Our Experts Written by Lori Grunin Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement Why You Can Trust CNET 16171819202122232425+ Years of Experience 14151617181920212223 Hands-on Product Reviewers 6,0007,0008,0009,00010,00011,00012,00013,00014,00015,000 Sq. Feet of Lab Space How we test CNETs expert staff reviews and rates dozens of new products and services each month, building on more than a quarter century of expertise. What to consider Price The sweet spot -- for mainstream 1440p gaming and an RTX 4070 GPU that will last you longer without sacrificing AAA play -- sits roughly between $1,200 and $2,000, depending upon what you're willing to sacrifice. Operating system Microsoft Windows is the most popular choice for gaming laptops, but if you've got an M3 Pro or better or an M4 MacBook, Apple's been working with developers to increase the prominent games for MacOS. Screen Most gaming laptops feature large displays between 14 and 18 inches; the older and cheaper models generally have 15.6- or 17-inch models. OLED delivers the highest contrast, most colorful and fastest displays, but you might want to look for HDR support, which they don't always have. Processor Intel and AMD are the main CPU makers for gaming laptops; most games depend on the GPU for their graphics performance, but sims and other games that populate worlds based on player or environmental interactions use the CPU quite a bit, so look for at least a Core i7 HX and better or AMD 8040HS-series CPUs or faster. Graphics All gaming laptops will feature a dedicated GPU from either Nvidia or AMD (and to a far lesser extent, Intel). Nvidia is the most popular and generally the best performing for the money. Look for an RTX 40xx or Radeon 7000-series discrete GPU or later. Memory For memory, we highly recommend at least 16GB of RAM; 8GB will hamper performance in a lot of cases. Storage 1TB is good; more is usually better, depending upon how much extra it costs. Table of Contents Our Picks Best overall gaming laptop Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (2024) View details $2,700 at Best Buy View details Best budget gaming laptop Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 View details $1,000 at Amazon View details Best performing gaming laptop Alienware m18 R2 View details $1,900 at Alienware View details Best MacBook for gamers Apple MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro View details $2,499 at Apple View details Best 14-inch for gamers and creators Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 View details $1,650 at Best Buy View details Best general-purpose laptop for gaming HP Omen Transcend 14 View details $1,600 at Best Buy View details Best budget gaming laptop for 1440p Alienware m16 R2 View details $1,750 at Amazon View details LAPTOP DEALS OF THE WEEK Dell Inspiron 15 3520 Intel i7 512GB SSD 16GB RAM 15.6-inch Laptop: $450 (save $150) Dell Inspiron 16 5640 Intel 7 1TB SSD 32GB RAM 16-inch Laptop: $800 (save $250) Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 6 Ryzen 7 1TB SSD 16GB RAM 14-inch Laptop: $894 (save $826) Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article. Table of Contents What is the best laptop overall?My favorite model that has a good balance of price, weight, performance, screen and design at the moment is the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16. The model we tested is relatively pricey at $2,700 for an upscale configuration with a 16-inch OLED screen, RTX 4080, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD and an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H. Solid configurations start at $2,000. I consider it the best general choice for gaming, but its little sibling -- the G14 -- is a little more highly rated because of its more general-use advantages, like size, weight and lower price.The best of the budget gaming models is the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16. Acer knows how to wring performance out of every component, and this one is fast for its low-end RTX 4050 graphics, which is sufficient for 1080p gaming and a bright display.Note that we're coming up on CES 2025 when all the laptop manufacturers traditionally refresh or reinvent their lines based on new chips from AMD, Intel and Nvidia. The new models don't usually ship until between March and June, so you may want to hit pause on your buying until after we know what's coming -- or until the 2024 models drop in price if you want to save some money.My recommendations for the best laptops are based on our benchmark-based and hands-on testing (we play games, too). We continually test laptops, so we'll be updating our recommendations as we review the latest models.Read more:Best gaming laptops

December 16, 20244 min readWhy Its a Bad Idea to Shoot at New Jersey Mystery DronesSurging reports of strange drones in the skies over New Jersey and other parts of the northeast U.S. have spurred calls to shoot down the unidentified objects. But thats a very bad ideaBy Lee BillingsA small drone silhouetted against a full moon. Flyby Photography/Alamy Stock PhotoAs reports of mysterious drones flying over the northeast U.S. continue to surge, so too does a seemingly common-sense response: Well, why not just try shooting one down?The sightings, which reportedly started about a month ago in the skies over northern New Jersey, have now spread to surrounding states including New York State, Pennsylvania and Marylandand the seeming lack of satisfactory answers from local, state and federal authorities has left many public officials and ordinary citizens alike feeling frustrated and powerless. In response, a bipartisan chorus of lawmakers has begun calling for more aggressive measures. Even President-elect Donald Trump has weighed in, writing in a Truth Social post last Friday that in the absence of proper explanation from the government, the next step should be to shoot them down!!!Dear reader, at the risk of being considered politically biased or in on any number of drone-related conspiracy theories, its our duty to inform you that trying to shoot down one of these unidentified flying objects is a truly terrible idea. Please dont do itand not just because if the drones are emissaries from some alien supercivilization, shooting at them might be interpreted as an act of interstellar war.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Heres why:Many of these drones arent drones at allWhile some number of the sightings are almost certainly real drones being operated by unknown parties for unclear reasons, according to the FBI, most of the thousands of New Jersey drone reports are consistent with witnesses misidentifying crewed aircraft. In overlaying the visual sightings reported to the FBI with approach patterns for Newark-Liberty, JFK, and LaGuardia airports, the density of reported sightings matches the approach patterns of these very busy airports, with flights coming in throughout the night, FBI officials noted in a White House media briefing Saturday. This modeling is indicative of manned aviation being quite often mistaken for unmanned aviation or UAS [uncrewed aerial systems].To illustrate just how easy it is for most anyone to make this sort of mistake, look no further than New Jersey Senator Andy Kim, who met with concerned constituents at Round Valley Reservoir last Thursday night to see the phenomenon first-hand. Kim and his fellow observers noted multiple sightings, many of which were captured on video. More detailed analysis revealed, however, that the potential drones were in fact mere airplaneswhich Kim helpfully explained in a series of social media posts. Similarly, the following day former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan posted about dozens of drones flying over his home the night before; seemingly all of them were subsequently identified as ordinary celestial objects, such as the planet Mars and the bright star Sirius.Physics isnt on your side, and what goes up must come downGranted, taking a potshot at another planet from your backyard may seem innocuous. Your bullets, slugs or pellets wont reach escape velocity, let alone be able to navigate interplanetary space to reach their far-distant targets. But precisely because they cant break Earths surly bonds, all ballistic projectiles fired upward will fall back to the surfacewhere they can easily cause very real and potentially deadly harm.Firing on an actual object flying in Earths atmosphere is of course a dangerous proposition, tooespecially in this case, when so many reports are clearly misidentifying crewed aircraft flying relatively low and slow after taking off or during landing approaches at nearby airports. Generally speaking, although such circumstances are more favorable for conventional firearms hitting their mark, the odds of a bullseye are still lowbut would you want to be the one responsible for a rifle bullet striking, say, a commercial passenger plane about to land in Newark?If youre especially physics-savvy, you might think to try firing something far faster and seemingly more innocuous at a suspected dronelike a laser beam. But while most lasers wont blow a hole in a fuselage, they can still disorient aircraft crew, as well as sensors on uncrewed vehicles, creating hazardous situations. (And, alas, it seems the spate of drone reports has already caused this sort of laser-based dazzling for aircraft flying over New Jersey, presumably from people on the ground targeting them with laser pointers.) Outside of lasers, other electromagnetic effects, such as blasts of radio waves, can also disrupt aircraft navigation systems and are often used in military-grade drone-jamming technology. But these can have dangerous results, too.Via bullets or photons, in a worst-case scenario such external influence could result in an aircraft (whether a passenger-packed plane or some sort of clandestine drone) crashing in an uncontrolled descent. This would turn what was otherwise most likely a safe-but-spooky object in the sky into a genuine threat: effectively a fuel-filled (or battery-packed) missile plummeting toward the ground, potentially colliding with other aircraft as it goes or sparking a fire where it lands.The law isnt on your side, eitherBecause of all these very real risks, its a criminal offense in the U.S. for private citizens to interfere with, damage or destroy any flying aircrafteven if its unidentified and moving over private property. And shooting a gun into the air is typically unlawful, too, considered as the reckless discharge of a firearm.So please, dont try to shoot down any dronesor at least leave such tasks to the authorities. And while youre at it, consider becoming more familiar with the wonders of the night sky, whether natural or humanmade. Youll find most of them are rather beautiful and not at all threatening.

December 16, 20245 min readFerns Backward Evolution Reveals Lifes Meandering PathEvolution is often depicted as a steady forward march from simple to complex forms. But new research shows that certain ferns can evolve backwardBy Jacob S. Suissa & The Conversation USUnfurling fiddlehead of the Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides). Danita Delimont/Alamy Stock PhotoThe following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research.Imagine a photograph of your great-grandparents, grandparents and parents side by side. Youd see a resemblance, but each generation would look distinct from its predecessors. This is the process of evolution in its simplest form: descent with modification.Over many generations, a staggering amount of modification is possible. This is how the diversity of life on Earth came to be.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.This idea, though, has long been misunderstood as a path that leads in one direction toward higher or better organisms. For example, Rudolph Zallingers famous 1965 Time-Life illustration The Road to Homo Sapiens shows humans evolving in a stepwise fashion from ape-like ancestors to modern man.Extending this perspective beyond humans, early paleontological theories about ancient life supported the idea of orthogenesis, or progressive evolution, in which each generation of a lineage advanced toward more sophisticated or optimized forms.But evolution has no finish line. There is no end goal, no final state. Organisms evolve by natural selectionacting at a specific geologic moment, or simply by drift without strong selection in any direction.In a recently published study that I carried out with Makaleh Smith, then an undergraduate research intern at Harvard University who was funded by the National Science Foundation, we sought to study whether a one-way model of reproductive evolution always held true in plants. To the contrary, we found that in many types of ferns one of the oldest groups of plants on Earth evolution of reproductive strategies has been a two-way street, with plants at times evolving backward to less specialized forms.The path of evolution is not linearSelection pressures can change in a heartbeat and steer evolution in unexpected directions.Take dinosaurs and mammals, for instance. For over 150 million years, dinosaurs exerted a strong selection pressure on Jurassic mammals, which had to remain small and live underground to avoid being hunted to extinction.Then, about 66 million years ago, the Chicxulub asteroid wiped out most nonavian dinosaurs. Suddenly, small mammals were relieved of their strong predatory selection pressure and could live above ground, eventually evolving into larger forms, including humans.In 1893, Belgian paleontologist Louis Dollo introduced the idea that once an organism progresses to a certain point, it does not revert to a previous state in the exact way in which it evolved even if it encounters conditions identical to those it once experienced. Dollos law, as it came to be known, implies that specialization is largely a one-way street, with organisms accumulating layers of complexity that make backward evolution impossible.While Dollos law has been criticized, and its original idea has largely faded from popular discourse, this perspective still influences aspects of biology today.Plants and the march of progressMuseums often depict animal evolution as a straight-line progression toward higher stages, but theyre not the only sources of this narrative. It also appears in teaching about the evolution of reproduction in plants.The earliest vascular plants those with tissues that can move water and minerals throughout the plant had leafless, stemlike structures called telomes, with capsules at their tips called sporangia that produced spores. The telomes did both of the plants big jobs: converting sunlight to energy through photosynthesis and releasing spores to produce new plants.Fossil records show that over time, plants developed more specialized structures that divided these reproductive and photosynthetic functions. Moving through plant lineages, from spore-bearing lycophytes to ferns to flowering plants, reproduction becomes more and more specialized. Indeed, the flower is often diagrammed as the end goal of botanical evolution.Across the plant kingdom, once species evolved reproductive structures such as seeds, cones and flowers, they did not revert to simpler, undifferentiated forms. This pattern supports a progressive increase in reproductive complexity. But ferns are an important exception.Evolving, but not always forwardFerns have multiple reproductive strategies. Most species combine spore development and photosynthesis on a single leaf type a strategy called monomorphism. Others separate these functions to have one leaf type for photosynthesis and another for reproduction a strategy called dimorphism.If the patterns of specialization seen broadly across plants were universal, we would expect that once a lineage of ferns evolved dimorphism, it could not shift course and revert to monomorphism. However, using natural history collections and algorithms for estimating evolution in ferns, Smith and I found exceptions to this pattern.Within a family known as chain ferns (Blechnaceae), we found multiple cases in which plants had evolved highly specialized dimorphism, but then reverted to the more general form of monomorphism.Lacking seeds gives ferns flexibilityWhy might ferns have such flexible reproductive strategies? The answer lies in what they lack: seeds, flowers and fruits. This distinguishes them from the more than 350,000 species of seed plants living on Earth today.Imagine taking a fertile fern leaf, shrinking it down and wrapping it up tightly into a tiny pellet. Thats basically what an unfertilized seed is a highly modified dimorphic fern leaf, in a capsule.Seeds are just one highly specialized structure in a suite of reproductive traits, each building on the last, creating a form so specific that reversal becomes nearly impossible. But because living ferns dont have seeds, they can modify where on their leaves they place their spore-producing structures.Our findings suggest that not all reproductive specialization in plants is irreversible. Instead, it may depend on how many layers of specialization plants have acquired over time.In todays rapidly changing world, knowing which organisms or traits are locked in could be important for predicting how species respond to new environmental challenges and human-imposed habitat changes.Organisms that have evolved down one-way paths may lack the flexibility to respond to new selection pressures in particular ways and have to figure out new strategies to change. In lineages such as ferns, species may retain their ability to evolve backward, even after specialization.Ultimately, our study underscores a fundamental lesson in evolutionary biology: There is no correct direction in evolution, no march toward an end goal. Evolutionary pathways are more like tangled webs, with some branches diverging, others converging, and some even looping back on themselves.This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Beneath A Steel Sky at 30: how Terry Gilliam's Brazil and a week in Wales sowed the seeds of this classic adventure game"We wanted it to be different."Image credit: Eurogamer/Revolution Software Interview by Graeme Mason Contributor Published on Dec. 16, 2024 Founded in 1989, Yorkshire-based Revolution Software hit the ground running with Lure of the Temptress, an advanced 3D point-and-click adventure that utilised Revolution's own Virtual Theatre engine. "We were reaching the end [on Lure of the Temptress], and it was the most intense time, testing and checking it," remembers Charles Cecil, co-founder of Revolution alongside Tony Warriner, Noirin Carmody and David Sykes. "And the problem was, as a one-team, one-project company, we were having to start the next one at the same time." Hence the development detox for Warriner and Cummins, despatched to a remote Cecil family cottage in North Wales. When the pair returned, they had a 12-page design for Revolution's next game. "I said, 'Look, just go off to Wales for a week and come back with a complete design'," grins Cecil, acknowledging the enormity of this simple sentence.So, how did the creative process work? "I don't know," laughs Warriner. "It was one of those creative zones, where things sort of flow, where you don't really know how you've done it or how you got into that mode." Before Warriner and Cummins set off for Wales, several ideas for Revolution's next game had percolated around the office: a prime influence was Terry Gilliam's 1985 film Brazil, and that it should be set in Australia. "So we had that design, that concept of Australia and the cities in the desert," Warriner continues. "But it was like, what is the game going to be?" The eventual game, sketched out in North Wales, would become one of the most revered point-and-click games of all time. The famous beginning a tale and a half awaits Robert Foster and the player. | Image credit: Eurogamer/Revolution SoftwareIn Beneath a Steel Sky, the player is Robert Foster, an orphan raised by a tribe of Aboriginals in an area known as 'The Gap', a wilderness between towering megacities. When security officers arrive from Union City and cause havoc, Foster is taken back to the city. After giving his guards the slip, he stands on a steel walkway, ready to explore the dystopian city and uncover the innate corruption and exploitation at the heart of this seemingly advanced society.With Charles Cecil directing, Beneath a Steel Sky - known as Underworld at this point - went ahead into production, using an improved and updated version of Lure's Virtual Theatre engine. However, in terms of player interactivity and UI, the most significant change was Revolution's shift away from the traditional point-and-click trend of clicking on listed phrases or commands. "I think quite early on there was a famous meeting with a producer at Virgin called Simon Jeffrey," remembers Warriner. "And, to his credit, he said, 'Get rid of all that shit. Just have the left and right clicks'. And we were like, 'You're right!'" Instead of selecting the correct action from a list of verbs and commands, the player simply mouse-clicks to bring up the commands. Operating this lift is an early puzzle. | Image credit: Eurogamer/Revolution Software"With those listed choices, what you're doing is wasting the player's time because only one or two of them will work," notes Cecil. "By offering just two actions - interact and look - we reduced the number of permutations enormously. But then we attracted criticism about the game being too easy. That's sort of the price you have to pay." The interface, refined further for Revolutions next hit, Broken Sword, is today a template for the point-and-click genre. Beneath a Steel Sky's iconic packaging. | Image credit: Graeme MasonFor Steel Sky's story and visual tones, Revolution was keen to move away from the light-hearted approach of the genre's leader, LucasArts. "I mean, Monkey Island was a great game," explains Warriner, "but we thought the humour was too much. So we always tried to have a dark, gritty and believable central theme, putting our own dry humour on top of that." Cecil nods in agreement. "We wanted to have much more credible puzzles that people could work out because they were true to the context, character motivation and environment at that time. We wanted it to be different."Steel Sky's stunning visuals were also a world away from LucasArts' bright and vibrant games, inspired as they were by Brazil and, consequently, the book that inspired the Gilliam movie, which was George Orwell's 1984. An essential facet here was artist Dave Gibbons, with whom Cecil had worked while at Activision as the publisher attempted to develop a video game version of the alt-superhero graphic novel Watchmen. Cecil takes up the story: "Dave was quite clear that he didn't actually own the rights [to Watchmen]; I think DC owned them, but I can't remember why it never moved forward. It was a shame because it could have been a good licence." The scene of a dramatic event early in Steel Sky. | Image credit: Eurogamer/Revolution SoftwareThe work was not wasted, however, with Cecil remembering Gibbons when it came to Beneath a Steel Sky. "Dave had a very good name, and it felt like there was an opportunity to not only have him endorse the game, but also contribute. We shipped him an Amiga because he was so excited to start designing characters in DPaint." Ultimately, Gibbons would also design many of Steel Sky's emotive backdrops and the game's overall design. Plus, of course, the comic bundled within the game's large black box. "I think the Australia setting may have come from Dave," ponders Cecil, "with the richest and most privileged living high up where the air is cleaner." Revolution even tried to hoodwink the player away from Australia, using London-esque names such as St James (a real underground station in Sydney). "The whole Australia thing was meant to be played down - but then Dave drew kangaroos in the comic book, which kinda gave it away!" laughs Warriner. The Commodore Amiga game came on a whopping 15 disks. | Image credit: Graeme MasonAs Beneath a Steel Sky grew, Warriner and Sykes continued development on the Amiga, porting their work across to PC. "By today's standards, it was not a big piece of programming," says Warriner. "It would take me two weeks to recreate that engine today, with modern platforms, libraries and so on." Les Pace and Steve Ince helped bring Gibbons's pictures to the screen; James Long joined Warriner and Sykes on coding duties; Steve Oades led animation; and Tony Williams and Dave Cummins wrote the script and composed the game's futuristic music, with the latter also evolving Steel Sky's futuristic storyline. "It was quite a small team," says Warriner, "and everyone was quite talented at their own particular thing, although we were all very different types of people, so bickering was inevitable." Working from Revolution's offices in Hull, the team lived and breathed Steel Sky, the developers and their game flooding over into the pubs and bars on weekends. "It was seven days a week, late nights, and a lot of pressure," Warriner remembers. "And no money. But there was a lot of creative stuff going on."In sharp contrast to many video games now (and in the 90s), there were no spreadsheets, focus groups, or publisher intervention. "Steel Sky was just hacked out," smiles Cecil. "It was just like, let's make this game and every day, it would inch further to completion. It ended up being so much more than the sum of its parts. It's a game with soul." As Cecil further reveals, Revolution's strong relationship with publisher Virgin helped immensely, and it was severely tested towards the end of Steel Sky's development. "Virgin were very supportive, and yes, we did keep running out of money. But it found creative ways to fund it a little more." Robots are a key part of Beneath a Steel Sky. | Image credit: Eurogamer/Revolution SoftwareOne of these methods was to commission an Amiga CD32 version of Beneath a Steel Sky, adding voices to the existing game. At this point, Cecil recounts a tale of recalcitrant Shakespearean actors, overly fond of lunchtime drinking and, err, other recreational activities that adjusted their accents from morning to afternoon. "We kind of struggled through this, and it was absolutely dire," laughs Cecil. "And in the end, we were saved by Konami. It had licensed the game for the US and said, 'We're terribly sorry, we can't understand a word these people are saying!'" The situation allowed Revolution to jettison what it had already recorded and start again from scratch.Released early in 1994 on the Commodore Amiga and later on PC, Beneath a Steel Sky was met with universal praise. "As we'd done with Lure, we really innovated and came up with new ideas," says Cecil. "People seemed to forgive weaknesses if you did that, because things were changing so fast. Back then, we had no direct relationship with our audience; we sold the game to the publisher, who sold it to the retailers, who sold it to the public. We just had to wait with bated breath fortunately, the reception was fantastic, putting us on an absolute high." Dave Gibbons' comic was included with Steel Sky, and semi-adapted for the game'sintro sequence. | Image credit: Graeme MasonSteel Sky's subsequent sales forged Revolution's relationship with Virgin, inciting a three-game deal with the publisher, paving the way for the incredible success of the Broken Sword series. "[Beneath a Steel Sky] was a pivotal game for Revolution," muses Cecil. "The scholars of adventure gaming recognise it for its design changes, and for many, it's a seminal game. And, you know, one of the great privileges of writing adventure games is the people who say that these games changed their lives in the same way as a good film or book. But in many ways, an adventure game can be even more powerful, and it's a huge compliment when we hear from people who say they were profoundly affected by Beneath a Steel Sky."Today, Beneath a Steel Sky is rightly recognised as a defining game in its genre, its legacy detailed further in Tony Warriner's excellent book, Revolution: The Quest for Game Development Greatness. "Part of the reason I wrote that book was to try and understand how we did it," he explains, "to try and get a grip on that feeling and maybe reproduce it somehow. Because it was difficult. And it was highly pressured. But creatively, it was terrific."

Beware: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 film spoilers are running wildDon't disappoint Shadow.Image credit: Paramount Pictures News by Ed Nightingale Deputy News Editor Published on Dec. 16, 2024 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is out in cinemas later this week, but supposed spoilers of its post credits scene are already being posted online.The end of the previous film featured Shadow in a scene after the credits, setting up the story for this third film.Many fans are therefore eagerly awaiting this film's equivalent scene to see who might be coming next. This is your warning, then, to mute any necessary keywords and watch out on social media.Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | Official Trailer 2 (2024 Movie) Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey, Keanu ReevesWatch on YouTubeThe UK premiere for the film took place last week, alongside various early viewing screenings. As such, recorded footage has now found its way online - we won't link to it here.Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will release worldwide on 20th December, so it's not long until the post credits scene has been widely viewed. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.The film features Shadow the Hedgehog, voiced by Keanu Reeves, and fans have spotted plenty of Sonic Adventure 2 references in its trailers so far.The latest trailer even includes a Chao Garden reference, and Shadow with a gun.Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will conclude the Year of Shadow, following the recent release of Sonic x Shadow Generations.

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereMarvel Rivals has been growing in popularity each day as fans are playing as their favorite hero in the new free-to-play 6v6 title. The game has already taken over giants like Overwatch 2 as players are hard at work to unlock their favorite skins and level up across their Battle Pass.However, now NetEase Games have announced the first major content update for the game, Winter Celebration, which will bring Christmas-themed cosmetics, a new game mode and free gifts for players to claim.Marvel Rivals Winter Celebration kicks off with free Jeff skin, game modes and festive cosmeticsMarvel Rivals posted a full trailer for its upcoming Winter Celebration on their X page, revealing the new game mode Jeffs Winter Splash Festival, new character skins and free rewards that players can claim. The update will be rolled out on December 19, 2024 at 11 PM PST and as of yet, no end date for the content update has been revealed yet.The Winter update for Marvel Rivals drops this weekend. Image by NetEase Games.Heres what the official post revealed: The holiday season is about to get even more magical! Enjoy the Winter Celebration with special holiday-themed costumes, new game modes, and a few surprises!Ready to Shine? Were bringing in Jeffs Winter Splash Festivala new game modeso you can truly exude your land shark joy and take on new territories. A special winter greeting card with gifts from Jeff is also waiting for you.The trailer showcased the new game mode where all players will play as Jeff The Land Shark and the first team to cover the entire map with ice will win the game. It also showed the free Jeff skin which will be available for players to claim when the update arrives.Additionally, festive themed skins for Venom, Groot, Magik and Rocket Raccoon will also be released in the shop that players can purchase in exchange for Units. As the trailer mentioned, Jeff will also bring some free gifts for players which may include items like Banner, Icon, Emote and more.Marvel RivalsPlatform(s):macOS, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series XGenre(s):Fighting, ShooterSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereFortnite annual events are always a welcome update by players as they await to celebrate annual traditions like Halloween, Fortnites Birthday, and Christmas, all inside the games metaverse and the Battle Royale island. Updates like Fortnitemares and Winterfest bring big changes to the game including themed decorations around the island, quests, and free rewards.This year is no different after a successful Fortnitemares 2024, Epic is bringing another annual tradition with stacked content for Christmas with the Winterfest update on December 19, 2024. However, a new leak has emerged and offers players the first look at the free skin that players will get this year.Fortnite leak reveals free Christmas-themed Guff skin as Winterfest rewardFortnite leaker ShiinaBR has posted the first look at the upcoming Christmas Tree Guff skin that is rumored to be the free skin for Winterfest 2024 in Chapter 6 Season 1. This will be the second Guff skin that will be rewarded to players for free after Guff Gringle was given away in 2022.Christmas Tree Guff will be the free Winterfest skin this year. Image by ShiinaBR.Now this skin is themed after the iconic Lt. Evergreen skin which was released with Winterfest 2019 back in Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 1. To those wondering when would they be able to claim the new Guff skin, youll likely get it on the day of Christmas, which is December 25th.Since the Winterfest cabin is also rumored to return this year, players will be able to open presents from the cabin and one of those will have this leaked skin inside. However, more rewards have been leaked so far, which may be included in the presents or can also be quest rewards when Winterfest 2024 arrives.Until then, you can head over to all the quests available in Chapter 6 Season 1, to complete your Battle Pass which includes collab skins like Baymax, and claim V-Bucks so you can be geared up right in time before Winterfest. FortnitePlatform(s):Android, iOS, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/XGenre(s):Action, Massively Multiplayer, Shooter9VideoGamerSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

Miami Heat small forward Jimmy Butler has a lavish new spot to call home. The NBA All-Star just signed the lease on a Miami Beach mansion for over $70,000 a month, the Real Deal reports. The exact price of Butlers new rental isnt publicly known, though the Hibiscus Island dwelling was asking $95,000 a month the last time it was listed as a rental. Should the Texas native decide to buy the place outright, its also for sale at $30 million.Per the listing, the 2001-built Mediterranean-style house spans about 6,100 square feet with five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. The roughly half-acre plot also hosts a sprawling backyard patio, a pool with a waterfall, a hot tub, and a boat dockall with panoramic views of the water and the Miami skyline. The homes great room features grand archways, a spiral staircase, and a chefs kitchen that comes complete with a waterfall-edge stone island and bespoke wood cabinetry. Nearby, a moody, charcoal-hued den is equipped with a built-in wet bar and French doors that open to the patio.Butler also maintains an AD-featured Spanish Revival-style abode in San Diego, which he bought in 2020. I grew up with a whole bunch of nothing, so Ive dreamed of having a home for myself, for my family, and I put everything into this house, the cover star told AD in October. This is for my kids. I do this to inspireto show that if you want something you can go get it. That home, crafted in collaboration with AD100 designer Tiffany Brooks, is outfitted with its own coffee shopthe first iteration of Butlers coffee brand, BIGFACE.Join NowHoliday Sale: Become an AD PRO member for only $20 $12 per monthArrowPerhaps its best that Butler keeps his Miami real estate a little noncommittal. The athlete, who is in his third of four years contracted by the Heat, is currently the subject of trade rumors. According to ESPN, Butler has said he is open to trading to the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and Golden State Warriors.

In 2014, heads turned when furniture behemoth RH unveiled its inaugural Gallery outpost in Atlanta. Imagined as a grand Southern estate, the Buckhead location illuminated a bold, multifaceted approach to retailone central to RHs upscale branding overhaul.Pictured above is the RH Lign King Bed in Oak.Courtesy of RHThese sensory-driven destinations, all of which occupy architecturally significant buildings, have recently sprouted in Raleigh, North Carolina; Palo Alto, California; and even Madrid. Next year in Paris, RHs transformation of a former Abercrombie & Fitch location on the Champs-lyses will ramp up the brands European footprint. But in the shorter term, the furniture giant still has tricks up its sleeve, as it opens a brand-new outpost: RH Newport Beach, The Gallery at Fashion Island. Comprising a whopping 97,000 square feet, its the largest RH Gallery yet, transporting customers as they wander through its four airy levels.Given the success of its Fashion Island legacy store, RH expanded within the bustling South California market with a visually impactful Gallery designed in-house. We believe great architecture amplifies and renders our product and brand more valuable, RH chairman & CEO Gary Friedman tells AD PRO. We either find great historical architecture and readapt it, or we build it, and RH Newport Beach is an entirely new design built from the ground up.

Behind the Scenes: Railway Station By Alina Khan on December 16, 2024 Behind the Scenes Head into Seifis art journey as he ventures through various render engines to skillfully master his hyper-realistic art.INTRODUCTIONHi, I am Alireza Seifi, a 3D designer and environment artist born in Tehran, Iran. My main field of interest and focus was cinema and film music so with that background, I joined the 3D industry like many other people in the early 2000's and started my career in 2005 seriously. In that time, I was mainly focused on recreating ancient monuments and architecture using 3DS Max, V-Ray, and Brazil render engine. Since I have worked with most render engines, I wanted to share my experience and history of working with these as well.Damavand Tomb Tower / 2011. 3DS Max, V-rayTehran Post and Telegraph Building / 2013. 3DS Max, V-rayLater in 2016-2017, I tried to switch to a more modern architecture style, archviz, and product visualization. It was at that point that I said goodbye to my old favorite render engine, V-ray, and switched to Corona Render which was and is very user friendly, artistic, and produced realistic results without tweaks and complicated settings.Melbourne Townhouse Replication / 2017. 3DS Max, Corona RenderAt the same time, the revolutionary Fstormrender was also released for 3DS Max, with which I made a lot of renders.Still Life / 2018. 3DS Max, FstormrenderI can say that before working with Fstorm, I had started working with Octane Render and Cinema 4D. I was a bit tired of 3DS Max and wanted to switch to Cinema 4D but Fstorm was sort of a simpler version of Octane for 3DS Max, Because of this, I stayed in 3DS Max more and produced more renders with Fstorm.MainFrames Lab / 2019. 3DS Max, FstormIt was around 2020 that I almost stopped working with 3DS Max and switched into Cinema 4D and Octane Render. Octane render has a specific spiritual look which was very satisfying to me, and also very helpful because I was switching to a more retro-style image creation.Galaxy Hill / 2021. Cinema 4D, Octane RenderWhile working with Octane Render was very satisfying, I was trying to create bigger scenes but I gradually faced the VRAM issue in Octane which my laptop GPU couldnt handle. So, interestingly, I switched back to Corona Render again not in 3DS Max but this time in Cinema 4D, and it shockingly gave me the exact retro result I was looking for. The deep shadows and special sense of Corona lights were outstanding; however, the light always needed to be controlled by blockers like in any other engine to get more dramatic and focused lighting. In total, it was more reliable and satisfying for me to work with CPU-based render engines than the GPU engines, even though the latter gives faster results as the first one is more accurate, worth it to try if you have a strong CPU.The Elevator / 2022. Cinema 4D, Corona RenderIt was around 2022 that I became more interested in Unreal Engine as well as Blender. After a bit of working with Blender, I started really enjoying Blender and Cycle. My main obstacle in Cycles was that I was not able to produce my desired results I used to get from other engines in the past so my results with Cycles always came with lots of trial and error. I watched a lot of tutorials and I should say that I was really influenced by the works of the famous Blender artist, Ian Hubert, and I really appreciate his and other Blender artists efforts in discovering and showing the abilities of Blender and Cycles to people. That way, I gradually started producing more works and renders with Blender and Cycles.Ships in The City / 2024. Blender CyclesINSPIRATIONI am deeply inspired by dreams, lucid dreams, and nightmares, so once in a while I used to recreate part of a dream in CGI. Railway Station was also based on a lucid dream I saw a few months ago; what I can remember was an Art Nouveau style with a lot of corridors in which I was moving through. The atmosphere was something between a retro shopping mall, a museum, and a 19th-century railway station like the famous Art Nouveau Metro in Paris, so I tried to achieve that combination as much as possible. Somewhere empty and abandoned, like on a Friday afternoon, but also cosy and pleasant to chill like European 19th-century urban designs.PROCESSIn the past, I used to make some sketches before creating the scene but I dont do it in recent years anymore. Rather, I prefer to block the scene directly in the 3D program. The first and most time consuming part of this project was finding good/related stained glass textures and some helpful Art Nouveau references to see the architecture and structure connections and after that, I started modeling.ModelingAbout the modeling process I can say that despite the past, I dont use subdivision modeling anymore but I do use the mid-poly method which is handy both for realistic rendering and also game modeling. Its mostly based on beveling but I should always think ahead about the bevel numbers to avoid jagged edges or have base mesh duplicates as backups for complicated objects before beveling.I had prepared this scene for Unreal Engine so all the objects were modular and easy to array.But my laptops old GPU, the GTX 1080, was not able to give good results for the stained glass using Lumen; Unreal has also stopped supporting its realistic render option, the RayTracer, for old GPUs like mine, so I had to render the scene with Cycles in Blender.AddonsHere, I should confess that the most advantageous feature of Blender over other 3D programs is its handy addons and asset browser, which make the process faster and easier for impatient people like me who want to see the final result in the shortest amount of time. This way I wanted to share the list of addons that helped me a lot in the project:Blenderkit for fast readymade materials and objects:Using Blender Kit, I was easily able to load a bunch of different materials that I didnt have the nerve to make from scratch dealing with 100s of complicated shader nodes distracting me from focusing on the creative side of the project.Hardops Boxcutter and Machin3tools for fast hardsurface modeling tools:Without these tools, its almost impossible for me to create fast hard surface models. HardOps array/bevel/mirror/modifier/boolean/.. tools all gathered in the Q menu really make the modelling process 10x faster.Also, Machin3tools features like the align tool, right-click save/export menu, etc., are very important for any project. I myself cannot work without them. For example, since I use Substance Painter a lot, the Machin3tools save menu gives the fast possibility of FBX, OBJ, etc., export and many other options with just pressing Ctrl+S.Sketchfab and its Blender import addon for realistic 3D scanned models:I cannot express the importance of Sketchfab for I have not finished any project without using Sketchfab 3DS scans, be it either the 3D landscapes, industrial/mechanical models, characters, etc. In this project, I used the train model from Sketchfab.Eco-Scatter and GScatter for scattering:Eco-Scatter is an extremely user-friendly scattering addon for Blender that I use for any project with scattering. Maybe many people havent heard about this addon, but I should say its incredible. Of course, I prefer scattering tools with biome support like Graswald GScatter, which have premade grass fields or ecosystems like 3DS Max Forest Pack Pro, but unfortunately Graswald has stopped releasing the addon for newer versions of Blender, so I cannot currently use it for my projects anymore, and I really miss it.Free Blender Plants Library:I used Blenders free plant library for this project and others as well. Its very handy and I even sometimes export its models and convert them to use in Cinema 4D as well.Quixel Bridge (currently fab) assets:Like many other people, I use Quixel Bridge (currently fab) for every project. I used the stone/marble materials and the grass models for this project from Quixel Bridge.PolyHaven addon:As always, I used the PolyHaven addon for fast HDRI lighting of the scene. In this scene, I first used PolyHaven to find the most suitable HDRI for environment lighting, and I also used the Blender sun for directional lighting, especially the light passing through the stained glasses and their effect on the floor. Even though I use PolyHaven for HDRI lighting, I sometimes forget that it has a very high-quality model collection that, in my opinion, might be the highest or one of the highest quality 3D models in the market.RenderingHere is the final render with some post-production. I still miss the LUT possibility in Blender, but the AGX and new Khronos in combination with curves manipulation give very satisfying results. This way, I apply the LUT in Photoshop with other effects.RENDER: Railway StationI would like to extend my special thanks to the BlenderNation team for giving me this opportunity. Thank you for taking the time to read my article. Feel free to reach out with any questions on my social media. Have a great day!About the Artist Alireza Seifi is a 3D visualizer and environment artist based in Budapest, currently working on 3D environment and filmmaking projects. Links