• GameSpot's Top Ten Games Of 2024
    www.gamespot.com
    GameSpot brings you our staff picks for the best 10 games of 2024. Timestamps: 00:00 Astro Bot 03:30 Balatro 06:15 Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree 08:25 Helldivers 2 10:55 Indiana Jones and The Great Circle 12:50 Lorelei and the Laser Eyes 15:38 Metaphor: ReFantazio 18:01 Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown 20:36 Silent Hill 2 23:23 S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart Of Chornobyl
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  • How Anime Movies Are Gaining More Mainstream Attention Worldwide
    gamerant.com
    Over the past decade, anime movies have observed an amazing rise in worldwide appeal, increasingly veering away from peculiar entertainment to becoming a culture-wide phenomenon. Where once fans of a particular genre could be very dedicated, these days casual viewers around the world are hooked on a genre. Anime films are no longer just a niche within the international markets, but the trend has started to rival some of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters by box office takings and overall audience numbers.
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  • Dark Souls 3 Boss Beat Using a Saxophone
    gamerant.com
    A dedicated Dark Souls 3 player managed to defeat one of the game's most difficult fights with nothing more than a saxophone. Streamer Dr. Doot shared their accomplishment early Monday morning, revealing they had finally defeated Slave Knight Gael while using a digital saxophone as their controller, proving once again just how passionate and persistent the Dark Souls 3 and FromSoftware communities alike can be.
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  • World Of Warcraft-Themed Arctis Nova 7 Wireless Headset On Sale
    gamerant.com
    Customization is all the rage with modern gaming peripherals. However, not all gamers have the time or budget to make modifications. The Arctis Nova line of gaming headsets makes it simple to swap parts, leading to unique variations. SteelSeries spared World of Warcraft fans from that process with an ornate limited edition Arctis Nova 7 Wireless. MMO fanatics can add the headset to their arsenal at its lowest asking price yet.
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  • Poker hand probabilities for n-card hand, where n=1 through n=5
    gamedev.net
    I asked this on Math Stack Exchange, but my question was closed, so I'm cross-posting here.I have a poker code that properly classifies 5-card hands. I also have a code to best classify 1-card hands, 2-card hands, 3-card hands, and 4-card hands.For instance, where n=5 we get these frequencies that closely match those on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poker_probability:
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  • Palworlds Feybreak expansion introduces a Terraria collab
    www.polygon.com
    Palworld players have a lot to look forward to Monday as the Pokmon-like receives its next major update, subtitled Feybreak, and the first fruits of an ongoing crossover with 2D sandbox game Terraria.Feybreak adds another massive island reportedly six times larger than the area introduced in the previous Sakuraijima update to the already expansive Palworld playground. The new island includes more Pals to collect, foes to challenge in battle, resources to gather, and realistic weapons like assault rifles, sub-machine guns, and grenades to manufacture.The full Feybreak patch notes can be found here, but a couple standouts include the ability to sit in chairs for the first time and modules for Spheres (Palworlds Pok Ball analogues) that add capture-enhancing curves to their throw trajectories, kind of like Pokmon Go. This seems odd considering the legal trouble Palworld developer Pocketpair has already had with Nintendo, but hey, Im no lawyer. Also, Pokmon games rarely let you sit in chairs, so theres that.Palworld players will also get a chance to wield the Meowmere, a special sword from Terraria that fires projectiles and meows with every swing, as demonstrated in the video below. Pocketpair describes the weapon as only a small taste of the collaboration between Palworld and Terraria, so fans of both games should look forward to further content throughout 2025.Despite having a rough 2024 in terms of litigation, Palworld was nominated for Best Early Access Game at the Golden Joystick Awards, which was ultimately won by horror-comedy extraction game Lethal Company, and is currently in the running for Better With Friends category in the Steam Awards. Pocketpair seems determined to continue expanding its weird, little Pokmon clone, and it should be interesting to see how it develops in the new year.
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  • Eternals may be Marvels black sheep, but its bonkers mythology looks eternal
    www.polygon.com
    Marvels Eternals was a DOA franchise wannabe when it arrived in 2021. The cosmic drama didnt click with audiences, and despite post-credits stingers with loads of setup, its no longer part of the studios current unfolding saga. Kevin Feige gave the update this summer that there are no immediate plans for Eternals 2.But in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even a dud makes an impact. At the end of Eternals, the godly superhero team defies its towering space leader Arishem by preventing the birth of a new Celestial, Tiamut, who will pop out of their incubation chamber, aka the Earth. The delay of the Emergence seemed to upend the status quo of the universe (Arishem literally grabbed a few of the Eternals off the planet to prove humanitys worth), but as far as the tangible goes, it left a big stone hand jutting out of Earths ocean.The hand was big enough that Marvel couldnt sweep it under the rug. In 2022, She-Hulk poked fun at the impossible-to-miss plot-dangler. Captain America: Brave New World will directly deal with it next February. What If? season 3 is the latest property to indulge in what Eternals left behind, and in more ways than one. Frankly, its acknowledgement that the movie deserves as it fades further into the annals of Marvel history.In What If Agatha Went to Hollywood? the second of What If?s new batch of episodes, Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) is a Golden Age movie starlet lighting up the screen under director Howard Stark. Shes also still a witch hungry for power, and her next move is to siphon the cosmic abilities of fellow actor Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani). Her plan comes together when Stark Pictures recruits the Bollywood star for a whiz-bang musical number turns out, Agatha can dance as well as she can sing and by the end of the showstopper, the two have brokered a deal to summon and defeat Arishem.Eternals doesnt just grant the Marvel stories the chance to drop a few references and cameos. The big swing writer-director Chlo Zhao took in melding mind-bogglingly epic ideas about gods and creation with multicultural customs and culture from around the globe allows a show like What If? (and hopefully future Marvel movies) to stretch its visuals way beyond the house style of an Avengers movie. A glittering, fire-blasting musical number is right at home in this weird, wonderful MCU tapestry, as well as a fight between two titans in space.When Agatha absorbs Kingos power, she transforms into a deity worthy of punching Arishem square across the jaw. In the grand tradition of characters entering the spirit plane and whupping ass as kaiju, Celestial Agatha eclipses the entire Earth to take on the Judge of the cosmos, and, like in Zhaos film, the camera often swoops down to ground level on Earth to see just how much the two dwarf the planetary battleground. Its big and capital-A Awesome.Episode 2 is not the only Eternals connection in the final run of What If?: An episode later in the season directly deals with the Emergence, this time wondering what would happen if the Eternals failed and Tiamut shattered the Earth on his way out the door. Thats just the beginning no spoilers, but things get way, way, way wackier from there but the entire What if? is predicated yet again on groundwork set by a movie that, based on Feiges comments, is being dealt with rather than appreciated.Zhaos vision for Eternals clearly did not fit the trajectory of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one of references, recastings, and Deadpools versus Wolverines. But it did move the needle. What If? may not be canon, but its been a testing ground for ideas that did cross over, from Doctor Stranges multiversal madness to Captain Carter (who may graduate from cameo to full-blown action hero in Avengers: Doomsday). If Eternals is on the minds of those playing in the sandbox, theres still some hope for us defenders of the film that its mythology may trickle throughout the future.If Eternals legacy doesnt manifest in Fantastic Four (is this Galactus a Celestial?) or Secret Wars (something something Harry Styles as Eros?) then Marvel certainly seems content in toying with my emotions. The end of What If Agatha Went to Hollywood? delivers a beat that is basically rude for the final season of a series that, at least by the two-part finale later this week, promises not to pick up any loose ends set by other episodes.This has probably drawn the Celestials attention, Kingo says of Agathas destructive battle with Arishem. The bad kind of attention.Agatha shushes him now is the time to celebrate, not dwell on existential horrors to come.We can save that for the sequel!Eternals isnt getting one of those. Agatha All Along isnt even guaranteed to get a second season (let alone the big-screen treatment that Agathas power set clearly deserves after this episode). So who knows where or how or if this non-canon storyline will ever get a proper sequel. But what seems true is that by playing god in the MCU, Zhao and her film have made Eternals a required consideration for future Marvel stories. And if that means more A-list actors muttering Arishem the Judge across 4,000 summer-weekend screens well, that might be enough to make up for a lack of Eternals 2.
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  • Robert Eggers Nosferatu ignores a century of Draculas to summon an old monster
    www.polygon.com
    The hipster-traditionalist writer-director Robert Eggers is back, stalking the pages of history as usual. Hes known for digging deep into the language and traditions of the past to excavate his visions: the folkloric superstitions of early American settlers in The Witch, the fevered perversions of the Victorian imagination in The Lighthouse, the elemental mythology of Scandinavia in The Northman. But in his new movie, Nosferatu, the corpse hes exhuming is a cinematic one.In the 1920s and 1930s, filmmakers created two distinct lineages of Draculas. In 1922, German silent film visionary F.W. Murnau released Nosferatu, an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stokers novel Dracula then only 25 years old. He transplanted the action from England to Germany and changed the characters names, but it was otherwise a pretty faithful take on the book, keeping the action in the 19th century. Murnau and lead actor Max Schreck renamed their Dracula Count Orlok and envisioned the vampire as a bald, cadaverous, rat-toothed horror with clawed hands: a specter of Europes barbarous past.In 1931, Tod Brownings Dracula was released, starring Bela Lugosi. This early talkie, working from a stage adaptation of Stokers book, updated the action and shuffled the roles of some characters. Lugosi, who had played Dracula on stage, made his version of the vampire sinister but stately, with courtly manners, formal dress, slicked-back hair, and a batlike cape.Stokers heirs sued Nosferatus producers, and a German court ruled that all copies of the film be destroyed. That didnt quite happen too many prints had made their way overseas by that point but Murnaus vision was almost wiped from the record, and it didnt resurface for several decades. Lugosis version of the character became not just the iconic cinematic Dracula, but the archetypal vampire in pop culture, while Schrecks monster receded into the shadows.Eggers, ever the purist, is out to reset that narrative. His Nosferatu is a tribute to Murnau and through Murnau, to Stoker that bypasses a century of movie Draculas (with one notable exception) and goes straight to the source. Eggers is trying to tap into something primal and terrifying that the sexy urbanity of the post-Lugosi vampire glossed over. Still, hes only half successful, because his reconstruction is too meticulous to be truly raw.Eggers precisely replicates Murnaus setting: the elegant German port city of Wismar in the 1800s. He uses Murnaus German character names, too. Nicholas Hoult plays Thomas Hutter, a real estate agent summoned to visit a mysterious Transylvanian count in his mountain castle and bring him the deeds to a Wismar mansion. Lily-Rose Depp is Thomas wife, Ellen, a sensitive woman who falls under a trance-like spell after he departs. And Bill Skarsgrd fast developing a Lugosi-like career as horror cinemas favorite handsome monster is Count Orlok, the centuries-old vampire who terrorizes Thomas, then leaves his mountain home to descend on Ellen and Wismar, plague and death following in his wake.Eggers painstaking formal compositions, high-contrast lighting, and intensely detailed production design are all steeped in silent-cinema traditions. You cant imagine a director better equipped to recreate Murnaus vision as a modern spectacle, and Nosferatu often has a shivering, shadowy beauty. Eggers and his usual cinematographer, Jarin Blaschke, give the film a color treatment so washed-out, its almost monochrome, referencing the spectral blue, pink, and sepia of tinted prints of the original movie. Its a delicate, ghostly-looking film, less stark than the black-and-white Lighthouse. It looks properly haunted.At the same time, Eggers fleshes out Murnaus stripped-down retelling of Stoker into something more expansive and sturdy, strengthening characters and subplots, sometimes following the novel, sometimes not. The Hardings (Kraven the Hunter star Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Deadpool & Wolverine villain Emma Corrin), a wealthy couple who care for Ellen in Thomas absence, are given a much more substantial role in this version, as is Wismars misguided Dr. Sievers (Ralph Ineson). And Eggers introduces professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz (Willem Dafoe), a scientist and mystic, as a kind of Van Helsing figure something Murnau didnt really bother with. As Sievers and the sceptical Hardings grow progressively more worried for the absent Thomas and the psychically tormented Ellen, they reluctantly call on this eccentric crank for solutions.No actor better understands Eggers project than Dafoe, and he plays Von Franz with relish, investing every line reading with a precise, stylized vigor and his trademark rasp. Nosferatu comes alive when hes on screen, but the other actors are sometimes suffocated, only occasionally finding the intensity needed to break through Eggers archaic phrasing and mannered direction. Another exception is the British character actor Simon McBurney, who is delightfully deranged as Herr Knock, Nosferatus version of Renfield: Thomas boss and Orloks enraptured slave.The key creative pact in any Dracula movie, though, is between the director and his vampire. (E. Elias Merhige playfully explored this topic in his 2000 film Shadow of the Vampire, in which John Malkovich plays a fictionalized Murnau, with Dafoe as a version of Schreck who might actually be a vampire.) This is the one area where Eggers and Skarsgrd diverge sharply from the original film. Skarsgrds Orlok is still ancient, corpse-like, and heavily taloned. But where Schreck was twisted and withered, Skarsgrds version is towering and hairy, swathed in furs, with a long mustache and a barbaric aspect. Even his looming physicality is dwarfed by his voice; Skarsgrd speaks outrageously slowly in a cartoonish Transylvanian accent, rolling his Rs for days, and the sound mix gives his every utterance a booming, subsonic resonance that rattles the theater. Its a choice; it may be too much for some, but it couldnt be any more Gothic.In his previous three films, Eggers vision was striking for its originality and craft. As perfectly matched as Nosferatu is to his taste and talents, its deflating to watch him build a monument to someone elses art, even from a distance of 100 years. Like Werner Herzog before him, who remade Nosferatu in 1979, Eggers cant resist the temptation to recreate some of Murnaus most famous shots, such as the vampires shadow creeping menacingly up the stairs toward Ellens boudoir.But Herzog also invested his version with his distinctively documentarian, anthropological viewpoint, and tinted it with the world-weary cynicism of the 70s. Eggers doesnt allow anything so personal or contemporary to creep into his straightforward reconstruction, beyond putting even more emphasis on the psychosexual connection between Ellen and the Count. (This is the only version of the story Ive seen where the link between the Ellen Hutter/Mina Harker character and the vampire predates the Count meeting Thomas/Jonathan at his castle, as if she had summoned the monster into being with her secret desires.)Theres one other film interpretation of the Dracula story that looms large over Eggers Nosferatu. In 1992, Francis Ford Coppolas Bram Stokers Dracula also sought to cut through the Browning/Lugosi tradition and reframe the legend as an opulent Victorian Gothic tale. But Coppola ignored Murnau, too, instead cooking up his own witches brew of intense eroticism, silky grandeur, and absurd camp. Its a wildly uneven movie, but Gary Oldmans mesmeric performance as Dracula and Eiko Ishiokas ravishing costumes created an all-new and startlingly transgressive iconography for the old vampire.Eggers is gracious enough to pay polite tribute to Coppola, quoting him directly in a couple of shots. But invoking Bram Stokers Dracula is rough on his Nosferatu, which feels staid and sexless by comparison. Eggers has made a visually grand movie, with an impressively doomy atmosphere and one hell of a closing shot. As a finely wrought monument to the ultimate Gothic horror movie, its worth seeing. But as a new reading of one of the most resonant stories of the past 150 years, it rings hollow. It has no fresh blood in its veins.Nosferatu debuts in theaters on Dec. 25.
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  • The Design Leader Dilemma
    smashingmagazine.com
    Many design leaders find themselves in an impossible situation. On one side, senior management have read articles trumpeting the incredible ROI of user experience design. McKinsey tells us that design-led companies achieve 56% higher returns to shareholders. Forrester reports that every dollar invested in UX brings 100 dollars in return.Yet the reality I encounter when talking to design leaders is very different. Most are desperately under-resourced, with tiny teams expected to support hundreds of projects across their organizations. The result? Were spread so thin that we can barely scratch the surface of what needs doing.The problem isnt just about resources. Its about expectations and how we define our role. Too often, we position ourselves (or are positioned by others) as implementors the people who do the user research, create the prototypes, and run the usability tests. But with the scale of digital touching every corner of our organizations, thats simply not sustainable.Time For A New ApproachWe need to stop trying to do everything ourselves and instead focus on empowering others across the organization to improve the user experience. In other words, we need to become true leaders rather than just practitioners.This isnt about giving up control or lowering standards. Its about maximizing our impact by working through others. Think about it: would you rather be directly involved in 10% of projects or have some influence over 90% of them?What Does This Look Like In Practice?First, we need to shift our mindset from doing to enabling. This means:Offering targeted services rather than trying to be involved in everything;Providing coaching and mentoring to help others understand UX principles;Creating resources that empower others to make better UX decisions;Setting standards and guidelines that can scale across the organization.Lets break down each of these areas.Targeted ServicesInstead of trying to be involved in every project, focus on providing specific, high-value services that can make the biggest impact. This might include:Running discovery phases for major initiativesBy strategically initiating discovery phases for critical projects, you ensure that they start with a strong, user-focused foundation. This can involve tools like the Strategic User-Driven Project Assessment (SUPA), which helps validate ideas by assessing audience value, user needs, feasibility, and risks before committing to major investments. SUPA ensures projects are not just built right but are the right ones to build.Project-Specific UX GuidanceRegular feedback on design assets throughout a project keeps UX principles front and center. This can be achieved by offering UX audits, periodic check-ins to assess progress, or design reviews at key milestones.Facilitating workshops and problem-solving sessionsLeading targeted workshops or brainstorming sessions empowers teams to overcome design challenges on their own with your guidance. These tailored sessions help teams understand how to make better user-centered decisions and solve issues themselves, spreading UX capabilities beyond your team.The key is to be strategic about where you spend your time, focusing on activities that will have the greatest ripple effect across the organization.Coaching And MentoringOne of the most effective ways to scale your impact is through coaching. This could include:UX Office HoursDesignate times where anyone in the organization can drop in to get quick UX advice. This informal setting can solve small issues before they snowball and helps stakeholders learn as they go.One-on-One or Group CoachingScheduled check-ins with individuals or teams are great opportunities to address challenges directly, mentor those who need extra support, and ensure alignment with best practices. Regular 1:1 or group coaching keeps UX priorities on track and provides valuable guidance when and where its needed most.Tailored Problem-Solving SessionsProviding bespoke guidance for specific challenges that teams encounter empowers them to tackle design obstacles while internalizing the principles of good UX. These problem-solving sessions can be invaluable in ensuring teams can autonomously address future problems.The goal isnt to turn everyone into UX experts but to help them understand enough to make better decisions in their daily work.Its also important to recognize that others might not initially deliver work at the same level of quality that you would. This is okay. The primary goal is to get people engaged and excited about UX. If we criticize them every time they fall short of perfection, we risk undermining their enthusiasm. Instead, we need to foster a supportive environment where improvement happens over time.Creating ResourcesDevelop tools and resources that help others apply UX principles independently. For example:Design SystemsCreate and maintain a comprehensive design system that integrates UX best practices into the UI across the organization. A well-crafted design system ensures that everyone, from developers to designers, aligns on consistent best practices, making it easier for teams to work independently while still maintaining high standards. This includes reusable code components, clear documentation, and alignment between design and development.UX Tool SuiteProviding teams with pre-selected tools for user research, prototyping, and user testing helps maintain quality and saves time. With tools for everything from user research to usability testing, you provide the resources teams need to conduct UX activities on their own without extensive onboarding.Research RepositoryMaintain a centralized repository of user research findings that can be accessed by anyone across the organization. A well-organized research repository can reduce duplication of effort, provide insights across different initiatives, and allow teams to learn from each others findings. This promotes consistent application of user insights across projects.Supplier ListsProviding a vetted list of suppliers and external agencies helps ensure consistency when work is outsourced. It provides quick access to high-quality resources, mitigates risk, and builds trust with suppliers who understand your standards.Self-Service Training ResourcesCreate a library of on-demand training materials that teams can access when needed. This should include video tutorials, interactive exercises, case studies, and step-by-step guides for common UX tasks like conducting user interviews, creating personas, or running usability tests. Unlike scheduled workshops, self-paced learning allows people to access knowledge exactly when they need it, leading to better retention and practical application.These resources should be practical and accessible, making it easy for teams to do the right thing.Setting StandardsCreate a framework that guides UX decisions across the organization:Design PrinciplesEstablish core design principles that align with your organizations values and user-centered goals. These principles help ensure consistency and clarity in decision-making. For example, define around six to ten principles that stakeholders across the organization have voted on and agreed upon, ensuring broader buy-in and consistent decision-making.Policies for UXDevelop clear policies that standardize processes like work requests, user research and testing, and stakeholder involvement. These policies help set expectations, keep efforts aligned with organizational goals, and make it easier for non-UX professionals to understand and comply with best practices.Project Prioritization PoliciesHaving clear guidelines on how projects are prioritized ensures that UX gets the attention it needs in the planning stages, preventing it from being overlooked or marginalized. Establish policies that align project value to user needs and organizational priorities.The key is to make these standards helpful rather than bureaucratic they should enable better work, not create unnecessary obstacles.Bringing It All TogetherAll of these elements should come together in what I call a UX Playbook a single source of truth that contains everything teams need to deliver better user experiences. This isnt just another document to gather dust; its a living resource that demonstrates your value as a leader and helps others get started on their UX journey.The shift from practitioner to leader isnt easy. It requires letting go of some control and trusting others to carry forward UX principles. But its the only way to create lasting change at scale.If youre struggling with this transition, I am running a workshop on design leadership in February. I would love to discuss your situation there.
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  • A Prague Rooftop Apartment Inspired by the Citys Skyline
    design-milk.com
    In the heart of Prague, where historic facades tell tales of centuries past, a unique rooftop apartment has emerged as a modern ode to the citys layered history. Conceived by the team at OBLIQO, this 1,808-square-foot home blends classical elegance and contemporary functionality, nestled atop a building dating back to 1893.This project began with an evocative question posed by its new occupants, a couple transitioning into retirement: how can a home embody the emotions and memories of a lifetime, while embracing the future? Their answer lies in a space that masterfully intertwines the grandeur of Pragues architectural heritage with sleek modernity and artisanal touches.Upon entering, the apartments design welcomes visitors into a light-filled, open-concept living area. Here, the entryway effortlessly transitions into dining and lounging spaces, underscoring a sense of expansiveness and unity. Anchoring the aesthetic are works by Alina Shupikov, whose textured pieces incorporate soil and sand from places significant to the homeowners a poignant reminder of their shared journey.The kitchen occupies a central position in both layout and narrative. Its stone countertops and oxidized steel panels create a striking dialogue between old-world charm and cutting-edge design. Functionality remains paramount, with a concealed butlers pantry offering additional practicality. From this nucleus, a staircase ascends to the rooftop terrace, an outdoor haven complete with bespoke furniture and a customized kitchen ideal for hosting gatherings for family and friends.Throughout the home, an eclectic yet cohesive palette of materials tells a story of times passage. Oxidized steel and stone juxtapose with ceramic tiles that echo traditional stoves, while local artisans from TON and Javorina contributed wooden elements like chairs, tables, and the primary bed. These collaborations underscore the apartments deep connection to its cultural and geographical context.The apartments private quarters are a study in serenity, where soft gradients of color contrast with clean, white surfaces to evoke calm. A walk-in closet connects to the primary bedroom, which features a custom-designed jewelry cabinet crafted with painted veneer. Beyond, two bathrooms and a multifunctional home studio designed for both jewelry-making and as a guest room illustrate the thoughtful versatility of the space.To see more work by OBLIQO, visit obliqo.cz.Photography by Vclav Beran.
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