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 hereA PlayStation Store listing for a fake GTA 6 knockoff has been taken down by Sony. Dubbed GRAND TAKING AGES VI, the obvious parody game was listed using AI-generated art, an annoying a prominent trend for rushed, knockoff releases on PS4 and PS5.PlayStation actually removes GTA 6 parodyListed in December for PlayStation 5 consoles, the game claimed to be The Most Anticipated Game About Making The Most Anticipated Game! Players would allegedly be tasked with running a dream game studio while juggling angry fans, corporate chaos, and endless delays. Fight your way through gaming conventions, dodge ruthless journalists, and master the art of creative excuses.Following news of the games listing, the title has since been removed from the PlayStation Store, a rare occurrence for shovelware on the system. Speaking to IGN, developer Violarte revealed that it has made changes to the game, including removing the VI from the title, and hopes to bring the game back to PS5 players eyes.We genuinely believe that, with the recent updates, Grand Taking Ages is now ready to be relisted on the PlayStation Store, a spokesperson for the studio told the outlet. We strongly believe that there will be no issues with Sony this time, given the adjustments weve implemented.The earlier version of the game was also struck from the PC gaming marketplace Steam. However, since making some changes, Grand Taking Ages is now available to wishlist again with a proposed release date of July 2025.The storefront is also filled with images and videos of what players can expect to do in the title, alongside a number of AI-generated images attempting to mimic the style of GTA 6 artwork. Gameplay footage shows poorly modelled, lighting-less rooms with virtual game developers working on their game. After all, its a game about making a game.Promotional Art vs In-Game GraphicsIn reality, Grand Taking Ages is pretty much another take on games like Internet Cafe Simulator or Supermarket Simulator, albeit about running a games studio. However, you also have to deal with people who wish to fight you, likely the aforementioned angry fans and ruthless journalists. It doesnt look very good but its also unfinished.As for the actual GTA 6, theres still no official release date outside of the 2025 period. When it does release, the game is expected to be the biggest entertainment launch in history. Grand Taking Ages probably wont be.Grand Theft Auto 6Platform(s):PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox Series XGenre(s):Action, Action AdventureSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

Red ReaderThe Witcher 4's all about Ciri and even Geralt's fully aboard her hype train, but he won't fully explain why he's so excited, because he's pro-readingWhite Wolf, more like the Word Wolf, amirite? Alright, put your steel sword away...Image credit: CD Projekt News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Jan. 22, 2025 Well, if you're one of the five idiots on Earth still unhappy about Ciri being tapped to be The Witcher 4's protagonist, your job just got a bit harder. Doug Cockle, Geralt's iconic voice actor has now given his two cents on the change, and he thinks it's "a really, really interesting move".You might be surprised that it's taken this long for the voice of the world's foremost gravelly-voiced monster hunter to have his say on the thing we all found out at last year's Game Awards, but to be fair, I don't blame him for staying mum. CD Projekt did apparently tell him off for saying things about The Witcher 4 not too long ago, y'know.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Speaking to IGN as part of a chat about The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, a Netflix thing he's starring in as animated Gerry from the Riviera, Cockle offered his views on Ciri having gotten the nod as TW4 main character. In short, he's "really excited"."I think it's a really good move," the actor said, "I mean, I always thought that continuing the saga, but shifting to Ciri would be a really, really interesting move for all kinds of reasons, but mostly because of things that happen in the books, which I don't want to give away because people - I want people to go read. So yeah, I think it's really exciting. I can't wait. I can't wait to see what they've done."Oh no. Not reading. We play video games, which absolutely never have text in them, Doug. We don't read. Oh, you mean the Witcher books, which are the basis of some video games? Alright, we can make an exception.Dropping the sark, to be honest, it's been a while since I read the Witcher books myself, so I'm gonna have to flip 'em back open to try and work out what kinds of things Cockle's alluding to here. Damn. He's gotten me.Speaking of Geralt and things we're not quite sure of, we currently only know that the White Wolf will be showing up in The Witcher 4. Game director Sebastian Kalemba didn't provide any details as to what exactly he'll be up to when chatting to people after that TGAs reveal, but he did insist that Geralt is important to both the devs and Ciri.

Corsa DriverAssetto Corsa EVO feels like a worthy heir to one of Steams racing titans so far, but its still got a lot of laps to go to get thereIts still fairly barebones in its initial early access form, but theres a solid core there to refine going forwards.Image credit: Kunos Simulazioni Article by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Jan. 22, 2025 Since it came on the scene about a decade ago, Assetto Corsas been firmly near or at the front of the pack when it comes to racing sims.In a genre thats grown to arguably outshine all but the biggest blockbusters in the arcade scene that long dominated the corner of our hobby filled with games that let you pretend youre Lewis Hamilton or at the very least someone who can afford to be a bit more liberal with the gas pedal than you are on your daily shopping runs it was a winning formula, especially on PC. Why? Well, Id argue one of the biggest keys especially when it comes to ACs longevity is versatility.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. As Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport have long striven to do, it was here to let you walk into the showroom, pick a car, pick a track, and boom. Go. However, on PC, AC had the ace of modding up its sleeve. Built to allow people to add as many extra cars and tracks as they wanted, as well as tweak a litany of other stuff, it became a thing pretty much all petrol heads had long dreamed a racing game could be - ultimate freedom.If you want to drive any car in the world on any track in the world, the odds are pretty good you can do it via Assetto Corsa, right now.Everything from modern racing and road cars anywhere in the world, to the kinds of uber-accurate, time machine-esque recreations of retro racing enthusiasts have put together. Its all there, just waiting to be fired up.No pressure then, Assetto Corsa EVO, the long-awaited successor to this killer robot that fans have since added about 15 thousand different weapons to, as well as polishing its paintwork while theyre at it. AC Evo came out in early access last week, and after a weekend of playing it so far, its clear that its got a long way to go as part of the roadmap Kunos Simulazioni has planned to lead up to a full release in fall this year. EVO's got a lot of tuns to nail if it's gonna live up to its older sibling. | Image credit: Kunos Simulazioni/VG247At this point, what youre getting if you buy EVO is essentially an offline hot lap and single-make racer. There arent any online elements on the go yet though the game does bizarrely try to connect like an always-online thing whenever you boot it up all youve got are solo practice sessions and standalone races (no qualifying, full race weekends are still a work-in-progress).Theres a decent starting roster of cars to choose from, across a variety of brands. Those looking to hop straight in something a bit out there like a Le Mans prototype or anything built prior to the 90s are gonna be left wanting, but thats to be expected. What youve mainly got are a selection of hot hatches, sports and muscle cars, supercars, and a few single-make championship style racers thatre reaching towards the GT3-spec machines ACs spin-off sibling Assetto Corsa Competizione has as its specialised bread and butter.Theres just enough choice that youll not feel too pigeon-holed, and plenty of these are fun to drive. The track rosters about the same, with both variations of Brands Hatch, Imola, Laguna Seca, and three variations of Japans iconic Suzuka all being the kinds of tracks that are exactly the sort of early staples youd expect. The legendary Bathurst/Mount Panorama track thats no doubt been brought across from Competizione is the only one Id argues a bit less common, and the Aussie rollercoaster rides a welcome addition.So, on to the big thing. Hows the driving? Good, in a word. On a wheel which is definitely the way you should play this each car feels weighty, but not more cumbersome than it should be. You can get a nice feel for the tyres gripping the road if youre not being a hooligan, and feel things biting as you slide if youre not, which is as real a risk as it should be if you do what I did and what the stability aids down to nothing. The grunt under your right foot is something youve got to wield carefully, especially if youre wrestling with a fire-spitting Camaro or a 911 cup car with flat six screaming away in the rear. Speaking of, the car visuals and soundscapes are pretty great, with each ride having its own trademark engine roar. As you can imagine, GT2 Mercs are pretty strong in the roar deparment. | Image credit: Kunos Simulazioni/VG247Theres a good challenge there for those who want it, plenty of aids for those whore after a gentler cruise, and plenty of stuff to fiddle with if you want to up the realism and bind everything down to switches that change brake bias by one tiny notch and flick your rain light on manually. Youve got enough different stuff to try and master too, with Bathurst especially being even more different in what it demands than the minor differences between the other more traditionally open circuits.If you want to spice things up even more, youve got the option of changing the time of day slider so youre running at night, or dialling in some light to heavy rain to make the road that much less forgiving and force yourself to deal with spray if youve got competition. If you do make a mistake though, youll lose time, but not much more. Aside from punctures, the games car damage model did feel to me like itll need turning up a bit - assuming were not going for a retro Gran Turismo-style every car is made of stone cos the manufacturers dont really like seeing their babies get trashed thing. For instance, hitting big sausage kerbs isnt quite as punishing as I reckon it should be.I did also run into more teething issues when I took on some races against the AI. First of all, Ive got a pretty beefy PC and while AC games have generally been quite hardware-intensive if youre not prepared to dial stuff down to guarantee the great frame rates you need for racing, any time Im racing against more than about 10 AI opponents, I got a bit of slowdown. It was especially bad on starts, and adding rain made things worse with it. So, maybe a bit more optimisation needed, if possible. I didn't go and hide in the pits because the AI drivers were bullying me, I swear. | Image credit: Kunos SimulazioniThe AI driving itself is also a bit suspect at times. The default line for like a third of the field at Suzuka seems to involve dramatically cutting the first corner across the grass, then rejoining mid-corner. They might be scared Ill Ayton Senna 1990 them, but thats no excuse. Besides, they give as good as they get. It might be because Im not as attentive mirror-wise as I could be, but theres no lifting if someones nose gets close to your rear. I got spun a few times, which was probably my fault for not learning my lesson, but I also got a fair few direct mid-corner bumps squarely to the bumper, which unsettled me just enough to spin out on my own.Basically, it seems like Kunos has based these non-humans on touring car drivers who know theyve not got another race coming up soon, whichll take a bit of getting used to if the option to tweak their aggressiveness isnt added in future.Overall, though, AC EVOs a solid opening package to build on right now. It wont blow you away in its current form, but as the interesting GT/Forza/AC hybrid Kunos seems to have sketched out in its roadmap especially the interesting free-roamy bits come together, and it proves as popular modding-wise as its predecessor, its definitely one to keep an eye on. Its not on pole position yet, but its gotten round the first corner pretty rapidly, and without binning it.

Now you're playing with miceWe're incredibly excited to see what kind of tricks Nintendo has up its sleeve for the Switch 2's native games and how they might implement optical sensors into their gameplay, but we've also been pondering which OG Switch titles might benefit from added 'Mouse Mode' support via backward compatibility. It's by no means a given that Nintendo will patch its back catalogue you might argue that it's unlikely but it's possible.So, we've assembled a handful of Switch games which could be a good fit for some mouse-like functionality. We're limiting this to actual, current Switch titles, not hypothetical future releases (so you won't find that Kid Icarus: Uprising remaster or a Mario Paint port here - although we'd love them too, of course).Let's start with a game that always felt like it was built with 'Mouse Mode' in mind...Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch)Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: NintendoRelease Date: 28th Jun 2019 (USA) / 28th Jun 2019 (UK/EU)If we're being honest, creating custom Mario levels with the Switch's touch screen never felt quite as satisfying as it did on the Wii U and the 3DS. Thanks in large part to the shift from resistive touchscreens to capacitive, using your finger instead of a stylus was noticeably less precise (not to mention leaving greasy marks all over your Switch screen).Moving over to a mouse-like solution would not only mitigate this entirely, but it would allow for more precise creation across both docked and tabletop scenarios. Controls could be slightly altered to allow for quick access to critical shortcuts ('Undo', 'Favourites'), and if paired with some sweet HD-Rumble feedback, it could make for an incredibly satisfying, tactile experience.Splatoon 3 (Switch)Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: NintendoRelease Date: 9th Sep 2022 (USA) / 9th Sep 2022 (UK/EU)If you come across someone who's especially skilled at Splatoon 3, then chances are they're using a combination of analogue and gyro controls. Truly mastering this setup makes Splatoon 3 an absolute joy, giving you total precision over your shots and movement. That said, it can sometimes be a bit awkward twisting your controller around during heated battles. Mouse controls would effectively mimic the gyro setup in classic PC style, but you simply use the right Joy-Con as a mouse while keeping the left solely for analogue movement.Now, a big caveat here would be a potential haves and have-nots situation. Who's going to want to play competitively on the OG Switch if Switch 2 players are rocking a potentially more advantageous control scheme?So perhaps it's a bit late for Splatoon 3. Splatoon 4, on the other hand...Disco Elysium: The Final Cut (Switch eShop)Publisher: ZA/UM / Developer: ZA/UMRelease Date: 12th Oct 2021 (USA) / 12th Oct 2021 (UK/EU)We have very few problems with the excellent Disco Elysium on Switch, but one of the drawbacks of the console release was having to cycle through interactable objects until you stumble upon the one you actually want. Sometimes you'd get lucky and land on it straight away, others you'd be fumbling with the right analogue stick, moving it up, down, left, and right for ages.It should be obvious how mouse controls along the lines of the original PC and Mac releases would alleviate this: simply slide an onscreen cursor directly over an item or NPC. Simple! It's one of few minor issues that hold the Switch version back from true perfection.RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic (Switch eShop)Publisher: Atari / Developer: Graphite LabRelease Date: 5th Dec 2024 (USA) / 5th Dec 2024 (UK/EU)When we recently reviewed Rollercoaster Tycoon Classic, we lamented the lack of touchscreen controls for a game that otherwise depended solely on an onscreen cursor (something that Atari has said it's keen to address). But goodness, could you imagine using mouse controls instead?Touchscreen functionality would certainly improve the game, but using 'Mouse Mode' (look, we like the alliteration) to move the cursor would be immeasurably more enjoyable. The game is, after all, bringing back a PC classic from 1999 (and 2002); one that veteran fans are intimately familiar with. Why not make the transition over to the Switch 2 as easy as possible? Makes sense to us.Return to Monkey Island (Switch eShop)Publisher: Devolver Digital / Developer: Terrible ToyboxRelease Date: 19th Sep 2022 (USA) / 19th Sep 2022 (UK/EU)Pretty much any point-and-click adventure game on Switch would probably benefit from mouse controls; Return to Monkey Island was simply the first that came to mind!Games like Loco Motive, Grim Fandango, Thimbleweed Park, The Darkside Detective... They all stick close to the classic blueprint, so implementing mouse controls would easily make them more approachable for players looking to transition from the PC versions. The touchscreen made this genre a natural fit for Switch, so adding this functionality for TV play would make it the ultimate point-and-click machine.Sid Meier's Civilization VI (Switch)Publisher: 2K Games / Developer: Firaxis GamesRelease Date: 16th Nov 2018 (USA) / 16th Nov 2018 (UK/EU)Civilization VI did a good job at translating the series' to Switch, with the left analogue stick allowing for movement of the onscreen indicator, while the right lets you pan across the scenery and jump the cursor over to the centre of the screen.Let's be honest, though, any strategy game worth its salt is best used with proper mouse controls. You could shift the camera pan to a single analogue stick and boom. It's a slightly stripped-back version of the classic mouse and keyboard setup on PC, but it would certainly allow for more intuitive navigation.Quake II (Switch eShop)Publisher: Bethesda / Developer: id SoftwareRelease Date: 10th Aug 2023 (USA) / 10th Aug 2023 (UK/EU)FPS games flourished on PC with traditional mouse and keyboard setups, and we reckon the Switch 2 could simulate this well with the new Joy-Con. And let's not forget, Quake already supports mouse control on Switch!The game already boasts a pretty flawless control setup that includes optional gyro aiming, but there's no denying that the movement of a mouse would introduce even more precision. Nightdive has been great about post-launch patches and support, and we could totally imagine the devs going back and adding this to the first two entries. Or perhaps to a hypothetical port of Quake III Arena?Naturally, the benefits of mouse control could apply to most FPS games on Switch, including the likes of DOOM Eternal, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, Killing Time: Resurrected, and yes, perhaps even Metroid Prime Remastered.Akka Arrh (Switch eShop)Publisher: Atari / Developer: LlamasoftRelease Date: 21st Feb 2023 (USA) / 21st Feb 2023 (UK/EU)Akka Arrh requires lightning-fast reflexes and precise aiming at all times. Despite its somewhat relaxed visual aesthetics, the later levels in particular can descend into utter chaos, and if you're not careful you'll wind up back on the main menu time and time again.It has you moving an onscreen cursor to shoot down invading enemies and defend your central tower. Developer Llamasoft fine-tuned the movement speed well enough that it feels relatively zippy without losing too much accuracy, but it's still no replacement for traditional mouse input.Just imagine the kind of high scores you can achieve with 'Mouse Mode'.The World Ends with You: Final Remix (Switch)Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Square EnixRelease Date: 12th Oct 2018 (USA) / 12th Oct 2018 (UK/EU)Games that focus so heavily on the Switch's touchscreen can be a bit tricky to translate into other control methods. The general consensus around The World Ends with You: Final Remix is that while it's a fine port of an excellent DS game, the move to capacitive touchscreen (or an onscreen pointer in docked mode) in addition to condensing all of the action onto a single display makes it a slightly lesser version of the original.A lot of the action obscured by your finger could be revealed nicely if we made the pointer controls the default option while docked and used a Yoy-Con mouse to move it around. It might be a bit finicky since there are a lot of gestures to contend with during heated battles, but making the action easier to parse would be a huge step in the right direction.Danganronpa Decadence (Switch)Publisher: Spike Chunsoft / Developer: Spike ChunsoftRelease Date: 3rd Dec 2021 (USA) / 3rd Dec 2021 (UK/EU)You may not think that Danganronpa or other games in the visual novel category would necessarily need mouse controls to be enjoyable, and to give it credit, it does work well as it is. But in our opinion, almost every core gameplay mechanic could potentially benefit from mouse input.Think about it: you need to investigate scenes within the school with an onscreen cursor, navigate the hallways in first-person mode, and quickly select moving words or phrases during the courtroom sessions. All of these scenarios would be easier with a mouse setup.Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake (Switch eShop)Publisher: Koei Tecmo / Developer: Kou ShibusawaRelease Date: 24th Oct 2024 (USA) / 24th Oct 2024 (UK/EU)Much like the earlier entries from Koei Tecmo, Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake relies heavily on menu navigation and selection as you manage an obscene number of unique characters. The game does a good job of presenting relevant information without completely overwhelming you, but cycling through options threatens to become tedious after a while.But what's the answer!? asked absolutely nobody at this point in the article. Next game.World of Goo 2 (Switch eShop)Publisher: Tomorrow Corporation / Developer: 2D BoyRelease Date: 2nd Aug 2024 (USA) / 2nd Aug 2024 (UK/EU)World of Goo 2 (and indeed, its predecessor) has an onscreen cursor, yet unlike other games that feature similar control methods, its gooey gameplay feels incredibly tactile in the way you manipulate goo balls to create structures. Thanks to the pointer controls of the Switch's Joy-Con which often needs recentring, unlike the IR pointer of the original WiiWare version this gem never shined quite as bright as it could have on Switch.Yes, you can play with a Pro Controller or via the touchscreen if you like, but mouse controls would offer remarkable speed and accuracy. Add in cute little jiggle feedback from the HD Rumble whenever you add a new blob of goo, and we reckon you're onto a winner.Stardew Valley (Switch eShop)Publisher: ConcernedApe / Developer: ConcernedApeRelease Date: 5th Oct 2017 (USA) / 5th Oct 2017 (UK/EU)Last one, and an obvious one, but certainly a game that could benefit greatly from mouse support. Do you really need us to explain why?Okay, we will anyway. Stardew Valley places a lot of emphasis on its onscreen cursor to complete objectives, manage your inventory, and generally keep your farm running. So naturally, moving this with a mouse would prove infinitely more intuitive than an analogue stick.Also, one of the more common complaints with this beloved game is that the indicator used to show the patch of land you're about to interact with can sometimes go haywire - especially frustrating when you're performing more delicate tasks. 'Mouse mode' to the rescue.Image: NintendoWe can only dream of the myriad ways in which this new functionality will be used for the new console, and we can't wait to hear more from Nintendo.Might it provide a legitimate way to accurately control DS games in docked mode, for instance? (Yes, we're hoping there's a Nintendo Switch Online NDS app on the way!) Games like Castlevania Dominus Collection have incorporated workarounds, but precise input emulating the accuracy of a stylus on a distant screen could make the world of difference. How about the direct manipulation of light or measuring distance? Imagine controlling Luigi's torch with the optical sensors in Luigi's Mansion 3. So cool.Accessibility advantages are a big plus, too; mouse-like control options could open up more games to people of differing abilities. Even if 'just' adding mouse support to existing games strikes you as unimaginative, the benefits could be enormous for many players.While these are pipe-dream ideas for the moment, Nintendo will shed more light on the idea soon as we inch toward the Switch 2's eventual launch. For now, why not cast your vote in our poll and let us know which Switch games you think could benefit from mouse-like support, and leave a comment elaborating on your choice down below.Which Switch games do you think would benefit from the Switch 2's mouse support? (71 votes)Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch)28%Splatoon 3 (Switch)4%Disco Elysium: The Final Cut (Switch eShop)3%RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic (Switch eShop)6%Return to Monkey Island (Switch eShop)3%Sid Meier's Civilization VI (Switch)13%Quake II (Switch eShop)6%Akka Arrh (Switch eShop)1%The World Ends with You: Final Remix (Switch)4%Danganronpa Decadence (Switch)1%Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake (Switch eShop)3%World of Goo 2 (Switch eShop)14%Stardew Valley (Switch eShop)4%Other (comment below!)10%Image: Nintendo The wait is over!A complete guide to Switch 2 - official details, rumours, leak historyRelated GamesShare:01 Nintendo Lifes resident horror fanatic, when hes not knee-deep in Resident Evil and Silent Hill lore, Ollie likes to dive into a good horror book while nursing a lovely cup of tea. He also enjoys long walks and listens to everything from TOOL to Chuck Berry. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesNintendo Asks Wii U Owners To Refrain From Using "Unauthorised" Online ServicesUpdate: Pretendo respondsThe Switch eShop Is A Nightmare, So We've Made Our Own "Better eShop"Fixing what Nintendon'tPoll: What Do You Think Of Donkey Kong's Redesign In Mario Kart 9?Got whiplash?

Pika your slot.With the Pokmon European International Championships right around the corner, reservations for London's pop-up Pokmon Center are now live.The store will be up and running throughout the event at ExCel London from 20th-23rd February 2025 , and, much like previous years, you need to book a slot if you want to shop.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Were kicking things off earlier than ever! TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 tickets are officially on sale. Dont miss your chance to snag them at the lowest rates of the year!Immerse yourself in the epicenter of tech innovation at Disrupt 2025! From October 2729, Moscone West in San Francisco transforms into the global hub for technology and venture capital. Experience 250+ powerful sessions, 200+ expert-led discussions, the thrilling Startup Battlefield 200, and unparalleled networking with 10,000 tech and VC leaders. This year, dive deeper into groundbreaking AI advancements to spark your next big idea.Save now more than ever2-for-1 PassesThe best deals of the year are here! From now through January 31, take advantage of registering for two of the same ticket type for half the price of one. Choose from Attendee, Investor, Founder, Non-Profit, Student and Expo+ 2-for-1 Passes. Make the most of Disrupt 2025 by bringing a friend or colleague.Super Early Bird RatesEarly birds get the biggest savings of the year! Super Early Bird rates are the lowest rates. Save up to $1,100 on select ticket types. Dont waitthese incredible deals vanish after February 28 at 11:59 PM PT.What to expect at Disrupt 2025Expect three dynamic days of exploring the cutting-edge innovations, trends, and products shaping startups today. Youll also walk away with practical strategies for navigating the challenges and opportunities in the fast-changing tech landscape.TechCrunch Disrupt continues its mission by bringing you the latest insights from pioneering founders, CEOs, and venture capitalists who will share their invaluable wisdom. This is a must-attend event for entrepreneurs looking to learn from the top minds in the industry. Heres a preview of the distinguished speakers who joined us last year:Alex Pall and Drew Taggart from The Chainsmokers, Co-Founders and Partners, MANTIS Venture CapitalAssaf Rappaport, Co-founder & CEO, WizAshton Kutcher, Co-founder, Sound VenturesBridgit Mendler, CEO, Northwood SpaceColin Kaepernick, Founder & CEO, LumiDenise Dresser, CEO, SlackErin and Sara Foster, Co-founders and General Partners, Oversubscribed VenturesMary Barra, CEO, General MotorsMatt Mullenweg, Co-Founder, WordPress and CEO, AutomatticPeter Beck, Founder & CEO, RocketlabVinod Khosla, Founder, Khosla VenturesWassym Bensaid, CSO, RivianSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA OCTOBER 28: Vinod Khosla, Founder of Khosla Ventures, speaks onstage during TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 Day 1 at Moscone Center on October 28, 2024 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch)Image Credits:Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunchMatt Mullenweg, Founder & CEO of Automattic, speaks onstage during TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 Day 3 at Moscone Center on October 30, 2024 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch)Image Credits:Kimberly White / Getty ImagesExpand your knowledge and networkMaximize your learning with sessions at the Builders Stage! Dive into expert-led discussions on key topics such as fundraising, product iteration, bootstrapping, and scaling your business.Choose from a wide range of breakout sessions and roundtable discussions, offering interactive presentations, thought-provoking discussions, and Q&A opportunities with experts from across the startup ecosystem.Alongside our core focus on entrepreneurship and business growth, this years event will feature special tracks on AI and space, and more.Dont miss the Startup Battlefield, featuring over 200 companies presenting their groundbreaking innovations, plus the exciting Startup Battlefield pitch competition.Whether youre scheduling 1:1 meetings through the event app, joining receptions and side events, or having impromptu chats, youre sure to build meaningful relationships that can help drive your business forward.Lock in the lowest possible ticket ratesLock in incredible savings todaysecure your Super Early Bird ticket or bring a +1 with the 2-for-1 Pass while this offer lasts!Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.

YouTube said Wednesday that it is adding new experimental features for Premium users, including high-quality audio, faster playback speed option on mobile, and the ability to jump ahead on the web to skip to the more intriguing part of the video.The company routinely tests new features that users can activate fromyoutube.com/new. The company said users can now enable an experimental feature that lets them listen to music videos with a higher audio bitrate up to 256kbps. As a reminder, YouTube Music already offers this quality for audio listening when you turn up the settings to High in the playback settings.On mobile, picture-in-picture can be helpful if you quickly want to reply to a text or an email, or check something else while a video is playing. One of the new tests allows users to play YouTube Shorts in the picture-in-picture mode on iOS.Whats more, YouTube is now adding the option to turn on smart downloads for Shorts on iOS when you turn on smart downloads, YouTube automatically downloads videos that could interest you when you have a good connection. This way, you can watch them offline without an internet connection. Both of these features were already available to Android users.If you like watching videos at a higher playback speed, YouTube now allows you to watch them at up to 4x speed on mobile. Until now, the users could set 2x as the highest playback speed.Last year, YouTube introduced aJump Ahead feature on mobile, which allows users to skip to the best part of the video. YouTubes algorithm determines those best parts through machine learning and user feedback. The company is now bringing this feature to the web for Premium users.Google is also expanding two YouTube-related AI features. For YouTube Music, the company is expanding its Ask Music feature to the UK and Ireland. Users can ask for upbeat workout tracks or relaxing jazz, and the app will create a customized radio station related to the prompt. Other rivals, includingSpotify andAmazon Music, have also been trying out such features.YouTube started dabbling with a conversational AI feature for users to ask questions about a video or get recommendations in 2023. The company said that this feature will soon be available to iOS users as well.

Breakdown & ShowreelsDune Prophecy: VFX Breakdown by Rodeo FXBy Vincent Frei - 22/01/2025 Explore the breathtaking imperial grandeur of Kaitain in HBOs Dune: Prophecy! Rodeo FX delivers really cool visual effects, crafting intricate environments for the palace that transport viewers straight to the heart of the universes political intrigue!WANT TO KNOW MORE?Rodeo FX: Dedicated page about Dune: Prophecy on Rodeo FX website.Mike Enriquez & Terron Pratt: Heres my interview of Production VFX Supervisor Mike Enriquez and VFX Producer Terron Pratt. Vincent Frei The Art of VFX 2025

A Century of Tomorrows: How Imagining the Future Shapes the PresentGlenn AdamsonBloomsbury$29.69Anyone who thinks about the future, Albert Einstein wrote in a contribution to the 1939 Worlds Fair time capsule that was intended to be opened in the year 6939, must live in fear and terror. Today, nearly 85 years later, the great physicists words feel like good advice. As we enter a new year, the future can seem bleak with challenges ahead: The ever-present climate crisis, uncertainties around AI, wars around the world, the instability of democracies How can we not live in a constantly anxious state? Einsteins words appear around a third of the way through historian Glenn Adamsons dazzling new book, A Century of Tomorrows: How Imagining the Future Shapes the Present. But unlike Einstein, Adamson aims to look backwards, not forwards; he surveys the history of futurology, trend forecasting, and predictions. Once relegated to the mysticalthink prophets, witchcraft, and Tarot cardsAdamsons story begins at the turn of the 20th century, when futurism moved from the spiritual to the concrete. [Futurology] takes the broad view, making predictions about society at large, usually over a relatively long time span, Adamson argues. It is an incredibly varied activity, undertaken by social theorists and political activists, trend forecasters and insurance executives, architects and industrial designers, urban planners and military war gamers, fiction writers and film directors.Adamson moves seamlessly between this diverse group of thinkers and mixes sci-fi writers and government bureaucrats in scenes set in corporate boardrooms and hippie communes. We see how Robert McNamara and the rise of the managerial class creates systems of planning and big data to project into the future and, later, considers Stewart Brands Whole Earth Catalog, a counterculture publication deeply interested in the future that inspired thinking dominant in Silicon Valley today. These examples are contrasted with new wave science fiction writers like Ursula Le Guin, whose work challenged power and gender dynamics, or Samuel Delany, whose work Adamson argues predates contemporary discourse around trans and intersectional identity. Taken together, Adamson makes the case that looking into the future is actually a way to contend with the conditions of the present. A Century of Tomorrows is structured both chronologically and thematically. To provide a clean framing device, Adamson focuses primarily on the United States, a country that has always thought of itself in futuristic terms: The new world, the frontier, where tomorrow happens first. The chapters march from the early 1900s to the near-present day, establishing a movement from machine to garden or lab to party and ending with the flood, an apt and varied metaphor for our present moment that draws on religious imagery to describe an ever-present feeling that there is too much pollution. Too much information. Too much complexity. Above all, too much change in too short a time. The future, much the like genre of sci-fi, is a generative setting for the cultural imagination, a stage on which all our dramas are acted out, Adamson declares. Within this structure, he shows us how these visions for the future can often be both in opposition and in dialogue. There are always multiple attempts, happening at once, to make the future real. The irony is this future-thinking is no guarantee for a better future; the futurologists Adamson shares were often wrong as much as they were right. Solutions for todays problems are not a clear map for tomorrow.Glenn Adamson (Courtesy Glenn Adamson)Design is one of the major through lines in Adamsons text, and so designers, architects, and urban planners are recurring characters along the way. Take Norman Bel Geddes: The theater set designerturnedindustrial designer possessed a showmanship that was evident in Horizons, a self-promotional book published in 1932 that projected what the future might look likeif Bel Geddes himself were put in charge of it. Or consider Margaret Hayden Rorke, the pioneering color forecaster, who landed a government advisory role where she recommended to Herbert Hoover that the red, white, and blue of the American Flag should be standardized. She also led the Textile Color Card Association, a consultancy whose influence on American fashion is unrivaled. Then, of course, theres Buckminster Fuller, who Adamson calls the centurys quintessential futurologist, as he was throwing off proposals and theories, provocative and preposterous by turns, impossible to summarize that were rooted in the idea that humans should design as nature does. Prior to this book, Adamsons scholarship as a writer and curator focused largely on the history of craft and what he has referred to as material intelligence. His previous book, Craft: An American History, told the story of this idea in the United States. He wrote in the introduction that A Century of Tomorrows is, perhaps, a mirror of his earlier book. Craft is often understood as a repository of tradition, an embodiment of the values of care and empathy that are conspicuously lacking in modernity, he observed. Futurology, by contrast, is habitually impatient with inherited wisdom. Its practitioners are inclined to shift aside the weight of precedent and ally themselves with technological disruption. The designers and architects who appear throughout this book seem to bridge this divide, as they turn the abstract ideas of the future into the materials of the present.The future has been on Adamsons mind for years, it seems: He was one of the curators of Futures, an exhibition that opened at the Smithsonians Arts and Industries Building in late 2021. A concern for younger designers also seems to power Adamsons busy schedule: In 2024 he was the artistic director of Design Doha, a new biennale for MENA creatives, and curatorial director of Design Miami with the theme of Blue Sky.Reading Adamsons history reminds us that even within moments of darkness in the 20th century, people worked towards a better tomorrow. Perhaps Einstein was wrong: Considering the future is inherently an optimistic endeavor. To think of the future is to believe that there will be one worth living in. To believe that the future is a lost cause, or that all the answers to our problems are to be found in the past, Adamson wagers in his conclusion, can only lead us to very dark places. To imagine the future, then, is the first step in redesigning the present. Jarrett Fuller is a designer, writer, editor, educator, and podcaster. Hes an assistant professor of graphic and experience design at North Carolina State University and the host of the podcast Scratching the Surface.

The U.S. has always been a difficult country to age in placeseniors who cant find lodging with a loved one are often relegated to nursing homes, if they can afford the fees. The situation gets even more precarious for LGBTQIA+ seniors, who commonly see bias in the rental application process, and get turned down for apartments at high rates. Things are especially dire in Texas, where state law doesnt protect individuals from housing discrimination based on their sexual orientation, although LGBTQIA+ individuals are still protected under the federal Fair Housing Act. This exacerbates the problem and puts even more people at risk of poverty and social isolation.Perkins&Wills Dallas studio recently completed a new affordable housing project for LGBTQIA+ seniors to help combat this public health crisis. Today, Oak Lawn Place in Dallas represents north Texass first affordable housing development, the architects shared. It offers 100 percent affordable housing to those 55 years of age and older.Karen Chen of Sunshine Studios created a bespoke mural on every floor of the building. (John Steinkamp)The Dallas neighborhood of Oak Lawn has been the beating heart of north Texass LGBTQIA+ community for decades. Oak Lawn Place was developed with the developer Matthews Southwest; Volunteers of America, one of the largest LGBTQIA+ community centers in the country; and Resource Center, an HIV/AIDS service organization.Im seeing Oak Lawn Place transform peoples lives, Resource Center CEO Cece Cox said in a press statement. A project like this elevates everyone and makes Dallas a better place. In plan, Oak Lawn Place is shaped like a C. This was meant to increase natural light exposure within every unit; this feature also provides a protective wing that surrounds an outdoor deck, hidden from public view. The deck has great views of the sites sloping topography and a nearby creek.Mural by Karen Chen of Sunshine Studios (John Steinkamp)Karen Chen of Sunshine Studios created a bespoke mural on every floor of the building, which helps with wayfinding. Oak Lawn Place was designed with maximum accessibility in mindeverything from the hallway seatings, elevator lobbies, to wheelchair-friendly doorways are meant to provide a positive user experience.The design of Oak Lawn Place is economical and efficient, yet still manages to have splashes of color here and there; the facade has a rainbow flag to signify all are welcome. The 80,000-square-foot building has a total 84 units. Its within walking distance of public transit options and Resource Centers Community Center.The building has a shared kitchen and other community-building amenities. (John Steinkamp)Oak Lawn Place helps make Dallas a more inclusive, inviting cityfor those considering moving here and for those wondering, as a queer person, Will I truly feel welcome? Are there spaces in Dallas for me? We are honored and proud to bring this project to life, Cox continued.A new healthcare facility, Resource Center Health, will open across the street from Oak Lawn Place later this year.