Increasing prices continue to plague the games industry after Nintendo announced that Mario Kart World would launch with the Nintendo Switch 2 at an $80 price. Microsoft later announced that it, too, would begin listing its first-party releases at the same price going forward. So does this mean the rest of the industry is going to follow suit? That much remains to be seen. However, as far as the upcoming Borderlands 4 is concerned, developer Gearbox Entertainment’s CEO Randy Pitchford has suggested that an $80 price point for the looter shooter is a possibility.  Speaking at a PAX East panel (via GamesRadar), Pitchford said that he doesn’t know yet what Borderlands 4’s price is going to be, explaining that the decision hasn’t been made yet behind the scenes. That said, he went on to add that with Borderlands 4 having been developed on a budget that was more than twice as high as Borderlands 3’s budget, there’s a chance that the price reflects that.  “I’ll tell you the truth. I don’t know. That is the truth. I’ll hit it straight on,” Pitchford said. “It’s an interesting time. On one level, we’ve got a competitive marketplace where the people making those choices want to sell as many units as possible and they want to be careful about people that are price-sensitive. There are some folks who don’t want to see prices go up, even the ones deciding what the prices are. “Other folks are accepting the reality that game budgets are increasing, and there are tariffs for the retail packaging. It’s getting gnarly out there, you guys. Borderlands 4 has more than twice the development budget for Borderlands 3. More than twice. So the truth is, I don’t know what the price is going to be.” Pitchford went on to add that Borderlands 4’s price “might be the new price that Nintendo and Microsoft have led with,” but at the same time, said that there’s also a chance that “it might be that we stay back.” With the game’s pre-orders supposedly not too far away from going live, we will likely know for sure one way or another soon enough.  Borderlands 4 launches on September 12 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. 

Vex Member Oct 25, 2017 25,525 Like... C' mon. You don't have to lie for the Internet. What makes it even weirder is the fact that they place them in high octane, fast paced fps games as well. Like, who is stopping between blowing demons in half to read lore? LMAOOOO. My guy, I will pick it up and skip, skip, skip through dialogue. And get right back to FOOT IN ASS. I listened to exactly ONE of those expedition thingies in Clair Obscur and then just started skipping them lol. I got shit to do bruh. Thanks, -xeV  Last edited: Yesterday at 10:59 PM Akira86 Member Oct 25, 2017 21,135 i like to get my moneys worth so i read it, unless the game sucks, then i do not read it. just make sure you have text so it can be speed skimmed, audio optional if i'm enjoying myself, then it's nice story padding  Gman! Avenger Oct 25, 2017 1,294 Dallas If we're talking about Doom then I read them. I like to be badass, and then I like to read/listen about how badass I am.   TheSpaceBetween Member Jan 11, 2018 10,047 First time through I read it all. Upon replays usually not.   Turnabout Sisters The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 2,689 I wanted to in Mass Effect but never did   Hamchan The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 5,876 Depends on the game. The Clair Obscure ones are good because finding out what happened to other expeditions is interesting.   Transistor This isn't going to go the way you think On Break Oct 25, 2017 41,541 Washington, D.C. Yeah, definitely depends on the game.   Gavalanche Prophet of Regret Member Oct 21, 2021 25,622 I do, I am a massive fan of world building. The only thing I don't do is read those books you get in Elder Scrolls.  Nerokis Member Oct 25, 2017 6,675 Me I got excited seeing Assassins Creed Shadows was adding codex entries when the latest patch dropped What's up with the "all" though in the poll, don't need to 100% a content element for it to be additive to the experience  defaltoption Plug in a controller and enter the Konami code The Fallen Oct 27, 2017 12,391 Austin I always listen but if I gotta read that shit myself, I'm not doing it unless it's an IP I adore such as Fallout or Mass Effect. I just don't have the patience required to read everything. There are some games I'd never finish because I'm reading novel's worth of text. My biggest pet peeve is games which do let you listen but then you're stuck staring at the menu, let me search every corner of this room for loot while listening.  SilverArrow20XX Member Oct 25, 2017 7,032 Every single line.   Nakenorm "This guy are sick" The Fallen Oct 26, 2017 27,017 Depends on how much I care about the game and how many there are. Like I'm not gonna be reading every book in something like the Witcher but the small notes you pick up in something like the last of us? Yeah sure I read those.  zoodoo Member Oct 26, 2017 14,509 Montreal If the world interest me I do it. I've read every single one in the Mass Effect Trilogy. I was fascinated by the lore   Puffins Member Nov 1, 2024 314 "I don't don't..." ??? I read some sometimes.  Kapryov "This guy are sick" Member Oct 27, 2017 11,226 Australia Nope, none of it. Maybe a short note, nothing with multiple paragraphs or - god forbid - pages. I like reading books, but I don't like reading them in a video game for whatever reason. If it's an audio log that someone left behind, and it plays in the background while I can continue playing the game, then ok I'll listen.  dreamfall Member Oct 25, 2017 7,306 I stop and read or listen to everything on a first play through! I'd like to be in that world, sometimes the lore codex is so much more imaginative than what you're actually seeing when you're playing. I love that shit! Feed my soul!   Pendas Member Oct 28, 2017 6,536 Listen? Yes, all of them. Read? Sometimes. I test the waters and see if there's anything cool… but when I start seeing grocery lists, people complaining about co-workers, and urgent emails about microwaving fish that's the sign to just ignore all of it.  Veelk Member Oct 25, 2017 15,471 It depends on both the volume and quality. I think all the artifacts you find in the Last of Us are compelling additional pieces to the world. They do a great amount of worldbuilding, and they're usually well written for the short bits of information that they are. I think most of the codex and stuff that is in God of War 2018/Ragnarok is pretty good. Horizon Zero Dawn/Forbidden West is an archivalist nightmare tho. Not only do you have HUNDREDS of random info pieces, atleast half of them are completely inane and worthless. You find a note fragment on a cliff that says "Wow, you can see across the whole mountain range from here" yeah, thanks for the info, I'm glad I found this incredibly useful lore. To be honest, I almost respect it, because in a way it's realistic - most random info you find anywhere is likely not going to be either relevant to you or particularly significant. Still, it's a little maddening if you're a completionist, but you decide to search through an area to make sure you get everything, only for the last artifact you find basically be a generic advertisement for toothpaste or something. I think anyone who is working on this kind of stuff needs to 1. Try to cut any codex entry that isn't relevant or can be cut and 2. if something must stay, make sure that it tells you something narratively useful, whether that be a funny joke, or an actual meaningful piece of lore information, or something. There is no point to info fragments that just say "Tuesday: I saw a red bird today."  Last edited: Yesterday at 11:32 PM Bucca Member Oct 25, 2017 5,363 I try every single time. And every single time eventually I just say fuck it.  Daingurse Member Oct 25, 2017 4,316 I usually enjoy reading/listening to them, but I gotta admit I was pretty overwhelmed by the sheer amount and frequency of the entries in Control lmao.   MrConbon210 Member Oct 31, 2017 7,995 Transistor said: Yeah, definitely depends on the game. Click to expand... Click to shrink... This. It definitely depends on the game.   Drakeon Member Oct 25, 2017 7,348 I gauge if they are worth my time and i find them interesting. If i dont, ill still collect them, but my time is valuable, so im not wasting it for no reason. Even when i am finding them interesting, if it is going on for a while, im not gonna finish reading it.   mrmickfran The Fallen Oct 27, 2017 33,078 Gongaga I'll collect them for completions sake but never look at them.   TheRed Member Oct 31, 2017 3,145 Vex said: Like... C' mon. You don't have to lie for the Internet. What makes it even weirder is the fact that they place them in high octane, fast paced fps games as well. Like, who is stopping between blowing demons in half to read lore? LMAOOOO. My guy, I will pick it up and skip, skip, skip through dialogue. And get right back to FOOT IN ASS. I listened to exactly ONE of those expedition thingies in Clair Obscur and then just started skipping them lol. I got shit to do bruh. Thanks, -xeV Click to expand... Click to shrink... Clair Obscur was the first game in a while I actually paid attention to all of them. They all gave backstory I wanted to know about previous expeditions and they were all well voice acted and they weren't so common to find that they wore you out. They were never too long either I always just took a little pause to listen and felt more immersed in the world with a nice breather from the action and exploring. IMO it was perfectly done in this game. But something like Doom Eternal, absolutely not.  2Blackcats Member Oct 26, 2017 17,444 I do in lots of games. Some games it's just a load of nonsense though so you stop reading after the first couple   Fat4all Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot Member Oct 25, 2017 107,453 here i bought a game not a book if i wanted to read id read I'm Glad My Mom Died  Tavernade Tavernade Moderator Sep 18, 2018 11,575 I honestly can't think of a game where I didn't stop to listen to audiolog ones, but ones that require reading I tend to collect a bunch and go through whenever one seems interesting. In Assassin's Creed I read/listen to every historical one that pops up asap, though.  SpicySpiritGun Member May 16, 2018 342 100% a depends on the game thing. Control? Every single one. Kingdom Come? Bring on the history. Bethesda games, not so much for me. Or Doom as OP alludes to  Rokam Member Oct 29, 2017 274 Turnabout Sisters said: I wanted to in Mass Effect but never did Click to expand... Click to shrink... I want the next Mass Effect codex to be fully voiced like the first one was (I can't remember if the others were)  SoftTaur Member Oct 25, 2017 624 I read every single codex I found in every single Mass Effect and Dragon Age game. Other series it depends on how interested I am in the setting.   Bishop89 What Are Ya' Selling? Member Oct 25, 2017 42,583 Melbourne, Australia Depends on the game   Shopolic Avenger Oct 27, 2017 8,065 Depends on the game. For example I read all of them in Doom, but don't read anything in AC Shadows.  StrappingYoungLance Member Oct 27, 2017 7,733 Melbourne, Australia I read them in games where I like the world and/or the writing. They're frankly great in Doom.   Zafir Member Oct 25, 2017 8,863 I generally always listen to them if they allow you to move while they still play. Unfortunately a lot are just text, or force you to stay on the screen, so my patience ends up being a lot more limited. I'll read/stick around and listen if I'm really into the story, but if I'm not I won't.   Zoator Member Oct 27, 2017 507 Almost always. I love lore and world building. The only exception is when games are too spammy with them and I don't feel they're worth my time. I thought TLOU2 and GoW:R did a really good job with this. The Clair Obscur ones were also pretty good, although I kind of wish they made multiple entries for fewer individual expeditions, as opposed to one entry per expedition. Personally I think it would have been more impactful to follow the records of a handful of expeditions over the course of their journeys.   Pyro God help us the mods are making weekend threads Member Jul 30, 2018 18,745 United States Depends on the game tbh, but at best I'll read most of them and never all of them.   NabiscoFelt One Winged Slayer Member Aug 15, 2019 8,610 Rarely, though I have been in E33 mostly because they're pretty solid there Feel like if they're voiced and short I'm more likely to give them the time of day. I'm not reading an optional wall of text though  Kenai Member Oct 26, 2017 8,422 I won't bother at all most of the time. Only if I'm enjoying the atmosphere a ton, enjoy the game enough to do multiple playthroughs, or if there is some kind of tangible reward (that I care about).   Larrikin Member Oct 25, 2017 3,078 All? no, unless the game is really earning that level of attention e.g Hollow Knight or has a great contextual reason for their existence e.g Clair Obscur/Control Most games I'll read a couple and if they dont grab me then I ignore the rest.  flatearthpandas Member Oct 26, 2017 6,888 I read them if they auto open when you collect them, but I don't listen to them. Also, I hate them.  Zips Member Oct 25, 2017 4,046 Depends on the game. Depends on how many there are. And also depends on how long each one is. If it's a game I'm enjoying and just chilling with, and there are a few here and there that are of reasonable length then I'll probably read them. Otherwise, nope.  Green Mario Member Oct 27, 2017 4,422 I read item and weapon descriptions in FromSoft games, if that counts. If not, I've been reading all of the little entries in Clair Obscur.   platypotamus Member Oct 25, 2017 9,922 If I pay attention to 3 of them and none of them are funny or provide gameplay relevant info, I ignore the rest   Rodney McKay Member Oct 26, 2017 13,866 I really REALLY need to love the world to read codexes or collectibles. Like the ones in Horizon Zero Dawn were cool because they gave you little clues about the world before the mystery is revealed. Mass Effect's are some of my favorite.  SupersonicHypertonic Member Apr 20, 2022 3,465 Almost all of the time. If a world is interesting I make an effort to engross myself as much as possible within the world.   Cyanity Member Oct 25, 2017 10,024 I usually try to read/listen to as many as I can, but I'll cut the audio short if I finish reading the entry.   Musubi Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth Member Oct 25, 2017 27,357 I read everything in Metal Gear Solid V because most of the story was told through logs.   TheEchosOfTheCyborg Member Feb 24, 2018 7,547 Depends on text size, so many of them make the text way to small with no way to enlarge it. Would love narration for a lot of these.   Dogui Member Oct 28, 2017 10,843 Brazil I'm reading all the expedition things in Clair Obscure. They are pretty short, like a minute at most to complete. They are great palate cleansers as well, for a game that are so hyper focused on battles. I may give up reading them if they're too long and I'm not 100% into the setting. Only read like 40% of stuff in Immersive Sims, most of the time.  Yabberwocky Member Oct 27, 2017 4,023 Echoing the 'depends on the game' sentiment. I absolutely adore the story collectibles in Horizon: Zero Dawn, Control, and Clair Obscur. Dragon Age is great, but overwhelming. Horizon: Forbidden West was really disappointing in that regard.  

Sandfall Interactive announced Thursday that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s multi-billion-damage Maelle builds are ending. The 1.2.3 patch notes are filled with other bug fixes and scaling adjustments, but the Stendhal ability’s whopping 40% damage nerf is stealing the show.In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Sandfall explained the reasoning for the change, with replies torn between support, sadness, and criticism. “We still want you to be able to break the game—and you absolutely still can,” the post reads. “But Stendhal was making it a bit too easy.”Some folks in the replies wondered whether a change like this is necessary for a single-player RPG; overpowered weapons, playstyles, and skills are optional in a single-player context. But the best argument in favor of the nerf is how easy Stendhal is to access.Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s combat is designed and balanced around combos and setups between party members, Pictos, and weapons. Stendhal is just the tip of the iceberg for these combos; others might read these patch notes and expect other overpowered combos to be next on the chopping block.Nearly every character in the game has a way to achieve enough damage to trivialize boss fights, so does it matter if one-shots exist in Clair Obscur when two- and three-shot options exist as well? It is a single-player game, and more options to tailor difficulty are usually a good thing — but a nerf like this probably doesn’t matter in the long run.While it seems like Maelle getting nerfed is the main point of conversation regarding the patch, she still has access to extremely high damage option, including one that can be accessed from the beginning of the game. Using virtuoso stance, Percee, and an ally’s ability to mark can trivialize all of Act 1, and at the end of Act 1, you receive the Medalum, which makes this three-turn one-shot into a one-turn one-shot.More updates are coming for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 according to the patch notes, which could mean more nerfs to strong setups and combinations. But don’t fret, there are still plenty of ways to break the game if that’s your modus operandi.Here are the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Patch 1.2.3 notes, in full:Steam DeckFixed backgrounds of various menus not displaying properly on the Steam DeckXbox Game PassPC GAMEPASS: PS5 controllers are now compatibleVarious Ultrawide FixesGameplay no longer becomes zoomed after a cutscene occurs in ultrawide resolutionsThe Options menu image will no longer be stretched in ultrawide resolutionsCombat UI now adapts correctly to ultrawide resolutionsGame will no longer minimize upon changing settings in ultrawide resolutionCutscenes won’t letterbox in 32:9 aspect ratioTitle screen now displays fullscreen when the game is launched in ultrawide resolutionMouse and KeyboardUI button prompts in Expedition Menu are now visible and fully able to be triggered with KeyboardMouse buttons do not become unresponsive after first useWith mouse cursor on screen, using ‘WASD’ or directional arrows to navigate in UI or trigger any other functionality will no longer hide the cursor instead of doing the intended actionLeft Mouse-button click will no longer block the player from using Keyboard to navigate menusMouse input is not lost after the first Jump counter attack if it is pressed only onceFixed areas of the world map where you can get stuck:Between lanterns scattered on the ground near Stone Wave Cliff portalWhile walking on the ship wreck near the Forgotten Battlefield level entranceBetween lanterns on the ground near Bourgeon encounter next to Stone Wave Cliffs levelBetween two small rocks located between Spring Meadows and Abbest CaveBetween vases and corals when jumping from rooftoppsBetween various rocksIn ruins behind Flying Manor level entranceNear the bridge between Flying Waters and Spring MeadowsIn the rocks on the World Map, near Flying WatersNext to hardened land, close to the Flying Waters location exitFixed situations where Esquie specifically would get stuck (poor guy):When taking off from paint bridges, making him fall through the bridge and restrict movementWhen flying into bottom parts of levitating structures near VisagesNear the Flying Waters entrance levelNear a giant hammer when traversing close to Blades’ Graveyard levelWeapon and skill fixes and tuning:Fixed Lithelim attribute scaling not working at high level. Reduced initial Vitality scaling from A to C (will still end at S at max level). Added Luck scaling starting at D.Fixed Blizzon attribute scaling not working at high level. Reduced initial Luck scaling from B to C (will still end at S at max level). Added Defense scaling starting at D.Fixed Medalum third Lumina doubling all damage in Virtuose Stance instead of doubling only Burn damage.Stendhal: Reduced damage by 40%.Other fixesBoss encounter in Stone Wave Cliffs can now be finished on NG+You will no longer be blocked by the Journal UI window after opening the first Journal in the Spring MeadowsFixed being unable to shoot in Free aim while exploring levels due to worn triggersLune and Monoco no longer spawn in same place during end of theirs Level 6 relationship quests if they are completed without going to campIf at camp you pick “remember the objective”, then quickly choose to “go to sleep” and immediately after press “leave”, the screen no longer goes blackYou can no longer trigger the 2nd cutscene in Old Lumière a second time in a row, splitting the party forever.Update to rolling creditsThis is the first in a series of patches we are looking to do over the coming months. We are still investigating many feature requests and issues for future updates.Tomorrow comes, thanks to you.~ The Expedition 33 TeamSee More:

Menu Home News Hardware Gaming Mobile Finance Deals Reviews How To Wccftech Deals An RTX 5070 Gaming PC For Just $1,349.99? Pinch Yourself Twice And You Still Will Not Believe That The Cost Plus M1 Flow Is Available For An Unbelievably Low Price On Amazon Muhammad Zuhair • May 10, 2025 at 04:02am EDT NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs are pretty hard to get hands-on, especially the higher-end variants. However, there is a way you can have them, and that too at decent pricing. The pre-built PC manufacturer Cost Plus is offering its M1 Flow model, featuring NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5070, with a $1,349.99 price tag. It comes with Intel's Core i5-14400F, making it a viable option if you are looking for a solid PC for 1080p, 1440p, and on some occasions, even 4K gaming. Going the pre-built PC route is often a bad option if you are looking for more value out of a build, but in modern times, especially with the inventory situation, going for custom PCs simply isn't feasible. Cost Plus M1 Flow offers you NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5070, which offers 12 GB GDDR7 memory and decent performance, but the retail pricing has made this particular model not a good choice. Right now, the RTX 5070 is going for around $650-$800 across different platforms, which is well above its MSRP of $549.99; hence, getting it separately doesn't make any sense. However, with the M1 Flow pre-built, you certainly get decent value. In terms of other specifications, the build is equipped with the Core i5-14400F, which features a 10C/16T configuration and is regarded as a capable processor. You are getting 16GB DDR5 memory and 1TB SSD capacity, which is suitable for modern-day workloads. The PC is equipped with WiFi capabilities and a USB 3.2 Gen 2 connection, alongside the standard I/O options, so it is safe to say that the M1 Flow doesn't lag in any department. The pre-built also comes with a one-year warranty on parts and labor, so after-sales service looks good to go as well. The M1 Flow hasn't received any customer reviews yet, so there might be doubts about getting the PC, but the manufacturer does have great reviews on other pre-built PC listings, so they can be regarded as a reputable entity. Get the Cost Plus Gaming M1 Flow gaming PC with a Core i5-14400F, RTX 5070 from Amazon - $1,349.99 See the latest technology deals that Amazon has discounted today See what else Amazon has discounted today Deal of the Day Subscribe to get an everyday digest of the latest technology news in your inbox Follow us on Topics Sections Company Some posts on wccftech.com may contain affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com © 2025 WCCF TECH INC. 700 - 401 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada

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Why a High-Quality Friseur Haarwaschbecken Is Essential for Every Modern Salon posted in Friseur Haarwaschbecken Published May 10, 2025 Advertisement When it comes to running a successful hair salon, creating a comfortable and efficient environment for both clients and stylists is key. One of the most important yet often overlooked pieces of salon equipment is the friseur haarwaschbecken—a professional hair-washing basin designed specifically for use in hair salons. Whether you're starting a new salon or upgrading your existing space, choosing the right friseur haarwaschbecken can make a significant difference.What Is a Friseur Haarwaschbecken?A friseur haarwaschbecken (German for "hairdresser hair washing basin") is a specially designed sink used in hair salons for shampooing, rinsing, and conditioning clients' hair. Unlike a standard sink, this basin is ergonomically built to support the client’s neck comfortably and to allow the stylist to wash hair efficiently without strain.These basins are usually paired with salon chairs and include plumbing fixtures for both hot and cold water, spray hoses, and often a tilting mechanism to better accommodate the client's posture.Key Features of a Friseur HaarwaschbeckenChoosing the right friseur haarwaschbecken involves more than just picking a stylish design. Here are some critical features to look for:1. Comfortable Neck RestThe basin should have a cushioned, contoured neck rest that minimizes pressure and discomfort for clients during hair washing sessions.2. Adjustable DesignMany high-end models offer adjustable height and tilt functionality, allowing stylists to customize the position for maximum comfort and accessibility.3. High-Quality MaterialsCeramic is a popular choice for its durability and ease of cleaning, while reinforced plastics can be a more budget-friendly and lightweight option.4. Integrated Plumbing and Water ControlLook for models with built-in water mixers, flexible hoses, and anti-drip faucets to make the hair-washing process smoother and more efficient.5. Easy MaintenanceSince hygiene is crucial in any salon, a friseur haarwaschbecken should be easy to clean and resistant to stains, hair dyes, and shampoo residue.Types of Friseur HaarwaschbeckenThere are several types of friseur haarwaschbecken available, each suited to different salon setups and needs:Backwash Units: These are the most common in modern salons. They include a reclining chair and a fixed basin, providing a luxurious, spa-like experience.Wall-Mounted Basins: Ideal for salons with limited space, these basins attach directly to the wall and are typically used with separate salon chairs.Portable Washing Stations: Useful for mobile hairdressers or temporary setups, these allow hair washing without the need for fixed plumbing.Why Your Salon Needs a Quality Friseur HaarwaschbeckenInvesting in a professional-grade friseur haarwaschbecken isn’t just about appearance—it directly impacts your clients' experience. An uncomfortable or poorly designed basin can result in neck strain, water spills, and a negative impression. On the other hand, a well-designed washing station shows that your salon values both comfort and professionalism.Stylists also benefit from ergonomic designs that reduce physical strain, especially during long workdays. Over time, this can help prevent repetitive stress injuries and increase overall job satisfaction.Enhancing the Salon ExperienceThe hair-washing stage is often the first physical interaction between a stylist and a client, and it sets the tone for the rest of the appointment. A high-quality friseur haarwaschbecken not only helps stylists perform better but also turns a basic hair wash into a relaxing, luxurious experience for the client.Whether it’s the soft neck rest, the gentle water flow, or the seamless chair-to-basin transition, the right equipment makes a lasting impression.ConclusionA friseur haarwaschbecken is an essential part of any professional hair salon. It combines functionality with client comfort and plays a crucial role in the overall salon experience. By investing in a high-quality basin with the right features, you ensure smoother salon operations, happier clients, and a stronger reputation for your business. Comments Nobody has left a comment. You can be the first! You must log in to join the conversation. Don't have a GameDev.net account? Sign up!

Texture / Material ArtistGungHo Online EntertainmentRedondo Beach California 90277 United States4 hours agoApply** This is a hybrid position and required to work in CA.**About us:GungHo Online Entertainment America Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of the Japanese gaming company GungHo Online Entertainment, Inc. We publish titles across multiple platforms ranging from AAA to handheld to mobile. Our group is comprised of veterans from various aspects of the industry who are brought together by one simple thing: a love of gaming.Position Summary:The Texture/Material Artist is responsible for creating high-quality textures, shaders, and materials for our title. This position involves creating, adjusting, and optimizing shaders and textures, as well as creating models and assets when necessary.Responsibilities:Create Texture and MaterialCreate texture and materials and apply to character, asset, props and any other 3D models in required aesthetic styleFollow the given Art Direction and work with other Level Designers to ensure that environments are compelling both visually and also from a gameplay perspectiveCreate and adjust textures and shaders to get the correct effect and achieve aesthetic goal3D Modeling and Look DevelopmentSupport to develop look of 3D models, with textures and materials based on concept art or other specifications to be game readyProvide feedback for textures and shaders made by internal and external artists in order to fully develop the desired look in game engineOther Game Development TasksWork with developers of other discipline to make sure that the art assets support the game performance and memory budget as a wholeHelp out with design, or testing when necessaryLook for and share information regarding latest best practices or tools for better or more efficient 3D art creationRequirements and Skills:2+ years professional experience texturing and materializingIntensive experience working with game enginesExperience with Unreal Engine is a requiredGood foundation in art and design, includes composition, form and color theoryStrong understanding of both character art and architecture and city planningFluent with Photoshop, Substance Suite and ability to paint texturesBasic knowledge with 3d modeling using Maya, Zbrush, or similar softwareKnowledge of managing art assets for games in clean organizationWhy you want to work here:At GungHo, we are enthusiastic about creating fun games and we are always looking for talented individuals with whom we can share our passion. We have a highly collaborative culture where everyone wants to work together to get things done. We are all specialists in our own field so you will constantly learn new things while sharing your own knowledge with us.Perks:100% employer-paid insurances: Health insurance (PPO Medical, Dental, and Vision), Life insurance, Accidental Death and Dismemberment insurance, and Long Term Disability insurance401(k) with employer matchCompetitive paid time off: Vacation, Personal time, Sick Leave, Holidays, and Winter Breaks.A bonus may be provided based on business performance.Business hour: 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM in Pacific TimeSalary Range: $60,000 - $90,000 per yearIMPORTANT MESSAGE: GungHo Online Entertainment America, Inc. will never request job applicants to send money, make purchases, or download software under any circumstances, including as part of the hiring process or any communication with the company. To avoid potential fraud and other cybercrimes, please do not respond to any such requests.Create Your Profile — Game companies can contact you with their relevant job openings. Apply

Greetings from the Unity Graphics team. We’re glad to announce that as of Unity 2023.2.0a18 (and 2023.2 beta), the Unity Editor and Standalone Players now provide cross-platform support for HDR output and full compatibility with the Universal and High Definition Render Pipeline.High dynamic range (HDR) displays are becoming increasingly available. They’re capable of reproducing images with higher peak brightness and a wider color gamut to achieve better contrast (highlights/shadows) and color saturation. This results in more realistic variations in luminance across scenes, increased surface detail, and improved depth perception.Before we share more information on how to enable HDR display for your project, along with platform support and useful guidelines, let’s quickly review the concepts of HDR rendering and display.When HDR rendering is enabled, the camera renders the scene to a floating point framebuffer, allowing the render pipeline to store a larger range of color values and better preserve detail. Shader calculations like lighting and postprocessing are performed using more accurate values (compared to SDR rendering), which leads to more convincing and realistic results.While HDR rendering has been the default workflow for years, a lack of HDR-enabled display limits the presentable image’s color depth to a maximum of 8 bit per channel. This limits the maximum number of colors a pixel can represent (16,777,216 different color values) and the maximum brightness range. HDR to SDR tone mapping is used to remap the color buffer’s HDR values into a low dynamic range and optionally apply gamma correction, before finally writing the results into the swap chain image for presentation.Unity 2022.1 introduced HDR display support for the High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP), when targeting desktop and console platforms. This works by setting the device-native color space when creating the swap chain, and using custom HDR tone mapping to remap the color buffer’s content into the display-native HDR range. HDR encoding is then applied as a final step before writing to the HDR swap chain image.With HDR output enabled, the swap chain image format is set to enable a higher color depth (either 10 or 16 bits per channel). This allows each pixel to represent a much wider range of possible color values (roughly 68 billion different values) and features a greatly increased brightness range.With the release of Unity 2023.2, the Unity Editor and Standalone Players now provide full HDR tone mapping and display support across all render pipelines and capable platforms.You can find the new HDR display settings in your project’s Player Settings under Edit > Project Settings > Player > Other Settings:Allow HDR Display OutputUse HDR Display OutputThese settings will enable HDR output for Unity Standalone Players and the Editor when running on supported platforms.With HDR output enabled, you can optionally configure the Swap Chain Bit Depth to set a lower (10 bit per channel) or higher (16 bit per channel) preferred color depth for the presented image. Note: Not all devices support 16 bit buffer formats, and may fall back on 10 bit instead.When using the Universal Render Pipeline (URP), ensure that the render pipeline assets in use are set to enable HDR rendering. Select the RP assets included in the project (usually found under the Assets > Settings folder), then navigate to the project inspector and enable Quality > HDR.Lastly, ensure that HDR tone mapping is enabled by adding a Tonemapping component to the postprocessing volume affecting your cameras. When HDR output is enabled, the following Tonemapping settings should be driven by the display’s HDR capabilities:Minimum supported brightnessMaximum supported brightnessPaper White value: This value represents the brightness of a paper-white surface represented on the display, which determines the display’s brightness overallYou can access the display’s HDR range and paper white value using a C# API.For an optimal viewer experience, we recommend providing runtime control over these parameters via a designated HDR calibration interface. We will soon share a new HDR calibration sample project, which you can use as a reference implementation to get started.For more detailed information on HDR tone mapping and output, please refer to the updated documentation for HDR output in URP and HDR output in HDRP.To utilize HDR output at runtime, the device must be connected to an HDR-capable display, and the GPU must have the necessary support for enabling an HDR swap chain and presentation.HDR output is automatically disabled at runtime when running on incompatible devices. You can query whether HDR display is supported on the main display and whether HDR output is enabled using HDROutputSettings.available.In addition to the existing desktop and console support available in Unity 2022, mobile support is introduced in Unity 2023.2 for the following platforms:iOS players (iOS 16+, iPadOS 16+)Android players using Vulkan and GLES (Android 9+, depending on device capabilities)Some common mobile devices that provide HDR display support include iPhone X and newer, Samsung Galaxy S10 and newer, Galaxy Note 10 and newer, Galaxy Tab S6 and newer…This release also introduces XR support for capable platforms. Please refer to the XR platform’s documentation to determine HDR display support.HDR processing is applied in two steps: HDR tone mapping and encoding. Both of these steps are usually applied during the last postprocessing render pass.The only exception is when injecting additional passes in URP, to be executed after postprocessing. In these cases, HDR encoding is applied separately in a “final blit” pass, which is always called at the end of the render pipeline.Custom Overlay Passesinjected in the RenderPassEvent.AfterRenderingPostProcessing event will require special handling for HDR output. If HDR output is active and postprocessing is enabled, the previous passes would have applied tone mapping and colorspace conversion. As a result, you’ll need to author your custom effects to work with the expected dynamic range and colorspace.When using HDR output, we recommend enabling HDR rendering for all displayable cameras.You can still disable HDR rendering on a per camera basis, but you’ll need to ensure that there are no render passes executed after postprocessing or effects that insert passes after postprocessing. When using SDR rendering with HDR output, the following features are unsupported:UpscalingFXAAHDR Debug ModesCustom passes after postprocessingOn the 2D Renderer, ensure postprocessing is turned off if you intend to use SDR rendering with HDR output.For more detailed information on the above limitations and guidelines, please refer to the official documentation:HDR output in URPHDR output in HDRPPlease give the new HDR display support a try in your project, and let us know what you think. Your feedback has been instrumental and helps us prioritize the most meaningful solutions. Check out our public roadmap to vote on features that best suit your needs, and visit our Graphics Forums for more information. If there are additional changes you’d like to see, feel free to submit a feature request or contact the team directly.If you liked this deep dive, watch for future technical breakdowns from Unity developers as part of the ongoing Tech from the Trenches series.

I recently had the chance to create an MCP server for an observability application in order to provide the AI agent with dynamic code analysis capabilities. Because of its potential to transform applications, MCP is a technology I’m even more ecstatic about than I originally was about genAI in general. I wrote more about that and some intro to MCPs in general in a previous post. While an initial POCs demonstrated that there was an immense potential for this to be a force multiplier to our product’s value, it took several iterations and several stumbles to deliver on that promise. In this post, I’ll try to capture some of the lessons learned, as I think that this can benefit other MCP server developers. My Stack I was using Cursor and vscode intermittently as the main MCP client To develop the MCP server itself, I used the .NET MCP SDK, as I decided to host the server on another service written in .NET Lesson 1: Don’t dump all of your data on the agent In my application, one tool returns aggregated information on errors and exceptions. The API is very detailed as it serves a complex UI view, and spews out large amounts of deeply linked data: Error frames Affected endpoints Stack traces  Priority and trends  Histograms My first hunch was to simply expose the API as is as an MCP tool. After all, the agent should be able to make more sense of it than any UI view, and catch on to interesting details or connections between events. There were several scenarios I had in mind as to how I would expect this data to be useful. The agent could automatically offer fixes for recent exceptions recorded in production or in the testing environment, let me know about errors that stand out, or help me address some systematic problems that are the underlying root cause of the issues.  The basic premise was therefore to allow the agent to work its ‘magic’, with more data potentially meaning more hooks for the agent to latch on in its investigation efforts. I quickly coded a wrapper around our API on the MCP endpoint and decided to start with a basic prompt to see whether everything is working: Image by author We can see the agent was smart enough to know that it needed to call another tool to grab the environment ID for that ‘test’ environment I mentioned. With that at hand, after discovering that there was actually no recent exception in the last 24 hours, it then took the liberty to scan a more extended time period, and this is when things got a little weird: Image by author What a strange response. The agent queries for exceptions from the last seven days, gets back some tangible results this time, and yet proceeds to ramble on as if ignoring the data altogether. It continues to try and use the tool in different ways and different parameter combinations, obviously fumbling, until I notice it flat out calls out the fact that the data is completely invisible to it. While errors are being sent back in the response, the agent actually claims there are no errors. What is going on? Image by author After some investigation, the problem was revealed to be the fact that we’ve simply reached a cap in the agent’s capacity to process large amounts of data in the response. I used an existing API that was extremely verbose, which I initially even considered to be an advantage. The end result, however, was that I somehow managed to overwhelm the model. Overall, there were around 360k characters and 16k words in the response JSON. This includes call stacks, error frames, and references. This should have been supported just by looking at the context window limit for the model I was using (Claude 3.7 Sonnet should support up to 200k tokens), but nevertheless the large data dump left the agent thoroughly stumped. One strategy would be to change the model to one that supports an even bigger context window. I switched over to the Gemini 2.5 pro model just to test that theory out, as it boasts an outrageous limit of one million tokens. Sure enough, the same query now yielded a much more intelligent response: Image by author This is great! The agent was able to parse the errors and find the systematic cause of many of them with some basic reasoning. However, we can’t rely on the user using a specific model, and to complicate things, this was output from a relatively low bandwidth testing environment. What if the dataset were even larger? To solve this issue, I made some fundamental changes to how the API was structured: Nested data hierarchy: Keep the initial response focused on high-level details and aggregations. Create a separate API to retrieve the call stacks of specific frames as needed.  Enhance queryability: All of the queries made so far by the agent used a very small page size for the data (10), if we want the agent to be able to to access more relevant subsets of the data to fit with the limitations of its context, we need to provide more APIs to query errors based on different dimensions, for example: affected methods, error type, priority and impact etc.  With the new changes, the tool now consistently analyzes important new exceptions and comes up with fix suggestions. However, I glanced over another minor detail I needed to sort before I could really use it reliably. Lesson 2: What’s the time? Image generated by the author with Midjourney The keen-eyed reader may have noticed that in the previous example, to retrieve the errors in a specific time range, the agent uses the ISO 8601 time duration format instead of the actual dates and times. So instead of including standard ‘From’ and ‘To’ parameters with datetime values, the AI sent a duration value, for example, seven days or P7D, to indicate it wants to check for errors in the past week. The reason for this is somewhat strange — the agent might not know the current date and time! You can verify that yourself by asking the agent that simple question. The below would have made sense were it not for the fact that I typed that prompt in at around noon on May 4th… Image by author Using time duration values turned out to be a great solution that the agent handled quite well. Don’t forget to document the expected value and example syntax in the tool parameter description, though! Lesson 3: When the agent makes a mistake, show it how to do better In the first example, I was actually taken aback by how the agent was able to decipher the dependencies between the different tool calls In order to provide the right environment identifier. In studying the MCP contract, it figured out that it had to call on a dependent another tool to get the list of environment IDs first. However, responding to other requests, the agent would sometimes take the environment names mentioned in the prompt verbatim. For example, I noticed that in response to this question: compare slow traces for this method between the test and prod environments, are there any significant differences? Depending on the context, the agent would sometimes use the environment names mentioned in the request and would send the strings “test” and “prod” as the environment ID.  In my original implementation, my MCP server would silently fail in this scenario, returning an empty response. The agent, upon receiving no data or a generic error, would simply quit and try to solve the request using another strategy. To offset that behavior, I quickly changed my implementation so that if an incorrect value was provided, the JSON response would describe exactly what went wrong, and even provide a valid list of possible values to save the agent another tool call. Image by author This was enough for the agent, learning from its mistake, it repeated the call with the correct value and somehow also avoided making that same error in the future. Lesson 4: Focus on user intent and not functionality While it is tempting to simply describe what the API is doing, sometimes the generic terms don’t quite allow the agent to realize the type of requirements for which this functionality might apply best.  Let’s take a simple example: My MCP server has a tool that, for each method, endpoint, or code location, can indicate how it’s being used at runtime. Specifically, it uses the tracing data to indicate which application flows reach the specific function or method. The original documentation simply described this functionality: [McpServerTool, Description( @"For this method, see which runtime flows in the application (including other microservices and code not in this project) use this function or method. This data is based on analyzing distributed tracing.")] public static async Task<string> GetUsagesForMethod(IMcpService client, [Description("The environment id to check for usages")] string environmentId, [Description("The name of the class. Provide only the class name without the namespace prefix.")] string codeClass, [Description("The name of the method to check, must specify a specific method to check")] string codeMethod) The above represents a functionally accurate description of what this tool does, but it doesn’t necessarily make it clear what types of activities it might be relevant for. After seeing that the agent wasn’t picking this tool up for various prompts I thought it would be fairly useful for, I decided to rewrite the tool description, this time emphasizing the use cases: [McpServerTool, Description( @"Find out what is the how a specific code location is being used and by which other services/code. Useful in order to detect possible breaking changes, to check whether the generated code will fit the current usages, to generate tests based on the runtime usage of this method, or to check for related issues on the endpoints triggering this code after any change to ensure it didnt impact it" Updating the text helped the agent realize why the information was useful. For example, before making this change, the agent would not even trigger the tool in response to a prompt similar to the one below. Now, it has become completely seamless, without the user having to directly mention that this tool should be used: Image by author Lesson 5: Document your JSON responses The JSON standard, at least officially, does not support comments. That means that if the JSON is all the agent has to go on, it might be missing some clues about the context of the data you’re returning. For example, in my aggregated error response, I returned the following score object: "Score": {"Score":21, "ScoreParams":{ "Occurrences":1, "Trend":0, "Recent":20, "Unhandled":0, "Unexpected":0}} Without proper documentation, any non-clairvoyant agent would be hard pressed to make sense of what these numbers mean. Thankfully, it is easy to add a comment element at the beginning of the JSON file with additional information about the data provided: "_comment": "Each error contains a link to the error trace, which can be retrieved using the GetTrace tool, information about the affected endpoints the code and the relevant stacktrace. Each error in the list represents numerous instances of the same error and is given a score after its been prioritized. The score reflects the criticality of the error. The number is between 0 and 100 and is comprised of several parameters, each can contribute to the error criticality, all are normalized in relation to the system and the other methods. The score parameters value represents its contributation to the overall score, they include: 1. 'Occurrences', representing the number of instances of this error compared to others. 2. 'Trend' whether this error is escalating in its frequency. 3. 'Unhandled' represents whether this error is caught internally or poropagates all the way out of the endpoint scope 4. 'Unexpected' are errors that are in high probability bugs, for example NullPointerExcetion or KeyNotFound", "EnvironmentErrors":[] This enables the agent to explain to the user what the score means if they ask, but also feed this explanation into its own reasoning and recommendations. Choosing the right architecture: SSE vs STDIO, There are two architectures you can use in developing an MCP server. The more common and widely supported implementation is making your server available as a command triggered by the MCP client. This could be any CLI-triggered command; npx, docker, and python are some common examples. In this configuration, all communication is done via the process STDIO, and the process itself is running on the client machine. The client is responsible for instantiating and maintaining the lifecycle of the MCP server. Image by author This client-side architecture has one major drawback from my perspective: Since the MCP server implementation is run by the client on the local machine, it is much harder to roll out updates or new capabilities. Even if that problem is somehow solved, the tight coupling between the MCP server and the backend APIs it depends on in our applications would further complicate this model in terms of versioning and forward/backward compatibility. For these reasons, I chose the second type of MCP Server — an SSE Server hosted as a part of our application services. This removes any friction from running CLI commands on the client machine, as well as allows me to update and version the MCP server code along with the application code that it consumes. In this scenario, the client is provided with a URL of the SSE endpoint with which it interacts. While not all clients currently support this option, there is a brilliant commandMCP called supergateway that can be used as a proxy to the SSE server implementation. That means users can still add the more widely supported STDIO variant and still consume the functionality hosted on your SSE backend. Image by author MCPs are still new There are many more lessons and nuances to using this deceptively simple technology. I have found that there is a big gap between implementing a workable MCP to one that can actually integrate with user needs and usage scenarios, even beyond those you have anticipated. Hopefully, as the technology matures, we’ll see more posts on Best Practices.  Want to Connect? You can reach me on Twitter at @doppleware or via LinkedIn.Follow my mcp for dynamic code analysis using observability at https://github.com/digma-ai/digma-mcp-server The post How Not to Write an MCP Server appeared first on Towards Data Science.

Credit: Mashable Photo Composite / Samsung Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Learn more about how we select deals. SAVE $100: As of May 9, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is on sale for $279.99 at Amazon. That's $100 off its list price of $379.99. Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 $279.99 at Amazon $379.99 Save $100 We made a massive fuss about the fact that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 dropped to its lowest-ever price last month. We shouted from the rooftops, we rang the bells, and we lit the beacons. And now we look like monumental fools. Shame on us for not seeing into the near future. We jumped on that lowest-ever price like greedy children crowding around birthday cake at the end of a party. We should have stepped back, assessed the scene, and realized that a much bigger, tastier cake was being held back for the adults. Well that cake has been wheeled in, and it's absolutely glorious. SEE ALSO: The best smartwatch for every wrist As of May 9, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is on sale for $279.99 at Amazon. That's $100 off its list price of $379.99, and a new record-low price on Amazon according to camelcamelcamel. Congratulations if you remained patient when the last deal dropped and we made all that noise. Your reward is an extra $10 saving. Spend it on something nice, and wipe that smug grin off your face.The lowest-ever price might provide you with the nudge you needed to buy, but in case you're not convinced, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 speaks for itself. This popular smartwatch offers a variety of health and fitness features to keep you in the know, including a heart rate tracker, sleep tracker, wellness tips, and an Energy Score that lets you know exactly how much you're going to struggle through the day. Mashable Deals Want more hand-picked deals from our shopping experts? Sign up for the Mashable Deals newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up! Don't miss out on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 at its lowest-ever price at Amazon. Topics Samsung Smartwatches Joseph Green Global Shopping Editor Joseph Green is the Global Shopping Editor for Mashable. He covers VPNs, headphones, fitness gear, dating sites, streaming, and shopping events like Black Friday and Prime Day.Joseph is also Executive Editor of Mashable's sister site, AskMen.