Two Tencent directors have departed from Epic Games' board of directors, according to the U.S. Justice Department. In a statement, the department explained these exits came about in light of concerns about their positions on the board being anti-competitive and in violation of Section 8 of the Clayton Act.Similarly, Tencent has amended a part of its shareholder agreement with Epic and "relinquished its unilateral right to appoint directors or observers to the Epic board in the future."As the statement explains, Section 8 stops directors and officers from "serving simultaneously on the board of competitors." Tencent has had a minority stake in Epic since 2012, and is the parent company of League of Legends creator Riot Games. The two studios are major players in the industry, and Tencent's investment in both previously drew scrutiny from the U.S.' Committee of Foreign Investment.The Department's inspection into Tencent and Epic's relationship "is the latest of the divisions ongoing Section 8 enforcement efforts, which to date have unwound or prevented interlocks involving at least two dozen companies.""Scrutiny around interlocking directorates continues to be an enforcement priority for the Antitrust Division," said the Antitrust Division's deputy director Miriam Vishio. "Due to the hard work of our tremendous staff, our increased enforcement around Section 8 over the last few years has achieved substantial results and become part of our fabric."Epic Games, epic legal battlesIn recent years, Epic Games has been subject to scrutiny by the U.S. government. Earlier this month, the FTC started sending refunds to Fortnite players who had been tricked into making unwanted purchases between 2017 and 2018.The entire saga first began in December 2022. At the time, the FTC and Epic reached a $520 million settlement after the latter had been accused of using various "design tricks" to "dupe millions of players into making unintentional purchases."Epic was also ordered to give $245 million of that settlement back to customers, and the FTC began the refund process in September 2023. The amount of refunds reportedly total over $72 million.The Fortnite maker has also actively used the country's court system to settle its affairs, namely with Apple. Its legal clash with the tech company led to a court ruling that Apple would lift some restrictions for third-party payments on its App Store. Last year, Apple successfully argued to the Ninth Circuit that it had not engaged in antitrust practices against Epic.Months later, Epic appealed that new ruling to the Supreme Court, which ultimately rejected both companies' appeals back in January.This story has been updated to clarify the Justice Department's concerns about Epic and Tencent were not a full-on investigation, and Epic's $245 million fine was already baked into its initial FTC settlement.

PlayStation maker Sony is set to become the largest shareholder in FromSoftware parent company Kadokawa Corporation.It was previously reported that Sony was in talks to purchase Kadokawa, which confirmed it received an acquisition offer from an undisclosed party in November.Now, as noted in a press release, Sony has signed a strategic capital and business alliance agreement with Kadokawa that will see it acquire 12,054,110 new shares in the company for approximately 50 billion yen ($318.5 million).Sony will hold 10 percent of Kadokawa's shares following the deal. That total includes the shares Sony purchased in 2021. Sony also owns a 14.09 percent stake in FromSoftware.Both companies said the move will maximize IP value globally and facilitate wider and deeper collaboration, including potential joint investments in the content field."In the future, the two companies plan to discuss specific initiatives for collaboration, such as initiatives to adapt Kadokawa's IP into live-action films and TV dramas globally, co-produce anime works, expand global distribution of Kadokawa's anime works through the Sony Group, further expand publishing of Kadokawa's games, and develop human resources to promote and expand virtual production," adds the press release.Back in November, Kadokawa outlined plans to expand its console and PC game publishing business, and said it was "developing a structure" to bolster its efforts in that arena.Elden Ring's significant contributionsThe company noted that Elden Ring continues to drive "high growth" within its gaming business. The title has sold over 25 million copies worldwide since launching in 2022 and has received additional content in the form of the sprawling Shadow of the Erdtree expansion.FromSoftware recently announced a multiplayer Elden Ring spin-off called Elden Ring Nightreign at The Game Awards 2024.Discussing its future in the wake of the Sony deal, Kadokawa CEO Takeshi Natsuno said the company hopes to bring its franchises to more users around the world."We are confident that this will greatly contribute to maximizing the value of our IP and increasing our corporate value in the mid to long-term," he added. "We intend to do our utmost to ensure that our collaborative efforts with Sony produce great results in the global market."

Bluesky now has a specific tab for mentions in your notifications as part of the apps just-released 1.96 update. With the mentions tab, its much easier to see your replies or conversations youve been tagged in on the platform.Speaking of replies, update 1.96 lets you easily access settings that let you control how replies on posts appear to you. Replies can be linear, meaning they show up one post after another, or threaded, which means they will appear in indented threads (kind of like how they appear on Reddit). You can also sort replies by newest, oldest, most-liked, hot, and random (which Bluesky also calls Posters Roulette).If you choose to set a custom domain as your username, with 1.96, Bluesky will also reserve your old .bsky.social name so that it cant be picked up by someone else. I wish this feature had been available when I set my custom domain when I did that, I made an alt account thats parked on my old .bsky.social name so that it doesnt get taken.Bluesky saw a surge of new users in November, and although growth has slowed as of late, the platform surpassed 25 million total users last week. The company plans to launch a subscription service early next year and, at some point, its own payment platform.And the platform has some big competition from Metas Threads, which seems to be doing everything it can to remind people that it can ship lots of features and that its much larger than Bluesky.

A Google Street View image played in role in solving a missing person investigation in Spain, according to reports from the BBC and The New York Times. The image, which can still be seen on Street View, shows what appears to be a person loading a large object into the trunk of a car, as Gizmodo points out. Another image showed someone transporting a large white bundle in a wheelbarrow, the BBC reports. Part of the human remains of the missing person have been found buried in a cemetery in a town in the province of Soria and advanced technical means had to be used to locate them.One of the clues that investigators had to solve the crime, although it was not decisive, was some images that they detected during the investigations in a location search application.This is the Google Street View image allegedly linked to the crime. Screenshot: GoogleThough the press release doesnt explicitly name the location application it used, a spokesperson for the Spanish National Police confirmed to The New York Times that it was Google Maps while also saying, The image was not the key to solving the case.Authorities were investigating the case of a 33-year-old man who disappeared last year while visiting a partner in Tajueco, Soria, according to the Spanish outlet El Pas. Police arrested a woman and her ex-partner in connection with the crime in November.Google Maps has been credited with helping investigators in the past, with Italian authorities using Street View to trace the location of a mafia fugitive in 2022.

There is a new version of GitHub CoPilot that is completely free to use, no credit card or subscription required. The only requirement is a GitHub account and a compatible IDE ( Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code and JetBrains products as well as GitHub.com currently ). Details of the new free tier from the Visual Studio Code blog.Were excited to announce an all newfree plan for GitHub Copilot, available for everyone today in VS Code. All you need is a GitHub account. No trial. No subscription. No credit card required.With GitHub Copilot Free you get2000 code completions/month. Thats about 80 per working day which is a lot. You also get50 chat requests/month, as well asaccess to both GPT-4o and Claude 3.5 Sonnet models.If you hit these limits, ideally its because Copilot is doing its job well, which is to help you do yours! If you find you need more Copilot, thepaid Pro planis unlimited and provides access to additional models likeo1andGemini(coming in the new year).With this announcement, GitHub Copilot becomes a core part of the VS Code experience. The team has been hard at work, as always, improving that experience with brand new AI features and capabilities. Lets take a look at some of the newer additions to GitHub Copilot that dropped in just the past few months. This is your editor, redefined with AI.Key LinksGitHub Copilot Free AnnouncementGitHub Copilot HomepageYou can learn more about the new GitHub Copilot free tier in the video below.

The evaluation of LLMs in medical tasks has traditionally relied on multiple-choice question benchmarks. However, these benchmarks are limited in scope, often yielding saturated results with repeated high performance from LLMs, and do not accurately reflect real-world clinical scenarios. Clinical reasoning, the cognitive process physicians use to analyze and synthesize medical data for diagnosis and treatment, is a more meaningful benchmark for assessing model performance. Recent LLMs have demonstrated the potential to outperform clinicians in routine and complex diagnostic tasks, surpassing earlier AI-based diagnostic tools that utilized regression models, Bayesian approaches, and rule-based systems.Advances in LLMs, including foundation models, have significantly outperformed medical professionals in diagnostic benchmarks, with strategies such as CoT prompting further enhancing their reasoning abilities. OpenAIs o1-preview model, introduced in September 2024, integrates a native CoT mechanism, enabling more deliberate reasoning during complex problem-solving tasks. This model has outperformed GPT-4 in addressing intricate challenges like informatics and medicine. Despite these advancements, multiple-choice benchmarks fail to capture the complexity of clinical decision-making, as they often enable models to leverage semantic patterns rather than genuine reasoning. Real-world clinical practice demands dynamic, multi-step reasoning, where models must continuously process and integrate diverse data sources, refine differential diagnoses, and make critical decisions under uncertainty.Researchers from leading institutions, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Stanford University, and Harvard Medical School, conducted a study to evaluate OpenAIs o1-preview model, designed to enhance reasoning through chain-of-thought processes. The model was tested on five tasks: differential diagnosis generation, reasoning explanation, triage diagnosis, probabilistic reasoning, and management reasoning. Expert physicians assessed the models outputs using validated metrics and compared them to prior LLMs and human benchmarks. Results showed significant improvements in diagnostic and management reasoning but no advancements in probabilistic reasoning or triage. The study underscores the need for robust benchmarks and real-world trials to evaluate LLM capabilities in clinical settings.The study evaluated OpenAIs o1-preview model using diverse medical diagnostic cases, including NEJM Clinicopathologic Conference (CPC) cases, NEJM Healer cases, Grey Matters management cases, landmark diagnostic cases, and probabilistic reasoning tasks. Outcomes focused on differential diagnosis quality, testing plans, clinical reasoning documentation, and identifying critical diagnoses. Physicians assessed scores using validated metrics like Bond Scores, R-IDEA, and normalized rubrics. The models performance was compared to historical GPT-4 controls, human benchmarks, and augmented resources. Statistical analyses, including McNemars test and mixed-effects models, were conducted in R. Results highlighted o1-previews strengths in reasoning but identified areas like probabilistic reasoning needing improvement.The study evaluated o1-previews diagnostic capabilities using New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) cases and benchmarked it against GPT-4 and physicians. o1-preview correctly included the diagnosis in 78.3% of NEJM cases, outperforming GPT-4 (88.6% vs. 72.9%). It achieved high test-selection accuracy (87.5%) and scored perfectly on clinical reasoning (R-IDEA) for 78/80 NEJM Healer cases, surpassing GPT-4 and physicians. In management vignettes, o1-preview outperformed GPT-4 and physicians by over 40%. It achieved a median score of 97% for landmark diagnostic cases, comparable to GPT-4 but higher than physicians. Probabilistic reasoning was performed similarly to GPT -4, with better accuracy in coronary stress tests.In conclusion, The o1-preview model demonstrated superior performance in medical reasoning across five experiments, surpassing GPT-4 and human baselines in tasks like differential diagnosis, diagnostic reasoning, and management decisions. However, it showed no significant improvement over GPT-4 in probabilistic reasoning or critical diagnosis identification. These highlight the potential of LLMs in clinical decision support, though real-world trials are necessary to validate their integration into patient care. Current benchmarks, like NEJM CPCs, are nearing saturation, prompting the need for more realistic, challenging evaluations. Limitations include verbosity, lack of human-computer interaction studies, and a focus on internal medicine, underscoring the need for broader assessments.Check out the Paper. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also,dont forget to follow us onTwitter and join ourTelegram Channel andLinkedIn Group. Dont Forget to join our60k+ ML SubReddit. Sana Hassan+ postsSana Hassan, a consulting intern at Marktechpost and dual-degree student at IIT Madras, is passionate about applying technology and AI to address real-world challenges. With a keen interest in solving practical problems, he brings a fresh perspective to the intersection of AI and real-life solutions. [Download] Evaluation of Large Language Model Vulnerabilities Report (Promoted)

NewsTransforming Biology with Generative AI: Unveiling GenBio AIs State-of-the-art Multiscale Models 1 like December 19, 2024Share this postLast Updated on December 19, 2024 by Editorial TeamTL;DR: GenBio AI is advancing biology with Generative AI by developing AI-Driven Digital Organisms (AIDO). The AIDO system integrates multiscale foundation models for DNA, RNA, proteins, and cellular systems, allowing researchers to simulate, predict, and program biological outcomes from molecular to systemic levels. These tools aim to transform drug discovery, disease understanding, and personalized medicine, setting the stage for a new era in biological research.Advancing Biology with Generative AI: Inside GenBio AIs AI-Driven Digital OrganismBiology is entering an era where artificial intelligence is redefining the way we approach research and discovery. Leading this transformation is GenBio AI with its groundbreakingAI-Driven Digital Organism (AIDO), an integrated system of multiscale foundation models that enables researchers to simulate, program, and predict complex biological outcomes. AIDO addresses critical challenges in medicine, biotechnology, and life sciences by unifying insights across molecular, cellular, and systemic levels.Professor Eric Xing, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist of GenBio AI, underscores the ambition behind AIDO:GenBio will usher in a new era of medical and life sciencethrough a paradigm shift powered by next-generation Generative AI technology beyond what has already brought us disruptive results such as ChatGPT. Our transformative technology allows biological data of all types and scales to be utilized to distill holistic and comprehensive knowledge of how living systems work. Therefore, multiscale biological complexities are no longer barriers but opportunities for breakthrough insights.Moving Beyond Silos with AIDOTraditional biological models often operate in isolation, analyzing narrow datasets like DNA or proteins without integrating broader system interactions. AIDO disrupts this approach by creating a cohesive framework where modular models interact seamlessly, enabling a comprehensive understanding of biology as an interconnected system.Key Features of AIDO:Multitasking Efficiency: Handles up to 300 tasks simultaneously, surpassing the one or two tasks most current systems manage.Interoperable Modules: Models for DNA, RNA, proteins, single cells, and evolutionary data work in concert, addressing the siloed nature of traditional approaches.Comprehensive Data Utilization: Incorporates diverse biological data types, from sequences to structures, providing unprecedented insight into complex systems.By bridging biological scales, AIDO equips researchers with tools to analyze interactions across molecular, cellular, and organismal levels.Breaking Down the AIDO Foundation ModelsGenBio AIs first phase of AIDO introduces six foundational models, each designed to tackle specific biological challenges:AIDO-DNA: A 7-billion-parameter model trained on data from 796 species, offering advanced insights into genomic structure and function.AIDO-RNA: The largest model of its kind with 1.6 billion parameters, tailored for RNA structure prediction, genetic regulation, and vaccine design.AIDO-Protein: A computationally efficient model that facilitates exploration of protein functionality, essential for drug discovery.AIDO-Single Cell: Processes entire human transcriptomes without truncation, uncovering complex cellular dynamics with precision.Protein Structure Model: Focuses on three-dimensional protein modeling, uncovering relationships between structure and biological activity.Evolutionary Information Model: Provides insights into molecular evolution, connecting genetic data across species.These models not only excel individually but also operate as an integrated system, making AIDO a comprehensive toolkit for biological research. You can download them on GitHub or Hugging Face.Transformative Applications of AIDOAIDOs real-world applications are poised to address some of the most pressing challenges in medicine and biotechnology:Accelerating Drug DiscoveryTraditional drug development is costly and time-intensive, often with high failure rates. AIDO allows researchers to simulate and test millions of potential compounds in hours, drastically reducing both time and costs.Advancing Personalized MedicineAdverse drug reactions remain a leading cause of mortality worldwide. By creating digital patient twins, AIDO supports the design of personalized treatments that reduce risks and improve therapeutic outcomes.Understanding Complex DiseasesFrom cancer to neurodegenerative disorders, many diseases involve systemic interactions. AIDOs multiscale approach equips researchers to study these mechanisms and identify new pathways for intervention.Source: GenBio AIGlobal Expertise, Global ImpactGenBio AIs achievements are the result of a collaborative effort among world-renowned scientists and institutions. Headquartered in Palo Alto, with labs in Paris and Abu Dhabi, the companys team includes experts from Carnegie Mellon University, Stanford, the Weizmann Institute of Science, and MBZUAI. These partnerships have resulted in six peer-reviewed papers presented at NeurIPS, showcasing the rigorous research behind AIDO.Professor Eran Segal of the Weizmann Institute of Science highlights the significance of this work:GenBio AIs six multiscale foundation models are a leap forward in our ability to understand and predict biological phenomena. We now have the capacity to uncover systemic insights into how organisms function. This is transformative for genomics research, where the ability to simulate and program at multiple scales opens new avenues for precision medicine and disease intervention.Professor Fabian Theis of Helmholtz Munich adds:GenBio AIs achievement in creating scalable state-of-the-art models on multiple scales is a game-changer. This technology not only accelerates our ability to explore cellular dynamics but also bridges the gap between molecular and systems biology, unlocking unprecedented opportunities for disease modeling and therapeutic innovation.Explore the Research:The Road AheadThe development of AIDO represents just the beginning of GenBio AIs roadmap. The company envisions deeper integration between foundational models in future phases, expanding the systems utility for synthetic biology, environmental sustainability, and longevity research.Dr. Le Song, Co-Founder and CTO of GenBio AI, encapsulates the vision:What we have built is revolutionary because our integrated system will use these state-of-the-art models to create interactive digital versions of biological systems that can be safely experimented on and precisely modified. This technology lets us program biology the way we program computers, opening up possibilities weve never had before in medicine and biotechnology.As AIDO evolves, it promises to reshape how we approach biological research, offering scientists the tools to address complex challenges with precision and efficiency. For researchers working in genomics, drug development, or systems biology, AIDO provides a unified platform to tackle the most ambitious questions in life sciences.GenBio AI is setting the stage for a future where biology is not just observed but actively designed and improved.Source: GenBio AI Releases Phase 1 of Worlds First Digital Organism to Transform Medical ResearchShare this post

The first two episodes of Beast Games are streaming on Prime Video. Jimmy MrBeast Donaldson didnt become the biggest YouTuber in the world because of charisma, cleverness, or creativity. The new Prime Video series Beast Games makes it abundantly clear he has none of these qualities. The creator is trying to translate the style, stunts, and back-patting generosity of his YouTube channel to a longer-form project, but the results which involve him vamping along while 1,000 contestants compete in so-so games for a grand prize of $5 million prove his near-ubiquity online is merely a triumph of spectacle. Beast Games resembles a MrBeast video in how it relies on constant reminders that what youre watching is wild when, in reality, its almost entirely wearisome. The MrBeast formula involves frying attention spans by throwing plenty of annoyingly loud, yet empty, escalations at the viewer. The same is true of the way Beast Games hits you over the head with refreshers about whats unfolding right in front of your eyes as contestants rally together to shoot a ball into a giant cup. The first two episodes are completely averse to the kind of tension that better reality competitions earn by, say, letting us get to know their contestants and/or not hopping from shot to shot and scene to scene with the energy of a teenager downing their first Red Bull. One of Donaldsons YouTube breakthroughs involved a 17-hour marathon in which he recited the name Logan Paul 100,000 times, establishing a pattern that carries over to Beast Games: Doing the most in terms of volume while doing the least when it comes to actual entertainment value.It all feels eerily similar to when Donaldson recreated Netflixs Squid Game for a 2021 video, missing the entire point of the dystopian series and instead positioning the prospect of desperate people pitted against each other as something aspirational. But, as he assures us ad nauseam, Beast Games takes that concept and blows it up to a tremendous scale, tastelessly allowing us to see greater numbers of real people crying about the millions of dollars theyre losing. Its a shallow series best suited to existing MrBeast fans, reality show completionists, or people looking for background noise while they scroll on their phones.And yet something sinister lurks beneath the surface of this disposable distraction. While some of this, yes, has to do with the concerning allegations of sexual harassment, chronic mistreatment, and more that cast a shadow over the series (Donaldson has said this is blown out of proportion and claimed he has yet-unreleased footage to prove it) it also has to do with what made it into the final cut. Donaldson frequently interjects to encourage his viewers to scan a QR code for a chance to win what he says is a $4.2 million dollar giveaway that critics and consumer advocates have already warned could trap participants into a payday loan-esque swindle. In addition to the ethical nightmare of someone with such a largely, predominantly young fanbase shilling for such a predatory enterprise, Beast Games partnership with MoneyLion grinds everything in the show to a halt. Ad reads are par for the course for MrBeast; theyre often dropped right into the middle of the action in his YouTube videos. But whats awkward there is even more awkward on a show thats ostensibly a bigger, more serious project from the creator. As is often the case with online celebrities operating in such scammy ways, its about getting the bag at all costs. Its a shallow series best suited to existing MrBeast fans, reality show completionists, or people looking for background noise while they scroll on their phones.But Beast Games isnt just surprisingly dull. It's also almost entirely devoid of anything to get invested in. Though future episodes may delve deeper into competitors personalities and motivations the bread and butter of any reality show once their ranks are whittled down, the beginning of the series is so impatiently frenetic that were barely introduced to any of them. Some of this, again, carries over from YouTube, where MrBeasts output often feels like a bunch of TikTok videos crammed together out of fear that youll get bored unless something new is thrown in your face right this second. But Beast Games is uniquely out of its depth. The spread of games is vast they include contestants trying to convince their teammates to eliminate themselves and a block-stacking challenge but they all prioritize breadth over depth. The ones that could be more psychologically tense have no weight, passing with breakneck speed so we can get to the next one then the next one and so on. They all feel like they were made up in five minutes, and theres nothing memorable about them aside from how they steal the iconography and callousness of Squid Game.An ongoing TV series requires more than a YouTuber bludgeoning his audience with reminders of whats at stake. Even when Beast Games stumbles into a potentially fun challenge like a trivia game where we get to see the personalities of the players briefly shine throughThe Best TV Show of 2024This brings us back to Beast Games biggest problem: MrBeast himself. Donaldsons entire persona and approach to creating content may have cracked the code for generating record-setting YouTube views, but that doesnt translate to TV. He just isnt funny enough to carry a show like this; everything he does and says sounds like hes trying to sell you something rather than genuinely amuse you. If there were anyone else at the center of Beast Games then it might be more engaging. Instead, what we have is a strange, woefully overstretched re-creation of his YouTube videos and Donaldson chiming in with what he seems to think is witty commentary. In reality, it can largely be boiled down to endless variations of Can you believe that just happened?MrBeast, when it all comes down to it, is a hype man for himself, his brand, and his content. He just wants us to keep watching, and Beast Games is another part of that. The show, much like the man behind it, isnt inventive, thoughtful, or even entertaining. But it's there, and there's a lot of it seven more episodes are set to debut through February. Its a show thats the equivalent of the sketchy financial company Donaldson hawks throughout: corrosive to the culture, yet possibly too big to fail.

In 2004 I caught excited whispers and game mag glimpses of a waking giant on the horizon. The fuzzy intel received: Capcom would be releasing a Japanese-only PS2 game where one tracked and killed kaiju in epic battles of attrition. An impulse import purchase was made, and, about a hundred hours later, I managed to overcome a Fatalis-sized language barrier (and fangs and claws) to achieve victory in my first Monster Hunter of many.Fast forward 20 years, and I'm somehow sitting down for a chat with one of the key persons responsible for my younger self's torment and triumphs, Series Producer Ryozo Tsujimoto. When I whip out my original PS2 copy and explain the origins of how I became hooked on his franchise, despite such a hostile introduction to it, he's delightedperplexed that I even attempted such a thing, but delighted.Why? Because a chocobo wouldn't last five minutes in these wilds.Though its three-day beta wasn't a perfect experience (as is the nature of betas), I then explain to Tsujimoto-san that I'm basically already on board with his latest entry, Monster Hunter Wilds. And so, over the course of an afternoon, he reiterates the parts of Wilds that excite him and his team most, and I pepper him with questions about this new venture and how far we've all come as Hunters over the decades.We'll dive into that in a second. For now, though, I should service any fellow "my mind is pretty much made up to play this" types with the cheapest prices. If you'd like to skip the window shop, please click here to skip past it.The Cheapest Monster Hunter Wilds DealsMonster Hunter WildsTL;DR: this seems to be a great balance between what made both World and Rise so great.Physical:Amazon: $99 PS5 | XboxBig W: $99JB Hi-Fi: $109 Standard | $119 SteelbookMightyApe: $89 Standard | $109 SteelbookDigital:PS Store: $114.95 Standard | $144.95 Del. | $179.95 Premium Del.Xbox Store: $114.95 Standard | $144.95 Del. | $179.95 Premium Del.Steam: $104.95 Standard | $134.95 Del. | $164.95 Premium Del.Monster Hunter Wilds InterviewI begin my chat with Tsujimoto by commending him and his marketing team on the decision to definitively nail down some lore in the recently released Welcome to Monster Hunter explainer. I do, however, admit to him that my 2024 bingo card did not have Hollywood actress Daisy Ridley does a 10-minute doco on Monster Hunter on it. "We understand that we have lots of players playing [Monster Hunter]," he explains, "but we're going to get even more players. So we thought we'd explain what the Monster Hunter universe is for the old, long-time players while also helping new players into it. As for using Daisy Ridley, I think we just thought she was the best person to explain how the world, how the series was, but also...*laughs* I guess there were a few people in our team who were just big fans of her."I tell him that sounds fair enough. Also, given the Nat Geo nature of the trailer, I suggest that Sir David Attenborough would've been a solid pick, too. Again, he seems delighted.PlayBefore we move away from the contents of said trailer, I note something of a ludo-narrative dissonance with a line that's stated within. One thing I never thought I'd see woven into MH canon is the concept of Hunters being responsible conservationists who "maintain balance" in their world. You know, as opposed to being carcass-stripping profit fiends, which is certainly how I've played over a dozen outings in this series.I don't say this next part to him, mostly due to a fear of it becoming lost in translation, but the trailer almost felt like some sort of in-universe propaganda reel. Because when I heard the term 'maintainers of balance,' it sounded eerily like a Helldiver talking about 'bringing managed democracy' to an environment."So, I understand how it's hard to believe that hunters are responsible for maintaining the balance of the world because of the nature of the game," he says. "It's not so much greed, but more like a need for people [in this world] to hunt, and that might look like they're constantly taking things away from the game. But in the Monster Hunter world, it's meant to bethat's their job. Balance of the world is indeed what [players will] do."As opposed to being carcass-stripping profit fiends, which is certainly how I've played.I tell him that I'm fascinated to see how that cultural dynamic plays out in Wilds. Particularly as he and his team have self-described this entry as having "the most immersive story in the series yet." I've certainly seen inklings of that in the beta and promo material, though I doubt he'll reveal too much of that to me as we rapidly approach the February 28th launch date.Instead, I press Tsujimoto-san on what interests me far morethe titular wilds and the lethal cast of monsters within. The beta certainly gave me the impression of a larger, richer playspace, but I also imagine that, developmentally speaking, this expansion comes with challenges as well as cool new wrinkles to the formula."So if you're looking at things under the hood, there's been a lot of improvement in technology with Monster Hunter Wilds," he says. "One of the key things that we worked on was the mentality of the [monster] herds. Obviously, we did have herds in games past, but we only had a few entities of the herd. In short, what we had "looked like" a herda mass controlled by one AI for the group.I love that with our advancement of technology we can tackle that differently. Now, we have herds where each individual monster can act on its own and show this uniqueness through the improvement of our AI tech."[Does best Muldoon voice]: "Clever girls..."I agree with him that it's a pretty neat upgrade. Indeed, when I first watched it play out on-screen, I had a mini Dr. Alan Grant from Jurassic Park moment. Even though I expected they would, I caught myself marvelling at the way these majestic beasts do move in herds. How far we've come from the sometimes ropey monster pathing of those PS2 days...Struck by a little bit of nostalgia, I mention to Tsujimoto-san that it was a sobering moment to hear that Wilds is not only going to be available widespread on all major platforms but will support cross-play among them. I know that his role on that first Monster Hunter game was rooted in networking code, and I ask him if it blew his mind to watch this niche PS2-only game bloom into a multi-plat, 100 million units sold worldwide monster in its own right. "I think the [whiplash feeling from back then to now] feels like that because joining the old PS2 multiplayer had so many hurdles to it," he reminisces. "You know? You had to buy a separate Network Adapter unit to plug into your PS2, then physically plug into an actual network in order to join in and experience Monster Hunter fully. The team and I knew about that difficult environment when we went into development. It was going to be hard, but we had our [other early online] work on Resident Evil Outbreak and Auto Modellista to draw upon. Despite those challenges, I imagined a future where the effort would be worth it as people gravitated more and more to networked play. And so we strived to build the know-how and insight to build the knowledge banks needed to bring these places to such a future.I know it sounds like a bit of a lie, but this is what we always imagined, back when we started making these." It sounds like a bit of a lie, but this is what we always imagined, back when we started.I tell Tsujimoto that I don't think it sounds like a lie at all. More like good old-fashioned forward-thinking visionary stuff. That being said, only a very small slice of Aussie gamers got to play Capcom games onlinebecause kilobytes were still being delivered to many of us by bullock train in 2004though MH was still revered as a touchstone title for future-minded players.From here, we part ways after he rather graciously signs my original copy of Monster Hunter, and the remainder of our time morphs into a reminder presentation of the key improvements of Wilds to be most excited about. Many of those facets were covered here in our preview coverage; I highly suggest you watch and absorb the info within to sharpen your understanding of (and longswords for) what sure looks to be a cracking sequel already.PlayBack to top Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays practically everything, often on YouTube.

For the final days leading up to December 25, Target has the lowest price on one of the best Windows-based gaming handhelds. Right now you can pick up a Lenovo Legion Go gaming handheld for only $479.99 shipped after a 30% off instant discount. If you're a Target Circle Card holder, then you can get an additional 5% off. The Legion Go shares the same processor, RAM, and Windows 11 operating system as the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme, but it also benefits from a bigger and sharper display, detachable controllers, and a larger battery.Lenovo Legion Go 512GB Gaming HandheldLenovo Legion Go AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme 512GB Gaming HandheldThe Lenovo Legion Go is a Windows-based gaming handheld that's powered by an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU with Radeon graphics and 16GB RAM, which is the same configuration as the one found in the $700 Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme. The Legion Go also boasts a a bigger and sharper 8.8" 2560x1600 144Hz IPS touchscreen display and detachable controllers like the Nintendo Switch. Since the Legion Go operates off Windows 11, it works with most PC game clients, including Steam, Origin, Ubisoft, Epic Games, Genshin Impact, Battle.net, and more.In Jacqueline Thomas' Lenovo Legion Go review, she wrote that "it is easily the best handheld gaming PC on the market right now as measured by screen size, horsepower, and USB-C port placement, but there are some caveats. It's absolutely massive, and the 1600p display is more than even this powerhouse chip can handle. That means you're going to have to spend some time tinkering with and specifically lowering quality settings to get your games running properly. Even then the battery life isnt great, and naturally youre paying a premium over the Steam Deck OLED for the bigger display, a full Windows 11 license, and extra oomph. But if you love the idea of the Switch, where you can remove the controllers, prop the screen up on a beefy kickstand, and sit back and enjoy? This is the one for you."After the article was written, the Asus ROG Ally X was released and has taken over the throne as the new "best gaming handheld". However, the Ally X is far more expensive: even with today's Cyber Monday deal, it still costs $699.99. The Legion Go is definitely a much better value for the price.If you end up getting this deal, we'd recommend picking up a portable power bank for extended travels and a Micro SD card. We've compared the Steam Deck to the ROG Ally and although the Legion Go isn't mentioned, the article gives you a good idea of the major differences between a Steam-based and Windows-based gaming handheld.PlayWhy Should You Trust IGN's Deals Team?IGN's deals team has a combined 30+ years of experience finding the best discounts in gaming, tech, and just about every other category. We don't try to trick our readers into buying things they don't need at prices that aren't worth buying something at. Our ultimate goal is to surface the best possible deals from brands we trust and our editorial team has personal experience with. You can check out our deals standards here for more information on our process, or keep up with the latest deals we find on IGN's Deals account on Twitter.Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.