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Feelin PineUh oh, Roblox's Dress to Impress has lost Santa, but it's still sleighing the festive season with new Winter Wonderland eventNew outfits, an ice rink, and a flying obstacle course is on the horizon. Oh, Santas also gone missing.Image credit: Dress to Impress/Roblox/VG247 News by Kelsey Raynor Guides Writer Published on Dec. 14, 2024 Dress to Impress kicks off its Christmas-themed festivities today with a Winter Wonderland event that will be running within the Roblox game until January 14. Thats a whole month of putting together outfits that will sleigh the catwalk, as well as some sleuthing, as players are also tasked with finding out where the hell Santa has vanished to.Thats right. After months of theorising about the shady goings-on inside the Dress to Impress universe, which saw players conclude that in-game nail artist, Lana, had been replaced with some kind of eldritch nail-painting clone, weve another mystery to solve.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Its up to the community of Dress to Impress stylists to figure out where St. Nick has wandered off to and to save Christmas. Players will also be able to pay a visit to Santas Workshop in the meantime, and give the elves a helping hand while their trusty leader is AWOL.Dress to Impress creators shared a sneak peek at the update on TikTok, where we see one fashionista kitted out in suitably Santa-themed clothing decorating a tree. We unfortunately dont get to see much more than that, just like when teasers dropped for the previous Charli XCX-inspired brat update, but we do know a little more about whats to come. @dtionroblox Let it snow, let it slay #DressToImpress #Winter original sound - Dress To Impress To see this content please enable targeting cookies.On top of tracking down Santa and assisting his elves, theres a Candy Cane Forest to look forward to exploring, reindeers to ride with a flying obstacle course to boot and even an ancient ice cave to explore. Now Im wondering if Dress to Impress is even the same game I played months ago, because flying around on reindeer seems a world away from my experiences of doing the apple dance on the catwalk while dressed as Spongebob.Last, but not least, players can of course expect new clothing and accessories to adorn themselves with. Both masculine and feminine wardrobes are getting all-new winter items, poses, and more. Therell even be an icing rink, a cafe, and a new lobby for players to explore.There will, naturally, be brand-new secrets to discover while you all get to work figuring out St. Nicks fate, tooWhat aspects of this Winter Wonderland update are you most looking forward to seeing in Dress to Impress this holiday season? While you're here, be sure to check out our Dress to Impress codes to unlock some new clothing items!

Ciri How It GoesWhile Geralt's still hanging around, The Witcher 4 being about Ciri was "the natural choice" and CD Projekt says it'll lead to "more uncertainty and more surprises"It's also an idea the studio's had in mind for a good decade or so.Image credit: CD Projekt News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Dec. 13, 2024 We all got our first proper look at The Witcher 4 during The Game Awards last night, via a cool new trailer that showed Ciri - the game's protagonist - doing some witchering.Ever since it was originally announced via that image of a medallion in the snow, Geralt's stepdaughter of destiny taking over the reins of the series from him is something that'd long been among the theories tabled by fans. And now we know it's the case, CD Projekt has explained a bit of the reasoning behind it opting to go in this direction for the game.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Speaking to PC Gamer, TW4's game director Sebastian Kalemba and executive producer Gosia Mitręga revealed that it's of a course of action the studio had first put on the table about a decade ago, around the time it was finishing up working on and releasing The Witcher 3 - which Ciri obviously plays a huge role in and is even playable during a few missions."I remember discussions after releasing Wild Hunt, that it is a natural path for her to prove herselfthat was a very natural choice for us," Kalemba said, adding: "There's so much room for exploration, and because she's such a nuanced character, the beginning of her journey gives us freedom and so many opportunities to be able to dig in and use [that] for good."Mitręga also emphasised some of the differences between Geralt and Ciri that could help the devs tell some different stories, such as her youth and passion compared to the While Wolf's veteran monster-hunting experience and worldly nous that comes with having dealt with so many people and scenarios."Because she cares so much," the producer said, "it gives us an amazing opportunity for us as creators, and for the players, to experience more uncertainty and more surprises because of that character, right?"That said, don't worry about old Gerry from the Riviera being allowed to live out his days sipping wine far away from whatever action you're getting up to in The Witcher 4 - CD Projekt has now officially confirmed that he'll be showing up in it. Kalemba didn't provide any details as to what exactly the White Wolf'll be doing in the game, but he did insist that Geralt is important to both the devs and Ciri. Awwww, insert that image of Gerry giving a cheeky thumbs up we've used for articles before here.If you want to celebrate now knowing more about the next Witcher game, why not do what I did not long ago and goof around in The Witcher 3 with a mod that allows Geralt to turn into a centaur by blowing a big horn. I can very much confirm he'll play a major role in that witchering adventure.

Image: Nintendo LifeCast your minds back: its January 2017, and while the Switch isnt on store shelves yet, were beginning to get a taste of what to expect on the hybrid console. As part of the build-up to the console, Square Enix announces a brand new IP from the team behind the Bravely Default series Project Octopath Traveler.I, and many others, immediately fell in love. In the short 40-second clip, we got a glimpse at a stunning new art style, one that blends HD visuals with gorgeous pixel art and dynamic lighting. This is the first time we ever saw HD-2D.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube788kFast forward to 2024, and we have six different games using the HD-2D style the original Octopath Traveler (as it was later renamed), the mobile game Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent, Triangle Strategy, the Live A Live remake, Octopath Traveler II, and Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. That total will grow to eight (seven?) with Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake.I love HD-2D. I love the way the sunlight kisses the pixeled cobblestones of the streets and the beautifully detailed gigantic boss sprites. I love how it evokes the classic era of RPGs but with new depth and scope. Everything feels more grand.But and I say this with hesitation I think its time to stop, or at least slow down, with HD-2D visuals.Initially, HD-2D, to me, felt like a way of re-interpreting the past. Taking ideas from the SNES era and retexturing them not just visually, but musically and mechanically so they're fit for modern-day audiences. Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy, the only two new IPs using this art style, fit this memo to a tee. One takes the traditional turn-based RPG and gives it a Canterbury Tales-style structure, with unique combat mechanics and job classes; the other builds on the classic Final Fantasy Tactics-style strategy formula and gives you more dialogue and narrative choices through the Scales of Conviction. I absolutely do not want either of these series to go away.Images: Nintendo Life, Square EnixMy bigger concern with HD-2D comes in the form of remakes. Live A Live's return was, honestly, a dream come true. It felt like a fantastic way of delivering a truly unique game in this shiny new art style. And Dragon Quest III HD-2D is excellent, a traditional RPG wrapped up in new clothes. It does feel a fair bit different from all the other HD-2D games due to its polygonal 3D backdrops, and even the character sprites feel distinct from your Octopaths, Live A Lives, and Triangle Strategies, but Ive loved the time Ive spent in Aliahan so far.But were at a point where now everyone expects Square Enix to remake every single pixel art game in its back catalogue in HD-2D. Xenogears. Final Fantasy VI. Even other unlocalised titles like Bahamut Lagoon. Oh, and a little gem called Chrono Trigger. No. Stop.It works here, so well, we admit! Image: Nintendo LifeIts hard for me to say no to all of it, and Ive even been guilty of asking for HD-2D versions of other games. Admittedly, the idea of playing as Crono, Marle, Lucca, and friends as they travel through time in stunning HD-2D visuals sounds irresistible. But also, Chrono Trigger doesnt need it. It shouldnt need it. Even if that fan-made tribute looks amazing. I know Chrono Trigger would look great in HD-2D, but it still looks great now, and would look great in myriad different styles. 2D or not 2DThere are so many other fantastic pixel art styles out there. You might have looked at that list earlier and asked, Where is Star Ocean: The Second Story R? Well, its not HD-2D. Its similar, but its not the same at all the lighting is different, the camera angles are different, and the pixel art is just different enough. Im glad Gemdrops went down a different route for what was a brilliant remake.One of my favourite retro HD styles in recent years Image: Nintendo LifeBut looking outside of Square's oeuvre, you only have to look at the variety of indie titles to see how wide-ranging pixel art can be. Sea of Stars best asset is its visuals theyre stunning, a true SNES-style kaleidoscope of pixels and colour thats just above 16-bit.Team Ladybug is another developer who delivers incredible pixel art, particularly in Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth and the upcoming Blade Chimera. The fluid animations coupled with these highly detailed sprites and backgrounds make for some incredible-looking games. Look at our list of the best pixel art games on Switch to get a sense of the variety Im talking about elsewhere.The indies can do it Images: Nintendo Life, PLAYISMIn most cases, Id be happy with Square Enix simply remastering a lot of its classics. No, I dont want Vaseline filters over the pixels (looking at you, Grandia HD), I want something that lovingly preserves and enhances the art we already got. The Pixel Remasters are a good example I know theyre not for everyone, but I love the way the colours pop in these versions. Even if Final Fantasy VIs Opera scene sort of bleeds into the HD-2D 'style'. But a better example might be the I, II, and IV rereleases on PSP, which I think are the best-looking versions of those games.HD-2D is meant to evoke the past and, at the moment, it feels like people want it to redeliver the past, the classic games as they thought they remembered them. Theres nothing wrong with that, but some visual variety would be nice. They dont all have to be Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven, fully 3D, new music, new writing, etc., but Id love to see some different styles. Remasters, reimaginings, remakes, whatever else.I know you look good, Hero, don't worry. Image: Nintendo LifeRemaking and remastering games isnt cheap or easy, and HD-2D itself is expensive Octopath and Triangle Strategy producer Tomoya Asano said so himself in an interview a few years ago, which is why you dont see it absolutely everywhere. But it is pretty prevalent at this point.HD-2D should be reserved for Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy. These are two games that, to borrow something Lena Raine said about music and nostalgia, bring [retro] into a conversation with the present day so that you're still taking in inspiration, but you're bringing it forward.I have no doubt Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake is going to be wonderful. Im going to play it. And Im probably going to love how it looks. But I dont want Square Enix, or other developers, to lean on a single visual style. Give us something else. You could even just port Chrono Trigger or Xenogears to Switch Id be very happy with that, and Im sure many other people would, too.What do you think of the HD-2D style nearly eight years on? Do you want to see Square Enix remake more games with it, or do you think there are enough already? Vote in the polls below and share your thoughts in the comments.Do you think HD-2D should take a break? (123 votes)I don't want to see it ever again!5%Yes, for a few years13%I'd rather it stuck to newer IPs11%Nah, it's fine as it is46%No, remake EVERYTHING in HD-2D!25%Do you like HD-2D visuals? (117 votes)Absolutely love them, my favourite visual style right now28%They're great - not my favourite, but I like seeing it57%Not bad, prefer other pixel art10%Absolutely hate it3%I don't like any pixel art (*gasp*)2%What's your favourite HD-2D game? (99 votes)Octopath Traveler (Switch)15%Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent1%TRIANGLE STRATEGY (Switch)18%Live A Live (Switch)24%Octopath Traveler II (Switch)16%Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake (Switch)25% Our pick of impeccable pixelsThe wait is finally overRelated GamesSee AlsoShare:01 Alana has been with Nintendo Life since 2022, and while RPGs are her first love, Nintendo is a close second. She enjoys nothing more than overthinking battle strategies, characters, and stories. She also wishes she was a Sega air pirate. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesRate Your Favourite Switch Games Of The Year 2024Bring out your GOTYs!Reaction: The Game Awards Left Us With One Big Question: Will Any Of This Run On Switch 2?How would you rate the show?Poll: Okay, It's Time To Ask The Obvious - Will We Get Donkey Kong 64 On NSO?The game turns 25 in EuropePoll: It's Almost Time For The Game Awards, But Are You Expecting Much Switch News?No, not that - and definitely not THATPoll: Box Art Brawl: Wario Land 3Who's-a gonna win?

Update: New info has surfaced.At this year's Game Awards show, SEGA announced it would be releasing a new racing game officially titled Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.We've only got a cinematic trailer so far, but as you can see, Shadow the Hedgehog features. It will be "coming soon" to the Nintendo Switch and multiple other platforms. Sega has also shared some more information about this upcoming release in an official PR:Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Arlan Hamilton, founder of Backstage Capital, announced Friday that her role at the firm she started in 2015 will evolve.After 12 years of being deeply involved in the day-to-day operations, Ive decided to transition into a chairperson and advisory position, she wrote in a statement released online. She was previously a managing partner at the firm. This move will allow me to focus on what I do best amplifying Backstages mission, hosting office hours with founders and investors, chairing the advisory board, and bringing new opportunities to the table through my platform.She also wrote that the firm will enter a strategic partnership with 360 Venture Collective, which will be acquiring a significant stake in Backstages management entity and joining in co-managing operators, providing capital, and helping the firm scale.Together, were launching a $200 million fund in 2025, Hamilton said. Weve reached out to Hamilton and Backstage Capital for comment.Backstage Capital has weathered some stormy winds these past few years. The firm has invested in more than 200 companies, according to Pitchbook, including the fintech Guava and information platform Career Karma. It has around $20 million in assets under management, with 56 exits. But we reported back in 2022 that even then there seemed to be a slowdown at the firm. It announced at the time that it would back only existing portfolio companies, and that it would substantially downsize its team from 12 to three people.Hamilton also noted in her podcast at the time that she was frustrated with limited partners, saying the firm found itself in a purgatory kind of position, because some investors believed it already had enough support, even though that wasnt the case. The landscape for firms like Backstage and for founders like the ones it backs has only become more fraught since 2022. Funding and support to diverse founders and operators has somewhat stalled, especially for Black founders.Hamilton wrote in her online statement that the firms partnership with 360 Ventures would ensure the firm remains sustainable while multiplying our ability to support underestimated founders and create a lasting legacy, she said.Im confident that this next chapter will take us to incredible heights and Im honored to continue being part of the journey in this new capacity.

After famed investor Marc Andreessen met with government officials about the future of tech last May, he was very scared and described the meetings as absolutely horrifying. These meetings played a key role on why he endorsed Trump, he told journalist Bari Weiss this week on her podcast.What scared him most was what some said about the governments role in AI, and what he described as a young staff who were radicalized and out for blood and whose policy ideas would be damaging to his and Silicon Valleys interests.He walked away believing they endorsed having the government control AI to the point of being market makers, allowing only a couple of companies who cooperated with the government to thrive. He felt they discouraged his investments in AI. They actually said flat out to us, dont do AI startups like, dont fund AI startups, he said.Obviously, we dont know how the other folks in the meeting would recall such discussions, or even who he met with. But we can understand why such thoughts would be frightening for Andreessen in particular: His firm has backed AI startups like Elon Musks xAI, Mistral AI, and Character.AI.Its worth noting that in June 2023, long before these meetings, Andreessen published an AI manifesto called Why AI will save the world in which he warned against AI regulation. So this is an area thats been on his mind for a while.Publicly, the administration has enacted less drastic measures around AI than what Andreessen recalled. In October 2023, President Joe Biden issued an executive order that contained a series of voluntary commitments for AI companies to follow. This included asking companies to share safety test results with the government and called upon Congress to evaluate how AI companies were gathering data.The order got mixed reviews from Silicon Valley at the time. OpenAIs Sam Altman tweeted that, while there were some great parts to the initiative, it will be important not to slow down innovation by smaller companies/research teams.The next administration is, so far, indicating its plans to play especially nicely with AI startups. Earlier this month, Trump declared that investor VC David Sacks would be his AI and crypto czar, after which both Altman and Perplexity confirmed they would donate $1 million to Trumps inaugural fund. President Trump will lead our country into the age of AI, and I am eager to support his efforts to ensure America stays ahead, Altman said in a statement to Bloomberg News.Andreessen himself has spent about half his time in Mar-a-Lago since the election. He confirmed to Weiss the speculation that he was involved in Elon Musks DOGE initiative, describing himself as an an unpaid volunteer. He also said that, at Mar-a-Lago, hes been involved in some of the interviewing process for some of the officials coming in.Andreessen said he felt hopeful about Trumps approach to tech, saying Trump told him, I dont know much about tech, but I dont need to, because you guys know a lot about it. You guys should go build tech companies. The American tech companies should win.

Theres plenty to gawk at in Netflixs animated feature Ultraman: Rising, from explosive inner-city battles to adorable baby kaiju Emis cheeky smile and her explosive poops.But another mesmerizing feature in Emmy Award-winning director Shannon Tindles latest animated achievement up for Annie Awards consideration with voting this week is Ken Satos hair. As if the heartthrob character needed yet another feature for viewers to drool over.VFX supervisor Hayden Jones sure thought so.One of the things we knew we didn't want was a full hair simulation, where every strand is there, he says. It would break the effect of the stylization.The animation design on the film, produced by Netflix Animation, Tsuburaya Productions and Industrial Light & Magic, falls somewhere between comic and cartoon, hand-drawn 2D and 3D graphics. The film centered around main character Ken Sato whos trying to live up to his fathers legacy as Ultraman while balancing his celebrity status and sudden promotion to adoptive kaiju father is full of highly emotive characters with defined 2D face lines and superhero fight sequences with plenty of hand-drawn effects layered onto more traditionally rigged 3DCG animation.So, it makes sense that, when it came to the characters hair, fluffy and soft textures werent going to cut it. We had these solid surfaces, and we got them to move correctly, so they felt right, shares Jones. But, still, the look was really elusive. Shannon brought forward quite a lot of great Japanese actor references where they all had these beautiful hairstyles that were quite slicked over, and they had these highlights that ran down the parting. We were like, That's it. Thats what weve got to create.Just because the hair had to fit into this manga-adjacent animation, didnt mean it couldnt stand out, as Jones puts it, with some hot highlights.It was an interesting challenge, but the look dev team worked with the composite team and we just all pulled together, says Jones. We were really pleased by the end. I would love to have hair that is that beautiful.As stylized as it is, Ultraman, a property that created in 1966 by Eiji Tsuburaya, also has deep roots in Japans history and Jones felt it was important to connect their feature films style with not only something visually delicious, but something authentically Japanese. And the line work on both the characters and background settings was a massive part of that push. When you start investigating how manga and anime have informed each other over many, many years, you start projecting it into, Where can we take it? Where can we push that technique next? says Jones. And you always want to know where historically it's been, so that you can start innovating from a set point. With line work, it's very specific. Sometimes there's hard outlines, smaller, thinner lines to define smaller structures. Getting that balance right, when you pay attention to it, instantly looks like you've brought a manga or an anime to life. If you get it slightly wrong, it starts looking more like an American comic. We really wanted to make sure we were being as culturally authentic as we possibly could, so we put a lot of care into all the really small details like that.The contact shots that launch sequences from 3D to quick 2D frames when Ultraman gets hit or hits back was another detail pulled from fight sequences in many anime series that Jones wanted to incorporate into Tindles film.We started out working with the lighting and compositing teams to see if this kind of transition was something we could do automatically, notes Jones. And, actually, you cant do it automatically because its so dependent on performance. Sometimes its two frames, sometimes its three, sometimes its even four. It depends on how you want to adjust the contrast. Sometimes we invert the whole image. It really has to play to the action and the story beat.But even though each scene had to be art directed, Jones says the transitions, while tedious, were extremely enjoyable.Because youre trying to shock the viewer with this visual stimulus that connects the punch or whatever is happening, he says. It was great fun. Another small detail that gathered inspiration from classic Japanese anime like Akira and Cowboy Bebop, which Jones became known for on the team, were the lens flares used in film. Of course, pulling from 2D references and then translating that lens flare tradition into 3D, like most things with Ultraman, required balance.Its a big part of the story and was just as true for all of us working on the films style, says Jones. We were looking at the TohoScope lenses developed in the 50s by Toho Studios and how they deal with lens flare. They have these beautiful anamorphic lens flares. Thats the real world. And then we were looking at Akira on the other side where you have these hand drawn, super stylized lens flares. We thought, How do we merge these two worlds together?Jones and his team created a toolset with massive geometric shapes that moved in a way that reflected aspects of both TohoScope and Akiras lens flares. Jones was even given the production team title, Emperor of the Lens Flare.Every lens flare was art directed by me and it was an absolute joy to direct every single one of them, says Jones, I pride myself on my lens flare. Theres a shot where Ken's approaching the camera on the motorbike and the lens flare does the full Akira where it just radiates out. I love that shot.He adds, There's a kind of DNA of anime and manga that runs vividly through the whole film. It is a love letter from all of us at ILM to the thousands and thousands of talented artists who have been creating these films for years. Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime. She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment. Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.

The speed, the adrenaline, the legacy. Picma Creative Post from So Paulo delivers really cool visual effects in Netflixs Senna, bringing the legendary racers world to life with stunning realism!WATCH IT ON Vincent Frei The Art of VFX 2024The post Senna: VFX Breakdown by Picma Creative Post appeared first on The Art of VFX.

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