You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereBungies Destiny 2 is suffering. Following the release of The Final Shape, the free-to-play looter shooter has been met with plummeting player counts and disdain towards recent story decisions. While the game still has enough players to maintain a healthy playerbase before the arrival of Marathon.Nevertheless, Destinys fanbase is failing to grow, and one reason is due to the games horrendous introduction for new players. In order to slim the game down, Bungie started removing older content from the game, stripping away old expansions and the original D2 story in the process.Destiny 2 needs un-vault contentWhile the current version of Destiny 2 isnt unfriendly towards new players, it is on the rough side. To on-board players, Bungie re-introduced the opening of the original Destiny while axing the entirety of Red War, the start of D2s storyline before being thrust into the games New Light arc.As it stands, theres no feeling of a straight line within the games current form. While the vaulting of content was supposed to make the New Player Experience easier, it has only resulted in more confusion. Youre plopped into a confusing state of a universe you know nothing about. While Red War could be confusing for those who didnt play the original game, it at least started you off with a strong introduction, motivation and enough on-boarding to keep new players invested.The vaulting of content also means that key storylines and character development is completely locked away for the average player. While watching a My name is Byf video for ten hours can be an entertaining time, its not the best way to learn about a universe. The best way is by experiencing it, which new players cant.Live-service games that continue to grow do so because they make sure to keep themselves open to newcomers. For example, Elder Scrolls Online still has its original main quest despite years of additional expansions. While its not the most important content, and new players can skip it if they want, it allows them to experience the whole world, the whole story, the whole game they paid for.As it stands, Destiny 2 is an outlier in its removal of content, and its proven to be a negative year-after-year. If Bungie wants D2 to grow instead of simply exist, it needs to radically improve its intro, re-introduce cut content and make the entire experience more open for every player.Destiny 2Platform(s):Google Stadia, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Web, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/XGenre(s):Action, Adventure, First Person, Massively Multiplayer, Shooter8VideoGamerSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

The primary residence of Pariss grandfather Barron had a palatial feel worthy of a storybook. And though Paris never technically lived there, this home is a huge part of the Hilton family legacy and her personal story as well. Nestled beyond wrought-iron gates, the white brick, English Georgian-style estate sat on 2.5-acres in the heart of Holmby Hills. The 15,000 square foot home was designed by trailblazing American architect Paul R. Williams who also built homes for Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball. Williams originally designed the residence for businessman Jacob Jay Paley and completed the build in 1936.Barron purchased the property following Paleys death for the equivalent of $4 million today. Inside the home were trademark Williams staples such as a circular breakfast room. Other details of the palatial estate included floor to ceiling paneled windows, 13 bedrooms, 17 bathrooms, an executive office, an Olympic-size swimming pool with french tile, and most importantly, the pool house which was designed by Williams. The property was featured in AD in 1938 and again in 1968.The Hilton Estate was known for throwing legendary parties with upwards of 1,000 guests, family Thanksgiving dinners, but more recently, the home was the site of Pariss iconic Grandma Hiltons House photoshoot with Vanity Fair in 2000. The photos were taken when the heiress was 19 and navigating the trauma from her experiences at Provo Canyon School. Maybe inside my mind I was thinking like, what I was doing in the picture was like a big f you, Paris said in her documentary, This Is Paris. I think all my anger just went into my drive for success. It made me strong.The home was listed in 2020 by Hilton & Hyland, the real estate brokerage founded by the actors father Rick Hilton and his business partner, Jeff Hyland. We got some decent mileage, and its time to find a new family for this incredible home, Barron II said in an interview with Forbes. The brokerage listed the home in 2020 for $75 million. The Hilton Estate officially sold in 2021 for $61.5 million, making it one of the most expensive homes to trade hands in the history of California real estate, according to Forbes Global Properties.Despite the fact that the home had been sold earlier in the year, Paris and her now-husband Reum held their wedding at the property in November of 2021. The ceremony was as lavish as any Hilton party of yesteryear, with over-the-top floral arrangements and musical performances from Kim Petras and Demi Lovato.Hollywood Hills hideawayThroughout the 2000s, Paris lived in a Spanish-style mansion overlooking Sunset Boulevard. Its where the actor lived while filming five seasons of The Simple Life. The 3,000-square-foot home was built in 1926 and featured four bedrooms and four bathrooms, plus glamorous amenities including multiple poolside cabanas, a bedroom with wall-to-wall mirrors, and a movie theater. The socialite listed the home for $4.8 million, fully furnished. After a 10-day bidding war, the property officially sold in 2007 for $5 million.Slivington manorIt isnt clear exactly when Paris moved into her next pad, but in 2020, she shared a before and after video of the renovation of the home she dubbed Slivington Manor on YouTube. (Sliving, a combination of slaying and living, is a phrase she coined in 2019.) The actor had lived in the home for some time previous to the renovation, and is seen walking through the bare-bones home sharing stories about each room before the gut job began. The now empty rooms once held sprawling shoe closets, as well as Club Paris, the actors personal at-home nightclub. But one thing remainedthe two-story doggie mansion for her collection of pocket-sized puppies. The video fast-forwards to months later, when the home is starting to come together. Inside, the heiress shows almost-finished rooms covered in Beverly Hills Hotelinspired wallpaper, a walk-in marble shower, and multiple walk-in closets. In comparison to the previous design aesthetic of her home, its clear that Paris was eager to take a more refined, timeless approach to the property.Malibu beach houseFive months before Paris and Reum tied the knot, they purchased a three bedroom, three bathroom beachfront home in Malibu for $8.4 million. Contemporary in style, the 3,000-square-foot dwelling, built in 1955, featured floor-to-ceiling glass windows looking out on the Pacific Ocean and numerous balconies for taking in the view. Fans may recognize the homes all-white, airy kitchen from a humorous promotional video for the Netflix show Cooking With Paris, which aired for just one season in 2021. Perhaps the biggest draw of the home was its stairs leading from one of the decks directly onto the beach. After wildfires ripped through the area in early 2025, the residencealong with many neighboring structures and thousands of other homes throughout Los Angeleswas unfortunately burned to the ground. It remains to be seen if Paris plans to build a new house in its place.Tuscan Beverly Park mansionParis and Reum tied the knot in 2021 and share two children, Phoenix and London, both born in 2023.Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images

In BriefPosted:6:05 AM PST January 9, 2025Image Credits:David Paul Morris/Bloomberg / Getty ImagesTesla directors to pay up to $919 million to settle claims they overpaid themselvesA Delaware judge has approved a settlement that will see Tesla directors including Chair Robyn Denholm, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, Kimbal Musk, and James Murdoch return up to $919 million to the automaker, officially resolving allegations that they overpaid themselves, per Reuters.The settlement concludes a 2020 lawsuit by the Police and Fire Retirement System of the City of Detroit that challenged director compensation from 2017 to 2020 as excessive. The directors will have to pay back stock and options worth up to $735 million and forgo three years of pay allegedly worth $184 million.Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick, the judge overseeing the case, also awarded $176 million in fees and costs to the three law firms that brought the case to court on a contingency basis, meaning they would only be paid if they won. Tesla has asked McCormick to cap the fee at $64 million.McCormick is the same judge who ruled against Tesla CEO Elon Musks exorbitant pay package despite shareholders voting to re-ratify the deal.Topics

Quick MathsThe numbers have been crunched, and PC Game Pass got almost $5,000 in new games during 2024That's not bad value for money for all except those brave enough to sail the digital seas.Image credit: Treyarch, Raven Software, Activision. News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on Jan. 9, 2025 If you're like me, you may at one point have wondered just how much money a PC player with a subscription to PC Game Pass actually saves. It turns out it's quite the substantial figure, with the total dollar worth of games added to the service in 2024 coming to just under $5,000.This was deduced by one Jamie Hore over at PCGamesN, who dropped all 137 games added to the service in 2024, took their dollar value at the time they were added, and found the total sum came to $4,812.63. For clarity, the price of a full year of PC Game Pass is roughly $143. That's a lot of saved cash.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Now obviously, there are caveats. This figure assumes that you, the hypothetical PC Game Pass enjoyer, are snapping up every game added to the service the moment it is available. It also goes without saying that you only really save money on games you play. It doesn't really matter to me if I can play Starfield and save $30, you'd have to pay me a lot more.But, it is a monument to the saving potential of Game Pass that's backed up by data. Interesting data too - we can see how much money you could potentially save by-month in the PCGamesN article. April looks like a big winner with 17 games added to PC Game Pass (five of which were day-one releases). On the other hand, December was kinda a bummer, with only six games added to the service, two of which day-one releases. Still, even on weak months like December, the potential savings come to $214.94. Not shabby at all!Does this make you feel any different about PC Game Pass? Do you feel better about subscribing, or wish you had last year? Or are you a pirate, with naught a care but the salty wind in your hair and a dream in your heart? Let us know below.

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!

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!

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

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

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

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.