Enlarge / Composite image showing color variation of emerald green bookcloth on book spines, likely a result of air pollution (credit: Winterthur Library, Printed Book and Periodical Collection)

In April, the National Library of France removed four 19th century books, all published in Great Britain, from its shelves because the covers were likely laced with arsenic. The books have been placed in quarantine for further analysis to determine exactly how much arsenic is present. It's part of an ongoing global effort to test cloth-bound books from the 19th and early 20th centuries because of the common practice of using toxic dyes during that period.

Chemists from Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, have also been studying Victorian books from that university's library collection in order to identify and quantify levels of poisonous substances in the covers. They reported their initial findings this week at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Denver. Using a combination of spectroscopic techniques, they found that several books had lead concentrations more than twice the limit imposed by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The Lipscomb effort was inspired by the University of Delaware's Poison Book Project, established in 2019 as an interdisciplinary crowdsourced collaboration between university scientists and the Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library. The initial objective was to analyze all the Victorian-era books in the Winterthur circulating and rare books collection for the presence of an arsenic compound called cooper acetoarsenite, an emerald green pigment that was very popular at the time to dye wallpaper, clothing, and cloth book covers. Book covers dyed with chrome yellow—favored by Vincent van Gogh—aka lead chromate, were also examined, and the project's scope has since expanded worldwide.

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I love how the store credit system works on the Nintendo eShop. When you purchase games, you get golden coins that you can use as a discount for other games. If you have enough coins, you can even buy the game outright. One of the games I have bought with this system is Trinity Trigger. From the description, it sounded like an interesting and unique action JRPG, and I’m always interested to play new and unique games. Especially since key staff on this game worked on amazing games like Chrono Cross and the Mana series. Now, is it any good and should you pick up this game, or is it a game that you should skip? Well, in this first impression I have after playing 1/4th of the game, I want to tell you my opinion so far. I’m also curious to hear your opinion on the game and/or the content of this article in the comment section down below. And with that said, let’s dive right into Trinity Trigger.

Just A Bit More

In this game, we take on the role of Cyan. Cyan is an average boy from a small village. He is also a treasure hunter that one day learns he is chosen by the God of Chaos as his Warrior of Chaos.

In the fantasy world of Trinitia, there are two main Gods. The God of Order and the God of Chaos. In ancient times, they used to wage war for control of the lands. Now, they chose a warrior each to represent them and fight the other warrior to the death for dominance. Cyan doesn’t know what that even means, but it might explain why he has amnesia, those weird dreams and that special glowing mark in his eye. In search for answers, he sets out on a journey, and that’s how this game starts.

When this game was originally teased, the main setup for this game was to create a game and story that was nostalgic to those who played old school JRPG’s. A lot of talent who worked on other big titles like Xenoblade, Pokémon and Bravely Default II were working on this game as well. I always find it dangerous to mention these things, since it might set the expectations of players way too high. What if this isn’t going to work out or when the story just doesn’t hit the mark?

You can never predict how the chemistry is between people, and it’s possible that they are unable to work together. But, it’s also possible they hit it off big and make something extremely unique and special. I remember how a game like World’s End Club could have been so much more with two amazing directors behind it, Kazutake Kodaka from Danganronpa fame and Kotaro Uchikoshi from the Zero Escape fame. Yet, that game was decent but could have been so much more if it had more depth and polish.

If I’m honest with myself, Trinity Trigger falls into the same boat then World’s End Club. Take the story, for example. When I started playing this game, an amazing world was being setup and I started to get interested and immersed in this new world. But, it didn’t take long before I noticed that this game hits all the familiar story beats you expect from a JRPG. But the biggest issue in this story is that it doesn’t do anything special during its journey. I have already visited a couple of towns and each time it’s the exact same basic premise that happens.

The best way I can describe the story is that it’s unoffensively bland. It does what it’s supposed to do, but nothing more. It’s a shame, since the amazing voice cast behind this game brought this game to live so much. I have nothing to critique there. The only thing that can be a bit annoying is hearing the same grunts over and over again while you are fighting in the dungeons, but that’s part of the course in JRPG’s.

Playing it safe

For some people, having a bland story in a JRPG’s is a dealbreaker. But, I can handle that if the main gameplay loop is enjoyable. In this game, you go from town to town and explore the town dungeon to become stronger and get new unique abilities.

The battles in this game aren’t turn based like in other JRPG’s. This is an action JRPG, after all, so you have to dodge and time your attacks well. You can even choose to ignore battles if you want to, apart from scripted fights or boss battles, that is. The combat system is decent and does the job. The only complaint I have is that your stamina drains a bit too fast, making your attacks quite weak against enemies. So, you have to use other mechanics like having better damage when you dodge roll an attack in time.

After each dungeon, you unlock a new weapon that has a slightly different playstyle. You can choose between which weapon you use on the fly with a weapon wheel. It works quite well, and it’s fun to figure out which enemies are weak against which weapons. Especially the bosses, since hitting them with the right weapon creates even more damage.

During your exploration, you can find hidden chests with items. Underneath the mini-map, you can find a counter with how many hidden treasures are still left in the area. I find it quite enjoyable to explore the whole map to find these hidden treasures. Some of the hidden passages are hidden away extremely well, and finding them was a blast.

Something I also really enjoy is that you can easily choose between which character you control. Some characters have unique skills and being able to quickly switch between them is amazing. Since, some enemies have a long range attack, and then it’s a blast being able to switch to a character that can use a bow to take them out more easily.

Enemies also drop various items that you can use to craft items in shops or at special stations. And crafting these items actually cost in game money. The amount you have to spend for crafting is a lot lower, but this is a mechanic I’m hesitant about. It would have been quite a lot of fun to be able to craft healing items during your exploration. Maybe these healing items were less effective than the potions you can buy in the shops. But then again, it might break the balance of the game and make you a bit overpowered.

You can only carry so many potions and to be very honest, I never really had problems with a boss battle or a dungeon when I was stocked up on potions. When you don’t do anything crazy and keep your stock high and manage your stat boosting items well, this game becomes quite easy. So easy in fact that boss battles become an endurance test and extremely repetitive.

Each boss battle has the same basic premise. You have to dodge their attacks and use the right weapon to break the shield of the boss. In most cases, this is the newly unlocked weapon. After you have broken the shield, you can damage the boss. If you have broken the shield 4 to 5 times, and kept hitting the boss, you have beaten the fight.

Now, the dungeons play like your typical The Legend of Zelda dungeon to a degree. There is one main theme and puzzle mechanic for you to solve. Once you reached the final room of the dungeon, you fight a final boss and progress in the game. When I think about it, the structure of this game resembles 2D Zelda games here and there. And maybe, the structure of a Zelda game would have fit the game better than an action JRPG. Since, I wouldn’t be surprised if players drop this game and call it repetitive. Since, it really is. I tried to play this game in longer sessions, but I started to feel bored after playing it for an hour or two. Yet, I kept enjoying myself with the game while playing it on my 30-minute train ride from and to work.

Middle of the Road

The more I play this game, the more I feel like this game could have been so much more. The basic foundation of this game is rock solid, and I barely have anything to critique there. Like the controls and the UI for example. The controls are extremely responsive and a blast to work with.

Now, the other characters are AI controlled. Overall, the AI does an okay job following you and aiding you in combat, but it can do some brain-dead actions as well. One of the dungeons where it frustrated me to no end was the ice dungeon, where your AI allies slid into the spikes every single time.

Visually, this game looks pretty decent. There is quite a lot of detail put into this world and the underused area exclusive mechanics are quite a lot of fun to play with. For example, I love how in the forest area the mushrooms can have different effects depending on the color. Especially the one that allows you to light up the area.

But then you have moments where some textures are bland and look like they are from an earlier generation, creating a mismatch. And on top of that, some battle animations can’t be canceled. And the final attack of the bow is just silly. Yet, if a certain attack is in progress, you can’t switch weapons. This is something that annoyed me quite a lot as well.

The soundtrack of this game is quite enjoyable. It fits the atmosphere of the game like a glove. Overall, this orchestral soundtrack is a joy to listen too. But, there are some tracks that are a bit too short and the rather repetitive melody isn’t it doing any favors. Thankfully, these tracks don’t appear to often so I don’t mind it too hard.

The sound effects are pretty good too. I’d recommend that you use the option menu to tweak the sound balancing to your liking, since the basic sound balancing is a bit off when it comes to the balance between sound effects and music. I had to lower the music a little bit so I could hear the important sound effects better during battles.

This game really feels like it’s walking the middle of the road here. My biggest complaint with this game is that it lacks depth in almost every aspect of the game. And it’s just that lack of depth that’s hurting this game. This game has a lot of great idea’s like how easy to read the UI is, but it barely does anything with the stat boosting items.

The game also has local co-op, but I don’t see a reason why to play this game in co-op. There aren’t enough elements to justify for me to have a friend over and play this game. It’s just too bland for that. It’s a shame, since if the combat system was more in depth, it would have been an amazing feature. Now, it’s just another ticked box of features this game has.

Just like how some of the monster design is amazing and sometimes even looks somewhat creepy. They also telegraph their attacks quite well, so you can easily dodge them. Dodging attacks in time is quite important, since you can do special attacks or even more damage. Now, you also have your typical enemies like your slimes and bees, but they look unique and fit their setting quite well.

To be honest, this game is the perfect entry game for young childern to get into roleplaying games. I think that if you have played other more expansive JRPG’s, you will notice the cracks this game has and feel mixed about the game like the whole reception is for this game.

This brings me to the price. To be honest, I wouldn’t pay the full price for this game. The asking price for this game is 40€. And if you want all the DLC, it’s even more. Around 50€. Now, I don’t recommend buying all the DLC apart from the one that comes with the Deluxe edition. The other DLC is just a one time booster pack you can buy to make the game even easier than it already is.

The asking price is too high for this game and it’s length. This game can be beaten in 15 hours and it doesn’t really have replay value. I personally feel that 25€ would have been a better price for the base game and Deluxe edition should have been 40€. If you are interested by this game, I’d buy it if it were on sale. While this game isn’t doing anything new or innovate, it still manages to be enjoyable.

I’m happy that I gave this game a chance. While I expected a lot more from it, I don’t think it’s a bad game. I can totally understand why people don’t like this game or drop it. Since, it’s a very basic middle of the road JRPG that could do something unique but doesn’t. Now, the Japanese publishers of this game FuRyu have developed a game that became the basis for another larger game (The Legend of Legacy feels like the basis for The Alliance Alive). Maybe this game is creating the basis for another larger and better game.

If that’s the case, I’d love to see more unique puzzles in the dungeons for a start. The dungeons were so easy to beat and didn’t provide too much challenge. Maybe some puzzles were only the unique dungeon weapon has to be used to progress or even exit the dungeon.

I’d also love to see more expansion on the armor and stat items. I felt they barely had any impact in this game and I often forgot you could change the stones in your equipement to increase the damage output in certain cases or decrease the taken damage in certain cases.

The biggest thing I’d love to see improved is more depth in the game. Develop the town more and make them more memorable, instead of just a stop to stock up on supplies to go to the next dungeon. The side quests were introduced too late into the game.

I could go on for a while giving examples of what they can expand or improve, but I want to avoid that you get the impression that this game is bad. This game is decent, but not great. That’s the best way to describe this game. I’d recommend it to younger players who want to give an action JRPG a try. If you are in love with the action JRPG games, I’d highly advice you to lower your expecations. I’d compare to that animated summer blockbuster movie that everybody forgets about in a few months. It didn’t do anything memorable but it a fun time while it lasted. It’s a great snack inbetween games for me and I’m curious to see what the developer does next. Since, the potential is there.

With that said, I have said everything I wanted to say about the game for now. I want to thank you 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 article, but until then have a great rest of your day and take care.

Title: Bridge Project
Type of Game: Simulation, Puzzle, Engineering
Developer: Halycon Media GmbH & Co. KG
Publisher: Halycon Media GmbH & Co. KG
Released: October 1, 2013
Platforms Available: PC Game, Mac Game
Platform Reviewed: PC
Level of Maturity: Everyone
Reading Time: 7 minutes

A Decade of Bridge Building

Bridge Project hit the scene back in 2013, and it’s stuck around longer than you might expect for a construction sim. If you’re into bridge-building and engineering puzzles, this game’s got a lot to offer. Let’s take a deeper look.

Core Mechanics and Physics

The core gameplay mechanics revolve around designing and constructing bridges capable of withstanding various stress tests. You’ll face challenges from traffic, trains, and even natural disasters while working within budget constraints and material limitations. The physics engine at the heart of the game provides a realistic simulation of structural behavior, giving the game a significant learning curve.

Challenging Progression

One of Bridge Project’s strengths lies in its difficult progression. You’ll start with relatively simple structures, allowing you to grasp basic concepts. As levels progress, the complexity ramps up significantly, introducing multi-span bridges, challenging terrains, and intricate design requirements. This gradual increase in difficulty keeps the game engaging over its many levels, constantly pushing you to refine your skills and approach problems from new angles.

Visual and Audio Experience

The visual presentation of the Bridge Project, although clunky, is still functional. While it won’t win any awards for cutting-edge graphics in 2024, the game’s visuals serve their purpose effectively. You’ll encounter diverse environments, ranging from urban settings to rural landscapes. The real visual strength lies in the dynamic stress visualizations. Watching a bridge visibly strain under the weight, with materials bending and flexing, provides immediate feedback on your design’s effectiveness.

The sound design of the Bridge Project is understated but impactful. The creaking of materials under stress and the rumble of vehicles crossing bridges add tension to the testing phase. While the background music is minimal, this focus on ambient and effective sounds contributes to the overall experience.

Design Variety and Standout Levels

The game shines in its level of design variety. You’ll encounter a wide range of bridge types, including suspension bridges, drawbridges, and arch bridges. Each type requires unique construction techniques and problem-solving approaches. Standout levels include those with obstacles like ships requiring movable bridge sections or complex terrains demanding innovative solutions.

Community and User-Generated Content

Bridge Project’s longevity is significantly enhanced by its active community and user-generated content. The integration with Steam Workshop allows you to share your designs and download others’ creations. This feature extends the game’s replayability and fosters a collaborative environment where you can learn from others’ approaches and showcase your engineering creativity.

Developer Support and Updates

Developer support for the Bridge Project has been commendable over the years. Since its release, the game has received several updates addressing bugs, introducing new features, and refining gameplay mechanics. This ongoing support has helped the game remain relevant and enjoyable for new and returning players.

Accessibility and Steam Integration

In terms of accessibility, Bridge Project offers a range of options to tailor your gaming experience. These include adjustable graphics settings and simple control schemes, making it easier for players to find a setup that suits their preferences. The game also integrates well with Steam features, including cloud saves, achievements, and trading cards. Cloud saves are particularly useful for a game of this nature, allowing you to seamlessly continue your progress across different devices. The achievement system provides additional goals and challenges, adding another layer of engagement if you’re a completionist.

Warning: Cloud saves might get corrupted, so I advise manual progress saving in case you switch machines.

Educational Value

Bridge Project’s educational value is a notable aspect. While not explicitly marketed as an educational tool, the game provides practical insights into basic engineering principles. You’ll gain an intuitive understanding of concepts like load distribution, material strength, and structural integrity through hands-on experimentation. This blend of entertainment and education adds depth to the gaming experience.

Aging Aspects

The game’s age is shown in certain aspects of its design. The controls can sometimes feel clunky, particularly when precisely placing bridge elements. The visual smoothness and overall polish fall short of what you might expect from more modern titles.

Replayability and Optimization

Replayability in Bridge Project is high, thanks to various levels and the challenge of optimizing designs. While each puzzle has a specific intended solution, you can experiment with different approaches to achieve more efficient or aesthetically pleasing results. The ability to track completion times for each puzzle adds a competitive element if you’re inclined to speed-solve.

Pricing and Value

The pricing of Bridge Project represents good value even for quite high price mark $19.99, especially considering the hours of gameplay it offers. With over 100 levels in the base game and additional content available, you can expect a substantial hours of fun. The mobile versions sometimes offer a free trial with in-app purchases for additional level packs, providing a low-risk entry point if you’re curious.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Bridge Project remains a solid choice for fans of engineering simulations and puzzle games. Its combination of challenging gameplay, physics-based problem-solving, and community features outweigh its dated aspects. The game offers a deep and rewarding experience that has remarkably stood the test of time. While it may not boast the visual flair or smooth user experience of more recent titles, its core gameplay loop remains engaging and satisfying.

Suppose you’re willing to look past its visual shortcomings and occasional control frustrations. In that case, Bridge Project offers a unique blend of creativity, problem-solving, and engineering principles. It’s a game that can be entertaining and educational, providing hours of engaging gameplay as you strive to build the perfect bridge. Despite its age, Bridge Project showcases strong game design and the enduring appeal of physics-based puzzles.

Where to Buy Bridge Project

Steam (PC, Mac): Available for $19.99. You can purchase it directly from Steam.

The post Bridge Project: Engineering Challenges That Stand the Test of Time appeared first on WePlayGames.net: Home for Top Gamers.

In the summer of 1945, Robert J. Oppenheimer and other key members of the Manhattan Project gathered in New Mexico to witness the first atomic bomb test. Among the observers was Vannevar Bush, who had overseen the Manhattan Project and served as the sole liaison to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on progress toward the bomb.

Remarkably, given his intense wartime responsibilities, Bush continued to develop his own ideas about computing and information. Just days before the Trinity test, he had published in The Atlantic Monthly a futuristic account of networks of information knitted together via “associative trails”—which we would now call hypertext or hyperlinks. To this day, Bush’s article—titled “As We May Think”—and his subsequent elaborations of networked information appliances are credited with shaping what would become the personal computer and the World Wide Web. And during his lifetime, Bush was celebrated as one of the nation’s leading prophets of technological change and the most influential proponent of government funding of science and engineering.

Vannevar Bush’s influential 1945 essay “As We May Think” shaped the subsequent development of the personal computer and the World Wide Web. The Atlantic Monthly

And yet, if you watched this year’s Oscar-winning Oppenheimer, Bush is only a minor character. Played by actor Matthew Modine, he testifies before a secret government panel that will decide whether Oppenheimer, scientific director of the Manhattan Project, should be stripped of his security clearance and banished from participating in future government decisions on sensitive technological issues.

“Try me, if you want to try him,” Bush defiantly tells the panel. Alas, tragedy unfolds when the panel punishes Oppenheimer for his opposition to testing the nation’s first hydrogen bomb. No more is said about Bush, even though he also opposed the first H-bomb test, on the grounds that the test, held on 1 November 1952, would help the Soviet Union build its own superweapon and accelerate a nuclear arms race. Bush was spared sanction and continued to serve in government, while Oppenheimer became a pariah.

Today, though, Oppenheimer is lionized while Bush is little known outside a small circle of historians, computer scientists, and policy thinkers. And yet, Bush’s legacy is without a doubt the more significant one for engineers and scientists, entrepreneurs, and public policymakers. He died at the age of 84 on 28 June 1974, and the 50th anniversary of his death seems like a good time to reflect on all that Vannevar Bush did to harness technological innovation as the chief source of economic, political, and military power for the United States and other leading nations.

Vannevar Bush and the Funding of Science & Engineering

Beginning in 1940, and with the ear of the president and leading scientific and engineering organizations, Vannevar Bush promoted the importance of supporting all aspects of research, including in universities, the military, and industry. Bush’s vision was shaped by World War II and America’s need to rapidly mobilize scientists and engineers for war fighting and defense. And it deepened during the long Cold War.

Bush’s pivotal contribution was his creation of the “research contract,” whereby public funds are awarded to civilian scientists and engineers based on effort, not just outcomes (as had been normal before World War II). This freedom to try new things and take risks transformed relations between government, business, and academia. By the end of the war, Bush’s research organization was spending US $3 million a week (about $52 million in today’s dollars) on some 6,000 researchers, most of them university professors and corporate engineers.

On its 3 April 1944 cover, Time called Vannevar Bush the “General of Physics,” for his role in accelerating wartime R&D.Ernest Hamlin Baker/TIME

Celebrated as the “general of physics” on the cover of Time magazine in 1944, Bush served as the first research chief of the newly created Department of Defense in 1947. Three years later, he successfully advocated for the creation of a national science foundation, to nourish and sustain civilian R&D. In launching his campaign for the foundation, Bush issued a report, entitled Science, The Endless Frontier, in which he argued that the nation’s future prosperity and the American spirit of “frontier” exploration depended on advances in science and engineering.

Bush’s influence went well beyond the politics of research and the mobilization of technology for national security. He was also a business innovator. In the 1920s, he cofounded Raytheon, and the company competed with behemoth RCA in the design and manufacture of vacuum tubes. As a professor and later dean of engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he crafted incentives for professors to consult part time for business, setting in motion in the 1920s and 1930s practices now considered essential to science-based industry.

Bush’s beliefs influenced Frederick Terman, a doctoral student of his, to join Stanford University, where Terman played a decisive role in the birth of Silicon Valley. Another Bush doctoral student, Claude Shannon, joined Bell Labs and founded information theory. As a friend and trusted adviser to Georges Doriot, Bush helped launch one of the first venture capital firms, American Research and Development Corp.

Vannevar Bush’s Contributions to Computing

Starting in the 1920s, Bush began designing analog computing machines, known as differential analyzers. This version was at Aberdeen Proving Ground, in Maryland.MIT Museum

But wait, there’s more! Bush was a major figure in the early history of modern computing. In the 1930s, he gained prestige as the designer of a room-size analog computing machine known as the “differential analyzer,” then considered the most powerful calculating machine on the planet. It was visually impressive enough that UCLA’s differential analyzer had a major cameo in the 1951 sci-fi movie When Worlds Collide.

In the 1940s, despite his busy schedule with the Manhattan Project, Bush set aside time to envision and build working models of a desktop “memory extender,” or memex, to assist professionals in managing information and making decisions. And, as mentioned, he published that pivotal Atlantic article.

For engineers, Bush carries a special significance because of his passionate arguments throughout his life that all engineers—especially electrical engineers—deserve the same professional status as doctors, lawyers, and judges. Before World War II, engineers were viewed chiefly as workers for hire who did what they were told by their employers, but Bush eloquently insisted that engineers possessed professional rights and obligations and that they delivered their expert judgments independently and, when feasible, with the public interest in mind.

Vannevar Bush considered engineering not just a job but a calling. John Lent/AP

From the distance of a half century, Bush’s record as a futurist was mixed. He failed to envision the enormous expansion of both digital processing power and storage. He loudly proclaimed that miniaturized analog images stored on microfilm would long provide ample storage. (To be fair, many old microfilm and microfiche archives remain readable, unlike, say, digital video disks and old floppies.)

And yet, Bush’s ideas about the future of information have proved prescient. He believed, for example, that human consciousness could be enhanced through computational aids and that the automation of routine cognitive tasks could liberate human minds to concentrate and solve more difficult problems.

In this regard, Bush prefigures later computing pioneers like Douglas Engelbart (inventor of the mouse) and Larry Page (cofounder of Google), who promoted the concept of human “augmentation” through innovative digital means, such as hypertext and search, and enhancing the speed, accuracy, and depth of purposeful thought. Indeed, today’s debate over the harm to humans from generative AI could benefit from Bush’s own calm assessment about the creative, intellectual, and artistic benefits to be gained from “the revolution in machines to reduce mental drudgery.” The subject of human enhancement through digital systems was “almost constantly” on his mind, he wrote in his 1970 memoir, Pieces of the Action, four years before his death. Bush cautioned against hysteria in the face of digitally mediated cognitive enhancements. And he insisted that our technological systems should maintain the proverbial “human in the loop,” in order to honor and safeguard our values in the tricky management of digital information systems.

The fate of human culture and values was not Bush’s only worry. In his later life, he fretted about the spread of nuclear weapons and the risk of their use. Fittingly, as the titular head of the Manhattan Project and, in the 1950s, an opponent of testing the first H-bomb, he saw nuclear weapons as an existential threat to all life on the planet.

Bush identified no ultimate solutions to these problems. Having done so much to enhance and solidify the role of scientists and engineers in the advancement of society, he nevertheless foresaw an uncertain world, where scientific and technological outcomes would also continue to challenge us.

• Category: Announcements

May 31, 2024

Together We Thrive: Celebrating the Joy of the LGBTQIA+ Community in Gaming

• Team Xbox

Summary

• The Trevor Project and the Gaming Safety team are partnering to create a safer, more inclusive gaming community.
• Explore Games Curated by LGBTQIA+ Communities at Microsoft.
• Discover Pride Gear.

Games can be a powerful medium to express and explore one’s identity in a creative and safe environment. Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind allows players to romance and marry characters regardless of their gender. Overwatch features openly LGBTQIA+ characters, such as Tracer, who is heroic, strong, and prominently featured in the game. Tell Me Why tells the story of Tyler, a transgender man, with sensitivity and depth. Games can be a powerful way to explore identities within the safety of creative play while enabling all players to experience new perspectives that may be different from their own.

This Pride month, we invite you to join us on this journey of learning, growing, and thriving. Gaming is for everyone, and together, we can work towards creating a gaming community that is welcoming to everyone and is inclusive of people with a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds. That meaningful work is achieved through people impacting others through education, appreciating the lived experiences of others and building empathy with members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

We believe it’s important to support organizations that uplift, empower, and address the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community. In the last 30 years, together with our employees, Microsoft has donated over $16M to organizations that support the LGBTQIA+ community, and in the last year alone, we donated over $1.3M. This year Xbox, along with Microsoft, is thrilled to continue these efforts with a $200K contribution to multiple organizations supporting the LGBQTIA+ community to help inspire conversations, rally community actions, and empower people to share their Pride.   

Additionally, Xbox Game Studios Publishing is proud to continue partnering with GLAAD to produce more inclusive games from conception to design to development. Xbox is partnering with The Trevor Project to help connect LGBTQIA+ players with valuable resources that help support well-being and safety as they play within the Xbox community. Every player has a unique story, and we look forward to future projects where people across the rainbow spectrum may experience the same empowerment. Read on to learn more about how we are celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community this month and beyond:

GIVE

Spotlighting Xbox’s partnership with The Trevor Project

Gaming has long been a source of fun, community, and self-expression for the LGBTQIA+ community. According to GLAAD, LGBTQIA+ gamers are 24% more likely to use gaming as a support to help get them through tough times – with 66% of LGBTQIA+ players sharing that gaming allows them to express themselves in a way they don’t feel comfortable doing in the real world.

This impact is not lost on us. At Xbox, we are committed to creating gaming experiences that are welcoming for all players, and that includes providing a safe and inclusive space where everyone can be their authentic selves.

That’s why we’re proud to spotlight Xbox’s standing partnership with The Trevor Project, a U.S. nonprofit that provides lifesaving and life-affirming services to LGBTQIA+ young people. Since 2019, Xbox and its safety teams have been partnering with The Trevor Project to connect players with resources to support their well-being and ensure they feel safe and welcome when they play on Xbox.

For us, it’s important players feel safe. Our ongoing partnership with The Trevor Project is one way for us to do that. More information on how Xbox supports player’s well-being can be found here.

In the spirit of Pride, we want to share the following safety tips to help players get the most out of their gaming experience:

• Explore your user settings. Xbox offers settings that allow players choice in how they play. Players can select whether to make their friends list visible, choose to receive messages from people who aren’t friends, or block content they don’t wish to view.
• Take comfort in knowing Xbox has your back. To support the broader player-base and LGBTQIA+ community, we take player safety seriously. This includes:
  • In-game reporting tools to help players flag issues of inappropriate behavior or content. Xbox invests in 24/7 coverage globally to help respond to and investigate reports.
  • Moderation tools that work across text, images video and voice, to block harmful content before it reaches players.
  • Access to automatic text filters, which empowers players to customize their gaming experience and decide what content is not okay to receive – these filters automatically block content before it reaches the player.
  • Continuing to create proactive measures to block hate speech and invest in technologies to help moderate potentially toxic communications, while allowing individual expression.

Gaming and Impact with Rewards with Xbox

Rewards members in the United States can earn and donate points to organizations supporting LGBTQIA+ communities with Xbox. The organizations below will be available on the Rewards hub:

• GLAAD: Founded in 1985, GLAAD – the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization – works with television, film, video games, Spanish-language media, journalists, and social media to tell stories and consult on LGBTQ media representation. GLAAD tackles tough issues and provokes dialogue that leads to cultural change through increased media accountability, public campaigns, corporate engagement initiatives, and advocacy programs that help to ensure 100% inclusion and acceptance of the LGBTQ community. (US)
• Outright International: Outright International is dedicated to working with partners around the globe to strengthen the capacity of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) human rights movement, document and amplify human rights violations against LGBTIQ people, and advocate for inclusion and equality. (US)
• National Center for Transgender Equality: The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) advocates to change policies and society to increase understanding and acceptance of transgender and non-binary people. In the nation’s capital and throughout the country, NCTE works to replace disrespect, discrimination, and violence with empathy, opportunity, and justice. (US)

Xbox players can earn Rewards points in various ways, such as playing games, completing Game Pass Quests, and purchasing games and other eligible items at the Microsoft Store (exclusions apply). Start earning today and redeem your points for great rewards. Donate your points on the Rewards hub or on the Rewards redeem page.

PLAY

Tell Me Why Available for Free in June on Xbox Consoles, Microsoft Store, and Steam!

Tell Me Why, the award-winning narrative adventure from Don’t Nod Entertainment and Xbox Game Studios Publishing, will be available for free on Xbox consoles, Windows PC, and Steam for the entire month of June 2024. As in past years, the Tell Me Why team encourages players to give what they would have spent on Tell Me Why to an independent trans creator or a trans-inclusive charity in their community.

Explore Games Curated by LGBTQIA+ Communities at Microsoft

Xbox invites you to play with pride.

During June and beyond, check out a variety of game collections that showcase LGBTQIA+ creators, lead characters, and games with inclusive gender and relationship options. Available on the Microsoft Stores on Xbox and Windows, check out the transgender and non-binary community games collection and the LGBTQIA+ community games collection. These collections will exist year-round as part of our ongoing work to create more inclusive gaming ecosystems and elevate content that resonates with communities. For Xbox Game Pass members, explore what games are available to play in the Xbox Game Pass collection and the PC Game Pass collection.

Featured titles within the collections include:

Need for Speed Unbound (Available with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on Console, PC, and Cloud) – Need for Speed Unbound’s character creator allows for multiple gender expressions via clothing, hair, and voice options that aren’t limited to the gender binary. The game also features racing rival, Justicia, a trans woman voiced by trans actress, Sena Bryer, in addition to including LGBTQIA+ iconography in the streets and as decals for your cars.

Starfield (Available with Xbox Game Pass on Console, PC, and Cloud) – In this role-playing game set amongst the stars, create any character you want and explore with unparalleled freedom as you embark on an epic journey. Starfield boasts an impressive character creation tool with multiple body types, skin tones, hairstyles, non-gendered features, and they/them pronoun options. Exploration options include pursuing romantic relationships regardless of gender.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (Available on Console) – Play as star and stagehand as you determine the story through conversation and song in this video game for musical lovers. Written by the iconic and openly gay narrative designer, David Gaider, you’ll craft not only a unique narrative, but a soundtrack to your own musical experience based on your choices. Forge your own story and decide who to romance.

The Quarry (Available with Xbox Game Pass on Console and Cloud) – Play solo or in a group of friends as any of nine camp counselors in this thrilling cinematic experience that leads down a tangled web of possibilities based on your choices. Enjoy a night of fun before a party quickly turns into an unpredictable night of horror and your relationships are tested by unimaginable life-or-death decisions.

This Bed We Made (Available on Console) –   Chloe Lussier, CEO and co-founder of Lowbirth Games, wants to tell impactful stories that feature unconventional heroes. Set in the 1950s, the story that unfolds in This Bed We Made is tied to real history when being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community was criminalized. Step into the role of Sophie, an indiscreet chambermaid at a hotel filled with secrets, in this third-person mystery narrative game that explores the lengths people have had to go to pursue loving relationships as their authentic self.

Celebrate Pride in Forza Horizon 5

This year’s Pride-themed Xbox art will be added to Forza Horizon 5 as a vinyl: an in-game decal that you can use to customize any car. Show off this unique design on your car using #ForzaRainbow on social media for a chance to be featured! (The vinyl will be available starting June 7 from the Forza Horizon accounts on Instagram and X.)

Overwatch 2 Celebrates Pride with In-Game Map and Calling All Heroes

Overwatch 2 celebrates Pride this month with the return of a fan-favorite map and Calling All Heroes. All month long, the Pride festival returns to Overwatch 2’s Midtown map. Players can look forward to playing on this map as they queue for Unranked and Competitive games and directly in a dedicated play card on the Arcade. Calling All Heroes is Overwatch 2’s competitive Esports series that provides an inclusive environment to aspiring competitors of marginalized genders, including those who present themselves as Trans, Non-Binary, and Genderqueer. This competition returned last weekend, and everyone who tunes in at twitch.tv/ow_esports will be able to earn new drops like the new Monarch Venture skin.

DISCOVER

Xbox Gear Shop

Show your love and support for Pride 2024 with our new limited-edition t-shirts, hoodies and more – designed by and with the LGBTQIA+ communities. Get your Pride gear now!

Celebrate Pride with the new 2024 Pride Collection exclusively on the Blizzard Gear Store! Led through the Blizzard LGBT+ Employee Network, the Blizzard Pride Collection features Pride-themed apparel benefitting The Trevor Project from May 15 through June 30, 2024.

Explore Xbox’s Kingdom of Color

In celebration of Pride, the Xbox logo was reimagined as a crystal radiating with power at the top of a magic staff. The storybook-inspired image also includes a castle with festive rainbow banners and fireworks. The artist, who is part of the LGBTQIA+ community, imagines the Kingdom of Color as a place where people who identify as LGBTQIA+ rule and the magic of Pride is spread to every corner of the realm. Right from the pages of a leather-bound book filled with colorful art and calligraphy text, this image evokes not only familiar stories of dragons, knights, and wizards, but launches those stories into a more inclusive future in which all players find their magic.

Xbox Ambassadors Celebrate Pride 2024

The Xbox Ambassadors Program is celebrating Pride by spotlighting members of the Xbox Ambassadors community who responded to a recent survey about their experiences as gamers. Read the Xbox Ambassadors blog to hear community members sharing their favorite memories playing video games, recommending games that do a good job representing LGBTQIA+ people and experiences, and offering tips on how to stay safe when gaming online.

Pride Dynamic Background and Wallpaper Available Now

The Pride Month Xbox design is available today as an Xbox wallpaper and dynamic background on console – follow these steps to apply the dynamic background:

• Press the Xbox button on your controller to open the guide.
• Select Profile & system > Settings > General > Personalization > My background > Dynamic backgrounds.

You can choose between Games, Xbox, or Abstract dynamic backgrounds. Choose the background art that you want with the A button.

Radical Joy with Microsoft

In the face of adversity, existence itself can be resistance and spark change. This Pride, LGBTQIA+ people at Microsoft share the meaning of joy and invite everyone to spread acceptance, abundance, and harmony everywhere. Join us and discover more at Microsoft.com/pride.

The post Together We Thrive: Celebrating the Joy of the LGBTQIA+ Community in Gaming appeared first on Xbox Wire.

JEDEC and the Open Compute Project rolled out a new set of guidelines for standardizing chiplet characterization details, such as thermal properties, physical and mechanical requirements, and behavior specs. Those details have been a sticking point for commercial chiplets, because without them it’s not possible to choose the best chiplet for a particular application or workload. The guidelines are a prerequisite for a multi-vendor chiplet marketplace.

AMD, Broadcom, Cisco, Google, HPE, Intel, Meta, and Microsoft proposed a new high-speed, low-latency interconnect specification, Ultra Accelerator Link (UALink), between accelerators and switches in AI computing pods. The 1.0 specification will enable the connection of up to 1,024 accelerators within a pod and allow for direct loads and stores between the memory attached to accelerators.

Arm debuted a range of new CPUs, including the Cortex-X925 for on-device generative AI, and the Cortex-A725 with improved efficiency for AI and mobile gaming. It also announced the Immortalis-G925 GPU for flagship smartphones, and the Mali-G725/625 GPUs for consumer devices. Additionally, Arm announced Compute Subsystems (CSS) for Client to provide foundational computing elements for AI smartphone and PC SoCs, and it introduced KleidiAI, a set of compute kernels for developers of AI frameworks. The Armv9-A architecture also added support for the Scalable Matrix Extension to accelerate AI workloads.

TSMC said its 2nm process is on target to begin mass production in 2025. Meanwhile, Samsung is expected to release its 1nm plan next month, targeting mass production for 2026 — a year ahead of schedule, reports Business Korea.

CHIPs for America and NATCAST released a 2024 roadmap for the U.S. National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), identifying priorities for facilities, research, workforce development, and membership.

China is investing CNY 344 billion (~$47.5 billion) into the third phase of its National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, also known as the Big Fund, to support its semiconductor sector and supply chain, according to numerous reports.

Malaysia plans to invest $5.3 billion in seed capital and support for semiconductor manufacturing in an effort to attract more than $100 billion in foreign investments, reports Reuters. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced the effort to create at least 10 companies focused on IC design, advanced packaging, and equipment manufacturing.

imec demonstrated a die-to-wafer hybrid bonding flow for Cu-Cu and SiCN-SiCN at pitches down to 2µm at the IEEE’s ECTC conference. This breakthrough could enable die and wafer-level optical interconnects.

The chip industry is racing to develop glass for advanced packaging, setting the stage for one of the biggest shifts in chip materials in decades — and one that will introduce a broad new set of challenges that will take years to fully resolve.

Quick links to more news:

In-Depth
Global
Product News
Markets and Money
Security
Research and Training
Quantum
Events and Further Reading

In-Depth

Semiconductor Engineering published its Systems & Design newsletter featuring these top stories:

• RISC-V Heralds New Era Of Cooperation
• AI For Data Management
• Trouble Ahead For IC Verification

Global

STMicroelectronics is building a fully integrated SiC facility in Catania, Italy.  The high-volume 200mm facility is projected to cost over $5 billion.

Siliconware Precision Industries Co. Ltd.(SPIL) broke ground on an RM 6 billion (~$1.3 billion) advanced packaging and testing facility in Malaysia. Also, Google will invest $2 billion in Malaysia for its first data center, and a Google Cloud hub to meet growing demand for cloud services and AI literacy programs, reports AP.

In an SEC filing, Applied Materials received additional subpoenas from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s (DoC) Bureau of Industry and Security related to shipments of advanced semiconductor equipment to China. This comes on the heels of similar subpoenas issued last year.

A Chinese contractor working for SK hynix was arrested in South Korea and is being charged with funneling more than 3,000 copies of a paper on solving process failure issues to Huawei, reports South Korea’s Union News.

VSORA, CEA-Grenoble, and Valeo were awarded $7 million from the French government to build low-latency, low-power AI inference co-processors for autonomous driving and other applications.

In the U.S., the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating unexpected driving behaviors of vehicles equipped with Waymo‘s 5th Generation automated driving system (ADS), with details of nine new incidents on top of the first 22.

Product News

ASE introduced powerSIP, a power delivery platform designed to reduce signal and transmission loss while addressing current density challenges.

Infineon announced a roadmap for energy-efficient power supply units based on Si, SiC, and GaN to address the energy needs of AI data centers, featuring new 8 kW and 12 kW PSUs, in addition to the 3 kW and 3.3 kW units available today. The company also released its CoolSiC MOSFET 400 V family, specially developed for use in the AC/DC stage of AI servers, complementing the PSU roadmap.

Fig. 1: Infineon’s 8kW PSU. Source: Infineon

Infineon also introduced two new generations of high voltage (HV) and medium voltage (MV) CoolGaN TM devices, enabling customers to use GaN in voltage classes from 40 V to 700 V. The devices are built using Infineon’s 8-inch foundry processes.

Ansys launched Ansys Access on Microsoft Azure to provide pre-configured simulation products optimized for HPC on Azure infrastructure.

Foxconn Industrial Internet used Keysight Technology’s Open RAN Studio solution to certify an outdoor Open Radio Unit (O-RU).

Andes Technology announced an SoC and development board for the development and porting of large RISC-V applications.

MediaTek uncorked a pair of mobile chipsets built on a 4nm process that use an octa-core CPU consisting of 4X Arm Cortex-A78 cores operating at up to 2.5GHz paired with 4X Arm Cortex-A55 cores.

The NVIDIA H200 Blackwell platform is expected to begin shipping in Q3 of 2024 and will be available to data centers by Q4, according to TrendForce.

A room-temperature direct fusion hybrid bonding system from Be Semiconductor has shipped to the NHanced advanced packaging facility in North Carolina. The new system offers faster throughput for copper interconnects with submicron pad sizes, greater accuracy and reduced warpage.

Markets and Money

Frore Systems raised $80 million for its solid-state active cooling module, which removes heat from the top of a chip without fans. The device in systems ranging from notebooks and network edge gateways to data centers.

Axus Technology received $12.5 million in capital equity funding to make its chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) equipment for semiconductor wafer polishing, thinning, and cleaning, including of silicon carbide (SiC) wafers.

Elon Musk’s xAI announced a series B funding round of $6 billion.

Micron was ordered to pay $445 million in damages to Netlist for patent infringement of the company’s DDR4 memory module technology between 2021 and 2024.

Global revenue from AI semiconductors is predicted to total $71 billion in 2024, up 33% from 2023, according to Gartner. In 2025, it is expected to jump to $91.9 billion. The value of AI accelerators used in servers is expected to total $21 billion in 2024 and reach $33 billion by 2028.

NAND flash revenue was $14.71 billion in Q1 2024, an increase of 28.1%, according to TrendForce.

The optical transceiver market dipped from $11 billion in 2022 to $10.9 billion in 2023, but it is predicted to reach $22.4 billion by 2029, driven by AI, 800G applications, and the transition to 200G/lane ecosystem technologies, reports Yole.

Yole also found that ultra-wideband technical choices and packaging types used by NXP, Apple, and Qorvo vary considerably, ranging from 7nm to 90nm, with both CMOS and finFET transistors.

The global market share of GenAI-capable smartphones increased to 6% in Q1 2024 from 1.3% in the previous quarter, reports Counterpoint. The premium segment accounted for over 70% of sales with Samsung on top and contributing 58%. Meanwhile, global foldable smartphone shipments were up 49% YoY in Q1 2024, led by Huawei, HONOR, and Motorola.

Security

The National Science Foundation awarded Worcester Polytechnic Institute researcher Shahin Tajik almost $0.6 million to develop new technologies to address hardware security vulnerabilities.

The Hyperform consortium was formed to develop European sovereignty in post-quantum cryptography, funded by the French government and EU credits. Members include IDEMIA Secure Transactions, CEA Leti, and the French cybersecurity agency (ANSSI).

In security research:

• University of California Davis and University of Arizona researchers proposed a framework leveraging generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) models to automate the obfuscation process.
• Columbia University and Intel researchers presented a secure digital low dropout regulator that integrates an attack detector and a detection-driven protection scheme to mitigate correlation power analysis.
• Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) researchers analyzed threshold switch devices and their performance in hardware security.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) seeks proposals for its AI Quantified program to develop technology to help deploy generative AI safely and effectively across the Department of Defense (DoD) and society.

Vanderbilt University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) partnered to develop dependable AI for national security applications.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a number of alerts/advisories.

Research and Training

New York continues to amp up their semiconductor offerings. NY CREATES and Raytheon unveiled a semiconductor workforce training program. And Syracuse  University is hosting a free virtual course focused on the semiconductor industry this summer.

In research news:

• A team of researchers at MIT and other universities found that extreme temperatures up to 500°C did not significantly degrade GaN materials or contacts.
• University of Cambridge researchers developed adaptive and eco-friendly sensors that can be directly and imperceptibly printed onto biological surfaces, such as a finger or flower petal.
• Researchers at Rice University and Hanyang University developed an elastic material that moves like skin and can adjust its dielectric frequency to stabilize RF communications and counter disruptive frequency shifts that interfere with electronics when a substrate is twisted or stretched, with potential for stretchable wearable electronic devices.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded $36 million to three projects chosen for their potential to revolutionize computing. The University of Texas at Austin-led project aims to create a next-gen open-source intelligent and adaptive OS. The Harvard University-led project targets sustainable computing. The University of Massachusetts Amherst-led project will develop computational decarbonization.

Quantum

Singapore will invest close to S$300 million (~$222 million) into its National Quantum Strategy to support the development and deployment of quantum technologies, including an initiative to design and build a quantum processor within the country.

Several quantum partnerships were announced:

• Riverlane and Alice & Bob will integrate Riverlane’s quantum error correction stack within Alice & Bob’s larger quantum computing system based on cat qubit technology.
• New York University and the University of Copenhagen will collaborate to explore the viability of hybrid superconductor-semiconductor quantum materials for the production of quantum chips and integration with CMOS processes.
• NXP, eleQtron, and ParityQC showed off a full-stack, ion-trap based quantum computer demonstrator for Germany’s DLR Quantum Computing Initiative.
• Photonic says it demonstrated distributed entanglement between quantum modules using optically-linked silicon spin qubits with a native telecom networking interface as part of a quantum internet effort with Microsoft.
• Classiq and HPE say they developed a rapid method for solving large-scale combinatorial optimization problems by combining quantum and classical HPC approaches.

Events and Further Reading

Find upcoming chip industry events here, including:

Upcoming webinars are here, including integrated SLM analytics solution, prototyping and validation of perception sensor systems, and improving PCB designs for performance and reliability.

Semiconductor Engineering’s latest newsletters:

Automotive, Security and Pervasive Computing
Systems and Design
Low Power-High Performance
Test, Measurement and Analytics
Manufacturing, Packaging and Materials

The post Chip Industry Week In Review appeared first on Semiconductor Engineering.

Source

By now the world knows about Donald Trump's crappy day as he snoozed and oozed in the courtroom after airing his grievances this morning, and who better to gaslight the ol' fart than the Lincoln Project?

In fact, the anti-Trump Republican group didn't let any time go to waste. — Read the rest

The post The Lincoln Project gaslights Donald Trump and his stinky, crappy day (video) appeared first on Boing Boing.

PlayStation has been part of India’s vibrant gaming scene for over two decades. In May 2023, we embarked on an ambitious journey with the India Hero Project. We aimed to unearth and empower India’s brightest game development talents to share their unique visions with gamers globally. The response was spectacular, with an avalanche of entries that showcased the rich tapestry of Indian culture, innovation, and storytelling.

Today, we’re excited to unveil the inaugural cohort of the India Hero Project at our landmark first developer conference in India – Develop India. Join us in celebrating their achievements and the exciting future they represent for gaming. This marks not just a milestone for these talented developers, but a leap forward in our journey to bring extraordinary gaming experiences from India to the world.

Get to know the upcoming India-developed games coming to PlayStation below, and stay tuned for future information regarding release timing.

Meteora: The Race Against Space Time

Developer: Big Boot Games

Shoot yourself into the nebula and join a race for survival. In this arcade combat racer, you’re not just a meteor but a force of nature. Cascade your way through a volatile universe of awe and wonder as you outmaneuver, pursue, and obliterate rival meteors in a dazzling display of strategy and skill.

Harness the power of the cosmos, level up your abilities, and climb the leaderboard in an experience that’s as thrilling as it is unforgiving. Your adventure awaits on PlayStation 5, PS VR2, and PC. 

Fishbowl

Developer: imissmyfriends 

Fishbowl is a slice-of-life story that takes players on a journey of nostalgia and melancholy, exploring themes of grief, connection, and self-discovery, set in the cultural landscape of urban India. The world is filled with crafted pixel art and an original Lofi soundtrack that forms the backdrop of our game. Fishbowl weaves together a multigenerational narrative, following the aspirations of Alo as she embarks on her first job in a new city, although working from home. 

Your decisions throughout the game will shape Alo’s journey, leading to moments of reliving the past and coming to terms with the present through a month of challenges and discoveries with Alo. Prepare for Fishbowl’s robust storytelling and immersive gameplay, coming soon to PlayStation 5 and PC.

Mukti

Developer: Underdogs Studio

Mukti is a first-person story exploration game set within the immersive environment of an Indian museum, delving deep into a critical social issue: human trafficking. In Mukti, players embark on a journey of discovery as they navigate the labyrinthine corridors of the museum, uncovering the harrowing truths and hidden narratives behind the scourge of human trafficking. Through rich storytelling and immersive gameplay mechanics, Mukti invites players to confront the realities that victims and survivors face, shedding light on this pressing global issue.

Drawing inspiration from authentic narratives and meticulously researched historical contexts, Mukti aims to raise awareness, provoke thought, and inspire action. Each interaction within the game is designed to provoke empathy, spark dialogue, and ignite change.

Launching on PlayStation 5 and PC, Mukti offers an impactful gaming experience that enlightens and empowers. 

Requital: Gates of Blood

Developer: Holy Cow Productions

Requital: Gates of Blood is a 2D side-scrolling action platformer inspired by Egyptian mythology set in the mystical underworld of Duat. Players assume the role of Zahrah, traversing the afterlife to defeat the mighty guardians of the Gates of Duat. Through a series of intense boss-rush-like encounters, players confront powerful gods, demons, and beasts.

Embark on your journey of retribution from the celestial Nile, delving into the dark and twisted realms of the Duat. Engage in the immersive interactions with entirely hand-drawn characters and environments as you unravel the lore that permeates this enigmatic underworld.

Launching on PlayStation 5 and PC, traverse the Gates of Duat and forge a path through the afterlife.

Suri: The Seventh Note

Developer: Tathvamasi

Suri: The Seventh Note is a 2D action-exploration game set in the enchanting backdrop of mythical India. A world brimming with captivating Indian mythology-inspired narratives, vibrant characters, and mythical locales, from the floating temples in the Himalayas, the lost forts of Rajasthan, ancient jungles nestled in the Western Ghats, and many more. Platforming meets a unique musical dimension as the game’s world synchronizes seamlessly with an enigmatic beat. 

Uncover the connection between rhythm and the mystical realm of Ragamandala as you traverse its landscapes and unravel its secrets. This journey promises to transport players to a realm where every step is accompanied by the pulsating heartbeat of the game’s universe. 

Get ready to embark on this extraordinary adventure, coming soon to PS5 and PC.

Stay tuned for more information on the India Hero Project and all the games in development as we work to bring new gaming experiences to players worldwide.

Source

PlayStation has been part of India’s vibrant gaming scene for over two decades. In May 2023, we embarked on an ambitious journey with the India Hero Project. We aimed to unearth and empower India’s brightest game development talents to share their unique visions with gamers globally. The response was spectacular, with an avalanche of entries that showcased the rich tapestry of Indian culture, innovation, and storytelling.

Today, we’re excited to unveil the inaugural cohort of the India Hero Project at our landmark first developer conference in India – Develop India. Join us in celebrating their achievements and the exciting future they represent for gaming. This marks not just a milestone for these talented developers, but a leap forward in our journey to bring extraordinary gaming experiences from India to the world.

Get to know the upcoming India-developed games coming to PlayStation below, and stay tuned for future information regarding release timing.

Meteora: The Race Against Space Time

Developer: Big Boot Games

Shoot yourself into the nebula and join a race for survival. In this arcade combat racer, you’re not just a meteor but a force of nature. Cascade your way through a volatile universe of awe and wonder as you outmaneuver, pursue, and obliterate rival meteors in a dazzling display of strategy and skill.

Harness the power of the cosmos, level up your abilities, and climb the leaderboard in an experience that’s as thrilling as it is unforgiving. Your adventure awaits on PlayStation 5, PS VR2, and PC. 

Fishbowl

Developer: imissmyfriends 

Fishbowl is a slice-of-life story that takes players on a journey of nostalgia and melancholy, exploring themes of grief, connection, and self-discovery, set in the cultural landscape of urban India. The world is filled with crafted pixel art and an original Lofi soundtrack that forms the backdrop of our game. Fishbowl weaves together a multigenerational narrative, following the aspirations of Alo as she embarks on her first job in a new city, although working from home. 

Your decisions throughout the game will shape Alo’s journey, leading to moments of reliving the past and coming to terms with the present through a month of challenges and discoveries with Alo. Prepare for Fishbowl’s robust storytelling and immersive gameplay, coming soon to PlayStation 5 and PC.

Mukti

Developer: Underdogs Studio

Mukti is a first-person story exploration game set within the immersive environment of an Indian museum, delving deep into a critical social issue: human trafficking. In Mukti, players embark on a journey of discovery as they navigate the labyrinthine corridors of the museum, uncovering the harrowing truths and hidden narratives behind the scourge of human trafficking. Through rich storytelling and immersive gameplay mechanics, Mukti invites players to confront the realities that victims and survivors face, shedding light on this pressing global issue.

Drawing inspiration from authentic narratives and meticulously researched historical contexts, Mukti aims to raise awareness, provoke thought, and inspire action. Each interaction within the game is designed to provoke empathy, spark dialogue, and ignite change.

Launching on PlayStation 5 and PC, Mukti offers an impactful gaming experience that enlightens and empowers. 

Requital: Gates of Blood

Developer: Holy Cow Productions

Requital: Gates of Blood is a 2D side-scrolling action platformer inspired by Egyptian mythology set in the mystical underworld of Duat. Players assume the role of Zahrah, traversing the afterlife to defeat the mighty guardians of the Gates of Duat. Through a series of intense boss-rush-like encounters, players confront powerful gods, demons, and beasts.

Embark on your journey of retribution from the celestial Nile, delving into the dark and twisted realms of the Duat. Engage in the immersive interactions with entirely hand-drawn characters and environments as you unravel the lore that permeates this enigmatic underworld.

Launching on PlayStation 5 and PC, traverse the Gates of Duat and forge a path through the afterlife.

Suri: The Seventh Note

Developer: Tathvamasi

Suri: The Seventh Note is a 2D action-exploration game set in the enchanting backdrop of mythical India. A world brimming with captivating Indian mythology-inspired narratives, vibrant characters, and mythical locales, from the floating temples in the Himalayas, the lost forts of Rajasthan, ancient jungles nestled in the Western Ghats, and many more. Platforming meets a unique musical dimension as the game’s world synchronizes seamlessly with an enigmatic beat. 

Uncover the connection between rhythm and the mystical realm of Ragamandala as you traverse its landscapes and unravel its secrets. This journey promises to transport players to a realm where every step is accompanied by the pulsating heartbeat of the game’s universe. 

Get ready to embark on this extraordinary adventure, coming soon to PS5 and PC.

Stay tuned for more information on the India Hero Project and all the games in development as we work to bring new gaming experiences to players worldwide.

Today, EA announced a major company shake-up that will result in roughly 670 individuals, or 5% of its workforce, losing their jobs. As a part of that same reorganization, Respawn's Star Wars FPS in-development at Respawn is being canceled.

Following CEO Andrew Wilson's announcement of the cuts today, EA Entertainment …

Electronic Arts has announced that it, too, is undergoing mass layoffs, with plans to let go 5% of its total global staff, or roughly 670 individuals.

In a note today sent to staff, CEO Andrew Wilson said that EA is reacting to "accelerating industry transformation where player needs and motivations and …

Donald Trump's greatest fear has materialized: His daddy, Fred Trump, has come back from the grave to tell his "low-rent" son what a disappointing "joke" he turned out to be.

"Donny, I always knew you'd blow it. You were always a fool, a joke, low rent. — Read the rest

The post Donald Trump's daddy, Fred, is back from the grave to shame his "garbage" son in new ad (video) appeared first on Boing Boing.

By now you know that Senator Richard Blumenthal has released a new version of KOSA, the misleadingly named Kids Online Safety Act, that he pretends fixes all the problems. It doesn’t. It still represents a real threat to speech online, and in particular speech from LGBTQ users. This is why Blumenthal, a prominent Democrat, is putting out press releases including supportive quotes from infamous anti-LGBTQ groups like the Institute for Family Studies and the “American Principles Project” (one of the leading forces behind anti-trans bills across the US). Incredibly, it also has an approving quote from NCOSE, formerly known as “Morality in Media,” a bunch of prudish busybodies who believe all pornography should be banned, and who began life trying to get “salacious” magazines banned.

When a bill is getting supportive quotes from NCOSE, an organization whose entire formation story is based around an attempt to ban books, you know that bill is not good for speech.

Why is a Democratic Senator like Blumenthal lining up with such regressive, censorial, far right nonsense peddlers? Well, because he doesn’t give a shit that KOSA is going to do real harm to LGBTQ kids or violate the Constitution he swore an oath to protect: he just wants to get a headline or two claiming he’s protecting children, with not a single care about how much damage it will actually do.

Of course, as we noted, the latest bill does make it marginally more difficult to directly suppress LGBTQ content. It removed the ability of state Attorneys General to enforce one provision, the duty of care provision, though still allows them to enforce other provisions and to sue social media companies if those state AGs feel the companies aren’t complying with the law.

Still, at least some of the MAGA crowd feel that this move, making it marginally more difficult for state AGs to try to force LGBTQ content offline means the bill is no longer worth supporting. Here’s Charlie Kirk, a leading MAGA nonsense peddler who founded and runs Turning Point USA, whining that the bill is no longer okay, since it won’t be used to silence LGBTQ folks as easily:

If you can’t read that, it’s Charlie saying:

The Senate is considering the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a bill that looks to protect underage children from groomers, pornographers, and other predators online.

But the bill ran into trouble because LGBT groups were worried it would make it too easy for red state AGs to target predators who try to groom children into mutilating themselves or destroying themselves with hormones and puberty blockers.

So now, the bill has been overhauled to take away power from from state AGs (since some of them might be conservatives who care about children) and instead give almost all power to the FTC, currently read by ultra-left ideologue Lina Khan. Sure enough, LGBT groups have dropped all their concerns.

We’ve seen this pattern before. What are the odds that this bill does zero to protect children but a lot to vaguely enhance the power of Washington bureaucrats to destroy whoever they want, for any reason?

If you can get past his ridiculous language, you can see that he’s (once again, like the Heritage Foundation and KOSA co-sponsor Senator Marsha Blackburn before him) admitting that the reason the MAGA crowd supports KOSA is to silence LGBTQ voices, which he falsely attacks as “groomers, pornographers, and other predators.”

He’s wrong that the bill can’t still be used for this, but he’s correct that the bill now gives tremendous power to whoever is in charge of the FTC, whether its Lina Khan… or whatever MAGA incel could be put in place if Trump wins.

Meanwhile, if Kirk is so concerned about child predators and groomers, it’s odd you never see him call out the Catholic church. Or, his former employee who was recently sentenced to years in jail for his “collection” of child sexual abuse videos. Or the organization that teamed up with Turning Point USA to sponsor an event, even though the CEO was convicted of “coercing and enticing” a minor. It’s quite interesting that Kirk is so quick to accuse LGBTQ folks of “grooming” and “predation,” when he keeps finding actual such people around himself, and he never says a word.

Either way, I’m curious if watching groups like TPUSA freak out about this bill not being censorial enough of LGBTQ content will lead Republicans to get cold feet on supporting this bill.

At the very least, though, it’s a confirmation that Republican support for this bill is based on their strong belief that it will censor and suppress LGBTQ content.