Anime in 2024 has reached new heights, with series like Frieren: Beyond Journeys End and Bleach Thousand-Year Blood War leading the race to become the top-rated of the season. Every anime season has its ups and downs, and this one has surely been full of pleasant surprises. So, let's take a look at those series sequels that left the bar high for the rest of the releases, taking into account the quality of animation, post-production, audience and critic scores, but most importantly, dedication to improving the show and bringing a pleasant experience to the fans.

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Critics, journalists, and industry folk arent the only ones who get to vote on the best game of the year at The Game Awards. The Players Voice category, which seeks to recognize players favorite game of the year, is exclusively voted on by fans. TGA announced the 30 nominees for round one, which you can vote on until Dec. 4 at 3 p.m. EST. Each voter gets 10 votes for round one. Two more rounds follow to narrow down players most favorite game of the year, which will be announced at The Game Awards on Dec. 12.While the list of nominees largely lines up with games that got noms for the jury-voted Game Awards categories, which are tabulated with 90% weight on jury votes and 10% weight on fan votes, a few titles with massive fan bases but less critical acclaim appear in round one of Players Voice. Theres The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, which was nominated only for Best Family Game and Best Action/Adventure; Palworld, which got zero nominations; and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which was nominated only for Accessibility; and Sonic X Shadow Generations, which got zero nominations, to name a few.No Mans Sky is another surprising nominee the game was first released in 2016, but received two big updates this year, including the literally game-changing Omega update. Perhaps less surprisingly, only one nominee comes from an independent developer: Balatro by LocalThunk.The Game Awards Players Voice nominees, in full:Astro BotBalatroBlack Myth: WukongCall of Duty: Black Ops 6Dragon Age: The VeilguardDragon Ball: Sparking! ZeroElden Ring Shadow of the ErdtreeFinal Fantasy VII RebirthFinal Fantasy XIVFortniteGenshin ImpactHelldivers 2League of LegendsThe Legend of Zelda: Echoes of WisdomLike a Dragon: Infinite WealthMetaphor: ReFantazioMobile Legends: Bang BangNo Mans SkyPalworldPersona 3 ReloadSenuas Saga: Hellblade 2Silent Hill 2Sonic X Shadow GenerationsStellar BladeWuthering WavesValorantWarframeWarhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2Zenless Zone ZeroThe Game Awards take place on Thursday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Speaking with the BBC, PlayStation co-CEO Hermen Hulst refused to go all-in on the hype of so-called artificial intelligence slowly worming its way into other tech industries.I suspect there will be a dual demand in gaming: one for AI-driven innovative experiences and another for handcrafted, thoughtful content, Hulst said. Striking the right balance between leveraging AI and preserving the human touch will be crucial.AI-adjacent technology is already used in video game development but has, for the most part, been used to simply speed up mundane tasks. Some fear, however, a future where these generative processes spread to more creative pursuits like writing, character modeling, and voice acting. For players, talent, and developers alike, AI is a hot topic of conversation in the industry at the moment.The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has been on strike since July 2024 to ensure protections against using video game performers voices for AI, and recently added League of Legends to its list of games its members wont be working on for the time being. SAG-AFTRA released a statement following the announcement of the 2024 Game Awards nominees: At this time of celebration, its important not to lose sight of the fact that thousands of video game voice and movement performers have been on strike for 116 days, following more than 18 months of negotiations which failed to produce an agreement that includes fundamental consent, compensation and transparency guardrails around the use of A.I.To cite another example, when social deception game Liars Bar surged to popularity in October, voice actor Alejandro Saab called attention to the games AI-generated voices, which may have slipped under the radar if it werent for Steams AI disclosure requirement, in a post on X. Saab also pointed out that there are affordable options for indie developers on shoestring budgets that dont necessitate use of AI. As for Hulsts statement, it echoes those of his counterpart at PlayStations biggest competitor, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer. Spencer told the press at 2023s Xbox Games Showcase he is very protective of the creative process with regards to AI.

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.The PlayStation VR2 is one of a million products on sale post-Cyber Monday this year. If you're interested in the best tech on sale today, see our page on the best Cyber Monday tech deals that are still active for a broader view of all the best discounts you can get right now. Prices are accurate as of the time of writing, but you can expect them to fluctuate and inventory to sell out, so you may not want to hesitate if you see a sale that grabs you.I loved the original PlayStation VR. I picked one up during the peak of the pandemic (my first foray into VR gaming), and I was blown away. Instead of spending my nights inside my apartment's small living room, I was walking through villages in Skyrim, exploring planets in No Man's Sky, and platforming through creative terrains in Astro Bot Rescue Mission.I was such a fan of the original that I argued it was a better VR headset buy in 2021 than an Oculus Questa stance many VR fans vehemently disagreed with. Three years later, however, the OG PS VR's drawbacks are more pronounced than ever: The OLED display is lower resolution than modern headsets (960x1080), and the headset requires a complicated array of devices and cables (including a camera) to set up. (To that point, I haven't set up the headset since my last move.) But more than that, the controllers are simply not VR controllers: While VR headsets have had finger-tracking controllers with joysticks for years, PS VR simply used the same Move controllers that have been available since the PS3.The PS VR2, however, released in February of 2023, addresses these issues: The OLED HDR display is much higher resolution (2000x2040), quadrupling the megapixels per eye compared to the original; there's some passthrough here, so you can actually see your immediate surroundings without having to take the headset off; the tracking is better, despite requiring no outside camera or peripherals; and the controllers are honest-to-goodness VR controllers, complete with finger tracking and joy sticks. And if you get tired of Sony's VR games, you can connect the PS VR2 to your PC as if it were any other VR headset. PlayStation VR2 Headset With 'Horizon Call of The Mountain' $349.00 at Amazon $599.99 Save $250.99 Get Deal Get Deal $349.00 at Amazon $599.99 Save $250.99 Sony's second-gen PlayStation VR still wasn't perfect: Besides having a smaller library than some other VR headsets, the PS VR2 was and is expensive, retailing for $549.99. When you consider that you also need a PS5 in order to run this thing (it's not compatible with any PS4 console), it's a pricey setup. That's why I haven't bought one yet, even if its plug-and-play approach would make getting back into VR easy.But you've read the headline: It's Black Friday/Cyber Monday season, and the PS VR2 is on sale. Sony announced a series of PlayStation Black Friday deals on Wednesday, running from Nov. 22 through Dec. 2. As part of that announcement, Sony revealed PS VR2 will be discounted as much as 40%. The math is a bit off, since you can actually snag a PS VR2 at 42% off: Right now, you can get the Horizon Call of The Mountain PS VR2 bundle for $349, down from $599.99. The standalone PS VR2 (no game included) was also $349, down from $549.99, but may have sold out at the time of writing. All things considered, you're better off getting the Horizon bundle anyway, since the prices are identical. It's surprising enough to see this headset still on sale, as Sony said the promotion was going to end on Monday. If you're still interested, pick up a PS VR2 before it's too late. The Best Cyber Monday Deals You Can Still Shop Now Meta Quest 3S 256GB VR Headset + $30 Digital Credit (List Price $399 With Code "QUEST30") Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ 64GB Wi-Fi 11" Tablet $149.00 (List Price $219.99) Bose QuietComfort Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones $199.00 (List Price $349.00) Apple Watch Series 10 (GPS, 42mm, Black, S/M, Sports Band) $329.99 (List Price $399.00) iRobot Roomba Vac Essential Q0120 Robot Vacuum Cleaner $149.00 (List Price $249.99) Samsung Odyssey G93SC 49" Dual QHD OLED Curved Monitor $949.99 (List Price $1,599.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team

Google keeps adding more and more clutter to its search product, from ads to AI. You can kind of work around this by disabling AI search results or even ditching Google for an alternative. But what if you could build your own replacement that used Google's search engine, but without all the features you hate?As noted by Mitja Rutnik at Android Authority, you can do exactly that using a little-known Google tool called Programmable Search Engine. Rutnik claims he routinely uses one custom search engine he built using this tool to search only for articles from his native Slovenia, and another to find articles only on websites owned by his employer.To be clear, Google does not offer Programmable Search Engine with this use case in mind. Have you ever visited a website and noticed the search bar is "Enhanced by Google"? This tool is how those websites build those specific search bars. Even if you don't have a website, however, there's nothing stopping you from logging into the service, creating a search engine, and using it as your own personal Google.How to use Programmable Search Engine to make your own GoogleTo get started head to the Programmable Search Engine landing page. You will need top add a new search engine. Credit: Justin Pot The initial setup doesn't do much outside of allowing you to limit your searches to a specific set of websites. (Don't worry: There are more ways to customize things later.) Click the blue Create button when you're done.Now head back to the "All search engines" page and click the engine you just created. This is where the real customization comes in. There's the Region box, which you can use to limit the country your results come from. (U.S. websites tend to dominate the internetmaybe you're not American and only want results for your country.)After this you can add a list of sites to search, if you want to limit things to a few set searches. Alternatively you can add a list of sites to exclude, assuming there are a few news sources or blogs you don't trust. This alone might make your search results better, assuming there are certain websites you'd rather never see again in your life.Next head to the Look and Feel section. From here you can customize the font, color, and general look of your search page. There are a few pre-set themes to choose from, or your can dig in and customize everything yourself. You can even disable thumbnails in search results if you like.Explore your different options and save your changes when you feel good about wht you've created. Finally, when you're done, you can head to the Overview tab. There you'll find a link to your new search engineclick it to try things out. The results are likely to be as close to what Google offered in 2001 that you're likely to find in the mid-2020sthat is, you'll only see web results. The only possible exception will be a link to Google Image Search, assuming you enabled that feature. There are no sidebars, no AI overviewsnothing but search results from the web. This isn't the preferred search experience for everyone, obviously, but I bet some people will dig it.You can set your new search engine as your home page if you want, or even add it to your browser as a custom search engine if you want to get fancy about it.

Ubisoft's first-person shooter XDefiant, which launched less than six months ago with some success, will shut down on June 3, 2025. As part of that, the studio will close three production studios and lay off 277 employees.New downloads, player registrations, and purchases will no longer be available starting today, However, Season 3 will launch as planned and servers will remain online until June 3. Players who purchased the Ultimate Founders Pack or bought anything in the last 30 days will automatically receive full refunds within eight weeks."Despite an encouraging start, the team's passionate work, and a committed fan base, we've not been able to attract and retain enough players in the long run to compete at the level we aim for in the very demanding free-to-play FPS market," said Ubisoft's chief studios and portfolio officer Marie-Sophie de Waubert.Ubisoft confirmed that it will close its Osaka and San Francisco studios while ramping down its Sydney site. That will result in the loss of 277 jobs, or just over half of XDefiant's team, with the other half transitioning to other parts of the company. "I want to express my deepest gratitude for your work and contributions. Please know that we are committed to supporting you during this transition," de Waubert told departing employees.At one time, XDefiant was Ubisoft's fastest growing game ever, hitting 5 million users sooner than any of its other titles and eventually counting up to 15 million players. However, it couldn't build on that success and last month, rumors began to circulate that XDefiant would be shut down. "The game is too far away from reaching the results required to enable further significant investment," de Waubert said yesterday.Ubisoft has been going through a rough patch of late. The company recently cancelled The Division: Heartland before it launched and delayed Assassin's Creed Shadows until Valentine's Day 2025, following a disappointing launch for Star Wars Outlaws. Last year, the company cancelled three unannounced projects and commenced a restructuring program that led to over a thousand layoffs.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ubisoft-is-giving-up-on-xdefiant-130023396.html?src=rss

There's a chill in the air, lights have been strung through the trees and winter coats are a daily need. All this can only mean one thing: it's Spotify Wrapped season. Today, Spotify Wrapped begins rolling out to users across the globe with a slew of new features powered by Google's AI-powered NotebookLM.To be honest, some of it is, let's say, interesting. Notably, Spotify is releasing a My Wrapped AI Podcast with two hosts discussing all your listening preferences for the year. These hosts in question are powered by the same technology that NotebookLM uses to make audio overviews. The podcasts should last three to six minutes, are shareable and available for free and premium users in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland and Sweden for a limited time. If you love listening to AI then maybe this is exciting for you but, personally, I'm happy with my usual roundup. Spotify does caveat that it might not "provide a comprehensive overview" and could mispronounce words or use inappropriate language if its in a song title, for example.Then there's the AI DJ, which brings you through the music you listened to and provides commentary. Yes, this sounds a bit like the AI podcast, but it should focus more on the actual music and how you used the DJ. It should also touch on aspects like your top artists and most listened to songs. However, this feature and a wrapped version of Spotify's AI Playlist are only available to premium subscribers.As always, you can also see how your listening choices measure up against other users. Spoiler that's not really a spoiler: Taylor Swift and her album The Tortured Poet's Department took the most streamed spots for artist and album, respectively, both in the US and globally. Women took the top five spots for most streamed albums globally, while Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter held the title of most streamed song for the US and world. Other categories of interest include the top podcasts and most viral songs, plus one interesting addition: audiobooks.Spotify has leaned heavily into audiobooks this year, rolling out a subscription solely for the medium and new tools like a sleep timer and detailed author pages. So, it's no surprise that the platform has released its first ever year-end top charts for audiobooks. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas was the top audiobook for premium users in both the US and globally a near inevitably for anyone paying even a little attention to book trends this year. Also new this year: Authors will join creators, artists, podcasters and advertisers in receiving a Wrapped all about how their readers listened to their books in 2024.As always, Spotify Wrapped is shaping up to be a bit cringe (as many new AI creations are) and the usual burst of fun. You can explore these features and more on your Spotify Wrapped or, if this has all been irrelevant to you, maybe on the just announced Amazon Music Delivered or through Apple Music Replay.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/spotify-wrapped-2024-includes-ai-hosted-podcasts-discussing-your-listening-habits-130002140.html?src=rss

Check out ILM's VFX breakdown of its tornado simulation work for TwistersWatch the full video on the Industrial Light & Magic YouTube channel (more sims and some neat reference footage): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOByDMEI_Ls