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  • Save 50% On The Massvie DC Comics Encyclopedia
    www.gamespot.com
    Have you ever been curious about Aquaman's origins, how Batgirl managed to swing back into action after a devastating injury, or the how the powerful Red Lantern Corps came to be? Then you'll want to check out the DC Comics Encyclopedia, which just so happens to be on sale for just $20 (was $40) right now at Amazon. This meaty tome of comic book knowledge is a quick and easy Christmas gift to grab during the festive season. The DC Comics Encyclopedia $20 (was $40) This particular encyclopedia covers all things related to DC Comics up to the year 2021, providing an informative guide to the DC Multivers. It includes profiles on more than 1,200 characters ranging from icons like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, to lesser-known characters like The Red Hood and Circe. The book also covers major crossover events, like Dark Nights: Metal and its sequel Dark Nights: Death Metal, giving you a comprehensive look into many of the label's best storylines. See at Amazon Since this is so affordable, you can add to your reading list with a few more discounted encyclopedias. Batman fans can get up to 50% discounts on a range of books covering the Caped Crusader's exploits across multiple forms of media, like Batman: the Ultimate Guide and Batman: The Multiverse of the Dark Knight. DC film fans will also want to check out the DC Cinematic Universe: A Celebration of DC at the Movies that's on sale for $29.46, and The Art of The Batman, which is just $30 (was $45) and is a comprehensive behind-the-scenes look at the 2022 film. Check out a list of more DC and Batman encyclopedias available below.DC Comics & Batman EncyclopediasThe Art of The Batman-- $30 ($45)Batman: The Animated Series: The Phantom City Creative Collection-- $33.77 ($60)Batman: The Multiverse of the Dark Knight-- $17.50 ($35)Batman The Ultimate Guide-- $15.76 ($30)Batmobile Manual: Inside the Dark Knight's Most Iconic Rides-- $22.49 ($40)DC Cinematic Universe: A Celebration of DC at the Movies-- $29.46 ($40)The DC Comics Encyclopedia -- $20 ($40) Continue Reading at GameSpot
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  • GOG's Winter Sale Is Now Live, Save On Over 6,500 PC Games
    www.gamespot.com
    GOG has kicked off its annual Winter Sale, and with discounts on over 6,500 games, there are quite a few tempting deals here, including a long list of classic PC titles that you'll only find at GOG--though there are plenty of big discounts on many of the latest releases as well. The GOG Winter Sale lasts until January 3, 2025. See all Winter Sale deals at GOG As part of the sale, GOG is offering free games and other downloadable content daily until December 31. Right now, you can grab the adventure game The Whispered World for the low price of absolutely nothing until December 15. You can also download a set of seasonal desktop wallpapers. These deals will only be available for a limited time, so check back each day to see what's new.As for what's discounted in the GOG Winter Sale, there are many great classic games available for $5 or less, including Dragon Age Origins, Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl, System Shock 2, and more. If you're playing the recently released Soul Reaver 1+2 Remaster and want to finish out Raziel's trilogy, be sure to grab Legacy of Kain: Defiance while it's on sale for less than $1.Continue Reading at GameSpot
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  • Marvel Rivals Player Shares Trick to Stop Jeff's Ultimate
    gamerant.com
    A Marvel Rivals player shared a cool trick to stop Jeff the Land Shark's Ultimate ability. Since launch, Marvel Rivals has reached a significant milestone as millions of players logged on to play the PvP hero shooter.
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  • Okami HD Gets Big Discount After Sequel Announcement
    gamerant.com
    Following the surprise announcement of a new sequel, Okami HD is seeing major discounts across multiple online storefronts for a limited time. The action-adventure game from Clover Studio, originally released for the PS2, has long been held as one of gaming's most revered cult classics, praised for its gorgeous artstyle and gameplay. While the game initially saw due to its late release on PS4, the beloved title received multiple ports to other platforms and even a spiritual successor with 2011's Okamiden. Now, the beloved franchise is back with more on the way.
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  • Game engine asset loading system. How to handle shaders?
    gamedev.net
    I am currently attempting to make an asset loading system for my game engine (written in C++) and it's pretty basic. I'm still a newbie, so nothing really sophisticated, basically, though, for each asset, there is an asset loader. For example, to load a mesh, I would do MeshLoader::load(path_to_mesh) this design was working fine until I got to shaders, and the problem I'm having with shaders is that since they require multiple files, or at least for OpenGL, it's not as easy as just doing Shad
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  • Hironobu Sakaguchi interview: Fantasian Neo Dimension, Final Fantasy and 20 years of Mistwalker
    blog.playstation.com
    Fantasian Neo Dimension launched December 5 on PS5 and PS4. This Mistwalker RPG features the creative work of two industry icons, both legends in the genre. First, theres composer Nobuo Uematsu, who has lent his talents to the games score, the last full game soundtrack hell produce solo, capping off an incredible 30-plus years of work. Last week, he walked us through just some of his favorite pieces.Today, we talk to the second creative force involved, game producer and Mistwalker CEO Hironobu Sakaguchi. The creator joined us earlier this year on PS Blog to discuss the games PS5 release. Our new chat, which you can hear in full on the Official PlayStation Podcast later today, casts the net wider to discuss his thoughts on the RPG genre, his long term working partnership with Uematsu-san, and marking both Mistwalkers 20th anniversary and PlayStations 30th.Play VideoNote: this interview is condensed for clarity and brevity. Hear the full conversation on the new Official PlayStation Podcast, launching later today.Playstation Blog: Youre well regarded for your work in the RPG field, and RPGs are known for compelling team ups with disparate characters. For you, what makes a great character party?Hironobu Sakaguchi: You want your cast of characters to have a wide range of both personality and diverse backgrounds, different character settings and stories. As they traverse this world and go on their adventure, I think seeing the shift and change in characters is one of the most attractive things you can experience as a player of an RPG.On the game mechanics side, of course, which is equally important, specifically in Fantasian Neo Dimension, each character has their own rather unique set of attributes. Some characters might be more heavily skewed in defense, others might be more adept at magic, or some might do DPS, in the form of physical attacks. But that unique attribute or element that they bring to the table, in combat is going to become invaluable. So in Fantasian Neo Dimension, you can swap out your party and team members without consuming one of your turns, which makes your team composition and combat quite dynamic.PSB: The game features wonderful, hand-crafted dioramas. Where did they end up? Did you adopt any for your own home?Sakaguchi: The dioramas, rather unfortunately, over time, the paint will chip, and a lot of the clay will melt, and overall, they just simply will deteriorate over time. By the nature of how theyre crafted, so very few have kind of survived as is, and its impossible to store it. So the ones that have were either preserved and given to different players as a giveaway or presented to team members, core team members who worked on the game, and we did save a good portion of the props in each individual diorama, and those have been transformed into those gifts. But by and large, the so-called base, or a lot of the structural elements of these dioramas had to unfortunately be disposed of. So I would say most of the dioramas you see in Fantasian Neo Dimension are no longer in this world, and I understand that that might seem a little melancholy, and almost fleeting in a way, but there is some kind of poetic beauty in that as well.PSB: Fantasian Neo Dimension includes select Final Fantasy tracks. Why those particular tracks, and how did you decide to pick them?Sakaguchi: I dont know how well known this is, but I am a huge Final Fantasy XIV fan, and I practically live in the world of FFXIV. And there are certain tracks the composer of FFXIV, Masayoshi Soken, composed that play respect to what Uematsu-san has done in previous [games]. You can tell its almost an arrangement of Uematsu-sans melodies and different compositions.As I was test-playing Fantasian, I had FFXIV running in the background, which I think was one of the battle scenes. And playing Fantasian, and hearing this music in my own environment, prompted me to think wow, this is really, really cool, and I could feel the respect that was paid to the old Final Fantasy games. And as a fan, it was a personally very, very fun experience. So I talked to [FFXIV] producer Yoshida-san and said, on a whim, hey, would it be possible to do something like this, to which I had a positive response.And around that same time, there was, of course, Final Fantasy VII Remake, the Pixel Remaster series. So I felt that in a way, Uematsus tracks, of course, because he composed all of them, including Fantasian, synergized very well with the experience that is Fantasian. It felt very fun, and quite natural. And it is not often, I think, in one video game, you get to hear almost like this chronology of what Uematsu-san has done over the years, both old and new. And throughout the game, I think there is a lot of respect paid towards the music and the history of Final Fantasy.PSB: Is it possible to sum up what your career, long collaborations with Uematsu-san mean to you?Sakaguchi: Recently, I had the opportunity to take the stage with Uematsu-san at Tokyo Game Show, and it felt quite different from when we would interact with each other in private, being on stage, I think there was a different kind of honesty that came to the surface, one of which was whenever Uematsu-san composes something, he is very mindful of making sure the player emotion is guided and sculpted on the right track, and he tries to pull out a wide range of emotion from his players. But of all the emotion, it seems to be sort of that warmth or passion that humans can experience is one that particularly stood out and reminds us how nice it is to be human in the end.So having worked and collaborated with Uematsu-san together for so long, perhaps its a little overly sentimental, but I think at its core, how we both feel and resonate, and this is something that, you know, we kind of bounced back and forth on stage at Tokyo Game Show, is that that sort of emotional component, the sentimental component. If you translate it to something perhaps a little more palatable, I think the product of video games is, of course, a digital experience. Yet even through this digital, inanimate object, youre able to bring out this wide range of emotion in humans and remind us what it is and what it means to be part of this larger ecosystem.PSB: Mistwalker celebrated the momentous milestone this year, 20 years since inception. Did you mark it in any particular way?Sakaguchi: Its interesting you bring that up, as I have been counting, and it is our 20th anniversary this year. I just thought to myself, Oh, perhaps hes right. So when founding Mistwalker, I of course left Square Enix behind and formed this independent studio. Part of the reason being in Square Enix, a lot of my responsibilities has shifted from making games to managing and operating and almost running a business to which, of course, there were some elements of that that were fun, but I realized I wanted to live to create, and I think thats what Mistwalker was intended to do, and thats what I find the most enjoyable as part of the process of creating, creating games. So here we are, 20 years later, and Im still able to create, and perhaps for years in the future, but the fact that Mistwalker has allowed me and our teams to be able to find a home for that creative energy, I think it really shows its done its job.PSB: What would you like to see of the RPG genre in the years ahead?Sakaguchi: Implementing and using the latest and cutting edge technology, I think, to maximize the expression and strive for that next level of what it means to deliver an experience or a story to a person is quite important to the RPG genre. And I think that that is something that is a common denominator or a through line for the entire Final Fantasy series at large. But of course, the RPG genre is more than just implementing and integrating the latest technology. There are different kind of mechanics and system improvements that can be made. Likewise the dioramas, or in this case, artistic expression, I think, is another field in which RPGs can kind of see itself moving into. That is something that we did in our case, instead of using exclusively the latest technology trying to express and depict the story through something that would allow players to feel that warmth that I mentioned a little earlier. All of these, I think, contribute to a step forward in a certain direction. And to do that, I think its more looking beyond just what the technology can do, but how you can deliver these stories. And in some ways, I think thatll translate to a much more diverse catalog and portfolio of RPGs, which perhaps is how the genre should be.PSB: You must have collected numerous keepsakes from across your titles, awards, etc, to a point that I imagine you have very little space at home anymore. Are there any particular keepsakes that stand out to you?Sakaguchi: I really dont have that many keepsakes. In fact, I throw most of them into storage somewhere, and tend to forget about them. But if there is any one item that perhaps stands above the others, I would say its that physical version of [the original] Final Fantasy. Because if I had not created that, I dont think my creative career would have come nearly as far as it did in this so-called timeline. So I think giving birth to [the original] Final Fantasy and the subsequent franchise that it then spawned from is a huge, huge fork in my life.Play VideoPSB: PlayStation celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. What PlayStation games did you personally enjoy? Or whats the first thing that comes to mind when youre thinking about PlayStation?Sakaguchi:I would have to say Final Fantasy VII. Because at the time, the specs of the PlayStation was unlike any other console on the market at the time. It was head and shoulders above anything, and it was just an amazing, amazing platform. So it would not be an overstatement to say that without the PlayStation, there would be no Final Fantasy VII. I dont even think we would have thought to make a game in that manner. So, of course, in all of my conversation with Kutaragi-san, we had hinted that the birth of the PlayStation has also triggered the birth of Final Fantasy VII, and all the doors that Final Fantasy seven has opened up for both me and the company. So it was again a huge, huge revolution, a huge shift in the entire game industry, and I think both on the hardware and the software side, a massive leap forward.
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  • Seasons greetings 2024 from PlayStation Blog and friends
    blog.playstation.com
    As 2024 comes to a close, we cant help but look back at an incredible year of gaming. The PlayStation Blog team wants to thank you for the moments weve shared this year, and across PlayStations last 30 years.Before we press start on a new year, weve gathered some seasons greetings from our talented friends and colleagues from across the industry.Cheers to all the memories to come in 2025!2K Games (PGA Tour 2K23) 2K Games (Topspin 2K25) 2K Games (WWE 2K24) 505 Games Acquire Activision Amazon Games (New World Aeternum) Amazon Games (Throne and Liberty) Arc System Works Bandai Namco Bandai Namco (Bleach: Rebirth of Souls) Bandai Namco (Death Note Killer Within) Bandai Namco (Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream) Behaviour Interactive Bend Studio Blizzard Entertainment (Diablo IV) Blizzard Entertainment (Overwatch 2) Bluepoint Games Bokeh Game Studio Capcom CI Games Digital Extremes EA Games (FC 25) Far From Home Fast Travel Games (Radius) Fast Travel Games (The Midnight Walk) Firaxis Games Fireshine Games Firesprite Game Studio Gameloft (Asphalt Legends Unite) Gameloft (Disney Dreamlight Valley) Gameloft (Disney Speedstorm) Gearbox Software Gemdrops Inc. Giants Software Guerrilla Gumbo Machine Hangar 13 Happinet Hazelight Studios Housemarque Insomniac Games Inti Creates IO Interactive Kakao Games Kalypso Media Koei Tecmo Konami Media Molecule Milestone Mintrocket Mojang Studios Nacon Studios NetEase (Ananta) NetEase (Naraka: Bladepoint) NetEase (Where Winds Meet) NetherRealm Studios Nexon (The First Berserker Khazan) Nexon (The First Descendant) Nihon Falcom Nixxes Outright Games Papergames Passtech Games Pearl Abyss Plaion Polyphony Digital Raw Fury Remedy Games Roblox Rogue Factor Saber Interactive San Diego Studio Santa Monica Studio Shueisha Games Spike Chunsoft (AI: The Somnium Files) Spike Chunsoft (Kamaitachi no Yoru x3)) Square Enix Steel Wool Games Shift Up Stunlock Studios Sucker Punch Productions Tarsier Studios Team 17 Team ASOBI Tencent Tripwire Interactive Ubisoft (Assassins Creed Series) Ubisoft (Brawlhalla) Ubisoft (The Crew Motorfest) Ubisoft (Star Wars Outlaws) Ubisoft (XDefiant) Unbroken Studios Warner Bros. Games Warner Bros. Games (Hogwarts Legacy) Warner Bros. Games (MultiVersus) Wired Productions ZA/UM Holiday card from Team ASOBIHoliday card from GuerrillaHoliday card from Sucker Punch ProductionsHoliday card from KonamiHoliday card from Insomniac GamesHoliday card from Remedy GamesHoliday card from Shift UpHoliday card from Polyphony DigitalHoliday card from Santa Monica StudioHoliday card from Square EnixHoliday card from NetherRealm StudiosHoliday card from NixxesHoliday card from Supermassive GamesHoliday card from FirespriteHoliday card from MintrocketHoliday card from 505 GamesHoliday card from Koei TecmoHoliday card from HousemarqueHoliday card from RobloxHoliday card from Digital ExtremesHoliday card from Warner Bros. Games (Hogwarts Legacy)Holiday card from Media MoleculeHoliday card from CapcomHoliday card from Ubisoft (Assassins Creed Series)Holiday card from Bend StudiosHoliday card from NetEase (Ananta)Holiday card from ActivisionHoliday card from Firaxis GamesHoliday card from Gameloft (Disney Dreamlight Valley)Holiday card from Behaviour InteractiveHoliday card from San Diego StudioHoliday card from Blizzard Entertainment (Diablo IV)Holiday card from Kakao GamesHoliday card from Bandai NamcoHoliday card from Pearl AbyssHoliday card from Bluepoint GamesHoliday card from Gearbox SoftwareHoliday card from Blizzard Entertainment (Overwatch 2)Holiday card from Gameloft (Asphalt Legends Unite)Holiday card from Bokeh Game StudioHoliday card from Ubisoft (Brawlhalla)Holiday card from Bandai Namco (Bleach Rebirth of Souls)Holiday card from Amazon Games (New World Aeternum)Holiday card from AcquireHoliday card from Gameloft (Disney Speedstorm)Holiday card from Ubisoft (The Crew Motorfest)Holiday card from Bandai Namco (Death Note Killer Within)Holiday card from Amazon Games (Throne and Liberty)Holiday card from EA Games (FC 25)Holiday card from Far From HomeHoliday card from Fireshine GamesHoliday card from Giants SoftwareHoliday card from Gemdrops Inc.Holiday card from Arc System WorksHoliday card from HappinetHoliday card from Ubisoft (Star Wars Outlaws)Holiday card from Rogue FactorHoliday card from IO InteractiveHoliday card from Steel Wool GamesHoliday card from Gumbo MachineHoliday card from PapergamesHoliday card from Fast Travel Games (Radius)Holiday card from Hazelight StudiosHoliday card from Kalypso MediaHoliday card from Tripwire InteractiveHoliday card from Tarsier StudiosHoliday card from CI GamesHoliday card from Fast Travel Games (The Midnight Walk)Holiday card from MilestoneHoliday card from Spike Chunsoft (AI: The Somnium Files)Holiday card from Nacon StudiosHoliday card from NetEase (Naraka: Bladepoint)Holiday card from Game StudioHoliday card from Nippon IchiHoliday card from 2K Games (PGA Tour 2K23)Holiday card from Hangar 13Holiday card from PlaionHoliday card from TencentHoliday card from Passtech GamesHoliday card from Raw FuryHoliday card from Saber InteractiveHoliday card from Bandai Namco (Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream)Holiday card from Nexon (The First Berserker Khazan)Holiday card from Shueisha GamesHoliday card from Wired ProductionsHoliday card from Inti CreatesHoliday card from Spike Chunsoft (Kamaitachi no Yoru x3)Holiday card from Warner Bros. Games (MultiVersus)Holiday card from ZA/UMHoliday card from Nexon (The First Descendant)Holiday card from Gameloft (The Oregon Trail)Holiday card from Outright GamesHoliday card from 2K Games (Topspin 2K25)Holiday card from Stunlock StudiosHoliday card from Warner Bros. GamesHoliday card from NetEase (Where Winds Meet)Holiday card from 2K Games (WWE 2K24)Holiday card from Ubisoft (XDefiant)Holiday card from Unbroken StudiosHoliday card from Mojang StudiosHoliday card from Nihon FalcomHoliday card from Team 17
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  • Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim makes oliphaunts terrifying again
    www.polygon.com
    I thought I had a handle on oliphaunts. You know, the massive war elephants of The Lord of the Rings, as featured thrillingly in Peter Jacksons Lord of the Rings trilogy? Jacksons productions brought the creatures to life in terrifying might, and made them the crux of one of the trilogys most debated action moments.I thought Id seen it all when it came to the great tusked battle-beasts. Yet another oliphaunt in combat? Ho-hum. But The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim proved me wrong. The new animated movie, directed by Kenji Kamiyama (Blade Runner: Black Lotus), raises the scare factor on the classic monsters by lowering the stakes.The first glimpse of an oliphaunt we get in Jacksons Lord of the Rings is a brief glimpse in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Sam and Frodo see a couple in the distance, marching with a Haradrim army, and Sam reacts with wonder. In Tolkiens own lore, established in the very book scene this movie scene adapts, the oliphaunt is a mythical creature of hobbit childrens rhymes.But those oliphaunts are really just a teaser for Jacksons The Return of the King, where King Thoden and Rohans cavalry face a charging line of them. Thodens men (OK, mostly men) have just beaten back the orcish horde. But when the beasts arrive, carrying troops of archers on their backs, their overpowering presence puts Rohans forces on the back foot just as swiftly.Oliphaunt tusks, strung with barbed rope, take out multiple horses with each swing, while their feet trample any left unscathed. They take enemy arrows without flinching, until their legs and bellies look like pincushions, while the archers perched on their massive saddles retaliate with lethal skill. Even when Rohans archers manage to pick off an oliphaunt-riding Haradrim soldier, their own fighters can be killed by their enemies falling bodies.It feels like it takes half of Rohans army to fell just one oliphaunt. Then its massive corpse becomes the backdrop for Thodens tragic fall and owyns iconic fight against the Witch King.But then Legolas shows up and kills one single-handedly, with a single three-arrow shot to the back of the head.I dont hate this scene I look back on it fondly. But it does really undercut the menace of the oliphaunt. Legolas comes sliding down its falling trunk like hes racking up a combo in a Tony Hawk game, and Gimli provides the comic-relief stinger That still only counts as one! And its certainly the most iconic oliphaunt moment to come of Jacksons trilogy, if only because of the argument about whether his feat was cool or silly remains perennially popular among fans.Thats why I approached The War of the Rohirrim not expecting much from its oliphaunts: The Return of the King sucked the scariness out of them. But The War of the Rohirrim wastes absolutely no time in putting it back in.[Ed. note: The rest of this piece contains a few early spoilers for The War of the Rohirrim.]The films first sign that theres something truly rotten in the state of Rohan is when our hero Hra (Gaia Wise) is out on a casual ride with two of her retainers her middle-aged lady-in-waiting Olwyn, and a kind of royal page named Lief. Olwyn and Lief, at least as far as we know, are not skilled warriors, so Hras cousin and buddy Fralf is along for the ride, as the nominal personal protection of the already-quite-skilled-at-combat princess of Rohan.And thats when they run into an oliphaunt. But not just any oliphaunt: a rabid one, foaming at the mouth, covered in open wounds, without a handler in sight.And with a shock, even my jaded Rings fan brain engaged. How was this confrontation going to end? There were no gravity-defying elven warriors around. No army, no shelter, and nowhere to run. Two unsuspecting mounted warriors trying to protect two noncombatants against an oliphaunt with rabies? I wont spoil how it ends, but things get even wilder from there.Narratively, the real point of the scene is to tip the audience off that something is wrong in Rohan, and to put Hra in a particular pickle. There are any number of ways that the writing team on War of the Rohirrim could have accomplished that without an oliphaunt. But by making the first big action set-piece of the movie an oliphaunt action/chase sequence, writer Philippa Boyens and her co-writers set up for when oliphaunts recur later, in their usual martial mode.Hey, Hras early encounter with the rogue oliphaunt says, think about how scary these things would be if you didnt have a wizard or an elf around to handle them for you. When the beasts show up as part of an attacking army, Rohirrim viewers are primed to see them as the true threat they are to the mounted soldiers of Rohan and their isolated wooden-stockade holdings: towering, nearly indestructible siege weapons that can run as fast as a horse.But with just one scene in The War of the Rohirrim in the movies first action sequence! Boyens and her co-writers use Middle-earths biggest monster to pull viewers down to their movies smaller scope. Thats a lesson many creators could stand to learn in our era of getting every last drop out of intellectual property licenses with endless prequels and spinoffs. Theres adventure in Middle-earth, even without wizards and rings and gods and big, flashy magic. Sometimes all you need for tension is a change of scale.The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is out now in theaters.
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