles ("he should try reading it"), and alleging that the GOP nominee "is a clear and present threat to the precious covenant we share with one another," Warnock reached for the stars.
"I'm convinced tonight that we can lift the broken even as we climb," he said. "I'm convinced tonight that we can heal sick bodies. We can heal the wounds that divide us. We can heal a planet in peril, we can heal the land."
George Will produced a memorably relevant metaphor in the 2014 Ken Burns documentary The Roosevelts: An Intimate History. "The presidency," Will mused, "is like a soft leather glove, and it takes the shape of the hand that's put into it. And when a very big hand is put into it and stretches the glove—stretches the office—the glove never quite shrinks back to what it was. So we are all living today with an office enlarged permanently by Franklin Roosevelt."
So too goes the stretching of presidential speechcraft. Obama, with significantly more charisma than Biden or Harris could ever muster, expanded the modern rhetorical template with his 2008 convention speech, delivered against a backdrop of Greek columns in a 76,000-seat stadium, that climaxed with this rapturously hubristic close:
I am absolutely certain that, generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless. This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal. This was the moment when we ended a war, and secured our nation, and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth.
Just prior to Obama's rise, Gene Healy warned us about executive branch omnipotence in his terrific book (and Reasoncover story) The Cult of the Presidency. "The chief executive of the United States," Healy wrote, "is no longer a mere constitutional officer charged with faithful execution of the laws. He is a soul nourisher, a hope giver, a living American talisman against hurricanes, terrorism, economic downturns, and spiritual malaise. He 'or she' is the one who answers the phone at 3 a.m. to keep our children safe from harm. The modern president is America's shrink, a social worker, our very own national talk show host. He's also the Supreme Warlord of the Earth."
Obama's successor Trump, after having campaigned on a Great Man Theory of politics, continued the modern tradition of playing overpromiser in chief. "Dying industries will come roaring back to life," he predicted in his 2017 speech in front of a Joint Session of Congress. "Crumbling infrastructure will be replaced with new roads, bridges, tunnels, airports and railways gleaming across our very, very beautiful land. Our terrible drug epidemic will slow down and ultimately stop. And our neglected inner cities will see a rebirth of hope, safety and opportunity." Or not.
As Reason Editor in Chief Katherine Mangu-Ward remarked at the time, "This weirdly grandiose rhetoric is a reflection of a weirdly grandiose bipartisan conception of the powers of the president….Presidents do not make the earth move. They do not turn back tides. They do not heal the sick, or eliminate vice, or remake the nation. They are humans with human failings, and one of those failings is the inability to resist taking a big slurp of their own Kool-Aid in moments of triumph."
Investing our very souls into the fortunes of politicians is not the habit of a healthy civic culture. The people who compete for the right to control $7 trillion of money extracted from taxpayers upon threat of imprisonment are not your friends. The executives who sit atop the Justice Department, who have control over history's most powerful military, are not responsible for your hopes, your dreams, your healing. Imbuing elected officials with such spiritual potency is a recipe for self-infantilization, disappointment, and terrible executive-branch governance.
Presidential candidates will only stop promising to heal our souls when we stop asking them to. The long, slow climb out of our national sump hole requires not only that we treat pompous pols with the derision they deserve, but that we stop pouring our own aspirations into the career prospects of the politically ambitious.
Democrats will spend these next three days scaring voters both about Trump's legitimately scary behavior, and such Potemkin threats as Project 2025 (or as Sen. Jim Clyburn (D–S.C.) called it last night, "Jim Crow 2.0"). Such darkness is the regrettably typical stuff of politics, on both sides. It's when they imagineer a government headed by Kamala Harris to be an agent of spiritual healing that you should really reach for the gong.
Donald Trump oversaw some scary moments in international politics. The former president seriously escalated tensions with North Korea and Iran, leading to several war scares. But he pulled back from the brink, sometimes against the wishes of his more hawkish advisers. He avoided a direct U.S.-Iranian war and opened a direct line of communication with North Korea.
Democrats seem to wish he'd gone to war instead. The Democratic National Committee's 2024 platform, approved in a symbolic vote on Monday night, tries to outhawk Trump, denouncing his "fecklessness" on Iran and his "love letters" to North Korea. Although the platform condemns Trump for pulling out of diplomacy with Iran, it also attacks his decisions not to bomb Iran at several crucial points.
Ironically, the Democratic platform is not much different from Republicans' own attacks on the Biden administration. Each side accuses the other of weakness, and neither wants to take credit for diplomacy or own the compromises necessary to avoid war.
It's easy to forget now, but in 2017 the Korean peninsula had become a remarkably tense place. North Korea was testing nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of hitting U.S. soil. The U.S. military was massing forces in the region, and Trump was issuing threats.
Trump's national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, reportedly called for a military attack aimed at giving North Korea a "bloody nose." McMaster and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R–S.C.) publicly warned that war might be inevitable.
And then, in January 2018, a false alarm drove home the lesson that nuclear war is nothing to play around with. During a disaster preparedness drill, authorities in Hawaii accidentally sent an alert about an incoming ballistic missile. For more than half an hour, Hawaiians and tourists were convinced that they were going to die in a nuclear war.
A few months later, McMaster was out of the White House. Trump accepted an invitation to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June 2018. Trump met Kim again in February 2019. Stepping over the North Korean–South Korean border in June 2019, Trump became the first U.S. president to visit North Korea.
The meetings failed to secure a permanent agreement—it didn't help that McMaster's replacement, John Bolton, publicly hinted that denuclearization would end in Kim's violent death—but they bought some crucial breathing room.
The Democrats' 2024 platform attacks the very idea of talks with North Korea. Trump's approach, the platform says, was "embarrassing the United States on the world stage including by flattering and legitimizing Kim Jong Un, exchanging 'love letters' with the North Korean dictator."
This isn't a break with past Democratic rhetoric. During the presidential debates in 2019, then-candidate Joe Biden said that Trump gave "North Korea everything they wanted, creating the legitimacy by having a meeting with Kim Jong Un." Another candidate, Kamala Harris, said that there are "no concessions to be made. He has traded a photo op for nothing."
If even talking to North Korea is a "concession," then it's hard to see what alternative Harris would accept, other than continuing to barrel towards nuclear war.
Iran, unlike North Korea, does not have nuclear weapons. In 2017, Trump tore up an international agreement that regulated Iranian nuclear activities, instead betting on a "maximum pressure" campaign designed to overthrow the Iranian government by cutting off its oil exports. Bolton later said in his memoir that "only regime change would ultimately prevent Iran from possessing nuclear weapons," and then–Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was obsessed with killing the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
The Iranian government did not react warmly to the maximum pressure campaign. Iranian forces encouraged rocket attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq, and Iran is believed to be behind sabotage attacks on the international oil industry, including a September 2019 drone strike on Saudi oil infrastructure.
The U.S. military massed forces off the coast of Iran during this time. On June 19, 2019, Iran shot down an American surveillance drone. (The two countries disagree on whether the drone was in Iranian airspace.) Trump ordered a bombing raid on Iranian air defense batteries, then pulled back at the last minute, because killing Iranian troops was "not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone."
Although the Democratic platform calls maximum pressure a "reckless and short-sighted decision," it also attacks Trump for failing to hit Iran back at each of these points. "Trump's only response" to an Iraqi militia attack on the U.S. consulate in Basra "was to close our diplomatic facility," the Democrats complain, and "Trump failed to respond against Iran or its proxies" for the attack on Saudi oil facilities.
The platform is somewhat ambiguous on whether Trump should have bombed Iran in June 2019. "Trump responded by tweet and then abruptly called off any actual retaliation, causing confusion and concern among his own national security team," it says. Perhaps putting American lives at risk to avenge the honor of a robot would be too far even for the Biden team.
Maximum pressure reached its climax in January 2020, when Trump followed Pompeo's advice and ordered the military to assassinate Soleimani. Iran responded by launching 12 ballistic missiles at a U.S. base in Iraq, which injured Americans but did not kill anyone. Trump called it even, claiming that "Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned."
At the time, Democrats were highly critical of the decision to risk war by killing an Iranian officer. "Trump just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox," Biden wrote right after Soleimani was assassinated. After the Iranian retaliation, Democrats immediately put forward a war powers resolution making it clear that the president does not have the authority to start a war with Iran.
The current Democratic platform takes a different tone. When "Iran, for the first and only time in its history, directly launched ballistic missiles against U.S. troops," the document declares disapprovingly, Trump "again took no action." The platform criticizes Trump for making light of U.S. troops' brain injuries without mentioning the assassination that prompted the Iranian attacks in the first place.
After all, it would be hard for Biden to criticize Trump for bringing America to the brink of war in the Middle East when he has done the same.
After four short years of a Democratic administration, the mood among Democratic leaders has gotten more hawkish, especially as the defense of Ukraine gives them a "good war" to rally behind. But that's not necessarily how the American people, including Democratic voters, feel. Direct talks with North Korea are still popular, and direct war with Iran is still unpopular. Republicans and independents are less likely to call themselves hawks than in 2014, and even Democratic voters are only one percentage point more likely to consider themselves hawkish than before.
There is a public appetite for diplomacy and deescalation. But party leaders don't seem to want to take the opportunity. They would prefer to fight over who can outhawk whom.
"What we're doing in terms of the [first-time homebuyer] tax credits, we know that there's a great return on investment," Harris asserted in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. "When we increase home ownership in America, what that means in terms of increasing the tax base, not to mention property tax base, what that does to fund schools—again, return on investment. I think it's a mistake for any person who talks about public policy to not critically evaluate how you measure the return on investment. When you are strengthening neighborhoods, strengthening communities, and in particular the economies of those communities, and investing in a broad-based economy, everybody benefits, and it pays for itself in that way."
Italics added, to emphasize America's ongoing mistakes.
Democrats begin their four-day national convention Monday in the city that perhaps best exemplifies the chasm between their party's dreamy policy rhetoric and grim real-world results. As a direct result of one-party misrule (there are zero Republicans on the 50-seat City Council), Chicago's tax base is decreasing, not increasing. The population has declined for nine consecutive years, is shrinking by an annual rate of 1 percent, and is at its lowest point in more than a century.
Illinois, where Democrats control the governorship and a two-thirds majority of the legislature, lost "an estimated $3.6 billion in income tax revenue in 2022 alone, a year the net loss of 87,000 residents subtracted $9.8 billion in adjusted gross income," syndicated columnist and Illinois native George Will observed last week. "In the past six years, $47.5 billion [adjusted gross income] has left….Illinois leads the nation in net losses of households making 200,000 or more."
None of these or other grisly Windy City stats—including the murders and the pension liabilities—are obscure. As Illinois Policy Institute Vice President Austin Berg put it Saturday night at a live taping of the Fifth Column podcast, "I believe Chicago is the greatest American city, and the worst-governed American city."
The bigger mystery has been why the Democratic Party would choose such a metaphorically dicey backdrop. But an answer begins to suggest itself amid the banal dystopia of the DNC's endless security checkpoints, concrete barriers, and battalions of police officers separating America's political class from its serfs. Democrats chose Chicago for a similar reason that Harris chose a running mate with a particularly awful record during the pandemic- and riot-scarred year of 2020: Because they, like their candidate, know that, contra Harris' assertion Sunday in Pennsylvania, the people who talk about policy—whether politician, journalist, or political consumer—almost never "critically evaluate how you measure the return on investment."
If professional political conversation was tethered even loosely to policy results, you might expect one or maybe even two of the journalists dutifully collecting their DNC press credentials at the colossal (and colossally empty) McCormick Place convention center to ask a follow-up question about what their eyeballs cannot miss. How in the world can a city in terminal financial crisis not just support the country's largest convention-center complex during a time of market oversupply and conventioneering decline, but actually keep expanding the damn thing?
The DNC's second major site (behind the United Center, which is hosting what you watch on television), "has been a political money pit for nearly 60 years," Berg wrote in 2019. Built in 1960, rebuilt after a 1967 fire, then expanded in 1986, 1997, 2007, and 2017, McCormick Place looks this week like the cover of a Mike Davis book—extensive security barricades and fencing separating the nearby poors from a depopulated, dully corporate expanse.
"Over and over, Chicago and Illinois public officials and a roster of consultants promised that a bigger McCormick Place would yield hundreds of thousands of new convention attendees and billions in new spending and public revenues," Heywood Sanders wrote in his 2014 book Convention Center Follies. "Those repeated promises have proved false, the consultant projections unmet."
Instead, like so many other Chicago governance failures, the unmet promises are covered over with taxes—on hotel room stays, restaurants, car rentals. In completely related news, a 2024 Wallet Hub study of effective state/local tax burden per median U.S. household income ranked Illinois dead last.
But the 2024 campaign is famously more about "vibes" than anything related to governance. The Harris/Walz campaign website still does not have a policy page (though the party did on Sunday release a draft platform). "I have not had a single constituent in El Paso or a single person on the road try to get very specific policy details from me," Harris campaign co-chair Rep. Veronica Escobar (D–Texas) toldThe New York Times. You're going to have to vote for a Harris administration to see what's in it.
Republican nominee Donald Trump famously did not even update the 2016 GOP platform when he ran unsuccessfully in 2020, suggesting that America has a supply problem when it comes to national politicians and policy accountability.
But don't sleep on demand. Trump fans love his boorish, bizarre, and often funny jokes, so he keeps making cracks about Kamala Harris' looks and Montana Sen. John Tester's fat stomach rather than stay as focused on issues as his advisors would prefer. Harris is getting cheered on by a subset of journalists for not subjecting herself to any kind of public cross-examination. And the residents of Chicago, looking upon both the civic dysfunction and the city's undeniable energy and charm, just keep on voting for more Democrats.
Americans may be getting precisely what they want out of politics in 2024. Good and hard.
Our week continues, fellow bargain hunters, with an average Wednesday of nowhere near average savings. Top of my list includes that Borderlands Pandora Collection—because we all may as well blast through the entire franchise as prep for Borderlands 4. I'm also all about that PSDiscount on No Man's Sky, the game that just keeps on giving. Stupid amounts of value for money there. Get amongst it already.
In retro news, I’m celebrating the 15th birthday of Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again, one of the best DSi downloads you could nab. Minis March Again bolstered the original article with four more game worlds of 10 stages apiece. Along with the brilliant DIY level creator that let me wirelessly share my conundrums with friends, this was just more of the same—old school Nintendo game design with pitch perfect puzzle platforming and high sheen visuals. Please remake more of this sizeable series on Switch, Ninty.
This Day in Gaming
- Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! (DSi) 2009. Similar
- Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare (PS3/4) 2014. Get
The trailer for Masters of Albion, Peter Molyneux’s return to ‘traditional’ style games after a decade-plus stint in mobile development, welcomes you to “the familiar, vast world of Albion.” This world is, of course, the setting of Fable, the beloved RPG series Molyneux served as creative lead on at Lionhead Studios through the 2000s. But today he returns to Albion not to craft a new Fable (that’s Microsoft and Playground Games’ job), but to make something simultaneously new and nostalgic.
Masters of Albion aims to be something of a Molyneux Greatest Hits; a project that revisits ideas from many of the prolific designer’s past games and reinterprets them for the modern age. The result seems to be a mashup of Dungeon Keeper, Black & White, and Fable – a city-building god game that’s also a third-person RPG. Yup, Molyneux’s trademark wild ambition is definitely back.
It’s best to approach Masters of Albion one piece at a time. Let’s start with the god game stuff, born of the design DNA Molyneux created with Populous back in 1989. Played from an isometric perspective, you look after a growing population – building them up from a tiny village to a collection of bustling towns. Establishing supplies and constructing buildings form the basics, but there’s a variety of fun, very Lionhead-esque ideas, such as designing what your villagers will eat in a digital kitchen (with anything from soup and sandwiches to rats on the menu).
Crafting towns that are both economically and physically strong is vital. “We've got this very simple mechanic where by day everything's peaceful, you can explore, you can plan, you can build, you can create,” Molyneux tells me in an interview ahead of Masters of Albion’s reveal. “And then by night, everything will attack everything you own.”
Trolls, zombies, werewolves, and other horrors all descend as the sun goes down. And that’s where another familiar idea comes into play. Just like in Black & White, your avatar within the world is a giant floating hand that can cast miracles. Smiting foes with divine bolts of lighting and flamethrowers is just as important a task as using those deity digits to fit together houses and factories in build mode.
“I think the hand can be a lot more than just picking things up,” says Molyneux, referring to the more simplistic version featured in Black & White and his aims to evolve it for Masters of Albion. “I think we can enhance it. We can make people feel really powerful [and] creative with that hand.”
Eye in the Sky, Boots on the Ground
The short trailer revealed as part of gamescom 2024’s Opening Night Live doesn’t really detail how this next-generation hand has evolved beyond its 20-year-old predecessor. What it does show is a surprising callback to 1997’s Dungeon Keeper that promises to turn Masters of Albion into a wild genre hybrid.
“I loved the Hand [in Dungeon Keeper],” enthuses Molyneux. “I loved being able to pick things up. I loved being able to possess things, but it didn't feel like they comfortably lived together. [...] So what I decided to take is possession mode, but take it in a way that improves and enhances it, makes it meaningful and deep.”
You can point at any living creature in your kingdom and take direct control of it.
In Masters of Albion, you can point at any living creature in your kingdom and take direct control of it. That could be a villager, a soldier, or even one of Albion’s beloved chickens. More likely, though, it’ll be your hero; a customisable character with their own RPG skill tree, weapons, and armour. They are, effectively, a Fable-like protagonist. And when you possess them (or, yes, a chicken), the camera drops from your eye-in-the-sky god perspective and swings behind them, settling into a familiar third-person camera.
“Possession enables you to play the game rather like the Fable combat system,” Molyneux explains. “You can use magic and you can fight, you can blend the two styles together.”
But possession mode isn’t just about taking command of a warrior to push back your enemies. “You can explore,” Molyneux explains. “And in exploring this vast land of Albion, inspired by Fable, which was inspired by old England, there are many, many places to explore and find.”
The world of Albion is shrouded by a fog of war in which your god hand has no power. It’s through the possession of your hero that you’ll explore what’s hiding in that fog, pushing the clouds back to unlock more and more land for your hand to interact with. And so the two modes depend on each other; you can’t build cities in god mode without exploring via possession mode, and your hero needs to be equipped with new weapons that must be forged in god mode (or, indeed, baked – that returning Fable sense of humour means you can send your hero to war with a baguette blade).
Importantly, Molyneux doesn’t want possession mode to feel like an optional extra. “You can play the majority of the game in that third-person view, which is fantastically exciting,” he says.
“I think my realisation after all these years is I don't want to create a game which forces you, the gamer, to be a certain sort of player,” he explains. “I want you to think, ‘Well, I'm not interested in god mode, I'm interested in possession mode, I'm interested in fighting, I'm interested in creating the armour and the weapons that my hero is going to use in possession mode.’ That's fine.”
Playing God in Old Albion
The demonstration of possession mode in Masters of Albion’s trailer is both impressive and clunky (perhaps to be expected; it is being developed by a lean 20-person team rather than a AAA studio, after all.) That considered, I’m cautious with my expectations. I can’t yet imagine this RPG side being totally fulfilling if played as the primary mode. But Molyneux and his team at 22cans have ambitions of working with the same RPG fabric that Fable was cut from. That means a significant relationship with the concepts of good and evil, with physical transformations based on your choices.
“Your hand will morph, your hero will morph,” Molyneux promises, a feature that echoes both Fable and Black & White. “The whole landscape will morph to reflect what you are doing.”
He hopes, though, that things will be much more nuanced than Black & White’s titular binary ethics. “We have these factions in the game, the Lords’ faction and the Commoners’ faction, and which you are going to support allows us to measure whether you are a person of the people or a person of the aristocracy. So there's a lot more interesting things going on.”
There are also systems that breed consequences not directly linked to any kind of moral ethos. “You can design whatever building you want and these buildings have functions, so you can make a building that's a farm and a mill and a factory and a pub and an inn and a housing block,” explains Molyneux. “And it can be one monstrous building. But be careful. The more you put things together, the more you stress those buildings, the more pollution they cause, and the whole landscape will morph to reflect the pollution you've got.”
Perhaps this is what Molyneux means by finding a way to be more nuanced – pollution isn’t quite as clear cut as, say, forcing children to work in factories and eat rats, but it’s still a philosophical issue that divides opinion.
It's an interesting universe that Fable touched upon and really I think Masters of Albion extends and expands that.
Masters of Albion sounds like classic Peter Molyneux; a shoot-for-the-stars concept album of ideas from across the industry (or, at the very least, across the UK’s Guildford region where he has always worked). And with classic Molyneux comes ideas you can’t help but wonder if they could possibly work out. This time it’s a question of legality rather than scope: Albion is the setting of Fable, which is owned by Microsoft. So how are Molyneux and 22cans able to set this new game, unaffiliated with Microsoft, in Albion? Is it perhaps a different world, just with the same name?
“Fable was set in Albion, Masters of Albion is set in Albion,” Molyneux clarifies.
So this is the same world. And the reason 22cans can use Albion, at least according to Molyneux, is because Albion is the historical term for Great Britain. “[It’s] like saying if you set a game in America, you can't set any other game in America,” he says. “So Albion can't be copyrighted. It's the name for England and Wales and that's how we get away with it.”
By this logic, the argument seems to be that Fable does not take place in a fantasy world, but simply in historical England – a place that, despite the inclusion of comedy chickens, presumably cannot be copyrighted?
“I don't know if I'm honest, I don't really know,” Molyneux admits. “I hope so. I mean you would think that the responsible person I should be, I would've spent the last six months in lawyers' offices…”
If there are legal complications for 22cans to explore and resolve, they will come in time. For now, Molyneux’s mind is on exploring the untapped depths of the setting. “It's an interesting universe that Fable touched upon,” he says, “and really I think Masters of Albion extends and expands that.
“But it's not actually Fable 5 or anything like that,” he emphasises. “But if you've played Fable, then definitely Masters of Albion will be familiar to you. One of the things that we have got and we absolutely wanted a nail was the humour. I think in the Fable games, it's not so much about telling jokes, it's more about giving you, the player, the ability to do ridiculous and funny things. And we've got that in Masters of Albion in absolute spades. I think we’re really nailing that.”
Masters of Albion may not be a new Fable game, but it is a new spin on Fable’s world – a spin that reunites Peter Molyneux with the god game ideas that he built a career on. We’ll need to see much, much more of this strange genre hybrid before we can say if its ambitions are attainable, but it's nonetheless exciting to see one of gaming’s most prolific creators return with something so distinctly of his inventive mind.
Title: Black Myth: Wukong Type of Game: Action RPG Developer: Game Science Publisher: Game Science Released: 20.8.2024 Platforms Available: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S (later) Platform Reviewed: PC Level of Maturity: Teen Article Reading Time: 6 minutes
Heads up, gamers! August 20, 2024, is about to get wild. Black Myth: Wukong is finally swinging into action, and boy, is it making a racket. This Chinese mythology-fueled romp has been teasing us for years, and now it’s time to see if it lives up to the hype. We’re still prepping our full review here at WePlayGames.net, but let’s dig into the early buzz.
Weplaygames Youtube Channel : Black Myth Official Black Myth: Wukong trailer
From Daydream to Phenomenon
Picture this: In 2018, a bunch of starry-eyed devs at Game Science cooked up this crazy idea in Hangzhou. Fast forward to 2020, and their pre-alpha trailer breaks the internet harder than a cat video. Since then? It’s been a roller coaster of hype and hair-pulling anticipation.
Game Science has been yelling themselves that this isn’t a souls-like clone. Guess what? They might be onto something. GameSpot‘s saying it’s got its flavor in the action RPG buffet. You’re playing this monkey dude, the Destined One, straight outta “Journey to the West.” Sounds bonkers? It is.
Now, about that fighting – oh boy. IGN‘s raving about this Focus system that’ll have you pulling off moves smoother than a greased-up eel. Dodge like Muhammad Ali, hit like Mike Tyson, and watch that Focus meter go nuts. Then? Unleash hell. Throw in some shape-shifting shenanigans and magical mumbo-jumbo, and you’ve got a party.
If there’s one thing this game’s nailing, it’s the big bads. GameSpot can’t stop gabbing about these Yaoguai – think mythical nasties that’d give your nightmares nightmares. We’re talking about wolves with flaming bling and dragons that’d make Daenerys jealous. The works. Some folks found these throwdowns a cakewalk, but IGN’s warning that some late-game beasties might have you rage-quitting harder than Dark Souls veterans.
Eye Candy and Ear Worms
Both GameSpot and IGN are losing their minds over how this game looks. It’s so pretty it might make your eyeballs pop. Snow that crunches just right, trees you want to hug, and lighting that’ll make you weep. Game Science went all-in, ditching Unreal Engine 4 for 5 in 2021. Talk about commitment.
And the tunes? Chef’s kiss. We’re talking sweeping scores, battle music that’ll get your blood pumping, and get this – they snagged the theme from the old ’86 “Journey to the West” show. Nostalgia overload, anyone?
While everyone’s drooling over the pretty pictures and slick moves, the story’s got folks scratching their heads. GameSpot and IGN hint that if you’re not up on your “Journey to the West” lore, you might feel like you’ve stumbled into a foreign film without subtitles. The hero’s got a bad case of the “strong, silent type,” which doesn’t help.
But wait! There’s hope. IGN’s got a soft spot for these artsy chapter-ending bits. Each one’s like a mini-masterpiece, adding some much-needed feels to the monkey business.
Rough Around the Edges
Now for the not-so-great news. IGN’s run into more bugs than a summer picnic – crashes, wonky audio, even some game-breaking nonsense on PC. Here’s hoping for some day-one magic patches.
And the level design? It’s catching some flak. GameSpot mentions you might spend more time lost than Marco Polo without a map. Oh, and invisible walls? They’re everywhere. It’s like playing tag with a mime.
Despite the hiccups, this game’s got people frothing at the mouth. It’s been sitting pretty as Steam’s most wanted since May, and its benchmark tool drew crowds like free beer at a frat party. It even snagged Best Visuals at Gamescom 2023 before anyone could get their grubby paws on it.
Come D-Day, you can grab it in flavors from no-frills digital to a collector’s edition that’ll have your wallet sobbing. PS5 and PC folks get first dibs, with Xbox Series X/S players left twiddling their thumbs for a bit.
The Lowdown
As we sharpen our critique claws for the full review, it’s clear Black Myth: Wukong is more than just monkey business. It might not be perfect, but it’s dishing out a heaping helping of Chinese mythology with a side of face-melting action that’s got us intrigued. Word on the street is this might kick off a whole series of Chinese legend-inspired games. Color us stoked.
Keep your eyes peeled for our deep dive, which is coming soon once launched on PlayStation 5. Meanwhile, if you’re itching for a fresh action fix with some Eastern zing, you might want to pencil in a date with the Destined One. Just pack some extra patience – this journey might have a few bumps and bruises along the way.
Velmi očekávaný titul od čínského studia Game Science je téměř za dveřmi. Co všechno víme o jejich prvotině inspirované jedním z klasických děl čínské literatury, se dozvíte právě teď a tady.
Adventury typu Point'n'Click už možná nejsou tolik v kurzu jako kdysi. Staré kousky jsou však stále lákavou nabídkou pro milovníky žánru. A ten se stihl ještě vyvinout.
Jste fanouškem určitého sportu nebo i více najednou? Videoherní prostředí nabízí bezpočet možných titulů, které vás zabaví na dlouhé hodiny. Tady jsou jedny z nejlepších!
Crash to desktop issues have been plaguing players attempting to play the game. Luckily, a handful of fixes you can try have worked for us. Here’s how to fix crashing issues in Black Myth: Wukong so you can start playing the game with the biggest launch since Elden Ring.
How to Fix Crashing Issues in Black Myth Wukong Using Compatibility Mode
Screenshot by GameSkinny
Screenshot by GameSkinny
Screenshot by GameSkinny
Here’s how to fix crashing issues in Black Myth Wukong:
Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) is an AI technology developed by NVIDIA that uses ATI to improve game performance and image quality. Unfortunately, Black Myth: Wukong is poorly optimized and graphic intensive, so you’ll need all the help you can get to run the game with minimal issues. Here’s how to turn on DLSS in Black Myth: Wukong to help improve your gameplay experience.
We’re seeing an injection of fresh life into this year’s Madden thanks to the return of college football with EA Sports College Football 25’s release. The college football franchise comes off an 11-year hiatus, tying nicely into Madden 25’s pro football package. But the return of college football can only do so much for Madden 25, as this year’s experience feels more like a mechanical iteration from past entries rather than a comprehensive overhaul.
Surprisingly, the biggest innovations in this year’s Madden are found in nitty-gritty gameplay details rather than in modes or presentation. EA has been proudly campaigning its new BOOM Tech physics suite; a physics package that incorporates realistic tackles and individualized player movements. By extension, the iconic Madden Hit Stick has been re-engineered so that you can control your tackles through risk/reward hit timings. I’m a terrible tackler in these games and even I found the Hit Stick timings to be intuitive and fun to pull off, even if it sometimes resulted in the carrier breaking through a poorly timed hit.
In case you forgot, we're supposed to be going through a new AR and VR revolution, except we're not. The Vision Pro, Apple's first mixed reality (XR) headset, hasn't reshaped the market how many thought it would. And soon, it will be Samsung's turn to have another try at the virtual and augmented reality market. Will it succeed?
There's no way to tell how things will go for Samsung and its two major partners, Qualcomm and Google. It's hard to predict how the XR market will evolve or change and which manufacturer will finally manage to bring this technology truly into the mainstream.
Nevertheless, Samsung, Qualcomm, and Google say they're working on the “next XR experience.” And according to tipster @UniverseIce, the tentatively named ‘Galaxy XR' has some things in common with the upcoming Galaxy S25 flagship phone.
Galaxy XR and Galaxy S25 have common DNA
According to the latest rumor, “some of the design and features of the Galaxy S25 take into account the Galaxy XR.” It's unclear what this means exactly, and it would be easy to assume that the source hints at a Gear VR kind of experience where the phone powers the headset.
However, every leak and rumor so far says otherwise. The Galaxy XR should be a stand-alone device with its own processing hardware and power source, as well as a 3500ppi OLEDoS screen developed by Samsung Display or at least a micro-OLED from Sony.
If we were to guess, it's more likely that the source says the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy XR may have overlapping design languages.
As an older rumor has it, the Galaxy S25 series could look more different than the S24 and S23 lineups, as Samsung might be ready to transition to a new design language. Of course, this makes it harder to predict what kind of design Samsung's XR headset might adopt.
Furthermore, these different devices — phone and XR headset — could share some clever features, like Samsung Continuity and Galaxy AI.
The story continues after the video
Galaxy AI could have a huge positive impact on the XR experience, as it might be the key to lifting some of the barriers that have so far held XR back, such as typing without a real keyboard or otherwise interacting seamlessly with the digital world around the user.
For now, it's just a guessing game. Samsung hasn't been confirmed these features so far. The company hasn't said anything that would link Galaxy AI and Galaxy XR, so time will tell how things develop.
Previous rumors suggest Samsung may release a developer version of Galaxy XR this year, followed by the consumer version in Q1 2025.
It looked like a scene from a bad TSA checkpoint at last year’s Gen Con when a long line of people queued up to demo the buzz-laden two player cooperative game, Sky Team. Sky Team has two players, a pilot and co-pilot, each place four dice on a central instrument board in an attempt to […]
Are you wondering what all Pokémon Scarlet and Violet mystery gift codes are so you can unlock free content? Mystery Gifts are an easy way to unlock content for your game and are usually free. Mystery Gifts can include a wide variety of content, like a Pikachu with a special move and Tera Type or an Adventure set with many valuable items. Here are all the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet mystery gift codes you can use to unlock free content.
All Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Mystery Gift Codes
Here are all current Pokémon Scarlet and Violet mystery gift codes available:
Mystery Gift Code
Gift
Expiration Date
909TEAMUP06
Fuecoco
January 31, 2025
NA1CTR1CKR00M
Nils Dunlop’s Porygon2
N/A
F1ARR0W23MASTER
Violet Talonflame
June 2, 2024
D0T1STPARTNER
Dot’s Quaxly
November 30, 2024
GYARAD0S2023SG
Gyarados
June 30, 2024
987W1THSPECS
Flutter Mane
May 7, 2024
Code is sent to the email of guidebook purchasers
100 x Potions
None
Code is sent to the email of guidebook purchasers
100 x Rare Candy S
None
Automatically given to Double Pack purchasers
200 x Poké Balls
None
Get via Internet, available to all players
Adventure Set
Code is sent to the email of eShop purchasers
Special Pikachu
We will update the above table as new Mystery Gift codes become available.
How do I Redeem Mystery Gift Codes in Pokémon Violet and Scarlet?
The first thing you need to do is unlock the ability to access the Mystery Gift Codes menu, which you can accomplish by reaching a Pokémon center. This will take you about 90-minutes of playtime. Once you have reached the first Pokémon center, you will gain access to the Poké Portal on the menu screen. From here, you have several options to redeem content. Here are the various options you have available to you:
Get via Internet
Get with Code/Password
Check Mystery Gifts
Check Poké Portal News
Get via Internet
The Get via Internet option will search for available gifts you can download. You can only download one gift at a time. This option is available for all players and is what you want to use to get the Adventure Set gift.
Get with Code/Password
The Get with Code/Password option allows you to enter a mystery gift code. Once the code has been entered and verified, the gift will download to your game. For example, you want this option to get a Special Pikachu gift using the Mystery Gift code you received via email.
Check Mystery Gifts
The Check Mystery Gifts option will display a list of all Mystery Gifts you have obtained using either of the above methods.
Check Poké Portal News
The Check Poké Portal News option will provide you with up-to-date news from Nintendo on anything Mystery Gift related, so check back often!
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch.
With just a couple of weeks to go until the release of Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft has shared a post-launch content roadmap which, among other things, confirms Lando Calrissian and Hondo Ohnaka will appears as part of the game's paid Season Pass.
Star Wars Outlaws launches on 30th August, and owners of its Season Pass - which comes bundled into the game's £95 Gold Edition and £115 Ultimate Edition - immediately gain access to the Vessel Runner Character Pack (also a pre-order bonus), containing cosmetics for protagonist Kay and companion Nix, plus the exclusive Jabba’s Gambit mission.
Ubisoft moved to assure players Jabba the Hutt would also make an appear in Outlaws' base game earlier this year, after fans grew concerned one of Star Wars' most iconic villains would be locked behind a paid season pass. Lando Calrissian and Hondo Ohnaka's newly confirmed inclusion in Outlaws' Season Pass may prove similarly controversial, especially as Ubisoft is yet to confirm whether they star in the base game too.
Monster Hunter Wilds might not be out until next year, but Capcom has just given the hype handle a tiny tweak with the release of three new videos detailing some of the mechanial additions and refinements players can expect when this latest series entry shows up in 2025.
Video number one, titled Basic Mechanics Overview, whizzes through some of the most fundamental aspects of Monster Hunter gameplay before introducing Wilds' new bird-like dino-mount, the Seikret. This (alas) replaces Monster Hunter Rise's awesome dog-like Canyne, serving as a new way to speed about the place.
The Seikret can automatically guide Hunters directly to their target if desired, and players are free to gather items from the environment, drink potions to recover their health, sharpen their blade, or switch between primary and secondary weapons ready for battle while in the saddle. The returning Slinger has also had a bit of an upgrade in Monster Hunter Wilds; as well as being able to launch different ammo types found around the map, it can gather items from a distance, and yank loose bits of scenery (rock, for instance) onto monsters' heads.
Salt and Sanctuary, from Ska Studios, is a bit bloody good, serving up an enormously enjoyable, Dark Souls-inspired slice of 2D action-adventure. It's also now eight years old - but that hasn't stopped it from getting a surprise update this week, adding a tough new Randomiser mode.
Salt and Sanctuary, which initially released for PlayStation 4 and PC back in 2016, is a fairly explicit attempt to translate From Software's now oft-replicated dark fantasy RPG formula, complete with considered combat and corpse runs, into two dimensions. It begins on the shores of a vast and broodily enigmatic kingdom, which players - in the role of the Saltborn - must explore and overcome, tackling enemies and imposing bosses along the way.
It's good stuff, and not exactly a walk in the park, but it just got a whole lot tougher thanks to its new Randomiser mode. As detailed over on Steam, Salt and Sanctuary players looking to give themselves a real challenge can now select from three randomiser options: Item Randomiser, Monster Randomiser, and Scaling Monster Randomiser.
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