Nintendo, BioWare amongst nominees for outstanding video game at 36th GLAAD Media AwardsHowever, the majority of nominations went to indie games with strong LGBTQ+ representationImage credit: Nintendo News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Jan. 22, 2025 Nintendo, BioWare, and Deck Nine have all received nominations at this year's GLAAD awards, a non-profit organisation focused on celebrating positive LGBTQ+ representation in media, including games.The majority of the Outstanding Video Game nominations went to indie games, however: Caravan SandWitch, Dread Delusion, Dustborn, Fear the Spotlight, Minds Beneath Us, Sorry We're Closed, and Until Then.As spotted by Eurogamer, Nintendo's Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remake likely secured a nomination for its ghost companion, Vivian. Whilst the character was trans - and intentionally misgendered by the game's cast - in the original game when it released on GameCube in 2000, this aspect of their identity was censored in many versions at the time, including its English-language release.For last year's remake, however, Nintendo restored Vivian's trans identity.Life is Strange: Double Exposure also received a nod, along with Dragon Age: The Veilguard.Last year, Baldur's Gate 3 secured the top prize for Outstanding Video Game at the GLAAD awards.

Insomniac Games' CEO and founder, Ted Price, to step down after 30 yearsPrice will be superseded by Chad Dezern, Ryan Schneider, and Jen HuangImage credit: Insomniac Games News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Jan. 22, 2025 Insomniac Games founder and CEO, Ted Price, is retiring later this year.After acknowledging the devastating fires in Los Angeles, California - where Insomniac is based - and thanking colleagues who have "rallied to help others," Price confirmed he would be stepping down in March."As a result of the team's persistence and collaboration, we're in one of the strongest positions we've experienced in years, with each game in development looking beautiful and playing fantastic," Price said."After over 30 years of leading Insomniac, I felt it was simply time to step aside and let others pave the way for our team."Chad Dezern, Ryan Schneider and Jen Huang will be stepping up as Insomniac Games' new co-studio heads when Price steps away from leading the studio after 30 years."There is no way that I would ever consider handing the reins to a team I didn't trust to take care of Insomniacs and lead us to even greater heights," Price added. "Chad, Jen and Ryan are that team."To conclude, Insomniac has been my life, my home away from home, for three decades."I want to thank every Insomniac for having a positive and lasting impact on my life," Price concluded. "Working side by side with Insomniacs for so many years has been a gift that I'll cherish for the rest of my days."

According to NetherRealm creative director Ed Boon, Mortal Kombat 1 sales have gone from around 3 million copies to over 5 million since its September 2023 launch, and the studio will "keep trucking forward" with new "Kontent.""Seeing Mortal Kombat 1 still in the top 15 most played Playstation 5 games makes us very grateful to fans," he continued. "Thanks for continuing to support our games!" The sales marker offers industry watchers some sense of how the game is performing for NetherRealm and parent company Warner Bros. Games.In recent months, rumors claimed NetherRealm would wrap support for Mortal Kombat 1 after its current Kontent Pack. Boon's "trucking" statement seems to partially pour water on that, though at time of writing, neither he or NetherRealm have fully said what's next. The fighting game just got its 11th DLC fighter, Conan the Barbarian, earlier this week, and NetherRealm released the Khaos Reigns story expansion last year.For some comparison, the studio's support for its prior games has been quite extensive, driving revenue for it and its publisher: Mortal Kombat 11 had 12 DLC characters spread across three Kontent Packs and a post-launch story campaign when all was said and done. Injustice 2 had no such expansion, but had a similar 12 character, three-pack model.Shortly after Mortal Kombat 1's launch in 2023, WB Discovery head David Zaslav praised it and Hogwarts Legacy's sales. The two were quite successful compared to the company's 2024 output, which was mainly a cascading series of losses following the lackluster release of Rocksteady's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.During an earnings call last November, WBD made clear it wanted to focus on four particular franchises for its game ventures: Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, and DC Comics. However, that statement came months after NetherRealm cut staff and shut down its mobile spinoff, Mortal Kombat: Onslaught.The company's comments indicate that another Mortal Kombat game is likely, helped by a new movie based on the series releasing this October. However, it's currently unclear if NetherRealm will jump into a sequel after this game wraps, or return to its DC Comics-based Injustice series.

Bryant Francis, Senior EditorJanuary 22, 20254 Min ReadImage via Adobe Stock.At a GlanceNew data from the Game Developers Conference shows rank-and-file game industry workers growing colder on generative AI tools.Disclaimer: The author of this piece consulted on the creation of questions for the 2025 State of the Game Industry survey and assisted with copyediting its contents.This week's data from the annual Game Developers Conference State of the Game Industry survey is one hell of a doozy. In addition to revealing insights on the wave of layoffs and increased interest in PC game development, the results show a major year-over-year shift in developer opinions on generative AI technology.Specifically, developers are much more pessimistic about tools like Copilot, ChatGPT, and MidJourney than they were the prior year. In 2024, 21 percent of game developers thought generative AI would have a "positive" impact on the video game industry. In 2025, that number has dropped to 13 percent.Meanwhile, the number of survey respondents who think it will have a "negative" impact on the industry increased from 18 percent to 30 percent. This change comes even as more developers report using generative AI tools, with the number rising from 31 percent in 2024 to 36 percent in 2025.But one eye-opening slide shows who is adopting AI tools in game developmentand for the most part, it's not the people programming or creating assets for games. The heaviest AI use showed up for those working in "Business & Finance," at 50 percent of respondents. Next up were those in "Production & Team Leadership" and "Community, Marketing, & PR" at 40 percent of respondents each. Developers in all other departments reported less use.Related:Why hasn't adoption reached the rank-and-file of game development yet? Well one respondent who answered the question "what concerns do you have about Generative AI, and what can be done to address them?" may have had the simplest answerone that goes beyond the ethical concerns over using the technology. "No matter how you put it, generative AI isn't a great replacement for real people and quality is going to be damaged," this person said.The lack of enthusiasm from developers attending GDC is almost an inverse of the breathless hype surrounding generative AI in the broader marketplace. You'd think there would be more alignment if you take claims about the technology at face value. After all, boosted productivity and faster asset creation aren't inherently bad thingsdevelopers have been creating tools to solve those problems for as long as there's been a video game industry.It seems developers view AI tools as going beyond supporting productivity and creativity. "I think AI generated code is currently low quality, and can give rise to subtle bugs that the person using the AI doesn't understand," one respondent told GDC. "If the models advance far enough, this concern might go away, but I'm skeptical. I think right now developers are better [off] avoiding AI code, unless it is for something small like a one time use script.""People will end up having to review generated content rather than create things themselves, which is not what we all get into the industry for," another wrote.A third respondent warned that the video game market could become "oversaturated" with "low effort or AI created projects, content, and games that are put out to make money," comparing it to the mobile free-to-play market, currently dominated by fast-follow games that are constantly A/B testing to maximize placement in the iOS App Store and Google Play Store.These attitudes run counter to other surveys about developer adoption of generative AI. Organizations like venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz (a16z) have polled developers and reported that 73 percent of game studios using AI technology, and that about 67 percent of developers are "excited" about using AI in game development.What's driving that gap in results? "A16z's methodology is opaque so it's hard to say for sure, but it's almost certainly a sampling issue," Omdia analyst Liam Deane explained to us. "If you ask developers to answer a survey about AI in games, the people who respond are inevitably going to be much more interested in AI than the average developer."He noted that the Game Developer Collective survey (run by Omdia in partnership with Game Developer) has found 35 percent of game developers are reporting the use of generative AI tools, a number that runs parallel to data from the State of the Industry survey. "These two surveys have very different methodologies, so the fact that they produce such similar results is a good sign that the data is pretty accurate."Whatever you think of the data, what matters most at the end of the day is whether the rank-and-file are comfortable using generative AI tools to make fun, successful games. So far signs say they're not quite there yet.The question iswill they ever be?Game Developer, Omdia, and Game Developers Conference are sibling organizations under Informa.About the AuthorBryant FrancisSenior Editor, GameDeveloper.comBryant Francis is a writer, journalist, and narrative designer based in Boston, MA. He currently writes for Game Developer, a leading B2B publication for the video game industry. His credits include Proxy Studios' upcoming 4X strategy game Zephon and Amplitude Studio's 2017 game Endless Space 2.See more from Bryant FrancisDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like

Samsung just teased the Galaxy S25 Edge the new ultra-slim entry into the Galaxy S25 lineup. The phone isnt out yet, and Samsung hasnt provided any details, but now we know its real. And we have pictures. Like pretty much every phone, its a thin silver slab. Its got two cameras on the back, rather than the three cameras youd get with other S25 phones. The Edge is rumored to measure just 6.4mm thick, but my colleagues Allison Johnson and Vjeran Pavic, who are on the ground at Galaxy Unpacked and took the below photos, werent able to actually hold or measure the device to confirm.Were trying to get closer so we can show perspective, but the place is mobbed with people. Theres a lot of excitement about this phone. By comparison, though, the regular Galaxy S25 is 7.2mm thick. So, its... even thinner.Here are some of the pictures we took: Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Photo by Allison Johnson / The VergeUpdate, January 22nd: Added more photos.

Xbox has a new beta software update rolling out today for Insiders in the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring that enables Series X and S systems to support much larger external hard disks. Previously, the Xbox could only support up to 16TB of space on a single USB-connected drive.With the new update, Xbox systems can now partition hard disks larger than 16TB into segments to use the full physical storage space. A single 24TB hard disk can now be formatted into multiple partitions (the largest still being 16TB) so you can archive more games, apps, and media than ever if thats something youve wanted to do.However, if you have already been using a hard disk greater than 16TB with Xbox, the company says youll need to erase it first to take full advantage:Drives greater than 16TB that have already been formatted will be unaffected by this change and would need to be reformatted to take advantage of the updated support for larger drives.Although you still cant play current generation games directly off an external drive, it can be useful to back up all of your installs anyway, or games made for older systems. You wont need to redownload entire titles such as the 300GB-plus Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 using an internet connection when you feel like playing it again after a hiatus, unless they need an equally-sizable update.Xbox is also releasing an update that enables new network quality indicators for cloud gaming sessions to tell you if your connection is slow and affecting your gameplay. They will appear in red bubbles on the upper right side of the screen, telling you what is happening, such as packet loss or increased ping, which can help you troubleshoot your connection.

GameFromScratch.comUnity Quick Start Bundle $300 in Assets for $1There is a new bundle over on the Unity asset store The Unity Quick Start Bundle. This bundle contains $300 worth of Unity assets for just a single $1. The bundle ends on Monday, January 27th! Contents of the bundle include: 2D Pixel Unit Maker SPUM Cartoon GUI []The post Unity Quick Start Bundle $300 in Assets for $1 appeared first on GameFromScratch.com.

Our NEW 8-Hour AI Crash Course for Developers! 0 like January 22, 2025Share this postAuthor(s): Towards AI Editorial Team Originally published on Towards AI. Good morning, AI enthusiasts! Im sharing a special issue this week to talk about our newest offering, the 8-hour Generative AI Primer course, a programming language-agnostic 1-day LLM Bootcamp designed for developers like you.We also have a special discount for you. Use code towardsai_8hour to get 15% off on the course. So dont wait, learn to make the most of LLMs before the next big AI update drops. Start here!Are your apps really AI-powered, or just AI-assisted?When working with LLMs, you are CONSTANTLY making decisions such as open-source vs. closed-source, how to fit LLMs into your use case, whether no-code solutions are good enough for your workflow, the extent to which consider the limitations of LLMs, and so on. And the biggest gap we see on top of all this is whether you are using LLMs to their full capacity, even with chat interfaces like ChatGPT or APIs for models like Gemini. The question is: are you?Ask Yourself:How do you decide between open-source and closed-source LLMs?Are no-code solutions good enough for your use case?Are you factoring in the limitations of these models in your workflows?But the biggest challenge of all?Are you using LLMs to their full potential? Thats where the 8-Hour Generative AI Primer comes in.This certification course is specifically designed to cut through the noise, help you ask the right questions, and show you exactly how to find answers. LLMs are moving so fast, with updates being released almost every day; what you need is an intuitive framework, and just like LLMs, you need enough context to know what developments are relevant to you and your use case so you can make the most out of this transformative technology.In just 1 day, youll have:A working LLM prototype (no-code or low-code).A clear framework to evaluate tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, or any API.The confidence to integrate AI into your workflows effectively.The ability to know how to identify which AI developments matter to you.A certificate that proves youre equipped to work with LLMs professionally.How will you learn everything in ONE day?Well, the course follows our learn by doing principle, so you will master everything you need to start building with LLMs with:Tons of Hands-On Exercises & Demos Get comfortable with ChatGPT, Claude, and better understand LangChain, LlamaIndex, Hugging FaceReal-World Examples See how LLMs can transform industries, whether youre in education, software development, finance, or beyond.Understand how to compare and select models, integrate them with your projects, and responsibly use AI.Support & Community Youll join our incredible community of 70,000+ learners, with instructors and mentors ready to help you every step of the way.Get a certification and lifetime mentorship from other certified students and the Towards AI team.Complimentary advanced resources for navigating real-world LLM implementation.Find information on the course page!While no specialized background is needed, you need a willingness to learn. Following our goal, this is a practical course. You will be doing exercises, having quizzes, and building things. If you are not willing to sweat a little to learn, this course is not for you. If youre still on the fence, you can preview the first few lessons for free, by the way.This isnt just about learning; its about staying ahead. Join the 8-Hour Generative AI Primer today!P.S. WAIT! If you were already interested in our LLM developer course, use the code towardsai_8hour on our bundle offering that includes this new course and our more in-depth companion course From Beginner to Advanced LLM Developer. Check out the bundle offering here!Join thousands of data leaders on the AI newsletter. Join over 80,000 subscribers and keep up to date with the latest developments in AI. From research to projects and ideas. If you are building an AI startup, an AI-related product, or a service, we invite you to consider becoming asponsor. Published via Towards AITowards AI - Medium Share this post

Cache-Augmented Generation (CAG) vs Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) 0 like January 22, 2025Share this postAuthor(s): Talha Nazar Originally published on Towards AI. Cache-Augmented Generation (CAG) vs Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) Image by AuthorIn the evolving landscape of large language models (LLMs), two significant techniques have emerged to address their inherent limitations: Cache-Augmented Generation (CAG) and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). These approaches not only enhance the capabilities of LLMs but also address challenges like efficiency, relevance, and scalability. While they serve similar overarching goals, their underlying mechanisms and use cases differ profoundly. In this story, well explore what makes them unique, their benefits, their practical applications, and which might be the best fit for different scenarios.Setting the Stage: Why Augmentation MattersImagine youre chatting with an LLM about complex topics like medical research or historical events. Despite its vast training, it occasionally hallucinates producing incorrect or fabricated information. This is a well-documented limitation of even state-of-the-art models.Two innovative solutions have been introduced to tackle these shortcomings:Cache-Augmented Generation (CAG): Designed to enhance efficiency and context retention by storing and reusing relevant outputs.Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): Focused on grounding outputs in real-world, up-to-date knowledge by retrieving external information during inference.Lets delve into these methodologies and unpack their mechanisms, with examples and visualizations to clarify things.Cache-Augmented Generation (CAG): A Memory UpgradeWhat Is CAG?At its core, CAG enables a language model to store generated outputs or intermediate representations in a cache during interactions. This cache is a short-term memory, allowing the model to reuse past computations efficiently.How It Works:When generating responses, the model checks its cache to see if similar queries have been encountered before. If a match is found, the model retrieves and refines the cached response instead of starting from scratch.Example: Customer Support ChatbotsImagine youre running a business, and customers frequently ask:Whats your return policy?How do I track my order?Instead of regenerating answers every time, the chatbots CAG system fetches pre-generated responses from its cache, ensuring faster replies and consistent messaging.Benefits:Efficiency: Reduces computational overhead by avoiding redundant processing.Consistency: Ensures uniform responses to repeated or similar queries.Cost-Effective: Saves on resources by minimizing repetitive tasks.Drawbacks:Limited Flexibility: Responses may feel generic if queries deviate from cached entries.Cache Management: Requires robust mechanisms to handle stale or irrelevant cache entries.Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): Knowledge on DemandWhat Is RAG?RAG empowers a model to fetch external information from a database, search engine, or other sources during inference. This ensures the generated content remains grounded in factual, up-to-date data.How It Works:During a query, the model splits its process into two stages:Retrieves relevant documents or data using a retriever module.Generates responses by synthesizing the retrieved information.Example: Academic Research AssistanceSuppose a researcher asks:Summarize the latest findings on quantum computing.A RAG-enabled model retrieves recent papers or articles on quantum computing from a connected database and generates a summary based on this information. This ensures accurate and current outputs.Benefits:Accuracy: Reduces hallucinations by grounding responses in real data.Scalability: Supports large-scale retrieval from vast knowledge repositories.Flexibility: Adapts to dynamic knowledge needs.Drawbacks:Latency: Fetching and processing external data can slow down response times.Dependency on Retrievers: Performance hinges on the quality and relevance of retrieved data.Integration Complexity: Requires seamless integration between the retriever and generator components.Key Differences Between CAG and RAGTabular Comparison between CAG and RAGAn Interactive Thought ExperimentLets imagine youre building an AI assistant for a tech company:CAG would fit routine tasks like answering HR policies or company holiday schedules.RAG would add significant value for complex inquiries like industry trend analysis or summarizing competitor strategies.Think of CAG as a digital sticky note system and RAG as a librarian fetching books from an archive. Each has its place depending on your needs.The Bigger Picture: Combining CAG and RAGWhile CAG and RAG are often discussed as distinct techniques, hybrid approaches are gaining traction. For instance, a system might use CAG to store frequently retrieved documents and RAG to store dynamic queries, creating a synergy that leverages both strengths.Example: Healthcare AIIn a healthcare setting:CAG can store commonly referenced guidelines (e.g., dosage instructions).RAG can retrieve the latest medical studies for less common or novel queries.Such hybrid systems balance efficiency and accuracy, making them ideal for complex real-world applications.Pros and Cons: A Holistic ViewPros:Rapid response for repetitive tasks.Low computational demands.Easier to implement.Cons:Prone to irrelevance if the cache is outdated.Limited adaptability to nuanced queries.Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)Pros:Produces factually accurate responses.Adapts to diverse, dynamic queries.Suitable for large-scale, knowledge-intensive tasks.Cons:Increased complexity and latency.Higher dependency on external systems.Final ThoughtsBoth Cache-Augmented Generation and Retrieval-Augmented Generation represent exciting advancements in the world of LLMs. Whether youre building a fast, consistent chatbot or a highly knowledgeable assistant, understanding these techniques and their strengths and limitations is crucial for making the right choice.As we continue to push the boundaries of AI, hybrid models combining the best of CAG and RAG may well become the standard, offering unparalleled efficiency and accuracy.Citations:Do you see potential in blending CAG and RAG for your next AI project? Share your thoughts in the comments!Join thousands of data leaders on the AI newsletter. Join over 80,000 subscribers and keep up to date with the latest developments in AI. From research to projects and ideas. If you are building an AI startup, an AI-related product, or a service, we invite you to consider becoming asponsor. Published via Towards AITowards AI - Medium Share this post

The first time I lost my mech in Synduality Echo of Ada was on my second sortie, and lot of things went wrong. I didnt buy insurance beforehand and I took way too much stuff out with me because I hit the wrong button, and then I chose not to take a moment to repair right before I got into the encounter that killed me. I made a series of avoidable mistakes followed by a bad decision, and this mech-flavored extraction shooter made sure I lost everything I had for it so its a good sign that, after I was done cursing Synduality and then myself, I was immediately excited to try and get it all back. I have much more to do and see before I am ready for a final review, but that trial by fire will certainly stick with me until the end.Synduality has a pretty cool premise: In the far future, humanity has been nearly wiped out by a mysterious blue rain called the Tears of the New Moon. In addition to killing humans on contact, the blue rain also made animals and plants gigantic and aggressive. To survive, society has moved underground and adopted the use of enormous mechs called Cradlecoffins to explore the surface world and gather energy-producing AO Crystals to survive. You step into the role of a nameless, faceless Drifter someone who pilots a Cradlecoffin. Your goal? Get up there, get the things you need to upgrade your base and make some cash, and get out before the locals turn your Cradlecoffin into a grave.Synduality Echo of Ada ScreenshotsCradlecoffins arent your traditional mechs. Theyre slower than something youd find in Armored Core though similarly armed, as theyre still bipedal and wield weapons but faster than the behemoths youd see in MechWarrior. Ready for a deep cut? Theyre actually a lot like the mechs from 2002s Phantom Crash, which is to say they are a nice balance of being reasonably fast but still heavy and limited in terms of, shall we say, vertical mobility. Armored Core mechs can dunk like Jordan. Cradlecoffins got no ups.But youre not alone. In addition to your mech, youve got a Magus think a humanoid AI you can fully customize and play dress up with helping to guide you when youre out on the surface by marking objectives on your map, alerting you to threats, and even keeping track of the weather. You can be as normal or as strangely intimate as you want about the creation process, though it kinda seems as if Synduality assumes youre more likely to pick a robo-girlfriend than a robo-boyfriend based on the clothing choices available. (Even the AI-controlled Cradelcoffins have robo-girlfriends.) There are several different personalities to choose from, including supportive mentor lady, demure, eager-to-please girl; encouraging big brother, and spicy athlete who just wants you to be the best version of yourself. Theyre a weirdly likeable little crew I chuckled when my spicy athlete robo-girlfriend essentially told me to stop whining and eat my veggies (read: weeds that we had removed from the base) or shed beat me up. And since theyre the only companion youll have for most of your time with Synduality, their presence is welcome.Most of the other players I've seen arent out there to kill you.In addition to their clothes and look, you can also customize the special abilities and focus of your Magus, whether thats finding AO Crystals, providing more info about different Enders (the name for that superpowered flora and fauna I talked about earlier), or giving you the low-down on the other Cradlecoffins youll run into once you pop out on the surface. So far Ive liked both the one thats good at protecting me from the evil rain and the one who has a knack for spotting other Cradlecoffins at range because hearing another engine in this game is stressful, but I appreciate that you can tailor your Magus to assist you be the best Drifter you wanna be.Youll run into other players in Syndualitys world, but in my experience, most of them arent out there to kill you and take your things. Usually, an encounter with another player means the two of you being very cagey, aiming your guns at each other, until one of you finally uses the wave emote. Then the other returns it and you both go on your way. Its admittedly tense, and an extraction shooter like this should be, because youre never more than a single insurance-less run away from losing all your things. The whole were all working together to help humanity thing sets up that cautious camaraderie, but there is always the danger that someones gonna see your shiny shotgun and think I want that and I dont wanna work for it, so you know. This does seem (so far) like a kinder, gentler extraction shooter, but you should still be careful around other people, even if they do the wave emote.PlayManaging each mission means making a lot of interesting choices. How far from the elevators that bring you to and from the safety of the underground are you willing to venture? What kind of materials are you looking to collect for your base, and how much are you going to risk to get them? How much ammo will you head out with? What kind of mech? Will you prioritize carrying capacity or defense? All of these choices matter, and you may regret your words and deeds when youre sitting at low health with no repair kits, far away from an elevator in a world where everything wants to kill you.So far Synduality has mostly just been this loop played over and over again, but its at least an amusing one, with a little bit of fun base building and dress-up in-between that I havent had a chance to dig too deeply into yet. Whats less amusing are the microtransactions and battle pass (we live in hell!) that can speed up the process of getting a better Cradlecoffin substantially despite this not being a free-to-play game. You get almost nothing in the free track of that pass, which is a standard-issue problem to some degree, but Ill need to play more to see how much these systems feel like they impact the overall pace of progression without spending any money. I dont think I would have all the nice things I have now, which replaced the stuff I lost, if I didnt have that battle pass.I am at least enjoying Synduality for now, though I have yet to unlock the single-player missions or the second map. Once I put some time into those, expand my base, and just generally Do More Stuff, Ill have a better idea of where Synduality falls. Until then, Ill be out in the world, trying not to die too much. Buy insurance, kids. Its a scam, but it may save your life or, at least, your mech.