Today I wanted to talk about a totally new type of game that’s gaining a lot of popularity. In late 2018, a totally new type of game called I’m on Observation Duty got released on Steam. Recently, these type of games are exploding on Steam. A spin-off called The Exit 8 gave a totally new spin on the formula. The games are actually a scary spin on the spot the difference style of gameplay. But, what does attract players so much into this formula? Let’s talk about a few titles, and maybe we find an answer to that in this article. Now, feel free to leave a comment in the comment section down below with your thoughts and/or opinions on these games, similar games and/or the content of this article.

Two main gameplay styles

There are actually two major styles in this genre. A lot of streamers call, one style Observation Duty and the other style Exit 8. Both styles have the same core concept. You need to first look at a room and then notice if anything changes or anomalies appear. The way how you deal with these anomalies differs in both styles.

In Observation Duty style games, the idea is mostly always that you are a security guard watching camera’s. You have to flip through camera’s and report the anomalies before there are too much present in the area. In Exit 8 type games, you play through them while walking through the rooms themselves. You have to walk one direction when there is no difference and another direction when there is a difference. The difference is that you have to make a certain amount of correct judgements in a row. One wrong judgement and you are sent back to level 0.

The gameplay is tricky to explain in words and in an article. I wanted to write this article several times, but I was unable to describe it properly. The best way to describe it in my opinion is a non casual spot the difference game.

Ever since, “I am on Observation Duty” and “The Exit 8” hit the scene… A lot of horror game streamers played through them. They gained a lot more popularity. A lot of new titles came out in a rapid pace with different spins on the genre and interesting innovations. I think it will become more clear when I talk about the games I played through or watched my favorite streamers play through.

The Exit 8 – The Platform 8

During the summer of this year, Klamath and I streamed through these two titles. The Exit 8 is one of the earliest games to my knowledge in the 3D style.

The idea is that you are trapped in a looping metro hallway where you have to reach the 8th exit. Travelers are advised to continue walking when nothing out of the ordinary happens. But when suddenly a poster changed or something else changed, you need to turn back.

Like I said in the introduction, when you make one mistake, you start at level 0 again. The first passage through the hallway is always safe. After that, you have to do 8 correct answers in a row. Now, at least 8, since if your 8th run has an anomaly, you need to turn back. You can only win if you have a hallway that has no strange thing, and you are above the 8th hallway.

Something really nice that this game does is, it doesn’t repeat anomalies. When you defeat a certain anomaly, it won’t repeat until you see all of them or reset the game. This makes the game more unpredictable and replayable.

The anomalies in this game range from extremely obvious like suddenly the hallway flooding… But others are sneaky, like a camera that moved location to the other side of the hallway. So, it was a puzzle. Is this room really the same, or did something change. Since you couldn’t go back to check. And there were various details that added to the complexity of the game.

In May of this year, we got the follow-up to this game called The Platform 8. If you thought that was more of the same, think again. This time, you are in the actual metro, and you have to survive 8 carts. The big change is that you can’t fail with an anomaly this time around since the exit door is locked if you need to find the anomaly first.

It’s a change that didn’t sit well with me at first, but I totally understand why. This game is now turned into a more tense game where you have to survive the crazy things that the game throws at you. The game is shorter than The Exit 8, but I’ll say… This game had me spooked and jump several times.

That’s Not My Neighbor

At it’s core, this game is an Observation Duty game. But with a big twist. You are a security guard at the entrance of a building. There are imposters out there, trying to look like your neighbor, and you have to keep them out.

This game tests your reasoning skills and tests you if you can look at all the clues. The best I can describe this game is: a mixture between Papers Please, and I am on Observation Duty. The added layer of difficulty is that you have a lot to keep track of. Who did you let already inside? Who is on the list and for who do you better call their apartment first?

This game is getting frequent updates with more lore and more modes. Each time I see this game being played by the streamers I watch, the new update impresses me. And I totally understand why this game got so big.

There is this extremely catchy song by longestsoloever. The amount of times I played it on repeat is just getting silly. Give it a listen if you like electronic music, but I warn you. It’s an earworm.

Confabulation

Confabulation, noun. Confabulation is a memory error consisting of the production of fabricated, distorted, or misinterpreted memories about oneself or the world.

This game does a very interesting take on the actual formula. Instead of explaining the differences and anomalies with unexplained events, in this game it’s caused by a mental illness.

The flow of each play trough of this game is the same. But, the puzzles, the changing objects amongst other things are randomized. It’s up to you to make sure that you avoid you going insane and finding the truth of what happened.

This is an Observation Duty style game, but you can walk around in the area instead of watching at camera feeds. There is an extra layer added with the puzzles that add more information and lore of what happened.

I could talk about it more, but I highly recommend you play this game as blind as possible. The story, scares and impact is that much stronger when you don’t know what’s coming and let yourself be surprised. Watch the candles since they give you amazing hints on where to look next.

ATTA -Spot the Oddities in the Strange Hotel-

What if you have to count the amount of differences in a hallway instead of deciding there is a difference or not? Well, then you describe “ATTA, -Spot the Oddities in the Strange Hotel-“.

This game is an Exit 8 type of game with multiple rooms, where you have to count all the errors in a hallway… While various strange things happen. Like a train suddenly appearing and you have to duck for cover.

The atmosphere this game has, where it leaves you with an open ending that raises more questions than it answers, is the cherry on the cake. It’s a more intense game than your usual games. It may be a short run, but it’s a wild and pleasant ride all the way through.

Hospital 666

The final game I want to talk about today is called Hospital 666. In this game, you try to escape a cursed hospital. The first level has you running down a looping hallway. The second level, has one side room open.

Now, an impressive option that the game gives you is that you can choose if you want anomalies in the hallway or not. So, if you are in the second level, you can choose if you want things in the hallway to change or only focus on the new room.

Something impressive that this game does as well, is when you make a mistake, you can go back to the hallway to see what the mistake was that you made. You still start from the lowest floor of that level, but being able to see what got you is amazing. Since this game has very crazy anomalies but also various very sneaky ones. Like one is that some smiles faces appear on the wall.

In between the levels, there is a boss fight/puzzle that separates the floors from each other. They can be a bit janky, but the developer has updated and optimized the game quite a lot, and it is a lot better. Now, he is currently creating a sequel taking place in a school. And as somebody who works in education, I can’t wait to play through that.

Final thoughts

These games are only a handful of games in the genre. I have given a quick rundown of the games mentioned in this article, but if you are interested, I’m willing to talk more in depth about these titles. My intention with this article is to promote these titles.

Each game listed here is between 5 to €10 and is an amazing ride. These games are short little romps but are bursting to the seams with creativity. I always think, now, I have almost seen everything this genre has to offer. But, then I’m surprised with a new gameplay mechanic or a new setting that changes the atmosphere completely.

So, depending on how well this article does… I might write more of these. If you found amazing titles like this, feel free to send them my way or leave them in the comment section down below. But, for now, I’m going to leave you with my usual outro. Thank you so much for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another one, but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.

.

Read the full article on GamingOnLinux.

.

Read the full article on GamingOnLinux.

.

Read the full article on GamingOnLinux.

BlueSuburbia takes you to a place that is filled with a lonely kind of menace – an oppressive fear that crushes you as it tells you that no one will come save...

The post ‘BlueSuburbia’ Stirs Up a Deep, Solitary Fear appeared first on Indie Games Plus.

Tchia takes us on a stunning tropical open world adventure where you play as a young, imaginative girl who can turn into animals and objects to explore. Tchia, our protagonist, is looking to...

The post ‘Tchia’ Turns Into Animals & Objects to Explore a Tropical Island appeared first on Indie Games Plus.

Trailer Tuesday listens to problems over tea, plays a tense card game against an eerie creature, and quits a job by beating down your-ex colleagues.   A TAVERN FOR TEA  “A...

The post Trailer Tuesday – Untitled Tavern Override appeared first on Indie Games Plus.

The Elder Scrolls mobile game, The Elder Scrolls: Castles, is set to launch on 10th September.

The Elder Scrolls: Castles - which was quietly released into early access in September 2023 - is now open for pre-registration on both Apple and Android.

From the same "award-winning team" behind Fallout Shelter, The Elder Scrolls: Castles lets you reign supreme over your very own castle and dynasty within The Elder Scrolls universe.

Read more

Secret Level is a gaming-inspired anthology series coming to Prime Video on December 15. The upcoming Amazon title is from the same team behind Netflix's Love, Death and Robots. From the teaser released during Gamescom, this new project will be continuing the Blur Studio specialty for creating masterful animated works for an adult audience. The creative team was looking to inspire "nerd joy" with Love, Death and Robots and from the first glimpse, Secret Level seems like a natural progression of that goal.

Each of the 15 stories in the show are inspired by a different game. The official list of inspirations is: Armored Core, Concord, Crossfire, Dungeons & Dragons, Exodus, Honor of Kings, Mega Man, New World: Aeternum, PAC-MAN, various PlayStation Studios games, Sifu, Spelunky, The Outer Worlds, Unreal Tournament and Warhammer 40,000.

Games feel like a natural inspiration for this type of animation showcase. The cinematics in some contemporary AAA titles have all the polish and emotion of standalone films. Plus, game-inspired television series have been reaching new levels of success in recent years thanks to projects like Fallout, The Last of Us and Arcane.

Tarsier Studios, creators of the first two Little Nightmares games, is back with another creepy adventure — and its “partially disemboweled talking pig” teaser video looks like it set the proper tone. Announced at Gamescom Opening Night, Reanimal takes two children on an adventure across land and sea as they work together to rescue their missing friends on an island filled with horrifying creatures.

The developer helmed the first two Little Nightmares installments before Supermassive Games took over for part III. The new game promises to up the ante with “a more terrifying journey than ever before.”

The horror-adventure game stars a brother and sister in an “unsettling tale” who “go through hell to rescue their missing friends.” The protagonists are described as broken but resilient, facing fragments of their troubled past in the guise of gruesome beasts. It will somehow explore themes of hope and redemption as they navigate the chilling environment.

Tarsier Studios / THQ Nordic

The game lets you play single-player or co-op (local and online). In an illustration of the creators’ understanding of the horror genre, it uses a shared, directed camera “to maximize claustrophobia and tension.”

Reanimal doesn’t yet have a launch date other than “coming soon,” but we know it will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. You can check out the announcement trailer below.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is set in 1937, in the space between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, and it’s being developed by MachineGames, the studio behind the most recent Wolfenstein installments. So, of course the game’s main enemies are Nazis, and obviously it has a robust range of Nazi-punching mechanics. What makes The Great Circle intriguing, even after just a 30-minute hands-off preview, is its lighthearted interpretation of classic Indiana Jones tropes, leaning into the series’ humorous tone and adding twists like open-handed Nazi slapping to Indy’s repertoire.

When it comes to combat, Indiana has a whip, a revolver and his fists (or palms). His whip appears to be the most useful tool on his belt, allowing him to swing across gaps, activate levers, and pull in enemies nice and close for a one-two punch. Hitting a Nazi with the whip briefly incapacitates them while they’re reeled in, setting up an advantageous close-quarters melee situation. Hand-to-hand combat requires precise timing in order to land knockout combos or finishing moves, and on top of throwing punches and slaps, Indy is able to block and defensively parry. In fistfights, the game’s first-person perspective crops in extra tight, filling the screen with punchable Nazi surfaces and enhancing the tension behind each blow and dodge. He can also pick up objects and hit enemies with them, and in pre-recorded gameplay footage, it all looks supremely satisfying.

MachineGames

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle isn’t just an action game, though. Many of its encounters can be approached with stealth mechanics, where players sneak past guards and perform silent takedowns without fisticuffs or gunfire at all. The revolver is really a last-ditch option in each scenario, game director Jerk Gustafsson and creative director Axel Torvenius said. Otherwise, puzzles are a pivotal component of gameplay.

Indiana is joined on his adventures by Gina, an Italian journalist who’s searching for her sister, and together they encounter a variety of logic and spatial puzzles. Some are quick, like finding an alternative entrance to a sealed room, and others are more involved, requiring a few minutes of focus to fully understand.

The preview focused on Giza, Egypt, showcasing bustling outdoor marketplaces, a depressing Nazi meeting room and a vibrant temple hidden beneath the sands of the Great Sphinx. Here, Indy and Gina had to catch the sunlight with a series of ancient mirrors, lining them up one by one until the beam bounced to the proper place. This particular puzzle room seemed straightforward and slightly clever (though maybe that’s just because The Mummy is one of my favorite childhood movies), but there are apparently more challenging riddles in the game, too. The most complex puzzles are hidden, requiring some light exploration in various regions, and they’re not necessary in order to complete the main storyline. These bonus riddles are just some of the many secrets to find around the game’s world.

MachineGames

“I don’t really like too difficult puzzles myself,” Gustafsson said. “I like to just enjoy the experience and not be so challenged by them. That said, we do have a mix [of puzzle difficulties] because I like a lot of variation. It’s not like we have some unique puzzle mechanic that goes across the entire game. We tried to create every puzzle in a different, unique way.”

There are also difficulty options for the puzzles overall, allowing players to choose how complex they’ll be throughout the entire game.

Indiana has a notebook that fills up with evidence, objectives and photos that he takes while investigating various relics around the globe. The camera is an essential tool in The Great Circle, and each snapped pic can unlock new clues and trails to follow. Indy also carries a lighter, which functions as a flashlight and can set stationary torches ablaze. His play style is customizable, with dozens of upgrades available as the game progresses. One potential upgrade is True Grit, an ability that allows him to recover from a fatal blow by crawling toward and grabbing his fedora within a certain amount of time. You know, classic Indiana Jones stuff.

MachineGames

I’ve seen some angry chatter online from people who don’t like the first-person perspective in The Great Circle, citing a desire to actually see Indiana as he does all this cool stuff, just like in the movies. I don’t think these people have much to worry about — not only are there plenty of cutscenes featuring Troy Baker’s utterly impressive 1980s Harrison Ford impression, but parts of the game are in third-person after all.

“When it comes to a character like Indiana Jones, I want to play the character and I want to be the character, I want to look through and explore the world through his eyes,” Gustafsson said. “To me that’s a very important part of what we do here. For me, it was a very easy choice. But also, we do mix in some third-person elements here. We have very much come back to our own history with games like Riddick and The Darkness where we also did this mix between first-person and third-person perspective. We do that for this game, too. Everything is not first-person, even though the core experience is in first-person.”

Torvenius added, “There’s a great opportunity here as well for us because we do have a large section of the game that is mystery, it’s solving puzzles, being up front and close to ancient relics and ruins and scriptures. So it adds an intimacy to the adventure to some aspect, that you can get really up and close and can really inspect things, which is actually pretty nice how it plays out in the game.”

MachineGames

Even in first-person scenes, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle looks, sounds and feels right so far. Baker’s Indiana Jones is nearly indistinguishable from the early film versions, his voice drawling and gravelly with a sarcastic bite. There’s a dry humor built into his interactions, as is fitting. In one scene, he’s introducing himself to a woman who has an intricately designed eye patch; she seems to be indigenous to the jungle they’re sitting in.

“I’m an archaeologist,” Indiana says.

“Another one,” she replies, clearly unimpressed.

It’s a quick moment from a short preview, but it sets a solid tone for the game as a whole: dry, lighthearted, and a little punch-drunk in between all the actual punching. Or you could say, a bit slap-happy amid all the slapping. Either way, these Nazis won't know what hit them.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is coming to Xbox Series X/S and PC on December 9. It'll be available on Game Pass Ultimate, and it's also coming to PlayStation 5 in spring 2025.

We've got our first big announcement of Gamescom: Borderlands is back. Borderlands 4 is the next entry in the franchise from Gearbox Software and 2K Games. It's due to arrive in 2025.

There's no gameplay in the announcement video released today. While that's a touch disappointing, it isn't much of a surprise for a teaser trailer or for a release that is still likely at least a year away. (And that's assuming no delays.) But the Borderlands games are known for their polished first-person shooter experience, particularly in co-op, and for their sharp sense of humor. Hopefully both of those traits will be returning in full force with the new game.

What doesn't seem to be returning is the cartoony art style that was a hallmark of the previous three titles. The teaser looks more like it's advertising a prestige television science fiction series rather than the zany Borderlands world. But it's early days yet and the studio will surely be sharing more updates as the game progresses through development.

Gearbox was likely hoping to springboard this announcement off a wave of renewed interest in the series after the blockbuster movie adaptation this summer. But since that project was a disastrous disappointment, hopefully a new game will give fans of the series something fresh to be excited about.

Streaming posted another banner month in July, reaching multiple new milestones in the latest issue of The Gauge report from Nielsen. The big headline is that streaming was responsible for 41.4 percent of all TV viewing during the month. That's the highest share in the report's brief history for any viewing category, meaning streaming topped past performances for both broadcast and cable TV. The result follows on the heels of the previous record set by streaming in June.

The other big success story in the July report is for YouTube. The popular video platform hosted 10 percent of monthly TV usage, marking the first time a single streaming service has reached a double-digit share. Multiple other streaming sites hit their own personal bests for viewing share in July: Disney+ jumped up to a 2.1 percent viewing share and The Roku Channel hit 1.6 percent.

There are a couple takeaways from the range of record-setting performances in July. For starters, The Gauge only tracks viewing that happens on a TV screen, meaning no mobile or laptop viewing is included. Last month's results show how much streaming video's presence has expanded beyond just smartphones and tablets to challenge and surpass the options of traditional broadcast and cable TV.

Another notable factoid from Nielsen is that 10 different titles on streaming platforms surpassed 1 billion minutes of viewing in the first full week of July — another record. Seven different streaming companies had programs on that list, and they cover a broad spectrum of genres and audiences. The lineup was led by Netflix's action flick Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, which secured 2.05 billion minutes of viewership between July 1 and July 7. TV series Suits (available on Peacock and Netflix) came second with just shy of 1.5 billion minutes viewed. House of the Dragon on Max, Your Honor on Netflix/Paramount+ and The Bear on Hulu rounded out the top five, each with more than 1.2 billion minutes viewed during that week. In other words, the next breakout hit for streaming could happen on any platform.

Once upon a time in the tail-end of the last century, there was something called the Y2K bug. This bit of computer code was supposed to herald a global robot apocalypse at the stroke of midnight when 1999 became the year 2000 because of, uh, clock dates or something. Anyways, nothing happened. Or did it?

That’s the premise behind A24’s new horror comedy, the appropriately-named Y2K. The film imagines a New Year’s Eve of 1999 in which the computers really did turn on humanity. It’s written and directed by SNL alum Kyle Mooney, who made the fantastic and underrated Brigsby Bear.

As you can see from the trailer, it’s a 1990s teen party comedy, like Can’t Hardly Wait, but also an apocalyptic horror film. This particular hodgepodge brings to mind This is the End, in which Seth Rogen and other celebrities fight off a demonic horde.

However, instead of a demonic horde, these teens will be fighting for their lives against VCRs, old-school computers and, of course, murderous Tamagotchis. Also, Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst is somehow involved. The cast is composed primarily of unknown teenagers, but the adults are played by Tim Heidecker, Alicia Silverstone and Mooney himself. The movie hits theaters on December 6.

Waymo’s self-driving cars no longer honk when near each other, Waymo’s Director of Product and Operations Vishay Nihalani said yesterday when he appeared on software engineer Sophia Tung’s livestream. The vehicles were spotted honking at each other a few weeks ago, prompting Waymo to issue a software patch.

As reported by NBC Bay Area, residents living near the parking lot full of Waymo taxis reported that despite the patch going live, the taxis still honked at each other. Tung, who lived near the idling taxis, set up her live stream to capture the cacophony of honking vehicles.

No good stream is complete without a soundtrack, and Tung’s stream included lo-fi music in the vein of the ubiquitous “LoFi Girl" on YouTube. The title, “Self Driving Taxi Depot Shenanigans To Relax/Study To,” was an obvious tribute to the LoFi Girl channel. (And yes, she had permission to use the music.) Despite a fix being pushed out, the stream captured the cars continuing to honk at 4AM this past Saturday.

Nihalani joined the stream to speak to Tung about the ongoing honking. According to the director, the cars’ honking was an intentional feature for taxis cruising on public roads to avoid collisions, but honking at each other while idling in the parking lot was never intentional. The taxis have now all been updated to solve the issue.

The Waymo service is available for those living in San Francisco, Phoenix, and 79 square miles of Los Angeles, stretching from Santa Monica to Downtown. In May, the company announced that its taxis were making 50,000 paid trips per week. Back in San Francisco, though, you can still tune in to Tung’s chill livestream of a parking lot — just without the honking.

Lucasfilm has decided not to renew The Acolyte for a second season, according to Deadline and Variety. Fans won't get to see how the show was supposed to end and won't get to know how the plotlines its creator, Leslye Headland (Russian Doll), teased at the end of the first season would unravel. Engadget Senior Editor Devindra Hardawar called The Acolyte "Star Wars at its best" in his review, discussed how unique its premise was, and drew parallels between the series and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. 

Deadline says the show had a strong start and garnered 4.8 million views in the first day it became available for streaming, reaching 11.1 million views after five days. However, viewership fell in the coming weeks, and its finale was reportedly the poorest performing finale for a Star Wars series. 

The Acolyte was a mystery-thriller story featuring a former Jedi trainee played by Amandla Stenberg, who's suspected of committing a series of crimes. Her former Jedi Master played by Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game) now has to find her to get to the bottom of things. Manny Jacinto, who played the smuggler Qimir, gained a lot of attention online due to this shirtless scenes. It was revealed in the later episodes that he plays a bigger role in the story, and viewers were even supposed to learn his real name in the next season. 

The show is still available to watch on Disney+ for those who don't mind not getting closure for its story. 

The next entry in the Pacific Rim franchise could be an origin story for the universe, set before the events of the 2013 film by Guillermo del Toro. According to Variety, the franchise's producer Legendary Entertainment has signed a first-look TV deal with Eric Heisserer. One of the first projects he's developing with Carmen Lewis, his co-founder for his production company called Chronology, is a prequel series for Pacific Rim. Heisserer won several awards for his screenplay for Arrival, the Denis Villeneuve-directed sci-fi movie starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner. He also wrote the script for the Netflix post-apocalyptic movie Bird Box, which starred Sandra Bullock. 

It sounds like the project is still in its very early stages, so we'll have to wait for its storyline and projected release date if it does get the green light. Seeing as it's supposed to be the Pacific Rim origin story, though, we may get to see the first kaijus emerging from the interdimensional portal at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. We may also get to see how the first Jaegers, or the gigantic mechas controlled by human pilots to fight the alien monsters, were designed and created. 

The original Pacific Rim movie was followed by Pacific Rim Uprising, its 2018 sequel film that starred John Boyega and was directed by Steven S. DeKnight. If the series pushes through, it'll follow Pacific Rim: The Black, an anime series that streamed on Netflix in 2021 and 2021, which serves as the continuation of the two films.

Non-subscribers who open the Apple Music app on a new iPhone or iPad typically see an offer for a free month of the service. The trial was once three times as long, but Apple quietly shortened it in early 2022. But now through September 23, anyone new to Apple's music streaming service will get to try it out for free for three months. The deal only applies to first-time subscribers; if you've never succumbed to the music app's temptation, now is as good a time as any to check it out. Just keep in mind that the service will automatically renew for $11 per month after the trial ends. Be sure to cancel if you don't want to pay. 

Apple Music has a lot to offer. It's currently our top recommendation in our guide to the best music streaming services. We like its approach to recommendations, balancing a good amount of editorial playlists and stations with algorithmic suggestions. Every song is available at CD-quality or better and lossless streaming doesn't cost extra. 

For computer-picked listening, there's a "Discovery Station" that helps you find new music by playing songs you've never streamed before, both from artists you know and others the algorithm thinks you'll like. And, in my experience, saying, "Hey Siri, play me some Apple Music," produces pretty good mix of stuff I like that's novel enough to be interesting, but not so familiar I'm sick of hearing it. 

There are a few caveats to note about the service: It's really made for Apple devices, though its available on Android devices too. You won't find podcasts on Apple Music. And, aside from this deal, there's no free version of Apple Music. Pay your $11 monthly or listen elsewhere. 

As for the deal, we'll restate that it's only for new subscribers — previous subscribers and even those who've had access to Apple Music through a Family plan aren't eligible. You also have to sign up using the Apple Music app on an iPhone, Mac or iPad running the latest software. An Apple ID is also required. You can read all terms of the deal here. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Zoom just announced that webinar calls can now support up to one million simultaneous participants. This is happening after various political groups used the video conferencing platform to raise money for Vice President Kamala Harris’ election campaign, often by hosting calls with hundreds of thousands of people.

The company now offers various tiers to accommodate large events. Customers can choose from webinars that feature max capacities of 10K, 50K, 100K, 250K, 500K, and, of course, 1M attendees. These are single-use webinar packages that come with support from Zoom’s Event Services team to ensure a “professional, engaging experience” for all.

“Now event organizers have the flexibility and power to host truly interactive experiences on an unprecedented scale and the ability to purchase large single-use webinars,” said Smita Hashim, chief product officer at Zoom.

Despite being recently used for political fundraising, Zoom envisions a future in which these large-scale virtual events are common across the enterprise, entertainment and public sectors. The company says, for instance, that celebrities and entertainers can use these webinar capabilities to host fan meet-and-greets and other kinds of virtual events.

These events, however, don’t come cheap. Booking a one-time webinar for a million people will set you back a cool $100,000. That’s actually a good deal, as a webinar for 10,000 people costs $9,000, which is almost a dollar per person.

Before this change, Zoom only offered official support for up to 100,000 attendees. However, reporting by Bloomberg indicates that the company recently changed course so as to accommodate the aforementioned fundraising events.

This all started in July when an organization called Win with Black Women held a Zoom call with more than 40,000 attendees in which they raised $1.5 million for the Harris campaign. This was followed by White Dudes for Harris, with 190,000 attendees, and White Women for Harris, with 164,000 attendees.

This could be a lucrative new revenue source for Zoom. After all, it wasn’t so long ago that its stock sold for $560 per share before dropping to around $60 per share. This rapid decline was expected, as the world moved on from virtual meetings and started going outside again.

It’s that time of year again. Gamescom is nearly upon us. For the uninitiated, Gamescom is a huge gaming trade show held annually in Germany. This year, Microsoft has announced a major Xbox presence throughout the event. All told, four streams will highlight upcoming Xbox games.

The first is the opening night livestream. This stream isn’t Xbox-centric, but we’re expecting some relevant news during the keynote. The event kicks off on August 20 at 2PM ET and it will be available via the Gamescom YouTube page and the official Twitch page. The event’s website will also host a stream or, you know, just click play directly below this sentence.

After that, there will be three streams from Xbox, each focusing on a unique slate of upcoming games. You can watch all of them via the Xbox YouTube page or the official Twitch page. The company hasn’t said how long each stream will last, but it’ll be popping up individual trailers after the fact.

The first one goes down on August 21 at 9AM ET. Xbox has announced an array of games that’ll get covered here. These include Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, the upcoming expansion Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred, Atomfall and the long-awaited Starfield DLC.

The next stream starts on August 22 at 9AM ET. This one will spotlight Star Wars Outlaws, which actually hits store shelves at the end of the month. The stream will also feature trailers or information for Towerborne, Little Nightmares 3 and Fallout 76: Milepost Zero, among others.

August 23 at 9AM ET brings the final stream. This is likely to be the most exciting one for many Xbox fans. There will be news about Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Avowed, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Tails of Iron 2 and a whole lot more.

That’s it! Four streams. If the idea of remembering when and where to watch all of these events gives you the anxious sweats, just keep this page open. Beyond that, we’ll have separate posts for all of the big news from Gamescom.

What's cuter than a capybara? A baby capybara, of course. And what's even cuter than a baby capybara? THREE baby capybaras! 

This video of the Capybara triplets recently born at the Sydney Zoo to Capybara parents Zoey and Sanchez is unbearably cute. — Read the rest

The post These new baby capybara triplets are adorable! appeared first on Boing Boing.

Friday Night Videos was a weekly dose of music videos for those without cable and, therefore, no MTV. I hadn't thought about it in years until this episode from 1984, complete with commercials, popped up on YouTube. It is pure 80s nostalgia with Tracey Ullman, who I honestly forgot had a music career, Rockwell, whose Somebody's Watching Me video still creeps me out, a "brand new video by John Cougar Mellencamp," and a talking head of Freddie Mercury smoking like a chimney in an intro to the Radio Gaga video. — Read the rest

The post Friday Night Videos is a blast from the past appeared first on Boing Boing.

Here's a great resource to learn how Project 2025 will affect you or those you love and care about on specific issues such as health care, food assistance, education, etc. The site is called "25 and Me" and is a collaboration between Rajat Paharia and Google Gemini. — Read the rest

The post "25 and Me" is your guide to the horrors of Project 2025 appeared first on Boing Boing.

In Decatur, Georgia, a momument to the Confederacy stood for 100 years before being removed in 2021. Yesterday it was replaced by a 12 foot statue of John Lewis, the civil rights leader and U.S. Representative who died that year. — Read the rest

The post Statue of civil rights leader John Lewis replaces 100-year-old slaver monument appeared first on Boing Boing.

Of all the memes inspired by Rachael "Raygun" Gunn, the B-girl from Australia who scored zero points in breakdancing at the Paris Olympics, my favorite spoof is this one shared by the Sydney Zoo, titled "Everyone is doing the Raygun!" The video features adorable otters showing off their Raygun-like moves, such as wriggling in the grass and squirming on the rocks. — Read the rest

The post Australian otter's tribute to Rachael "Raygun" Gunn appeared first on Boing Boing.

Abstract:

The post A Novel Attack For Depleting DNN Model Inference With Runtime Code Fault Injections appeared first on Semiconductor Engineering.

Samsung has released an update to the Samsung Health Monitor app in India, which brings the Irregular Heart Rhythm Notification (IHRN) feature to the Galaxy Watch 4 (and probably all newer Galaxy Watches). This brings one more health-related feature to Galaxy Watch 4 users in the country.

Galaxy Watch 4 gets Irregular Hearth Rhythm Notification feature in India via Samsung Health Monitor

Samsung has released a new update (version 1.3.4.004) to the Samsung Health Monitor app with a download size of 58.54MB (via Yash Agarwal). It brought the Irregular Heart Rhythm Notification (IHRN) feature to the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. Once the Samsung Health Monitor app's newest version is installed on your Galaxy smartphone, you can open the app to find a new pop-up window that notifies you about the IHRN feature.

This new feature is only available for Wear OS-based Galaxy Watches. Since the Samsung Health Monitor app is compatible with all Wear OS-based Galaxy Watches, the new feature might be available to the Galaxy Watch 5 series, Galaxy Watch 6 series, Galaxy Watch 7, and Galaxy Watch Ultra.

Earlier this year, Samsung released the Samsung Health Monitor app in India to bring blood pressure and ECG features to Galaxy Watches in the country.

The story continues after our Galaxy Watch 7 hands-on video.

How to activate Irregular Heart Rhythm Notification (IHRN) feature on Galaxy Watches?

To activate the Irregular Heart Rhythm Notification (IHRN) feature on your Wear OS-based Galaxy Watch, follow the steps listed below.

1. Open the Samsung Health Monitor app on your Galaxy phone and navigate to the ECG tab.
2. Click the three-dot icon on the top-right corner of the screen and then tap on Settings.
3. Tap on Notifications and then enable the Irregular Heart Rhythm toggle.

You will now receive notifications when your Galaxy Watch detects an irregular heart rhythm. A few times a day, when you are still, the Galaxy Watch will check your pulse. If it detects one hour of an irregular heart rhythm, it might indicate Atrial Fibrillation (A.Fib). If you get the IHRN notification, take your ECG reading immediately from the Samsung Health Monitor app and contact your doctor or an appropriate health clinic for consultation.

Thanks for the tip, Yash!

The post Galaxy Watch 4 gets Irregular Heart Rhythm Notification feature in India appeared first on SamMobile.

When running an Nvidia graphics card with Windows 11, there's a small chance you may encounter the 0x0003 error when attempting to launch GeForce Experience. It's not known precisely what causes the 0x0003 error code, but there are a few documented ways of fixing it, ranging from ensuring drivers are updated to simply rebooting Windows. I'll offer a few pointers to help you get back into GeForce Experience.

After several rumors and reports, publisher 2K and developer Hangar 13 announced the upcoming Mafia installment, Mafia: The Old Country. It will launch sometime in 2025 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam. Mafia: The Old Country is set in 1900s Sicily and covers the origins of the Mafia. More information about the game will also be announced in December. A cinematic teaser trailer was also released. 

The game’s details via 2K:

Uncover the origins of organized crime in Mafia: The Old Country, a gritty mob story set in the brutal underworld of 1900s Sicily.

Fight to survive in this dangerous and unforgiving era, with action brought to life by the authentic realism and rich storytelling that the critically acclaimed Mafia series is known for.

Mafia: Definitive Edition’s details:

Part one of the Mafia crime saga—1930s, Lost Heaven, Illinois.

Re-made from the ground up with a new game engine, an updated script, new cutscenes, additional gameplay sequences, and more, you’ll rise through the ranks of the Italian Mafia during the Prohibition era of organized crime. After a run-in with the mob, cab driver Tommy Angelo is thrust into a deadly underworld. Initially uneasy about falling in with the Salieri crime family, Tommy soon finds that some rewards are too big to pass up.

Key Features

Remade Classic – Faithfully recreated from the ground up, with a new game engine, expanded story, new and refined modern gameplay features, re-recorded orchestral score, and more. This is the Mafia you remember, only much more.

Play a Mob Movie – Live the life of a Prohibition-era gangster and rise through the ranks of the Mafia in a cinematic experience, with new story elements like a revised script, brand new cutscenes, and re-recorded voice acting.

Lost Heaven, Illinois – Recreated 1930s cityscape filled with interwar architecture, cars, and culture to see, hear, and interact with.

Stay tuned at Gaming Instincts via Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook for more gaming news.

The post Mafia: The Old Country Announced For PC and Consoles appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism.

Haddie’s Pizzeria is a cooking simulation game with a big focus on realism as you prepare and cook delicious pizzas from scratch.

In Haddie’s Pizzeria, players take on the role of Haddie, a young entrepreneur seeking to build a successful pizzeria in a small town. The game is a simulation where players manage the daily operations of the pizzeria, including taking orders, cooking pizzas, … Read More

Symphonia is a beautifully animated non-violent musical platforming adventure where you use your violin to gather an orchestra that will bring the world back to life.

Previously featured on Alpha Beta Gamer when it was a student project, Symphonia is a platformer that takes place in a world where music is a source of energy. The once thriving world is now dormant after the … Read More

On Wednesday night, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy sat down with four creators from Australia and New Zealand for a Q&A stream. The creators involved – 8bitElliot, JackHuddo, Carla, and Trash – were free to throw questions to Clancy and Twitch’s ANZ content director Lewis Mitchell about the state of its Australian business and support for local streamers. 

There’s been a growing restlessness among creators in the ANZ region since a major wave of redundancies in January gutted its Australian operations. Previously clear communications and healthy support that local creators enjoyed before the layoffs have dramatically withered in the months since. Many of Twitch’s bigger local creators have found it harder and harder to draw the company’s attention as it focuses on more populous and lucrative North American and European regions.

Though Clancy stressed at the beginning of the stream that he hoped it would be a fun conversation, the creators came prepared to play hardball. What they were given was two hours of broad assurances that left Australian creators feeling uncertain and unsatisfied.

The future of Twitch ANZ

Trash did not beat around the bush, immediately hitting Clancy with what is, for creators, the obvious question: What is the future of Twitch ANZ? 

It’s clear that the January layoffs – a global reduction of 500 jobs that decimated the ANZ team – have badly damaged Twitch’s operations in ANZ. In the months since, the lines of communication have gone dark. Creators are feeling under-resourced and unloved. What is Twitch doing about this? Does it even care about us anymore?

Clancy’s lengthy answer wasn’t as good at reassuring local creators as it was at covering the company’s arse. What he felt was “tricky to appreciate” about the layoffs was that, from the company’s perspective, Twitch ANZ was over-resourced compared to other regions. "For quite some time, we actually invested, in terms of the number of people working on ANZ, it was quite disproportionate, in terms of the number of creators, the number of partners, the number of streamers, everything."

"A big thing that we’ve been needing to do is kind of look (at) where we’re spending our money and being as efficient as possible, because every dollar we have is the cut we take from streamers’ rev shares. … Don’t take us feeling like there’s less resources as us not caring about ANZ. We do care deeply about Australia and New Zealand, I think it’s a critical market."

Translation: Twitch was spending too much on ANZ and not making its investment back. This comes as no surprise. Despite the massive influence it exerts on the livestreaming space, Twitch is famously unprofitable. In a livestream from January, Clancy admitted that, prior to the layoffs, Twitch had been relying on financial backing from parent company Amazon to remain afloat. The slashing and burning of regional offices, like Twitch ANZ, was done to keep the company from financially bleeding to death.

Asked by JackHuddo about the size of Twitch’s ANZ operations post-layoffs and whether Mitchell was now doing the work of what had previously been an entire team, both Mitchell and Clancy avoided a direct answer. A marketing team was mentioned, but not whether they were ANZ-based or resources allocated from a wider APAC (Asia Pacific) team.

Another answer about Twitch Rivals and its viability in Australia pointed to difficulties offering value to creators while paying the bills. Clancy spoke about how Twitch has been trying to evolve Rivals (the ANZ version of which didn’t even stream on the main Rivals channel) to ensure it brings in the kinds of views required to make it worth Twitch’s while financially. 

This went down like a lead balloon in 8bitElliot’s chat, with creators wondering when the platform will start prioritising community sentiment ahead of metrics. The answer, even if Clancy isn’t able to say so, seems fairly clear: The business reality is that it can’t, not if it wants to survive.

However, Clancy does point out that he isn’t just keeping his eye on the region through the safety of a spreadsheet. The CEO is making several trips to Australia this year. His first was at Dreamhack Melbourne, where he roamed the halls and sounded out larger local creators. He will return in October for back-to-back appearances at PAX Australia and SXSW Sydney. Travel is a big component of Clancy’s role. As he correctly points out, Australia is not terribly easy to get to but he’s making the effort to get down here anyway. 

I will give him this: three trips in a year is more attention than most American CEOs pay us in a lifetime. However, the frequent flier miles need to be backed up with results. The face time is good, but taking feedback gleaned from these trips and doing something with it is better.

A global approach (if you live in the Northern Hemisphere)

Since the January layoffs, many ANZ creators have noticed support from Twitch HQ drying up. Communication between Twitch and creators had become slower and more difficult. The transparency Twitch ANZ offered local creators around which new programs were geolocked was gone. Even the company’s local social media channels, which had been used to promote channels of all sizes, had gone dark.

Mitchell chimed in to note that Twitch ANZ socials were firing up again and that promotion would continue (though appears Twitch has contracted an external agency for help).

Answers around creator programs excluding ANZ creators were considerably murkier. According to Mitchell, programs like Twitch Ambassadors are being rolled out in larger markets before they can be rolled out in smaller ones like ANZ. This is an inversion of the previous strategy, where markets like ANZ were used as test beds precisely because of their smaller population. Curiously, Clancy puts this down to various languages and cultures, with the company focusing on English-language streamers in regions like APAC. According to Clancy, certain programs can’t "scale globally" (i.e. work in every region, due to cultural sensitivities or legislative concerns). 

Even requests for smaller community programs, like a Twitch Unity Guild dedicated to First Nations and Torres Strait Islander creators were met with a similar response: we’d love to some day, and we’re working on it. Clancy appeared unaware of programs like Twitch ANZ Grassroots, a previous avenue for promoting smaller creators and affiliates.

Clancy then went on to say that his wider strategy revolves around putting money back in creators’ pockets, like lowering the threshold for entering the revenue sharing Plus Program, but did not get into any further specifics.

Even things like booths at shows like PAX have been de-emphasised. Twitch is not alone in this, many major parties in the games industry have been attempting to move away from conventions like PAX in an effort to save money. In Twitch’s case, it moved toward officially sanctioned Gatherings to give creators IRL spaces to socialise and network. Carla immediately disputed this, pointing out how successful the Twitch booth at PAX Australia had been in 2023, well beyond what local Gatherings had been able to accomplish. Clancy appeared unmoved, but admitted in regions as far-flung as ANZ there is a case for retaining the convention booth strategy.

Broadly, what Clancy and Mitchell are saying makes sense as a business case, but it also makes it clear what the layoffs have cost Twitch streamers in ANZ. In 2023, ANZ was using its resources to thrive. Now, we’re bundled up with much larger, more populous, far more important markets, and it shows. Despite Clancy’s insistence that we remain an important market, and his own regular visits, ANZ has plainly been shuffled down the order of priority.

Though Clancy stressed at the beginning of the stream that he hoped it would be a fun conversation, the creators came prepared to play hardball. What they were given was two hours of broad assurances that left Australian creators feeling uncertain and unsatisfied.

Live ANZ reaction

As the chat went on, sentiment from creators watching the stream began to roll in online, and few were feeling positive.

Here, the division between the needs of the region and the needs of the business are cast in black and white. Local creators want more, they want to be taken seriously and given the opportunities of their contemporaries in larger markets. That’s a fair request, but it seems clearer than ever that Twitch can’t help them without spending money it may not have.

Where to now?

For Twitch, Australia has become the same problem it has been to so many American companies: a region too small and underpopulated to worry about when money’s tight. Though I’m sure Clancy meant every nice thing he said about us as a region, his responses paint a picture of a company with too many masters and no money with which to serve their increasingly complex needs. It’s a battle that can’t be won – creators who’ve turned to the platform as a way to make a living are at odds with a company that cannot seem to turn a profit.

If Twitch hopes to take a global view of what it can offer creators and viewers alike, then it needs to ensure that every region gets a fair shake, not just those in the Northern Hemisphere. That feels like it goes without saying, but as Australians know, Americans rarely think about anything that goes on below the equator.

In the end, creators can only hope that the chat gave Clancy something to think about. And if it didn’t, he will hear about it in person in Sydney and Melbourne this October.

27 years ago, I returned home to Australia after two long years living in the USA. I was twelve years old, and my family was re-establishing roots in our old home. One of the first things we did was buy a new computer, with the help of my cousin. My dad only needed something simple for work, but my cousin had priced up a rig with me in mind too. It was a Pentium II 233 MHz, with 128 MB of RAM, a huge 20 GB hard drive, S3 VGA card and a 3dfx Voodoo 3d accelerator.

This was the era of demo discs - gaming magazines almost always came with one taped to the front, packed with the latest demos of new and upcoming games. Many retailers, keen to capture a slice of the growing games market of the Dotcom Boom, also released their own software compilations, usually available at the cash register in store. One of the largest home and appliance retailers in Australia then (and still to this day) was Harvey Norman, and for a brief period in 1997, Harvey Norman stores carried "Harvey Norman: The CD-ROM".

I don't recall exactly how I came into possession of this CD - it's possible that it came with our new computer, or that my childhood friend down the road had brought it by. I recall that my cousin had installed Civilization II on the computer, but other than that, my only access to games, for a while, was the demos on this disc - and what a selection of demos it was.

The thing about demo discs that often gets forgotten is how brilliant they were at exposing gamers to a broad variety of games. In the days before digital distribution, social media, YouTube and Twitch, exposure to games and gaming news was mostly limited to a handful of early gaming websites and monthly gaming magazines. There were no Let's Play videos to watch - the only way you knew if you were going to like a game was if you had read a review, played it on a friend's computer, or tried the demo.

The Harvey Norman CD-ROM was a crash course in gaming tastes. Raptor, Death Rally, Need for Speed II, Wipeout 2097, Quake, Blood, MDK, KKND, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, Diablo, Fallout - this demo disc perfectly captured the zeitgeist of late 90s PC gaming, and was foundational in broadening my gaming palette and exposing me to genres and games that I would not have otherwise played.

Like many others, I voraciously consumed demo discs like this every month, trying out every game I could to see which ones I could ask for at Christmas or my birthday. Shortly after settling back into our old home, I was buying monthly issues of PC PowerPlay magazine and methodically working my way through their demos every month.

While those PC PowerPlay demo discs provided many fond memories and exposed me to a vast cross-section of late 90s and early 2000s gaming, I had always placed the Harvey Norman CD-ROM on a pedestal in my memories. This was my first exposure to Fallout, and my first real foray into RPGs outside of Ultima. This was my first experience of Need for Speed, Quake, Diablo and Blood. Hornet 3.0 and F-22 Lightning II were my first combat flight simulators. Two of my favourite games in my youth had been LucasArts' X-Wing and the incredible sequel, TIE Fighter, and X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter was a big leap forward in fidelity and into the world of multiplayer.

So cherished were my memories of this CD, that I had even falsely attributed it as the source of other beloved demos ("Remembering Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II" and "Remembering Rocket Jockey") - where I found those demos, I'm not sure, but my hazy memories of the era told me that of course it was this Harvey Norman CD.

The CD was more than just memories of demos, however. As I have discussed previously, my father was not computer literate, and he didn't really "get" games. But I never stopped trying to share my beloved hobby with him. My dad was an avid golfer, and it was an activity I often joined him on. So, when I saw the demo for Jack Nicklaus 4 on the demo disc, I of course introduced him to the game. Dad had this demo installed on his computer for many years, and he probably played the three-hole demo hundreds of times. Years later, he was still playing it, and the image of him sitting at the computer playing the Jack Nicklaus 4 demo is burned into my brain.

At some point in the early 2000s, the Harvey Norman CD-ROM ended up in a box somewhere, or perhaps went in the bin. I'd long since upgraded my computer and moved on to more modern games. The rise of digital distribution via Steam and rapid growth of the Internet had begun to chip away at the dominance of print media like gaming magazines. I was growing up. I had stopped spending my money on games magazines and started spending it on beer, rent and petrol. I could rely on YouTube to gauge whether I wanted to purchase a game. Before long, the era of demo discs was a distant but cherished memory.

It was about ten years ago, during the rise of indie games and the nostalgia boom of remasters, that I started to pay more heed to these memories. I wanted to find those old demo discs, load them up and relive happy, carefree days. But the Harvey Norman CD-ROM was long gone. In 2013, I got in touch with Harvey Norman customer service to ask whether they had an archive of demo CDs, but to no avail. They had thought I was searching for the actual games themselves, but after clarifying that I was looking for the demo disc, they told me they had no archived copies.

I tried again a few years later, this time through various Facebook groups, with no success. Then, again, I tried, about five years ago on the r/Australia subreddit, and two years ago in the r/Melbourne subreddit (Melbourne being my home town). That was the closest I came - one of the responses to my post on the r/Melbourne subreddit directed me to a 1995 Harvey Norman demo CD on the Internet Archive, but this was unfortunately the wrong one. I had all but given up hope. Unless the disc showed up in an old storage container somewhere, I simply had to accept the fact that this would remain nothing more than a memory.

A few weeks ago, I was tinkering with 86box, emulating a Windows 98 PC in order to get some old software running for a SUPERJUMP story. As I tend to do when tinkering with old software and hardware, I soon found myself distracted by nostalgic segues, such as installing After Dark screensavers or playing old games like Hover!. In this nostalgic mindset, I thought once again of the Harvey Norman CD-ROM, and decided to have another try at tracking it down. This time, I'd post on the Whirlpool Forums, a well-known Australian computing forum. If I was going to get my answer anywhere, it would be there.

I began writing my post, explaining what I could remember of the demo disc, when and where I had obtained it. I linked a video of the Harvey Norman jingle that would play in the intro video. For clarity, I wanted to provide a link to that other 1995 Harvey Norman demo CD that the r/Melbourne subreddit had sent me to, and specify that this was not the CD I was looking for. So, to find the link, I went to the Internet Archive and searched "Harvey Norman".

But wait. My search had yielded two results.

Staring back at me from the Internet Archive search results was that familiar rose-gold disc - Harvey Norman: The CD-ROM. Surely this couldn't be real? Is this the right disc? Where did it come from? When was it uploaded?

Hands shaking, I clicked the link, and saw that the disc image had been uploaded on 25 July 2023. I immediately downloaded the file and fired up my 86box Windows 98 virtual machine. I loaded the disc image. I waited. And then it began. That horrendous Harvey Norman jingle imprinted in my mind. The spinning image of the demo disc. The splash screen with the Fallout power armour and the F/A-18 Hornet firing a missile. I smiled in astonishment at the screen, overcome with joy. Tears welled up in my eyes, and the memories came flooding back. Sitting with my best friend, racing around the Pacifica track in Need for Speed II. Laying sticks of dynamite around the town in Outlaws. Watching a gang member get torn to shreds by the minigun in Fallout. Playing Quake Episode 1 over and over again.

Nostalgia is a strange thing. In my mind, I had attributed so much importance to this simple little disc. Hours of my life had been dedicated to it, replaying each demo dozens of times. It had fostered my interest in more than a few game series. There was never any possibility that revisiting it in 2024 could live up to the memories I had attributed to it. But, for a brief few moments, 27 years later, I was 12 years old again....

Whenever I speak to someone visiting Australia from overseas, there's one activity I always recommend without hesitation: get down to Melbourne, and as long as it's between March and September, get yourself tickets to an Australian Football League (AFL) game. I'm not a particularly "sporty" person; I've got the coordination of a drunk octopus, and I'm generally not a big watcher of sports either. But, like many other Australians (particularly those from the southern states), "footy" is more than a sport, it's a thoroughly ingrained part of our cultural identity.

What is AFL?

The first ever game of Australian rules football was played on 15 June 1858 in Melbourne, Australia. It was a match between Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College. Though the true origins of footy are mysterious, the game's creator is generally credited as Tim Wills, who was born in the New South Wales countryside near the modern-day Australian capital of Canberra. Wills was sent to England in 1850 by his father to attend the prestigious Rugby School, where the sport of Rugby had been born in 1845. Wills earned a reputation for his athletic prowess and love of sport, and upon his return to Australia in 1856, he became involved in local social sporting clubs. There were a number of nascent football-type games with varied rules played in Melbourne at the time, and by 1858, Wills, likely influenced by some of these games, began to codify the rules of what would eventually become Australian rules football.

Over the following years, the sport built a devoted following in the city of Melbourne. It spread to South Australia almost immediately, and eventually to the other colonies - Tasmania, Western Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland. By the 1870s, the rules had developed a degree of consistency, and the game had become a huge part of Australian culture. Crowds in these early days regularly numbered between two and three thousand, with many games attracting 10,000 or more spectators, at the time making it one of the largest sporting events by attendance globally. Though the game was initially favoured in the colonies of New South Wales and Queensland, Australian rules footy eventually gave way to rugby - a divide that persists to this day. The geographic divide between rugby and Australian rules football is known as the "Barassi Line", with rugby being the predominant football code in the northeast, and Australian rules football being dominant in the south, west, and north-west.

It's hard to understate the cultural significance of Australian rules footy. Since the mid-1990s, attendance at games has consistently sat between 30-40 thousand spectators, with that number jumping to 65-75 thousand during the finals season in late August and September. By attendance numbers alone, AFL is one of the largest sports in the world - impressive considering that the sport is barely known outside its small nation of 26 million people. Footy is a defining element in the culture of cities like Melbourne and Adelaide and has long acted as an avenue of assimilation for each wave of immigration. Many clubs maintain deep and enduring ties with ethnic groups in Australia, such as the long association of Carlton Football Club with Italian migrants in Melbourne, or the Western Bulldogs' ties with the Vietnamese community.

The birth of footy games

AFL has a rich history in Melbourne, and it is impossible to go more than a day without hearing some sort of heated debate about the weekend game. And while not as old as footy, video game game development too has deep roots in Melbourne. Most notable of the developers is Beam Software / Melbourne House, a prominent studio throughout the 1980s and 1990s, producing games like The Hobbit (1982), Double Dragon (1987), MechWarrior (1993), Bug! (1995), Gex (1995), and KKND: Krush, Kill n Destroy (1997).

Surprisingly, it wasn't a Melbourne developer that produced the first AFL game - rather, it was the creation of UK developer Clockwize and UK publisher Again Again. Australian Rules Football was released for the Commodore 64, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC in 1989. At the time, the "Australian Football League" hadn't been established - the national contest was still under the banner of the Victorian Football League (VFL), even though it welcomed teams from other states. So Clockwize's game wasn't technically an "AFL" game.

In a somewhat entertaining review from Your Sinclair magazine in 1990, reviewer Rich stated:

"Australian Rules Footie is supposedly the most violent 'sport' around - probably because there aren't actually any rules."

Rich wasn't far off either - AFL has traditionally been regarded as a fairly rough sport, though like many contact sports, concerns in recent years about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) have driven rule changes aimed at reducing injuries. And while the statement that footy is a lawless game is a bit of a misrepresentation, the comment does highlight a challenge that AFL games continue to face to this day - the somewhat dynamic and subjective nature of the rules.

Like in other sports, the referee (known as an umpire in AFL) is the arbiter of fair play. However, the fast-paced and dynamic nature of play, unpredictable movement of the ball, physical contact between players, and the fact that there are 36 players on the field at a given time creates a chaotic environment where umpires are frequently required to exercise their judgement. Modern technology has started to erode the singular reliance on the umpire (with assisted decision review technology), but many fans of AFL regard the unpredictability as one of the great hallmarks of the game. That doesn't make a programmer's life any easier though.

The birth of the AFL

In 1990, the VFL renamed itself to more accurately reflect the national reach of the game, and footy games soon followed suit. Melbourne studio Beam Software released the first game under the new league name in 1991, Aussie Rules Footy, on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was one of only two titles for the NES released exclusively in Australia (the other being International Cricket), but it was well received, and still comes up in AFL social media feeds.

A five-year hiatus followed the release of Aussie Rules Footy. Though the reception to Beam Software's AFL title was positive, the financial numbers might not have looked good enough for Mattel to invest in a follow-up for the SNES. But in 1996, footy re-emerged on the gaming scene bigger than ever with AFL Finals Fever, from Blue Tongue Entertainment.

AFL Finals Fever was my first exposure to an AFL game. This time, all 16 AFL teams were there in their full glory, along with up-to-date player and coach rosters, photos, team songs, and official AFL branding all over the product. Unfortunately, as professional as this game looked, the gameplay was a little lacking, as was the performance. Despite having stats for all the players, all the character sprites on the ground looked identical, so picking a player to kick to was an exercise in luck rather than strategy.

The EA Sports era

Sports gaming in the late '90s was a fairly common story: Electronics Arts' EA Sports division gobbled up sporting codes worldwide and released titles that, at least at the time, had a reputation for being polished, approachable, and enjoyable. AFL was no different, and in 1998, EA Sports published AFL 98, from developer Creative Assembly (who would eventually achieve widespread recognition for their Total War series).

Like AFL Finals Fever, AFL 98 was an officially licensed AFL product, and also like Finals Fever, was only available for Windows. Sports games are typically best enjoyed on the couch with a few friends, so the decision to once again release only for PC was rather limiting, but it was soon rectified a year later with AFL 99.

AFL 98 and 99 were the dawn of a "golden era" for AFL games; the production value was better than ever before thanks to the high product standard associated with EA Sports. The switch to 3D graphics was also a boon, with the 2D graphics of previous generations inherently limiting to a game with a significant vertical element. AFL 98 gameplay was positively received, and many criticisms were addressed in the 1999 follow-up. Most importantly though, this is when AFL games began to earn a true stamp of authenticity, with up-to-date player lists, and audio commentary from famous Australian broadcaster Bruce McAvaney and retired football legend Leigh Matthews.

The IR Gurus era

For whatever reason, AFL 99 was the last footy game from EA Sports. The next generation of games would be created by sports game developer IR Gurus, starting with the management sim, Kevin Sheedy's AFL Coach 2002 for Windows. "Forgettable" would be an understatement for this game - outside of a few forum posts and a listing in Wikipedia, there seems to be little evidence this game ever existed. Was it any good? I can't honestly say, because outside of a few abandonware sites, it's difficult to track this one down, and even when you do, good luck running it on modern hardware.

However, it wasn't Kevin Sheedy's AFL Coach 2002 that gave the IR Gurus era its reputation as one of footy gaming's great highlights - it was their AFL Live/Premiership series. Starting in 2002, IR Gurus released AFL Live 2003, followed by AFL Live 2004, AFL Live: Premiership Edition, AFL Premiership 2005, AFL Premiership 2006 and finally AFL Premiership 2007. The IR Gurus games were the first truly multi-platform AFL games, with most being released on PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. The graphics were (for the time) spectacular, the production value was high, but most importantly the gameplay was solid. AFL Live 2004 in particular is regarded among many fans as the best AFL game ever made, and the addition of Aussie band Grinspoon's "Lost Control" as the theme song added a truly authentic sense of modern Australiana to the experience.

The games in this era were sitting in a sweet spot. Gameplay was approachable and engaging, but not overly complex. Visual fidelity was detailed enough to communicate all the aspects of the game - tackles, height, and distance. Finally, after 15 years of footy games, IR Gurus had nailed the formula, and all they had to do was tweak it.

And that's mostly all they did, to the chagrin of reviewers. AFL Premiership Edition (essential AFL Live 2004 with updated player lists for the 2004 season) was criticised for making very few changes to the gameplay for the asking price. IR Gurus apparently responded to this with AFL Premiership 2005, but the result was derided as a buggy, poorly produced mess. AFL Premiership 2006 jumped up in the review scores again, yet it is barely mentioned by fans today. Then, AFL Premiership 2007 looked to capitalise on this success with the "don't fix what isn't broken" approach - and, like AFL Premiership Edition, IR Gurus were once again criticised for not changing enough.

The latter half of the IR Gurus custodianship of the AFL licence was marked with off-field drama. Publisher Acclaim Entertainment was facing bankruptcy in 2004, disrupting the release of Premiership 2005 and complicating distribution, which was split between THQ and Sony. Sony Computer Entertainment took over as publisher from then on, with Premiership 2006 and 2007 being PlayStation 2 exclusives, without a nod at the seventh generation Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The modern era

As AFL games entered the seventh generation era with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, they fell into a fairly predictable pattern - passable gameplay and middling review scores. From here on, AFL video games would be (mostly) developed by one of two Melbourne-based studios - Wicked Witch Software and Big Ant Studios. Wicked Witch kicked things off with AFL Challenge for the PlayStation Portable in 2009, as well as the rather bizarre Nintendo DS title AFL Mascot Manor, a 3D platformer adventure that seemed to be aimed at younger players.

This is where things get confusing. In 2011 Big Ant Studios released AFL Live for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and Wicked Witch released AFL for the Nintendo Wii. In 2012, Wicked Witch followed up with AFL: Game of the Year Edition, which featured an updated roster of players for the 2012 season, and AFL: Gold Edition, a mobile port for iOS. Also in 2012, Big Ant Studios released AFL Live: Game of the Year Edition. 2013 saw the release of AFL Live 2 for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 - by Big Ant Studios, right? Nope. AFL Live 2 was made by Wicked Witch Software. Only the sports genre could produce this sort of licensing shenanigans.

I should also note here that the 2010 - 2020 period saw no less than four obscure and unofficial football management sims for PC released - Premiership Coach 2010 and 2011 from Southern Cross Studios, and Australian Football Coach 2014 and 2020 by Statto Software.

This highly congested and muddled mess of releases was followed by an extended hiatus until the next console generation, when Wicked Witch Software released AFL Evolution (2017) for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Another three-year hiatus followed before Wicked Witch released AFL Evolution 2 in 2020, this time adding the Nintendo Switch to the supported platforms. On the management front, Statto Software has continued to plug away with Australian Football Coach 2023-24, and finally in May 2023, Big Ant Studios returned with AFL 23, an unfortunately buggy mess on release, but now vastly improved thanks to post-release support.

The problem with footy games

For over three decades, footy games have struggled to translate to the video game medium. Review scores have been mostly average at best, and sales have never been spectacular, with studios relying on the devotion of die-hard Australian fans south and west of the Barassi Line who treat the game of footy like a religion.

The real issue with making a footy game is two-fold. First of all, the market for them is always going to be niche. As much as a studio can bank on sales to the cross-section of gamers who are AFL diehards, that number is still pretty small. Sports titles like EA's FIFA/FC series and 2K's NBA series are polished and impressive thanks to massive production budgets that are only possible due to annual revenues in the billions.

The other side of the footy game problem is the sport's unstructured complexity. As I've already mentioned, AFL is extremely dynamic. The bounce of the oddly shaped ball adds chaos to an already chaotic game. Players use their hands and feet in equal measure and weave the ball between them during play. Tackles involve unseen jostling that requires a close-in perspective for the gamer, but the kicks can be huge - over 50 metres - requiring the ability for players to easily switch to a wide angled view. The rules of the game are complex, requiring an extensive tutorial mode, but even then, many of the rulings made by umpires in a match are judgment calls that might be difficult to coherently communicate to a player not already familiar with the rules of the game.

Delivering a high-fidelity footy experience on par with NBA 2k, FC24, or Madden might very well be a pipedream; the required budgets are too large and the potential revenue too small to justify it. Perhaps the way forward isn't about striving for the sort of high-fidelity experience one expects of EA Sports or 2K, but about looking backward, focusing on gameplay rather than fidelity.

The future

What comes next for the officially licensed AFL games is anyone's guess. Big Ant has committed to further updates for AFL 23, but who knows whether Wicked Witch Software is about to deliver the next game. In the meantime, indie developer Boot Mode Games is slowly chipping away at Footy Showdown, and until we see some innovative design changes to more effectively translate AFL to the video game medium, I think this might be the way forward.

Footy Showdown harks back to the early days of footy games, most notably Aussie Rules Footy and AFL Finals Fever. The great thing about this approach is that you can ignore sinking development time into accurately modeling close-in contests, and just focus on making an arcade game that is fun to play. The other great thing about this is the knowledge that there's a market of die-hard AFL fans who have shown time and again that they are prepared to devour anything that looks remotely like their beloved game. For a small indie developer with low overheads, that's a pretty lucrative combination.

Full-time siren

When I think of footy games, I like to compare them to my beloved North Melbourne Football Club, the Kangaroos. They've got a long history, with moments of greatness, but plenty of pitfalls. They're not wealthy and successful - they're the underdogs. Most criticism is driven by the fact that everyone wants to see them succeed. They have a small but extremely loyal following. And most importantly, they have a promising future and they're here to stay.

So, I'll wrap this brief history of footy games with one final, obligatory statement:

CARN NORTH!!!

After a decade of serialization and a sucessful ongoing anime, My Hero Academia officially came to a close. Kohei Horikoshi’s legacy has been cemented with the conclusion of the series, with the mangaka’s colleagues and fans singing his praises from the moment the final chapter dropped on Augest 5, 2024.

Horikoshi has taken notice, of course, to the compliments being thrown his way, and has responded by speaking out to his supporters.

After the series originally ended, Horikoshi delivered a brief message as his final author’s note in Weekly Shonen Jump, which read:

“I was so glad to be in Jump! I’m so glad for everyone who read my series. Thank you so much!”

Kohei Horikoshi

The author recently came back on his X (formerly Twitter) to deliver another new message, telling fans:

The manga My Hero Academia has concluded in this week’s issue of Jump! I’ve been exhausted for a long time, but I managed to make it to the end! Thank you to everyone who read it!!!!!!

I will never forget the joy and weight of being able to battle with so many interesting manga in the coveted Jump. And above all, the fact Deku was entrusted by Luffy’s side, even if only for a short time, even if it was just luck!

I’m still drawing Deku and the others for the comics, the anime is still airing, the movie is in theaters, the games are still ongoing, the spin-off manga is still being serialized, there are events, and so many other people are keeping My Hero Academia going, so it doesn’t feel like it’s over at all.

Please continue to support My Hero Academia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Plus Ultra

While it’s still a bittersweet feeling to see the series go, it is an absolute delight to see how much love is being sent Horikoshi’s way to celebrate its big finale.

Originally beginning serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2014, Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia has finally come to an end. With 430 chapters, a successful anime adaptation, merchandise, spin-off films, and even video games – the series has become nothing short of a cultural phenomenon.

The action shonen initially became popular for its unique artstyle and zero-to-hero story that resonated with manga readers around the globe. Now, with the series having officially ended, those effected by Horikoshi’s groundbreaking series are giving thanks for his hard work over the years.

Fellow Mangaka & Other Industry Professionals Praise Horikoshi For My Hero Academia’s Impact

My of Horikoshi’s colleagues have been sharing sentiments toward the popular mangaka over the past week commending him on his newfound legacy with the conclusion of My Hero Academia, including the likes of One Piece‘s Eiichiro Oda and Gege Akutami:

So now you get to play Pokémon Go as much as you want! Congratulations on ten years, Horikoshi Sensei!

Eiichiro Oda

Jujutsu [Kaisen] would not exist without My Hero. Congratulations!

Gege Akutami

Other mangaka with newer series running in the magazine, like Koji Miura, the creator of Blue Box, also shared their love for Horikoshi on social media, stating:

Congratulations on the final chapter of My Hero! Ten years of some of the most passionate manga ever. Well done!

Koji Miura

Other newly published mangaka, like Kagurabachi‘s Takeru Hokazono, shared how My Hero Academia affected them before ever pursuing manga, saying:

I still remember reading volume 17 while I was in high school. From Mirio to One For All 100 percent. What a legend!

Takeru Hokazono

Professionals within the manga industry weren’t the only ones to send Horikoshi praise, however, with the Animation Director of My Hero Academia‘s anime adaptation, Anna Yamaguchi, sending Horikoshi a special message to celebrate:

Kohei Horikishi-sensei,
Congratulations on completing My Hero Academia!!

I personally empathized with and sympathized with the villains, thought about many things, was emotionally stirred, and shed tears as I read every week. I love the world of Hero Aca where they struggle to survive.
I have gained a lot from Hero Aca.
It is an important part of my life.
Now and forever PLUS ULTRA!!
Thank you very much!

Anna Yamaguchi

and Chief Director, Kenji Nagasaki, saying:

Congratulations Horikoshi-sensei on completing the series! [My Hero Academia] is the best hero to me! Not only does the manga give me energy, but I also gained a lot of new experiences from working on the anime, and I was able to grow along with Deku and the others. I’m really glad I came across this work, which changed my life. Thank you very much!

Kenji Nagasaki

The Best Fan Contributions To #ThankYouHorikoshi

Fans of the beloved series have been pitching in to send love to the mangaka, too, with an influx of gorgeously illustrated fan art and other fan projects being uploaded to sites like X (formerly Twitter) to celebrate the series’ legacy.

Other projects are illustrations celebrating My Hero‘s entire ensemble cast, such as this piece by @nstime23:

Another gorgeous illustration featuring the full cast, created by @NovaNeonDream celebrates the relationship between Bakugo and Deku:

It’s clear that My Hero Academia‘s impact will be sitting with readers for years to come, and with the anime adaptation still ongoing with season 7 currently airing, and a brand-new My Hero Academia film, My Hero Academia: You’re Next releasing in the U.S. in October 2024, fans of the series still have plenty more of Deku and his friends to look forward to.

My Hero Academia is available to stream on Crunchyroll. The original manga is available on Viz Media’s Shonen Jump app.

Source: Weekly Shonen Jump volumes 36-37, Koji Miura on X, My Hero Academia’s Official Website, Shonen Jump

Warning: The following contains major spoilers for My Hero Academia.

After ten long years, My Hero Academia has finally come to a close, and of course, the manga‘s official ending has sparked controversy among fans and non-fans of Kohei Horikoshi’s superhero-centered action manga.

While definitive endings rarely work for everyone, regardless of medium, My Hero Academia has been notorious during its run for having judgement passed on the character writing and handling of the narrative. It begs the question on whether the finale truly works to wrap up the story, or if it missed the mark.

My Hero Academia’s Ending Isn’t What Fans Expected

After defeating Shigaraki, the world is finally at peace now that the League of Villains have been thwarted, all thanks to Midoriya. This conclusion is then followed by an epilogue detailing the events and fates of the core cast now that the war is over. Chapter 430 opens with an 8-year-old time-skip, showing how much has changed after nearly a decade in My Hero‘s world. Ochaco and Deku have both been left feeling haunted and forever jaded after their experiences with Toga and Shigaraki, respectively.

During My Hero Academia‘s final arc, Deku officially lost his Quirk and is no longer a hero. Now in his mid-20s, Deku has become a teacher working in UA, teaching a brand-new generation of heroes. Despite being left Quirkless, Deku felt satisfied with the brief experiences that he had with his friends during the time of the war. Despite his being satisfied with a quiet life, his friends refused to let him retire, and it’s revealed that Deku has a special set of battle armor – making him almost adjacent to a hero like Iron Man.

Did My Hero Academia’s Ending Live Up To Expectations?

While there is beauty in an ending that prioritizes how one can be happy living a slow, average life, My Hero Academia fails to deliver its message effectively. Something Horikoshi, the creator of My Hero Academia, has struggled with over the series’ run is wrapping up story arcs in a satisfying way. One of the most glaring examples of this comes from Deku’s “rogue” or “dark” arc where the young hero very briefly goes rogue before turning around and returning to his friends shortly after.

While Horikoshi occasionally does an excellent job delivering his story to readers, the grand finale, unfortunately, just misses the mark. It doesn’t fully commit to Deku’s satisfaction with a normal life by giving him a super-powered suit, and doesn’t truly allow him to live the life as one of the most impactful heroes in the world, either. While My Hero Academia certainly has a legacy, it is unfortunate to see how the series struggled to stick the landing.

Gamescom kicked off last night with its annual Opening Night Live showcase, bringing a range of game announcements, release dates and gameplay reveals for a range of upcoming titles.

Xbox and Take-Two dominated the Geoff Keighley-hosted presentation, which was livestreamed from Koelnmesse in Cologne. If you missed the full two-hour showcase, here are the main highlights:

GamesIndustry.biz will be reporting from Gamescom all week. You can keep up with our coverage right here.

Read more

A re-release version of Sanctuary, an artbook to celebrate 40 years’ worth of artwork from Inomata Mutsumi, will come out on August 21, 2024. The book will be available via Amazon and will cost 4070 JPY ($27.80). [Thanks, Famitsu!]

The book contains 256 pages and over 2000 pieces of work from various genres that Inomata worked on in her lifetime. This includes anime, games, novels, and magazines. It serves as a chronicle that looks back on her career, which heavily focuses on designs for sci-fi and fantasy characters.

Inomata Mutsumi died on March 10, 2024, though the news broke on March 18, 2024. Her career started in 1979 and lasted until she died. She was known for her work on the Tales series, including Destiny, Graces, Hearts, Innocence, Xillia, Berseria, and Zestiria. She also worked on the animation for Urusei Yatsura and City Hunter, as well as designed for the My-HiME and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED franchise. Her art style included the usage of watercolors, and her characters tended to have large eyes and slender figures, making them look like they came from a shojo manga.

Sanctuary, which collects artwork from Inomata Mutsumi over the past 40 years in a single artbook, will come out on August 21, 2024.

The post Inomata Mutsumi Artbook Sanctuary Will Be Re-Released appeared first on Siliconera.

The Sunday Times has published its first Gaming Rich List 2024, which includes the top 30 richest game developers and players in the UK.

Playrix founders Igor and Dmitry Bukhman topped the list, who have earned an estimated £12.54 billion. They also ranked at No.27 on The Sunday Times Rich List 2024.

Improbable co-founder and CEO Herman Narula came in second with £780 million, followed by King co-founder and former CEO Riccardo Zacconi at £410 million.

Read more

Ever since The Sims 4 came out in 2014 (oh my goodness...), I’ve been adamant that The Sims 2 and 3 remain the superior titles in the series, especially once you start using core mods to improve performance or quality of life. For those who want to get their life simulation fix but The Sims 4 is broken or too boring, I highly suggest playing The Sims 3 instead!

Those who know anything about The Sims 3 may know that Electronic Arts and Maxis did not optimize this game very well. There are a lot of reasons for this. One reason is that it’s an open-world 32-bit game. This can lead to your files bloating up and causing the game to crash to desktop. The Sims 3 is also notorious in that the game does not naturally cap your FPS, which can overheat your graphics card if you’re not careful. Some of these mods are not mere recommendations. They’re straight up essential for the overall health of your computer.

Though not a mod, I recommend using MATY’s FPS Limiter and 3Booter. This will help to keep your frame rate at the game’s default 30. If you’re like me and you’re using a NVIDIA graphics card, you can also go into your control panel and cap The Sims 3’s frame rate at 30 through there.

Here are some of the best mods for The Sims 3 in 2024

• NRaas Master Controller
  NRaas’s entire library of mods is fantastic, but I have a few that I recommend for even people who aren’t too keen on installing mods. Master Controller is exactly as it says on the tin. With this mod, you can control virtually everything in your town, from relationships to careers to ages. It’s a handy tool for little accidents (oops, my Sim is wearing a raincoat at her garden wedding) to more heavy-duty tasks (I need to reset every single object and sim in my neighborhood).
• NRaas Story Progression
  As mentioned earlier, The Sims 3 has an open world for its neighborhood, which means that things can happen in inactive households completely out of your control. You can turn this off if you want, but for those who don’t mind letting Sims live out their own little virtual lives, I recommend Story Progression from NRaas. This replaces EA’s slow and stagnant Story Progression, preventing your neighborhood from devolving into a ghost town over time.
• NRaas Overwatch
  ESSENTIAL MOD; YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD DOWNLOAD THIS FOR YOUR COMPUTER. Overwatch goes through your neighborhood at an interval you set to clean up things like deserted cars. In general, you can think of Overwatch as a garbage truck that throws away junk files which can cause bloating down the line.
• NRaas Error Trap
  ESSENTIAL MOD; YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD DOWNLOAD THIS FOR YOUR COMPUTER. Error Trap is, like Overwatch, a mod that’s for keeping your save file as clean as possible. It catches and corrects data corruption errors that can prevent you from loading up a save. Think of it as insurance. Under ideal circumstances, you won’t need it. But when you need it, man, you’ll be glad to have this thing in your folders.

• Simpishly's More Traits for All Ages
  If you raise a Sim in-game, you’re forced to only pick from limited pools of traits in the earlier life stages, which can get boring after a while. Enabling traits for all ages can lead to some wacky Sims like a toddler who’s Flirty and has Commitment Issues. But if you don’t mind that, this is a great mod for more varied Sims.
• LazyDuchess Smooth Patch
  As a note, the LazyDuchess Smooth Patch does not work with some NRaas mods if you’re using 2.x versions. I recommend using a 1.x build if you want to use it with, say, Master Controller. Smooth Patch alters some of the script in the game to make the game run faster. For example, it’ll load hairs and outfits in CAS as you scroll through rather than making you wait for the game to pull everything out.
• LazyDuchess Lot population
  This is a personal pet peeve, but I don’t like going to a community lot to scope out a joint, only for everyone to be elsewhere in town. In The Sims 2, the game will populate lots after you arrive. However, the open world concept works against that since, again, Sims have their own lives. The Lot Population mod pushes Sims to lots your active Sim is at so you won’t be partying alone. It can also add walkbys like in The Sims 2, making your neighborhood feel more alive.
• Retuned Attraction
  The attraction system in The Sims 3 is ridiculous and can cause more trouble than it’s worth. With this mod, the attraction system is more sane and logical, as well as less indiscriminate. It will also prevent Sims from continuously harassing you for dates or sending you random stuff in the mail.

• OMSP, S3DT
  For people who like to build and decorate fancy houses, OMSP and S3DT are both absolutely essential. OMSP allows you to create more space on surfaces for clutter. This can include beds and sofas (so you can put blankets and cushions), or mini-fridges (if you want to put a radio or something on top). S3DT gives you a lot of freedom when it comes to moving things around a lot, as well as lets you change the height and angle of objects. If you only care about gameplay, these aren't necessary.
• Ghost Reaction Remover
  This is fantastic for people who play legacy style like I do, as you’ll naturally end up with a lot of ghosts in your house. If you’re annoyed by Sims constantly stopping what they’re doing to go “Ew, you’re getting ectoplasm all over the floor, Great-Great-Grandpa,” then this mod can curb that behavior. Other reaction removers from this maker include mods to curb relation loss from the Emperor of Evil and stop sims from freaking out over Bonehilda.
• Children Can mods
  The Children Can series of mods is fantastic for people who want to give their Sim kids more freedom and independence, as well as get them started in life. With this mod, Sim kids will be able to do laundry, make sculptures, call services, and more. It’s really handy for people who are doing challenges like, again, the legacy challenge or the 100 Baby Challenge, since it’ll make playing with kids more fun.
• NeuroBlazer Random Genetics
  I highly recommend the Random Genetics mod for people who want more varied faces around town or in your Sims. However, NeuroBlazer seems to have removed this mod and they’re not hosting it anymore. Fortunately, there is a backup (this link will directly download the file to your computer).

• Brntwaffles environment mods
  Pretty much all of Tumblr user brntwaffles’s default replacement mods (whether environment or genetics) are really good! They make the game really pretty and it looks even better if you install Reshade. My personal recommendations from brntwaffles for eyes are the MS93 and Sarhra default replacements. I also really like their Perfect Day and Dream Dimension lighting mods.
• Twinsimming mods
  Twinswimming’s mods are great for adding flavor to your game. I recommend basically all of them. Some of them can make your game more difficult, such as Pest Control and Utilities adding new things you have to watch out for. Their best mods are Growing Pains and the Level Up! mods, in my opinion.
• Velocitygrass No Automatic Memories
  ESSENTIAL MOD; YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD DOWNLOAD THIS FOR YOUR COMPUTER. As mentioned in the beginning, memories can really bloat your save file, causing the eventual corruption of your neighborhood and mess with your computer. Even if you turn off notifications, the game still accumulates memories, including from inactive families. This mod completely removes the feature.
• Icarusallsorts's User-Directed Scolding
  If you don’t have kids in your game, this might be a non-issue. But Generations added a mechanic that lets parents scold and ground their kids when they do something bad. On paper, that sounds really neat. In practice, it’s freakishly annoying. This mod gives you more control over how your sim punishes their kid without turning it into unnecessary drama.

• Ultimate Careers
  The Ultimate Careers mod is a very intensive mod that overhauls how careers work in this game. This makes them a lot more similar to how professions work rather than just pushing your Sims to go to a rabbit hole where you can’t peek in on them. Fortunately, you don’t have to micromanage as much as you do with a profession, so it’s friendly for players with large families too.
• TheSweetSimmer mods
  TheSweetSimmer makes a lot of mods that focus on pregnancy interactions and toddlers, making them more fun to play with. It also frees up your teen or adult Sims, since children and toddlers will be able to perform acts that would usually require an older Sim's help. This is mostly useful for people who play families, but it might incentivize YA and Adult sim players to have a kid or two.
• Moar Interactions
  This is one of those mods that add things you’d figure would have been in the base game. It’s great for group meetings and parties, as you can do so much more with other sims around town.
• PhoebeJaySims Social Clubs Mod
  PhoebeJaySims, like TheSweetSimmer and Twinsimming, has a lot of really cool mods. My favorite of them is the Social Clubs mod. This lets you create a club, but without the objectives that are in The Sims 4 clubs. Clubs with this mod are more chill and are a great way for you to set up regular meetings and playdates, or add a layer of storytelling to your neighborhood.

The Sims 3 is readily available on the Windows PC.

The post Best Mods For The Sims 3 in 2024 appeared first on Siliconera.

During GamesCom 2024, HoYoVerse released a new trailer for Honkai: Star Rail, teasing new character Feixiao and the upcoming Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works collaboration. More details on both will appear closer to the release date.

You can watch the Honkai: Star Rail GamesCom trailer here:

It’s also available in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

The trailer starts with Guinaifen describing Feixiao’s exploits on the battlefield, though she can’t really remember everything. Feixiao actually appears to defeat a borisin about to attack, but she’s just asking for directions. Then, the trailer temporarily shifts to an anime style to show Pom-Pom, Caelus, March, and Dan Heng on the Astral Express. They hear a kind of explosion noise and though you can’t see who appeared on the train, it’s most likely to be EMIYA between his voice and the line he says.

The Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works collaboration event will come out some time in Summer 2025. At this point in time, we don’t know if the crossover will only be skins, or if we will actually get a playable character like how Aloy appeared in Genshin Impact. As for Feixiao, she will be a 5-star Wind Hunt character. Before her debut though, we have her subordinate Jiaoqiu coming out in the second phase of Version 2.4. He’ll be a 5-star Fire Nihility who specializes in a unique DoT.

Honkai: Star Rail is readily available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. Feixiao will appear as a playable character in Honkai: Star Rail Versioin 2.5.

The post Honkai: Star Rail GamesCom Trailer Teases Feixiao and UBW appeared first on Siliconera.

The Mafia series has been out of commission for quite a while now, with the lukewarm reception of Mafia 3 turning fans away. It looks like we’re going back to basics, however, with the surprise announcement of Mafia: The Old Country to close out the first night of Gamescom.

While details are still rather sparse about this apparent reimagining of the Mafia franchise, we’ll be playing at an undisclosed point in 1900s Sicily, bringing the Italian roots even closer to the core of the experience. Could we be partaking in the earliest forming of what would later be known as the Mafia, or has this family already been established? We’ll need to tune in sometime in December 2024 for more details about this new addition to the Mafia family.

While plenty of players didn’t exactly love the tonal shift of Mafia 3, I still thought it was a strong addition to the franchise, offering some of the best characters that the series had to that date. And the twist ending? Mama Mia, that was a spicy meatball. However, it still paled in comparison to the first two games, and I’m hoping that Mafia: The Old Country can rekindle the magic that Hangar 13 had the first time around. This seems like an offer we can’t refuse.

Featuring plenty of religious imagery in its first-look trailer, we can expect that faith and family will have plenty to do with the motivations behind the currently unknown family that we’ll be a part of. I’m already drooling thinking about the setting, especially since Hangar 13 has been known to create some of the most dense and detail-rich open worlds that we’ve seen on any generation of systems. Let’s just hope that they don’t massacre our boy this time around, shall we?

Mafia: The Old Country does not have a release window yet, but will be available on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

PQube and developer Octeto Studios have revealed the release date for Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire, their homage to classic skyfaring JRPG adventures. The game will launch for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC on 10th october.

Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire follows Glenn Windwalker as he sails through the skies and takes a rag-tag bunch of pirates into battle. There will be a lot of action taking place in the skies, with a turn-based battle system for the aerial combat, but you’ll also set foot on solid ground to explore locations around the world and converse with other characters.

It’s pretty clear that Sky Oceans is a tribute to the classic Skies of Arcadia series, both in terms of the setting and the visual style, but we’d expect that this game can also carve out its own niche and gameplay direction. This feels like it will be right at home on handhelds like Switch and Steam Deck.

A demo for the game is available right now on Steam, if you want to check it out now.

During today’s Gamescom: Opening Night Live presentation, Floatopia was revealed for multiple platforms, including Switch. It’s set to arrive in 2025. Floatopia, coming from NetEase Games, is a life sim. Players can travel among super-powered worlds to craft their island and engage with friends. Lots of details can be found in the following overview: It’s time to step into a...

The post Floatopia announced for Switch appeared first on Nintendo Everything.