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Sports streaming bundles are on the rise, and Comcast is now joining the game. Launching Thursday, the company is offering Xfinity Sports & News TV, a new package that includes more than 50 channels and an ad-supportedPeacock Premium subscription for $70. Viewers can watch live NFL, MLB, NHL, MLB and college games along with TV shows and feature films. The price is the same as DirecTV's brand-new MySports streaming offering which provides programming from ABC, Fox, NBC, ESPN, TNT and more.What comes with the Xifnity bundle? Available for new and existing Xfinity internet customers, it includes 300 hours of DVR. Subscribers get access to local broadcasts such as ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and Telemundo along with a selection of news channels like CNBC, Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. Sports fans can stream a lineup of networks that includes ACC, ESPN, SEC Network, Big Ten and FS1. Additionally, the package has a roster of 100-plus FAST channels.The added perk of getting Peacock means fans can watch the platform's originals, theatrical releases from Universal, and content from NBC, Bravo, WWE and more. Peacock Premium alone is $8 monthly or $80 per year.Xfinity customers have other options such as the StreamSaver bundle or access to a free Peacock subscription. If you're not an Xfinity subscriber but want to check out other streaming packages, there's the newStarz and Max bundle, an upcoming sports platform from Fubo, a Max-Disney-Plus-Hulu bundle and a selection of streaming deals.

January 23, 20256 min readDo Chatbots Just Need More Time to Think?A technique called test-time compute can improve how AI responds to some hard questions, but it comes at a costBy Lauren Leffer edited by Ben Guarino Moor Studio/Getty ImagesTechnology trends almost always prioritize speed, but the latest fad in artificial intelligence involves deliberately slowing chatbots down. Machine-learning researchers and major tech companies, including OpenAI and Google, are shifting focus from ever larger model sizes and training datasets to instead emphasize something called test-time compute.This strategy is often described as giving AI more time to think or reason, though these models work more rigidly than human brains do. Its not as though an AI model is granted new freedoms to mull over a problem. Instead test-time compute introduces structured interventions in which computer systems are built to double-check their work through intermediate calculations or extra algorithms applied to their final responses. Its more akin to making an exam open-book than it is to simply extending a time limit.Another name for the newly popular AI-improvement strategy (which has actually been around for few years) is inference scaling. Inference is the process by which a previously trained AI crunches through new data to perform a freshly prompted task, whether thats generating text or flagging spam e-mails. By allowing additional seconds or minutes to elapse between a users prompt and the programs response, and by providing extra computational power at the programs critical moment of inference, some AI developers have seen a dramatic jump in the accuracy of chatbot answers.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Test-time compute is especially helpful for quantitative questions. The places weve seen the most exciting improvements are things like code and math, says Amanda Bertsch, a fourth-year computer science Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University, where she studies natural language processing. Bertsch explains that test-time compute offers the most benefit when theres an objectively correct response or a measurable way of determining better or worse.OpenAIs recently released o1, its latest publicly available model powering ChatGPT-style bots, is much better at writing computer code and correctly answering math and science queries than its predecessors, the company claims: a recent blog post describes o1 as up to eight times more accurate in responding to prompts used in programming competitions and nearly 40 percent more accurate at answering Ph.D.-level physics, biology and chemistry questions. OpenAI attributes these improvements to test-time compute and related strategies. And a follow-up model called o3still undergoing safety testing and planned for release later this monthis nearly three times as accurate as o1 in responding to certain reasoning questions, says Lindsay McCallum Rmy, a communications officer at OpenAI.Other academic analyses, most released as preprint studies that have not yet been peer-reviewed, have reported similarly impressive results. Test-time compute could improve AI accuracy and its capacity to tackle complex reasoning problems, says Aviral Kumar, an assistant professor of computer science and machine learning at Carnegie Mellon University. Hes excited about his fields shift toward this strategy because it grants machines the same grace we give people when they take an extra beat to tackle tough questions. He thinks this could bring us closer to models with humanlike intelligence.It seems like they all make models a little bit better. And we really don't understand what the relationships are between them. Jacob Andreas, associate professor of computer scienceEven if it doesnt, test-time compute offers a practical alternative to prevailing methods of improving large language models, or LLMs. The costly, brute-force approach of building ever larger models and training them on increasingly massive datasets is now offering diminishing returns. Bertsch says test-time compute has proven its worth in making consistent performance gainswithout inflating already-unwieldy models or forcing developers to scrounge additional high-quality data from a dwindling supply. Yet increasing test time cant solve everything; it has its own trade-offs and limits.A Big UmbrellaAI developers have multiple ways to adjust the test-time compute process and thus improve model outputs. Its a really broad set of things, Bertsch says, pretty much anything where youre treating a model like part of a system and building scaffolding around it.The most rudimentary method is something anyone with a computer can do at home: asking a chatbot to produce many responses to a single question. Generating more answers requires more time, which means the inference process takes longer. One way to think about it: the user becomes a layer of human scaffolding that guides the model to the most accurate, or best-suited, answer.Another basic method involves prompting a chatbot to report the intermediate steps it takes to solve a problem. Called chain-of-thought prompting, this strategy was formally outlined in a 2022 preprint paper by Google researchers. Similarly, a user can also simply ask an LLM to double-check or improve an output after it has been generated.Some assessments indicate that chain-of-thought prompting and related self-correction methods improve model outputs, though other research demonstrates that these strategies are unreliableprone to producing the same sorts of hallucinations as other chatbot outputs. To reduce unreliability, many test-time strategies use an external verifieran algorithm trained to grade model outputs, based on preset criteria, and to select the output that offers the best step toward a specific goal.Verifiers can be applied after a model has generated a list of possible responses. When an LLM generates computer code, for example, a verifier could be as simple as a program that runs the code to make sure it works. Other verifiers might guide a model through each juncture of a multistep problem. Some versions of test-time compute combine the logic of these approaches by using verifiers that evaluate a models output in both ways: as a stepwise process, with many possible branching paths, and as a final response. Other systems use verifiers to find errors in a chatbots initial output or chain of thoughtand then give the LLM feedback to correct those problems.Test-time compute is so successful for quantitative problems because all verifiers hinge on the existence of a knowable, correct answer (or at least an objective basis for comparing two options), Bertsch says. The strategy is less effective for improving outputs such as poems or translations, in which ranking is subjective.In a slight departure from all of the above, machine-learning developers can also use the same sorts of algorithms to hone a model during development and training and then apply them during test time.Right now we have all of these different techniques, all of which have in common that you just do extra computation at test time and which share basically no other technical features, says Jacob Andreas, an associate professor of computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It seems like they all make models a little bit better. And we really don't understand what the relationships are between them.Shared LimitsAlthough the methods vary, they share the same inherent limitations: slower generation speeds and the potential need for more computational resources, water and energy. Environmental sustainability is already a growing issue for the field.It might take about five seconds for an LLM to answer a single query without any added test-time compute, says Ekin Akyrek, a computer science Ph.D. candidate at M.I.T., who is advised by Andreas. But a method developed by Akyrek, Andreas and their colleagues raises that response time to five minutes. For certain applications and prompts, increasing how long inference takes simply doesnt make sense, says Dilek Hakkani-Tur, a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Hakkani-Tur has worked extensively on developing AI conversational agents that speak to users, such as Amazons Alexa. There, speed is of utmost importance, she says. For complicated interactions, a user might not mind a few seconds pause for a bots response. But for a basic back-and-forth, a human might disengage if they must wait for what feels like an unnaturally long time.More time also means more computational effort and money. Having o3 perform a single task could cost OpenAI $17 or more than $1,000, depending on the version of the software that is used, according to estimates from the creator of a popular AI benchmarking test, who was granted early access to the AI. And in cases where a model will be queried millions of times by a large user base, shifting the computational investment from training to inference would make all those prompts quickly add up to a major financial burden and a massive energy suck. Querying an LLM such as ChatGPT already uses an estimated 10 times the power of a Google search. Going from five seconds of computation to five minutes increases in-the-moment energy demand dozens of times over, Akyrek says.But this isnt a definite downside in every case. If boosting test-time compute allows for smaller, models to perform better with less training, or if it eliminates the need to keep building and training more models from the ground up, then the strategy could potentially lessen generative AIs energy consumption in some instances, Hakkani-Tur says. The final balance depends on factors such as the intended use, the frequency with which a model is queried and the question of whether the model is small enough to be run on a local device instead of a distant server stack. The pros and cons need to be carefully computed, she adds. I would look at the bigger picture of how I am going to use a model. That is to say, AI developers should think long and hard before encouraging their creations to do the same.

January 23, 20258 min readHow Dark Patterns in Sports Betting Apps Keep Users GamblingMobile sports betting apps frictionless designs, personalized notifications and 24/7 availability have many gambling addiction experts worriedBy Allison Parshall edited by Jeanna Bryner Bluecinema/Getty ImagesSports betting is everywhere now. Advertisements for betting apps starring famous athletes play during game broadcasts and on social media. Commentators discuss betting odds live on air. The National Basketball Associations streaming app League Pass allows fans to place live bets while watching a basketball game.This explosion has followed a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a law that had prohibited most states from legalizing sports betting. So far 30 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized online betting on sports, and the nascent U.S. industry is worth $10 billion and growing. According to a 2024 survey, one in five people have an account with an online sports betting service, and most of those people use a betting app on their smartphone.These mobile apps have made sports betting quicker and more accessible than ever. They have also granted companies access to troves of data on their customers behaviors, which they can use to keep people bettingmaking it easier than ever to fall into problematic behaviors, experts say, and harder than ever to quit.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.The features that make these products exciting and engaging are also the features that make them addictive, says Heather Wardle, a policy researcher studying gambling at the University of Glasgow.Getting HookedGambling in any form can be addictive. The thrill of a win activates the brains reward system in a way that can warp someones perception of risk. There are three phases to developing a gambling problem, explains Lia Nower, who leads the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University. First, a person starts to overemphasize their wins, leading them to gamble more. As they play more, they will inevitably enter the losing phase and may begin chasing lossesgambling more in the hopes of recouping those lost funds. This then causes a downward spiral into desperation and hopelessness, which can lead to financial or even physical harm for the person and those around them.Like addiction to substances such as alcohol or opioids, gambling addiction is considered a mental health disorder. But a gambling problem doesnt have to reach this level of severity before it can cause harm. Research from the past decade has shown that the harms are much wider and much more broadly distributed than previously assumed, Wardle says. Gambling can impact entire families and communities. It increases the risk of suicide and domestic violence. Perhaps most devastatingly, gambling problems are most common among people who have the least money to lose.Researchers are already observing financial harms as states have legalized online sports betting. In a recent working paper that was posted to the repository SSRN and has not yet been peer-reviewed, researchers found that four years after a state legalizes online sports betting, consumers average credit score drops by an average of 1 percent, and the likelihood of filing for bankruptcy increases by 25 to 30 percent.Dark PatternsNot all forms of gambling carry the same levels of risk. Engaging in a game of poker with friends, for example, is less dangerous than playing a slot machine. Slots have long been casinos greatest moneymaker because of their addictive potential. Jamie Torrance, a psychologist studying gambling at Swansea University in Wales, chalks this up to the machines incredible paceunlike in a game of poker or blackjack, only seconds pass between placing a bet and winning or losing. This makes the experience more immersive, leading some slot players to enter a trancelike state called dark flow in which they become completely absorbed by the game, Torrance says. The fast turnarounds can closely link the act of pressing the button with the rush of dopamine of a potential win, conditioning a person to keep pulling the lever.Sports betting was once a slow form of gambling, with people mainly betting on the outcome of a game or race in person or with a phone call. With digital apps, people can bet 24/7 and are also now putting money on smaller events, such as which team will score first or whether someone will miss a free throw. And they can string these micro bets together into one big bet called a parlaya popular feature that has big potential winnings but usually doesnt pay off.Sports betting is becoming far more rapid, Torrance says. Its not as harmful as a slot machine, but its moving in that direction.Still, these apps can do something that slot machines, or even the bookies and casinos of old, cant: track users betting activity in incredible detail. Sports betting outlets, or sportsbooks, are able to use information about how and when someone bets and what that person bets on to determine what offers they send, Wardle says. To her, this consumer profiling is one of the more concerning aspects of these online gambling products.Imagine what the tobacco companies would have done if they had known every single time you took a cigarette out of a packif theyd have known exactly how much you smoked, when you smoked, how often you smoked, the circumstances around your smoking, she says.Wardle recently co-led a commission on gamblings risks to public health. In their report, published in October in the Lancet, she and her colleagues referred to some of these apps features as dark patterns, a term used in product design for a user interface that exploits cognitive biases to get people to act outside of their best interest. A 2022 audit of 10 online gambling apps available in the U.K. identified common deceptive marketing and design practices that could cause harm, including:A sign-up process that is frictionless and often lacks effective age verificationDeposit or bets with a default amount that is higher than the actual minimum amount, which leads people to choose the higher amount because of a principle called anchoringDeposits and bets that can be placed with one clickSafety tools that are hard to findA minimum account balance that is required to withdraw moneyPrompts to place another bet that appear immediately after a previous oneThe absence of a feature that displays how much a user is losing during gameplayPush notifications and e-mails that stress the urgency and scarcity of betting offersAccounts that are hard to close or immortal (meaning they can never be fully closed)These kinds of features encourage customers to spend more time and money betting, Torrance says. The gambling companies, he says, have all of this knowledge about how the human mind works, how human behavior works, and they essentially use that knowledge for profits.And some of these features can make it challenging for people with gambling problems to quit in the first place, let alone to stay away. A lapsed customer who receives a push notification, e-mail or text with an enticing limited time offer for 10 free bets might be someone with a gambling problem who is trying to quit.Imagine someone with alcohol use disorder who has been sober for two weeks, Torrance says. Theyre on their way to work, and the person who works in their favorite pub or bar comes out and says, I have a free shot of tequila; please have it.... Its going to be very hard for that person to deny that.Whos Responsible?Joe Maloney of the American Gaming Association, a trade group that represents the U.S. legal gambling industry, says that sportsbooks use these features in part because they exist in a competitive marketplace. Sportsbook operators are competing not only with other with their peers but also with illegal gambling operators that offer slick and innovative user experiences, he says. To the extent you continue to introduce friction into the legal, regulated gaming experience, you are potentially risking losing that customer.Customers have also come to expect personalized prompts and frictionless experiences in their digital lives, and gambling apps are no different, Maloney says. People don't want to be served the Australian Open right now [if theyre] not interested in tennis, he says. It is about meeting the consumer where they are. He also stresses that the apps should be thought of as entertainment and not a way to generate wealth.When asked about whether the same design and marketing strategies should be used for an addictive product such as gambling, Maloney points to the apps many safety features, which are required by law in some states. Customers can choose to limit the amount of time and money they can spend or even to voluntarily ban themselves from the app.In her research, Nower has found that bettors infrequently use these safeguards. She and her colleagues analyze every sports bet placed in New Jersey each year to create reports for the states gambling regulators. They have found that across years, only around 1 to 4 percent of people under age 25 use any of the safety features, she says.The gambling industry stresses the importance of playing responsibly. But Nower, Torrance and Wardle each criticize that industry for putting all of the responsibility on individuals. Its very simple to say, Its all about individual responsibility, Wardle says. Its very good for the industry to do that because it then absolves them from the corporate responsibility that they bear as the ones designing, promoting and providing their products.Gambling is also becoming more popular among young people, who are more vulnerable to addiction. In a survey conducted from December 2020 to May 2021, Nower and her colleagues found that among New Jerseyans who gambled, 33 percent of those aged 18 to 24 only gambled online, a proportion nearly five times higher than in 2017 and higher than in any other age group. And 19 percent of the 18-to-24-year-old group that gambled reported high-risk behavior and experiences that could be indicative of a gambling disorder.Though the legal gambling age is 21 in most statesincluding New Jerseyit isnt hard to get around age verification. A child or teenager might have access to the identification, credit cards or accounts of an adult, with or without their consent. Theres no way to know if this person [placing a bet] is 50 or 15, Nower says. There are also internationally registered sports betting sites that are available to people 18 and older in the U.S.Children are also being exposed to gambling at younger ages through video games. In many ways, gambling and video gaming are now indistinguishable, Nower says, thanks to common features such as loot boxes and skin betting, a form of gambling in which virtual items are used as in-game currency. And popular social sportsbook apps can allow users to place sports bets with virtual currency without age verification. Its getting you used to losing money but continuing to play, Torrance says. And that feeling is going to cross over then when youre actually playing with your own money.So far regulations on gambling ads in the U.S. have been spotty. Ohio has banned the marketing terms free bets and risk-free, and New York State recently passed a law requiring ads for gambling to warn consumers about its potentially dangerous effects. Other countries have widespread restrictions: the U.K. banned gambling advertisements featuring celebrities in 2022, and Italy banned gambling ads altogether in 2018.Torrance advocates for regulations that would reduce the speed and ease of placing bets on mobile apps. Australia, for example, requires people to place bets over the phone once a game has already begun. Regulators could also impose a delay on bank deposits into gambling apps. Nower suggests that requiring people to opt out of safety features such as deposit limits rather than opt in could also reduce the risk of harm.In the U.S., legal sports gambling is still in its infancy. Torrance hopes that the country can learn from the mistakes made in the U.K., where sports betting has long been legal and has completely saturated the world of sports. I really hope that the U.S. gambling industry understands that if consumers are exploited, then its not good for anyone, he says.

Palworld developer discusses game's "ending", says it's been "mapped out for quite some time"Rooby Tuesday.Image credit: Pocketpair News by Victoria Kennedy News Reporter Published on Jan. 23, 2025 Palworld recently celebrated its first anniversary, and to mark the occasion developer Pocketpair outlined its plans for the game's second year, with a roadmap that includes co-op crossplay and an "ending scenario".But, why add an 'ending' now? Could it be because of Nintendo's impending legal action against the game? Well, Pocketpair community manager John "Bucky" Buckley tells Eurogamer this 'ending' has actually been "mapped out for quite some time" - and even though it is on its way, it certainly doesn't mean this is 'the end' of Palworld.Let's play Palworld. Watch on YouTube"The World Tree, where the 'ending' takes place, has been visible since day one," Bucky tells me. "Many players suspected their journey would end there, and we've been asked repeatedly about when the World Tree will become available so we're pretty excited to finally be opening the area up for players!"Bucky admits "ending" may not actually be the best way to phrase things, but says he "can't think of a better one" right now."While the World Tree will mark the conclusion of this particular journey, it's by no means the end of Palworld," he assures.As for what else is still to come in Palworld, Bucky promises "exciting things" in the pipeline. "We might have announced the Terraria collaboration a bit prematurely," he admits, "but everyone, including Re-Logic, was so excited that we thought it'd be fun to share early!"Pocketpair remains "really excited about the direction [its] headed", Bucky continued, including Pocketpair's newly-announced publishing division "which aims to fund and support developers in creating cool games". Image credit: PocketpairOf course, Palworld's first year has not been without its challenges."There were so many challenges, to be honest," he tells me. "Pre-launch, we started gaining traction online, which was new for us and brought its own difficulties. Post-launch, we faced server problems, bug reporting issues, countless accusations... It was a lot to handle."While those issues haven't entirely gone away, they've definitely become more manageable."Those accusations mostly came with a Pokmon-flavoured edge to them. Before the game was released in early access last January, many dubbed it 'Pokmon with guns' due to the familiar designs of some Palworld creatures and some in-game mechanics. Nintendo announced it was suing Pocketpair for infringement of "multiple" patents back in September, and it was later confirmed the lawsuit is targeting three patents in particular. As part of an update in December, Pocketpair subsequently removed the ability to summon creatures by throwing Pokball-style Pal Spheres. Image credit: PocketpairSo, what has the team learned from the last 12 months? After all, no one - even Bucky - expected Palworld to take off quite as much as it did. As a reminder, Palworld became the first big mega-hit of 2024, surpassing 2m concurrent players on Steam last January. It was only the second game to ever achieve this, the other being PUBG."As a company, we've learned how to structure our processes better," Bucky tells me. "People often forget that Pocketpair is quite a small team. The methods we've used for our previous games worked well, but Palworld put a spotlight on both our weaknesses and strengths. This year really brought the team together and made us more effective in our workflows."But, for Bucky personally, he now appreciates the "importance of asking for advice and help as soon as possible" adding: "There are so many incredibly knowledgeable people in this industry."If you're playing Palworld, but feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all right now, be sure to check out our guides. Here's one on Palworld Breeding Combos and how to breed Pals to get you started.

Microsoft's Xbox portfolio of games is under the spotlight this evening as it airs a new Developer Direct at 6pm UK time. We'll be covering everything live as it happens, right here, as well as talking with you about the things that do. Why not join us? Crack some jokes! We like jokes.But what is going to happen? We know a few things. We know the tasty-looking Doom: The Dark Ages will be a central focus and that we're probably going to get a release date for it - reportedly 15th May - and we know we're getting a better look at Southern American folklore action adventure South of Midnight, which I think looks great. A release date more specific than 2025 would be welcome.The other named game on the slate for tonight is promising turn-based role-playing game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which Ed has been keeping a close - and interested - eye on, and which again, we could use a more specific release date for. Those are the named games. But we're also promised a look at a fourth game that's, as yet, a bit of a mystery. Could it be a game like Avowed or Fable, or are we going to see something completely new? Maybe it's time to wheel out the Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion remake that's been speculated about.That's the general shape of things but there could be other surprises too. Join us just before 6pm UK time as we prepare to find out.Watch on YouTube14:57 pmUTCOneAyedPirate says: I'm calling FF7 Remake and Rebirth, both out now on Xbox. Either that or it's a remaster of SHOGOWhether or not its those games, you make a good point: the platform holders love a shadow drop. What may be suddenly releaased tonight, I wonder? Robert Purchese14:55 pmUTCFTJT says: Mystery fourth game's not going to be anything huge - so an old, dormant-ish Japanese IP that's not tethered to Sony or Ninty, and isn't going to be a big multiplat announcement, but is still going to have a *bit* of sizzle to it. Sure, it's probably Ninja Gaiden. But if it's Phantasy Star, I get bragging rightsFTJT is calling it! Mark it down on your bingo cards. Robert Purchese14:02 pmUTCjohndoree says: NintendogsXbogs? Robert Purchese14:02 pmUTCCarl Sheen says: The secret game is rumoured to be a new entry in a succesful Japanese franchise.Ninja Gaiden?And also been rumblings of more than 1 suprise in the presentation as well.Could it be? Granny's Gaiden. Robert Purchese

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 hereNvidia GeForce Now has announced a massive update for Baldurs Gate 3 players using the cloud gaming service. As one of the most popular games on the platform, BG3 on the service now has expanded mod support for players gaming through the cloud.Announced in a press release, the massive library of Baldurs Gate 3 mods will now be available for cloud gamers. Just like Starfields Creations menu, players will be able to install mods and use them across cloud gaming sessions with ease.Baldurs Gate 3 takes mods to the cloudIn the press release, Nvidia revealed that all members on GeForce Now, Ultimate, Priority or whatever, will be able to take advantage of the expanded mod support in Baldurs Gate 3. Alongside the internal mod manager added in Patch 7, players will also be able to subscribe to mods via mod.io and play them via the cloud.Gamers can choose their desired mods from the Baldurs Gate 3 in-game mod menu, and theyll stay enabled across sessions, the press release reads. Or by subscribing to the mods via mod.io, theyll get loaded into the game automatically upon launch from GeForce NOW.While the arrival of mod support for BG3 is amazing and a great step forward for cloud gaming in general, players wont get access to every single mod available for the game. With some of the games most ambitious modssuch as the in-development custom campaigns and custom companionsusing cracked mod tools, they will likely only be available on Nexus Mods, locking them away from the cloud gaming platform.Nevertheless, being able to download thousands upon thousands of mods is much better than downloading no mods at all. With thousands of fans playing the game via Nvidias service, the addition of mod support is a massive gain for players.Oh yeah, the press release also mentioned new games coming to the service including:Jtunnslayer: Hordes of HelAmong Us (Xbox, available on PC Game Pass)Amnesia: Collection (Xbox, available on the Microsoft Store)Lawn Mowing Simulator (Xbox, available on the Microsoft Store)Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion (Xbox, available on the Microsoft Store)STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of Mineral Town (Xbox, available on the Microsoft Store)Townscaper (Xbox, available on the Microsoft Store)For more Baldurs Gate 3 coverage, read about the amazing custom campaign mod bringing back locations from the games predecessor or read about the modder hoping to bring players to World of Warcraft inside Larians RPG.Baldurs Gate 3Platform(s):macOS, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox Series XGenre(s):Adventure, RPG, Strategy10VideoGamerSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

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 hereWuthering Waves is one of the most popular gacha games out right now, sitting only behind Genshin Impact. One of the biggest appeals of the game is its characters that get increasingly elaborate and more alluring with every update. Fans absolutely adore the likes of the Shorekeeper and the recently released Carlotta, but, in some unfortunate news, it appears as though Wuthering Waves fans wont get to see characters get wet, despite the suggestion from in-game files.Wuthering Waves leak refutes wet clothes rumorLeakers for Wuthering Waves discovered files alluding to wet textures and wet clothes for Carlotta. These were added to the WuWa files with update 2.0, but they are yet to actually materialize for Carlotta in-game.Its possible wet clothes could be added for Carlotta at some point in the future, but it wont happen for other characters as believed in rumors. Per WuWa Land, as shared on Reddit by StretchItchy4408, If youve seen news that characters will get wet clothes effects in the future, forget it.WuWa Land elaborated, Only Carlotta has this effect, the texture has just been in the game since update 2.0. This does not mean that other characters will receive the same effect.Its unknown when the effect will arrive for Carlotta, and its entirely possible the idea has been scrapped. However, right now, all we know is that the wet clothes effects is/was planned for Carlotta only, which is disappointing for players who would like to see such textures for everyone.Reacting to the report from WuWa Land, one of the many replies anguishes over the reality that there will be no lace bra Zani. A lot of other replies show good humor with one comment saying, So how did you get that wet Carlotta model, to which another user joked, A wet dream.Another comment jokes, Falling on my knees in Walmart praying, while another says, B-but my wet Yinlin and Changli. Theres also a bunch of funny devastated gifs from movies and television that perfectly sum up the communitys despair.Away from obvious jokes, it will be interesting to see if the effect materializes at all for Carlotta. If it does, fans will hope it gets extended to new and old characters amongst the roster. The addition of wet clothes and wet textures is clearly something fans crave, even if not for the purest reasons.For more Wuthering Waves, we have a guide to all of thevoice actorsin the game, and we also have a guide explaininghow to add friends.Wuthering WavesPlatform(s):UnknownGenre(s):UnknownSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

To learn the history of a new destination, travelers should look no further than its most famous buildings. Of course, there are other ways to discover the local culture, which can be reflected in the food, the textiles, and the dialects, but its the buildings that often reveal the most about a place. Local landmarks are, in essence, silent witnesses to past eras, kingdoms, and tastes. They can also offer us clues to what the future holds (not to mention make for a great travel gram too).Consider this lineup to be a travel bucket list of sorts. These must-see buildings are renowned for various reasonssome for their architectural charm, others for their historical significance, and many for a healthy mix of both. A fair amount of them are well-known, of course: Think Europes museums, churches, and other notable landmarks whose replicas live on in souvenir shops and countless photos. There are also a decent number of marvels on this list designed by famous architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, and Oscar Niemeyer. But there may be a few spots youve never heard of, buildings off the beaten path, which are worthy of a visit too.Here, AD rounds up famous buildings from around the world that youll be glad youve seen when you look back on your travels. Its been said that travel is the only thing you can buy that makes you richerand we couldnt agree more.1. Hagia Sophia (Istanbul)Hagia SophiaPhoto by DeAgostini. Image courtesy of Getty Images.The first building to include a fully pendentive dome, Hagia Sophia is a paragon of Byzantine architecture. It was built as a Christian church by emperor Justinian I in 537, but it now serves as a mosque.2. The Guggenheim (New York City)The Guggenheim MuseumPhoto by Stan Honda. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Two spiraling structures come together to create the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Frank Lloyd Wrights midcentury masterpiece on Manhattans Upper East Side. Wright chose the circular shape to introduce his organic style to a metropolitan setting.3. Taj Mahal (Agra, India)Taj MahalPhoto by Julian Finney. Image courtesy of Getty Images.In 1631, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I commissioned the Taj Mahal to house the tomb of his favorite wife. With its symmetrical design of domes and arches, the white-marble mausoleum is a prime example of Indo-Islamic architecture.4. Dancing House (Prague)Dancing HousePhoto by Insights/UIG. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Inspired by Hollywood duo Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, Dancing House is a deconstructivist collaboration between Vlado Miluni and Frank Gehry. They designed the twisted, glass-stone-and-metal building in the 1990s for Dutch insurance company Nationale-Nederlanden.5. Chteau de Chenonceau (Chenonceaux, France)Chteau de ChenonceauPhoto by DeAgostini. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Most PopularTravelThe 11 Most Beautiful Mountain Cities in the WorldBy Emma TubbsArchitecture + DesignA Creative Directors Milan Home Is a Master Class in Secondhand ShoppingBy Kelly DawsonMagazineMieke ten Have Fashions a Home for Hudson Valley NeighborsBy Michael BoodroA mix of late Gothic and early Renaissance architecture, Chteau de Chenonceau is a 16th-century castle that spans the Cher River. Water flows beneath the bridge part of the structure, which is topped with a gallery.6. Niteri Contemporary Art Museum (Niteri, Rio de Janeiro)Niteri Contemporary Art MuseumPhoto by Patrick Altmann. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Oscar Niemeyer is the genius behind the Niteri Contemporary Art Museum, a saucer-shaped modernist building completed in 1996. He described the 52-foot concrete tower as a flower rising from the ground, but many people liken it to a UFO.7. The Pyramids of Giza (Giza, Egypt)The Pyramids of GizaPhoto by Sean Gallup. Image courtesy of Getty Images.We can only theorize how exactly the Pyramids of Giza were built, but we do know the complex of ancient Egyptian structures took nearly 100 years and thousands of workers to complete.8. Acropolis of Athens (Athens)Acropolis of AthensPhoto by Milos Bicanski. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Most PopularTravelThe 11 Most Beautiful Mountain Cities in the WorldBy Emma TubbsArchitecture + DesignA Creative Directors Milan Home Is a Master Class in Secondhand ShoppingBy Kelly DawsonMagazineMieke ten Have Fashions a Home for Hudson Valley NeighborsBy Michael BoodroBuilt atop a rocky hill, the Acropolis of Athens is an ancient Greek citadel. Its most iconic structure, the Parthenon, is a peripteral octastyle Doric temple, meaning its surrounded by columns, with eight on either end.9. Le Centre Pompidou (Paris)Le Centre PompidouPhoto by DEA/C. SAPPA/De Agostini. Image courtesy of Getty Images.The Pompidou Centre, which houses a public library, a modern art museum, and a music research center, is a 1977 high-tech, inside-out building by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers. Its ventilation, electricity, and water systems are expressed colorfully on the exterior.10. The Gateway Arch (St. Louis)The Gateway ArchPhoto By Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Designed by Eero Saarinen in the mid-20th century, the Gateway Arch is a stainless steel monument that honors the pioneers who expanded the United States westward. At 630 feet, its the worlds tallest arch.11. Muse dOrsay (Paris)Muse dOrsayPhoto by Chesnot. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Most PopularTravelThe 11 Most Beautiful Mountain Cities in the WorldBy Emma TubbsArchitecture + DesignA Creative Directors Milan Home Is a Master Class in Secondhand ShoppingBy Kelly DawsonMagazineMieke ten Have Fashions a Home for Hudson Valley NeighborsBy Michael BoodroAn art museum on the Left Bank of the Seine, Muse dOrsay occupies a 1900 Beaux Arts railway station. Among the buildings most striking features are a barrel-vaulted ceiling and a glass-and-steel clock.12. The Gherkin (London)The GherkinPhoto by Oli Scarff. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Officially titled 30 St Mary Axe, the Gherkin is a 2003 commercial skyscraper that resembles a pickled cucumber. Foster and Partners designed the glass building with energy efficiency in mind.13. Metropolitan Cathedral of Braslia (Braslia)Metropolitan Cathedral of Braslia.Photo by Matt Frost. Image courtesy of Getty Images.The Metropolitan Cathedral of Braslia is another Oscar Niemeyer sensation. The 1970 buildings 16 concrete columns meet to create a hyperboloid structure that looks like a crown.14. Mosque of Crdoba (Crdoba, Spain)Mosque of Crdoba.Photo by Gerig/ullstein bild. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Most PopularTravelThe 11 Most Beautiful Mountain Cities in the WorldBy Emma TubbsArchitecture + DesignA Creative Directors Milan Home Is a Master Class in Secondhand ShoppingBy Kelly DawsonMagazineMieke ten Have Fashions a Home for Hudson Valley NeighborsBy Michael BoodroThough its now a Catholic cathedral, the Mosque of Crdoba was commissioned as an Islamic place of worship by Abd al-Rahman I in 785. Its hypostyle prayer hall is filled with Moorish two-tiered arches made of brick and stone.15. Westminster Abbey (London)Westminster AbbeyPhoto by Pawel Libera. Image courtesy of Getty Images.A site of royal coronations, weddings, and burials for nearly 1,000 years, Westminster Abbey is an Anglican church whose current Gothic-style building dates back to the 13th century.16. Dresden Frauenkirche (Dresden, Germany)Dresden FrauenkirchePhoto by Sean Gallup. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Dresden Frauenkirche is a Baroque-style Lutheran church that was destroyed by firebombing in World War II and rebuilt between 1994 and 2005. Previously, its ruins had served as a war memorial for nearly half a century.17. Chteau Frontenac (Qubec, Canada)Chteau FrontenacPhoto by Jayakumar Radhakrishnan. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Most PopularTravelThe 11 Most Beautiful Mountain Cities in the WorldBy Emma TubbsArchitecture + DesignA Creative Directors Milan Home Is a Master Class in Secondhand ShoppingBy Kelly DawsonMagazineMieke ten Have Fashions a Home for Hudson Valley NeighborsBy Michael BoodroOne of Canadas first grand railway hotels, Chteau Frontenac opened in 1893 in an asymmetrical Chteauesque-style building with cylindrical and polygonal towers, steeply-pitched roofs, ornate gables, and tall chimneys.18. The Colosseum (Rome)The ColosseumPhoto by Alberto Pizzoli/AFP. Image courtesy of Getty Images.When the Colosseum was completed in 80 AD, it was the largest amphitheater ever built. Now, over 1,000 years after it was used for gladiator games, the travertine limestone, tuff, and brick-faced concrete amphitheater is still the largest in the world.19. One World Trade Center (New York City)One World Trade CenterPhoto by Andrew Burton. Image courtesy of Getty Images.After the Twin Towers were destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, One World Trade Center was constructed in their place. Also known as the Freedom Tower, the faceted skyscraper is the tallest in the United States and western hemisphere.20. The Lotus Temple (New Delhi)The Lotus TemplePhoto by Universal Images Group. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Most PopularTravelThe 11 Most Beautiful Mountain Cities in the WorldBy Emma TubbsArchitecture + DesignA Creative Directors Milan Home Is a Master Class in Secondhand ShoppingBy Kelly DawsonMagazineMieke ten Have Fashions a Home for Hudson Valley NeighborsBy Michael BoodroAs its name suggests, the Lotus Temple is a Bah House of Worship shaped like a lotus flower. With its 27 marble-covered petals, the design by Fariborz Sahba represents purity, simplicity, and freshness.21. St. Basils Cathedral (Moscow)St. Basils CathedralPhoto by Pola Damonte. Image courtesy of Getty Images.In the 1550s, Ivan the Terrible ordered the construction of St. Basils Cathedral to commemorate the capture of Kazan and Astrakhan. The Orthodox church, with its nine onion-shaped domes, received its colorful paint job a century later.22. Dome of the Rock (Jerusalem)Dome of the RockPhoto by Joris Grling. Image courtesy of Getty Images.The oldest surviving piece of Islamic architecture, the Dome of the Rock is a shrine on the Temple Mount that dates back to 692. The octagonal structure is covered in mosaics and topped with a golden dome.23. Casa Mil (Barcelona)Casa MilPhoto by Michelle McMahon. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Most PopularTravelThe 11 Most Beautiful Mountain Cities in the WorldBy Emma TubbsArchitecture + DesignA Creative Directors Milan Home Is a Master Class in Secondhand ShoppingBy Kelly DawsonMagazineMieke ten Have Fashions a Home for Hudson Valley NeighborsBy Michael BoodroCasa Mil, Antoni Gauds last private residence, is a 1910 Catalan modernist building recognizable for its undulating stone faade and elaborate wrought iron balconies. Its also known as La Pedrera, the stone quarry.24. The White House (Washington, DC)The White HousePhoto by Alex Wong. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, the White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. James Hoban designed the neoclassical building, whose exterior is made of white-painted sandstone.25. Forbidden City (Beijing)Forbidden CityImage courtesy of Getty Images.The Forbidden City is a 1420 imperial palace that housed 24 Ming and Qing dynasty emperors over its 500 years as Chinas political center. The complex is oriented north-south, like the rest of Beijing.26. Sagrada Famlia (Barcelona)Sagrada FamliaPhoto by Prasit. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Most PopularTravelThe 11 Most Beautiful Mountain Cities in the WorldBy Emma TubbsArchitecture + DesignA Creative Directors Milan Home Is a Master Class in Secondhand ShoppingBy Kelly DawsonMagazineMieke ten Have Fashions a Home for Hudson Valley NeighborsBy Michael BoodroA blend of dramatic Gothic and curvy Art Nouveau architecture, Sagrada Famlia is an unfinished Catholic church by Antoni Gaud, who is buried in its crypt. Construction is projected to be completed in 2026, 144 years after it began.27. Lincoln Center (New York City)Lincoln CenterPhoto by Siegfried Layda. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Home to the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, and more, Lincoln Center is a midcentury performing arts complex on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Architects like Eero Saarinen, Philip Johnson, and Gordon Bunshaft contributed to the project.28. The Shard (London)The ShardPhoto by Greg Fonne. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Renzo Pianos 2012 pyramidal skyscraper, The Shard, is the tallest building in the United Kingdom. The architect was inspired by the nearby railway lines, the masts of tall ships, and the spires of London's churches in Canalettos 18th-century paintings.29. Le Mont-Saint-Michel (Normandy, France)Le Mont-Saint-MichelPhoto by Jeff Morgan. Image courtesy of Getty Images.Most Popular

The Chicago-based interior designer Summer Thornton has built her name as a virtuosic mixer of color and pattern. But at times she must reserve her most daring concepts for herself. Im taking the ideas my clients wont do, she says, reflecting on the recent renovation of her own Chicago office, an 1877 Victorian house in Lincoln Park. After renting the top floor for several years, she decided to buy and restore the entire buildingtaking over the ground-floor bridal shop, digging a fortified foundation, and making updates in two phases amid client commissions. It was my last priority, she concedes, calling the two-year process a cobbler-with-no-shoes situation.The conference room groups a custom table and Jean Prouv chairs beneath an Isamu Noguchi lantern; modular credenza by USM.Photo: Marta Xochilt PerezThorntons bespoke de Gournay wallpaper wraps the stair hall.Photo: Marta Xochilt PerezIn the front salon, Rupert Nikoll chandelier, Boussac wall covering from Pierre Frey, and Warner house settee upholstery.Photo: Marta Xochilt PerezIntended as both a showcase for client meetings and a home base for Thornton and her team of 15, the space couldnt fall a millimeter short of her exacting standards. We wanted to make it really spectacular, she notes. Case in point: the entry, with its terrazzo floors, bold green carpeting up the stairs, and pagoda pendants. Here, walls are covered in the motif that she conceived with de Gournay and dubbed Summers Folly. Its a mismatch of inspirations, from classical to folk to fairy tale. Her young daughter suggested including cheetahs alongside sheep, giraffes, swans, and deera wink to the decorators youth in rural Illinois. In some ways, I never feel like a grown-up myself.Thorntons personal office.Photo: Marta Xochilt PerezMost PopularTravelThe 11 Most Beautiful Mountain Cities in the WorldBy Emma TubbsArchitecture + DesignA Creative Directors Milan Home Is a Master Class in Secondhand ShoppingBy Kelly DawsonMagazineMieke ten Have Fashions a Home for Hudson Valley NeighborsBy Michael BoodroThe materials library and conference room beyond.Photo: Marta Xochilt Perez.Colleagues at work in the studios materials library.Photo: Marta Xochilt PerezMust-haves included the materials library, lined in oak shelving, and beyond it the conference room, whichdespite its silvered ceiling treatment and Chinese Art Deco rugis the offices most subdued expanse, a place to spread out samples for projects like Casa Rosada, the full-service rental villa she recently completed in Sayulita, Mexico. (Her current slate of work includes homes in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cabo, and Aspen, and a private club in Manhattan.) Wrapped in a floral pattern, the adjacent front parlor is where employees can find inspiration perusing the many design books and magazines. We wanted it all to feel elevated, notes Thornton, who delights in details like the bespoke seamless blue-dolomite desks or the kitchens skirted sink. Its also a little nod to how organized we aresome people pick up on that.Most PopularTravelThe 11 Most Beautiful Mountain Cities in the WorldBy Emma TubbsArchitecture + DesignA Creative Directors Milan Home Is a Master Class in Secondhand ShoppingBy Kelly DawsonMagazineMieke ten Have Fashions a Home for Hudson Valley NeighborsBy Michael BoodroWells Abbott wallpaper lines the kitchen; chairs by Haute Living.Photo: Marta Xochilt PerezThe teams workspace features built-in desks of Azul Cielo dolomite.Photo: Marta Xochilt PerezCole & Son wallpaper swirls in the office of Thorntons husband and business partner, Josh.Photo: Marta Xochilt PerezReturning to the question of what she might not reprise for a clients home, she looks around her eclectic private workspace, marked by a tiger-print sofa and large-scale floral wallpaper, smiling. Its so funny, I was Zooming with a client once and he was like, Your office is hideous, she laughs, never one to take offense. He was sitting in this very sterile building, and I said, Well, I think yours is hideous! Strong opinions, of course, are what appeal to her most. I was like, I got youwere good.