In the two years since Elon Musk bought Twitter and turned it into X, the platform has become crowded with deceptive ads and unchecked misinformation. Now, with President-elect Donald Trump heading to the White House and Musk joining his administration, countless people announced their departure from X. Rival social media site Bluesky told Vox that 2.25 million new users have joined in the last week alone. And theyre having a blast.Bluesky looks a lot like the old Twitter you knew and loved. Its a reverse chronological feed of posts, including images, videos, and links that you can like and repost. Like old Twitter, your feed is not ruled by an algorithm. Meanwhile, Blueskys open source, decentralized framework gives you a lot more control over how your feed works than X or even Threads, the X alternative Meta has been pushing onto Instagram users. In addition to the technical differences, theres also a different vibe on Bluesky. Its overflowing with weird memes and digital art thanks to early users who hurried to recapture that fun and serendipitous feeling of the original Twitter. But with an influx of a million users in the last month, Bluesky is growing fast and bracing for some sort of evolution. The people arriving from X seem like theyre having fun so far, too. You can also expect to see a lot less Elon Musk on Bluesky, if only because he doesnt own the place.If the good vibes continue, theres a chance that Bluesky could usher in a brighter future for social media, one that gives users more power over their experience. Theoretically, the companys model could give people a way to hang out on the social web outside of algorithmic feeds stuffed with targeted ads and ruled by trillion-dollar tech companies. For now, at the very least, Bluesky is a welcome breath of fresh air.Why people are fleeing XThis isnt the first time people have flocked to Bluesky. When Twitter accepted Elon Musks $44 billion bid to buy Twitter in April 2022, a lot of people freaked out about the possibility of the billionaire changing the platform into a place where trolls and grifters could run free all in the name of free speech. Those initial anxieties turned out to be correct. After Musk changed the name to X, what used to be Twitter filled up with white supremacists and became overrun with harassment, AI slop, and election misinformation. This overhaul turned into a huge opportunity for open source, text-based social networks, like Mastodon and Bluesky. Early on, it looked like the decidedly decentralized Mastodon would be the Twitter alternative of choice, but after it saw an initial burst of interest, some people felt like Mastodon was just too confusing. As a federated network, Mastodon let people set up their own servers, which functioned as independent but interconnected communities within the larger network. Its related to the larger concept of the fediverse, where a single protocol could allow information to be exchanged between all social media platforms. The fediverse, like Mastodon, is very confusing.Bluesky took this idea of a federated network and made it easy to use. It started back in 2019, when Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey announced that Twitter would fund a small team that would build an open and decentralized standard for social media. The ambition which would eventually result in Bluesky was to work toward an open social media ecosystem, where users could control how content appeared in their feeds and take their data and followers with them when they moved platforms. Bluesky registered as its own public benefit company in February 2022, just a couple of months before Musk offered to buy Twitter.The first Bluesky app launched in beta about a year later, and it looked a heck of a lot like Twitter, down to the blue logo, which would become a butterfly rather than Twitters bird. Rather than require you to figure out which server to join, as Mastodon does, Bluesky initially centralized the user experience on one server so users could see one feed, just like on Twitter. Within a few months, some prominent Twitter users, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Chrissy Teigen, had set up Bluesky accounts.Bluesky has only gotten easier to use since its early days. While the company announced it was federating earlier this year, allowing users to store their data on their own servers, the Bluesky user experience remains very straightforward and Twitter-like, down to the look and feel of the app and website. Honestly, if youre not paying attention while youre scrolling your feed, you might think youre on Twitter circa 2021.That said, the future of Bluesky is supposed to be transformative. While social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have been plagued by content moderation problems, Bluesky wants to put users and communities in control of those policies. The same goes for what shows up in peoples feeds. Bluesky says that instead of one algorithm to rule all users, it will let developers create all kinds of different algorithms and empower users to choose their own experience on the platform. Im really excited that folks can choose the social media thats right for them. Ill say for me, I like small social media where I talk to barely a dozen people, Rory Mir, associate director of community organizing at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said of Blueskys open source architecture. And then if folks want a really big audience and to really blow up thats also available. This is not how Bluesky works for everyone quite yet. You can just set up an account, follow a bunch of people, and then see their posts. But looking ahead, Bluesky has an optimistic vision for a near future in which social media doesnt make people so miserable.Timing has proven crucial to Blueskys current position as the X alternative du jour that is, its had a significant amount of time to gather momentum leading to what seems to be this tipping point moment. When the platform launched over 18 months ago, it was as an invite-only space, prompting extremely online types and various public figures to flock to try to get in. (The fact many of those early adopters were journalists didnt hurt in terms of building hype.) That long period of limited entry served to build FOMO, of course, but it also served to allow a niche group of users time to help shape what the dominant modes of communication, moderation, and platform etiquette would be. The health and positivity of Blueskys community is very important to us, and weve invested heavily in Trust and Safety, Bluesky spokesperson Emily Liu told Vox in an email. Last year, Bluesky required invite codes to sign up not to build hype or exclusivity, but rather so we had time to grow the network responsibly and build our Trust and Safety team.When Musk first bought Twitter, the first things he did were rolling back moderation on transphobia on the platform and because of that we were the first group to leave Twitter in numbers, journalist Katelyn Burns told Vox. Because of that, a large group of funny, talented trans posters were the earliest adopters of Bluesky and were able to forge the platform into what it is today: funny, frequently horny, and with very strong moderation tools. If you like Blueskys vibe right now, thank a trans person.When the platform finally opened to the public in February, this culture was already well-established: Lots of shitposting passed down from the days of Weird Twitter (including various Alf memes that recently led to some confusion); a seemingly inevitable leftist tilt; a subcommunity of NSFW posters; and, perhaps most important, an emphasis on proactively curating your own experience using Blueskys robust moderation tools. The centrality of these tools are arguably the defining trait that allows Bluesky to stand out, especially compared to Twitter, which struggled for its entire existence to properly deal with bad actors on the site (until Musk more or less jettisoned that struggle altogether). Bluesky not only allows you to block and mute various people, words, and tags, it also allows you to hide individual posts on feeds, and allows users to subscribe to curated block lists directly from the platform that blocks users en masse. To me the biggest difference between Bluesky and every other social media platform Ive ever been on is the close relationship between the user base and the (quite small!) team of developers, journalist and longtime Bluesky shitposter Miles Klee told Vox. When people first joined, it was very bare bones, and the devs pursued new features according to what they heard users wanted. Because a lot of people were looking to escape the toxicity of X, that meant they ended up prioritizing safety and accessibility, Klee said. On Bluesky, many users feel that theyre building something new together, and that gives them a feeling of ownership, control, community.I adore Bluesky, author and Bluesky user Debbie Ridpath Ohi told Vox. While so many other new platforms chased user numbers, Bluesky focused on user safety first, and that made a huge difference. I am having fun using social media again.Bluesky does have one significant drawback. Because the platform is federated, accounts cant be locked away from public view the way they can on X. Still, for many people, thats likely a feature rather than a bug; after all, Xs easily accessible public interface and ease of searching and surfacing content made it indispensable to many users, especially the many journalists who used it and still continue to use it. These are all features that Bluesky replicates without, so far, the endless trolls that came with Xs recent era.For people who have spent many years on Twitter which launched in 2006, enough time to grow into an impossible teenager it may be sobering to contemplate actually leaving the platform. This is, after all, the supposed hellsite that many of its most active users were all but glued to for everything from live events to hilarious viral incidents that found us all united through the power of a virtually instantaneous, public, and collective social media.Yet for the vast majority of users, the thought of leaving X now probably feels much more plausible and realistic a possibility than it did a year ago, when Vox first declared that X was in its death throes. Thats not unusual; social media platforms very rarely die instantly. For the most part, platforms dont suddenly shut down and strand all of their users. That only happens in extreme cases when a platforms systems collapse, or its seized by the government, or the owner kills the site situations that just dont really happen to modern social media with complex infrastructure. The inverse scenario, in which all of a platforms users simply give up and leave en masse overnight, doesnt happen at all. Instead, as weve seen across various internet platforms, including mass migrations away from LiveJournal, Tumblr, Facebook, and now X, the exodus takes years and involves multiple inciting incidents that push people out of their comfort zone and off the platform in incremental movements. All of these steps shift users slowly and inevitably toward the decision to fully leave a platform sometimes before they even realize theyve made it.Social media is, by definition, social, Bluesky early adopter Maura Quint told Vox. People want to be at places where they get something from other users, and where the tools the site provides help them have the experience theyre looking for. If people are miserable in a space, they leave.Elon Musk made sure to design his version of Twitter to be an unpleasant, dull place, Quint continued. Why choose an awful room run by the worst guy youve ever met when theres an alternative where cool people are hanging out, telling jokes, creating their own goofy lore, and engaging on issues they care about?As a platform slips into decline, those inciting incidents often become more and more frequent and close together. X has had multiple such inciting incidents this year, including a major ban in Brazil that sent 500,000 users to Bluesky in a single weekend in August, a crucial step in jolting Xs massive international fandom community out of its complacency. Then came the twin announcements in October: first, that X would be allowing third-party AI companies to scrape all user data, and then that blocking a user would no longer prevent them from being able to see your content a change that arguably nullifies the point of blocking to begin with. Most recently came the US election and Musks unabashed weaponization of the platform in service of Trump and the far right. This latest inciting incident seems to have been the final straw for many users to not only leave X for Bluesky, but begin deleting all of their content from X. (Some extensions and apps allow you to import all of your content over from X to Bluesky first before you delete.) Still, while these actions suggest that momentum has well and truly shifted toward Bluesky, the newer site will likely have growing pains as old users adjust to newcomers and the platform itself grapples with the strain of millions of new users.Our infrastructure is holding up! Blueskys Liu told Vox. Weve prepared our infrastructure to be able to handle this demand, though there are definitely a lot of new users signing up right now. She added that the site is building a subscription model to aid sustainability, though the site will always be free to use.Despite the rapid growth, users are optimistic about the future. Every influx of users brings with it more voices, some with good intent and some with bad intent, but Bluesky is responsive to the people who use it in ways that encourage people to stick around, Quint said. When you compare that to sites where white nationalists organize mass attacks, spending money lets anyone drown out real discussion, and mass disinformation spreads at the whim of a billionaire, Bluesky is clearly the place to be.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

President-elect Donald Trump and his allies have made clear including through stated policy positions and chosen campaign surrogates that his administration intends to bar trans athletes from playing on school sports teams that match their gender identity. The president bans it, Trump said at a Fox News event in Georgia last month. You just dont let it happen. Not a big deal.Trump and other Republicans have primarily threatened the participation of trans girls in K-12 sports programs, though college athletes wouldnt be immune from any action Trump decides to take. Trumps threats raise the question: Could he challenge trans athletes right to compete in school sports?How would Trump enact such a ban?The short answer is yes. Trump could strip away civil rights and nondiscrimination protections enumerated under the Biden administration, which specifically apply to trans students.The executive branch has a lot of control over what counts as discrimination in education, thanks to Title IX, a civil rights law originally meant to advance womens equality. The Biden administration took the position that the laws protections against discrimination on the basis of sex mean that discrimination against trans students on the basis of their trans identity qualifies as sex discrimination. That interpretation of the law faced legal challenges and has been rejected by about half of the states. The Trump administration can and likely will simply take the stance that Title IX offers no protections to trans students. The Trump administrations interpretation of Title IX could go even further by arguing that it is discriminatory against girls to have trans athletes participating in girls sports, according to Jon Valant, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. There could be new legal battles over Title IX if Democratic governors and attorneys general moved to stop the new interpretation essentially the reverse of the current Title IX landscape.Ultimately, the administration could go through Congress and try to rewrite Title IX, explicitly stating those positions rather than merely interpreting the current law that way, Valant said. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) already proposed a law in July undoing the Biden-era regulations. Trump has also said he will ask Congress to pass a bill stating that only two genders exist. Related:Why US schools are at the center of trans rightsRepublicans will hold narrow majorities in both the House and the Senate. Its possible that such a bill could pass, though it would likely face some difficulty in the Senate, where Republicans lack a filibuster-proof majority. Outside of federal action, some states like Florida already have bans against transgender students participating in school sports. Under that law, only people assigned female at birth can play on girls sports teams. These kinds of laws could be stepping stones in dismantling trans peoples right to nondiscrimination in schools and the workplace, as well as their ability to access health care, Gillian Branstetter, communications strategist at the ACLUs Womens Rights Project and LGBTQ & HIV Project, told Vox. I cant think of a single state or politician that has adopted this issue that has decided that theyre just going to narrowly focus on the rights of transgender athletes, Branstetter said. They have, using the exact same legal arguments, using the exact same legislative language, and usually using the exact same lawyers, also used these [tactics] to ban gender-affirming health care, to restrict what bathrooms trans people can use, and a long litany of other restrictions.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

A ghoulish scene: a shadowy figure has just shoved someone into a high-voltage circuit box. The victim is stuck at the moment of death, sparks flying as their body convulses; downstairs, everyone is frozen in surprise at the moment the lights went off. Scrutinising this scene, you must determine who everyone is, where they are, why they are there, and of course, who committed this murder. You examine faces and objects, go through everyones pockets to see what they have on them, read notes and signs and letters for clues. Eventually you piece it together, filling in a report with missing words that explains exactly who, what, when, where and why.Rise of the Golden Idol is an alternative-reality 1970s detective game where each individual scene, once solved, tells you something about a bigger mystery. Its a sequel to The Case of the Golden Idol, set 300 years after that games age-of-exploration mystery, but following the trail of that same cursed object. Some of these scenes are relatively innocuous, even funny, like the drive-in cinema where an unexpected fire sends the cosplaying customers scrambling for the exit. Others are gruesome: in the opening case, a strangling plays out on an infinite loop like an Instagram boomerang story.Intentionally grotesque art style Rise of the Golden Idol. Photograph: Color Gray GamesSolving these cases is supremely satisfying, though youd better hope you have a good memory for names and faces. Scenes might have 10 or more people in them, and I needed a notebook to keep track. There are increasingly obvious hints on offer when you get stuck, but as the game warns, using them robs you of the pleasure of using your deductive reasoning. Nonetheless, when I had figured out the main thrust of a case but couldnt get someones surname straight, I was glad of the button that showed me which blanks were filled in incorrectly on my reports.Its the strangeness of Rise of the Golden Idol that makes it so memorable: the intentionally grotesque art style, the characters asymmetrical faces and crazy, shifting eyes, the backgrounds daubed as if with paint pens. The murders and robberies and other crimes here are bizarre, the tableaux unsettling in their eternal two-second movement loops. I found it hard to get a scene out of my head until I had solved it, leaving me poring over my phone screen for half an hour at a time, thinking, cross-referencing and noting things down. Where is that characters glance leading me? Why is that rug disturbed? Where did that stain come from?The larger story that arises from these details is very much worth all the effort. Between chapters, your fill-in-the-blank case reports turn into fill-in-the-blank summaries of everything youve learned from the last few cases, helping you to draw the connections that make the story crackle with intrigue. This isnt a game that you can play with your mind on something else; it requires you to pay very close attention, to focus your thoughts, and see what your brain can do. I was pleasantly surprised by my own power of reasoning.The crime scenes are so weird that you never know where this game is going to take you, but youll always have what you need to figure it out.

Let me guess: you recently bought Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, strayed into the multiplayer mode and now youre being mercilessly pummelled by hundreds of teenagers with suggestive usernames? Dont worry, thats perfectly normal. Call of Duty has always been the arcade twitchfest of the online shooter scene, but Black Ops 6 has a whole new feel thanks to its omni-movement system, which lets you dive, roll and sprint in every direction. And the weapons have all been completely redesigned. It is, as Olivia Rodrigo put it, brutal out there.So I asked two excellent pro players Ethan Fifakill Pink and Liam Jukeyz James for their tips. Instead of laughing and pointing at me, they agreed.Use the right gunIf youre just getting into CoD, stick with the assault rifles or submachine guns [SMGs] they suit the smaller maps and intense engagement speed in Black Ops 6. My favourite assault rifle [AR] is probably the Model L, although its so good professionals have agreed not to use it theyve moved to the AMES, says Jukeyz. The SMG would be the Jackal which feels fun to use, or the KSV which is harder, but pretty over-powered.Meanwhile Fifakill recommends the Kompakt 92. It has a super high fire rate and very good movement speed, you can absolutely destroy with it. But if youre more of a mid-range player, Id say the Model L assault rifle is a really good option. It will take a while to unlock, but its worth the effort super TTK [time to kill] and very low recoil.Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Photograph: ActivisionBecome a Gunsmith tinkererGunsmith is where you can add modifications to your weapon, and its vital for giving you the edge in encounters. For the majority of players, its best to start by reducing recoil, says Fifakill. Focus on attachments that reduce horizontal recoil if the gun is bouncing up or down its pretty simple to correct. But with left and right, while youre trying to track an enemy player, thats more difficult. Jukeyz prioritises aim-down sight speed (how quickly you can get the gun into an aiming position), but also suggests attaching a vertical foregrip to counter recoil. Id also suggest the Gunfighter wildcard, adds Fifakill. It gives you eight attachments per gun, so you can have it all: better movement, a bigger mag and less recoil.Perk yourself upBlack Ops 6 allows you to choose from 20 perks which give you buffs in specific areas. Theyre split into three categories Enforcer (red), Recon (blue) and Strategist (green) and if you pick three from the same type you get a bonus speciality perk. Ive been running the red perks because that gives you a super speed bonus and you get extra health re-gen after you make a kill it really benefits you if youre trying to run and gun, says Fifakill.If youre trying to push for kills run three red perks: I like Gung Ho, Assassin and Double Time. If youre a slower player Id go for blue perks and the speciality for that is useful. And if youre an objective player then run the three green perks.Jukeyz favours Dexterity, Assassin and then Double Time: And because theyre all red, it gives you the Enforcer speciality, which means killing enemies gets you a temp buff to movement speed and health re-gen. Its perfect for ARs or SMGs.Maximise your XPEarning experience points [XP] unlocks new items and scorestreaks so levelling up fast is a good idea. Use BankRoll as perk three, suggests Jukeyz. Once youre getting double or triple kills, youll unlock UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), Counter UAV and HARP (High-Altitude Reconnaissance Plane) a lot quicker. If you have all three activated at once, you get so much Assist XP from teammates using them all over the map. Its constant XP.Use a monitor and headphonesStop playing on the giant OLED television in your living room: the response time will be slower than a dedicated monitor and its hard to see everything on the screen while also checking your minimap and ammo count. Both our pros use a 27-inch monitor, with a 1440p resolution and at least 144Hz refresh rate. Also, switch from speakers to a headset. I use JBLs, says Fifakill. But as long as you have a headset that has decent spatial audio you should be fine, and there are in-game settings you can tweak, for example, enabling Dolby Atmos which will help you to hear where footsteps are coming from.Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 team up. Photograph: MicrosoftBe a team playerCall of Duty multiplayer is a team game, so you need to think tactically even when youre with a bunch of strangers. If you really want to win an Objective mode (a multiplayer mode such as Control or Hardpoint which has a specific goal) on a public server, focus on spawn points, says Fifakill. Its about going ahead to a new area where you know an objective is going to be and try to lock down the spawn point at that position for your team. Its not the most glamorous role, but its useful. It means when the objective arrives, your team is going to be spawning close by, so you can get reinforcements a lot faster.Jukeyz recommends a more social approach. A bit of communication is a good start, he says. Whos watching what, whos taking the hard point. Get friends to play with you, or start chatting to people you meet in public servers who you think are good. Get a bit of structure with your gameplay even shouting left or right (to indicate threats or where to run), is a start.Use the minimapFifakill reckons he spends 70% of a match watching the minimap, which becomes a lot more viable once youve learned the maps inside out. Watch for red markers which show the position of rival players and enemy fire; watch where your teammates are running, listen out for anything they ping (mark on the map). Or as Jukeyz puts it: pay attention to everything.

TechApple Arcade users can snag iconic Final Fantasy Remake next monthApple Arcade is adding a whole bunch of fresh titles for users over the next few months, including a 3D remake of a Final Fantasy classic Pac Man, Hot Wheels, and much, much more.dailystarBookmarkShareTechByLloyd CoombesGames Writer17:47, 14 NOV 2024BookmarkFinal Fantasy 4 is back, this time in 3DApple Arcade is offering a whole host of games to subscribers this month - here's what's included. If you have an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or even Apple Vision Pro, Apple Arcade is well worth a look. The service features a whole host of games in just about any genre you can think of, but perhaps the best part is that they're all complete. No microtransactions or paywalls, just great mobile titles available for a low monthly fee, and one subscription covers all of your devices, too. There are over 250 games included in the service, and it's about to get even better as Apple revealed its next slate of titles. Skate City: New York is coming to Apple Arcade in January Apple Arcade adding Final Fantasy, Hot Wheels, and more in coming months Starting on December 5 players can download the following on their Apple devices: Boggle: Arcade Edition PAC-MAN 256+ Hot Wheels: Race Off+ Barbie Color Creations+ Talking Tom: Blast Park Little Cities: Diorama (Apple Vision Pro exclusive) December 9 will see the arrival of the Final Fantasy IV 3D Remake, bringing the 1991 original into 3D in a way similar to the Nintendo DS Remake from 2007. Apple has also revealed more titles coming at the start of 2025. Skate City: New York is a gorgeous new skateboarding title, while Gears and Goo is another great-looking Apple Vision Pro exclusive. January will also see remasters of Final Fantasy (the first game), and Trials of Mana, as well as Three Kingdoms Heroes, Rodeo Stampede, and It's Literally Just Mowing which all arrive on January 9. For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters. Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.More On

Who is Ghostface? Many killers have worn the mask, but there are new additions with Mortal Kombat's latest version of the character - here's all we know about him so far

Overwatch Classic is an unexpected reminder of how good Overwatch 2 isGameCentralPublished Nov 14, 2024, 7:00pmOverwatch: Classic you can never go back (Blizzard Entertainment)As Blizzard turns back time, to the launch of the original Overwatch, the new retro mode only goes to show how good we have it with Overwatch 2.While its easy to convince yourself that live service games are a recent trend, the truth is the most popular games have been around for a long time. Fortnites Battle Royale mode has been rocking for over seven years, Overwatch is eight years old, and even the comparatively spritely Apex Legends is coming up to six years old.Thats long enough to invoke a sense of nostalgia across these games, something Fortnite capitalised on last year with its OG mode. As is often the case in live service games, where Fortnite marches, others follow. Apex Legends is in the midst of Launch Royale, its return to the original Kings Canyon layout, and Overwatch is not far behind.Earlier this week, it launched Overwatch: Classic, an event where players can play the game in its original launch state. For many, that will sound like a godsend. Theres a lingering consensus that Overwatch used to be good and that somehow Overwatch 2 ruined the franchise. So, developers offering players the chance to go back puts that to the test.Classic is a very novel mode and a surprisingly deep recreation of the original experience. Even with changes to the engine over time, Blizzard has been able to replicate just about everything in the game as it originally was yes, including a 6v6 environment.While there are more serious tests planned for the future, to explore that format, this is the first Blizzard-endorsed taste of a return to having 12 players in a lobby since the launch of Overwatch 2 last year. Its an amazing snapshot and one of the most interesting modes introduced to the game. And man, it feels awful and thats perhaps the most interesting thing about it.Overwatch: Classic the gang as they used to be (Blizzard Entertainment)For only being a limited-time event, a lot of work has been put into Overwatch: Classic. These characters have changed so much over time. The move from Overwatch 1 to Overwatch 2 also came with an engine overhaul, so reverting everything to how it was will have been a much more complex endeavour than just reinstating a previous patch state.When you jump in, youre bound to have stark reminders about some of these heroes and their initial states in 2016. Play as D.Va and you will quickly remember how slow you move when shooting, that Defence Matrix is a one-off ability, and that, of course, your D.Va bomb can kill you.Lucios wall-riding is significantly worse, as it feels like youre skating with boulders in your shoes. Also, the first time you try to use Transcendence as Zenyatta will make you feel like youre moving through molasses.For the opening few days of Classic, theres no hero lock, in order to mirror the original Overwatch 1 launch. This means you can have as many of the same heroes on your team as you want. That includes the nightmare of six Torbjorns, or the hilarity of six Winstons causing primate chaos from the sky.Its all hilariously weird, and we shouldnt lose sight of that. This is a really neat way to play Overwatch in 2024. Its a mess of broken abilities and an absurd regression of the quality of life in the game now, but thats part of the charm.That said, it is still a mess. Nostalgia is a powerful drug. Its whispers always try to convince you that things were better in the past. Often, the stuff we love feels like it used to be better. Things restored from yesteryear still have to exist in the context of today though.As we get older, our responsibilities grow. No matter how much something improves over time, its always going to feel better when you were younger, less jaded, and could interact with it for hours on end instead of having to go to work.Overwatch: Classic is a rare chance to see the stark reality of how things were. It feels bad if youve put any significant time into the modern version of the game. In the ensuing eight years since the franchise launched, the game has improved so much through quality of life aspects but also balance and flow.Overwatch 2, while certainly able to throw out some head-scratching patch notes, is just a better experience. Classic is a well-realised celebration of the history of the franchise. It also feels like Blizzard slyly demonstrating, you have no idea how good you have it.And thats not wrong. Overwatch is getting more updates than ever right now. Heroes are releasing faster, and the audience has never had a more content-rich environment. While Overwatch 2 has its issues, its ultimately a game built on eight years of learning.Sadly, we can never go back to 2016. Overwatch was something completely new then. We werent really living in a world of live service titles yet. Theres a reason it won a lot of Game of the Year awards. It was special, but bringing back the game in that state cant recapture that magic. The reason it worked back then was there was nothing like it.Importantly, no one had any idea what they were doing. The player-base hadnt spent years learning the flow of games. You can take Overwatch back, but you cant revert the player-base as well. Unfortunately, modern players have learned how Overwatch is played. We know if Reaper is wraithforming into six players recklessly, hes probably going to use his Death Blossom. Alas, our ignorance was bliss, and our whimsy has hardened with the burden of knowledge.Still, Overwatch: Classic is an awesome exercise by Blizzard and one that should continue in the future. The developers have already said that it would explore other metas from Overwatchs past, such as moth Mercy and the infamous goats.These might be more interesting comparison points for the modern day, as Overwatch changed a lot and quickly in its first few years. Even so, seeing the game as it was in May 2016 is an amazing relic to have access to. Its a chaotic mess and theres fun to be had in that. However, its certainly much easier to appreciate where the game is today after just a few rounds of Classic.Overwatch: Classic party like its 2016 (Blizzard Entertainment)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.MORE : Two beloved 90s shooters are being preserved online for free with Epic Games approvalMORE : PS5 Pro has already had a price cut in the UK ahead of Black FridayMORE : Honouring 30 years of Warcraft: how remasters and classic Classic WoW will workSign up to all the exclusive gaming content, latest releases before they're seen on the site.Privacy Policy This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Hakoom has been an avid PlayStation fan since the PS1 (Hakoom via X)A now former PlayStation partner and Guinness World Record holder alleges his account was unfairly banned by Sony.No matter how much you enjoy earning PlayStation trophies (the Sony equivalent to Xbox achievements), you probably dont love it as much as Abdul Hakoom Hakam.The man was once so dedicated to collecting PlayStation trophies that it got him in the Guinness Book of World Records five times, and he still holds the title for most PSNProfile trophy points collected, at 2,306,475.Although he retired from trophy hunting in 2021, his accolades landed him a partnership with Sony. The relationship has recently turned sour though, and Hakoom has decided to split from Sony following an incident regarding his PlayStation account.Why has Hakoom quit Sony?In a joint Instagram and X post, Hakoom explains how, on September 9, his PlayStation account had been hit with a permanent suspension for apparently no reason.He claims he never received an email regarding the ban and, after allegedly receiving no help from Sonys customer service, he got in contact with another department who promised to investigate the matter.Hakoom was later informed that his suspension was because of multiple violations of Sonys terms and conditions, but Hakoom argues the ban was still completely unwarranted.Why was Hakooms PlayStation account suspended?According to Sony, Hakooms violations were as follows:He earned the Platinum trophy on games, which normally require at least 100 hours, within only a few hours.He had completed games in zero minutes.He had logged in over 2,000 accounts across 29 PlayStation consoles.When you complete a specific achievement in a PlayStation game, you earn a trophy. If you earn every trophy in a game youre awarded a Platinum trophy as proof youve completed every challenge. These arent always tied to 100% completion of the game, but theyre typically the final accolade players unlock.Hakoom denies all of these supposed violations, pointing out that his quick Platinum trophies were a result of Sonys auto-pop feature. Basically, if you earn the Platinum on a PlayStation 4 game, you automatically get it upon booting up the PlayStation 5 version of that game.As for the multiple accounts and consoles, he says this is a result of playing PlayStation for 17 years, having signed up for accounts for lots of now-dead online games and needing to purchase, for one reason or another, 10 PlayStation 3s, five or six PlayStation 4s, four PlayStation Vitas, two PlayStation 5s, and two PlayStation TVs.He also points out that the PlayStation Store is filled with games that can easily be beaten in less than a minute. Such games are commonplace and designed for easy Platinum trophies; in fact, this is why Hakoom opted to retire from trophy hunting in the first place.His account has since been restored, but hes been removed from Sonys partnership program, which is what has prompted him to go public with these allegations of what he calls corruption and oppression.Metro has contacted Sony about the allegations but they are yet to comment.Sony has not issued a response at this time (Sony)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.MORE : Concord players are acting like lemmings as they rush to get platinum trophy before shut downMORE : Whats the point of grinding for Trophies on PS5? Readers FeatureMORE : PS5 Pro has already had a price cut in the UK ahead of Black FridaySign up to all the exclusive gaming content, latest releases before they're seen on the site.Privacy Policy This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Its tempting to imagine Ryan Reynolds just has an alarmingly robust library of deleted and behind-the-scenes Deadpool & Wolverine clips in his possession; some, he doled out for the Deadpool & Wolverine home release special features, others, he sprinkled into Marvels newly released Assembled documentary about the film on Disney+. But the well isnt dry yet, because he just shared this very fun little moment on social media: An abandoned, half-baked, quasi-edited and never-before-seen-for-good-reason montage (the band: Reynolds fellow Canadians, Nickleback) from Deadpool & Wolverine is not a bad way to spend a minute of your time, as the dynamic duo trudges across the Voids vast, expansive landscapes. Theres an epic quest feel to the sequence or there would be, if Deadpool wasnt nattering on non-stop in his trademark manner.Topics in this mostly one-sided conversation include: Whatever happened between Wolverine and Jean Grey? The trailer for Matthew McConaugheys bizarro 2003 comedy Tiptoesenjoying recently revived viral popularity because McConaughey was just featured on the 2 Bears, 1 Cave comedy podcast and cracked up while watching the trailer (he claimed) for the first time. (This jokes inclusion suggests at least some of Reynolds voice-over riffing was recorded very recently.) Deadpools proud status as an unreliable narrator Thor crying (still no explanation why) The importance of using only high-quality hair extensions Theres also a piggyback ambush and the declaration that certain phrases just sound better in an Australian accent. In other words, Deadpool being Deadpool, while also slyly reminding fans they can now watch the hit comedy on Disney+. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Every week, manga readers crane their necks at anime watchers to live vicariously through their first foray into experiencing Dan Da Dan. Thus far, every episode has done a phenomenal job adapting the sheer scope, scares, and magnetism of Dan Da Dans action and romance. However, the animes latest and most anticipated episode nails one of the core tenets of why the series has such a strong fanbase: its phenomenal backstory writing. Whenever a flashback sequence greets a shonen anime fan, they reflexively roll their eyes in annoyance. This knee-jerk reaction is mainly due to how the expository narrative device can grind a shows action to a halt. While contemporary shonen series like Demon Slayer also utilize flashbacks to endear their villains to audiences, repetitious flashbacks tend to be used solely to draw parallels to their heroes. A stylish action sequence follows where said heroes unalive the bad guy, and then never think about the life they took as they propel toward the next monster of the week. While the above isnt the most charitable read of shonen shows like Demon Slayer, its become the expected norm for anime fans walking into a flashback to expect: itll offer a tragic backstory wherein its hero will shed tears as they tie a villains strife to their own and hopefully carry their life lessons into their next battle. Just as how anime protagonists rarely look back on past villains as something stirring their ethos, flashbacks in shonen anime ring emotionally hollow as the show trucks on. That is, unless youre Dan Da Dan. Dan Da Dans seventh episode, To a Kinder World, saw Okarun, Momo Ayase, and Turbo Granny battle Acrobatic Silky, a yokai stalking their classmate Aira Shiratori. While the gang outmaneuvered and defeated Acrobatic Silky in the first part of the episode, the latter half humanized the gangly, towering yokai.In a primarily voiceless flashback, we learned that Acro Silky was actually Airas deceased mother. As a single mother, Acro Silky had lived a cruel, tragic life, taking on odd jobs as a janitor, store clerk, and sex worker to keep food on the table. While it was miserable, using her hard-earned cash to shower her daughter with gifts made it all worth it. That is, until tragedy struck, setting Acro Silky running through the rainy streets of Japan looking for her kidnapped daughter. When all hope seemed lost, Acro Silky ballet danced on the rooftop of a skyscraper before plummeting to her death. Science Saru / Crunchyroll However, not even death could undo a mothers unconditional love. Now living as a ghost, Airas mother pledges to watch over and protect hereven if that meant twisting her face into a permanent grin and transforming her body into a towering Sadako-looking yokai that not even her daughter would recognize as her mother. This volley of emotional gut punches is further punctuated by Acro Silky sacrificing herself and transferring her spiritual essence to revive her daughter. She does this selfless act knowing that once she does, shell be forgotten forever as she exists in an infinite void. What follows is an emotional hug between Aira and her mother, where Aira promises never to forget her. Reader, as a manga reader, I knew this scene was coming and that didnt stop me from crying.What makes this episode of Dan Da Dan all the more remarkable is Science Saru opted not to regurgitate mangaka Yukinobu Tatus panels to depict Acro Silkys backstory. Instead, the anime presented her tale through an extended sequence mostly told without voice acting in a Studio Ghibli-esque stroke of whimsy before turning to darker imagery akin to a Satoshi Kon film. All of this was accompanied by a dreamy musical score akin to something youd hear out of a music box with a twirling ballerina spinning at its center. Whats more, the anime hammered home Acro Silkys desperation, with a first-person sequence of her doggedly running through the rain searching for her daughter. Science Saru / Crunchyroll Dan Da Dans most substantial quality is consistently providing soul-stirring backstories for heroes and villains alike. While Acro Silky served as its first momentous emotional moment between a villain and the audience, the series has already subtly suggested that it has always been focused on humanizing its antagonists as more than frightening adversaries. This is exemplified by the reveal that Turbo Granny, the shows initial antagonist, has a history of rescuing distressed girls. This is why she emerged from Momos phone (via a possessed Okarun) to protect her from an assault by the Serpo aliens. This event, which unfolded in the shows first episode, initially led fans to question whether this intense scene was perverse fanservice or genuinely compelling storytelling.Thankfully, it was the latter.Whats more, Dan Da Dan has continued to heighten the level of its flashback writing to a level that nearly eclipses that of its page-turning scares, highly detailed action sequences, and adorable romance. Now that Acro Silkys flashback has been expertly adapted, fans can look forward to the real Dan Da Dan beginning as the show adapts even more heart-wrenchingbackstories for its cryptids and aliens. New episodes of Dan Da Dan air every Thursday on Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Hulu. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.