• Assassin's Creed Shadows has been delayed yet again, as Ubisoft explores sale options, so you're gonna have to wait even longer to see some lovely clouds
    www.vg247.com
    Yep, AgainAssassin's Creed Shadows has been delayed yet again, as Ubisoft explores sale options, so you're gonna have to wait even longer to see some lovely cloudsThe company says it's pursuing "various transformational strategic and capitalistic options to extract the best value for stakeholders".Image credit: Ubisoft News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Updated on Jan. 9, 2025 Ubisoft has just announced that Assassin's Creed Shadows has been delayed from its latest release date of February 14, to a new date of March 20, 2025. So, you'll have to wait a little longer to see some nice clouds over Feudal Japan.According to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, this comes as the company explores potential sale options, or Ubisoft put it, pursues "various transformational strategic and capitalistic options to extract the best value for stakeholders", which is definitely words.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "Since November, we've been thrilled to share our progress through Gameplay Overviews, and the overwhelming excitement has truly inspired us," Ubisoft's Marc Alexis-Cote wrote in a statement posted on social media, "While we've already made remarkable strides, we believe a few additional weeks are needed to implement feedback and ensure an even more ambitious and engaging day-one experience.""Accordingly, the new release date is March 20, 2025. We remain committed to delivering a high-quality, immersive experience - fostered by ongoing dialogue between our players and development teams." The developer added that "more updates" will be coming "very soon". To see this content please enable targeting cookies.As mentioned earlier, this change in date - which follows the news of Shadows being pushed from 2024's fall window to that February date in September last year - reportedly comes against the backdrop of Ubisoft seeming like it's looking into sale options. If you remember, it was reported late last year that Tencent was considering buying the AC developer.Schreier cites CEO Yves Guillemot as having responded to questions about Ubisoft's future in a call with investors today by saying that there are "several potential paths to deliver value from Ubisoft's assets and franchises" and that the company's leadership will "inform the market if and when a transaction materializes."How do you feel about Assassin's Creed Shadows being hit with another delay? Let us know below!
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  • "Do gamers know what they like?" ponders Fallout co-creator Tim Cain, before arguing in favour of people not providing totally crap feedback to devs
    www.vg247.com
    Do They?"Do gamers know what they like?" ponders Fallout co-creator Tim Cain, before arguing in favour of people not providing totally crap feedback to devsI'm not sure I'd agree with his stance on cosmetic microtransactions, but he's right about trying to articulate what actually could be fixed.Image credit: Bethesda News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Jan. 9, 2025 Do you know what you want? In life? More importantly, in video games? It's a question Fallout co-creator, noe famous for his YouTube videos looking back at his career and opining on different topics related to game development has clearly been thinking about. His view? Basically, make sure you try and give developers feedback they can actually use.In his latest video, Cain chats about the nature of having to deal with players telling about things they do and don't like about a game you've been working on, and how different ways of articulating that can be more helpful than others. As you'd expect, just saying an aspect is a bit s**t, and then not elaborating as to why you think it's s**t tends to land on the less helful side.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "I would way prefer, on this channel or any forum where you're talking to game developers, say what it is you like, especially why you like doing that feature," Cain said, "It's way easier to respond to constructive feedback than it is non-constructive feedback, so what I don't understand is, if you really want to get what you want, say what it is you want."While the developer did gop on to say that just saying that you dislike something in a game can help developrs "if it's specific", he's referring to people "jamming up the channel of communication" by saying things like "enemies are dumb, stop giving us dumb enemies", when they really mean something like "these enemies never take cover - there's cover all over the place that I use, but they never take it", which is obviously much more easy for developers to home in on and adjust.Watch on YouTubeCain gives another example earlier on in the video about fast travel, and how implementing or not implementing it can be difficult if players or fans aren't clear in telling you the kind of things they might want added in as a sort of alternative or ways of putting it in that might not be construed as excessively handholdy/akin to forcing it on playthroughs.As ever, it's all a matter of personal taste as to where different people land on certain thihs, with that being part of the challenge that's made harder if feedback isn't specific. I'd agree with Cain on that, even if I'm not sure I would with his views on sharing negative views on things like "100% cosmetic-only microtransactions", which he cites as an example of features don't need to complain about since you can arguably play the game just fine while ignoring them.Like everything else, this is an issue that 100 people will give you 100 different opinions on, but players calling studios or companies out on things like the pricing of this stuff - even if it just outfits - can be useful to developers, even if that's just in terms of making a studio aware it might want to consider whether it's keeping as far in its players' good graces and means when it comes to monetisation as it wants to.Do you think you do a good job of conveying what you want when you give feedback on games? Let us know below!
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  • Talking Point: Is The Switch 2 Going To Be Too Big?
    www.nintendolife.com
    Size isn't everything, except sometimes.How are we coping, nine days into the year of the Switch 2? It's been an utter onslaught of leaks and rumours and noise as everyone clamours to find out about Nintendo's to-be-officially-announced console. C'mon Nintendo, it's really time to say something.Anyway, let's cut through the noise for a second. Here at Nintendo Life, some of us have been asking a big question literally about the Switch 2. We've been having a bit of a debate in the office: Is the Switch 2 going to be a bit too big for a portable?Read the full article on nintendolife.com
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  • Nintendo and Lego Are Collaborating On A New Game Boy Set
    www.nintendolife.com
    Now you're playing with buildable power.Nintendo has announced that it is collaborating with Lego to launch a brand new set based on the classic Game Boy handheld.Currently scheduled to launch in October 2025, the set follows on from the Lego NES set that the companies launched back in 2020. Presumably, however, it probably won't be quite so ludicrously expensive. Well... we'll see, you never know.Read the full article on nintendolife.com
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  • DoorBox debuts its new and improved smart delivery box at CES 2025
    techcrunch.com
    Millions of packages stolen each year. DoorBox aims to change how packages are delivered with its smart package box that features a theft-proof design with live camera feeds and an alarm that activates automatically if the box is tampered with.After selling 2,000 units of its initial version, which offered manual functionality, the startup unveiled its latest product at CES 2025: Smart DoorBox.ai. This new system utilizes an AI-powered automatic unlocking mechanism that detects when a package is being delivered, allowing for seamless delivery even when the recipient is not home.DoorBox was founded by Kumar Sundaresan, who experienced the theft of a valuable package containing his late fathers glasses and watch shortly after delivery. This marks Sundaresans fourth startup; he previously founded three companies in the tech and online food ordering sectors.Image Credits:DoorboxAnother one of DoorBoxs standout features is its steel cable, which can be tethered to a doorknob or other stationary objects. This cable is engineered to withstand over 800 pounds of force, making it nearly impossible to break, according to the company. Upon tampering, a 125-decibel alarm automatically activates, notifying the user through the mobile app. Users can also manually turn the alarm on or off at any time using the app. Its able to hold three to five medium-sized packages.The mobile app not only sends alarm notifications but also serves as a surveillance camera, allowing users to view live camera feeds when sensitive packages are expected. The app also lets users lock or unlock the DoorBox remotely.Smart DoorBox.ai is priced at $400 for the metal version and $300 for the plastic version, with a $20 monthly subscription fee for the app.Check out more CES 2025 coverage, including
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  • Mark Zuckerberg gave Metas Llama team the OK to train on copyrighted works, filing claims
    techcrunch.com
    Counsel for plaintiffs in a copyright lawsuit filed against Meta allege that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave the green light to the team behind the companys Llama AI models to use a data set of pirated ebooks and articles for training.The case, Kadrey v. Meta, is one of many against tech giants developing AI that accuse the companies of training models on copyrighted works without permission. For the most part, defendants like Meta have asserted that theyre shielded by fair use, the U.S. legal doctrine that allows for the use of copyrighted works to make something new as long as its sufficiently transformative. Many creators reject that argument.In newly unredacted documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California late Wednesday, plaintiffs in Kadrey v. Meta, who include bestselling authors Sarah Silverman and Ta-Nehisi Coates, recount Metas testimony from late last year, during which it was revealed that Zuckerberg approved Metas use of a data set called LibGen for Llama-related training.LibGen, which describes itself as a links aggregator, provides access to copyrighted works from publishers including Cengage Learning, Macmillan Learning, McGraw Hill, and Pearson Education. LibGen has been sued a number of times, ordered to shut down, and fined tens of millions of dollars for copyright infringement.According to Metas testimony, as relayed by plaintiffs counsel, Zuckerberg cleared the use of LibGen to train at least one of Metas Llama models despite concerns within Metas AI exec team and others at the company. The filing quotes Meta employees as referring to LibGen as a data set we know to be pirated, and flagging that its use may undermine [Metas] negotiating position with regulators.The filing also cites a memo to Meta AI decision-makers noting that after escalation to MZ, Metas AI team [was] approved to use LibGen. (MZ, here, is rather obvious shorthand for Mark Zuckerberg.)The details seemingly line up with reporting from The New York Times last April, which suggested that Meta cut corners to gather data for its AI. At one point, Meta was hiring contractors in Africa to aggregate summaries of books and considering buying the publisher Simon & Schuster, according to the Times. But the companys execs determined that it would take too long to negotiate licenses and reasoned that fair use was a solid defense.The filing Wednesday contains new accusations, like that Meta mightve tried to conceal its alleged infringement by stripping the LibGen data of attribution.According to plaintiffs counsel, Meta engineer Nikolay Bashlykov, who works on the Llama research team, wrote a script to remove copyright info, including the word copyright and acknowledgments, from ebooks in LibGen. Separately, Meta allegedly stripped copyright markers from science journal articles and source metadata in the training data it used for Llama.This discovery suggests that Meta strips [copyright information] not just for training purposes, the filing reads, but also to conceal its copyright infringement, because stripping copyrighted works prevents Llama from outputting copyright information that might alert Llama users and the public to Metas infringement.According to the latest filing, Meta also revealed during depositions that it torrented LibGen, a move that gave some Meta research engineers pause. Torrenting, a way of distributing files across the web, requires that torrenters simultaneously seed, or upload, the files theyre trying to obtain.Plaintiffs counsel alleges that Meta effectively engaged in another form of copyright infringement by torrenting LibGen and thus helping to spread its contents. Meta also tried to conceal its activities, counsel alleges, by minimizing the number of files it uploaded.According to the filing, Metas head of generative AI, Ahmad Ah-Dahle, cleared the path for torrenting LibGen brushing aside Bashlykovs reservations that doing so could be legally not OK. Had Meta bought plaintiffs works in a bookstore or borrowed them from a library and trained its Llama models on them without a license, it would have committed copyright infringement, wrote plaintiffs counsel in the filing. Metas decision to bypass lawful methods of acquiring books and become a knowing participant in an illegal torrenting network serves as proof of copyright infringement.The case against Meta is far from decided. As of now, it only pertains to Metas earliest Llama models not its recent releases. And the court may well decide in Metas favor if its persuaded by the companys fair use argument. But the allegations dont reflect well on Meta, as the judge presiding over the case, Judge Thomas Hixson, noted in an order on Wednesday rejecting Metas request to redact large portions of the filing.It is clear that Metas sealing request is not designed to protect against the disclosure of sensitive business information that competitors could use to their advantage, Hixson wrote. Rather, it is designed to avoid negative publicity.Weve reached out to Meta for comment and will update this piece if we hear back.
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  • Facebook awards researcher $100,000 for finding bug that granted internal access
    techcrunch.com
    In October 2024, security researcher Ben Sadeghipour was analyzing Facebooks ad platform when he found a security vulnerability that allowed him to run commands on the internal Facebook server housing that platform, essentially giving him control of the server.After he reported the vulnerability to Facebooks owner Meta, which Sadeghipour said took just one hour to fix it, the social networking giant awarded him $100,000 in a bug bounty payout.My assumption is that its something you may want to fix because it is directly inside of your infrastructure, Sadeghipour wrote in the report he sent to Meta, he told TechCrunch. Meta responded to his report, telling Sadeghipour to refrain from testing any further while they fix the vulnerability.The issue, according to Sadeghipour, was that one of the servers that Facebook used for creating and delivering ads was vulnerable to a previously fixed flaw found in the Chrome browser, which Facebook uses in its ads system. Sadeghipour said this unpatched bug allowed him to hijack it using a headless Chrome browser (essentially a version of the browser that users run from the computers terminal) to interact directly with Facebooks internal servers.Sadeghipour, who found the Facebook vulnerability working with independent researcher Alex Chapman, told TechCrunch that online advertising platforms make for juicy targets because, theres so much that happens in the background of making these ads whether they are video, text or images.But at the core of it all its a bunch of data being processed on the server-side and it opens up the door for a ton of vulnerabilities, said Sadeghipour.The researcher said he didnt test out everything he could have done once inside the Facebook server, but what makes this dangerous is this was probably a part of an internal infrastructure.Since we have code execution, we couldve interacted with any of the sites within that infrastructure, said Sadeghipour. With an [remote code execution vulnerability], you can bypass some of these limitations and also directly pull stuff from the server itself and the other machines that it has access to.Meta spokesperson Nicole Catalano acknowledged receipt of TechCrunchs request for comment, but did not comment by press time.Sadeghipour also said that similar ad platforms that other companies run, and which he has been analyzing, are vulnerable to similar vulnerabilities.
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  • Mufasa The Lion King: Taka VFX Breakdown by MPC
    www.artofvfx.com
    Dive into the world of Mufasa: The Lion King with MPCs impressive visual effects! This behind-the-scenes featurette spotlights the intricate design, creation, and animation of Taka, a character brought to life with stunning realism. Dont miss the magic!WANT TO KNOW MORE?MPC: Dedicated page about Mufasa on MPC website. Vincent Frei The Art of VFX 2025
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  • Arcane show 2D VFX References
    realtimevfx.com
    Hey all, I have been lurking around these forums for ages, and thought it was about time to contribute.So here is a whole lot of 2D VFX ref that I put together from the Arcane series. The show was just sooo good, I couldnt help but watch it again and clip bits along the way.There are 3 videos for each season and then the individual frames for all the clips with some descriptive naming. (season 1 episode 5 is 1-5-clip number-descriptive bits)Oh and some of the FX seemed to be drawn at 12 fps, and others at 24 fps, but i recorded them all at 24.I dont know how much bandwidth these mega accounts have though, so be gentle https://mega.nz/folder/qtAnkRTB#mXKzF-4qLBB-oZIiHp9aTQ
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  • Facades+ comes to San Francisco on January 23
    www.archpaper.com
    On January 23 the Facades+ conference series returns to San Francisco. AN partnered with Paul Woolford and Levi J. Rippy, design principal and technical principal, respectively, at HOK to assemble the days program, which consists of case studies covering Bay Area projects as well as topical roundtable discussions on mass timber and facade research. You can find out more about the event and register here. Upside Down and Inside Out: Stanford Universitys CAMIn the first session of the day, HOK will present their design for the Center for Academic Medicine at Stanford University. Targeting net-energy standards, the buildings glass curtain wall is shaded by a ceramic frit and, on certain elevations, a metal louver system. In addition, the design addresses the stressful nature of residency programs, providing a series of outdoor spaces that create a more pleasant atmosphere for work and study.Facade Futures Today: Research Updates from LBNLNext, representatives from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will provide an overview of recent facade-related research, including inquiries into thin triple-glazed windows, vacuum insulated glazing, automated shade systems, and exterior window films. The scientists will also share updates to their software tools including WINDOW, THERM, and Radience. Attendees will walk away from the sessions with insight into the future of facade technology. Mass Timber in California: Strategies, Systems, & Future DevelopmentsThis roundtable session assembles voices from across the AEC industry to discuss trends in mass timber construction on the West Coast. Participants include Ethan Martin, director of sustainability and mass timber at DCI Engineers, Lisa Podesto, regional director of preconstruction at Swinerton, Philip Tidwell, assistant professor of architecture at UC Berkeley, and Claire Moore, senior principal and director of engineering at HOK.Google hired MGA to design the first mass timber structure on the companys Sunnyvale, California campus. (Ema Peter)Googles 1265 Borragas: Sustainable Innovation in Light and WoodPresenters from Michael Green Architects (MGA) and Eckersley OCallaghan, will share the design behind Googles first-ever mass timber office building. Named 1265 Borregas after its address, the new structure boasts a beautiful interior of exposed timber columns, ceilings, and floors activated by ample sunlight that enters through a glass curtain wall envelope and a large skylight. Googles new office has achieved a number of important sustainability metrics including LEED Platinum energy performance and a dramatic reduction in embodied carbon. RDH Building Science and EHDD collaborated to restore the AIA headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Payton Chung/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED)Renovating Brutalism: Challenges, Approaches, and Sustainability StrategiesTouching on several recently completed projects, Felix Weber, facade specialist at RDH Building Science will cover the firms adaptive reuse work. This includes a seismic retrofit of Arthur Ericksons Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, and the renovation of San Franciscos Transamerica Pyramid. Weber will be joined on stage by Rebecca Sharkey, partner at EHDD, to go into more detail on the preservation of the AIA Headquarters building in Washington, D.C. These projects, all renovations of midcentury concrete buildings, provide a roadmap for the preservation of North Americas legacy Brutalist architecture, a period of work that is in dire need of upgrades and landmark protections.Living Enclosures: Strategies for Biophilic Design and Green WallsIn the events final session, David Brenner, founder and CEO of Habitat Horticulture will discuss his companys approach to green wall design as well as challenges and benefits related to planting vertically in urban environments. Brenner and his team have completed green walls for a number of important projects across the West Coast, including for the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, SFMOMA, as well as a number of corporate commissions for prominent tech companies.
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