Architizers Vision Awards are back! The global awards program honors the worlds best architectural concepts, ideas and imagery. Preregistration is now open click here to receive program updates.Its not every day you walk into a gallery or museum and realize youre part of the exhibition. But its hard to feel like anything else when standing inside a glass box next to a priceless international art collection, being ogled by other pieces and members of the public alike.This rare epiphany evokes a strange sense of empathy and even sympathy for art as objectified by industry and society. You begin to feel sorry for figures like the Mona Lisa and finally understand the pain of Edvard Munchs tortured figure in The Scream. How does it feel to be stared at and glared at by strangers all day, every day? (Maybe with the exception of Mondays, when most British cultural institutions are closed.)Whichever way youre looking at whatever it is youre looking at, the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts presents it very differently. One case in point is the chaise longue to lie in and share secrets up close and personal with portraiture.Completed in 1978 and funded by the family behind one of the UKs biggest supermarket chains, even the institutions inception was against the grain. While enthusing over the anti-establishment roots of this inimitable facility, Jago Cooper, director since a 2023 relaunch, tells us the benefactors took just one piece of advice before the project began: If youre going to build a gallery unlike other galleries, dont listen to anyone from the art world.Aerial view of The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts by Foster + Partners, Norwich, United KingdomInstead, they looked to then-rising architects Norman Foster and the late Wendy Cheesman. The Norwich site, which sits on the University of East Anglia campus, is the first of many public buildings from the behemoth master planner and was never going to go quietly. The design reflects and enacts the institutions radical programming premise.Among the statement features, 30-foot (9-meter) floor-to-ceiling glass walls and full-size trees in the main exhibition space responded to the modernist ideal of bringing nature and the built environment together. The internal foliage has since gone, but the location, in the midst of the centers sculpture park and those vast windows, remains and continues to achieve the desired results.The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts by Foster + Partners, Norwich, United KingdomMuseums, art, and all industries have loads of norms that become established, says Cooper. The genuine people who come with a fresh set of eyes and are not just looking at the structure and trying to change it, they are starting something with a completely blank canvas.There is a fundamental difference between trying to change an institution or a way of thinking, trying to change something that already exists, and when you start with a blank page from scratch, he continues. Because then you wouldnt start off on the same pathway; its totally different.Sadly, the original cantilever system has also been confined to history; it would have moved as hours of the day passed, casting the interior in a different light depending on the suns position. However, the most unique aspect of the project is more difficult to see at first glance. When it opened, the Sainsbury Centre was Britains largest open plan space ever realized, with an overall floor area of 77,500 square feet (7,200 square meters). Measuring 490 feet (150 meters) in length, its as vast as an aircraft hangar, and there are near-endless ways it can be configured, depending on the use cases.The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts by Foster + Partners, Norwich, United KingdomAlthough there are some distinct spaces, including those on the lower level, the building is dedicated to a single area for the most part. Here, there are no predetermined routes or hierarchy of work. Everything is equal, and visitors are free to explore as they choose. And even the more siloed exhibitions are not ring-fenced like standard galleries. The UK is lucky that many public museums and cultural destinations are free to enter. Still, visiting and special programs often charge a premium and are found in clearly delineated zones.At the Sainsbury Centre, visitors pay what they feel, and the whole place is dedicated to big, overarching questions that run for seasons. These are not really separate exhibits but parts of an overarching theme. Why Do People Take Drugs? What Is Truth? And, currently: Will The Seas Survive Us? The big quandaries are honed down from open calls on social media. Shortlists then get posted in staff areas and voted on by everyone there. Its pretty much fair game, albeit with a couple of caveats.Becoming a work of art inside The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts by Foster + Partners, Norwich, United Kingdom | Photo by Kate WolstenholmeIf youre going to empower people to make their own decisions about what they want to do, this goes to the bigger question of the museum itself why do museums exist? Well, its to help society. So, therefore, the starting point is not a question that arises from the world of art or art history or archeology or anthropology; its the sort of question all people everywhere in society want an answer to, Cooper explains before moving on to how the building itself facilitates the Sainsbury Centre approach.You basically create an open-plan labyrinth where the art isnt on a wall; its in this three-dimensional space. Then, you choose your own pathway through that space, and all the art is in cultural dialogue across space and in that space. So, it means that you take ownership of your own journey through that space, and its very empowering to the visitor. And then the entrance is discrete not too confrontational, he tells us.The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts by Foster + Partners, Norwich, United Kingdom | Photo by Kate WolstenholmeSometimes, you need to be reminded were just talking about a large metal box with windows. But thats precisely the point. Minimalist in the pure sense, by completely ignoring what remains the modus for galley design, evident everywhere from the British Museum and the Louvre to Tate Modern, Fosters blueprint presents a bold challenge for any arts center: remove distractions, free up interpretations, and let the work speak for itself, on its own terms. Arguably, it is the greatest litmus test for the quality of the collection and thematic concepts.You can walk in any direction, go anywhere, and work might even force you to change your bodily position. So because the art isnt on a wall, and youre not walking down a corridor or going into a rectangle and then walking around the edge of the room, because its in this three-dimensional space where youre walking through and around it, youre changing your bodily position. Youre bending down, youre up, youre looking there, says Cooper. [Youre] not feeling like youre on a journey just following, you know, the highlights tour of a museum.In nearly all other museums, theres a big grand entrance, and you sort of go up steps into them, and then they have these hallways, and theres a pathway around them into different galleries, which divide up either on chronology or impressionism or other big words, he adds. This is anything but that.Architizers Vision Awards are back! The global awards program honors the worlds best architectural concepts, ideas and imagery. Preregistration is now open click here to receive program updates.The post Form Follows Freedom: Relaunching Foster + Partners Sainsbury Centre appeared first on Journal.

There arent a lot of games out there that we have been waiting for as long as we have forMetroid Prime 4: Beyond. Its been close to two decades sinceMetroid Prime 3: Corruptioncame out, andPrime 4itself was originally announced all the way back in 2017, before being indefinitely delayed and completely rebooted from scratch under Retro Studios just a couple of years later. Now, however, that long period of anticipation finally seems to be in its final stretch.An entire console generation after its original announcement,Metroid Prime 4: Beyondis close to releasing, while recent days and weeks have also brought new details and gameplay footage on the first person action adventure title. As we look to fan the flames of hype surrounding the game, here, were going to highlight the most significant details that have emerged on the upcoming Nintendo title. Without further ado, lets dive in- starting with the basics.STORY DETAILSSet some time after the events ofMetroid Prime 3: Corruption, Metroid Prime 4: Beyondwill see series protagonist and legendary bounty hunter Samus Aran embarking on a quest on yet another dangerous alien planet. As we saw in a recent Treehouse Live demo the game will begin with Samus responding to a distress call from Galactic Federation soldiers on the planet of Tenmaar, which we also saw glimpses of in Metroid Prime 4s re-reveal last June. As Samus lands, she finds the planet under assault from heavy Space Pirate forces, who, curiously enough, have forged an alliance with the enigmatic bounty hunter Sylux. For those unaware, Sylux has appeared a handful of times in the past, but little is known about the villainous character. Retro Studios and Nintendo have confirmed, however, that the bounty hunter is going to have a major role to play in the upcoming sequel.SETTINGThe planet of Tenmaar will be whereMetroid Prime 4: Beyondwill kick off, but its not the aforementioned dangerous alien planet that serves as the games main setting. As revealed in a recent Nintendo Direct trailer, the game is set on a completely new planet in the form of Viewros. Little is known about this planet or what sights it will have on offer, other than the fact that a colossal, towering tree lies at its heart and is clearly an important structure as far as the planets lore is concerned. This being aMetroidgame, presumably, well get much more intimate with the planet, its environments, its history, and its many hostile denizens over the course o the game.CLASSIC METROID PRIME GAMEPLAY RETURNSAll that we have seen ofMetroid Prime 4sgameplay so far has made it clear that for returning series fans, things will instantly feel familiar in more ways than one. The lock-on centric shooting, the shooting at doors to unlock them, the scanning of everything and anything that you can see, the energy tanks and missiles, the turning into a morph ball and using your bombs- all the familiar gameplay elements that youd expect in aMetroid Primegame are present and accounted for here.PSYCHIC ABILITIESMetroid Prime 4may be delivering a lot of more of the same, but that isntallthat its doing. Retro Studios is also changing up the tried and true gameplay formula with some new ideas thrown in- like Samus new Psychic Powers. How they will fit into the story remains to be seen, but we do know that Samus is going to be equipped with new telekinetic abilities inPrime 4. This time, shell be able to manipulate and move objects with her mind, control the trajectory of her fired projectiles, open doors that are otherwise inaccessible, and more. Presumably, these abilities will also have a significant role to play where traversal and exploration are concerned.ABERAXMetroid Prime 4: Beyondsrecent Treehouse Live demo showed off the opening minutes of the game, which, in trueMetroid Primefashion, end with a bombastic set piece boss fights against a ginormous alien monstrosity. Named Aberax, this creature, as the first boss of the game, isnt awfully difficult to take down, by the looks of it, but still seems like a solid introductory boss. In the demo, we saw it unleashing a variety of different attacks, such as sending out large circular waves for players to dodge over or under, using its jetpack for enhanced mobility, and swinging at Samus with vicious melee strikes. The boss fight tasks players with focusing on and damaging weak points on Aberaxs chest, which the creature does its best to try and prevent you from doing by blocking them with its shielded arms.NEW SUITYou cant have a newMetroidgame (with some exceptions) without a new suit for Samus to find and kit herself out with, and sure enough, Metroid Prime 4: Beyondwont buck that trend either. A new red suit was glimpsed in its Switch 1 Direct trailer at the end of March, though as youd expect Retro Studios and Nintendo have said little else about it, where it will fit in the story, or what (if any) new powers it will bestow on Samus.LAUNCH DETAILSAt the recent Switch 2 unveiling, Nintendo announced, as many expected, thatMetroid Prime 4: Beyondis going to be a cross-gen game. In addition to releasing on the Switch, it will also be available on the Switch 2 day and date. When exactly it will release is still a mystery, with Nintendo having chosen to withhold that information thus far, but wedoat least know that it will be out sometime this year.NINTENDO SWITCH 2 EDITIONMetroid Prime 4: BeyondsNintendo Switch 2 version or its Nintendo Switch 2 Edition release, as Nintendo is calling it will come with a number of enhancements. Players can expect improved load times, improved resolution and frame rate targets (more on this in a bit), HDR support (as long as you have a compatible screen) and more.GRAPHICS MODESMetroid Primegames have a knack for looking gorgeous for the hardware that they are on, andBeyondis looking no different. On the Switch 2, in fact, it will unsurprisingly boast some pretty impressive tech targets. In Quality Mode, the game will run at 4K and 60 FPS, while a Performance Mode will also be available for those who wish to play it at 1080p and 120 FPS.GAMEPLAY MODESMetroid Prime 4: Beyonds Switch 2 version will have exclusive gameplay features as well, with the game being playable one of several ways, thanks to the consoles versatile hardware. You can play it the regular way with a controller, or you can use the Switch 2s gyro controls to make aiming a little easier for yourself (not that the heavy lock on ofMetroid Primesgameplay makes that part of the gameplay too difficult). Best of all, youll also be able to turn a Joy-Con on its side to use it like a mouse and play the game that way, which is particularly exciting for a first-person shooter. As shown in the recent gameplay demo, switching between different gameplay styles will be instant and seamless.

Remedy's Sam Lake to keynote Develop:Brighton 2025"I feel we've been on a logical path forward, always building on the foundation and learnings of our previous games"Image credit: Sergei Sarakhanov Feature by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on April 7, 2025 Remedy's creative director Sam Lake has been announced as the first keynote speaker for this year's Develop:Brighton conference.The session, a fireside chat titled 'Remedy's Sam Lake: 30 years of storytelling', will celebrate the studio's milestone and explore how its storytelling has evolved over the past three decades."Quite a few games and a lot of learnings fit into 30 years of making games," Lake tells GamesIndustry.biz. "When it comes to storytelling in action-filled games I feel we've been on a logical path forward, always building on the foundation and learnings of the previous games.""I feel very proud looking back," he continues. "I feel we have achieved a lot. It's been hard work, and even hard going at times. But it feels good to be where we are now. And a lot of ambition and excitement remains when looking forward to the future."Last year, Lake received the Star Award for best creative lead alongside Alan Wake 2 winning best visual art and best audio. Lake will be awarded the Develop Star Award at the 2025 Develop Star Awards taking place on Wednesday, July 9."It feels good to be where we are now. A lot of ambition and excitement remains when looking forward to the future""Receiving the prestigious Develop Star Award is a huge honour, so I'm very much looking forward to being at Develop: Brighton," explains Lake."It's my first time at the conference, and I'm excited to be there. To celebrate the occasion, the fireside chat made a lot of sense, especially as Remedy is 30 years old this year, tracing back the road of how we got here."As for receiving last year's award for best creative lead, Lake described it as "a very welcoming surprise.""I feel it's a great category for awards," says Lake. "Making Alan Wake 2 was a very personal project for me, and I put a lot of myself in many ways into the project, more so I feel than ever before. To be acknowledged of that work felt good."Following the release of Alan Wake 2 and its two DLCs (which were my personal pick for 2024's game of the year), Lake says that Remedy will continue to "keep exploring and experimenting" particularly through the Remedy connected universe including its franchises Alan Wake and Control."Through a few games, we have built a solid foundation of the universe now, and even more, a very solid foundation of storytelling when it comes to technique and tone," he notes. "We will keep exploring and experimenting going forward and will broaden the scope of the games."Its upcoming project, FBC: Firebreak due for release this summer is one step further in that direction as Remedy's first multiplayer and first-person shooter."Firebreak is a co-op game with a Control setting and lore, but it's a different kind of game and thus much less focused on storytelling, and yet very much part of the universe," says Lake. Image credit: Remedy EntertainmentRemedy is currently developing the sequel to Control, in addition to remakes of Max Payne 1 and 2 in collaboration with Rockstar who own the IP."There will be games that will feel familiar and very connected to the storytelling of the previous games, but there will also be games set in the universe that will surprise you in many ways.Tandem Events managing director Andy Lane commented: "Following an absolutely stellar year for both Sam Lake and Remedy Entertainment, attendees of this year's conference have a wealth of experience and knowledge to look forward to from Sam's fireside chat."Passionate storytelling will always be an asset to games development, and we look forward to welcoming Sam to Brighton this year as well as recognising his achievements with the Star Awards."Other speakers include experts from Sony, Ustwo Games, Criterion, Frontier Developments, The Chinese Room, Wargaming, Google, and D3t.There are ten session tracks covering a variety of disciplines, including two new categories: games education and performance.Develop:Brighton 2025 will take place from Tuesday, July 8 to Thursday, July 10 at the Hilton Brighton Metropole.GamesIndustry.biz is a media partner for Develop:Brighton 2025.

TechTarget and Informa Techs Digital Business Combine.TechTarget and InformaTechTarget and Informa Techs Digital Business Combine.Together, we power an unparalleled network of 220+ online properties covering 10,000+ granular topics, serving an audience of 50+ million professionals with original, objective content from trusted sources. We help you gain critical insights and make more informed decisions across your business priorities.Twin Sails Interactive splits from Asmodee and Embracer to become an independent publisherTwin Sails Interactive splits from Asmodee and Embracer to become an independent publisher'We will continue to champion creative titles with strong visual identities and passionate teams behind them.'Chris Kerr, News EditorApril 7, 20252 Min ReadImage via Twin SailsGloomhaven Digital and Ember Knights publisher Twin Sails Interactive has uncoupled from Embracer Group through a management buyout.The company shared the news in a blog post and said it now has "full autonomy and more flexibility" to pursue its vision for growth.Twin Sails had been operating under the umbrella of tabletop game publisher Asmodee Group AB, which is owned by Embracer Group.Last year, Embracer transformed Asmodee into a standalone publicly listed company to search for "winning formulas" after implementing a brutal restructuring program.Twin Sails will retain its entire team post-buyout and continue to be led by CEO Nicolas Godement, production director Laurent Lichnewsky, and marketing director Adrien Rotondo."This is an exciting new chapter for Twin Sails Interactive," said Godement. "Our time within Asmodee provided us with invaluable experience, and we are grateful for the collaboration that helped shape our journey. Now, as an independent publisher, we move forward with confidence, ready to pursue our bold and energized vision for the future."Asmodee CEO Thomas Koegler said the move will enable both companies to "thrive in their respective areas of expertise.""We look forward to Twin Sails Interactive continuing to meet success and innovate, bringing fresh, engaging experiences to players worldwideand wish them a journey filled with success, creativity, and new opportunities," he added.Related:Looking ahead, Twin Sails hopes to usher in a "new era" after essentially serving as Asmodee's video game division for the best part of a decade."We will continue to champion creative titles with strong visual identities and passionate teams behind them," said marketing director Adrien Rotondo. "Our goal is to work with our partner studios to create long-lasting game brands that grow through updates, new content, and new titles in the series."The company's publishing slate currently includes Boomtown: A Different Story, News Tower, and Ember Knights.Twin Sails is actively seeking new projects and partnerships.About the AuthorChris KerrNews Editor, GameDeveloper.comGame Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, andPocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.See more from Chris KerrDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like

Ive got todays top deals lined up and honestly, its a bit of a vibe. Theres a handcrafted MainGear rig that looks like it belongs in a design museum and crushes modern games, a Pokmon TCG tin that leaves your pulls up to fate, and a Humble Bundle full of giant alien bugs and unapologetic chaos.MainGear Custom RTX 5070 PC, Pokmon TCG, and a Skyrim Dragonborn HelmetMainGear North RTX 5070$2,095.00 at MainGearPokemon TCG: Azure Legends Tin - 5 Packs$29.99 at AmazonHumble Bundle: Earth Defense Force CollectionSanDisk 256GB microSD Express microSD CardPokmon TCG: Shining Fates Collection Pikachu V Box$58.99 at AmazonThe Elder Scrolls Skyrim - Dragonborn Helmet - Replica$119.99 at IGN Store Pokmon TCG: Scarlet and Violet Shrouded Fable Elite Trainer Box$57.98 at AmazonWaiting on Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders? I've found a great deal on a Sandisk 256gb Micro SD Express card too . Oh, and if youve ever wanted to cosplay as a Dovahkiin desk ornament, the IGN Store has something special. I think its a solid haul; useful stuff, actual value, no sketchy third-party sellers in sight (Although Amazon is getting a bit cheeky with their Pokmon TCG mark-ups). Lets break it down.MainGear North RTX 5070MainGear North RTX 5070$2,095.00 at MainGearI think this is one of the smartest ways to get your hands on an RTX 5070 without building from scratch or skimping on quality. MAINGEARs setup skips all the common bottlenecks no mismatched parts, no airflow nightmares, no good enough corners cut. For $2,095, youre getting a clean combo of a Ryzen 5 7600X CPU, 16GB of DDR5 RGB RAM, and a 1TB NVMe SSD, all assembled by people who care about things like cable management. Its future-ready, quiet, and fast enough to leave your current rig feeling like a potato in comparison.Pokemon TCG: Azure Legends Tin - 5 PacksPokemon TCG: Azure Legends Tin - 5 Packs$29.99 at AmazonThis tin is pure Pokmon chaos in the best way. You get one random promo cardKyogre ex, Xerneas ex, or Dialga exand five booster packs; 2 x Surging Sparks, 1 x Stellar Crown, 1 x Temporal Forces and 1 x Obsidian Flames. Its a fun, low-stakes gamble for collectors or casual players who want a shot at good pulls without needing to take out a second mortgage.Humble Bundle: Earth Defense Force CollectionHumble Bundle: Earth Defense Force CollectionPay less to get fewer items, or pay extra to give more to publishers, Humble, and charity Oceana.EDF is the kind of game where logic goes out the window and fun takes over, and this $25 Humble Bundle gives you the best of it EDF 5, EDF 4, World Brothers 2, plus a ton of downloadable content. I think this is worth it just for the laugh-out-loud co-op mayhem alone, and it doesnt hurt that part of the proceeds go to charity while you blast oversized bugs into space.SanDisk 256GB microSD Express microSD CardSanDisk 256GB microSD Express microSD CardIf your current microSD card loads like it's on a coffee break, or if you need to expand your Nintendo Switch 2 storage on launch day, this ones a serious upgrade. I want this SanDisk Express card purely for the ridiculous transfer speeds up to 880MB/s read and 650MB/s write. Its built for 4K video, gaming, and surviving every possible disaster short of lava, and itll likely outlive every other accessory in your bag.Pokmon TCG: Shining Fates Collection Pikachu V BoxPokmon TCG: Shining Fates Collection Pikachu V Box$58.99 at AmazonThe Shining Fates Pikachu V Box is a great grab if youre chasing shiny cards or just really into oversized electric rodents. You get a Pikachu V promo, a jumbo card version for display, and four Shining Fates booster packs. It's pricey, but Shining Fates is out of print.The Elder Scrolls Skyrim - Dragonborn Helmet - ReplicaThe Elder Scrolls Skyrim - Dragonborn Helmet - ReplicaPre-order for September release$119.99 at IGN StoreThis Skyrim Dragonborn helmet replica isnt going to protect you in battle, but it will absolutely level up your desk setup. At just under six inches tall, its small enough to display but detailed enough to show off. I think its a solid collectible if youre still emotionally tethered to Skyrim and have no shame in displaying that fact proudly. Pokmon TCG: Scarlet and Violet Shrouded Fable Elite Trainer Box Pokmon TCG: Scarlet and Violet Shrouded Fable Elite Trainer Box$57.98 at AmazonThis Shrouded Fable ETB is the kind of set that makes you feel like youve got your TCG life together. It comes with nine booster packs, a Pecharunt promo, energy cards, dice, and a nice little collectors box to keep your chaos organized. Shrouded Fable is a slept on set, perfect for trainers who are sick of chasing Journey Together and Prismatic Evolutions stock.Why Should You Trust IGN's Deals Team?IGN's deals team has a combined 30+ years of experience finding the best discounts in gaming, tech, and just about every other category. We don't try to trick our readers into buying things they don't need at prices that aren't worth buying something at. Our ultimate goal is to surface the best possible deals from brands we trust and our editorial team has personal experience with. You can check out our deals standards here for more information on our process, or keep up with the latest deals we find on IGN's Deals account on Twitter.Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.

Late in The Hunt for Red October, a sweaty Jack Ryan squeezes through a tube. Ryan, some things here dont react well to bullets, he says sardonically, mimicking Soviet sub commander Marko Ramius, played by Sean Connery. Yeah, like me. I dont react well to bullets. Its easy to understand Ryans frustration. He began the film a nervous CIA analyst who couldnt sleep through the turbulence on the overnight flight that brought him from London to Washington. He only intended to relay information from British Intelligence, who learned about a top secret silent propulsion system in the Soviet nuclear submarine called the Red October. Now hes got to stop a KGB agent from blowing up the nuclear sub.In short, Jack Ryan is exactly the wrong man to be the lead in a John McTiernan movie. Which is why hes perfect, especially when played by Alec Baldwin.The Many Faces of Jack RyanHe was physically unremarkable, an inch over six feet, and his average build suffered a little at the waist from a lack of exercise enforced by the miserable English weather. His blue eyes had a deceptively vacant look; he was often lost in thought, his face on autopilot as his mind puzzled through data or research material for his current book. The only people Ryan needed to impress were those who knew him; he cared little for the rest. He had no ambition to celebrity.This is not the first time Tom Clancy described Jack Ryan in his 1984 debut novel, The Hunt for Red October. In two earlier passages, we see Ryan put aside concerns that his latest article sounds too academic, so that he can play with his kids. In the preceding passage, the narrator describes Ryan feeling awkward in the suit purchased by his wife.Nowhere in the book is Ryan described as the type of guy wed come to know in later movies and especially a streaming TV series: the Hollywood handsome field agent. Which is, of course, the appeal of Clancys character. The Ryan of the books is a nerd, a guy who seems in over his head, even when its his eighth recorded adventure.Granted, Clancys literary Ryan did join the Marines after graduation, but he was discharged soon thereafter, having badly injured himself during a helicopter crash. Using his CPA license he earned while waiting for deployment, Ryan soon became incredibly wealthy at a young age. He used that wealth to earn six doctoral degrees at Georgetown University, eventually working as a consultant for the CIA. Fantastic as his background certainly is, its clearly a different type of power fantasy than those peddled by Commando.And yet, outside of Baldwin, Ryan tends to be played by square-jawed actors with action credibility. Harrison Ford, McTiernans first choice to play Ryan, stepped in for Baldwin in the sequels Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994). Ben Affleck played the younger Ryan for the 2002 franchise reboot, The Sum of All Fears, while Chris Pine starred in an even more action-heavy 2014 reboot, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Most recently, John Krasinski starred in four seasons of the Jack Ryan television series, also (you guessed it!) a reboot, and will return for upcoming films.With each of these iterations, Ryans action hero cred gets pushed further and further to the fore. Ford plays Ryan with more gentleness and creakiness than he did the Jack Ryan-ish POTUS in Air Force One, a movie he would make after his Clancy films had run their course. And yet, he carries with him the same star persona that he brought to defining big screen icons like Han Solo and Indiana Jones. Pine, fresh off of playing a butt-kicking Captain Kirk in two Star Trek movies, appears in a tight black shirt and toting a gun on the Shadow Recruit poster. Krasinski continues that look, which is useful as his Ryan straight up performs black-ops missions overseas.Of the post-Baldwin bunch, only Affleck downplays the heroic elements, as his Ryan also spends most of his time talking in rooms. Yet when his Ryan gets called into action in the movies third act, Afflecks tall frame and cleft chin reminds you more of Daredevil and Batman than a sweaty nerd scared of being shot.Hence Baldwins Ryan isnt special just because he best embodies the spirit of the Tom Clancy novels. Hes also special because he stands out against most movie action heroes.Mind Over MusclesJack Ryans first action scene comes 90 minutes into The Hunt for Red October. Desperate to convince the USS Dallas, the only American ship to have potentially encountered Red October, that Captain Ramius intends to defect and not attack the U.S., Ryan dangles from a barebones chopper, above the choppy waters of the Atlantic where Dallas is surfaced.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!McTiernan drops the slick, assured camera movements that mark the rest of the movie for an almost vrit style. The sound of wind and the chopper blades fill the sound track, making most of the dialoguedelivered via radio chatter and military slangalmost incomprehensible. The camera feels out of control as it whips around the chopper and the sub, cutting back to the sailors and the pilots. In the middle of it all is Ryan, hanging from a cord.Make no mistake, Ryan isnt helpless. Hes the one who demanded to be flown out in awful weather; hes the one who made the chopper use its emergency fuel to wait on Dallas arrival; and when the pilot deems the entire thing too risky and tries to pull him back in, Ryan is the one who decides to drop into the ocean, forcing Dallas to use its rescue diver to pull him in.Its a heroic moment to be sure, but one very unlike the those of the fictional heroes of Red Octobers day. Throughout the 1980s, chiseled men like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, and Jean-Claude Van Damme ruled the screen, making even Clint Eastwoodhose Dirty Harry movies pushed the envelope in the 1970sseem creaky and old. Before helming Red October, McTiernan made Predator in 1987, a movie that builds tension by letting musclebound soldiers played by Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers get torn to shreds by an alien. Bruce Willis may have been a comedy star, and his character John McClane an everyman, when McTiernan made Die Hard in 1988, but he still has a muscle shirt and a machine gun, making him more beefy than the average moviegoer.In 1990, Baldwins most notable feature were his incredible blue eyes, effective when Ryans staring down the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs but not in a firefight with a KGB agent. Yet he uses these eyes, along with his slightly embarrassed grin and his constantly rumpled hair, to indicate intelligence, thoughtfulness. Which are exactly the qualities that make Ryan the hero of Red October. Hes in the Atlantic because hes studied enough Russian naval history to know that Ramius means to defect and that the Soviets are lying when they say hes going rogue. Hes the only one wary enough to fight to realize that their choices could lead to another world war.In other words, Baldwins Jack Ryan is more of an inaction hero: a man whose strength comes from waiting to consider all other possibilities and trusting on his intellect. Hell move when he has to but hes wise enough to realize when that need arises and no sooner.The Hero for Our TimesBy the time The Hunt for Red October hit theaters on March 3, 1990, the Cold War was ending, with the Berlin Wall falling just four months earlier. The movie came out just in time to enshrine Ryan as a hero of the pseudo conflict, at least from the American side, as a U.S. agent smart enough to avoid escalation while embarrassing the Soviets and securing an incredible piece of matriel. Which makes sense, given that the novel went from a piece of fiction published by the small-scale Naval Institute Press to a bestseller thanks to Cold War Warrior Ronald Reagans recommendation.And yet, Ryans importance as a heroic book nerd and analyst has only grown, especially outside of its original context and within our current day of particularly dumb and angry hawks. While those in power offer spectacles of terror to justify their unsustainable promises of security, the need for thoughtful heroes grows.Those heroes will look less and less like the ripped men of the 1980s, as demonstrated by photoshop jobs that put the current presidents face on peak Stallones body. Rather it will look like someone who reads books instead of watches streaming influencers, who determines truth through the rigor of the academy not through ideological tests designed to boost engagement.Those heroes will look a lot like Jack Ryan as played by Alec Baldwin.

There has been a lot of speculation about how high Apple might raise iPhone prices in response to Trumps tariffs. A new report from The Wall Street Journal, however, offers the most realistic look yet at what it currently costs Apple to make the iPhone 16 Pro and how that could change thanks to Trumps tariffs.How Trumps tariffs will impact iPhone pricesThe report cites data from TechInsights and iFixit to craft a breakdown of Apples costs, commonly referred to as the bill of materials, for an iPhone 16 Pro with 256GB of storage:A18 Pro chip: $90.85Display: $37.97Battery: $4.105G cellular modem: $26.62Memory: $21.80Storage: $20.59Rear camera array: $126.95Main enclosure: $20.79All other components: $200.06Pre-tariff total: $549.73Pre-tariff total with testing and assembly: $580Notably, this doesnt account for things like research and development, marketing, and other non-hardware costs for Apple. Even when you factor those in, the WSJ says theres still a healthy profit margin for Apple.Right now, Apple charges $1,099 for a 256GB version of the iPhone 16 Pro. While those components come from around the world, all final assembly occurs in China before the phones are imported into the United States. Trump has announced a 54% tariff on goods from China. Apple will pay that on the total cost of the components, not the $1,099 retail price of the iPhone 16 Pro.Accounting for the 54% tariff, Apples cost to make an iPhone 16 Pro with 256GB of storage increases to roughly $847. Thats a major hit to its profit margin, particularly when you factor in the other costs like marketing, research and development, packaging, shipping, and more.This report (Apple News+ link) from Joanna Stern at The Wall Street Journal is the most pragmatic look yet at how Trumps tariffs will impact Apples costs for the iPhone 16 Pro. Apple, meanwhile, still hasnt commented on how it plans to respond. The company is highly unlikely to eat the entire 54% tariff. The company may stomach part of the burden, but price increases for consumers seem inevitable.My advice from last week stands: if you need an iPhone now or think you might need one soon, now is the time to buy.My favorite iPhone accessories:Follow Chance:Threads,Bluesky,Instagram, andMastodon.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

After more than 25 years of mitigating risks, ensuring compliance, and building robust security programs for Fortune 500 companies, I've learned that looking busy isn't the same as being secure. It's an easy trap for busy cybersecurity leaders to fall into. We rely on metrics that tell a story of the tremendous efforts we're expending - how many vulnerabilities we patched, how fast we responded - but often vulnerability management metrics get associated with operational metrics because traditional approaches to measuring and implementing vulnerability management does not actually reduce risk. So, we resort to various ways of reporting on how many patches were applied under the traditional 30/60/90-day patching method.I call these vanity metrics: numbers that look impressive in reports but lack real-world impact. They offer reassurance, but not insights. Meanwhile, threats continue to grow more sophisticated, and attackers exploit the blind spots we're not measuring. I've seen firsthand how this disconnect between measurement and meaning can leave organizations exposed. In this article, I'll explain why vanity metrics are not enough to protect today's complex environments and why it's time to stop measuring activity and start measuring effectiveness.Drill Down: What Are Vanity Metrics? Vanity metrics are numbers that look good in a report but offer little strategic value. They're easy to track, simple to present, and are often used to demonstrate activity - but they don't usually reflect actual risk reduction. They typically fall into three main types:Volume metrics These count things: patches applied, vulnerabilities discovered, scans completed. They create a sense of productivity but don't speak to business impact or risk relevance.Time-based metrics without risk context Metrics like Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) or Mean Time to Remediate (MTTR) can sound impressive. But without prioritization based on criticality, speed is just the "how," not the "what."Coverage metrics Percentages like "95% of assets scanned" or "90% of vulnerabilities patched" give an illusion of control. But they ignore the question of which 5% were missed - and whether they're the ones that matter most.Vanity metrics aren't inherently wrong - but they're dangerously incomplete. They track motion, not meaning. And if they're not tied to threat relevance or business-critical assets, they can quietly undermine your entire security strategy.Vanity Metrics: More Harm than GoodWhen vanity metrics dominate security reporting, they may do more harm than good. I've seen organizations burn through time and budget chasing numbers that looked great in executive briefings - while critical exposures were left untouched. What goes wrong when you rely on vanity metrics?Misallocated effort Teams focus on what's easy to fix or what moves a metric, not what truly reduces risk. This creates a dangerous gap between what's done and what needs to be done. False confidence Upward-trending charts can mislead leadership into believing the organization is secure. Without context - exploitability, attack paths - that belief is fragile and can be costly. Broken prioritization Massive vulnerability lists without context cause fatigue. High-risk issues can easily get lost in the noise, and remediation can get delayed where it matters most. Strategic stagnation When reporting rewards activity over impact, innovation slows. The program becomes reactive - always busy, but not always safer.I've seen breaches occur in environments full of glowing KPIs. The reason? Those KPIs weren't tied to reality. A metric that doesn't reflect actual business risk isn't just meaningless - it's dangerous.Moving to Meaningful MetricsIf vanity metrics tell us what's been done, meaningful metrics tell us what matters. They shift the focus from activity to impact - giving security teams and business leaders a shared understanding of actual risk.A meaningful metric starts with a clear formula: risk = likelihood impact. It doesn't just ask "What vulnerabilities exist?" - it asks "Which of these can be exploited to reach our most critical assets, and what would the consequences be?" To make the shift to meaningful metrics, consider anchoring your reporting around five key metrics:Risk score (tied to business impact) - A meaningful risk score weighs exploitability, asset criticality, and potential impact. It should evolve dynamically as exposures change or as threat intelligence shifts. This score helps leadership understand security in business terms - not how many vulnerabilities exist, but how close we are to a meaningful breach.Critical asset exposure (tracked over time) - Not all assets are equal. You need to know which of your business-critical systems are currently exposed - and how that exposure is trending. Are you reducing risk to your most important infrastructure, or just spinning cycles on low-impact fixes? Tracking this over time shows whether your security program is actually closing the right gaps.Attack path mapping - Vulnerabilities don't exist in isolation. Attackers chain together exposures - misconfigurations, overprivileged identities, unpatched CVEs - to reach high-value targets. Mapping these paths shows you how an attacker could actually move through your environment. It helps prioritize not just individual issues, but how they work together to form a threat.Exposure class breakdown - You need to understand what types of exposures are most prevalent - and most dangerous. Whether it's credential misuse, missing patches, open ports, or cloud misconfigurations, this breakdown informs both tactical response and strategic planning. If 60% of your risk stems from identity-based exposures, for example, that should shape your investment decisions.Mean Time to Remediate (MTTR) for critical exposures - Average MTTR is a flawed metric. It gets dragged down by easy fixes and ignores the tough problems. What matters is how fast you're closing the exposures that actually put you at risk. MTTR for critical exposures - those tied to exploitable attack paths or crown-jewel assets - is what really defines operational effectiveness.Taken together and continuously updated, meaningful metrics give you more than a snapshot - they provide a living, contextual view of your threat exposure. They elevate security reporting from task tracking to strategic insight. And most importantly, they give both security teams and business leaders a common language for making risk-informed decisions.The Bottom LineVanity metrics offer comfort. They fill dashboards, impress in boardrooms, and suggest progress. But in the real world - where threat actors don't care how many patches you applied last month - they offer little protection. Real security demands a shift from tracking what's easy to measure to focusing on what actually matters. That means embracing metrics grounded in business risk. And this is where frameworks like Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) come into play. CTEM gives organizations the structure to move from static vulnerability lists to dynamic, prioritized action. And the results are compelling - Gartner projects that by 2026, organizations implementing CTEM could reduce breaches by two-thirds.The metrics you choose shape the conversations you have - and the ones you miss. Vanity metrics keep everyone comfortable. Meaningful metrics force harder questions, but they get you closer to the truth. Because you can't reduce risk if you're not measuring it properly.Note: This article is expertly written by Jason Fruge, CISO in Residence at XM Cyber.Found this article interesting? This article is a contributed piece from one of our valued partners. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.

John Edwards, Technology Journalist & AuthorApril 7, 20255 Min Readphotoschmidt via Alamy Stock PhotoArtificial intelligence, for all its cognitive power, can sometimes arrive at some really stupid, even dangerous, conclusions. When this happens, it's up to humans to correct the mistakes. But how, when, and by whom should an AI decision be overruled?Humans should almost always possess the ability to overrule AI decisions, says Nimrod Partush, vice president of data science at cybersecurity technology firm CYE. "AI systems can make errors or produce flawed conclusions, sometimes referred to as hallucinations," he notes. "Allowing human oversight fosters trust," he explains in an email interview.Overruling AI only becomes completely unwarranted in certain extreme environments in which human performance is known to be less reliable -- such as when controlling an airplane traveling at Mach 5. "In those rare edge cases, we may defer to AI in real-time and then thoroughly review decisions after the fact," Partush says.Heather Bassett, chief medical officer with Xsolis, an AI-driven healthcare technology company, advocates for human-in-the-loop systems, particularly when working with Generative AI. "While humans must retain the ability to overrule AI decisions, they should follow structured workflows that capture the rationale behind the override," she says in an online interview. Ad hoc decisions risk undermining the consistency and efficiency AI is meant to provide. "With clear processes, organizations can leverage AI's strengths while preserving human judgment for nuanced or high-stakes scenarios."Related:Decision DetectionDetecting a bad AI decision requires a strong monitoring system to ensure that the model aligns with expected performance metrics. "This includes implementing performance evaluation pipelines to detect anomalies, such as model drift or degradation in key metrics, such as accuracy, precision, or recall," Bassett says. "For example, a defined change in performance thresholds should trigger alerts and mitigation protocols." Proactive monitoring can ensure that any deviations are identified and addressed before they are able to degrade output quality or impact end users. "This approach safeguards system reliability and maintains alignment with operational goals."Experts and AI designers are typically well-equipped to spot technical errors, but everyday users can help, too. "If many users express concern or confusion -- even in cases where the AI is technically correct -- it flags a disconnect between the systems output and its presentation," Partush says. "This feedback is critical for improving not just the model, but also how AI results are communicated."Related:Decision MakersIt's always appropriate for humans to overrule AI decisions, observes Melissa Ruzzi, director of artificial intelligence at SaaS security company AppOmni, via email. "The key is that the human should have enough knowledge of the topic to be able to know why the decision has to be overruled."Partush concurs. The end user is best positioned to make the final judgment call, he states. "In most circumstances, you don't want to remove human authority -- doing so can undermine trust in the system." Better yet, Partush says, is combining user insights with feedback from experts and AI designers, which can be extremely valuable, particularly in high-stakes scenarios.The decision to override an AI output depends on the type of output, the model's performance metrics, and the risk associated with the decision. "For highly accurate models -- say, over 98% -- you might require supervisor approval before an override," Bassett says. Additionally, in high-stakes areas like healthcare, where a wrong decision could result in harm or death, it's essential to create an environment that allows users to raise concerns or override the AI without fear of repercussions, she advises. "Prioritizing safety fosters a culture of trust and accountability."Related:Once a decision has been overruled, it's important to document the incident, investigate it, and then feed the findings back to the AI during retraining, Partush says. "If the AI repeatedly demonstrates poor judgment, it may be necessary to suspend its use and initiate a deep redesign or reengineering process."Depending on a topic's complexity, it may be necessary to run the answer through other AIs, so-called "AI judges," Ruzzi says. When data is involved, there are also other approaches, such as a data check in the prompt. Ultimately, experts can be called upon to review the answer and then use techniques, such as prompt engineering or reinforcement learning, to adjust the model.Building TrustBuilding AI trust requires transparency and continuous feedback loops. "An AI that's regularly challenged and improved upon in collaboration with humans will ultimately be more reliable, trustworthy, and effective," Partush says. "Keeping humans in control -- and informed -- creates the best path forward for both innovation and safety."About the AuthorJohn EdwardsTechnology Journalist & AuthorJohn Edwards is a veteran business technology journalist. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and numerous business and technology publications, including Computerworld, CFO Magazine, IBM Data Management Magazine, RFID Journal, and Electronic Design. He has also written columns for The Economist's Business Intelligence Unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers' Communications Direct. John has authored several books on business technology topics. His work began appearing online as early as 1983. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, he wrote daily news and feature articles for both the CompuServe and Prodigy online services. His "Behind the Screens" commentaries made him the world's first known professional blogger.See more from John EdwardsWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore ReportsNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also Like